March 17, 2010

What is Nib Creep?

Nib creep is when ink from a fountain pen "creeps" out from between the slit in the nib onto the surface of the nib. According to the experts on The Fountain Pen Network this can happen due to a few different reasons including the type of ink in the pen, the type of metal the nib is made of or a small imperfection in the slit of the nib can be responsible for drawing ink out on to the nib. Some people do not like the way it looks or are concerned about staining something with the excess ink, however, a bit of nib creep does not seriously affect the performance of a fountain pen. I have a fountain pen that has some nib creep that seems to happen most during hot weather, but it does not affect the way it writes. For me, I don't find a little bit of nib creep to be particularly bothersome.

Posted by Cheryl at 10:49 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

March 10, 2010

Alice in Wonderland

All of you Johnny Depp fans out there must be thrilled at last week’s release of the film Alice in Wonderland! This new adventure film is an extension of the classic novels Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. The movie is directed by Tim Burton and stars Mia Wasikowska as Alice, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Crispin Glover, Michael Sheen and Stephen Fry.

The original novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was written in 1865 by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pen-name Lewis Carroll. The first version of the story was told by Charles Dodgson to 10 year old Alice Liddell and her sisters during a boat trip up the River Thames. The girls loved the story so much that Alice begged Dodgson to write it down and give it to her which he did over 2 years later. This 1864 version of the story was called Alice’s Adventures Under Ground and was illustrated by Dodgson himself. In 1865, an expanded version of the story was published with illustrations by John Tenniel and the title Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (often abbreviated to Alice in Wonderland). The novel instantly gained popularity and has been popular ever since!

Alice follows a white rabbit wearing a coat and looking at his watch down a rabbit hole to encounter peculiar creatures such as Bill the Lizard, a caterpillar, a grinning Cheshire Cat, the March Hare, a Dormouse, the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts and more. It is believed that the characters and the places in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland are based on real people and places in Charles Dodgson’s life.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland can be read online as part of the Gutenberg Project. As of March 2, 2010 this book took the number one spot in the top 100 EBooks on this website! If you are an Alice fan you can find some fun Art Deco 7321 Alice in Wonderland themed journals, planners, wallets and more at Writer’s Bloc. We also have a couple of notebooks with cover illustrations of tall Alice and Alice & the white rabbit. What is your favorite part of Alice’s adventure?

Posted by Cheryl at 10:30 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

March 03, 2010

Caring For Your Aurora Fountain Pen

Once you’ve invested in a fine quality writing instrument such as an Aurora fountain pen, one of the first questions many people ask is, “how should I take care of my fountain pen?” Aurora Pens recommends both “love and cleanliness.”

To clean your Aurora fountain pen, the manufacturer recommends using exclusively cold water, using water to fill and empty the pen and/or cartridge repeatedly, until the water rinses clean. To clean the outside of the pen you may simply use soap and water and then thoroughly dry the pen.

Aurora advises that to safely clean your fountain pens you should “absolutely avoid any use of alcohol, solvents or hot water which could ruin your pen and compromise its surfaces.” To eliminate any ink stains simply leave the pen in cold water, even for a few days if necessary.

If you should happen to damage your pen from an impact or fall, Aurora has experts that can repair your pen and return it to you as good as new.

As far as the “love” goes, we trust that you already know how to love your fountain pens! We love our fountain pens too! Depending on how you are going to use your pen, it can be helpful to have a nice pen case to store it in.

If you have any helpful tips on how to care for fountain pens we would love to hear your comments.

Posted by Cheryl at 08:46 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

February 24, 2010

J. Herbin Gris Nuage & Exacompta Basics Sketchbook

One of my favorite ink, paper and pen combinations is J. Herbin Gris Nuage ink, Exacompta Basics silver-edged sketchbook and the Pelikano Junior or any medium to broad nib size fountain pen.

Even though J. Herbin Gris Nuage is not a silver ink, the silver pages of the sketch book make me think of silver as I write and they complement the ink color nicely. The soft grey ink has beautiful shading and reminds me of writing or sketching with a pencil. From my point of view, it does not look like a watered down black ink, it looks like it is supposed to be a grey color. This ink has a decent drying time so I don't have too many problems with smudging.

