Cards, Notes, Writing Paper & a new Pen

[John in Covina]

As a happy fountain pen user for personal correspondence, I know that fine paper is a thing of joy to use when sending that note or letter to a dear friend or loved one. They're great for a personal invite to a small get together too.

One thing I like is Crane notes and card for "Thank Yous" and short communications. I als have some plain cards from G. Lalo they make such nice paper from writing. One thing is it is better to write a short note and get it out right away than a long letter that never gets written.

I am planning on getting some personalized flat notes at some point, the whole personalized stationary has a great appeal to me.


I have the Amalfi Amatruda paper for big letters and that takes a fountain pen really well. Although with most unlined paper I have to put a lined sheet underneath as a guide, my writing will go up or down as I head to the right side of the page!:eusa_doh:

When Christmas comes I like to get out some of my Italic type nib fountain pens and fill up with a variety of Red and Green ink for those cards, I think that splash of color adds to the festive mood.

Swisher had a sale with a 10% coupon on their pens and I went for a PLATINUM brand MUSIC PEN!!! It has their music nib which is sort of an Italic / stub nib made for writing music notes. It has an unusual feature where instead of one split in the nib for the ink it has two for the best posible flow.
I should geit it in about 2 weeks as they were out of stock. I am really looking forward to trying this one out.

Italic and stub nibs can really spice up the appearence of ones writing and make a great signature pen too.

Happy Writing feloow Loungers!

 

[BJBAmerica]

Just celebrated my 40th Birthday yesterday, Sept. 14th, and after reading the posts here about fountain pens, really wanted to get one. Had read really good things here about the Waterman Phileas, which is what my wife gave me yesterday for my birthday....Nice looking pen, looking forward to using it, and not too costly either.

 

[John in Covina]

Just celebrated my 40th Birthday yesterday, Sept. 14th, and after reading the posts here about fountain pens, really wanted to get one. Had read really good things here about the Waterman Phileas, which is what my wife gave me yesterday for my birthday....Nice looking pen, looking forward to using it, and not too costly either.

************
Happy 40th. The Waterman is a great first pen. One thing to be aware of is to avoid paper that has a coating on it or using it on paper fresh out of the printer or copy machine as they have chemicals that can interfere with the ink and nib. Also avoid recycled paper. Hope you'll get a chance to pick up some fine paper for your writing pleasure!

 

[imoldfashioned]

Happy Birthday! A nice pen is such a great gift. I get completely lost in good stationary stores--time evaporates. Always a good way to spend an afternoon.

 

[John in Covina]

So Cal paper.

I was down in Newport Beach recently visiting at the Francis Orr Stationer shop and was just enthralled with the paper and cards. Vroman's in Pasadena has some great stuff and Flax- Pen to Paper on the West Side has an outstanding selection. We lost the only corporate Crane Paper store last year which disappointed me... Rats!

 

[jgilbert]

I am sorry. However being left handed I can not use one! I smudge so badly that it would appear as one big blue dot! Does not matter the cost pen. One dollar to several hundard. I still make a rather large mess.

On a seperate note, do use Crane stationary. Love it!

 

[GwenLake]

I'm left handed also, but I use a fountain pen every day. The problem may be that you are not using a F nib, or that don't have fast enough drying ink.
Right now I'm using a Lamy Safari M with Lamy Black ink and I haven't had any problems so far.

 

[KittyT]

Crane is my absolute favorite for note and thank you cards! Even better, there is a Crane store near my office

I have not written with a fountain pen for many years. When I was in France, all my fellow students used them and I loved using one too. Then I lost my nice one and have not been able to afford to buy another nice one that doesn't leak everywhere. I do have a retractable fountain pen that is quite a novelty.

I prefer to use the erasable/disappearing fountain pen ink. I still have many, many cartridges left from the times I studied in France.

 

[nyx]

I love the look on paper of fountain pen ink, but I have crabbed, 5th grade boy handwriting that I've never been able to fix. For this reason, any type of pen with free-flowing ink just blobs and pools in some places and goes dry and thin in others when I write. I have to stick to Bics or no one can read my writing, including myself.

