September Carnival of Pen and Paper (Also Pencils)

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Welcome to the September 10, 2013 edition of carnival of pen, pencil and paper.

miscellaneous

Melinda presents DIY Planner Layouts: Now with DIY Washi-Tape. posted at School Supply Dance, saying, "This is for my self made/DIY planner"

notebooks

Millie Logica presents Product review: Pantone A6 notebook posted at Planet Millie.

pencils

Heather presents Pencil Review: General's Kimberly posted at A Penchant for Paper.

pens

Cheryl presents How to Flush a Fountain Pen using a Monteverde Mini Converter posted at Writer's Bloc Blog.

Melinda presents Uglee pen posted at School Supply Dance.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
carnival of pen, pencil and paper
using our
carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our

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More Composition Book Stuff

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I decided to pick up a few more composition books while they are cheap at Staples. I noticed the made in Brazil books are fewerin numbers and mixed in with the Made in Egypt books. After digging through the stacks I noticed something.

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See it?

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The made in Brazil books are on the bottom and the made in Egypt books on top. The Books made in Brazil have a rounded spine. To find the Made in Brazil books I ran my hands over the spines of the book stacks and was easily and QUICKLY able to find the made in Brazil. Within seconds of figuring this out I have my stack of books and I was in line to pay. It took me a good 5 minutes or so to find the first made in Brazil book.

So all you fountain pen users who lova  a cheap notebook, look for rounded spines. Please note this may only be the case for the Staples branded notebooks as all my other composition notebooks- Mead and Norcom have rounded spines and are not good with fountain pens.

This is a Reason

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I used to love driving. Really, really loved it. I loved it until I started to commute over an hour each way on I95/128 here in MA. Driving 128 is enough to make the most seasoned driver anxious, adding to it a significant stretch of I95 and well, hell on earth. Leaving the corporate world means I get to leave the hellish commute behind.

Now my commute is about the same amount of time, but by train. I sit on the commuter rail and read books for school or write my papers out longhand. I sit and reflect on my class I just took. I watch the sparrows fly in and out of weeds and chainlink fence. I look at rusty poles as I wait for the train to pick me up. I talk to fellow passengers or bury my nose in my book.

I don't worry that someone will be distracted by their cell phone, drift over the line and sideswipe me. I'm not on high alert waiting for the other guy to almost kill me. I havent' had to call 911 when I've witnessed an accident.

It has been glorious and peaceful in a way.

This is just one view of my commute:

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I am thankful.

Review Redux: Scribal WorkShop Siren Blue Ink

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I reviewed Scribal's Siren Blue ink a few months back. I used this ink almost exclusively in my recent grad school class. Except when my pen wouldn't write because it had dried out.

This is a perfectly colored ink, PERFECT. I would buy this ink in a quart size if only it's flow and lubrication were better. This ink makes my normally smooth pens feel scratchy and like I'm wearing off the tipping. It also makes my wet pens feel like they flow erratically and slowly, making them dry writers. It also makes every pen I've had it in a hard starter, even the pens with air tight caps. Pens that I've never had starting issues with, start hard, and often need water added to the nib to get them going. Frustrating.

Here are a few thigns I've tried:
5ml ink + 10 drops water (poor)
5ml ink + 2 drops dish soap (poor)
Decant 5ml of ink into a small container, add .5ml distilled water and 2 drops dish soap.(winner) This last option makes the ink flow much better but has worse performance on bad paper- more feathering and bleed. But it starts better, though not well or perfectly.

I am considering adding 1ml Camlin turq to 5ml Siren or 1 ml blue quink to 5ml Siren to see what I get. As is, nothing can flow as bad as the Siren on it's own.

I love this ink's color and qualities but damn if I can't keep my pens writing in grad school I'm screwed!

***UPDATE***
Immediately after writing this I mixed 1ml camlin turq + 1ml Quink blue + 5ml Siren. The color is indistinguishable from the original and the flow is better, dry out is gone, and my pens no longer feel like they are being sandpapered. Winner. I immediately mixed up 30ml of this blend. It iwll be my go to ink for school. Now I need another bottle of Siren.

Art Therapy Camp

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I spent much of last week at art therapy camp. Actually it was orientation for grad school for art therapy. No matter what I call it, it was AWESOME. Seriously awesome.

First it was in a place that looks like this:

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There were drum circles and singing and lots of clapping. I was surrounded by 150 (or so) women and a few men who were all interested in the same sorts of things I am.

There was a table loaded with art supplies and we could use them at anytime, day or night. Speaking of nights, holy crap I was up until at least 11pm EVERY NIGHT and then up again at 7am. That's how I got the sunrise pics and this one:

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That's the moon and a little bit of lens flare. Cell phone camera and shooting directly into the light…

Anyway, I made a lot of art, stretched  my limits by writing some poetry and in general had an awesome time.

I also learned that if I ever go to "camp" again, to include Gas-X in my bag. The food wasn't bad it was just a huge change from my current largely vegetarian and home grown diet.

