Mt. Fo’rest Shop Visit

(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!.)

Mt. Fo’rest officially launched their brick and mortar store in Pasadena, California in early May of this year, and hosted a grand opening event in mid-June. I wasn’t going to be in town for that but I was going to be in SoCal the weekend after, so I absolutely had to check it out.

*The entrance to the Mt. Fo’rest shop is not on the street-side, it’s in the back, where there are also limited parking spots.*

*Note the store hours - glad I didn’t plan to visit on Sunday! You can check the website beforehand for current store hours.*

The store is bright and roomy with lots of natural light coming from the street-facing windows.

*A wall full of stickers and accessories - my kind of place!*

*Check out this map of Pasadena highlights, drawn by Jeff, who does most/all of Mt. Fo’rest’s artwork!*

It was hard to resist these adorable washi cutters! You wrap their limbs around a roll of washi tape and rip the tape across their bums (giggle, that’s what it looks like to me and yes, I’m 12, lol.)

*Are you #TeamCat (left) or #TeamDog? I think these stamps from the Portland Stamp Company are both awesome, but I’m on #TeamDog!*

*Love the variety of paper offerings, from Tomoe River notebooks, to pads and looseleaf Iroful, Yu-Sari, Yamamoto, and more.*

*Gel & ball pens, refills, pencils, notebooks as well as desk accessories like trays and organizers.*

*Check out this cupboard of cuteness! Figurines and accessories from Mofusand, mystery boxes, as well as pouches by [Anchal][0], a non-profit that empowers marginalized women in India.*

*Traveler’s Company notebooks and refills.*

*Kakimori dip pens, nibs, brush liners/markers, fountain pens, rollerballs. I love how their ink swatches, which Jeff made using an artist paint-sprayer.*

*In addition to stationery, Mt. Fo’rest also had accessories like totes, trays, keychains, etc.*

*Renny Liu (right), along with husband, Jeff (left), and team member, Diana, were super cheery and helpful.*

*Renny showed us this art from Jeff, which was the original concept art from their brainstorming days! So cool!*

*I was good and only got two washi tapes (one of which I gave to a friend, so there’s only one in this picture), and this cute tote bag!*

It is a lovely little shop with a nice variety of stationery products and is worth the visit. Mt. Fo’rest is located at 55 W. Del Mar Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91105. The shop is open 10:30am - 5pm Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and 12pm - 5pm on Saturday, but check the website to make sure. You can email them at hello@temporarylocation.com or call (909) 616-905. Mt. Fo’rest is also on Instagram as mt.fo.rest.

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Posted on June 27, 2025 by Kimberly Lau and filed under Store Visit.

Pelikan Pelikano Magic Ocean Fountain 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 Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

Pelikan is a brand that does a good job meeting the needs of pen addicts at every experience level. The Pelikano has a reliable reputation as Pelikan's student pen--perfect for schoolkids, beginners, or gifts for the fountain pen curious. And now, perfect for mermaids.

Pelikan Pelikano Magic Ocean Fountain Pen Review Barrel

The Pelikano Magic Ocean Fountain Pen is made from molded resin. The body is in a pearlescent blue with a fish-scale texture all over. The body tapers toward the end and has an open ink window in the side. The cap snaps to close, though it's a tough snap. Very secure. The cap is silvery metal with a unique clip design that hugs the lower cap and wraps over the top. The clip is functional, but it's extremely tight against the cap and isn't very flexible. It serves more as a roll-stop than a clip. The top finial does have the classic Pelikan logo.

Pelikan Pelikano Magic Ocean Fountain Pen Review Grip

Under the cap, there is a pink rubberized grip section. The grip section is molded to direct your hands to a "proper" grip of the pen (since this is intended for student use,) and the pen is available in both right-handed and left-handed variations. There is a textured target pattern that sits against your finger when you're holding it as intended. It is comfortable for me to hold and write with, as I use a traditional grip, but if you have a more individual way of holding your pen, this might be very annoying.

Pelikan Pelikano Magic Ocean Fountain Pen Nib

The nib is a plain stainless steel medium nib, though it writes a very bold line that I would consider more of a broad writer. But it is very smooth and has the perfect balance of wetness in its flow. Because of the light plastic construction, the guided grip, and the smooth writing, I can see why this pen is perfect for those learning handwriting. It's a very comfortable writing experience.

The pen takes standard international cartridges or converters, and it comes with one cartridge of blue ink.

