I can't stop buying (or mixing) ink!

But I'll never finish the inks I've already got!

I got a new drawer unit from Ikea, it looks sturdy so I decided to move there my ink collection. I hope that having a limited space for storage will help me restrain myself from buying more bottles... who am I kidding?
(not pictured here the samples I got off friends *waving at O*)

Someone is feeling crafty

Altered Muji notebook, done at work without supplies, will probably add stuff at home

Santa was late

But always welcome :)

A present for myself, even if I'm not always good.
Sailor summer ink Rikyu-Cha and a TWSBI Diamond 530 with XF nib.
Sorry for the blurry photo but I just got it and was in a rush to get to work, I couldn't wait to play with my new toys!

back from the holidays

Two weeks, and I mean two whole weeks of doing nothing but relax. The place isn't anything exotic or fancy, just the regular family house in the countryside, and old farm really, but I'm grateful for it. I took long walks in the woods, had too many cups of tea and painted a little... now it's hard to think about getting back to work!

Check my Flickr stream in a few days for the scans of the stuff I painted.

Goodness inside

Usually when people think about Nutella don't think about ink at all, but I'm weird so...



When a co-worker gave me a tiny 30g replica of the famous jar of sweet spread I had to know where I could get more, turns out sets of three mini jars are only sold during holidays so for Easter I hoarded some sets.



They are great for keeping ink! The lid screws tidily, thick food-grade plastic so there aren't many chances it might react with some ink, the jar is quite capacious, the plastic is clear so I can check for precipitations in mixtures, nearly perfect I'd say!

I don't really like sweet stuff that much, the things I do for the sake of pens...

pen guts

I received a Waterman 52 today.

So far I've managed to open it without much drama and I'm carefully removing the remains of the perished bladder, I'm feeling a little like an archaeologist checking the innards of a mummy.

I can't decide if I like more the thrill of restoring a pen to former glory or the excitement of the first time the inked nib touches the paper, with many of my pens one feeling is often followed by the other, so I'm up for an emotional roller-coaster with this pen.

In Italian the word "pen" (penna) is grammatically feminine so I often use endearments for vintage pens, like old ladies, because they might be old but they deserve some respect for being still around after so many years!

little quiz

For all the pens/art supplies addicts out there: what is this?



During lunch break I stopped by one of the smallest but best stationery store in town, I was chatting with the owner when she showed me this item and I couldn't believe my eyes! It had to come home with me!

The vial is very small, 5,5 cm or 2,4 made of glass with a rubber stopper but the container doesn't really matter though it's nice, what it's really special it's what is inside.
I'm pondering about getting another one so I can use it without regrets.

So, what do you think it is? :)

16 june 2010

The pens in my pencil case at work this week (sorry for the photo, taken with my mobile)


Fountain pens for work and mechanical pencils with pocket brush pen for sketching ;)

Lamy Safari XF nib filled with a dyi burgundy mix
Pelikan M150 M nib filled with Noodler's Prime of The Commons
Eversharp Skyline XF nib filled with dyi Noodler's olive green mix
Mabie Todd Blackbird (just finished restoring the other day) M nib filled with J Herbin's Bleu Nuit

Pentel Pocket Brush Pen
Pentel F.357 (multi pen with 0.3, 0.5 and 0.7mm leads all in one)
Muji pen/pencil duo

Vacation at last

This year has been pretty difficult at work, adjusting to a new office, new coworkers and duties, so I think I earned myself some vacation time.

I went to Paris!


Made this out of my beloved Muji notebooks and I had quite fun spattering white acrylic paint all over.


I went to the Louvre and did this quick sketch of François-Joseph Bosio's "Hercule combattant Achéloüs métamorphosé en serpent".
I didn't care for Hercules, never liked when I studied at school, but the snake was pretty amazing and I'm not happy I wasn't able to catch the details.
I sat there sketching and people walked by the statue without noticing it, then they wandered around to have a look at my notebook so they thought it must have been special and went back to take a picture of it.


My favourite place in Paris was Luxembourg Gardens, or "Jardin du Luxembourg".
Paris in spring is beautiful and especially the gardens are amazing. The Gardens are alive with people sunning themselves, running or engaging in a game of pétanques.
I did a quick sketch of this bronze statue because the bright green patina was really eye-catching among beautiful tulips and a flowering cherry tree in the background.
I got my palette here in Italy and it's made by Fome which makes many palettes for big brands (I think Sennelier used to have this version), it houses mainly Sennelier's paints and it's small but has lot of space for colours and mixing.

Muji passport notebooks

Every time I stop at Muji I grab an handful of these notebooks, they are small, handy, the size of a passport, and I like to customize the covers. The paper is yellowish, pretty thin and reminds me of Moleskine's paper, it's sewn together so it makes the binding pretty durable.

Some images on Flickr

The one that got away

As usual today I visited the local flea-market looking for (pen) treasures.
I found a new, and I mean totally mint with box and tag, Pelikan M150, for 15€ (roughly 20$), and I couldn't leave it there could I?

I also found a Parker 51 but I barely looked at it for my dislike of such hooded nib. I'm not a fan of hooded nibs though I own an Aurora 88 and a Pelikan P1. While many might have jumped at the chance to get such a famous pen in their collection it didn't really appeal to me... until I got back home! I'm not saying that I finally saw the light and changed my opinion on the Parker 51, I still think it looks awkard and stumpy but I started wondering why such pen was so famous and well-liked.

So I braved the cold and went back to the market a few hours later only to find the vendor had already packed for the day and vanished.
In some ways I'm relieved I wasn't faced with the choice of getting such pen, but I'm also disappointed with myself for changing my mind and too late.