Livework Ballpoint Pen Review

(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!)

You know how sometimes you just need a pen? Not a writing experience, not anything transcendent or luxurious--you just need to write something down real quick. It happens all the time, right? At least, it does for me. And I don't usually want to unpack and unroll a swath of glorious pens in that moment. One needs a quick -access basic pen sometimes.

But we're pen addicts, so our quick-access basic pen must also be fun in some way. Enter the Livework Ballpoint Pen. It's cute and exciting enough to feel special, inexpensive enough at $2 to be a loaner pen, and can be tossed in a bag or backpack with nary a worry for its survival.

The pen is made from lightweight plastic with a simple plastic clip and click nock. In the hand, it feels like a typical disposable ballpoint, though it is refillable. The refill is $1.50, which is nearly the cost of the pen itself, but is definitely where the cost is balanced on this pen.

The refill is a 0.5 mm with a nice crisp line and smoothly flowing ink. It writes very well and I haven't had any issues with skipping or slow starting. Despite all the fun colors of the pens in this series, the ink is only available in black. The name of the color printed on the pen itself is just the name of the plastic color, which could be a bit confusing if you're expecting that to be the color it writes, as would be the case for most pens.

Ultimately, this is a cute series of pens that are good quality writers that can be that emergency writing utensil you need when you just NEED a pen, but can't bring yourself to settle for a boring one. I think it's great, and I want more colors. And at $2 apiece, I can actually have all the colors, if I want. Maybe not the one called “Mayonnaise" but maybe even that one. It's a simple, low-investment piece that still brings me joy when I'm crossing items off a grocery list or jotting down an appointment time in the back of an envelope.

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

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Cross ATX 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.)

It's been several years since I've tried out a new Cross fountain pen, so I was excited to use the new ATX I received. My experience with the Cross Townsend was really good, so I had high expectations for the ATX as well. Luckily, I wasn't let down.

The Cross ATX is a sleek and modern fountain pen that's made of a lightweight metal material. The color is a lovely blue/teal with very little shine. I'd say it's matte, but there's just enough gloss in the finish to give it a little glimmer. The texture on the exterior of the pen is also something that catches your eye. It's a wavy line that looks like hatch marks from more than 10 inches away. The etching is light enough to still feel smooth, but there's plenty of tactile grip left to make sure you can hold onto it easily.

I really enjoy the blue/teal color of this pen. In certain light, it looks like a dark blue pen with a subdued texture. In brighter light, you can see more of the green and the wavy lines make it look like it's changing colors between blue and teal. It's a fantastic finish.

I'm less enthusiastic about the finish on the grip section and the nib plating. They're both a similar color as the exterior, but they're quite shiny and reflective — and this means they collect fingerprints easily. It's a minor gripe, but I do wish they'd used a slightly more matte finish for the grip so it would have a better grip feel.

The same shiny blue material is used on the band around the opening of the cap as well as the clip. Since these elements are so small, they work nicely with the textured matte finish of the pen body and cap. The shiny grip section feels like too much, and the nib sharing the same color as everything else contributes to the pen feeling a bit too monochromatic. The different finishes provide a drastic amount of contrast, but they could have done so much more with a little color contrast as well!

Getting into the actual performance of the pen, I couldn't be happier. Several years ago, I was really surprised by how much I liked the Townsend, and the same thing is true with the ATX today. The nib is a petite fine, but it flows smoothly and lays down plenty of ink to keep pace with my sloppy writing. It was buttery smooth out of the box and has a great line width for what I'd consider a fine nib from a non-Japanese pen brand.

The pen writes perfectly after being stored for a bit. There's no hard starts or sputtering. Part of this equation is down to the ink I've chosen to use here, but a larger part is the cap system. The cap uses a push/pull system that relies on a friction fit to keep everything sealed and secure. There's a small click once you've fully seated the cap onto the pen body to let you know it's capped securely. When uncapping the pen, there's a satisfying pop (albeit a quiet one) that goes with the motion. I was worried at first that the tight seal would create enough suction when uncapping the pen that it might spurt a small amount of ink onto me, the floor, or anything near me, but this hasn't been the case so far. As long as you use a smooth motion to uncap the pen, I don't see any issues here. It does require a good bit of force, but I'd rather than than the opposite (a cap that's too loose to stay on securely).

The cap also posts to the back of the pen and results in a slightly longer overall pen without being too long. For me, the unposted pen is a great length for writing, but posting the cap only changed the feel a small amount. This is one of those pens that I'll post every time since it feels great in the hand either way. When it's posted, I don't have to worry about where the cap is.

The ATX is a fairly slim pen, so it fits any pocket, bag, sleeve, etc. that fits any generic gel pen size barrel. The clip is nice and strong, but it is mounted very close to the cap, which means you'll have trouble clipping this onto thick fabrics or other thick materials. In most cases, the clip has no problem working as intended.

I'm really happy to report that the ATX is another great pen from Cross. I only have two or three fountain pens from Cross, and they've impressed me every time.

The ATX comes with a couple of black ink cartridges. It's important to know that Cross uses a proprietary cartridge fitting, so you'll either need to pick up a converter to go with the pen, or buy some extra cartridges that fit it. The Cross converter is only a few bucks, but it's one of those things that I wish all large pen companies would just include in the box with the pen.

If you like this pen, check it out on Pen Chalet. There are a couple other colors to pick from (like Black PVD, Brushed Chrome, and Sandblasted Titanium Gray) and they're available in either a fine or medium nib (except for the Black PVD option — medium only!).

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

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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!

The Paper Mind Bank Paper Notebook Giveaway

When The Paper Mind reached out to me to test out their notebooks and sponsor the site I was excited. Why? I am a bank paper fan. It is perfect for what I want in an all-around paper: Great for every pen and pencil type, while allowing fountain pens and inks the ability to shine.

The Paper Mind sent me one notebook to give away, the Black cover notebook with 192 pages of 7 mm Ruled Mitsubishi Bank paper. Read the rules below and enter away!

The Paper Mind Bank Paper Notebook Giveaway