(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!.)
Now in its fourth year, the 2026 California Pen Show (aka CAPS) was once again held at the Torrance Marriott Redondo Beach. I had a great time at last year’s show and was definitely looking forward to it again this year. I knew that they were planning to add another room so I was a little nervous to see if it would all pan out. 2026 CAPS would be bigger than last year, but did it get better? Let’s find out!
It had been raining up and down California for the days leading up to the show. My flight to Los Angeles wasn’t too bad, with just a few bumps here and there. The rain had stopped and the sun came out by late afternoon (after I got to the hotel, of course). While it was a little chilly on Friday (chilly for Californians, like me), the weather was lovely for the whole weekend.
Welcome to sunny Southern California!
This year’s CAPS was held the weekend after both Valentine’s Day and Presidents’ weekend (the show is often during that same weekend). Maybe because of that, or maybe because there were more LA-based vendors, or because it’s a good show, more people came to the show this year (I don’t have numbers but I was told there were more attendees than last year). Surprisingly, it didn’t feel more crowded than last year - more on that shortly. As usual, Friday and Saturdays were busier than Sunday, with Saturday being the busiest, but even Sunday had a decent amount of folks shopping up to the very last minute.
The show kicked off on Thursday with a “trader day”. Traditionally, this was where vendors (especially vintage vendors) would come together and trade pens with each other. It has since become a place for weekend pass holders and vendors to start the show with some sales/purchases before the show starts in full on Friday. Many shows on the circuit have some version of this on Thursdays.
Views of the trader room.
This is the main entrance to the pen show, where you’d pick up your badge (if you bought your tickets in advance), pay for entry, and get your wristband for re-entry. This picture was taken before VIP hours, which is why it’s relatively empty.
You can also purchase show merch like a canvas bag, t-shirt, past and current pen show inks, and pin.
New for this year is the Lighthouse Ballroom, a semi-circle-ish shaped ballroom, which you have to go through in order to access the Grand Ballroom (aka “main ballroom”). Even if you left the main ballroom to use the bathroom, you have to go back through the Lighthouse Ballroom (unless you were a vendor).
Map from the show brochure of the Lighthouse Ballroom, and the service hallway which leads you outdoors briefly before entering the show. If the weather hadn’t cooperated, they were ready to set up awnings to protect folks from the elements.
I think that the additional room and the outdoor space between the two ballrooms resulted in more walking space overall, which meant that it wasn’t as congested as before. I thought I took a picture of the space between the two rooms, but alas I didn’t. There were some chairs and benches outside which was great for folks to hang out and catch a breath. On Saturday afternoon, they also had an outdoor bar set up so folks can get a soda, or something stronger - I was working, so just a ginger ale for me!
Map of the main ballroom. The restrooms were located on the other side of table 180 and the other REG table, where local GLAMPIG (Greater LA Metro Pen and Ink Group) volunteers checked badges and directed traffic.
Like I do at many shows, I was working at the Franklin-Christoph table so my shopping and picture taking was limited to before show hours and to/from restroom pit stops. Franklin-Christoph was located at tables 28-29 in the main ballroom, so I got to walk up and down many of the aisles. I tried to take a lot of pictures for this recap and focused on some vendors that don’t go to all the shows. So, if you’re a vendor and I took your picture but it’s not in this recap, it’s probably because you’re in my other recaps, including last year’s!
Now that I’ve shown you the layout of the two ballrooms, let’s start with the Lighthouse Ballroom, which had ~20 vendors inside.
The Traveler’s Company table, with Christina, Job, and Ethan, was a popular stop in this room! PLOTTER was on the other side but I forgot to take a picture when they weren’t busy.
Artist Kristina Yu of Cheery Human Studios had her fun stickers, pins, washi, and more, in the Lighthouse room.
Abbie Lewis from Maverick Pens is sporting a Rickshaw bag that matches her shirt, or is it the other way around?
Ryan Finnegan of Saiko Stationery, Alex Jay of Imperfect Concepts, Jeremy Saumure of Flax Pen to Paper, and helper Leo Carney, were busy all weekend.
