Since we’ve moved, I have not been able to find my old copy of George Orwell essays book, but look what I just found instead!

We’ve got a few exciting projects and things in the works planned out for the next few months, and this is the first of them! We’re now carrying the Pilot Falcon fountain pen. I know, I know: good grief, finally.

For a long time now we’ve been asked about some of the higher level Pilot pens, and we’ve had them in our sights for about just as long. With Pilot, it sometimes takes us a bit longer to move on projects because of the long ship time from Japan (3 months!), which means a bit of planning and organization on my end (you can guess if that’s my strong suit…).

For the last little while, we’ve had new pens trickling in, some to try out, and some in good stock so we can start showing them off in the shop and online. I love soft nibs and line variation, so you could say that I’m particularly happy to welcome this pen, the Pilot Falcon to our Wonder Pens family, and in particular, my own nuclear family of personal pens.

The Pilot Falcon is a bit of an iconic pen – it’s one of the softest nibs available in modern fountain pens. It’s not a flex pen, but the nib is soft enough to give you noticeable variation. The danger is pushing the nib too far, and damaging it, because it’s not actually a flex nib, particularly if you compare it to vintage flex. There are some very popular videos, like this one, that show writing samples with a Pilot Falcon, but it has a modified nib to give added flexibility.

I’ve only had the pen for an afternoon, but I’m looking forward to doing a blog post with a few more details after I’ve had some time to really get to know the pen, but for now I thought I’d share some writing samples so you could see what sort of line variation you can reasonably expect.

This is the Pilot Falcon with a soft fine nib and the ink is, of course, our Canadian favourite, Noodler’s Blue Upon the Plains of Abraham.

So far, my favourite thing is how wet it is! I sometimes have to fiddle around with my Ahab because I’m getting railroading, and the other side is that I usually have to have it very, very wet – which limits the paper I can use. The Falcon has not railroaded on me once!

We’ve got more to come from Pilot! Some we’ve sold right from the boxes coming in, so yup, we’ll be trying to order some more in over the next little while, and get them up on the website.

We’re keeping busy here, mostly inside with this sudden cold weather. We re-organized some furniture and Jon “gave” me a packing table (oh, how I swoon) to unpack and count new shipments, and maybe do some work while Caleb is napping. The table is currently completely overrun, which is a pretty accurate description of the state of things.

Just for fun, here’s a photo with how the blog magic really happens. I’m pretty sure my mom shops at Costco because she always has things in bulk quantities, and I’ve never been more grateful.

Behind the behind-the-scenes is a patient, brown dog, waiting for gravity to do its thing.

Some of you may have new year’s resolutions to write a bit more in your journal, maybe even – gasp! – every day. I resolve to write more in my journal all the time! So, in some ways, you may consider me an expert in resolving to write more. My next goal is to become an expert in writing more. And then after that, writing well…

Here’s one idea to consider for your new year of journal writing, or wherever you are in your journalling journey.

Journaling Tip #1: Get an “Instant” or polaroid-style camera like this. Bring it with you wherever you go, and take a shot some time during your day of something memorable. Whenever your journal writing time is, pull out your snap, and off you go. 

The camera itself is a little bulky (although not too heavy) to carry around, but I think it’s worth it. It’s not quite the same as you taking a photo with your phone, and printing it out later.

Because it’s a instant camera that prints out the shot immediately, and you’ve got limited film (that you have to pay for!), you also aren’t just taking photos willy-nilly with your phone. The whole idea is that you become a bit more mindful of what’s going on during your day, which is one of the things that journal writing is supposed to bring out in you in any case. You’re on the look-out for that something.

Your physical photo is a bit more intimate and private and can be more fun. It’s your own snapshot of something during your day, and it doesn’t matter if it’s something silly or trivial, and you don’t have to think about what anyone else thinks, like if you post it on social media, although of course you can if it’s something you want to share (obviously you would have to use your phone to take a photo of your photo – I know: it’s deep stuff.).

For example:

• an exciting arrival in the mail
• the dishwasher is loaded perfectly
• you really like your pen + ink combo
• a much-needed coffee break at your local cafe
• you spent a few minutes organizing your desk at work
• you see some interesting graffiti on a wall
• you’re bored at the doctor’s office, but you’ve got a doctor
• a beautiful afternoon sky
• you’re reading a book you love
• your kid has spilled a Cheerios on the floor and the dog is eating them all up

Whatever it is, you pull out your trusty camera and you take your photo.

Once you get started taking a picture a day, you may find you’re keeping your eyes and mind open for what’s going on around you. You just notice more. There’s no pressure to get a beautiful or perfect shot, it doesn’t have to be related to any topic, it doesn’t have to be artistic, it just has to be something that sparks a thought or a memory or a moment in you.

Because the photo prints out as soon as you snap the shot, you’ve got it in your hand, and it’s something to look at as you go through the day. However, what I really love is the fact that it’s just that one, it’s really something to treasure.

Don’t mind my sock at the bottom left corner of this shot…

And that’s the inspiration to get you started with your writing. Every night it’s something to write about. Once you start writing, you may find more comes out after that – sometimes the hardest part is just starting.

And, while I’m not really someone who reads through my past journals, it is a really great way to really see the small and big things that touched your life over the past days and weeks and months.

I would usually say don’t worry about missing a day or more, but in some ways, forcing yourself to have the discipline to do this everyday is what creates the habit.

It encourages you to truly be mindful and to watch out for just that right moment in your day. You’re not like snapping 20 shots with your phone because you’ve got the space and you can delete any messed up ones – you have to make each shot count, and I think for a lot of us, that’s not a half-bad way to go through life, being aware and alive of each moment we have.

Sometimes it’s easy to think to ourselves, well, nothing really happened today. But every day, miracles happen! Or if not miracles, something to appreciate – we just need to start looking. Every day, your dog needs a belly rub, or you have dinner with your family, or the bus comes as soon as you arrive at the stop, or you drive past a place that has a million memories. And that’s pretty amazing.

(I also actually kind of like the waxy quality to the photos that the Instax makes.)

We’ve been missing the elastic on our display Passport Brown Traveler’s Notebook for the shop for a while now, and finally, in a spurt of inspiration and productivity, I replaced it.

I think the elastic broke because people who aren’t familiar with the Traveler’s Notebook try to put the elastic back on the cover vertically, like a Rhodia or Leuchtturm elastic, rather than horizontally, which stretches out the elastic, and it snapped. Every time I notice this, it gives me pause and reminds me about just how unique this Midori Traveler’s Notebook system is, and why it’s become so popular with so many people who need an everyday notebook and planning system.

I figured since I was opening up the repair kit, I might as well try out some of the other elastics, since the kit comes with four elastics and one new metal nugget enclosure.

I have a Regular Size Blue and a Passport Camel, and Jon has a Passport Black.

I replaced the elastic that closes my Midori with the orange one – blue and orange, one of my favourite combinations! This one is super easy – you just pull out the old one from the hole, and you put the ends of the new one in, and tie a knot.

Pull it out through the inside, and slip your new elastic in!

There are instructions to do this on the back that are very easy to follow (I looked at the pictures…), but here are a few colour photos.

You will need:

• Your Midori
• A repair kit which comes with four elastics and the little end cap that holds the elastics in place
• A hammer
• A pair of scissors (not featured in photo due to a lack of organization on my part)
• Around 15 minutes, especially if it’s your first time. After that, you could probably do it in around 5 minutes or less.

You will actually need to cut off the string holding the end cap to the cardboard.

Step one: Cut off your old one. You will not likely be able to salvage this to use again as the notebooks-holding elastic, but you might use it as the elastic that closes your entire TN.

Step Two: Pull the elastic through the bottom notch, somewhere in the middle of the elastic. You can always pull and adjust if it’s not in the right place later.

Step 3: From behind, poke the end of the elastic back through the hole into the inside of the cover.

Step 4: Poke the elastic through the top hole, and draw it all the way through.

Step 5: Bring up the bottom end of the elastic and pull it through the top notch to the hole. Your notebooks will go between these elastics, so you can gauge how tight you want it. 

You will end up with elastics coming out of separate holes. Trim off the excess.

Step 6: Insert them into the two smaller holes of the metal enclosure (the wider end is for the knot, in the next steps).

Step 6b (optional): If you’re going to include a page maker, now is the time. Insert it with the top elastic part, and through the same hole in the metal enclosure.

I used the leftover notebooks-holding elastic that I cut, but I’m not sure that’s the best move (sorry, Jon). The elastic is a bit bouncy, so it doesn’t just stay where you want it. It might be better to use some thin rope, or else weigh it down with a charm or bolt.

Step 7: Tie a knot. You’ll be able to adjust the tightness now. And it’s now or never, so take the time to make sure it’s how you like. Better to err on the side of tightness, since the elastics can loosen up over time, but if it’s too loose, you’ll have to re-do the whole thing.

Step 8: Use a hammer to close up the metal end piece. This is pretty easy, just a few firm taps. 

Step 9: Trim off the end pieces. I used a smaller pair of scissors so I could be a bit more precise. There is still a bit of the cloth bit of the elastic poking through, but I think those will naturally wear off over time.

