It takes 400 years for most plastic to degrade. So if it had existed in Shakespeare's time, the Bard could have swigged his ale from a plastic bottle, chucked the empty in the Avon, and it would only recently have disappeared. Makes you think, doesn't ......Read More
Faber-Castell is one of the oldest and most familiar names in the world of stationery. And it's pencils that spring to mind. Good pencils; ones that are comfortable to hold, which are easy to sharpen without snapping the lead, and whose profile was changed from ......Read More
We wrote a blog some time back about the perfect pencil. Not just any perfect pencil, but THE Perfect Pencil, the range from Faber-Castell. It's here, if you want to take a look: 25 Years of Pencil Perfection | Cult Pens. That was over two ......Read More
Onoto's history began in London in 1905 in the guise of the De La Rue printing company which was based in the delightfully-named Bunhill Row. Before that time, De La Rue made fountain pens under other brand names. One of these was 'Pelican' which was ......Read More
4th March is World Book Day. Stories are all well and good, but pictures make them better. The images gracing the pages of a book play a vital role in storytelling and developing young imaginations. Can anyone hear the words of Roald Dahl’s glorious The Twits ......Read More
We're launching a portrait competition! We've seen your efforts with #cultpenscreative so now it's your chance to really show us what you can do! It's open to all you amazing amateurs out there who fancy immortalising somebody or something - your mum, your granddad, ......Read More
February is InCoWriMo, otherwise known as International Correspondence Writing Month, which challenges you to hand-write (no new-fangled typing in this challenge) and post or deliver one letter, card, note or postcard every day during the month of February. And whilst writing to strangers is perfectly acceptable during ......Read More
I think that Valentine’s Day and the month of February is the perfect time to focus on a little self-love. January can be a tough month for many, leaving us feeling tired and perhaps a little gloomy. I’m going to guide you through some of my ......Read More
The Parker 51 fountain pen was initially launched in 1941. Its design was finalised in 1939, Parker's 51st year of operating, from where its name is thought to have come, although early advertising suggested that it was called the '51' to indicate that it was 10 ......Read More
Pre-2020, Cult Pens was occasionally treated to the whirlwind that is Paul Sacki. He'd arrive sometime during the morning in a taxi from the train station, laden with what looked like all his worldly possessions, and proceed to drag an enormous suitcase up the stairs ......Read More
Well, we're very excited! We've finally managed to get TRAVELER'S COMPANY stuff on-board and we're totally smitten with it. If you've not heard of them before, well, they do notebooks. But they do them really well, and they also do lots of other bits and ......Read More
The name's Pens - Cult Pens - and that's mostly what we sell. But we've decided to be a bit brave in this new world of 2021… and expand a little more into art. As this is a largely new area for us, we've had ......Read More
2020 doesn’t seem like a year that’s going to get good reviews, on the whole. It’s not going to have a good rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Of the cyberpunk dystopias released this year, 2020 will probably have worse ratings than 2077, and the main thing ......Read More
I learned a lot during the first lockdown and it’s helped me start Lockdown 2.0 in a much better place. Two things were key for me last spring: getting outdoors and having the freedom to be creative. As the weather has taken a turn for ......Read More
Your mental health can take a bashing when you least expect it. There you are, sailing along quite happily through life and then… wham! Something happens (and it can often seem quite minor) and suddenly it's life Jim, but not as you knew it. It doesn't ......Read More
Linda Fox grew up and became a GP. And then she gave that up and became an illustrator instead. What…? We were intrigued. How do you go from wrestling with warts and wens to wielding a paintbrush? Well, here's how… 'Since childhood I have loved painting ......Read More
We really have to start with the question of what is a fountain pen? It seems simple enough - we all know they're those pens with nibs, usually metal nibs. But if we go back to when the fountain pen was developed, that's not what ......Read More
Synonymous with excellence in craftsmanship and design, Montblanc has been pushing the boundaries of innovation ever since the Maison first revolutionised the art of writing in 1906. Inspired by the mechanical innovations he witnessed during his travels to America, German technician August Eberstein teamed up with ......Read More
I want to be honest with you upfront: I own a lot of fountain pen inks. You would think, at some point in the very near future, that my inky acquisition phase would slow down, but I don’t see that happening any time soon. I ......Read More
October, as well as being when we indulge in all things inky, is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It's the most common cancer in women and - depending on detection time, your age, your history and sometimes just plain luck - it has varying rates ......Read More
I can’t believe that 15th October is the one year anniversary of my first book, Journal with Purpose, being published! What a year it’s been too. I’ve been absolutely overwhelmed by the support shown by the journaling and creative community who have been buying the ......Read More
When I first started primary school all those years ago, I was recognised as having a condition that my teachers loved to call 'word blindness', as though putting that label on me meant that the problem was solved and they could just carry on as ......Read More
It's National Coming Out Day again! Funny how these annual things work. 'NCOD' was started in 1988 by Robert Eichberg and Jean O'Leary to raise awareness and celebrate coming out. So we'd like to add to the awareness. For the majority of the LGBT+ community 'coming ......Read More
Back in 2018, we left a bit of a cliffhanger at the end of a blog entitled The Dynamic Duo of Diamine, hinting that there was more to come from them in terms of unusual ink. So we thought October - traditionally associated with ink, ......Read More
During October, social media is full of gorgeous posts using ink to create beautiful works of art. This idea originally started with Jake Parker who shares a list of prompts for #Inktober each year. However, lots of artists also share alternative prompt lists, to encourage ......Read More
What makes a design classic? Timelessness? Universal appeal? Reliable practicality? Who knows? And does it really matter anyway? But whatever your thoughts on whether something qualifies as a design classic, the 849 ballpoint pen from Caran d'Ache is certainly a worthy candidate. Because it is ......Read More
Shiny stuff sometimes slips by. If you’d been looking at the right time, you’d have noticed its glistening newness, but you might have looked away. So we’re giving them another chance to slide by here, so you have another chance to spot the shinies. Or, ......Read More
For most of this year we've been sharing our customers' creations with you all on our social media pages, to show the range of fantastic work our lovely customers produce! In case you've missed any of it we thought we'd do a little round up ......Read More
Brush lettering is a great way to add a creative touch to your journal pages. With such a lovely selection of brush pens to choose from you are bound to find something that suits your own personal style. I use brush lettering to add quotes ......Read More
Paul Antonio is a calligrapher extraordinaire. He trained as a Scribe and Heraldic Artist (what wonderful job titles!) and went on to study Archaeological Illustration. He takes great pleasure in introducing others to the creative, relaxing art of calligraphy and recently collaborated with Rhodia on ......Read More
