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My thanks to Pokka Pens for sponsoring The Pen Addict this week.
(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)
I saw the Le Tigre cebloplast/celluloid (a vintage material) on Shawn Newton’s Instagram last summer. I immediately emailed him to see if I could have a pen made from the stuff. Initially he said he could only make a barrel from it since he only had a little of the material. But, fortunately, he found more hidden somewhere in his holy of holies of stock. I would get an entire pen made of Le Tigre. Rawr!
I placed my order July 7, and Shawn gave me an estimated ship date of March 2017. Jaw drop. Yes, Shawn’s work is mega-popular, and that means a wait of at least six months (my pen actually arrived the first week of February).
As always with Shawn Newton pens, the wait was worth it. My pen was shipped in a Newton-branded steel tumbler with a lovely pen wrap made by his wife.
Le Tigre cebloplast is outrageously gorgeous—green, yellow, and black striped with tons of chatoyance. The material has so much depth and color and is quite unique.
Shawn told me to be careful with this pen. The Le Tigre is a vintage material, and if I were to drop the pen on a hard floor, it would likely shatter.
The pen itself is light (cebloplast/celluloid is light material) and of medium length (148mm capped, 133mm uncapped, 177mm posted). On Shawn’s site this pen is listed as a small Sumpter. The Sumpter is a classic cigar-shaped pen with a screw-on cap and a plain steel clip.
It is a cartridge/converter (converter included).
I lucked out and got it with an 18K rhodium-plated fine nib etched with the Newton logo.
I’ve purchased three pens from Shawn, and this fine nib is the very best writer of the three. In fact, it’s one of the best writers of all my pens.
It writes so smoothly and with the perfect amount of wetness, and the nib has a wonderful bounce to it. I inked it with Sailor Jentle Epinard which matches the color of the cebloplast nicely. I used it today in my Women Writer’s class to take notes. I was writing as fast as I possibly could, and the nib and feed kept up without any problems.
Thus far, this is my favorite Shawn Newton custom pen. I love the unique, vintage material. The Sumpter shape is classic and uncomplicated. And this baby writes like a champ. Just don’t drop it, Susan. Do. Not. Drop.
Pros
Cons
(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)
When you love paper and ink, you love letterpresses. It just comes with the territory. I've never had the good fortune to play with one myself, but I've seen a number of them in action, and they never fail to enchant me. And it has (of course) led to a fondness for letterpressed notebooks and stationery. When I saw the Darling Clementine Letterpressed Notebooks pop up at JetPens, and saw they had one that had a feather quill, inkwell, notebook, books, knitting, and tea ALL ON THE SAME COVER, I was pretty much sold. Honestly, the paper inside could have been made out of cocktail napkins and I'd still have wanted it.
The notebooks come in two-packs, and this set features some of the best and coziest things in the world. They are staple-bound with 64 pages of blank, kraft, 40# paper. The price seemed a bit high to me until I read more about the company and printing process, then my geek brain took over and all was well with the world again.
The covers are handprinted with a Heidelberg press (go ahead and take a moment to fall down a YouTube wormhole of letterpress videos; I'll wait). They're a nice, tactile cardstock, and the printing process leaves them with a neat debossed texture. This is the sort of cover that I plan on cutting off the notebook and putting on the wall when it's purpose is served.
The paper is fairly fibrous and absorbs liquids, so I didn't have much luck with fountain pen ink, paints, or markers. Bolder tips caused slight bleed-through, though it wasn't as dire as I'd expected. Very fine, firm-tipped pens tended to snag on the paper fibers. Graphic liners, rollerballs, gel pens, and colored pencils all worked very well.
I think these would make great journals, scrapbooks, commonplace books, or sketchbooks. The A5 size is perfect for travel, and they're thin enough that they could even be used as inserts for an A5 traveler's notebook cover--though then you wouldn't get to see the lovely pressed covers. Overall, I'm pleased, and I'm glad the paper is more useful than I'd worried it might be. I often avoid kraft paper, but this paper seems more resilient than what I've encountered in past experiences. I'm glad the charming cover seduced me, and now I've got my eye on their other products.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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