Even though you may get a cleaner cut by cutting off the excess before you hammer it down, I don’t think I’d recommend that, because if the elastics pull loose with the ends to the knot cut so short, the whole thing will come undone, and you’ll need to start over with a new elastic.

And you’re done! New elastic, new you ;)

Passport (Old special edition camel, with the original green elastic), and Regular (most recent special edition Blue with a new orange elastic, available in the repair kit).

I’m loving it! I love the pop of colour on my blue Midori, and I also really like the hint of red at the bottom of Jon’s passport Black. Because the elastic closing the TN is so easy to change, I may even consider changing my blue Midori’s elastic to brown, for something a bit more subtle.

***

As always, we’ve been busy around here, packing up orders, saying hello to visitors and new folks trying out pens in the shop. We just got in our latest Field Notes’ order, including the winter special edition Snowblind, which changes colour from white to blue when you hold it in sunlight. I don’t know how they keep coming up with these ideas, those crazy folks at Field Notes.

I made my first Chinese-style steamed fish dinner last night, which also involved my first time gutting a whole fish in the kitchen sink. Let’s just say next time will involve a sharper kitchen knife, which I would’ve known had I watched the Youtube video before I did the deed. Here I was thinking this is one of those things that just come instinctively to Asian women in the kitchen.

I meant to write this blog post yesterday, and I wish I could say I had a good reason why I didn’t get it up, like we just got a big shipment in of something exciting, or I was fixing someone’s pen, or I was re-organizing all of our shipping supplies, but it’s really because I got in a box of washi tapes I’d ordered online the night before, and left it on my table. Caleb had pulled the box off the table in the morning, and I spent 85% of my expendable time looking for this one lost roll. I found it in Caleb’s “tool box,” which (joke’s on him) might actually be perfect vessel for holding washi tape rolls. Every cloud has a silver lining.

Just a quick update to let you all know what’s going on here! Short answer: this and that and I’m on the bed with ice cream and the dog keeping my feet warm, while Jon is hard at work, keeping the ship afloat.

Here are a few shop updates:

1. We got in Field Notes! Everything has been re-stocked, including the fall’s Shenandoah and the summer’s Workshop Companion, and we also got in the winter special edition of Snowblind.
2. We’re expected more Superior Labor pen rolls soon! Maybe by the end of next week!! But with Canadian customs, maybe the week after. I’m particularly excited because we’re expected a new colour in the pen roll, and I’ve been working hard on convincing Jon that I have enough pens to require two rolls.
3. We’ve got some new Pilot stuff, along with a bunch of other new products, that we’ve been sitting on for a while, and we’re hoping to get them online soon. Maybe this weekend! Check our Just In section over the next few days.
4. We’re still shipping ink, and that includes Diamine! You know us, we like to live life on the edge; that is to say, we tend to wait until we hear stories of broken bottles before we pull them from online ordering, which is a bit dodgy because by the time we hear back, we’ve already got shipments out in the wild. But so far, so good, so we’re going to keep on keepin’ on.
5. New dates for our calligraphy classes are up and listed!

Other items of note:

1. Your best time to visit us is on Friday, when the soup of the day is Clam Chowder at Shirley’s First Break, which you definitely have to try at least once. Shirley’s is a take-out diner on Carlaw Avenue in the same building as us – look for the red sign. However, Thursdays is tacos, so, tough call.
2. My lifelong crush on Oprah (Ugh! Wealthy and fabulous!) has culminated in discovering that she is on Instagram. She has a farm, and a whole lot of crazy followers, judging by the comments. I’m just a regular follower, if you were concerned ;)
3. Caleb sleeps in bed with us, and I’ve been cleverly keeping things like my notebook and cellphone ‘out of his reach’ by sliding them under the pillows, but I’ve discovered that he now also stores things, like his toothbrush and Super’s toys, under the pillows too.

That’s about it for now! I had a great time at our last Letter Writing Club this past weekend, and I’m already looking forward to our next. I started and finished an entire letter! Which may not sound like a lot to you, but I usually only manage to get the first paragraph done at these events.

We’ve got a few projects coming along, and I’ve got a few blog posts rumbling in my notebook pages. With this cold weather and wind and snow I’ve been trying to keep indoors, although Caleb still seems to enjoy romping around the park. You’d think that would mean I’d be a bit more active on the blog, but actually I’ve been spending most of my free time trying to wrestle Caleb into his winter gear.

This was a post that was on my list for over the break, but things got moved around a bit, and here we are mid-January. It’s Sunday afternoon, and I’ve got a warm and furry beast beside me (Super), and Jon has gone out to pick up coffee, so it’s kind of like a break.

I had planned this post over the break because over November and December, I had special ordered some new G. Lalo stuff to try out, and with the holiday madness, I didn’t have a chance to really get into it all.

Sometimes there are people who are more interested in pens or inks or paper, over the other two. By coincidence, it seems like demographically we have more males into pens, and more females into inks & paper. While fountain pens & inks need each other, everyone with a ballpoint or pencil could use a notebook, so we get a lot of non-fountan pen users who like to browse the stationery. But that’s just me rambling, based on casual observation, and I could be completely wrong.

Personally, maybe because of my situation being exposed to new inks and pens and paper all the time, it’s a bit hard to say. I kind of like all three. I have my favourite pens, which I love, and my favourite inks, which I also love, and then I have my favourite papers, which I also love. It’s just love everywhere all the time.

G. Lalo Verge de France is some of my favourite stuff – it’s thick and textured and super for fountain pen ink, especially wet and flexy pens. Imagine my delight when I recently discovered that G. Lalo actually produces three other different types of premium or correspondence stationery! I know, what kind of stationery shop keeper am I?? I am not looking in the right catalogues. Three years in the biz…

I ordered a few packs of each of the paper types, and while I did some preliminary doodling, I’ve finally gotten around to a bit more of an organized comparison between the papers. All of these papers do very, very well with fountain pens, and I would recommend any of them, so all of the differences I’m noting are just comparisons between these four excellent papers.

We would love to carry these papers, especially if there’s some interest! They are all around the same price as the Verge de France, which we already stock regularly.

For all of the papers, I used
– Pilot Falcon Soft Fine with Noodler’s Blue Upon the Plains of Abraham
– Vac Mini Medium with Diamine Autumn Oak
– Pilot Custom 74 (coming to the website sooN!) Medium with J. Herbin Eclat de saphir
– Lamy 2000 Medium with Noodler’s Army Green

All of these are fairly wet pens, and particularly the Lamy 2000 medium is nearing a broad.

You’ll recognize the Verge de France, which is fairly easy to find at your local stationery shop. 100gsm, pack of 50 sheets, available in Ivory or White (and a few other colours that we don’t carry), and has 25% cotton content. This is the ivory in the photos.

It has the distinctive markings of laid paper, which is how the paper is made – something to do with the screens and wires and the wet paper pulp is set on rectangular molds. The wire grid leaves the grooves you can see on the paper. This is the real old-timey stuff love letters and sonnets were written on. *sigh

Verge de France, Blue Upon the Plains of Abraham

Verge de France with Noodler’s Army Green

Verge de France – Diamine Autumn Oak

I truly love this stuff. One of the first fights Jon and I had as co-business-runners was when he took over the shop, and found my secret stash of Verge de France packs, and I tried to convince him he couldn’t sell them because I needed them all. I can’t remember who won, but it’s all water under the bridge, since I have a new stash now. *I am not a hoarder, but it’s important to not run out of the important stuff in life, like toilet paper or dog food or beautiful stationery.

Admittedly, this paper is for those who like to feel the paper underneath, and you will definitely be able to feel the bumps. I also think this is really nice paper for the recipient, to feel the thickness and texture of the paper they’re holding in their hand. I’ve written my share of letters on this paper.

It is really, really good for fountain pen ink – as wet as you can get. This stuff is good for your Ahab, even with those sharp tines digging into the paper, or your flex nibs that lay down a ton of ink.

The next paper is the Toile Imperiale – 100gsm, pack of 50 sheets, and a slightly off-whitish tone.

Toile Imperial with Blue Upon the Plains of Abraham

Toile Imperiale with Diamine Autumn Oak

Toile Imperiale with Noodler’s Army Green

It also has a bit of texture to it, and also in a bit of a grid pattern, but different from the Verge de France. The bumps are a bit smaller and more even, so I would say it’s smoother overall than the bigger bumps of the Verge de France, but you will still definitely feel some feedback.

It is just ever so slightly more absorbent than Verge de France. At this point, it’s really like splitting hairs between these papers. When you compare the lines, you can see that the lines on the Verge de France are not as clean and even, partially due to the bumps which prevent the nib from making perfect contact the paper, and then exacerbated by the non-absorbency of the paper. The Toile Imperiale, on the other hand, gets very clean, crisp, even lines.

You can see from the photos that you still get amazing shading, and very, very limited feathering, if at all. It’s thick paper as well, but feels a bit coated, although its (very slight) absorbency makes it very easy to write not, not the slick and plastic-y type that can make it seem like your ink doesn’t make contact with the paper.