When I was in England, I bought a pen and ink set from the Library. Instead of a quill pen, the pen is made entirely of glass, with swirls in the glass holding the ink when you dip the pen. It came with 4 antique colored inks: brown, blue, red, and green. It's wonderful, but due to my problem above, I just open the box and sigh over it periodically, but have never really used it. [huh]

I, personally, have always been a big fan of the mechanical pencil. I have at least 7, because I like to get them in different size leads.

I've always been a fan of stationary too. I started collecting it at a pretty young age. In fact, I still have some sheets from my first stationary set. I was 11, and it had Scotty dogs on it with a pink ribbon. I also have a nice seal and wax that I like to use for letters. However, once again I have to point out that my rotten handwriting is so out of place considering how much I love paper and writing utensils. I hardly ever write letters because of it.

 

[Tomasso]

Crane.

We lost the only corporate Crane Paper store last year which disappointed me... Rats!

Crane does operate a website and though the offerings are not as extensive as their corporate store it does contain a clearance section.

 

[The Outlaw Kyle]

Big fan of Crane's paper here as well. I use there black bordered ecru notes for my thank you's, on the infrequent occasion that I write them. I also got some of there "Holiday" cards last year to send out to my customers. Seemed like last year I could not find a one that said "Christmas" at Crane's site. Now this year, it's about 50/50 which is fine by me. The paper feels so much nicer then that dollar store shinny cardboard crap. Alas, few people appreciate the quality anymore. I'm sure that few even noticed the difference.

 

[Josephine]

I like using fountain pens, and I'm sure it sacrilegious, but I like using Pilot's disposable fountain pens for everyday use. I'd lose my good ones otherwise.

 

[KittyT]

I like using fountain pens, and I'm sure it sacrilegious, but I like using Pilot's disposable fountain pens for everyday use. I'd lose my good ones otherwise.

Oooh! I used to have one of these and I absolutely LOVED it. And then I stopped being able to find them locally and forgot the brand. At least now, I know what to look for again, though I wish I knew of someplace local to buy them.

 

[Josephine]

Oooh! I used to have one of these and I absolutely LOVED it. And then I stopped being able to find them locally and forgot the brand. At least now, I know what to look for again, though I wish I knew of someplace local to buy them.

You might be able to find them in a local Staples, thought it might have to be a larger one. Or if your work orders from Staples, perhaps you can tack on a request for some and pay them. That's what I did at my last work, but it was a small business

 

[John in Covina]

I like using fountain pens, and I'm sure it sacrilegious, but I like using Pilot's disposable fountain pens for everyday use. I'd lose my good ones otherwise.

Some of the Fountain sellers on line have them, Google Pilot fountain pen Varsity and they should come up.

 

[imoldfashioned]

Oooh! I've never seen the disposable fountain pens before--I'm hitting my local stationers this weekend, I need one!

 

[Mid-fogey]

I've been using...

...fountain pens for many years. For some reason, about 15 years ago I became very partial to the ones that you can only fill from a bottle. My main pen is a Aurora Optima. I use it all the time, every day.

I take constant notes with it and have hundreds and hundreds of pages of them. The funny part is that I started taking good notes to fight boredom in meetings and keep myself focused. I have to be in there anyway, so... The side effect is no one ever questions what I say happend in a meeting.

My wife bought me a Netto inkwell for my birthday last year. It uses capillary tubes and vacuum pressure to fill the pen. It works with with total neatness. It's awesome. I recommend it.

My other favorite pen is a Pelikan 800. But --sob -- its broken. I bobbled it in the parking lot at work and it snapped in two. I've got the repair address. I've got to get off my lazy behonkey and mail it in.

Once you get used to a good pen, everything else feels like writing with a brick.

 

[Ecuador Jim]

Pen magazine has some neat ads for pens and stationery.

Always liked Crane's Moleskine Journals to write in.

 

[John in Covina]

Moleskine's ,I think are a stand alone company not owned by Cranes.

They are pretty cool and they have a cool website too.

The Grail Diary was a Moleskines if i am not mistaken.

 

[John in Covina]

SoCal Pen Club Meeting 9/22 Monrovia Fountain Pen Shop

Noon until 3pm