This special edition Pelikano is currently available from Goldspot Pens for $25.60. That's a great deal for a very decent writer with a bit of fantasy flair. I like it now, but if twelve-year-old Sarah received this pen, she'd have absolutely lost her mind. It would have been precious. So I know exactly who I am gifting this to. As soon as I write a scary mermaid story with it.

(Goldspot provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Pelikan Pelikano Magic Ocean Fountain Pen Cap

Posted on June 26, 2025 by Sarah Read and filed under Pelikan, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

BENU Daily Mate Creative Thursday 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.)

As if any of us needed more of an excuse to have a specific fountain pen for every day of the week, BENU has taken it upon themselves to make that personal decision an even more difficult one. And we love them for it.

The BENU Daily Mate is a collection of fountain pens that share the same physical design, but with a range of seven colorways — one for each day of the week — and they're all spectacular. Each of the colorway options is vibrant and energetic in their own way, and they're all paired with a great fountain pen shape.

BENU Daily Mate Creative Thursday Fountain Pen

After SO MUCH deliberation on which single pen to choose, I landed on Creative Thursday. This was a really difficult choice because I genuinely liked each of the seven options, and you never really know how a pen will look in person once you receive it. Luckily for me, BENU's photography did a great job of representing the true colors of the Creative Thursday pen. The mixture of vibrant purple and a swirl of dusty amber look great together, and then the glitter particles just accentuate the colors and bring it all together. It's such a pretty pen and I enjoy looking at it as much as I enjoy using it.

All of the color options use the same silver clip and nib, and they all have the same physical design. The pen is what I'd call "full size," though I can't point to a specification for that label. It's slightly longer and wider than a Lamy Safari, but very similar to the Opus 88 Demo and Nahvalur Nautilus pens. More specifically, the pen is 5.5 inches (14 cm) long and 0.70 inches (18 mm) in diameter at it's widest point. The grip is a nice size — just 10-11 mm in width — and has a gentle taper toward the nib with a nice lip at the end of the grip to keep your fingers from slipping onto the nib while writing.

BENU Daily Mate Creative Thursday Fountain Pen Barrel

Writing with the pen is effortless. It's balanced really well when unposted, and I can write with it for long periods without discomfort. The overall weight is low given the materials used (acrylic) and the modest #6 nib. After using the pen for a short while, it's easy to tell that BENU designed this pen to be a work horse. It excels at its job.

The nib on the pen is a #6 stainless steel Schmidt, and mine worked flawlessly out of the box. The fine tip on mine is true to size for a western nib, and it makes crisp lines while feeling smooth on the page. Since this is a ubiquitous nib, it would be trivial to swap it out for something else if you already have a favorite customized nib that you'd like to swap in for the fine, medium, or broad nib options that BENU provide.

The design of the pen uses a classic shape with almost squared off ends. Both ends of the pen have a slight convex shape that give the pen a softer look and provide plenty of space to showcase the gorgeous material. The cap of the pen is a simple shape with only the clip and the BENU logo on it. The body, though, has ten grooves that extend along the length of the pen body and add a nice, soft textured feel and provide plenty of additional surfaces for light to reflect from. When unposted, the grooves also serve to keep the pen from rolling away.

BENU Daily Mate Creative Thursday Fountain Pen Grip

The grip section of the pen is the only deviation in terms of materials. It's a single color, and it's fantastic. In the Creative Thursday colorway, the grip is a vibrant purple color that is slightly translucent and also has some reflective particles suspended in the material to add depth. It's a lovely pairing with the richer colors of the pen body and cap.

My only complaint with this pen is that there are so many threads for the cap to screw onto the body. It requires 5-6 full rotations to uncap or cap the pen! That's a lot, and it's certainly a bit unusual. Most pens only need 1.5 to 3 turns to work the cap. 5-6 just feels tedious.

BENU Daily Mate Creative Thursday Fountain Pen Comparison

The pen comes in a standard BENU cardboard box along with a cartridge converter already installed. Two thumbs up for that decision, as I don't need any more generic black or blue ink cartridges! The cartridge converter appears to be a standard Schmidt converter and works well.

BENU Daily Mate Creative Thursday Fountain Pen Cap

The BENU Daily Mate is $120 for any of the fine colorways. Seriously, the most dangerous part of this pen is that it's really difficult to only pick one. I'm really happy with the Creative Thursday option I got, and I'll practice some self control and avoid buying any more (for now). But if any of these colors speak to you, you can be sure that the pen won't disappoint once you get it in hand. For the price, it's difficult to find other fountain pens that offer this level of vibrant, unique material options.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!