Pen Review - Staples Felt Tip Pens

I'm a sucker for a pretty pen.

This should come as no surprise to you if you've been around me (or read my blog) for any length of time.  I see those glorious pen bodies, in all the colors of the rainbow, and I must have them!

I was a gel/rollerball pen snob for much of my writing life.  Once I discovered gel pens, I left the world of ballpoints behind for a better way of writing.

Then came 2001.  I started dating my husband, who was taking some college classes at the time.  We swung by the school bookstore one night on our way to dinner and of course, I had to check out the pen section.

In that moment, my life changed forever.

I discovered Staedtler Triplus fineliners.

As I saw the rainbow display boasting 20 colors of inky goodness, I knew I had to have them. (They now have more colors - Yea!)  So, I looked at Charles with my sweetest expression and he dropped thirty bucks on a set of pens.  This was the moment I knew he was truly in love with me, by the way.  I mean - if a man buys you good pens, you've found your soul mate.

From that day forward, felt tip pens (also known as fineliners) replaced gel pens as my favorite.  And 16 years later, they're still one of my most loved sets.

There's a fine line between a good felt tip pen and a fine point marker and every time I see a new brand or style, I must buy them.

Last week, I found these:

They were around $7.00, which is a decent price for 12 pens.

Aren't they beautiful? I know.  It's hard to stop staring.

I opened them up, took pics, then promptly started writing with them.  And they are pretty good.  They are no Staedtlers, but I don't regret buying them.  

One complaint I have is the nubs on the pen body. (As you can see in the pic above)  They hurt!  After just a few minutes of writing, my finger hurt from those prickly bumps.  I don't quite get the point of them - Maybe they're supposed to be a grip?  

As for the ink flow, I feel they're a little stiff but after you write for a few minutes, they loosen up and the ink flows more smoothly.

Would I buy them again?  Probably, but only because my goal is to have a set of every pen at the store.  Yes, I'm serious.  Don't judge me.

I will use them but not all the time.  I cannot deal with those prickly nubs.

And that's my 2 cents.

Some of my favorite fine liners (including the Staedtler's) are:

             

As always, if you use the links above, it helps support Pink and Paper.

Happy Monday!

Pen Review - Sweet Secret

More pens to review today...  

I recently placed my first order with AliExpress.  AliExpress sells cheap stuff from China.  I love it!  So far, I've only bought pens and washi tape, but I've been pretty happy with everything I've gotten.

I am a HUGE fan of Pilot Frixion pens, so when I saw these for $3, I had to try them.  They are a knock off brand of the Frixion pens.  I figured if they were crappy, I only lost $3.  But I was pleasantly surprised - I love them!!!!!!!

Here's a close-up of the label.  If you'd like to order them, just search erasable pens and sort by price.  I am not sure of a brand and as you can see, most of the wording isn't in English.  

As soon as I received them, I sat down and tried them out, of course! I really, really like them.  The colors are vibrant, they don't skip and the ink is smooth.  

I feel like they don't erase quite as well as Frixion but they're pretty stinking close!

Although they said they were 0.5 (that's what the package said, but I'm assuming they meant .05), I feel like they write more like a .07 to me.  I feel the Frixion .05 have a much finer line.

If you want cheap pens, you should totally buy these!  I have had them at my desk at work for several weeks and they continue to work perfectly - no skipping or running out of ink.

Until my next pen purchase...

Pens!

My pen shelf in my craft room.  I don't love the mis-matched container but it works for now...

Hi, My name is Cheryl and I'm addicted to pens.

I have loved pens, paper, markers, crayons and handwriting since I was a child.  I don't know when it started, exactly, but I can remember sitting around just writing names and trying to make them pretty.  I would color the letters and outline them all fancy and make "word art" before it was a thing.  My love for all things stationery grew as I grew up and it's still going strong.

I just finished organizing my hundreds (I'm not exaggerating!) of pens and decided I'd like to start sharing some reviews of my favorite pens here.  I know I've read a lot of reviews online and it's helped me make some great choices, so I'd like to do the same for you guys.