The next paper is the Velin de France – 100gsm, 50 sheets per pack, white. The smoothest of the bunch, and whitest.

Velin de France with Plains of Abraham – you can see here just a hint of feathering, with the Pilot Falcon doing a bit of flexing, and the tines digging in.

Velin de France with Noodler’s Army Green

Velin de France with Eclat de saphir

Velin de France with Diamine Autumn Oak

This is the smoothest of the four papers, and also, I think worst performing by a very, very small margin. I feel like saying that it’s the worst performing is a bit dramatic, since it’s still very good with fountain pens, but it’s the only one of the four papers which had even a hint of feathering or bleed through with the very wettest pens. I’m still very confident using this with the vast majority of my pens for writing letters.

It is definitely the smoothest – very, very smooth, without being slick. Ink looks really great on it – the lines are clean and crisp and clear. The whiteness of the sheet (compared to the ivory or off-white) makes ink really pop, and I think ink might look the best on this paper.

Even though the Velin de France is the same weight as the previous two, 100gsm, it feels a bit lighter, which could be my imagination, or how the paper moves more easily since it’s not textured. This and the Pur coton are the only two of the four that come with a liner guide sheet to put underneath the sheet you’re writing on, which might give you an indication of the thickness and opacity.

And the last is the Velin pur coton, which only has 40 sheets per pack, but is 125 gsm, so it’s the heaviest of the bunch. It also has the thickest cardboard backing of the four. It’s an off-white colour, almost Ivory, although not quite.

It is just slightly more textured than the Velin de France, so you can feel it just ever so slightly. When you’re writing on it, you can just feel it under your nib – it’s a slightly less textured paper than what you might expect in a sketchbook for artists, but of course great for fountain pen ink. It’s kind of got that dreamy & creamy feel.

Velin pur coton with Plains of Abraham

Velin pur coton with Diamine Autumn Oak

Velin pur coton with Noodler’s Army Green

Velin pur coton with J. Herbin Eclat de saphir

So, which is my new favourite?? UGH. I’m not sure. I think I will always like the Verge de France, because I just love the look and feel of this vintage style of paper, but I also really like the feel of the Pur Coton and Toile Imperiale. The writing experience on the Velin de France was great, and the ink looks the best on it. Although, the ink does go down nicely on the Toile Imperiale, which still gives a sense of toothiness when you’re writing. Of course the Pur Coton is so rich and thick. Then again, I can get long winded in my letters, and I have had the experience of literally not being able to fold up my letter to fit in into an envelope…

So for now, I think I’ll need to write a bit more on each one before I choose any favourites. Which is great because I had to order these in minimum quantities in order to try them out, so you know, I have a bunch.

***

In other news, we had a long-time favourite customer get engaged in the shop! Long-time as in since our early days at 906 Dundas West, so when Jon got a crazy e-mail about this plan to get engaged in a pen shop, before I knew it, I was on the ladder trying to write “Zara, will you marry me?” on the chalkboard wall, while Caleb was down below, destroying things behind the counter.

We couldn’t find our box of chalk, so I had to make do with some half-pieces I found under the shelf, and then after I finished the whole thing, Jon said, “Oh, by the way, I didn’t mention this because it would be too hard, but they were hoping you could do something to kind of hide the words so she doesn’t notice it when she first walks in…”, and I only had maybe 4mm of chalk left in my hand. So basically it was a bit nuts, which is exactly as it should be when two people are getting engaged.

Caleb’s hair continues to grow out slightly beyond old-man-hair, and I’ve been trimming it while he naps, so every once in a while he wakes up a new man. He’s still on his diet of cheese, rice crackers and whatever random things he finds on the ground, which I’m sure is giving him enough nutrients to grow a really luscious mane one day. Super’s eating all the vegetables and meat Caleb throws off his high chair, which is exactly why he is so furry.

I’m writing this post on places you can find a pen pal because…

InCoWriMo is coming up!

International Correspondence Writing Month is February, where letter writers unite from their individual locations, and write one letter a day for the entire month. It’s a good month because we’re just starting to become a bit batty from all the snow and winter, and it’s also a short month ;)

I wrote a blog post last year on preparations and tips for getting through the month, but I thought I would share a few more resources on finding a pen pal, which may also be good for you even if you’re not participating in InCoWriMo, but just want a pen pal.

This post is more about finding someone who is interested in writing back and forth with you long-term, rather than you just writing them a letter once, as you might do to a favourite author or blogger, through More Love Letters, or leaving random inspiration mail on your public transit or park bench.

Letter Writers’ Alliance
You can sign up for a $5 USD (so, around $400 CAD…just kidding!) for a lifetime membership. Once you’re a member, you can sign up for a pen pal match on their website, along with some free downloads or paid purchases of stationery or accessories.

The ladies that run this thing are amazing! I follow their blog, which usually makes me pine hopelessly for USPS stamps, and on occasion inspires me to write another letter to Canada Post telling them to step up their game, and release their own vintage circus stamps.

I have to add that unfortunately I have not had the best luck with these pen pal matches, which is probably for the best because I’m becoming a pretty lousy pen pal with my response times.

International Pen Friends
This is another paid service, but I have had a lot of ongoing pen pals from this! The website doesn’t look super slick, but you do pay through PayPal, and I had great success with finding people to write to. Most of my pen pals are from Europe, plus I have two from Australia.

IPF gives you a list of people to write to, and then also puts your name on other people’s lists for a while, I think one year. Most of the pen pals I’ve been writing to through IPF really enjoy writing letters and are ready to be “serious” about letter-writing.

Sendsomething.net
If you thought the IPF website didn’t look very promising, this website looks even crazier, I think maybe because it says “beta” on it, but I have also had good success on it!

You sign up and create a profile, including your mailing address, which all the other members can see, so you may want to be careful if you don’t have a PO box or a safe address that can be published on the internet. I think you can also leave your mailing address incomplete and just choose people to write to, if you’d prefer.

On your profile, you can put other information about yourself, including things you’re interested in, and you browse to find people you might like to write to. I’ve had a few people write to me randomly, mostly from the US.

They also have a “random address” button, which is fun!

Reddit/r/penpals or Reddit/r/penpalsover30
I haven’t found any pen pals myself through this site, but you can either post a message yourself, with a bit of information, or you can browse and PM anyone who has posted to exchange your addresses. If you don’t find someone you like right away, you can always check back every couple of months to see new people who have posted.

Also consider:

Old friends! It’s sometimes hard to keep up with old friends, especially as life takes over and kids or work draws you in different directions, but sometimes writing a letter to an old friend can be a surprise in their mailbox, and it may turn into picking up where you last left off.

My best piece of advice, for whatever it’s worth, is to take the time to create quality relationships with your pen pals – it’s exciting at first to receive something in your mailbox, but it’s really the letters from your pen pals that you’ve developed real relationships with that mean the most, and I know myself that when I see a certain return address or handwriting on a letter, that’s the one I open first :)

Happy Chinese and Lunar New Year! It’s coming up on February 8th, for those of you not following the lunar calendar. And, how exciting, it’s Year of the Monkey! Not that this is any more or less exciting than other years, but it’s a good one.

If you’ve known us for any length of time, you’ll know that we’re Chinese, but we’re kind of a mix of “Chinese-Chinese” and “Canadian-Chinese” (unfortunately mostly leaning towards the “Canadian-Chinese” side of things), but Chinese New Year is a pretty big deal in the motherland, and so we thought we would celebrate a bit with you all!

Everyone’s favourite Chinese supermarket, T&T, has these displays of Chinese New Year decorations, festive treats and …candies! From now until we run out or until February 8th (after which I’ll eat the rest), we’re including a special surprise CNY candy with all online orders, or of course you can always visit us in the shop and pick out a tasty CNY treat for yourself.

T&T put up these big signs saying that there’s a risk of peanut, soy, milk, and other allergies with these candies, so I’m passing on the message. While I tried to get a good variety of candies, I left out the ones that were a bit obvious about potential allergy problems, like the ones with the picture of the peanut on the wrapper (I did teach in public school, after all). However, you should still use your best judgement, and be careful if you have any allergies.

Possibly even more dangerous is the taste roulette you play with these candies: there are so many different kinds it’s hard to keep track of them, and I must say, while some are pretty delicious, some may be an unusual “flavour”… all part of the surprise! My favourite ones are the coffee ones and also the mango ones. The pear ones are also pretty good.

I also got a red decoration, which we haven’t decided where to hang up yet. I was going to get one in the shape of a monkey, but Jon said I shouldn’t go too crazy, because then I’ll have to store it for twelve years, and chances are good when the next Year of the Monkey rolls around I won’t be able to find it, so it’ll be another twelve years after that.

If you’re a letter writer, you might also be pleased to know that Canada Post has come out with it’s new Year of the Monkey stamps! I told Jon I was going to ease off on the stamp hoarding after we took that trip to the Toronto Stamp Show last fall, and I brought home boxes of stamps, but how can I resist. The international ones look a bit intense, but I’m loving the domestic ones!

So, as traditional holds (according to Wikipedia), we will be eating dumplings at midnight on February 7th, and wishing you all a very prosperous, lucky and happy Chinese New year!