I was safe from the Imperfect Concepts gorgeous notebook covers because I already own more than 1 of them - we don’t need to say how many, lol! (pc: Flax)
Steve and Diane Curnow of Curnow Bookbinding and Leather with their vast array of handbound notebooks. I recently had a notebook made from a recycled Winnie-the-Pooh book and Canopus paper!
Selfie time with Lupe Gonzales and Don Takemura of Itoya US, and pen friend Joi, who made me spend money in this room - the nerve! 😃
Once you make your way across to the other side, you’re met with a variety of vendors up and down the hallways.
Jill, Faith, and Stacy Hills are such nice people who have pen cases, stickers, pottery, and vintage pens.
Tom of Sugar Turtle Studio, on the other hand, is super scary! No, not really, he’s only scary if you don’t use your stickers!
Bruce Eimon from Bungubox saying “Hello” with a wave and a great big smile! Please say hi to Kaoru for us!
The Esterbrook folks showing off the new Bestie collection! Are you team pink, purple, or BOTH Bestie colors?
The two Bestie colors (on the left) as well as a variety of JRs including the new Love Potion (pink)!
Mai of PaperTreats is one of the sweetest, kindest people I’ve ever met. Did you know she has a journalism background and is an avid baseball fan? And her mom (not pictured) is super cute and delightful, and makes greeting cards too!
Managed to catch Christine Herrin of Everyday Explorers before opening hours! I was marked safe from this table…because I had placed an order two weeks prior, haha!
Fountain Pendulum have a variety of wood accessories to hold your pens and inks.
A beautiful sunset after a busy Saturday!
Always a pleasure to work with Scott Franklin (left) and Dustin Proehl of Franklin-Christoph. We were in the far back corner of the main ballroom and got to see the ballroom in action.
Artisan engraved/painted pens on the left, special CAPS 2026 collection in the center, and the Antique Glass collection on the right.
Some of the hand-painted Franklin-Christoph pens by A.A. Vacharat - guess which two were sold at the show?
Jessica busted out her ukulele for an impromptu serenade at our table! We were trying to come up with pen and ink-themed lyrics!
Where else but at a pen show, can you see an Andre the Giant pen? (RIP, I loved him so much in The Princess Bride.) The other pens look like pocket pens by comparison!
Gee from Karas Kustoms is always ready with a smile!
If I had desk space (and the funds), I’d definitely want one of those massive pen holders!
*Joe Crace, The Gentleman Stationer, at his tables, which he shared with Lisa Vanness of Vanness Pens (not pictured because she was teaching a class). *
Ryan Krusac readies himself for the impending crowd!
New Rickshaw Fillmore cases in new Zodiac designs at the Zodiac Pen Co table.
Luke and Kristina of Papa J Studio had such a lovely display with the flowers and pens! They were properly “zhuzhed” before I took the picture, lol!
Here’s something digital at a pen show: Pomera is meant for “distraction-free digital writing”. Reminds me of my word processor back in the day (am I dating myself? Yes, yes, I am.)
There were several nib workers to choose from, but I think a show of this size could use another 1-2 more, though I’m not sure where they’d go. They were spread out in the hallways - Matthew Chen, Gena Salorino - and inside the ballroom - CY of Tokyo Station Pens and his apprentice, Tsubasa, and Kirk Speer.
Arielle, Bettina, and Jessica were at CY’s table helping customers answer questions about nib grinds and selling Kyuseido pens.
CAPS continues to draw a lot of international vendors like St John’s Pens from the UK, Miroslav (Miro) Tischler from Croatia, Osman Sümer from Germany, Mora Stylos from France and others. Galen Leather came from Turkey, and Nagasawa, Sey Pen, and Bungubox came from Japan and I know there were other international vendors too.
Yunus and Meltem of Galen Leather were all smiles, despite the jetlag!
The Nagasawa table was always busy with folks looking at their wide array of inks (shown here) and exclusive pens on the left side of the table (not pictured). They were nearly sold out by Sunday morning!
It is always so nice to see the Nagasawa team - my wallet was relatively safe this time because I didn’t have the time to shop, lol!
