Review: J. Herbin Rouge Opera Fountain Pen Ink

This is a bit of a delayed review, thanks go to Karen over at Quo Vadis Blog for sending me this ink to review.

Info:
Paper: Rhodia Bloc N*14 5x5Pen: Hero 616

&
Navigator
Inkjet Paper
24lb
8 1/2 x 11"

I think because of the time of day I took these pictures and the flash it came out darker then the actual color. This ink is a real vibrant red under bright lights and a bit more muted in low light.

Review: J. Herbin Orange Indien Fountain Pen Ink Review

Okay so I'm a little late with this review, thanks go to Karen over at Quo Vadis Blog for sending me this ink to review.


Info:
Paper: Rhodia Bloc N*14 5x5
Pen: Hero 616
&
Navigator
Inkjet Paper
24lb
8 1/2 x 11"

This color really popped on the page, it came out bright and clean. Not a color that I would usually buy but really changed my mind.



Hopefully this review can give you some ideas if your in the market for Orange ink!

Review: J. Herbin Vert Empire Fountain Pen Ink Review

There's a couple reviews floating around the Internet about this ink so I wanted to show some pictures of it to give you an idea of the color if your in the market for a nice muted green ink.








Info:
Paper: Rhodia Bloc N*14 5x5
Pen: Hero 616










Thanks to the great folks at Quo Vadis Blog! who provided this sample to review!













Enjoy,
~C

Review: Hero 616 Fountain Pen UPDATE

I forgot to mention the filling system of the Hero 616 Fountain pen so I felt I'll just do another post so I could add more pictures.



There is a small ink window, which does nothing to indicate ink level. It only indicates the color of the ink inside and turns clear when the ink is almost out.





It has a permanent squeeze filling system, which comprises a sac which is housed in metal. One fills the pen by pressing on a bar next to the sac, which flattens the sac, forcing air out, and releasing the bar so that ink is sucked in the sac as it expands again. Here's the trick to fill these pen all the way, once you get the pen filled once turn it right side up (the tip pointing to the sky) and press the bar again. Now put the pen's tip back into your ink and depress to take in more ink. Two fills should be enough I tried three and it became overfilled.

Review: Hero 616 Fountain Pen

Here's a quick picture post of some new fountain pens that I purchased to test out ink colors and to have a everyday fountain pen. I got this pack from eBay, for a little less then $11 including shipping & handling so they cost me about $1.10 a piece. :D













I'll have some reviews on inks coming soon.

Review: Piccadilly Wire-O Notebooks

The great folks over at Piccadilly, Inc. were kind enough to send me a couple Wire-O Notebooks to review. I was sent one of the Butterfly and Asian Art covers. First off the cover is nice and thick not easily torn (if even possible), and the colors are extremely vivid. Which, I think is great if our going to be carrying this around daily for note taking; the paper is smooth (200 pages) with a bit of a thick feel.

Specs from the site:
Pages: 200
Inside Pages: Lined
Cover style: Hard Cover
Paper color: White
Paper Quality: 100GSM Wood Free Paper
Binding: Wire-O

Now it might not be the best notebook for fountain pens because some reviewers had issues with bleeding, but if your a regular pen and pencil user then this notebook is smooth sailing for you. With it's great price and nice paper Wire-O is a great everyday notebook.

Review: Zebra Clip-On Slim 3 Color 0.7 mm Ballpoint Multi Pen - Crystal Body

Review: Zebra Clip-On Slim 3 Color 0.7 mm Ballpoint Multi Pen - Crystal Body

I picked this up from JetPens! a while ago and have to say I love this multi-pen. Feelings may be because I love Zebra products, they always work when I pick one up and I do like multi-pens when I'm taking notes.



However, quality is quality and this is a quality pen, looking for a smooth writing multi-pen this would be in the top five.

Review: Myndology Disc Bound Notebooks

myndology graciously sent me a sample of there notebooks
and note cards to review.

Your taking notes and turn the page to continue your thoughts and realize that you just skipped two pages! What do you do: tear the pages out and use them to make airplanes or work on your art skills and draw pictures to remember what your writing. Well with these great notebooks from myndology you don't have to worry about that anymore. Myndology notebooks lets you tear pages out and rearrange them however you like.

Need to make a copy of a page in your notebook, just tear it out and add it back in wherever you like. Working on some poems and want to rearrange the order feel free! Now here's some words from their site:

What is Disc Bound? Innovative. A binding that lets you pull sheets out and put them back in. Freedom to change your mind. Rearrange your thoughts. Even use multiple sizes of paper in one notebook. How many sizes are in yours? What will you do with them? Study? Create? Journal? Reorganize? Sort?

Now what are the note cards, (come in different sizes) description from their website:

Notebook page full? Need a to-do? A note? A page marker? Don't lose it. Snap one of these into any of the Disc Bounds for quick and easy reference. Or use it by itself. Vocabulary study. Memorization. Doodling. E-mail addresses. Versatile. For big thinkers.

