Misfill, Daydreaming Edition

Each week in Refill, the Pen Addict Members newsletter, I publish Ink Links as part of the additional content you receive for being a member. And each week, after 10 to 15 links, plus my added commentary on each, I'm left with many great items I want to share. Enter Misfill. Here are this weeks links:

— Daydreaming in Japan: a colouring book inspired by the streets of Nippon (Creative Boom)

— Kaila Ocampo brings 'kawaii' journaling to the world (Japan Today)

— Nespresso celebrates a decade of its UK recycling scheme (Circular Online)

— Jotting as Writing (Splice Today)

— Analog Time Management in a Bullet Journal (Rediscover Analog)

— Supporting the USPS (From the Pen Cup)

— Review: Montegrappa Elmo Fantasy Blooms Fountain Pen (The Pencilcase Blog)

— Wolff’s “Bank of England” Pencils. (Pencil Fodder)

— Video-Review: Kaweco 14k Gold Nib (on DIA2) (Scrively)

— New Semester, New Month, New Bullet Journal (Chicana Writes)

— Ink Review #1248: Monteverde Midnight Black (Mountain of Ink)

— Tag Team: Assorted Brush Pens & Slow-Moving Paper (No Pen Intended)

— Why Are We Attracted to Expensive Pens? (SBREBrown)

— The Three Phases of a Hobby (The Temp Track)

— Review: Blackwing One-Step Long Point Sharpener (Comfortable Shoes Studio)

— Let's make only one original notebook in the world "Kakimori" (Mai-bun)

— Hobonichi Delivers! (Pen and Paper Geek)

— Ink Review #288: Tono & Lims Bleu Macaron (Fountain Pen Pharmacist)

— Ink Review: Jacques Herbin Essential Inks (The Well-Appointed Desk)

— These Beautiful 16th Century Watercolors Illustrate the History of Comets And Meteors (Design You Trust)

— Top 5: Best Work Backpack 2020 (Carryology)

— If Dieter Rams Designed an Xbox: Microsoft's Minimalist Xbox Series S (Core77)

— Marcus Jansen mixes graffiti and contemporary art to explore the human condition (Creative Boom)

— I Miss My Desk (swissmiss)

— Adobe’s new library of brushes allows you to use Keith Haring’s tools and spread the positivity of his work (It’s Nice That)

— A Museum Sells a Prized Pollock to Acquire Art by Underrepresented Artists (Hyperallergic)

— Scottish Lockdown Sketchbooks (Notebook Stories)

— Japan stationery maker targets Marie Kondo crowd with '80s remake (Nikkei Asian Review)

— We Have Also Sound Houses: How A 17th C. Utopia Foresaw Electronic Music (The Quietus)

— The Tools of Excellence for a Brave New World, 22: The Stop & Think (Nicholas Bate)

— Moleskine Turns A New Page with New CEO Daniela Riccardi (Prestige Online)

— Trademarks & Symbols Vol. 1 (1973) (Present & Correct)

— Eight notebooks for everyday use (El Pajarete Orquidiado)

— A small fountain pen full of gimmicks! How to use Montblanc Boheme and its charm (Hoshii Monoga-Alice Gil)

— Omas Ogiva Arco Bronze (Flex & Other Follies)

— MUJI Low Center of Gravity Mechanical Pencil/Drafting Pencil Review (Writing at Large)

— How can all these pen companies survive? (UK fountain pens)

— Ink Review #290: Diamine Poppy Red (Fountain Pen Pharmacist)

— Ink Review #1252: Robert Oster Sushi (Mountain of Ink)

Want to catch the rest, plus extra articles, reviews, commentary, discounts, and more? Try out a Pen Addict Membership for only $5 per month!

Pentel GraphGear 1000 Mechanical Pencil Giveaway Winner

I am guilty of not spreading the love of one of the all-time classic mechanical pencils in the Pentel GraphGear 1000. It’s fantastic from top to bottom, and I love the new barrel colors that were recently released. The winner of this giveaway is:

Congrats Robert! I’ve sent you an email to collect your shipping address.