Snagged a pic of the Hachimonjiya tables before they got slammed - with all their exclusive inks and pens, it’s no surprise they were busy!
In recent years, there has been a noticeable increase in the presence of pen-adjacent vendors at many shows, including this one, which I think is great! Many of them are located in the greater Los Angeles area, so it makes sense that they had quite the presence at the show! Here are some that I haven’t already mentioned:
RJ and Rex Zhang of Pinky Elephant Craft had so many cute things, including their neon sign!
Believe it or not, all of these ladies don’t work for the same company! They were table neighbors and got together for this group shot! L to R: Claudia Ramos, Susie Cacacho, Julie Medina were with Shady Pine Paper Co and Leilani Bermejo and Yushing Foo were with Kuboandlucy Stationery Co.
Liz of M Lovewell (left) and her crew (whose names I forgot, sorry!) were full of smiles and their tables were full of customers too!
Another pre-show picture - this time it’s Miki Lalam of Pineberry Paper who had so many cute stickers!
Jenn Smith with friends Emi and David of Nagomi Woodworking.
I may or may not have been ORDERED by the Bossman himself to pick up some custom Post-It ® notes from Jenn!
Got a picture of Addy of Stationery Stack before folks bought nearly everything!
Alexandra Hero of Hero of the Story makes “cards for life’s sh!ttier moments”. I’m glad that folks are trying to normalize, instead of stigmatize, that crappy things happen and that there are cards to express your support for those times.
Vincenza Los Angeles had notebook covers and patches (which I forgot to buy) at her table. Gotta ping Stephanie next time I’m in town!
Claudia Ramos of Hola Mijas Bonitas is an LA artist who creates products that are fun and colorful, showcasing “the beauty of diversity, friendship and having fun”!
There were 13 classes/seminars this year, which I’m pretty sure is more than last year. Some of those classes included Fountain Pen Basics (with Lisa Vanness), Explore Creative Journaling (with Tom from Sugar Turtle Studio), Sheaffer Snorkel Repairs, and even a class on Improving Your Handwriting (with yours truly). I don’t believe there were any official post-show gatherings like there were last year.
What an absolute blast teaching this class! Micah, standing in the back, used the word “flow” to describe his writing experience during the class and I told him I’m totally using that term from now on!
Last year, I had a few things that I thought the show could work on - most of which they addressed.
- The temperature - while it was warm in the way back of the ballroom, it wasn’t nearly as hot as it has been at past shows. I think that having the hallway doors open (coming in from the Lighthouse Ballroom) got some more air circulation than in the past.
- Circulation - I think this was better than last year because of the additional space from the ballroom and outside walkway. Aisles felt just a bit less crowded, and almost roomy at times.
- Class locations - Last year, I said that class locations weren’t clear. This year, all class locations were in the show brochure, as well as on the website (which is where I found my class). They had volunteers checking people in (scanning their QR codes), which was very helpful.
- Website still could use a little work (seems unchanged from last year) - For example, if you clicked on Attendee in the menu (instead of hovering on it), you might not know that there was a seminar list or a vendor list. I would have liked to see a clickable, text-based list of vendors, instead of a graphic. It would make it easy for them to update the vendor list too. I did like that they had a floor map available online.
Theft continues to be a problem for many shows. This one, sadly, has had a long history of thefts. This year, while not as bad as past years, there were some vendors who had items stolen, including a four-digit price tag pen. Thankfully, it was caught on camera and they were able to recover the item, but not all vendors were that lucky. The show did have security roaming the aisles (which was how they managed to catch the person). Just a reminder to vendors to stay vigilant, and for attendees to be aware of what’s happening around them and keep an eye out too.
Overall, the show was well-organized. It was a good mix of vendors, located throughout the two rooms. They had a vendor breakfast every morning and water stations throughout the show floor (both of which were there last year but I forgot to mention it). The show was well-attended, and almost every vendor I spoke to, whether big, small, international, local, modern, vintage, stationery, etc., had a good to phenomenal show sales-wise. Some said “best LA show” and some even said “best show period”. I don’t think I heard many (any?) complaints from attendees either.