A new favourite pen for me! I’m not kidding.

I have liked and loved many pens, but this pen, the Sailor 1911S Demonstrator, has become a true favourite: I’ve had this inked up non-stop since I got it a few months ago, and written it dry several times.

At first, we expanded our Sailor line a bit slowly because we wanted to have more nib sizes available in each finish we did carry, and also good stock for the online side of things, but we’ve started to bring in more finishes, in the most popular nib sizes. This way people can take a look at them in the shop and see the different colour options available, and of course we can always bring in a nib size if the one you want in the finish you like isn’t here.

In our first order for this model, the 1911S Demonstrator, we received every nib size I ordered except medium, which was the size I wanted, so I had to wait another month. I’m not exactly known for my patience, so maybe the wait, during which I pined pathetically, is what made me love the pen ;)

However, they say Sailor makes some of the best nibs, so maybe that’s it, too. It’s honestly one of my favourite pens to write with, and as a bonus, I also love the way it looks.

While I’m usually into brown pens (and inks), I’ve been on a real demonstrator kick lately, and the Sailor 1911S started me on it. I thought about a Realo (the piston fill), or the 1911S in the yellow, but I couldn’t resist the clear + gold. It’s clear with gold trim, which I know isn’t for everyone, but I find the gold isn’t so much to be overwhelming, and it matches the clear very well.

This is a light pen, which is great for someone like me, as I find the big and heavy pens are hard to write with for a long time. However, the details, especially in the nib, show a lot of time and care has gone into it – despite its light weight, you can’t mistake the quality.

It’s a proprietary cartridge/converter, which means you have to use either a Sailor cartridge or a Sailor converter – this pen will come with both to start with. I’ve begun to really appreciate cartridges these days, I think because it’s so satisfying when you pop the cartridge in the break the seal, although I will say the limited ink selection is a bit of a bummer. Sailor Sei-Boku is one of my all-time favourite inks though, along with basically the rest of the Sailor line, so it works out okay for this pen :)

While I can’t say that I’ve never purchased a pen solely based on how it looks, for this pen, it’s the nib and the writing that have really won me over. I find I reach for this pen over and over, especially for longer writing sessions, like in my journal. Combined with the nice size and weight in my hand, this pen is a new regular in my pen roll (which is still light brown, although I’m working on convincing Jon that I need a natural one).

I have a medium, which is on the finer side of medium, although this is Rhodium Premium “R” paper, so ink might write just a touch finer than it would on more absorbent papers in any case.  I would compare the nib to a Lamy Fine, or maybe just wider, but not as wide as a Lamy Safari Medium.

Oh, Sei-Boku, one of my top 10 inks of all time. A desert island ink, for sure, because in addition to its great colour and shading, it’s permanent! Gotta watch out for those ocean waves.

It’s a smooth & clean nib, with just the right amount of flow, on the wetter side of average. Of course it has no skipping or hard starts, but it’s more than that, it’s just the way it feels! It’s consistent and easy and the contact with the page – this pen just works for me. Among others, I’ve used Sailor Tokiwa-Matsu, Diamine Ochre, and now Sei-Boku, and all have been a pleasure.

You can get a hint of variation out of the nib if you really make an effort, but this isn’t a really soft gold nib as far as standard gold nibs go. You get some feel out of it, but not too much variation. It’s just the very tiniest bit of responsiveness that gives you a sense of the paper underneath your nib.

What a beauty! I’m not usually someone who is really into how the nibs look (is that a guy thing??), but I have to admit that Sailor nibs really are something else. It’s the anchor, the font of the 1911, the whole thing. 

The Sailor 1911S is the 1911 Standard, as opposed to the 1911L or 1911 Large, which would be the larger size.

The Professional Gear & Pro Gear Slim series have flat ends with the Sailor anchor logo on the end of the cap, compared to the 1911 series, which have rounded ends. I always thought I was more of a flat end person, given how much I like my pens like my TWSBI 580, Lamy Safari & 2000, Edison Beaumont, etc., but actually I am loving how this Sailor looks, of course also because it’s the clear & the gold.

Left to right: Lamy 2000, Sailor 1911L, Sailor 1911S, Pro Gear, Pro Gear Slim

It’s a bit bigger than the Pro Gear Slim, but it’s not a large pen. It fits my hand very well, unposted, but if you have larger hands, posting it may be better.

The demonstrator version of the 1911S has a clear cap, which means that you can see the inner cap, which helps prevent the nib from drying out. If you do get ink stuck there, you’ll be able to see it, but like most inner caps (like on the TWSBI 580, Kaweco Clear Sport) you can also remove it fairly easily and wash + dry.

As an aside, sometimes it may look like a pen has a leak, but actually almost all pens will get droplets of ink inside the cap from time to time, especially if you’re carrying them around or moving from different temperature extremes – it’s just more obvious when the cap is clear.

You can see the inner cap, which is the translucent white cap inside the pen cap. There’s a few droplets of ink in there, which won’t bother me unless it starts accumulating into something a bit more.

You need a pencil/chopstick/thin pen and an elastic band, preferably a thicker one like you might get with broccoli. Wrap the elastic around the end of your stick, and push it all the way in. Twist and draw out.

Wrap your elastic around the end of something slim, like a wooden pencil or the blunt end of a chopstick.

Get it in there nice and snug, and the elastic will provide the traction to pull out the inner cap. Twist as you pull back. 

To get the cap back in, just push it in with your finger, and you can close your nib back into the pen and close the cap as you normally would. There’s no danger of damaging the tip of your nib because the inner cap was designed to seal up around the nib and section.

A great pen! It’s truly now a regular in the rotation, a good size, a good-looking pen, and a great writer. Not much more you need out of a pen.

This pen has been popping up all over instagram every time I take a shot of whatever I’m using at that moment. Every once in a while, Jon tries to borrow it so he can show a customer how it writes, and he basically has to pry it out of my hands while saying “Careful! You’re going to break it. Let go, Liz.” Which is mostly about the fact that he borrows it and I don’t get it back until the end of the day.

***

In any case, hope you’re all having a great Saturday and start to your weekend. It’s a bit chilly out, but it’s bright and sunny, so there’s no complaints here. I guess because winter started so late for us here in Toronto that I’m not completely depressed and cabin-fevered about the cold weather and hibernation (yet). It’s still been nice and busy in the shop, and keeping your orders packed up.

We’ve had a few burst cartridges in orders we’ve been shipping out, which is a real bummer, but unfortunately there’s nothing we can do to help keep those from bursting. We’ve started siphoning off ink from bottles into vials, especially for Noodler’s bottles, for most provinces now – back to our glory days of a sink full of syringes.

Caleb & Super are as squirrelly as ever. Super just runs away every time he does something bad and he’s about to get in trouble, but Caleb’s pretty slow moving, so he just looks up at you and smiles. You think to yourself, ‘alright, he’s learned his lesson.” But then two seconds later, he’s into some new sort of trouble, probably something along the lines of breaking merchandise or eating something off the floor.

In case you missed it, we’re hiring! We’re looking for a part-time shop keep, to work both in the front and back, Saturdays + okay with pups (i.e. a maniac dog that barks and jumps a lot in-between the kisses and naps). Jon says it’s ridiculous that we’re putting “okay with dogs” as a mandatory requirement, but Super can really be bananas, and he takes a long time to calm down with new people. It’s like he’s both very smart and very, very dumb at the same time. If that hasn’t scared you off, e-mail jon@wonderpens.ca :)

Lamy’s 2016 Al-Star is in! It’s called Charged Green, and being an Al-Star, it’s a metallic, almost olive green. It’s a beauty.

Every year Lamy releases a new colour of the year – last year’s Al-Star was Copper Orange and the Safari was Neon Lime, both personal favourites of mine. This year, they’ve just released their Al-Star, this Charged Green, and in the spring, they’ll be releasing their Safari.

It’s hard to quite capture how the green looks in a photo because it’s metallic, but it’s not a really bright colour, although it’s definitely green. A bit subtle, but still something cheery. Would be good in the spring, which I’m already pining after.

We even brought in a very limited stock of the cartridges and bottled ink in Charged Green. I think this may very well be my first bottle of Lamy Ink, although I’ve heard good things about the Lamy Blue-Black and also the Lamy Turquoise.

***

In other news, I’m going to my first yoga class tonight, which would mark the first time in about two years. Yikes.

I used to do yoga when I was teaching, and then after we started the business, there just didn’t seem to be enough time. I did some half-hearted pre-natal yoga when I was pregnant with Caleb, but it’s been a while since I did anything even close to stretching. I’ve been talking about doing yoga in the same way Jon talks about going to the gym, but in some fit of inspiration, Jon signed me up. I guess we can’t use my yoga mat to stop drafts from coming in under the door anymore.

We’ve got a few more things coming in, and I’m trying to keep on top of all of them, but check into the “Just In” section of the website as they start to trickle online. Of course you can always come by and say hello us in person, too :)

A few months ago, we put out a call for any calligraphers, artists, letterers or graphic designers, aspiring or professional, to come and do up something on our chalkboard wall. When we first moved in, between me and Jon, it was up to me to get something up on the wall, but we know that there are so many talented and amazing artists out there in our community and in Toronto.