I have to write a paper about my experience, 6 pages, in APA style and I have to include references… Holy moly. Loads of work, but I have to tell you, I'm totally excited to be doing it. I feel like I've gotten to the place where I'm meant to be and that is an awesome feeling.

Evidence #2 and Starting Grad School

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I had my first week of grad school last week. It kicked my ass, in a good way. It was an intense 9am to 6pm class Monday through Friday. We did a  lot of writing and reading and art making. It was the most completely intense class I've ever had. In short it was awesome. I got to meet and hang out with 23 amazing women. The best thing is I'll be spending the next 4 days with them as well. This time in New Hampshire.

I expected to have evidence on Etsy by the end of last week but I ended up having a lot of work  to do for school. I finally got it all scanned and up today. You can get your very own copy.

Peaking In

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When I decided to publish a few pages of my journal as a zine I didn't really think much about doing it, other than I wanted to have it be in the vein of the old school zine. That feeling of being hurriedly photocopied while a copy shop employee looks on worried about the number of copies you're making. Or rushed while at work early hoping your coworkers won't come in and see the weird stuff you're copying and then having to explain to someone.  I wanted that feeling, the rush of feeling like you're doing something vaquely not quite right, but yet, feels so right.

 

A peak inside:IMAG1068
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Garden Drawing

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I spend a lot of time working on my garden and talking about my garden but I hadn't yet drawn any part of my garden. I'm going to do a series of drawings from items in my garden. You get a sneak peak of the drawings here, 'cause I'll have them in my next issue of Evidence.

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Composition Book Show Down

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I like composition books. A throw back to simplier rtimes I hated them as a kid becuase I could only find wide rule and I prefer college rule. As an adult I'm more likely to ignore the lines and just write where I feel like. I like to have one in the garage for my bike notes and to do lists. I keep them all over the house. (Not sure how C feels about this.) They have many uses doodles, sketching and writing. They are also dirt cheap. This time of year you can get them in Staples for $1 each and Walmart has some for 50 cents. The real question for me is , "How do all these comp books stack up against one another?"

A few weeks back I reviewed to much dismay the Staples Sustainable Earth comp book. It was a bummer because I really enjnoy the brown lines, the feel of the paper, and overall the quality of the book, but not being able ot use fountain pens with it makes it a deal killer. I won't buy another one.

So I'm searching out compbooks that work with my fountain pens. I've done a lot of reading that you need to keep an eye on where they are made, with Brazil as the best country of origin.

Let's start out with the rank and horrible.

Mead Five Star College Ruled with the plastic covers.
The paper feels nice, pens glide but feather and bleed like writing on TP. No country of origin listed. Was more expensive than the rest.

Mead Wide Ruled Fasion Pattern Covers Made in Vietnam
nice stiff covers in a variety of funky patterns, also available college ruled. Some inks did horribly on this paper others did well. Bleed through was intolerable but feathering was okay.

Norcom Fashion Pattern Covers Wide Rule Made in USA Walmart
Covers are flimsy but nice patterns. Paper feels smooth and nice but feathers and bleeds like crazy. even well bahaved inks don't do well on it. It's too bad I'd like to buy made in the US paper. These were on sale at Walmart for 50 cents.

Norcom Original Covers College Rule Made in USA Walmart
Covers are flimsy. Paper feels smooth and nice but
feathers and bleeds like crazy. even well bahaved inks don't do well on
it. It's too bad I'd like to buy made in the US paper. These were on sale at Walmart for 50 cents.

Now let's talk about the acceptable and good.

Staples Quad Comp Graph Rule Made in Egypt
Okay covers. Paper feels nice. Pens like it. Slight feathering with some inks but most fair better than average. Plenty of bleed through, making only one side of the paper usable. On sale at Staples for $1.

Tops Brand Standard Marble Cover Wide Rule Made in Vietnam
Flimsy cover. Paper is smooth and feels great under the pen. No feathering, no bleed through. Both side usable with right pen. Regularly priced at 97 cents at Target. (For what it's worth, I've been told I totally lucked out on the Made in Vietnam book being good, usually it's the Made in Brazil Tops that is good. So your mileage may vary on this one.)

Staples "Fashion" Cover Wide Rule Made in Brazil (Item number 19187)
Okay covers, not the most sturdy. Patterns are neat. Paper feels smooth and pens like it. No feathering even with my Ahab. Bleed through is acceptable. On sale for $1.

Staples "Marble" Cover College Rule Made in Brazil (Item number 40451)
Sturdy covers. Paper feels smooth and
pens like it. No feathering even with my Ahab. Bleed through is
acceptable. On sale for $1.

Have you used a composition notebook that you particularly loved? Let me know about it in the comments.

Other Stuff

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Some of the stuff I've been doing this summerisn't art related. Instead I've been doing a lot of gardening and working on my bike. Since I didn't want that stuff on the blog here I started a secondary blog called, "Other Stuff" that houses all my writing and photos about my other stuff. You can read all about that other stuff here.

All of this inspires me to keep creating, even if it seems like a distraction from my regular posts, I find it energizes and rejuvinates me. Sometimes you HAVE to shift gears into other things. It keeps me sane.