FPC stands for Fountain Pen … Capybara?
It was my pleasure to be joined this week by Urban Hafner. His labor of love, Fountain Pen Compainion, has become the online home for fountain pen and ink obsessives, like yourself. Listen in, and hear all about this wonderful resource.
This episode of The Pen Addict is sponsored by:
Kanilea Pen Co.: Choose your Aloha today!
Hullo: A simple, natural pillow designed for comfort. Try it for 60 days.
(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)
One of the newer shops to have joined the stationery world is Yoseka Stationery. Starting with pop-up shops in 2017, owners Daisy and Neil first opened their brick-and-mortar store as a way of introducing Asian stationery to the US. Originally located in the Sunnyside neighborhood in Brooklyn, Yoseka recently moved to the Greenpoint area in 2020 and is currently located at 63 West Street, Brooklyn.
I have ordered from their site multiple times and I really enjoy their posts and videos on Instagram too. So I knew I just had to visit their shop during a recent trip to NYC, even though I knew I didn’t have a lot of time (this is what happens when you get on the wrong subway train, but I digress) …
The shop itself is fairly small but also spacious at the same time. Pieces of antique/vintage furniture alongside the clean lines of bookshelves and lots of wood everywhere - all of it gives you a sense of warmth and coziness and modern organization.
Look at this gorgeous cabinet filled with goodies from the Traveler’s Company!
There are shelves on both sides of the room with a variety of stationery goods and accessories including washi tape, hourglasses, stamp pads, letter sets, stickers, pouches and more. Display samples are available in front of many of the items so you can feel the texture of the paper or see how a pen case opens.
Desk accessories in all shapes and sizes.
I have been on a washi tape buying ban but it was hard to resist some of these cute tapes!
The main focal point of the store is in the middle of the room, where a long table is lined with writing implements of all kinds. There is room and paper for you to try out their pens, markers, and yes, fountain pens and inks too!
Finally saw 3 of the 4 Pro Gear Slims from the Sailor Sound of Rain series.
The staff was approachable and helpful, periodically checking in to make sure I didn’t have questions or needed help, without being pushy or overbearing. It really made shopping there a calm and chill experience. In the end, my willpower was mostly intact, though I did break my self-imposed washi tape ban, haha!
A bottle of their exclusive ink and washi tape of Esther’s paws - I just HAD to!
So if you’re ever in or near New York City, make the trip to visit Yoseka and give yourself plenty of time to explore this wonderful little store. And if you can’t get there, check out their website - there are a lot of gems to be found, including 3 or 5ml ink samples in their adorable glass vials or this cherry blossom washi tape set from Bande. I don’t know when I’ll get a chance to visit again, so until then, I’ll be doing some “research” on their site too!!
(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!)
Romanian ink brand Pennonia is making a big splash in the pen world with its lovely colors and fun formulas. I was excited to try them for the first time with this bottle of Cotton Candy ink.
The ink comes in a generous 50ml dark glass bottle that's perfectly shaped for pen filling. It's wide enough to be stable, but deep enough to fill your pen easily. The label on the bottle is made of fountain pen friendly paper and includes a swab of the color, so you get an honest idea of what the color looks like.
This color is, if you ask me, the perfect pink. It's not too red or purple, it's not too pale. It's readable, rich, definitely pink, and shows some incredible shading. The color is exactly the color of cotton candy.
It looks great in writing and in swabs, and the swab color even looks like the writing color, which is rare in samples. Chromatography shows a pure pink color, which is not surprising. It dries fairly quickly, and does have a dry feel to it when writing, but it flows well and doesn't dry out in the nib. I set this pen down for a week, then picked it back up and the ink flowed right away.
There is not much water resistance. Writing may survive a quick, light splash, but where I let the water sit for a minute, the ink is totally gone. It does not show any sheen or shimmer--just the lovely shading from sugar-pink to deep pink.
I will definitely be using this ink often in my rotation. I love pink, but many true pinks are too pale to read in low light, and I'm usually writing in low light. This is a winner from Pennonia, and now I'm even more excited to try more of their colors. And since they're only $13 for 50ml, I can afford to do that! I highly recommend giving this brand a try.
(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!