Suffice it to say, I had a great time this weekend. The show is in a good hotel, albeit pricier than past years ($229/night before taxes/fees, oof), the rooms are nice, plenty of food options in and outside the hotel, lots of places to hang out. Lots to see, lots to buy/try, lots of people to meet for the first time and get reacquainted with. More classes of all sorts and more opportunities for people to hang out and learn from others. They’ve improved their social media presence even more than last year, as well as highlighting vendors and classes and posting/sharing IG stories. All this has made me rethink my second favorite show of the circuit (even with all its crowding, it will always be difficult to unseat my home show, SF). Sorry, Chicago, but CAPS 2026 was awesome and is now my second fave show (for now)!
As always, the best part of pen shows are the people, and this show was no exception. Because there were good sized crowds on all the days, people were pretty tired and chill on all the nights, including Saturday night, which tends to be the rowdiest, but not this time.
Folks hanging out in the lobby area on Saturday night.
Insider the hotel Starbucks seating area (also Sat night).
More people outside enjoying a beverage and/or cigar (also Sat night - sense a theme?)
If this isn’t “baby Brad”, I don’t know who is. Brandon, one of the servers for most of the weekend, was a great sport about this pic and gladly did the Bossman impression as best he could. Don’t fire me, Boss! 😄
Compared to my usual pen show hauls, this was relatively restrained! I tried to be more mindful about what I wanted to get, instead of getting everything in sight.
Two A5 zipper pouches from Galen Leather, Minini fountain pens from Itoya Studio, special RainbowRule ™ Post-It ® notes designed by Jenn Smith (yes, they are actually Post-It ®), and two Herbin refillable markers from Lemur Ink that I can’t WAIT to try with fountain pen ink.
”News”, RiraRiraHanko baseball stamps (and card) and washi, and “show ticket” from PaperTreats, stickers and washi tape from Kuboandlucy Stationery Co, sticker sheet, swatch card, and stamp from Pinky Elephant, and stickers from Sugar Turtle Studio.
I may have gone a little more nuts on the paper end, but really, it’s not that bad.
*Inserts from Kuboandlucy Stationery Co, Paper Passport from Everyday Explorers, Japanese collage notecards by Mai’s mom, inserts by Curnow Bookbinding and Leather, and a Graphilo notebook from Nagasawa. *
Pens: Penlux Delgado Moss, Monteverde Dakota Raw Flame, Kaweco Sport, Galen Leather exclusive Vivianite. Inks: Robert Oster x Galen Leather Vivianite, Diamine x Galen Leather Zeugma and Anatolia, Nagasawa/Kobe x CA Pen Show California Teal Blue, Sailor 2026 Pen Show Exclusive, and Visconti Sepia.
Probably one of my more extravagant purchases, but I just couldn’t resist this gorgeous Year of the Horse special edition from Leuchtturm, and also got it debossed.
CA Pen Show bag and brochure (show pin is somewhere in my office), Rickshaw CAPS pen sleeve.
I always say that the stuff is awesome, but the real haul are the friendships made and nurtured at shows <3 data-preserve-html-node="true"
Selfie with Rheena, Christina, and Job.
So lovely to meet Quiet Lovely Things at the show - we’ve been drooling over each others’ posts for quite a while now!
I got to see Meltem and Yunus from Galen Leather AND pick up their latest exclusive Kaweco Sport!
Closing out the show outside on Sunday night with Zory (Pilot), Kirk, Marty, Jeremy (Flax), Kimberly (the best name), and Abbie.
Lots of fun memories of the 2026 California Pen Show in here! Gonna need a full size insert next time! (Cover stickers by Sugar Turtle Studio (left) and PaperTreats (right), which I colored in with a Sharpie.
I’m excited for the next show coming up: the Baltimore International Pen Show, and shortly thereafter, the San Francisco Stationery Fest. After that, (hopefully) the Little Craft Fest in Houston, and the Chicago Pen Show. I hope to see you at one of these shows! Until then, stay warm & dry, stay safe, and stay inky!
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