2020 Stationery Resolutions

(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. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

2019 was a busy year for me, and some of my stationery hobbies fell through the cracks. Or tumbled into gaping sinkholes, in some cases. There just wasn't much time to indulge in hobbies. A lot of that business was the good kind, so I can't complain. But my pens can. They feel neglected. 2020 looks to be a far more mellow year, and I'm looking forward to the simple pleasures of calm days. That will mean more time spent with my stationery. To that effect, I've made some resolutions for the new year.

-- I swear I will use that planner. No, really, I mean it this time. I used to journal every day, sometimes quite extensively. I loved it and it brought some mindful peace to my day. Or a purging of vitriol, whatever the day required. Now I'm lucky if I remember to completely fill out the single square of a monthly calendar. I have the Midori weekly planner for 2020, and I want to make good use of it for keeping track of my tasks. And I have a Midori 5-year journal I'd like to use. Even if I sit down just once a week to fill it out reflectively, I know it'll be good for my soul.

-- Yes, pen pals, I promise I'm still alive. Somewhere in this messy office is a stack of the most recent letters I received from my dedicated, tenacious bunch of pen pals. Even they had to give up on me, though. I need to write to them again and make the time to do that more often. I might need to check on their current addresses, though...

-- Clean my office. I don't have a closet of doom. The doom just goes...anywhere. Right now it's teetering a bit and threatening a doomvalanche. Which means it's time to...

-- Offload some of the collection. I'm a pen user, not a collector. I have pens I haven't used in years, so they should probably go to other homes. And make room for whatever new pens I need to try. This offloading needs to include inks, too. I have enough to drown in.

-- Use the pens I love more. This past year I spent all my time publishing and promoting my books, but in 2020, it's going to be all about writing the new books. I have one new novel I'm editing, two novels in draft form, one in planning, and a new series brewing in a proto-idea state. It's time to ink some pens and get these out on paper!

-- And then clean the pens, you monster. I used to be so strict about this. In 2019? I think I only had three pen-cleaning days. Let's not do the math on that one, okay? I'll do better next year. In fact...

-- #WednesdayPensday. Every Wednesday, I'm going to clean and rotate my pen selection, and I'm going to post it on Instagram with that hashtag for accountability. Feel free to join me! Or even poke me, if you see I've skipped one.

Maybe it's silly to have resolutions that center around doing less so that you can do more, but this year of business took a huge toll on my health, and I can't help but think that the quiet meditation of ink and pen and paper has some healing power to it. So that is my ultimate goal for 2020. Well, that and not being buried alive in a stationery doomvalanche. Both are important for one's health.

PS: Please note that none of these resolutions say anything about limiting paper supply. I must leave myself one vice, or I'm doomed to fail.

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Posted on December 19, 2019 by Sarah Read and filed under Resolutions.

Diamine Inkvent Calendar Day 18

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

“The Holly and the Ivy” is one of my favorite Christmas carols. I especially like the version sung by John Rutter’s Cambridge Singers. The carol uses the holly plant to evoke images related to Mary’s birth of Christ.

Holly is the color for Day 18. It is a green sheen ink that leans towards teal. The sheen is a bright magenta, which nicely evokes the red berries of the holly plant.

On white Rhodia paper, the tealishness of the ink comes through more. It has nice shading properties in addition to the sheen. The
ink is quite different from the previous greens in the Inkvent calendar (Mistletoe and Elf). It is much darker, for one, and it has a much bluer tone to it. It’s also the first green ink with sheen.

Holly is a gorgeous color. I don’t write with many green inks, but this is one that I can see myself using well beyond the Christmas season.

(Cult Pens provided the Diamine Inkvent Calendar to Pen Addict free of charge for review purposes.)

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Posted on December 18, 2019 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Diamine, Inkvent, Ink Reviews.

Kaco Retro Fountain Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Trying new and unique fountain pens is always fun, especially when they come in at the lower end of the price spectrum. The Kaco Retro fountain pen is a sleek design from a Chinese company that offers a sense of nostalgia and modern colors.

