How do you want to be remembered by family and friends? That’s the question Julia Krusac helps you answer with A Legacy Journal. It is designed to help you share your life story through 14 chapters of prompt-based journaling. Thanks to Julia, I had one of these to give away to a reader, and the winner is:
Congrats Ryan! I’ve sent you an email to collect your shipping address.
(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)
When I ordered some loose leaf paper sets from Vanness Pens awhile back, they kindly included two stationery sets from San Lorenzo Design. San Lorenzo Design is an Italian company that sells leather goods, art, notebooks, stationery, and a wide variety of other products (including Pinocchio marionettes!) Their stationery is made in Florence and comes in a variety of designs with gold powder printing and embossing.
The Maps Card Portfolio is comprised of a collage of maps printed on cream-colored card stock. Enclosed in the portfolio are ten cards and ten matching envelopes. Neither the San Lorenzo Design website nor Vanness identifies the weight of the cards or envelopes, but the cards are at least the thickness of manila folders.
A design is printed along the bottom of the cards and the insides of the envelopes.
The cards are smooth (though not slippery) and handle fountain pen ink beautifully. I used a Scribo Feel flex nib fountain pen inked with Bungubox 4B ink. This nib is quite wet and the ink is saturated. The ink did not bleed into the paper and there's little show through and no bleed through on the reverse side. In fact, you can write on both sides of the card without any difficulty.
These cards are 6.6 x 4.4 inches, which is large enough for a short note (if you use just one side) or a lengthier one if you write on both sides.
The envelopes are made of cream paper with the map design on the inside.
Sheet Portfolio
The Scriptorium portfolio is a large envelope containing ten sheets of paper and ten matching envelopes. The design is a collage of Latin manuscripts with illuminated letters and Latin texts in various fonts.
The ivory paper is decorated with a flower-like embellishment in red and a gold-powder line around the page.
Although the stationery paper is thinner than the card stock, it too handles fountain pen ink admirably. The paper is a joy to write on, and although there is slight show through there's no bleed through. (Note: I realized after I wrote my letter that I had the page upside down with the embellishment on top, but it looks good either way!)
The paper is 6.61 x 8.97 inches. I chose not to write on both sides because of show through, but in all honesty you could probably write on both sides without the show through being too distracting. I have a pad of cream-colored Tomoe River paper that I use for subsequent pages so that I don't run out of this beautiful stationery too quickly.
The envelopes are blank on the outside but the Scriptorium design (with lots of gold powder) covers the inside.
I am absolutely thrilled with these two stationery sets. Both are elegant and both are fountain pen friendly. This is the kind of stationery that makes you want to write more letters, and your recipients will undoubtedly be impressed.
The Map Card Portfolio (Large) and the Scriptorium Writing Sheet Portfolio are $13.50 each. Both are currently in stock at Vanness Pens.
(Vanness Pens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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(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!)
Here is the final installment of my trove of Van Dieman's ink samples. I saved these three for last, because they looked like my kind of colors and they had cool names, which is very important to me in ink. While an ink color name might have nothing to do with its performance, it gets me every time.
First up is Eclipse. Looking at the sample, one might ask, "Is it grey? Brown? Purple?" And really, the answer is yes. I love mysterious colors that can't quite be pinned down, and this one has some great complexity to it. It's like a warm, smokey color that doesn't come across well in pictures. The chromatography shows a bit of its character, especially in that gold hue that gives it its warmth. This ink behaved very well, though it had a longer dry time. It doesn't show much shading, but it does have a little bit of water resistance. By far its best characteristic is its way of looking like completely different colors in different lighting.
Next is Hanging Lake, a gorgeous, slightly ominous navy. This is a very saturated color, rich and deep, with some great complexity. Grey, rose, and cobalt blue show up in the chromatography. It also has a long dry time, but it does show some shading on longer pen strokes. It was quite water resistant in the drip test, with all lines still visible, regardless of whether the water was dabbed or wiped away. This is a very professional looking blue. With its ability to withstand spills, it would be great for office or school use.
Last but not least is Hastings Caves Shimmer. Like the shimmers I tested in part one, the particles in this ink require regular, vigorous agitation to remain suspended. They settle quickly and need some encouragement to disperse themselves back into the liquid. But once that is achieved, it's a really gorgeous color. The ink itself is a gold tone, with brass-colored shimmer that gives it an antique gold look. Chromatography shows a surprising progression, from pale pink to saffron yellow, to a touch of almost teal that I can't really explain. The shimmer is very pronounced in the lines, so long as you make sure to agitate the ink before writing. Like the other shimmers, I'd recommend using this in a pen that can be easily and thoroughly cleaned, because those particles settle like river sediment and I'd be a little worried about what they might do to a feed. This color did not have any water resistance, and had a long dry time.
My biggest takeaway from this line of inks is that the creators are dedicated to complex color recipes. Chromatography isn't usually this exciting, but every sample was like a fireworks display, with surprising colors creeping out of each of them. While I think some of the samples are better suited to fountain pens than others, there are some fantastic, unique colors in this lineup. With all the ink colors out there in the world, I'm always amazed when a new one arises, with no look-alikes. This is a great line for experimenting with some fun, new tones.
(Vanness Pens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.
Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!
