Montblanc Homage to Homer Fountain Pen Bespoke Calligraphy Music Nib

This pen is on loan from a friend! Sadly.

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If you enjoy and/or appreciate it and you want to lend your continued support, please do check me out on Patreon. You can pledge your support and/or undying love for as little as $1. You are in no way obligated to do so. I appreciate your readership, viewership, and your support so much - thank you! 

Handwriting and lettering names in various calligraphy styles - Episode 02

 

Tools:
Colorverse Cat Glistening
Opus88 Koloro x Gourmet Pens Swirl + EF Steel flex nib
Rhodia paper

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If you enjoy and/or appreciate and you want to lend your continued support, please do check me out on Patreon. You can pledge your support and/or undying love for as little as $1. You are in no way obligated to do so. I appreciate your readership, viewership, and your support so much - thank you! 

Handwriting and lettering names in various calligraphy styles - Episode 01

I just felt like doing this last week. I felt like writing names, even though I am not a professional. This was just so much fun. I'll do it again! I'll be posting on my Facebook page and Instagram page, where you can leave your name (or anything, really) to be written! 

Some of the tools I used:

Opus88 x Gourmet Pens Koloro Swirl fountain pen
Pennonia Wasp ink
Pilot Parallel
Colorverse Glistening Ham #65 ink 

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If you enjoy and/or appreciate and you want to lend your continued support, please do check me out on Patreon. You can pledge your support and/or undying love for as little as $1. You are in no way obligated to do so. I appreciate your readership, viewership, and your support so much - thank you! 

Serious Nibbage Snippet Gourmet Pens Hot Pink Lemonade Fountain Pen with Pilot Parallel Calligraphy Nib

The Hot Pink Lemonade fountain pen - obviously one of my favourite pens, and one that has been inked non-stop since I first received the prototype many months ago! Actually, it's probably close to a year by now. It sports a Pilot Parallel section all of the time, and it's always being eyedroppered with this and that and the other. Most often, Gourmet Pens Pink!

Visit the shop for the last few pieces!

Gourmet Pens Hot Pink Lemonade Fountain Pen
Pilot Parallel Fountain Pens
Gourmet Pens Pink ink

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If you enjoy and/or appreciate and you want to lend your continued support, please do check me out on Patreon. You can pledge your support and/or undying love for as little as $1. You are in no way obligated to do so. I appreciate your readership, viewership, and your support so much - thank you! 

Fountain Pen Handwriting Fun for $25 - Moonman + Fude Bent Nib!

 

Moonman + Fude Nibs on Amazon - prices vary from time to time so keep your eye out for your best deal!

Toronto Pen Company JoWo modified nib units

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There are affiliate links in this post. If you enjoy and/or appreciate and you want to lend your continued support, please do check me out on Patreon. You can pledge your support and/or undying love for as little as $1. You are in no way obligated to do so. I appreciate your readership, viewership and your support so much - thank you! 

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The P.W. Akkerman x Gourmet Pens Pink Ink Collaboration:
Need some more PINK in your life?

/ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\*ᵖᵘʳʳ*

P.W. Akkerman
Vanness Pens
Lemur Ink
Bookbinders Design
Laywine's (call or email)

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Montblanc x Fritz Schimpf 149 The Expressive Flex Italic Nib Fountain Pen

 

Hot hot hot and limited! Check out The Expressive at Fritz Schimpf!
Ink: Montblanc Elixir Egyptomania Cobalt Green

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If you enjoy and/or appreciate and you want to lend your continued support, please do check me out on Patreon. You can pledge your support and/or undying love for as little as $1. You are in no way obligated to do so. I appreciate your readership, viewership and your support so much - thank you! 

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The P.W. Akkerman x Gourmet Pens Pink Ink Collaboration:
Need some more PINK in your life?

/ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\*ᵖᵘʳʳ*

P.W. Akkerman
Vanness Pens
Lemur Ink
Bookbinders Design
Laywine's (call or email)

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Montblanc 149 Calligraphy Redux

 One year later, a look at how the Montblanc Meisterstück 149 Calligraphy Flex Nib is holding up to constant use. Did you miss the original review? No worries!

I purchased mine at Appelboom.

 

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The P.W. Akkerman x Gourmet Pens Pink Ink Collaboration:
Need some more PINK in your life?

/ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\*ᵖᵘʳʳ*

P.W. Akkerman
Vanness Pens
Lemur Ink
Bookbinders Design
Laywine's (call or email)

If you enjoy and/or appreciate and you want to lend your continued support, please do check me out on Patreon. You can pledge your support and/or undying love for as little as $1. You are in no way obligated to do so. I appreciate your readership, viewership and your support so much - thank you! 

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Pilot Parallel Letters A B C D

I am not a trained calligrapher by any stretch of the imagination but I sing the praises of the Pilot Parallel Calligraphy fountain pens on the regular. In fact, I even did a Pilot Parallel Calligraphy Fountain Pens 101 video awhile back and it's - if I may toot my own horn - a great starter guide to the pens and how to use them. 

Obviously these are fantastic pens for practicing calligraphy, lettering, and alphabets in general. I like to play around with styles because before you know it, you’ve morphed several into one new style and it looks really cool. Well, usually they look terrible and wrong but sometimes it works out. That’s why messing around is fun. I typically eyedropper mine (again, instructions in that video I linked) but you can also use a Pilot cartridge/converter. Ink flow tends to be quite generous when eyedroppered and consistent with the cartridge/converter set up. I prefer the eyedropper set up because I love the super juicy, gushing type of ink flow to really make inks pop. If this applies to you, I'd say they are the best for shimmery and sheeny inks. They are just so easy to clean and maintain, they are nice and juicy, and they're affordable. 