I'll post reviews starting next week, but in the meantime, check out the pics from my Pinterest board of some beautiful writing instruments...

This makes my heart skip a beat.  Pens AND organization!

DIY Pen holder using PVC pipe- Genius!

I've been wanting these MildLiners for a looooong time.  I just ordered my first set!  Woo hoo!

I just want to look at this table all day.

I love this pouch!  I saw it on Pinterest but can't figure out where to get one....

This is the "Better Together" pouch by Mochi.  Love.  But I'm cheap and it's like thirty bucks.

Happy Saturday!

Pens! Pens! Pens!

I love pens.

Seriously.  I looooooooove pens.  I love pens more than some humans.... 

Ok, maybe not.  But still, my heart does go pitter patter as the sight of gorgeous rainbows of pens!  I'm a serious addict and have no plans to curb that addiciton any time soon.

Because of said addiction, I own hundreds of pens.  People will frequently see my pen collection or the massive amount of pens in my drawer at work and say "There's no way you can use all those pens!"  WRONG!  I most certainly do.  I rotate them out almost weekly and prefer hand written notes to computer generated printouts, so I use them a lot.

I figured I may as well share this fabulous collection with you all, so I thought I'd start sharing a new set of pens every few days....  Here goes!

Stabilo 88 Fineliner Pens

Felt tip pens - sometimes called fineliners - are probably my favorite type of pen.  I am not sure why, but I feel like my handwriting looks nice with them and I love the way they write.  With a fineliner pen, you do have hold  your pen somewhat upright, so if you write with your pen slanted, you may not love them.  

One of the other selling points of these particular pens is the color choices.  I love that they have tons of colors - including neon!

Here's a sample of how they write, along with the colors/names.

The neon colors don't show up great in the photo, but every color but neon yellow looks really nice and bright in person.  These pens are so much fun!  They write smoothly and don't bleed through most paper.

I would highly recommend them!  I feel like Amazon has the best price and you can get them online HERE.

Remember, anytime you use the link above to purchase on Amazon, you're helping support Pink and Paper.  

I'll be back soon with more pen love.

Happy writing!

It's been too long...

Hello all you Internet peeps!  I have been gone way too long.  I've missed you!

Where have I been?  Let's see....

My last post was a little over a year ago.  At that time, my tiny little business started to grow a little.  Through word of mouth - and the blessing of God - I started getting orders from friends of friends of friends.  I loved it. For a while.  I ended up working in the evenings after work, all day Saturday and between church on Sundays.

My home suffered.
My ministry suffered.
My health suffered.
My weight suffered.
My husband felt like a single man.

But, I had cash!  Needless to say, it could not continue the way it was.  For a few years, I thought getting paid for my crafty wares was the ultimate goal.  I have since discovered it's not all it's cracked up to be!

I am a type A personality and I tend to be a workaholic, especially when it's something I enjoy.  I kept saying yes to orders I didn't have time for.  And it was no longer fun.  It was work.  And not even decent work, but hard work.  I had to create these personal items people wanted, then execute them in very short time frames.  I don't know if you've tried, but coming up with a good idea is hard on 3 hours of sleep.  Everything - including the quality of my products - started to suffer.

So....around Christmas, I decided I was done.  I stopped taking orders, which was really hard for me.  Saying no is not my strong suit.  My husband and I were talking one day and he asked me why I had stopped posting here and I realized how much I missed it.

My posts may only be read by my family and a few others, but I love sharing my life and creations with you all.  It's therapeutic and it's my happy place.

This time, it will be different.  Before, I was worried about having a "successful blog" and staying within my niche.  That is not the case anymore.  I will share with you whatever suits my fancy.  Some of it will be paper and crafty, but some of it won't.  Sometimes, I may just share cute otter pictures.... because they're fabulous!

I mean, who doesn't need this in their life????? O.M.G.  I want 42 of them.

That's all my rambling for now.  Happy Wednesday!!!!