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!

I {heart} Handwriting! (And, of course, pens...)

A few of the buckets on my craft desk...

I love writing letters.

As in letters of the alphabet.

For as long as I can remember, I've loved writing.  I can remember, as a child, I would get a blank piece of paper and my big box of markers and go to town.  I am sure there were times I drew pictures, but what I remember most is writing words.  I would write names, then trace around each letter with different colored markers until it filled the page with glorious, rainbow lettering.  My parents tell me I've always had an affinity for pens, markers and writing in general.  They say, as a child, I would just sit and draw words then decorate the letters and make them pretty.

I think I must have been a weird kid.

Fast forward to the present...  Nothing has changed.  I adore pens of all kinds.  I adore handwritten notes.  I adore gorgeous rainbow colored ink.  I adore lovely stationery.  I just love it all!

Japanese Stationery Store.  Yes, Please!!!!!!!!

Along with my love of writing, I love handwritten things.  I think handwriting says so much about someones personality.  The style of the letters, the color and type of pen used, even the paper says a lot about you.  My hubby and I are prime examples of this....

Let's say we are each going to make a shopping list.  I will pull out several colors of pens (which I have with me at all times, by the way).  Sometimes it will be felt tip; other times a bold, gel pen.  The pen I use is directly dependent on my mood at the time.  After I've carefully chosen a few pens to use, I then must choose the correct paper.  Lined? Unlined?  Again, it depends on the mood.  I will carefully write out the list, often putting it in order the items are laid out in the store.  If I mess up, I'm very likely to re-write the entire list.  I write in a slow and methodical manner because neatness matters to me.  Writing the list is a process I thoroughly enjoy.  I told you I was weird.

My husband, on the other hand, will grab a pen.  He ONLY uses black, extra fine tip pens.  No variety.  No excitement.  Just simple, predictable, boring black.  He doesn't look for a great notepad to write it on.  Anything will do.  He'll use a receipt, a scrap of paper or an envelope that previously held his paycheck.  He will write his list in no particular order, scribbling some illegible words as he goes.  He does not care if the list is neat, tidy or pretty.  It's a shame, really.

Now that you know about our lists, Let me give you a short summary of our personalities...

I am flamboyant; he is subdued.
I am bubbly; he is serious.
I am frivolous; he is practical.
I love sparkly pink; he loves flat black.
I am excessive; he's a minimalist.

You get the point.

My theory makes perfect sense, right?

I realize I'm rambling here, but really, is there a better subject to ramble on about?  I think not.

Anywho....

I know I cannot be the only one who feels this way about my beloved pens.  Do you love great pens?  Gel? Felt tip? Roller ball?

Tell me all about your pen love.  I could chat about pens all day...

Cheryl

Pens!

Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  Mine felt very productive - except for the time I spent on Pinterest, of course.  I hadn't visited the world of Pinterest in a while, so Saturday afternoon I made up for it!  Now, on to my true reason for posting...

The last few weeks as I'd taken some time off from the blog, I would find myself seeing something interesting and thinking "I need to share that with my readers!".  There are many other things in life, besides paper, that make me happy.  Although this blog will still basically revolve around paper crafting, I thought I would start sharing a few other things that I love, like or just find interesting.  As someone who follows a ton of blogs, I always enjoy when someone posts something new or different.  So, that's what I want to do here.  I hope it's ok with all of you if I occasionally share something non-paper related!

I know I've mentioned this before, but in case you're new or don't remember, I love writing instruments of all kinds!  And by that I mean I am obsessed with them and collect them feverishly.  I own hundreds (yes, that's plural!) of pens, highlighters, pencils and markers.  I have always enjoyed typography and lovely handwriting, so the pens go hand in hand with that. OK, time for a confession.  When I have a bad or stressful day, I don't reach for wine or cigarettes to calm me; I go pen shopping.  True story.  Walking into Staples and seeing all the beautiful colors of pens just makes my heart happy.  I realize this is a sickness and I don't want to get better if that means I must let go of my lovely pens.

All of that being said, I thought I would occasionally share with you some recommendations for what I think are the best writing instruments.  I don't have a lot of fancy, expensive pens - I prefer the cheaper ones that come in a rainbow of colors.  Just to prove it, here's a pic I just took of my desk at work, where I am typing this post. (I snapped it with my phone and the camera's terrible, so ignore the bad quality)

These are the pens and highlighters that I keep out on my desk at work.  I believe everything looks better written in rainbow colors!  In the the square black cup on the right, I have 5 different sets of pens that are rollerball, gel, ballpoint and felt tip.

This is one of my desk drawers.  I rotate the pens on my desk with the pens in the drawer because I like variety.  Of course, the ones on the desk get hidden in the drawer at the end of the day.  I work for doctors who have sticky fingers when looking for pens, so I have to protect my babies when I'm away from my desk!

Now that I've given you the lengthy explanation of my obsession collection, you should now know I am an expert on all things pens!  A self-proclaimed expert, but that's ok, right?  In the future, I'll be sharing some recommendations and reviews with you.

Have a blessed Monday!

Cheryl