I’m very excited to give these beautiful notebooks from Emilio Braga a thorough testing. In the meantime, I have one A6 model for someone else to start testing themselves. The winner is:
Congrats Ove! 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.)
The Sendak Mini Artist Roll is a pen/pencil/paintbrush/tool holder. It's the little brother of the Sendak Artist Roll, measuring 14.4 in. by 8 in. (365mm by 202mm) when fully open and 4.3 in. by 8 in. (110mm by 200mm) when folded.
The roll is hand made with waxed duck canvas.
It features a vegetable-tanned leather strap engraved with "The Sendak Mini Peg & Awl." The strap is attached with brass rivets and closed with an antique steel buckle.
Inside there's a small zippered pocket on the left.
In the middle are two large pockets and eight slots for various artist implements.
A flap provides protection for the instruments inside the roll.
Outside, the back part of the roll has two full length, large pockets.
Everything about this artist roll is well made. The canvas feels rugged and virtually indestructible. The leather strap is thick and sturdy. The zipper is made of brass.
The four large pockets can accommodate scissors, knives, skinny sketchbooks, a cell phone, and a host of other objects. The inside pockets are 3.3 in. (85mm) wide and 8 in. (202mm) tall. The outside pockets are 3.7 in. (95mm) wide and 8 in. (202mm) tall (you could fit longer objects in the outer pockets since there's no flap in the way).
The eight slots are not quite an inch wide. Regular pens and pencils and paintbrushes with slender handles fit easily into the slots.
Even though the Peg & Awl website says that the slots will accommodate fountain pens, that is true only for medium and small sizes. I tried a variety of fountain pens with the roll. Larger pens, such as the MB 149, the Opus 88, and even a Franklin Christoph Intrinsic will not fit.
The rugged design of the Mini Sendak means it's not meant for fancy fountain pens. Rather, this is a roll for EDC pens and artist's instruments. It's for stuffing in your backpack so you can whip out your sketchbook or journal in the middle of a meadow or at the top of a mountain. I would not take Walter (my MB 149) on hikes, thank you very much, but I would take mechanical pencils, my Spoke Pen, any of my Karas Kustoms pens or a Lamy Safari all nicely bound up in this roll.
The Mini Sendak Artist Roll is available in the following colors (mine is moss): Truffle, Almond, Coal, Moss, Slate, Spice, and All Black. It costs $120. You can add a tool protector for $8 or a monogram for $15.
Is this pricy for a pen roll? Yes. However, the products from Peg & Awl are not manufactured in bulk. They are hand made using antique materials, such as old, military-issue gun slings. The craftsmanship is exquisite, so if you appreciate handmade goods, you'll love the Sendak Mini Artist Roll.
(My sweet husband purchased the Sendak Mini Artist Roll for me for Christmas.)
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!
(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!)
When I first saw the King Jim +Kraft File Cover, I thought it would be just that--a folder. Maybe not exciting, but it looked pretty sweet and vintage and like something I'd like to put files in, so I thought I'd try it out. I was shocked to open it and discover that, in fact, it has features. Quite a lot of them.
The outside is unassuming, unexciting, but elegant in a minimalist way. It's made of plain kraft paper that is fibrous and feels almost like felt. It's not flimsy in any way, and it feels like it will stand up to a lot of use. It's a tri-fold design with two full-size pocket sheets and the flap that closes over the top. It closes with a simple elastic loop over a cardstock button.
Instead of just a pocket inside, it has a plethora of pocketses. On the left is a narrow flap that goes from the top to the bottom of the folder. In that flap is a small slot for business cards. On the right is a set of three pockets. One clear plastic slot covers the whole right side of the folder. An A4 notebook cover can be slid behind this pocket flap, and the folder then becomes a notebook cover.
The other cover of the notebook can be tucked inside the narrow left flap for extra security, or the left flap can be used for papers. There is also a leather ribbon bookmark at the top for use with a notebook. Across that larger pocket, a half-size pocket spans the width. If you're not using an A4 notebook in the larger pocket, an A4 notepad or legal pad can fit in this pocket.
And inside that pocket is another slot that fits index cards or sticker sheets, etc. You could even put a slim A4 notebook in each side, and have two notebooks in one folder. And then a pocket notebook in the smaller pocket for a whopping three notebooks! There's also a pen loop on the right side.
So what I thought was just a folder turned out to be a complex, versatile notebook system. To say I was delighted is an understatement. I had expected boring utilitarianism, but instead I am having fun arranging all the possible configurations. I think these would be great for teachers, students, or business people. Even artists might find this a useful way to take work on the go. I don't use many A4 notebooks, but this folder makes me want to. There aren't a lot of good cover systems for A4 sizes, so I think this product helps to fill an industry gap.
The King Jim +Kraft File Cover costs $19 on JetPens, which is a lot for a folder, but not a lot for a versatile notebook cover system. Perhaps its name is doing it a disservice, but my low expectations did make for a very pleasant surprise.
(JetPens 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!