On to the ring bound note cards, which come in different sizes:

Keep your thoughts together. Put them in order. Rearrange. Organize. Bring them with you, wherever you go. Pick the size that's right for you. Choose your favorite color. These aren't your everyday flash cards. This is Ring Bound. This is for students, artists and business people. Myndology. Fresh. Smart. Good thinking.


So do I like this style of notebook? YES! Great paper, great look, great idea.

Review: Zebra Sarasa Gel Ink Pen - 0.4 mm - Red Black

I picked this pen up from JetPens because I read some reviews on it and they said this pen is great. Well..... it is!!! Writes like a charm this red/black ink is really nice it's a great mix of both colors.


Looking for a everyday pen, well here you go!

* UPDATED with pics of the ink.

Review: Lamy Safari Charcoal EF Nib

Many say great minds think alike, while I was working on the post I checked out a fellow blogger that I enjoy and noticed that he had recently purchased the sameLamy Safari, check out his site, there's a witting sample posted! When I started this blog I noticed that many that had a blog on pens had a equal love for fountain pens.

I remember my first experience with a fountain pen, I was in high school and I believe I purchased one at Wal-Mart. To be honest it was a disaster, the nib was to big, I was using the wrong paper so it bled through multiple pages, and leaked! So after reading many post on fountain pens I felt the best pen to try out would be the Lamy Safari. I did purchase a Platinum Preppy prior but that's for another review.

I found this great Ebay seller (jbs1963) from the UK that had an assortment of Lamy's and if you email him he can check to see if there's a color or nib not posted that you would like, that's how I got the Charcoal Lamy with an EX-nib, I just sent him an email. Great prices and shipping is extremely quick about 5-7 days to the US.

If your looking to try your hand with fountain pens, I have to say Lamy is the way to go!

Review: Pentel EnerGel Pen

I picked up the Pentel EnerGel Needle-Point Liquid Ink Pen - 0.5 mm - Violet from JetPens, the description stated its a top choice for lefties (which I'm one of) because of the quick drying ink. It's ascetically please and has a great grip. I have to say I used this pen about four - five times.

Description from the site:

The best qualities of liquid ink and gel ink pens are blended into a super smooth ink formula in the new Pentel EnerGel Needle-Point pen. The pen comes in vivid colors that dry quickly and are smear proof. The pen is wonderful for left-handers. Its acid-free ink makes it safe for scrap booking!

Now on to the issues, I really wanted to like this pen but it's extremely inconsistent, which is the reason why I've only used it five times tops. It starts off with a good clean line of ink, dries quickly, and three words into your thoughts the ink dies. I was able to resurrect it once before, now I think it might be dead... Maybe I just got a bad pen and you might have better luck.

*Pictures taken from JetPens.com

Review: Clairefontaine Wirebound Notebook

Big thanks go out to Karen from Exaclair, Inc. for another great Notebook to review.

* Image taken from Swisherpens.com

Info on Notebook:
* Wirebound
* Multiple Subjects Pages in pale pastel colors: blue, pink, green & yellow with blank index tabs
* Graph w/12 tabs
* 60 sheets 6 3/4" / 8 5/8"


This is a real handy notebook you can divide it up and use as a sectional for classes or as a handy journal. As always extremely smooth paper, which you will find with all Clairefontaine products. If your looking to pick this up head over to The Daily Planner for great prices and selection.

Reviews on the way!

I have a couple of reviews on the way... things have been a little hectic.

Review: Field Notes Memo Books

"I'm not writing it down to remember it later,
I'm writing it down to remember it now."

The good folks at Field Notes sent me a sample package to review!
Details:
- 48 page memo book
- 3-1/2" wide by 5-1/2″ tall
- Rugged three-staple saddle-stitch process
- Perfect 3/16″ (5mm) graphed paper
- Manufactured and printed in the U.S.A.
I really enjoy the brown graph lines instead of the standard blue.

When I'm on the go I usually write myself notes on Post It's Notes and toss them when I'm done, with these handy memo books these are a keeper for my purse! Great size, smooth paper, and appealing layout.

Review: Uni-ball Signo Bit UM-201 Gel Ink Pen - 0.18 mm - Red

I received the Uni-ball Signo Bit UM-201 Gel Ink Pen - 0.18 mm - Red from JetPens! to review. I know there's a couple of reviews out there about this pen so I won't be too wordy with mine. The design of the pen is really nice with a splash of color from the cap of the pen to the tail section letting you know which color your using.
Writing with the pen is pretty comfortable because of the molded plastic on the body. Your able to make some really fine lines with this pen as I realized with the rice test. I was able to write clearly on a grain of rice the word 'pens'.
The is some scratching noise when writing with this pen other then that this is a great everyday pen.

Review: Sakura Pigma Micron 01

What a great pen! I was a bit nervous about the fine tip thinking that it would break because I have a tendency to press down hard on my pens when writing but this wasn't the case. I love these pens for taking notes on fine paper like a bible because the ink doesn't bleed through the page. If you looking for a fine tip pen pick these up. The ones that I purchased are the 01 - .25MM nib, 6-color pack. This isn't where I purchased them but I love this store JetPens!