We certainly believe in paying artists for their work and creativity, but not exactly being a Forbes 500 company, we could only offer the chalk + board, $100, plus some free promotion on our blog and social media.

I was beyond thrilled, then, to get an e-mail from someone like Sarah Kim! She trained and now works as a biomedical illustrator, but also has a growing personal business doing custom lettering and calligraphy work, which she shares about on her amazing Instagram account.

Sarah came in this past Monday to climb up our ladder and leave her mark on our wall. Being a medical illustrator, and with Valentine’s Day coming up, an anatomical drawing of a heart and a Proverb for cupid’s day that reminds everyone what really matters in the heart, whether or not you’re in that perfect relationship, seemed just right.

We couldn’t be more thrilled! And not only because Sarah herself is a delight, and friendly, and super easy-going – a complete pleasure to have in our shop, if only for a few hours. The chalkboard itself is gorgeous. If you haven’t stopped by the shop this week already, you need to come by sometime in the next month or so to check this out in person!

A cheerful heart is truly good medicine.

Sarah was kind enough to allow me to tape her putting it all together, and trust me to put some music to it. Even though Sarah came by to do her work on Monday, and it’s now Thursday, this has not been without some pain.

This video has been a piece of my soul.

I used to have a 6-year-old Macbook that I used to complain about all the time because it was six years old and very slow.

Upon the advice of my favourite customer Claudia, who I’ll forgive because you know, she’s still kind of awesome, I got a refurbished Mac, and despite every single Apple technical support guy telling me it has nothing to do with the fact that it’s furbished, this Mac has eaten up more hours of my life in hard re-starts and forced quits and dropped internet connections and frozen applications.

To finally get my iMovie working to put this video together, I have spent literally hours – literally – on the phone with Apple support, and let me tell you – they may be smarter than me, but they are no geniuses.

I had to listen to some Apple tech give me a play-by-play along the lines of “just have something in my eye here, oh I think it’s a hair, hmm, man, this thing is really stuck, oh, almost there, I’m getting it, oh, man, is it in here good, just a little more, it is a hair!” and another inform me that its maybe my trash can being full that’s causing me entire computer to freeze and crash, and hear “hmm…strange…” more times than I can count.

So I’m telling you the truth when I say that I put together this video out of both deep and abiding love for you all, and also tenacity that you will never see the likes of again.

Please, enjoy.

If you watch carefully at the beginning of the video when Jon is cleaning off the board, you can see a little monster toddling around back and forth across the shop. And at the very end, you can also see that same baby ogre doing his thing (i.e. getting in the way.).

***

As a bum note on the side, I’m sorry to say we’re going to have to be raising some prices. The Canadian dollar, the Canadian dollar. We’ve been sitting around the dinner table bemoaning it, but unfortunately, we can’t stay alive with prices as they are. And additionally, some of our prices are below what our manufacturers require them to be, which isn’t fair to anyone – our manufacturers or other retailers in particular.

We’re going to be seeing some big increases on Edison, which is something we should’ve done a while ago. Edison pens are going up from $175 to $210 taking place tomorrow (hustle, friends!).

TWSBI, Platinum, Lamy, Sailor are going to see some small prices increases, all taking place February 5th. There may also be some small price increases on individual products on other brands, but these are the big ones.

We’ve grouped these price increases together to announce all at once, even though we’ve been eating the difference for a while: some of them are price increases from our distributors, and some are discrepancies in the exchange rate.

We’re sorry. You know that we love to give to you the best and fairest prices we can, and while I know the price isn’t the only important part of a purchasing decision, it is important for all of us. Know that we will continue to try our best to offer you the very best that we can.

On my last blog post, I hinted at some changes to the blog. They’ve been a long time coming, and they’ve definitely stretched us past our limited technological abilities, requiring phone calls and lots of online help, but we’re about set up and ready to go!

We’ve finally migrated from our current blog site (wonderpens.wordpress.com) to blog.wonderpens.ca.

One of the big pushes we’ve had in hiring some additional help in the shop is to be able to focus on larger projects like this one, which has been on the back burner for months and months. Look forward to more and more to come!

The new blog is up and running, but I’m sure you’ll see some small and large changes ahead over the next few weeks, both in how it looks and how it functions. Over the next week, we’ll be re-directing links and moving things around. If you know us at all, you know we’re not too technologically inclined here, so please bear with us as we work out glitches and wrinkles and broken links. Which will mostly look like me saying, “Jon, this isn’t working right, can you take a look at it, and umm…fix it?”

The good news is that I think mostly what we do on the blog, which is write and share pictures for you all to read and see, will still be basically the same – it’s the smaller stuff, like the formatting and how everything looks that we’ll be working on back here.

However, the other big change that goes along with this change in the blog is the format of our newsletter.

Up until now, we’ve typically sent out one e-mail newsletter at the beginning of each month, letting you know what we’ve been up to and what’s new in the shop. If you aren’t signed up for that e-mail, but you’d like to receive it, you can sign up at the bottom of wonderpens.ca, or let us know when you visit us in the shop next.

This monthly newsletter usually covers new products, anything exciting that’s been on the blog, and what we’re expecting soon to arrive in the shop. It’s a good way to stay in touch with the big stuff, without getting stuck with all my rambling on the small stuff or the behind the scenes stuff.

We’re still keeping our monthly shop newsletter for those that want updates on the shop, but for the blog, we’re doing something a bit different.

On our previous wordpress site, you had the option of signing up to have each blog post delivered to your inbox. Now, instead of getting multiple e-mails a week with each new blog post, I’m going to be writing a weekly, informal newsletter, recapping blog posts from the week, doing a bit of a ramble on what’s all going on in the shop, and sharing a bit of Wonder Pens at home.

If you follow the blog relatively closely, you won’t be missing too much by not signing up for the weekly newsletter, but it’s going to be some good stuff in there! Ramblings! Corny jokes! The inside scoop on my new ink sample making record! And really, just a recap of the week, once a week.

So if you’re interested in the Wonder Pens at Home weekly newsletter, which will really mostly be me telling you how the week went here, you can sign up at the new blog site on the right. Of course you can unsubscribe at any time (to either newsletter).

That’s it for now! Hope you are all having a great start to the week – and stay tuned! (To the new blog…)

The post Changes to the Blog! Exciting Stuff! appeared first on Wonder Pens - Life Behind a Stationery Shop.

We’ve got lots and lots of new things trickling down the pipeline, and I can hardly keep track! Actually, that’s not true, because we have you know, lists and things here. I have a list of things to take pictures of to get online, and also some things planned for the blog, but it seems like I can hardly keep up!

This one in particular I was pretty excited to receive last week. We’ve been carrying Edison Pen Company pens for a long time, and they’ve been a gorgeous addition to the shop. Both people new to fountain pens and long-time users love turning these pens in their hands, and seeing the translucence and colour and shine. There have been a few times when someone has seen an Edison pen, held it in their hands, and has just known that that was the pen for them.

I very rarely write about pens that aren’t in my personal collection, although I’m working on that, so you can bet that I’m a big fan of this one.

Since the Hudson was discontinued last year and the Herald a few months ago, we only had the two remaining models in the shop: the Collier and the Beaumont, actually two of my personal favourites, although the Collier is a bit big for me, so I have a Beaumont. I can’t wait to see what Brian Gray puts out for his Production line next, but in the meantime, we’ve brought in the Pearlette.

We originally brought in the four larger models because they all share the same nib size, but the Pearlette takes a different nib from the other Edisons, the smaller No. 5 nib, rather than the No. 6. We will have the No. 5 nibs up for sale on the website soon, but if you’re in need of something sooner, please feel free to send us an email, and we can set something up.

As I always seem to say to myself after we get in a new product, I’m not sure what took us so long, mainly because this pen is just perfect for me – the size, the colour, the shape, the weight, the colour…….

I was momentarily distracted by the Deep Indigo, because it also has that hint of swirling depth, but who am I kidding. I got the Aztec Gold Flake. It’s this beautiful slightly translucent amber, brown, orange. I’m all over that colour range.

Slightly translucent, hints of gold and brown and orange and the depth!

At some points of the pen, the translucence is enough to see through to the nib, the ink (especially if you convert it to an eyedropper), and in this photo, you can just barely see the threads inside the cap.

It’s that balance of rich and light and warmth and depth that I love browns for and that this beautiful material has captured. It’s like a sea of fall leaves. Basically I’m in love.

It’s also the perfect shape and size for me, a bit on the smaller end of things, tapered gently at the ends. The pen itself is a bit lighter, like most of Edison’s pens, so perfect for longer writing sessions.

Left to right – Sailor 1911S, Parker Sonnet, Edison Pearlette

It takes a standard converter or cartridge, but like all Edison pens, you can convert it to an eyedropper with just a bit of silicone grease around the threads. I just used the converter, and filled it with Rohrer & Klingner Salix, an old favourite of mine, but you can rest assured this will be eye-droppered at some point.

I’ve only had it for around a week, but it already feels nice and comfortable in my pen roll. I can’t wait to eyedropper it! The hardest part about picking an ink for an eyedropper is that you’re really committing to use it for a while.