The shape of the plates does result in having somewhat sharp corners but a light hand is all you need for these pens. If you find the corners catching on the page, you might want to lighten your pressure, ease up on the grip of the pen, but also perhaps try practicing writing with the pen in general to get more comfortable with its angles. One of the things I did over and over was learn how to rotate the nib in all directions without lifting it off the page - this helped me learn to keep a light hand when rounding the corners. 

There is no shortage of resources and guides out there if you do some quick Googling. Toronto Pen Company has released a free Gothic Batarde workbook for the first group of miniscule letters. Check it out here and get started on some Batarde practice! If you follow TPC on social media, you can stay tuned for new releases and other fun goodies. FACEBOOK   INSTAGRAM    TWITTER

The above three inks: Diamine Manggis for Pen Gallery

Ink: Diamine November Rain from Papier & Stift

Montblanc Elixir Calligraphy Inks - Black & Yellow Gold

Montblanc is always launching new stuff - pens, notebooks, accessories, inks, all that stuff. They've really been pumping out the inks lately and it's hard to keep up. One of the coolest things they've done as of late, in my humble opinion, is the Calligraphy line up. I've done a video of the Meisterstück 149 Calligraphy Flex pen before and I show the inks but at the time, the focus was really on the pens.

To complement the Meisterstück Calligraphy Collection, two permanent inks, inspired by the old India ink, one of the oldest and most durable pigments, have been created. Permanent ink contains more solids than other inks, which build up inside the fountain pen over time. The water in the ink, which causes it to flow, evaporates, leaving behind soot and sediment that line the capillary grooves of the ink regulator and the fine capillaries of the piston filling mechanism. For this reason, it is important to clean the fountain pen with lukewarm water after every use of permanent ink to keep it in perfect condition. - Montblanc

Both inks have an awesome matte finish. The black is a really solid black color for those that love a pure black for their writing. Shading is virtually non existent and it offers some solid coverage. The yellow gold is a very pretty color, showing some shading and still holding that matte effect. Both inks have the kind of flow you would expect of a "sootier" ink - they're a little slower to flow so I was not expecting either ink to gush from my pens. I ended up putting it in a higher end piston-filler (see below - the actual Montblanc Calligraphy flex pen!) and it was not as difficult to clean out as I expected. I was just sure to use the pen daily and not let the ink dry out. As soon as it ran dry, I flushed it out - no leaving it in that to-clean pile for days. Or weeks. I wasn't worried about putting it in pens I could disassemble to clean. Sometimes the simple systems are best! Yay eyedroppers!

I like the appearance of the boxes and bottles. Super clean and classy. Stack and store easily in drawers and on shelves. They're not flashy. The bottles are easy to fill from because they have nice open mouths and deep bodies.

They are pricy as heck. You're looking at around $60USD per bottle. They are certainly unusual and unique, and offer a completely different writing experience and effect. They do take some extra care and attention. I appreciate having the opportunity to give them a shot - thank you to Appelboom for providing these bottles to me. You can browse the Montblanc inks at Appelboom here!

Fun & Simple Flourishing Workshop: Swirls & Twirls at the Baltimore Washington International Pen Show 2020

Come learn some fun and simple swirls and twirls with me! In this workshop, I will teach you some basic flourishes that you can use in your snail mail, in your inky journals, and everywhere for added flair.

Supplies: Please bring your own inked fountain pen(s), pencils, or any other analog writing instrument instrument you feel comfortable with, and a fountain pen friendly notebook/notepad. Tickets are quite limited so don't miss out.

$40 workshop fee. Does not include show admission.

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE!

Graf Von Faber-Castell Tamitio Calligraphy Set

Thank you to Laywine's for loaning me this calligraphy set to share with you! I hope you find this overview helpful.

Letters & Textures Modified Pilot Parallel Workshop at the Chicago Pen Show 2019

Join me and Salman Khattak at the Chicago Pen Show in May to explore the variety of lettering and textures that can be produced with a Pilot Parallel Pen modified to write like a Folded Pen.

$60USD/$75CAD

REGISTER HERE!

You will also learn some cool creative techniques to get the most out of your Pilot Parallel Pens including how to make splatters and create gradients.

The workshop will also introduce the use of a Brass Folded Pen. We will have some available for testing and playing.

All supplies will be provided (and are yours to take home). Just show up with an enthusiasm to explore a different way to enjoy pens and inks.

Opus 88 Koloro Demonstrator + Pilot Parallel BEST BROAD EDGE CALLIGRAPHY PEN EVER?

A really, really easy nib swap to make the Pilot Parallel calligraphy fountain pen even more awesome than it already is.

Opus 88 Koloro Demonstrator from Goldspot Pens

Grab a Pilot Parallel over at my sponsor websites - discount codes are listed! No commission, just a sweet deal for you.

Wordless Wednesday

Field Trip @PaperPlusCloth in Toronto, Ontario

I recently attended my first calligraphy workshop at Paper Plus Cloth in Toronto - you can see the video here if you are interested! The shop itself is adorable, dangerous, and perfectly perfect! The workshop itself was an excellent learning opportunity and Candace and I headed a few stores down to pick up a coffee. It was early, ok? So please enjoy some photos of this shop you must visit and the coffee shop! Let's start with the food. Then you can feast your eyeballs on stationery, notebooks, washi tape, Traveler's Notebooks goodies, and more!

Don't laugh. It was my first attempt.