Yesterday felt like all the gifting holidays wrapped into one when four packages arrived at the same time for me. Sure, I ordered everything but it was pure happenstance that it all showed up on the same day.
The first thing I opened was from Amazon. It contained chromatography paper strips which I ordered to use with my inks. I may have fallen down a rabbit hole looking at an artists Instagram (Nick Stewart – @quinkanandbleach) that explored fountain pen inks chromatography properties to create beautiful images. I was already interested in the thought of exploring fountain pen ink chromatography for fun (and science!) but using fountain pen ink for something other than writing is fascinating and another thing I would like to explore. These chromatography papers strips are the first step.
The second package I opened was an Etsy order I placed from Oblique Love Letters.
I came across this store looking for cute things to keep ink sample vials from falling over. I’d seen a few really adorable ones in some ink swatch videos and realizing that it might be a helpful thing to have when I start my own ink swatch cards I went looking for one. While I wouldn’t say these are actually cute I will say they were more of an added bonus. What I was really interested in and taken by was the glass ink well and the flower pen rest. The whole parcel was a treat to open and everything was wrapped just so. I was aware of the personalization the shop owner did from other reviews so finding the tag with my name wasn’t as much of a surprise. What was was the ink. I either didn’t read the description correctly or it was an added gift. I haven’t gone back to check yet, it was definitely not something I expected to find. This makes the 12th bottle of ink…
Oh! I ended up asking Matthew if he could possibly make a stand for my ink sample vials in his shop and after looking at some images I came across he said he could absolute do so. I haven’t a clue as to when he’ll get round to it but I can wait. I have these two doohickies in the meantime.
Goulet Pens is one of my favorite sites to shop when it comes to fountain pens and such. (Though I am branching out.) As I mentioned in my last post they were who I was told to go to for ink cartridges. Not long ago I bought a Platinum Preppy Wa and a surprise me ink sample. When I received said order I found that the ink sample had leaked inside its bag. After contacting customer service they sent a replacement ink sample that happened to arrive with another I had placed a day or so after ordering the Platinum Preppy Wa.
As I mentioned, I’ve been watching a lot of ink swatching videos on YouTube and I think the Ink Swatch books are a really neat idea. In fact after I picked up a colo-ring deck I decided to make a few more swatch books from paper I actually use – Tomoe River, Rhodia, Clairefontaine. I didn’t want to use the loose leaf sheets I had of Tomoe River and I didn’t feel like wasting a large Rhodia pad that could be better used as something else. I did have a small notebook for Clairefontaine though so I started with that. Then I took a look at the sample paper pack that Goulet offers. It’s changed somewhat since the first time I ordered it, but it had the two papers I was missing plus a few others that I might take a look at later. Then while I was there I looked at my wish list. On impulse I added Pelikan Twist plus a converter and randomly chose one of two twisbi models (Twisbi Eco & Twisbi 580ALR) I have been eyeing for a while now. I added another surprise me ink sample and hit the purchase button. This parcel was probably the one I was most looking forward to because of the Twisbi. Funny. I haven’t taken it out of that case yet. Oh. It’s in the limited edition color Prussian Blue, by the way. I spent a small part of the evening yesterday creating the ink swatch books which you will see in my next post.
The final package came from Yoseka Stationary. This was my first order with them and it was mostly washi tape and stickers because I was influenced by all the journaling/planning aspects of most of the YouTube videos I’ve been watching. I’m not actually going to use them for journaling perse but I am planning on practicing and improving my handwriting by copying out poems from an old college book I have on my bookshelf. (I’m not the only one that keeps Norton Anthologies am I?) I did get a Dip Pen – the Sailor Hocoro with a calligraphy nib (this is my first calligraphy nib) I’m planning on picking up a fine nib and feed in the future when it is in stock again. I thought this would be a good addition to my glass dip pens.
Who knew that finding the fountain pen community on YouTube would lead to this? I’d be lying to you and myself if I said I didn’t know it would happen. When something catches my attention I tend to go the “Do All The Things” route. I’ve gone through this pattern plenty of times to know what’s happening. This time however, for right now, I am taking things as slow as possible (for me). Which means at the moment there is an Etsy order arriving in the next several days and possibly an order from Amazon again. But I’ll tell you about that in another Recent Acquisition post. Until my next post…
Much love,
Charlie
Loose Endings Studio 