The Galen A5 Leather "Everyday" Notebook and Scrikss 419 Indigo Fountain Pen: A Review

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

Galen Leather and Vanness Pens sent Pen Addict two products for review: the Galen A5 Leather Notebook in Crazy Horse Forest Green and a Scrikss 419 fountain pen in indigo. I decided to review them together, using the pen to test the notebook and the notebook to test the pen.

The Scrikss 419 Fountain Pen in Indigo

Scrikss is a Turkish pen company established in 1964 in Istanbul. The 419 model is a reproduction of a pen created by Scrikss in the past, and it is a limited edition. It comes in a cardboard box with Galen branding.

The pen is made from acrylic resin and has a clear ink window. I was surprised to discover that the pen is a piston filler because the pen is so small and light.

The Scrikss 419 is a diminutive pen, measuring 125mm/4.9 inches capped, 117mm/4.6 inches uncapped, and 150mm/5.9 inches posted, with a grip diameter of 9.16mm. It weighs next to nothing even when fully inked (unposted) (8.21 grams).

The clip is gold-toned with the Scrikss logo and the cap ring is engraved with the Scrikss name.

Although the cap threads are located above the grip, your fingers still touch them, at least partially. But the threads are smooth so the pen is comfortable to hold.

The medium nib is 23k gold-plated stainless steel. It's a simple nib engraved with the Scrikss logo.

The piston is hard to turn at first. Once you get it in motion, however, it moves more smoothly. The pen doesn't hold much ink--maybe .5 ml.

When first inked, the medium nib was wet, sometimes leaving blobs of ink in its wake. But, the longer I wrote, the drier it became, to the point that it suddenly stopped writing. You can see this in the photo below. At the top of the page, the ink is much darker and flows well. It gets lighter and drier and then stops writing mid-sentence.

The only fix for this is to manually push the ink down with the piston. Then the process starts again: too wet, just right, dry, then nothing--a frustrating experience.

In addition to the inconsistent ink flow, the medium nib is a little scratchy. It isn't terribly bad and might be fixed by using micro mesh.

I'm just not impressed with the pen at all. It's too small for my hand (but for people who love small pens, this would be a plus). It feels flimsy, the piston is finicky, the nib is inconsistent, and I found the writing experience unpleasant. $35.00 might be reasonable for a piston-filled fountain pen. However, the problems I had with ink flow and nib inconsistency make me hesitant to purchase another Scrikss pen.

The Galen Leather A5 "Everyday" Notebook

Galen's leather notebook in Crazy Horse Forest Green is simple and beautiful. It arrives in a black magnetic-closure box.

The green leather is smooth to the touch and has variations that add to its character. Over time, scratches, nicks, and fading will make it even lovelier. The leather is thin, so the notebook doesn't feel overly heavy. The only branding is on the back cover, and it is tasteful.

Inside are 200 sheets (400 pages front and back) of hand-sewn, blank, white 52gsm Tomoe River Paper. The corners are curved for a sleek look.

Galen provides four templates: 7mm lined, 10mm lined, 5mm graph, and 10mm graph. Because Tomoe River Paper is so thin, these templates work perfectly to provide guidance for writing or drawing. A plain piece of leather serves either as a blotter or a pad for writing.

The notebook doesn't include any pockets or bookmark ribbons.

I tested the paper with the pens I currently have inked. As expected, the paper handled all of them admirably, although there is significant show through.

Swabs look wonderful on Tomoe River Paper:

I'm quite happy with the Galen Leather Notebook. It is beautiful, simple, and useful. It lays completely flat when open, which is another plus.

I plan to use my notebook to practice Zentangles and Mandalas.

You can purchase the Scrikss fountain pen in a variety of colors for $35.00 fromGalen Leather. The Galen Leather Notebook in either Crazy Horse Brown or Crazy Horse Forest Green costs $36.00 (Galen or $25.00 Vanness (currently out of stock).

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

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