***

It’s been mild and beautiful out the last few days, and we’ve been trying to soak up every minute of it while we have it. Usually on Mondays, we do groceries in the morning and then some chores and packing up and try to cross off some things in the afternoon, but we couldn’t resist wandering around our neighbourhood and park and basking in the vitamin D.

Caleb is walking further and further on our walks, which is greatly aided by his relatively new willingness to hold someone’s hand while walking. No more random darting towards the road or grabbing at people’s dogs. Or at least, less. It’s crazy how these little babies grow into these tiny humans who have minds of their own.

As I’m writing this, it’s mid-afternoon, and I’ve got a coconut chicken curry simmering on the stove, and I’m surrounded by boxes and boxes of Life and Clairefontaine and G. Lalo stationery waiting to be lovingly counted and reluctantly re-stocked by yours truly, so life is looking pretty good right now.

The post Edison Pearlette – Aztec Gold Flake appeared first on Wonder Pens - Life Behind a Stationery Shop.

The most exciting news: we have two new calligraphy classes here in our Toronto shop!

Mark Lurz has been teaching our Introduction to Calligraphy class, which is a terrific intro course for complete beginners, or even calligraphers who need a solid refresher. This class has been extremely popular, and I don’t think we’ve run one yet that hasn’t been full with a wait list.

Mark will now be teaching an Intermediate Italic Letters class on the afternoon of March 12th, from 1:30-4:30, for those who have either taken the Introduction to Calligraphy class, or who have some experience in italic calligraphy. This is a next stage level, for those who are a bit more serious about calligraphy, to work towards an elegant script with Swash Capitals. Mark is the head of the Calligraphy Arts Guild of Toronto, so we’re constantly in amazement at the beautiful work he puts out, and his wealth of experience teaching at all levels.

And, if that wasn’t enough, we have Salman Khattak creating a workshop to teach you to make your own oblique nib holder! This Creating an Oblique Nib Holder class means you come empty-handed, and we have all the tools and materials you’ll need to leave with a complete and ready-to-use oblique nib holder. We have two classes, four hours long, one on February 27th, from 2:00 – 6:00 pm, and one on March 5th, from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm.

If you aren’t already following Salman on Instagram, you definitely have to take a look, because he shares some beautiful stuff on it.

We’ve been searching for about as long as we can remember to find a high quality oblique nib holder at a reasonable cost, but they are hard to find! There are some plastic options out there, but they don’t offer the same flexibility to adjust angles or nibs – so you can bet we’re excited to now offer a class where you can make your own, and even more so taught by someone like Salman, who makes some pretty unbelievable and gorgeous nib holders.

With Salman, you’ll be carving and shaping a piece of wood, and fitting & adjusting brass flanges to accommodate nibs of various sizes. You’ll walk away with an oblique nib holder shaped to your hand size and preferences, and a few extra nibs to make some beautiful calligraphy.

Both of these classes are available for registration online, or you can call or visit the shop to reserve your spot. We’ve had a number of people doing it with a friend or as a small group, and if you know you’d like to attend the class with someone, you should all register as soon as possible, so one of you doesn’t end up on the waitlist.

As with all of our classes, if you have to cancel unexpectedly, you can receive up to a 50% of the class fee back as long as you let us know before 48 hours of the class. After 48 hours, unfortunately there are no refunds.

***

We’ve been running calligraphy classes in our new space for a while now, which has been something we were very excited to do after our tight quarters at 906 Dundas West. We’ve held classes at our shop, in the back, while customers came in to browse and look at inks, but we’re now ready to announce that we will have a separate space for calligraphy classes, just down the hall.

It’s a wide open space, with windows and echo-y sounds and concrete floors and white walls, which certainly brings me back to last winter and early spring, when we were walking through the empty shop and packing area and apartment units, and it was all cold and industrial and bright and full of hope. We have even more planned and soon to come, including a March Break Children’s Calligraphy Class, and more.

It’s been pretty exciting, to say the least, to see how the interest in calligraphy has grown over even just the last couple of years we’ve been running classes – we’ve had graphic designers and artists and calligraphers attend our classes, but even just “regular” folks who see the beauty in this art. It’s a way to put a bit of intention and mindfulness in the writing we do everyday.

The post New Calligraphy Classes + New Wonder Pens Calligraphy Studio appeared first on Wonder Pens - Life Behind a Stationery Shop.

Way back a million years, Jon and I were young and in love and on different continents, pining after each other. I was in Madagascar, and Jon was in Canada, and then he left for a stint to travel through Asia. While the pangs of young love were strong, I’m pretty sure if you were a third party watching on, Jon and I were some kind of pathetic.

Story 1:

Jon and I used very expensive phone cards to call each other, and mostly Jon calling me from wherever he was in Asia to where I was teaching in Antananarivo.

One day, I noticed five or six missed calls, and when I finally got in contact with Jon, Jon was in a state of panic, and told me he was in a motorcycle accident, describing in horrific detail the event of his motorcycle skidding and flying metres across dirt and gravel-covered roads.

I immediately began freaking out, and imagining all sorts of dramatic scenarios involving suspect blood transfusions and hospitals out in the bush and helicopters (I watched many episodes of ER in high school, which obviously have given me a very realistic sense of what injury abroad looks like).

After some prodding, however, I discovered that Jon’s motorcycle accident resulted in a scraped pinky-toe and a lesson learned to always wear shoes, and not flip flops, when on a motorcycle.

This was the first tell-tale sign that in our life together, Jon would not make the best sick-patient, and we have since had some high-drama sore throats and paper cuts.

Story 2:

I wrote him love letters from afar. I got a pack of airmail envelopes from the local Shop Rite, and wrote him about my new adventures and new food and attempts to learn the new language and of course, went on and on about tender devotedness and the woes of separation.

I will (very kindly) spare you the sordid details.

All of this is to remind you that this Valentine’s Day, our Letter Writing Club is still on! With all the InCoWriMo flying around, what better month to stop by and write some letters around our table.

Whether or not you’re separated from your special someone, or, for that matter, whether or not you’re in any sort of special relationship, consider pouring your heart out, embracing sincere affection in the form of embarrassingly honest romantic notions on a piece of paper. And even better, send it in the mail – who knows what spies may intercept! Oh, the danger! What fun!

As always, our Letter Writing Club is on Sunday afternoon from 2-4 pm, free, and we’ve got stationery, pens + stamps for you to use.

The post Love Letters from Madagascar appeared first on Wonder Pens - Life Behind a Stationery Shop.

One of the most surreal things to ever happen to us took place last week (and since we’ve started this business, it’s been a pretty long list).

The long and short of it is that on this Sunday morning, February 14th, between around 7:20-7:45 am (in Toronto on 99.1 fm), they’re going to be playing a segment where you get to hear yours truly fumble around nervously while talking about letter writing.

We were contacted a few weeks ago by Michael, who works with Fresh Air, a radio show on the CBC, to invite us to chat about letter writing and stationery and the art of hand written communication.

Actually, as usual, I was a bit confused about the whole thing and didn’t even realize what was going on. Michael first sent an email reading, ‘we’d love to interview you and chat about letter writing and stationery…can I give you a call?‘

Amazing! Of course, how wonderful! I would love to talk to you on the phone.

Michael called, and he had a list of questions and was just looking for some information, and I was all friendly and chatty and talked about how wonderful letter writing is, and wooed him with my charm, and after all of that he said, “Okay, so, for the real interview…”

So…

Gotta love it when your kid is the most fashionable around – purple, blue, yellow, red, green and stripes all in one outfit.

So early one morning before the shop opened, we suited up the whole family, and made our way to the CBC building on Wellington.

Let me tell you, I regularly take Caleb out on my own for classes or errands, but I cannot imagine all the mamas and papas out there who have to single-handedly get a baby or toddler ready and then hike them out to day care before work. Caleb nor I are at our best before 10:00 am. With winter, it’s closer to lunch time. Actually, Caleb’s pretty sprightly in the morning, so I guess it’s just me.

After some bleary-eyed sock grabbing, we made it there! It turns out it was a very short drive, only around ten minutes, because it’s right in the city centre and we’re just east of that. We must be pretty slow moving here in the shop, because as soon as we exited the car, we were swarmed by all the 9-5ers who were rushing around and picking up their coffee on their way to the office. It was like that scene from the Lion King where Simba is trapped in the throngs of wildebeests.

Everyone was very serious in the newsroom, definitely not impressed by my picture-taking and Caleb yelling “AH! AH! mmmmmm…”

It was definitely a surreal experience coming into the studio. In the photo above was our recording studio, and just to the right, behind the red column, is the sound room. Like, the real deal kind of stuff.

When Michael first said he wanted to bring me into the studio to record me, I guess I’m a bit bashful, so I said, uhh, I’m going to have to get back to you.

I tried to convince Michael to take me for the real interview over the phone, and then I tried to say that we couldn’t leave the shop unattended, and then I said we have a baby who is not exactly very docile but in fact a bit of a destructo-baby which I kind of thought was my trump card, but he said it was better to come into the studio.

