Pelikan Hubs 2022 (via Dapprman). Hubs are back! Go sign up for your city, especially if you’re in the Nashville, Tennessee area. We already have enough people to qualify but the bigger the Hub, the better!
The Treacherous Adventure of Gifting Stationery to Your Hobbyist Friend or Loved One (via mnmlscholar). Gifting pens and ink can be tricky, especially to those who are already deep in the hobby and those you may be trying to convert.
Galen Leather Magnum Opus (via Mountain of Ink). I love Galen’s hardcover “Magnum Opus” case, and I have some more fun stuff from them in for review after this weekend!
Kiwi Inks Quetzalcoalt (via KraftyKats). Kiwi inks have all kinds of crazy properties, ranging from extreme sheen (like this one), to shading, to shimmer.
The Paper Mind Passepied Hardcover Notebook Review (via Blake’s Broadcast). Good hardcover notebooks are few and far between, and I’m excited to see Paper Mind releasing one.
Beater Paperbacks: Kaweco Palm Green (via a fleeting ripple). Kaweco inks are extremely underrated, IMHO, especially this green.
My Current Top 5 Inks (via Fountain Pen Blog). Some interesting inks here, including some that I have in my own collection that I’m inspired to go ink up!
BigIDesign Dual Side Click Review (via Writing at Large). BigIDesign continues to tweak their winning formula for sturdy pens compatible with multiple refills, including this new side click mechanism.
One Year Later…. (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). Congrats to Kimberly on a full year of pen blogging! I look forward to reading her post every week.
RandomThinks Ink Vial Holder (via Well-Appointed Desk). If you’ve never visited Keith’s table at a pen show, be sure to do so, and also to look up his Instagram account @randomthinks! He 3D-prints a wide variety of interesting pen and desk accessories.
In Case You Missed It….
This week on the blog, I published a couple of pen show-related posts, since I’m traveling to the D.C. Pen Show this weekend. Wednesday’s post discussed things you can do at a pen show other than spend money, since I’ve long wished to see shows adopt a less fully commercial focus in favor of community building, which helps everyone. On Saturday, I posted a short recap of Friday with details on how to find us this weekend. I will probably be set up at the show only for the morning today (Sunday), since I fly out early afternoon and still want to spend some time simply roaming, but track me down if you’re there!
New This Week in the Curated Shop
If you visited me at the show, you may have seen that I had a tray of all the TWSBIs plus some new pens I’m considering carrying. Just arriving this week were three new TWSBI models: the Diamond 580 Rose Gold II in White, as well as the Diamond 580 Iris, which is simply stunning. The Transparent Yellow ECO has also been an incredibly popular release. Finally, right before I left I received a shipment of the new Platinum Plaisir “Aura” fountain pens, which are colorful versions of an inexpensive Platinum favorite that features their slip-and-seal technology.
Consider T.G.S. Patreon!
I would love for the T.G.S. Patreon to become a core method of support for the T.G.S. website, and have tried to streamline it. I’ll also need to be a bit more vocal about its availability and what it offers. The Patreon Program offers two options for tiers of support: $3 and $5, and plan on making monthly meetups, pen show events, and periodic exclusive content the primary benefits. Of course, Patreon members will continue to get first access to periodic sample sales, with right of first refusal on gently used pens.