The June Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper

All these posts can make a person dizzy! (Photo courtesy of publicdomainpictures.net)

Welcome to the June 7, 2011 edition of the Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper. I'm both excited and embarrassed to be hosting this month. Excited because, well, it the Carnival, which means lots of cool posts and probably means higher traffic than usual for me. Embarrassed because all that traffic is going to hit after several months of very little posting here. Nonetheless, feel free to poke around while you're here. Let's hope this kick-starts my posting motor.

And, we're off!

editor's picks

Science or art? 

Two regular ink reviewers consistently put an unusual amount of artistry into their reviews, and this month is no exception: David Garrett presents ink review - sailor jentle blue black posted at seize the dave, the best-named blog on the net! Clement Dionglay presents Ink Review: J. Herbin Diabolo Menthe at Rants of the Archer.

Do-it-Yourself:

DIY enthusiasts will enjoy Nrepose's write-up of the Noodler's Friction Fit Pen at Unposted. (Not quite a Noodler's pen, but you'll understand the name of the post soon enough.) And, take a moment to get in on the ground floor of Alex Witte's Nib Grinding Project on $3 Pilot Varsity pens at Economy Pens.

Decisions, decisions:

Most people wouldn't call this a brain-teaser, but we're not most people, are we? Snarky's Machine challenges us to choose favorites in Desert Island Pens: Which 10 Pens Would You Take? at Does this Pen Write? That might have some of us thinking for a few hours . . . or maybe days. Whatever you choose, don't forget the paper. That tree bark will wear your pens down something awful.

Ink. It's not just for pens anymore:

Ink Nouveau guest blogger Jamie Williams Grossman explains that the artistic use of ink isn't limited to pens in Beyond the Pen: Fountain Pen Ink as Watercolor Wash, while Ink Nouveau's founder Brian Goulet goes his guest blogger one better, skipping the pen and the brush altogether and taking the ink straight to the water: Ink in Water Pictures at Ink Nouveau.  (I share Brian's fascination with this, especially when the ink looks like an entirely different color outside the pen than it looks when flowing from the pen.)


penmanship

Whodaman presents 4 Steps to Improving Your Handwriting - However Bad it is posted at Smarter to Smartest.

Cheryl from Writer's Bloc presents Do I need a left-handed nib on my fountain pen if I’m a left-handed writer? at the Writer's Bloc Blog.

notebooks, paper, and journaling


Moleskine Releases New Cahier Planners for 2012 posted at Journaling Arts.

Dolly once again offers help for the journalist struck with writer's block, with Journal Writing Prompt #21 — Right Now at Journal Addict.

Father's Day is coming, and Nole has some card suggestions for you in Father's Day Card Round-Up and Father's Day Card Round-Up, Part 2 at Oh So Beautiful Paper.

Last week, yours truly introduced you to Unquestionably the coolest notebook I've ever seen, right here at Note Booker, Esq.

office supplies

Nrepose presents The Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener at Unposted.

ink and art

Oh, how I envy artists!

Inkophile helpfully leads us to several examples of pen art in Links to Artists Who Put Pens to Good Use at An Inkophile's Blog.

Carnival founder Nifty shows us a recent favorite piece in Moleskine Monday: “Weekly Moleskine” at Notebook Stories.

AK lets us in on the Inside: A Ukranian Sketchbook at Notebook Loves Pen (next month's Carnival host).

The Trone presents Trone Art posted at The Trone blog, saying, "My own art! Only five pieces now but I have many others that I will post on a regular basis (daily or bi-daily). I hope you enjoy and browse my blog!"

You might think that carving up a Moleskine with a razor blade should be punishable by prison time, but you'll probably change your mind when you read The Book Surgeon at Moleskinerie.

Heather at A Penchant for Paper provides some interesting Art Journal Prompts, Part 1.

ink reviews

Peninkcillin presents Noodler's Burma Road Brown (V-Mail) Ink Review at Peninkcillin.

The Classicist reviews Waterman Black at Penned House.

pencils


M. Meckel wonders if yesteryear's factory seconds are better than some of the cheap pencils that pass quality control today, in Seconds at Bleistift.

Thinking pencils? That's what Palimpsest writes about in Brainstorming with Pencils at Palimpsest

pens


Multi-pens, anyone? Diane B presents Uni-ball Jetstream 3 Color Multi-Pen posted at Pocket Blonde, and Yochanan introduces his new blog, Multi Pen Dimensions, with Why multi pens? Welcom aboard, Yochanan!

Here's a "two-fer" from Alex Witte at Economy Pens: Zebra AR7 Blue and Kaweco Sport Classic.


Millie presents Product review: a new Lamy and a new ink posted at Planet Millie, saying, "The new aquamarine Lamy and a review of Caran d'Ache Caribbean Sea ink. It's all very aquamarine!"

Maria Fallas presents Moleskine Rollerball Pen posted at Pen and Paper Hoarder, another very young blog.

Julie (O-kami) presents Edison Pearl at Whatever.

Some of us are constantly on the quest for the "perfect" pen. Dowdyism reminds us that sometimes the search involves more than shopping, with Pen Hack: Zebra Sarasa Clip to Pilot Hi-Tec-C Cavalier at The Pen Addict.

miscellaneous

Julie at Peaceable Writer presents more samples of her too many inks in Writing Down the Ink #6. I'm having a little cognitive dissonance trying to process the concept of "too many inks." Who knew that was possible?

Another year, another National Stationery Show missed. Rats! But Office Supply Geek was there, and brings us his 2011 National Stationery Show Highlights.


next month

That concludes this edition. Next month's carnival will be hosted by Notebook Loves Pen.

Submit your blog articles for the next edition of carnival of pen, pencil and paper using the carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found at the blog carnival index page, and you can read about the Carnival's origins at Notebook Stories.

Don't be strangers!

The June Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper