News
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Artsynibs - One Year On
A guest post by Artsynibs, who we were lucky enough to learn a lot from back when she taught a calligraphy workshop here at Cult Pens. About this time last year, I shared the beginnings of the Artsynibs journey as part of Cult Pens' World Calligraphy ......Read More
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The History of Calligraphy
At the risk of being assaulted by a sharpened nib, may I just say that we don't need to do calligraphy these days. Word (other word processors are available!) has a pretty comprehensive list of different typefaces to choose from, and scanners and photocopiers make ......Read More
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Blink Lettering
A guest post from Milly of Blink Lettering - how she got started with calligraphy, and how it became more than just a hobby. How it all started I’m a graphic designer by day, which I absolutely love, I feel so lucky that I get to be ......Read More
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Castelli - Meet The Brand
Aren't these beautiful? They're a work of art, but in notebook form, a truly pleasurable way to keep track of your thoughts and things to do. Little touches, like the printed page edges and the elegant black endpapers, turn what's essentially a fairly mundane everyday ......Read More
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The Sharp End - from Dave's Mechanical Pencils
A guest post from the much-loved Dave's Mechanical Pencils, all about the sharp end of your pencils. Mechanical pencils can be divided into two main groups – the general writing pencils and the technical pencils. Many people like to use a technical pencil, sometimes because they ......Read More
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Caran d'Ache 888 Infinite - an Affordable Swiss Mechanical Pencil - from Bleistift
A guest post from Matthias of the wonderfully geeky pencil blog Bleistift. It's time to celebrate Mechanical Pencil Day again! Last year I tried to focus on unusual mechanical pencils. For this year's mechanical pencil day, I want to take a closer look at affordable mechanical pencils ......Read More
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Platinum's 100th Anniversary
It's Platinum's 100th anniversary, so we thought it was a good time to tell you more about this successful Japanese pen maker, and their history of innovation. Much of the information here comes from the "100-Year Timeline Platinum Fountain Pen" book which they have complied ......Read More
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Manga Artist Interview - Inko
Manga - in simple terms - is story-telling by way of pictures: comics, if you like. Astonishingly, it's been around for over 800 years which knocks the 80-year-old Beano into a cocked hat. A series of works known as the 'Handscrolls of Frolicking Animals' was ......Read More
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STABILO Sensor
We're all taught to write in pretty much the same way, and shown the optimum way to hold a pen or pencil. However, we're human, and over time we develop our own style of handwriting, and preferred way of wielding a pen. We write big, ......Read More
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Cheryl Holland Willis - Artist of the Month
Cheryl Holland Willis is the talent behind the fabulous picture of Herbie, created using Pentel's Pointliner drawing pens. These contain water- and fade-resistant pigment ink and are perfect for all types of writing, sketching and drawing. We wanted to know a little more about Cheryl, ......Read More
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FIRE, HOT WAX AND KNIVES - Or How to Run a Wax Seals Workshop
What is it about wax? Come on - admit it - who hasn't picked up a lit candle and angled it so the wax drips down, just for the pleasure of watching it pool on - let's say - the coffee table? I'm not alone, ......Read More
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Pilot Capless - Retractable Fountain Pens
Those who love fountain pens usually know the Pilot Capless pretty well. It's one of the most famous fountain pens in the world, for many good reasons. Newcomers can be tempted to assume it's a bit of a gimmick, but it wouldn't still be this ......Read More
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Uni Emott Review by Journal With Purpose
As soon as I received this pack of 40 Uni Emott pens, I was immediately impressed by the look and feel of the packaging. The white box is sturdy and gives the feel of a high-quality product. The design of the box allows for easy ......Read More
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3 Ways with Tombow by Journal With Purpose
Tombow's ABT pens are dual-tipped brush pens with water-soluble ink, which makes them perfect for a multitude of uses. Take a look here for three different projects. You'll need paper, a brush, mt tape and some clingfilm. Project 1 1. Use some washi tape to act ......Read More
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Journal Comparison - Helen Colebrook
Rhodia Goalbook My favourite and most used notebook for bullet journaling. They come in a range of beautiful colours and as a lucky coincidence, the lilac cover matches with lots of my favourite stationery. The 224 dotted pages mean this journal lasts me a long time. The ......Read More