Michael then suggested it could be the husband-and-wife dynamic duo who opened up a stationery shop and who love letter writing. Jon agreed to do the interview with me, and between me and Jon, I would hold the baby for most of it.

However, I somehow ended up getting tricked into doing the interview solo, while Jon laughed on from the sound room. I’m still not exactly sure how that happened, because I was all ready to throw Jon under the bus, but it was me, Susan McReynolds, and a CBC microphone 6 inches from my face.

At the very least, I was still clutching onto the camera, so there are no pictures of me in action.

The sound room from where Jon watched me stutter and mumble and ramble on aimlessly.

It was great! I was pretty nervous at first because Susan McReynolds did her radio show intro spiel and sounded just like the radio sounds (I know, I know, what was I expecting), but then I warmed up into it. We talked about writing letters by hand, and the magical surprise of getting a letter in your mailbox, and more. To be honest, it’s all a bit of a blur, so I could just be making most of that up.

***

On our way in, I took this picture of the giant picture of my long-time crush Peter Mansbridge, while Jon rolled his eyes. Also, I tried to get a picture of Anne-Marie Mediwake, who has triplets, and what mama can’t respect that, but Jon said he had to draw the line somewhere, and apparently it’s between taking one picture of a picture of a newscaster, and taking two pictures of pictures of newscasters.

Peter Mansbridge, reclined, deep in philosophical thought about Canada’s place in the world. (Us, just behind the camera, shortly to be at the wrong information desk, and soon to be sent to the other side of the building).

Then, while Michael was walking us out, I mentioned Peter again (now that I’m a radio star, Peter and I are on a first name basis, obviously), and Michael offered to show us the National’s doors!

Look at the doors! They literally had to raise the ceiling just to fit the doors!

The security on the doors was a bit crazy (although, maybe not, since they let yahoos like us so close…), apparently you need some sort of pin key or something to get in, because it has the robotic cameras.

I made a joke about how you wouldn’t want anyone breaking in and broadcasting any nefarious messages across the nation, but Michael says it’s more to do with how expensive the camera equipment is, and they don’t want anyone messing around in there. Nice guy that he is, he very pointedly avoided looking directly at me while saying that.

So, if you are up and about on Sunday morning, be sure to tune in to 99.1 FM, between 7:20 and 7:45 am ish. I think the time could still change, but it will be some time Sunday morning!

On the way home from another adventure, and the joy of being alive…

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Since getting my button maker months ago (how did I ever live without one before??), I have made many buttons for many occasions, including for our monthly Letter Writing Club, and to commemorate personal achievements and events in the shop. Sometimes I make them for no reason at all.

Jon has a small collection of buttons made for various moments in our life, and I can’t wait to start making buttons out of Caleb’s future “artwork.” There are a few times that I’m grateful to have a business where I can justifiably buy things I might not buy otherwise, and this is one of them. I don’t know that I would be able to convince Jon to buy a button maker plus all of the supplies just to make silly buttons for him and Caleb.

Here are some of my favourites:

Vintage Stamps from a giant box of them I got at the National Stamp Show last November – they’re canceled stamps from different countries around the world.

But the real big deal is that now, finally, we have official Wonder Pens buttons!

I guess it’s a bit strange that I’ve had this button maker for literally months, and am only now finally making Wonder Pens buttons, but they’re here now!

We’re going to be including them with online orders, while I can keep the supply up. I’ve got a bunch made with kraft paper because I just like the way kraft paper looks, but I’ve also got some on random scraps of old magazines and cookbooks that I use for cutting up, so every once in a while someone’s getting a random colour.

I made a special one for Jon while I was at it. One day I’m going to make a Little Cheese for Caleb.

***

Also, the latest big news on the stationery scene: if you are a Midori Traveler’s Notebook user, I’m pretty sure you already know this, but in celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the TN, the Camel leather cover is being re-released in both Regular & Passport size.

There are also going to be Limited Edition Traveler’s Notebook Charms in different tins, which I think can be used to store extra or used Regular sized refills. These charms are mini Traveler’s Notebooks in the three colours (black, brown + the new camel), that are actually notebooks with little mini elastics and mini notebook refills. You can see more details here on their official website.

Of course we’re going to carry them. I’ve been having heart palpitations trying to stop myself from sharing the news before it was officially released from Midori, but now it’s all over the internet, and I can finally breathe, knowing I’m not going to blurt something out crazy. If you’d like to be on the e-mail notification list, you can send me an e-mail – wonderliz@wonderpens.ca.

I’ve already sent about twenty emails to my distributor, including emails asking him if I can call him, and then calling him before he responds to my emails. I’m counting down the days until late May/early June when it comes. Which is hard, because I’m counting down the days but I don’t know exactly what day I’m counting down to, so…I’m basically just estimating-down.

It’s crazy here. Warm spring weather and a Camel Traveler’s Notebook???

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Today is something a bit different for the blog! Another Wonder Pens Adventure..

Ages ago, I stumbled across this article about Sigma Typewriters from the Hamilton Spectator, and I told Jon that one day we were going to have to make a trip to this tiny shop tucked away in Hamilton, and get me a typewriter from here.

As someone who really loves fountain pens, of course I love the idea of a typewriter – something analogue and mechanical, something to feel the keys and record your mistakes that may turn into stories or maybe not at all.

I remember in university, typing up papers on my computer, and living life on the edge by not saving my work until a certain point. It really was living life on the edge, because any freak electronic spasm could mean my paper would disappear just like that. But something about typing on a typewriter, that physical paper, just like with pen and paper, it’s not so easy to just switch it off or delete.

For those of you that don’t know, I come from Hamilton, or just ‘up the mountain’ from Hamilton (a small town just beside it). I know Hamilton sometimes has a bit of an unglamorous reputation as ‘Steel Town,’ or an industrial city, but it’s actually a pretty beautiful place, especially if you know where to go.

Hamilton has been growing and changing a lot over the last ten or twenty years, and even has a surprising indie art scene. The city has a monthly Art Crawl on James Street North, where cafes and art galleries and independent shops stay open late, and also a yearly Super Crawl that attracts artistic and creative folks from near and far.

Two Mondays ago was Chinese New Year, when I had a dentist appointment before heading to my family’s for dinner, so being in Hamilton anyways…

Sigma Typewriters is at 600 Upper James Street, and run by Nick Kadak, who buys, sells and repairs typewriters.

Admittedly, the shop looks a bit sketchy from the outside, but the Chan family is nothing if not adventurous (and also a foolhardy variety of brave).

The door was locked when we got there, but I had called earlier in the morning before we left Toronto, so we knocked on the door for a bit until someone, Nick, came to rescue us.

It is a shop to remember, rivalling our old Dundas West space for its tight aisles and crammed shelves. Oh, the treasures! In addition to typewriters are all sorts of odds and ends, like cups and books and decorations.

After the zombie apocalypse following which there will be no electricity or credit cards, this is how we’re going to be calculating your total and ringing up your fountain pen sales, in exchange for canned goods or vegetables. And Ovaltine.

I explained to Nick what I wanted (a working typewriter that is also pretty), and Nick pulled out a bunch of typewriters for us to clack away at. He explained a bit about each one and its history, where he had gotten it from or when it was manufactured.  He had them tucked away everywhere, behind shelves and on the floors and between furniture desks.

A real beauty! All metal, and a beautiful grey teal at that. I might just have to come back for this one.

Nick let me take a photo of him, and even showed us the back of his shop, where all the repairs happen. Crazy stuff. Nick and I bonded over the similarity between the state of his desk, and the state of mine.

This is the one we brought home with us! A grey Royal Quiet De Luxe (quiet being a relative term). I was momentarily elated to find out that it was made in Canada, but Nick said that it was probably made somewhere else and partially assembled in Canada…

The best thing about going into a shop like this is that Nick shows you how it all works. I know it sounds like a typewriter shouldn’t be so complicated, but there are actually lots of functions, like setting different margins and tabs and releasing the margins for a few keys, and adjusting the line heights and adjusting the paper to keep it straight, and how to tell what’s going on with the ribbon. I also picked up an extra ribbon from him.

Knowing basically nothing about a typewriter, we picked this one on its looks, and the fact that it’s pretty easy to press the keys down.

Fun fact: There is no numeral 1 key, it starts at 2 across the top, because the lower case letter L suffices, and it saves space on the keyboard.

Fun fact No.2: When writing something on a typewriter (as opposed to a computer), it is much more satisfying to hear the bell ding when you reach the end of the line. It’s as though you’ve successfully accomplished something! You’ve completed a whole line’s worth of writing work! Pavlov would be proud.

What a day! Adventures to a typewriter shop! Finding out I’ll need dental work but that won’t have to be done for another four months! Chinese New Year dinner with enough leftovers for a week!

Maybe it’s running a shop that sells fountain pens, or maybe it’s just running a small business and getting to know so many other small businesses as part of the ride, but I think there’s something so romantic and beautiful but also really important about the soul and character about tiny, hidden away shops like this. We call them independent shops, but really they’re shops where you are chatting with someone who is deeply invested in what’s going on, and who has touched and restored and cared about the treasures at hand and whose physical presence contributes to our communities. We shop at the places we want to keep alive.