I've definitely done my share of eBay perusing when trying to find some fun and inexpensive fountain pens to try from top Chinese sellers. But, you do run some additional risk when you purchase these pens because quality control isn't the best and your options for correcting any problems are convoluted. In the case of the Kaco Retro, you can purchase your pick from Cult Pens and be sure that your experience will be top notch. This takes all of the guess-work out of this particular pen!

Purchasing options aside, the Retro is actually a good pen. Like the name implies, it borrows heavily from the Parker 51 aesthetic, but manages to add some modern flair in the way of colors and the clip accent. Possibly the coolest feature of the pen is the use of a hooded nib, which means the grip section covers most of the nib and only allows the very tip to show through. The orange one I have is an eye-catcher, and it's also fun to pass around and let people try since it's an inexpensive fountain pen.

To me, the aspect of this pen that grabs my eye first every time is the little pin head at the end of the clip. The bright blue-green always catches my attention and I can't help but pick it up for a quick writing session. Each pen color has a coordinated clip accent, which just adds to the fun of these pens. The functionality of the clip is also excellent! It's strong and does a great job of holding the pen in place during transport.

Moving on the cap, it features a smooth friction-fit design to secure it to the pen when not in use. You can also post the cap easily while writing. The amount of force necessary to uncap or cap the pen feels almost perfect to my preference. It's a bit tight when trying to uncap, but you quickly get used to it after using the pen a few times. One thing I noticed quickly is that you should avoid twisting the pen in a counter-clockwise motion when uncapping it because this unscrews the grip section from the pen body! I never realized how much I rotate pens when removing the cap, but I have certainly noticed during my time with the Kaco Retro. This hasn't resulted in any ink accidents, but it is slightly annoying to be made to tighten the grip section after uncapping the pen.

Aside from the clip, the only other feature on the cap of the pen is a small embossed KG, which stands for the company name. It's very low-profile and is difficult to notice in most light.

The pen body and grip section are the same width and match up perfectly against a small clear ink window. The ink window is handy to show you how much ink is left in your converter or ink cartridge, but it's also really easy to just unscrew the section and take a closer look. Either way, it's definitely a nice visual point to break up all the orange.

The grip section is somewhat uncomfortable for my fingers due to the material and smooth, sloped nature of the grip. I always struggle with glossy plastic grips, and this one is no exception. It is comfortable in my hand at first, but quickly becomes slick and difficult to hold after I use it for a minute or two. Your experience will vary, but you should have a pretty good idea of whether this grip will work for you just based on the shape and materials used.

Now, how about that nib? It's a good nib! The manufacturer says it's an extra fine, but the one I have writes like a European fine. The Cult Pens website even notes that some of the pens write like a European medium, so keep that in mind when ordering. This isn't a good choice if you're trying to dial in your nib preferences or are only interested in certain nib sizes!

The nib is smooth, the feed provides plenty of ink while writing, and I've been really impressed with how well the pen works in general. My only complaint is due to the design of the grip and nib. The hooded nib looks great, but it's always difficult for me to make sure I'm holding the pen at the right orientation while writing. Fountain pen nibs work best when the nib is parallel to the page. In most cases, the nib ceases to function when you roll the nib too far to one side or the other. Not a big deal in most cases, but this pen lacks the visual cue of the actual nib, and it also has a featureless grip section to let you know when your grip is rolling a bit too far. The hooded nib is so hooded that I have a difficult time knowing where the sweet spot of the nib is located!

Minor quirks aside, this really is such a fun pen. It includes a couple of ink cartridges as well as a cartridge converter so that you can use your own bottled ink. As a writing instrument, it functions beautifully and manages to be really dependable and robust. The materials used are mostly plastic, but the pen body and cap feel solid instead of like thin plastic that will break easily. For a pen that costs about ten dollars, it's a fun experiment!

Aside from the awesome orange color featured in this review, you can also purchase the Kaco Retro in a variety of other fun colors, like Red, Blue, White, Turquoise, and Black.

(Cult Pens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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