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Snippets: the week in stationery

I’ve had an up and down week or two, both in the world of stationery and life generally. Work has turned manic, lots of adulting to do, and the next few months look like they’ll be tiring. Expect less activity on the blog for the foreseeable.

New posts: Muji and failure

In case you missed them, two posts went up on the blog this week: an editorial on the constant quest for the new, and a review of the round aluminium Muji fountain pen. Take a look if you haven’t already.

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New arrivals: Montblanc Shaw

This week I’m excited to welcome my first Montblanc Writer’s Edition, the Shaw. I’d been lusting over one of these since Roy at Izods had one, and a sudden lack of willpower over an eBay listing led to this:

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It’s a stunning pen, although I’m not sure it’s a lifelong love now that I have it in my hand.

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Late arrivals: Conid

Long-term readers may remember that I ordered a Conid Regular back on the 3rd December. With the Christmas break in the way, Conid estimated a ship date of 28th January. Well, I’m still waiting — and I hear from them today that they had a QC issue and won’t be shipping out until next week. An eleven-week wait is practically unbearable for me.

Still waiting too for the Pelikan M1005 that I preordered some weeks back. I’m definitely going off Pelikan, but I’m excited to have an M100x back in the collection.

Overdue reviews

A while back the nice folks at Archie’s Calligraphy sent me some of their calligraphy paper to review. I posted briefly about it in a previous blog, but they must have missed it because they chased me up. I’m still no calligrapher, but I can reaffirm that this is good stuff. Whatever style of lettering you’re practicing, they’ve got a guide for it, and the underlying paper is pretty good for fountain pens too. A tiny bit of feathering on flex nibs, but I’ve seen a lot worse.

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Behind the lens

I’ve been struggling with my camera setup over the past few months. I migrated from Sony to Fuji, and I simply haven’t been able to get macro or lighting dialled in. I’m trying a ring flash now which seems to be helping — I’d love any input or ideas from the pros out there.

Impending travels

This Sunday I head off on another trip, so I’ve had the joy of picking my pen loadout again. This time, I’m going large, with my (repaired) Oldwin Art Deco Rouge Sang Pareil, the Conid Kingsize, and Scribo Write Here. What do you think?

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1 Comment

  1. rupertarzeian

    Sounds like you have a lot going on in all departments. I think I too would struggle with those long waits for pens to arrive. Congrats on the new Montblanc Writers Edition. And I love the phrase ‘sudden lack of willpower’. (Been there!)

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