As we were leaving, we chatted a bit about being an independent shop that sells things like typewriters and fountain pens. Nick joked that he was like the Last of the Mohicans, which was funny, but also I hope it’s only funny because it’s not too true. With his knowledge and skills in repairing these old analogue machines, the stories and history in these shops, I hope he’s not the last.

I guess we’re hoping and trying to be part of the new generation of these shops, but we’re just young pups still.

The post Wonder Pens Family Goes to Sigma Typewriters in Hamilton appeared first on Wonder Pens - Life Behind a Stationery Shop.

I’m so excited to announce our first March Break Children’s Handwriting and Cursive Writing Camp, along with a bonus optional Calligraphy Class at the end of it.

March Break Cursive Writing Camp in Toronto

If you sign up for both at once, you save $10 off the total cost. All supplies provided, children ages 8+.

For the four-day cursive writing camp, Michele Nidenoff, one of our calligraphy teachers, will be working with students to teach the basics of forming cursive letters. Everything from posture and grip, to the slant and consistency of letters, and how to form and join different combinations, this four day intensive course is designed to give your children a very solid foundation to establish life-long penmanship.

On Friday, Mark Lurz, head of the Calligraphic Arts Guild of Toronto, will be teaching an introduction to calligraphy class for children! This is for kids who want to take it to the next level, and are ready to learn how to make beautiful, calligraphic letters beyond just cursive writing.

You do not need to attend the March Break Cursive Writing Camp to attend the Children’s Calligraphy Class on Friday – you can sign up for either one, or both! If you sign up for both, though, you save $10. You can register online, over the phone (416 799 5935), or in the shop. You can always call or email as well if you have any questions.

We’ll have all supplies necessary, as well as nut-free treats and juice for break. Space is limited.

There are all sorts of reasons why it’s advantageous for kids to learn cursive writing, including, but not limited to:

1. When cursive is mastered, it’s faster and easier to write in cursive than it is in print.
2. Most private schools are continuing to require learning cursive writing, and as public schools begin to lessen their focus on it, in the workplace, cursive writing may become a marker for a certain type of education.
3. Studies are showing that in class, taking notes by hand is more effective than typing.
4. Students who have good penmanship often have more confidence in how and how much they write, so in school, they focus more on learning than on the process of physically writing.
5. Studies are showing that there is link between creativity and writing by hand.
6. It can be fun! Just like some children may enjoy drawing, some children may enjoy writing, and this is a way to give them structure to learn the skill properly.

You can bet I am expecting Caleb to learn how to write cursive. In fact, I used to be a bit perplexed when people would ask if Caleb was going to learn how to write in cursive – it was a bit of an assumed fact. I think it’s a skill that can be so easily learned with some focus and practice, just like I would want Caleb to know how to ride a bicycle or do mental math in his head or how to cook. Nothing fancy or any tricks unless he’s really interested, but basic life skills

Please feel free to pass this onto anyone you know who might be interested in a fun camp for their kids in the morning during March break, or who might be interested in their children getting a solid foundation in handwriting!

The post March Break Children’s Cursive Writing Camp + Calligraphy Class appeared first on Wonder Pens - Life Behind a Stationery Shop.

For those of you who are just discovering our shop, or maybe the blog, we are a family business with a baby, Caleb, and a dog, Super. These days, family businesses are growing less common, but I wouldn’t say they’re uncommon (yet). However, we just live in an apartment in the back, so the line between family and business is sometimes a bit blurred.

Caleb and Super are gradually reaching the most interesting point in their relationship that they’re ever going to have – the one where they’re about as smart as each other. Caleb is currently 17 months old, and Super turns 7 years old this March.

I used to joke that Super was pretty dumb because it seemed like Caleb as a baby was smarter than Super, even though supposedly decently bright dogs are about as smart as a 2 or 3 year old. However, I retract that joke, because now I see what they’re really talking about.

If you’ve ever seen a dog and a toddler interact, you’ll know it’s pretty fascinating – I’m always watching to see what’s going to happen next. Caleb and Super’s relationship has changed so much over such a short time period, and this phase of being mutually dependent on each other is my favourite so far.

For the most part, their relationship have evolved into Super discovers something but can’t quite reach it, Caleb has opposable thumbs. For example, Super discovers there is possible food available on the kitchen table in a tupperware container, Caleb gets the tupperware and opens it.

Recently, we’ve been playing a lot of hide & seek, which epitomizes their co-dependent relationship.

Super is very, very good at hide and seek. If you hide without him seeing you, which in itself is a very difficult task, he’ll notice within seconds that you’ve gone missing, and he will go and start sniffing around in all the usual hiding places, then start sniffing around the perimeter of the apartment, tail wagging, nose to the floor. Super’s only problem is that he can’t open doors.

Caleb, on the other hand, is pretty terrible at hide and seek. Once he notices you’re missing, he’ll stand in the middle of the room and yell, and then go to the bathroom and if you’re not there, he’ll stand and yell from the bathroom. At the very least, though, he’s got opposable thumbs.

Where Caleb comes in handy for Super is that Caleb can open closet doors and pull off blankets that are hiding suspicious lumps. Caleb has learned to watch Super and follow him around, and once Super barks with his tail wagging, Caleb beelines over.

What a team.

They say with babes that the days are long, but the years are short. The months certainly have flown by, but some of these moments are really moments to treasure.

***

In the shop, we’re getting excited for the TWSBI AL-Green on their way. Maybe tomorrow if we have some magic, but otherwise, on Tuesday. TWSBI says that because of limited production on this colour, this shipment for most retailers will be their only shipment, so this will likely be all we’ll be getting of this colour. I’ll be announcing on the blog and Instagram and everywhere that we’ve got it – I’m definitely keeping one – a green 580 with brown ink is right up my alley. Spring in my pen roll.

We’re slowly making our way through our list of new products to be added online, including new Leuchtturm Dot Notebooks, and a few other things. We’ve got some calligraphy products also to be added online that I’m pretty excited about.

I found these Wonder Grip toothbrushes, which I couldn’t resist.

I also found a chunk of banana inside Jon’s pillow case, which I’m assuming Caleb left there. When I asked Caleb about it, he gave me his signature blank look and ran away. He’s getting faster and faster these days. I guess the real mystery is why Super hadn’t found it and eaten it before I could’ve discovered it.

Interesting random photo I found on my camera…

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It’s here! The newest colour in the TWSBI 580 AL-colours line is the 580 AL-Green.

I had something else planned for today’s blog post, but these beauties came in, so my cards were dealt, especially because this will likely be the only shipment we’ll receive of this pen. We tried to order in a good quantity, but unfortunately TWSBI has very limited stock of this new model.

The 580 Aluminum was first released in a silver finish, which is part of TWSBI’s permanent line. Last year, they began releasing a coloured version of their 580 AL, which started off with the orange, then purple and blue, and now green. Maybe because we’re in the middle of winter here and it’s been frosty out the last few days, but I’ve been dreaming of iced tea and short sleeves and green leaves, and now here we have a new spring fountain pen.

I now have an orange and a green, and they look very happy together, both with brown inks.

I apologize that I only have one photo of the pen, in somewhat dark and mis-matched lighting. I’m hoping to update this post tomorrow after the sun comes up again, hopefully with some better photos. If time gets away with me, you’ll certainly be seeing the new green on Instagram over the next few weeks.

I had meant to get this post out earlier this afternoon, but we’ve had some unexpected technical glitches here in the shop: one of our SD cards with the photos of the new pen has stopped working, and it also tragically has photos of Caleb from the last two months!

Jon is sending the card away to one of the magicians in labs with …robots? tweezers and magnets?? Who knows, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they’ll be able to pull some photos from the card.

To make matters even worse, we found some ants in the bathtub…

In any case, it’s Friday! Fridays are nice because they still have the ring of the weekend, even though tomorrow the shop will be open and so we’ll all be at work. I guess we also like Saturdays because they’re a busy day for us, and we get to see a lot of bustle and familiar faces.

Even more exciting is Salman’s workshop on Carving an Oblique Nib Holder tomorrow afternoon, which I’m attending! Jon has agreed to watch Caleb after he wakes from his nap while I’m making a new nib holder for myself. I can’t wait to show you all what I’ve made!

Just this morning the family made a trip to Canadian Tire to pick up the last of the tools and materials we need for the class. Canadian Tire is lucky that we run a shop ourselves, because I think we spent about as much time re-arranging Caleb’s re-arranging of their merchandise as we did looking for the right tools. Caleb has mastered this game of chicken where I say, “No-o-o” very slowly and carefully, and he makes eye contact with me and then looks at the neatly arranged packages of wooden pellets, and then looks back at me, and then shoots his arm out to try and grab something before I get to him.

It’s not quite 9:30, and we’ve got quite a few boxes of things to sort through and count, including a big stack of Midori boxes to re-stock the Traveler’s Notebook items as well as the MD notebooks, a few new calligraphy items, and some fun things for the shop to play around with. It truly is such a blessing that this small shop of ours is quietly humming, even on a Friday night.

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