Even if you're not an arty type, the chances are you'll have heard of Winsor & Newton - they're fairly big fish in the large pond of artists' materials, after all. Their classic, black and white brand logo is understated and discreet, quite in contrast ......Read More
November is Diabetes Awareness Month and today is World Diabetes Day. Type 1 Diabetes is an auto-immune disease. People with Type 1 Diabetes produce little or no insulin. Our bodies need insulin to survive, so it needs to be injected or given by an ......Read More
Fountain pens have been around for a long time, but when the ballpoint pen came along, lots of people abandoned their fountain pens for the convenience it brought. And the rollerball tempted even more people, with its smooth writing. Gel pens could do things that liquid ......Read More
Mixed Early Experiences Like many people, my first experience of fountain pens was somewhat mixed. I remember clearly at school the excitement building up, as some children were deemed to have handwriting at a standard that allowed them to “move up” to a fountain pen. I ......Read More
Notebooks. They're handy things to have with you. In some cases, they can be a bit rough and ready, and the covers might not last as long as they need to, but in the case of most decent quality notebooks, they're quite sturdy enough to ......Read More
As a keen bullet journal (BuJo) enthusiast, I was extremely excited to get my hands on a copy of The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll from my friends at Cult Pens. I have been using a bullet journal since April 2016 and was keen ......Read More
Having discovered journaling a couple of years ago, I was very interested to hear about the new book from Ryder Carroll: The Bullet Journal Method, published on 23rd October. Like most people who are intrigued by bullet journaling, I'd looked at his site and taken ......Read More
It started with the book. We weren't particularly planning to sell the book, but it was an interesting new book about pencils, so we wanted to see it. It's all about creative people, but from the point of view of the pencils they use. Instead ......Read More
Herbin is old, very old. 350 years in fact. When it was established in Paris in 1670, France was still a kingdom and New Zealand was but a twinkle in Abel Tasman's eye. The company's founder, Jacques Herbin, was actually a sailor employed by the ......Read More
In this guest blog post, Brad Dowdy, known to the world as The Pen Addict, tells us about his his history with fountain pens and inks - over to you, Brad! I’ve cared what I’ve written with and on since I was a child. The finest ......Read More
If you have a fountain pen, and you use bottled ink, you haven't been short of choices for inks to use. From old classics like Parker Quink, Waterman and Pelikan 4001, to interesting Japanese inks from Sailor, Pilot and Platinum. From the vast selection of ......Read More
Cult Pens had an intense Inktense workshop recently, thanks to our friends at Derwent and the incredibly talented artist and psychotherapist Beverley Haines - you can read more about her here www.beverleyhaines.co.uk. Beverley is a firm believer in the creation of art as a means ......Read More
We have two new exclusive inks, made by Diamine, with lots of sheen. If you just want to buy them, you can go and get them here. If you want to know more about how this happened, and perhaps the bigger question, how they ended ......Read More
If you were to slice Christine Joynson open, she'd probably bleed Dragon Blood Shimmer ink. Bit of a macabre start to a blog post, I fear, so I should apologise - sorry. There. Now that’s out of the way, I'll explain… Christine is one half of ......Read More
Life is a journey. For some it's like travelling along a quiet road on a balmy summer's day when it's not the school holidays. For others though, it's more like a motorway at rush hour on a rainy day in winter. For most of us, ......Read More
Generally TWSBI pens are aimed squarely at pen geeks. And we love that about them. Well, we would, we are pen geeks. 'Normal' for TWSBI is still bottle-fed pens, with transparent barrels so you can watch the ink slosh about inside; often supplied with the ......Read More
STABILO's EASY range of pens, pencils and sharpeners - it's easy to see how easy they are to use. They're easy to refill, easy to hold and easy on the pocket too. Too many 'easys'? Yes, probably, but they really are, well, easy! STABILO's aptly-named ......Read More
Calligraphy is for life, as far as Louise is concerned, not just for World Calligraphy Day! So - as we waited for the final touches to be made to the special Calli-Penorama newsletter - a lucky few of us gathered in the meeting room for ......Read More
Learning modern calligraphy and hand-lettering is something that first caught my interest a couple of years ago. I would often see beautiful images on Pinterest and think it was something completely unachievable for me, especially as I hadn’t practised any kind of handwriting since leaving ......Read More
The Beginning Back in 2012, when the Olympics fever swept the streets of London, I set foot on British soil for the second time in my life. This time, on my own, for a 3-month long solo trip to Europe. What has this got to do ......Read More
World Calligraphy Day is back! 15th August marks the return of a day dedicated to calligraphy and the joy it brings. Started in 2017 by Manuscript, masters themselves of manufacturing tools for the calligraphy trade since 1956, it looks set to make another great impression ......Read More
It's a surprisingly complicated issue. Recycling things is good, obviously. For the environment. And that's important. But when you start to actually think about specifics, things can get tricky. A ballpoint pen made from recycled plastic is good. But if it gets thrown in landfill ......Read More
Before 1880 you didn't actually have to go to school, and now - over 130 years later - you do. And what's more, you have to stay there until you're 16. Quite a lot's changed over the years: slates aren't really practical any more (bit ......Read More
Who would have thought that a few bits of paper sandwiched between a couple of thicker bits of paper could become something of a cult item? Not all of them, obviously: your bargain-bucket reporter-style notebook where the sheets curl up after just a few lines ......Read More
Our very talented friend Helen Colebrook from Journal with Purpose let us know why she enjoys rock painting. Be sure to follow her on Instagram to see all her latest work @journalwithpurpose. Painting pebbles is something of an obsession for me. There feels so much less ......Read More
Claire - otherwise known as Colour with Claire - first got in touch with us back in 2015. I can't quite believe it's been that long, but even I - with my dismal maths - can work out that if you subtract 2015 from 2018 ......Read More
Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space. --Douglas Adams Everyone knows the story already, so we don't ......Read More
This post is part of our celebrations for Mechanical Pencil Day, on 05/07 - the 5th of July, 2018. We love mechanical pencils, but some of you might be wondering why - there's nothing wrong with wooden pencils, and pens are usually more permanent anyway. Why ......Read More
This post is part of our celebrations for Mechanical Pencil Day, on 05/07 - the 5th of July, 2018. Matthias is the author of the excellent Bleistift blog about stationery, with particular emphasis on mechancal pencils. Here, he tells us of his own journey of discovery ......Read More
This post is part of our celebrations for Mechanical Pencil Day, on 05/07 - the 5th of July, 2018. While Amanda was musing over the suitability of mechanical pencils for puzzles in preparation for and upcoming post, she hit on the fact that modern technology can ......Read More
