It's Called A Bird & It's A Honey Of A Pen!

Can you find the 'Pelikan bill & eyes" on the clip?

I have been a "pen-a-holic" since I was a teen. While many girls were buying clothes & make-up I was out looking at pens. I drifted away from fountain pens when I was in my "career-ladder-step-climbing" phase which, I suppose is rather odd since in many ways it would seem far more reasonable to think of that time in life as the point at which you would want to flaunt an expensive, beautiful pen. Mind you - I was always very pen picky even when it was a matter of ballpoints, gel pens and roller balls.

As many of you who read my blog every so often have probably realized I have, once again taken up the "only-pen-worth-using-is-a-fountain-pen" stance. Fountain pens have become expensive - or perhaps they always were and I just did not notice it! These photos show a Pelikan M400 "honey" fountain pen. Pelikan pens are nick named "birds" by those who admire them. I had fallen in love with it's looks some time ago, but really could not justify the expense to buy one. For that matter the Bexley pens that I love the best are also quite costly & I have managed to hoarde a few of them - so why it seemed so frivilous to buy this one I'll never understand. Probably because I do love the Bexleys so much - I did not want to waste money on a pen that I might not even like. I had tried a Pelikan fairly recently (another,less expensive model) and I had not been that impressed.

Meanwhile I found an ad on the Fountain Pen Network selling a used M400 for a very low price - one that I could manage. Unfortunately, by the time I responded it was already sold. I left a comment on the page and mourned my loss. A lovely woman wrote to me after seeing my note and said that she had one that she would be willing to sell to me - name my price. Huh?! I felt I had to offer the price of the other pen - and, lo and behold, this very lovely Australian named Soki sent me this honey of a pen. Oh! I was in raptures! It is really a beautiful piece of functional art & has swiftly become my "go to" pen for journaling & 'at home' use. It lays down a perfect, beautiful, wet line with any ink I use in it.

These other photos are of the first 'expensive' pen I ever bought as a young teen. I am amazed that it is still with me. I bought another pen at the same time - a Mont Blanc that I adored and now cannot afford to replace. This Pelikan is called a "120" and it has a factory Italic nib. It is missing it's clip (I need to get that restored) but it still writes beautifully & is still a favorite pen. I bought it around 1967!!! Lord! How can that possibly be?! I am so happy that I am, one again,enjoying the absolute pleasure that laying down a beautful line of beautiful ink on beautiful paper can be. I am also grateful to the warm, friendly people on the Fountain Pen Network and to SOki who made it possible for me own my "bird-of-choice"!

Uni-Ball Signo Bit Gel Pen - Writes The Tiniest Line Around!

comfortable grip section

EDITED TO ADD:

I have decided to remain with Blogspot! Yeah!

If anyone is interested in the particulars - please email me and I will fill you in.

Quote from JetPens:
"...Introducing the world's thinnest gel pen...in new colors! The Signo Bit is the latest contender in Japan's race to make the thinnest pen. The tip is so small you can write words on a grain of rice. New colors include: fuchsia, light green, blue black, light purple, and mandarin orange. New colors, same amazing 0.18 mm microscopic tip...."


When JetPens made the announcement (above) that one of their newest pens, The Uni-Ball Signo Bit Gel Pen 0.18 could write on a grain of rice I was skeptical. Very skeptical. That a gel pen that small could write was something I had to wonder about as well. Gimmick? Overly optimistic? Since pens are a passion and I have an inquiring mind - I just had to know. I asked and they graciously sent me a pen in my favorite orange to try out. These pens come in lots of wonderful colors - and are also sold in a set. They run only about $3.oo per pen or a set is $25.00. They work equally well for tiny writing on quilts or doll's pieces - lots of things I can think of to try them on.

Jet Pens is a company that I think highly of. They always have the latest and the greatest in pen & fun technology from the Land Of The Rising Sun. Their customer service is great, prices good & shipping fast - so I had to find out if this claim would was true. Notice all of those pesky little grains of rice? Well, lo and behold it really DOES write on a grain of rice! I also discovered that rice grains are far from smooth - so writing on them is, really, no small challenge!

Some of you may also have noticed the JetPens "Pentastic Christmas" link in my sidebar. They are donating pens to needy child who want to learn ... a great program from a great company. Need a pen, pencil or fun color writing tools for Christmas? Check out JetPens - and you'll see why I recomment them so highly. No affiliation or anything - just a customer that appreciates great customer service.

the tiny little .18 nib

It really DOES write on a grain of rice!

A sleek, colorful little gem of a pen!

JetPens Pentastic Christmas: Pens For Kids: An Easy Way To Support Education in Africa

Some of you are already aware of my fountain pen fixation...well maybe it's just a fixation with pens in general. Even when I did use ballpoints or rollerballs I was rather picky. I like the perfect point and the perfect ink. Ink? Oh! I love colored inks - and color in pens & pencils. I love all of the possibilities that pens & colors promise. When I decided that it was high time to return to using only fountain pens I could only find one pen that has continued to journey with me from my youth. It's a Pelikan 120 with a still perfect italic nib. I wanted something that would work for every day use. I found Jetpens. This is a place that offers all of the best in pens of all types - a world of pens; fountain, rollerball, ballpoints & colors - oh! the fabulous lines - and many brands -of colored pens & pencils they offer! No ! I am not affiliated with this company - I just appreciate their selection & their customer service.

JetPens is also doing a great thing right now in conjunction with Pens For Kids. They hope to donate thousands of pens to children in Africa who needs pens in order to further their education. All you need to do is to join JetPens Face Book group.... have a look. It's such an easy way to get a simple, but meaningful instrument for change & education into the hands of a needy child. Check out JetPens to learn more about this program....and, while your there, have a look at all they offer too !

