What’s What 2/18-2/24 2024
Inked Right Now
Pilot Decimo with Robert Oster Frankly Scarlet
Aurora Ipsilon with Anderillium Shoebill Stork
Pilot Custom 845 with Iroshizuku Ku-jaku
Gone from last time: Franklin-Christoph 65 and the blue Decimo.
The 845 rolls along with journaling duty. One Decimo tags out and the other tags in. A week ago, we were looking at a snowstorm and skies were grey on grey on grey. The storm ended up being a miss in my area but the leadup pushed me to reach for a grey ink to fill the Aurora. It has a Journaler grind from Gena at Custom Nib Studio, which does well to highlight the shading properties of Shoebill Stork.
New & Exciting
Following a link from The Well-Appointed Desk I spent some time reading at browsing at Baum-kuchen. I’m pretty sure I’d heard of them before but never visited their site. Be advised you will not be in and out in a few minutes because there’s a lot to look at. A very nice catalog to shop, articles & essays, courses you can take, etc. More than that, though, is the surrounding feeling that the people at Baum-kuchen love what they do and put a great deal of passion into it. I think it’s best illustrated with the following pictures.
I won’t go through everything in the package here because it would take a while. Suffice it to say that Baum-kuchen has many of the favorite Japanese stationery items you’re familiar with, but there’s much more of their own creation. That’s what I would encourage you to explore. See if what they care about hits on what you care about.
Working On
Swatching continues. The front door at my house has tall narrow panes on either side of frame. In the morning, sunlight streams through them in a concentrated beam. This morning, I had the swatch book in my hand walking past the front door and took note of how the colors popped in the sunlight. I don’t often use direct sun for indoor pictures because it gives very strong contrast and shadow that my phone doesn’t do well with, but I thought it was worth trying for these.
One item from the Baum-kuchen order than came in handy right away were the card files from Traveler’s Company. They’re great for holding the Tsubame Ink Collection Cards I’ve filled out over the past few years.
I filled all but a few slots in two of these books, just under 120 cards total. Between the card files and the Wearingeul book I’m getting much closer to the organization I envisioned for my ink swatches.