Since this ink is not a dark or intense color, I like using it best in a fountain pen with a medium to broad nib size, such as my Pelikan Pelikano Junior with the left-handed nib. The LAMY Joy calligraphy pen or any LAMY fountain pen with a medium or wider size nib would also work well with Gris Nuage ink.

And, of course, the Exacompta Basics sketchbook or journal contains some of my favorite paper. This off-white, 100g, acid-free laid paper is a dream to sketch or write on!

Posted by Cheryl at 09:39 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

February 17, 2010

What is 90 g Paper?

When paper has a weight of 90 g (or gm/m2, gsm, g/m2), this means that one sheet of this paper that is one square meter in size weighs 90 grams. Paper that is 80 g would most often be lighter and thinner than 90 g paper, paper that is 100 g would be thicker and heavier. This European measurement is approximately equal to the English measurement of 24 lb. bond/writing or 60 lb. text paper. I'm not even going to attempt to explain the complicated English method of measuring paper density, but you can read about it on Wikipedia if you wish.

Clairefontaine 90 g paper is well-known and loved by fountain pen users the world over. The weight of this paper combined with Clairefontaine's super smooth finish performs very well with fountain pen nibs and ink. There is very minimal, if any, problems with fountain pen ink on this paper such as bleeding through the paper, feathering or showing through to the other side. If you haven't already tried Clairefontaine's famous paper why not add some to your collection. Your fountain pen and your hand will thank you!

Posted by Cheryl at 09:27 AM | | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

February 10, 2010

Kelly's Wish List

Though I am surrounded by hundreds of pens, pencils, and notebooks everyday I cannot possibly (okay, practically) own all of the products that I would like. Here is my wish list of things I would love to call my own. What's on your wish list?

Purple LAMY Al-Star Pen

It was a rare case of love at first sight when I saw the new Purple LAMY Al-Star Pen. That might sound a little extreme, but this shade of deep wine purple is my absolute favorite color and I have been wanting to get a new fountain pen to plan lessons and grade papers when I start student teaching next year.

Pentel Slicci - Set of 8

The Pentel Slicci gel pen has quickly become my favorite everyday pen. It's especially good for jotting down notes in the margins of books and articles since it has such a fine tip. I would love to have this colorful set to start my quest of owning all the colors!

Robert Le Heros Journal

I have always admired the size and feel of the Robert Le Heros journals, and the cover design is so pretty! I am coming to the end of my current Clairefontaine journal, maybe this one will be next!

Bohnanza

The best part of this game is that in the heat of serious bean negotiations true personalities come out, and they are often surprising and hilarious. Since so many of my friends own this game I haven't picked it up for myself, but when I move away I will definitely have to buy it and take it with me.

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February 03, 2010

A Lefty's Favorite Gel Pens

After trying and rejecting (due to left-handed smearing issues) many types of gel pens over the years, I've finally found two kinds of gel pens that I absolutely love!

At the top of my list would have to be the Pentel Energel liquid ink gel pen. Even when I use this pen with a 0.7mm needle tip I do not smear the ink! The Pentel Energel pens I've been using have lasted several years without running out of ink and I love that you can get refills in the color violet (I have them in all colors). Another great thing about the Pentel Energel pen is that it comes in other styles besides the basic pen. The Energel refills work with the Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip DX pen and the Pentel Tradio is available in colors ranging from a subdued a matte brown to a zingy metallic watermelon red. I find the grip on these Pentel pens to be very comfortable in my hand and they are nice smooth writers.

The other gel pen that I love also happens to be made by Pentel - the Pentel Slicci gel pen with a 0.25mm tip. This pen comes in an array of colors and I prefer it when I need to write small or when I'm doing detailed drawings. This is another gel pen I can use without smearing ink all over the place. I'm still working on my collection of pen colors... perhaps I should just break down and buy the set of 8 pens. We've heard from Pentel that a metallic version of this pen is coming soon!

If any of you know of other good gel pens to recommend for left-handed writers or have thoughts about Pentel Energel liquid gel pens we would love to hear your comments!

Posted by Cheryl at 10:42 AM | | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)