Fountain Pens: A Fabulous Fixation

I have mentioned before that I have become a fountain pen hound. The 'bug' has taken hold of me! Good fountain pens run the gamut of pricing - from $15.oo to $1,500 & up. Needless to say, my pens are from the low end of this scale! I have decided that I will most likely concentrate on mini fountain pens... like the lowest one in the photo above.

The photo shows: top to bottom:

Pelikan 120 with an italic nib that I have had since the 70's. Still a favorite.
Levenger Golden Tortoise. Smooth, lovely writer!
Bexley Simplicity model in Bronze.....love love love this pen!
Libelle 'Autume Leaves' - all of my favorite colors in one pen - how can I not love it !
Monteverde Charisma - mini pen that is one of my absolute favorites. I like it so much that I have decided that I will, most likely, concentrate on mini - or compact-FP's

I wish I was closer to a source for pens - having to operate "in the blind" can be difficult, but the folks at FPN (Fountain Pen Network) are a tremendous help & offer lots of information & non-partisan reviews of pens & inks. I simply cannot believe how much of a difference using a nice pen can make. I journal so much more now because there is so much less stress on my hand and wrist-and I doodle way more now too...and the doodles become quilting patterns for me. Fountain pens are really a very good thing - everyone should try one just once !

Penfabulous : Another Fine Virus Hits

This has been another week of being patient with myself. I seem to have been hit by another round of virus - whose main component is mind numbing exhaustion, cold sweats and a bit of dizzyness (no cracks from the peanut gallery - and you know who you are!). I did go to work & I did manage to get down to the "wood" beneath the piles on my desk. No mean feat at that! I was bound and determined that 1: I would make it thorough the work week and 2: that I would get through the piles before the new piles, marking the beginning of the month, began to appear by mail, fax and pony express . Mission accomplished.

Levenger Golden Tortoise

It was also one of those relatively contemplative weeks - frustration at not being as fast to recover, thinking about what I really wanted to make certain I finish before the final curtain gets called - hopefully a very long time from now, and thinking about the things that I truly enjoy doing. The things that fill me up - and don't deplete. When I was in my 20's & 30's I seldom deigned to use anything other than a fountain pen. I love fountain pens - always have. Somewhere along the line I was led astray & began using gel pens or ball points. Most people know that even with those plebeian instruments I am fussy and very picky. I am happy to report have finally returned to the fold. I had been grazing the foddered fields of ebay last week longing to replace the one pen that I truly miss. It was always my favorite and I still can't believe that I lost it somewhere along the occasionally dreary path to adult hood. It was a Mont Blanc fountain pen -of course. My holy grail of pens. Alas! In the intervening years I find that there is hardly any chance that I will be able to replace this pen of all pens. Pen prices have become as sky high as petrol prices (well, truth be told - a lot higher) and the business of putting ink to paper is no longer a young girls game. I did find a Levenger True Writer Golden Tortoise on Ebay from the Levenger Outlet - and I have to say that I am in love with it. It came with a medium tip that is, to me, a broad point that simply does not work very well for my hand. Levenger is sending out a fine point though which is wonderful &, in the mean time, I am enjoying the "medium" just fine. It's odd too that I would like this pen so much. It is larger for my hand that I though would be comfortable. I like where the "finger stop" is on this model - and I also like the nib - a steel nib but it does have a nice bit of flex and the ink flow is a bit wetter than drier. Perfect - not a Mont Blanc - but quite good none-the-less. The sensual feel of a good pen, with fine ink laid on paper is something you just have to understand! I am really enjoying writing - even just my journaling - so much more again!

Retro 1951 Scriptmaster 2 Fountain Pen in Citron

Here is my next pen. This is the pen that I must, absolutely, own. It has taken all of my will power this week to not just hit the "buy" button on several web sites. It would be here by now where I could be drooling on it and filling it with Noodlers Forest Green ink. Those of you who know me, understand why this pen, above any other is THE pen for for. I want it. I will have it ....soon anyway ! Lord ! I hope they don't run out of this in a fine point !!!

Pelikan 120 from the 1970's

Here is The Pelikan 120 that I unearthed this week. Is is the one pen that I have held on to for all of these years - and it still writes like a top - italic nib and all. I came across this wonderful place Fountain Pen Network this week too. Talk about an education ! Great people, lots of help, lots to learn. I found out about Chartpak, where I can send the Pelikan in to have my 'antique' fixed up... the top is cracked and she has lost the part that holds pen to shirt pocket. I think it will be nice to bring the old gal up to snuff again I think. Now, if bringing myself up to snuff was only so easy !!

The Beloved Mont Blanc That Is Lost.

This was the Mont Blanc that I used to carry everywhere. I used to write a lot then - probably much like now - but no doubt in a more plaintive way! This pen had a wonderful 22k gold nib that conformed itself to my hand writing. I guess it will always hold a special place in the pen box in my mind - I am still shocked at the prices. My father had a Mont Blanc Diplomat that I lusted for too. Unfortunately before I could ever screw up the nerve to ask him to leave it to me ( I mean before I was disinherited!) - he broke it quite soundly. It was also a bit large for my hand - but it was beautiful to look at!

I have also been enjoying an inexpensive Shaffer Calligraphic pen. They have made the [en more ergonomic than earlier models and it writes really wee. A couple of months ago Teri got me hooked into buying two of Pilot's new Parallel Calligraphy pens - now there are truly a boon to calligraphy and nice hand writing in general. There really is nothing like the feel on real ink on paper. Thank goodness thet still make it !