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The Pilot FriXion Family
The FriXion Family… sounds like a futuristic sort of sitcom, a bit like The Jetsons or something. It's not though, although FriXion pens, when they first came out, were a bit futuristic! This was because Pilot, the manufacturer, had gone one step further than the ......Read More
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Meet The Artist: Phil Maltz
Phil Maltz is the very talented chap who created one of the banners for our bi-monthly newsletter Penorama. He's married with 'two very creative and messy young children' and works in video production at a media organisation where most lunchtimes are spent sketching (and ......Read More
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Bullet Journal Comparison
Right then, you've seen all the stuff on the benefits of journaling, and you're convinced it's the thing for you. You're not alone - thousands of people feel less stressed, more organised, more 'with it' since beginning a journal, and it certainly gets the thumbs-up ......Read More
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Mandala For Mindfulness
These look great, don't they? But how on earth do you get to these from a blank page? We were stumped too, so some of us got together with our new friends from Funky Pigeon and invited Helen of @journalwithpurpose to show us how to ......Read More
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Nick Stewart - Meet The Artist
Nick Stewart is a Creative Designer at Stewart2, a creative agency in Kent. He's also an inkophile (if indeed there is such a word) and dedicates a lot of his time to creating amazing pieces of art using ink, the sort you usually put in ......Read More
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Blackstone Inks
Blackstone inks began in quite a roundabout way, coming from a discussion on Fountain Pen Network, but we'll come back to that. It's an interesting story, but you may just want to know what they're doing now. Well, they're making inks in Australia, with colours based ......Read More
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ProMarker & BrushMarker Workshop
One of the best Christmas presents I used to get (when I was under the age of 10, that is, and leaving the Chocolate Orange out of the equation) was a massive pack of felt tip pens. Simple, cheap, perfect. I can't remember how many ......Read More
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Polychromos 111th Anniversary
1908 was a very busy year. Ernest Shackleton set off from New Zealand for Antarctica in the January, and a few months later Robert Peary went in the other direction from New York, heading for the North Pole. The publication of Baden-Powell's 'Scouting for Boys' ......Read More
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Spring Fling Planner Thing
Just as there are more ways than one to skin a cat (if that's your thing), there are more ways to organise your life than just through journaling. And that's through planning. It's a little more structured than journaling but does the same job in ......Read More
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In the Garden With Pilot Pintor Markers
Spring has sprung, the grass is riz. Or so that peculiar poem goes. Having just experienced a very spring-like warmest February ever, we're definitely looking forward to 'proper' springtime, and possibly the loveliest months of the year: March, April and May. And what do you ......Read More
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Meet the Brand: Edding
When you're looking for a marker that will do exactly what you want it to do, it's an edding that you'll need. It's a proper marker. It doesn't matter what you want to mark, or how (or even why), it'll perform just as you want ......Read More
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Dip Pen Workshop
We dipped our toes into the world of dip pens this week! And how strangely addictive they were too. Louise (aka Calligraphy Girl, or @inkcrafts) was our mentor and Helen @journalwithpurpose, Amanda, James, Amy and my good self, Anna, were her eager students. So why a ......Read More
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Write A Letter!
Gone are the days of second post and coming home every day to a hallway filled with letters. And returning from a week in Lanzarote and having to give the front door a good hard shove because of all the paper stacked up behind it. ......Read More
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Valentine's at Cult Pens
Who was St Valentine? And why did he get to have the most romantic day in the year named after him? Was he particularly charismatic, or chivalrous, or was he just a plain good-looker? Well, we'll probably never know his personal attributes, but we do ......Read More
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Multipens - All You Need in One Pen
Multipens are great - they're often no bigger than a normal pen, but contain more than one pen! There are all sorts of different multipens, but if you usually write in black ink but sometimes need red, and occasionally need a pencil, a multipen can ......Read More