October meeting photos

Many thanks to all 18 VPC members who attended our October meeting and brought items for our topic---Unique Writing Instruments! I snapped a few quick photos and VPC member Mido took some as well, so here is what our members brought for the topic:

From top to bottom: Tiffany's cool UV marker/light pen and her erasable ballpoint (both of which she demonstrated for us), Mido's solid silver Pierre Hugo fountain pen in lovely tree bark design and his Waterman fountain pen with an unusual aerometric-filler mechanism that fills from the side.

From top to bottom: Bruce's Pelikan M800 with a modified piston-filling mechanism made of plastic (not brass) which has 20% increased ink capacity, his Visconti 'Metropolis' fountain pen with a retractable nib, Bruce's amazing CONID Bulkfiller fountain pen and his highly-unusual Parafernalia fountain pen.

Top to bottom: Peter's extendable pointer/ballpoint combo, his Pilot Parallel with 6mm (!!) italic nib and his Pentel Kerry mechanical pencil, whose lead advances when you press the cap top.

Peter's Pilot Parallel in action, as shown by Tiffany. A very interesting nib and handy for making large letters (e.g. posters, signs).

From left to right: Kristina's Online fountain pen/stylus combo writing instrument, Bill K's Stipula 'Passaporto" Fountain Pen Network limited edition pen, Charles' two Acura pewter pens---a dragon fountain pen & a snake ballpoint/rollerball, Stuart's Sheaffer ' Balance' fountain pen with an unusual cross-hatched cap band, and his floaty ballpoint made by the GE Secretary Pen Co. with an Oldsmobile car floating inside. In the background is Bill's one-of-kind ballpoint pen and stand, made by a friend from some laurel wood from Bill's own backyard. Great idea for writing instrument material!

Bethany's gorgeous custom-made Edison 'Menlo' Pump Filler fountain pen. The pen was made using the material selected by Bethany, as well as her preferred nib material and nib size.

From left to right: Maja's Lamy Safari with custom-made barrel made by Penchetta Pens in Scottsdale, Arizona, an Imperial lever-filler fountain pen made to hold a spare nib at the end of the barrel (and protected by the clear blind cap--note: the spare nib is missing), a Wearever fountain pen with a Sheaffer feed and a replacement nib. The last pen isn't unusual--it's Ben R's new acquisition (New Acquisitions is always our secondary topic), a Sheaffer Imperial.

From left to right: Kiyoshi's beautiful abalone ballpoint and his very cool Staedtler self-feeding mechanical pencil (and Ben's Sheaffer Imperial, once again)

All photos by me--Maja---except for the last three (Mido's).

Fountain Pen Day 2015 ~ Friday November 6, 2015!

From the official website :
Taking place on the first Friday in November each year, Fountain Pen Day is celebrated by enthusiasts worldwide as a time to embrace, promote, and share the use of fountain pens.

How will you celebrate Fountain Pen Day? :)

November meeting info

Well, there's only one more meeting for 2015 and it's the November one (since we don't have December meetings)...so here's what you need to know about it:

Date: Thursday November 19, 2015
Time: 6:30pm to 8:30pm (the usual time...but members may arrive a little bit early--at -6:00pm---to chat beforehand)
Place: Perks pen store, 5844 Cambie St, Vancouver, BC (the usual meeting place)
Topic: 'Tis better to give than receive!
For this topic, please bring a fountain pen that you received as a gift, as well as a fountain pen that you own and would recommend others buy as a gift for someone (up to a maximum of 2 pens per person total).
If you've never received pens as a gift (poor you :( then you can just bring up to 2 fountain pens that you would recommend others buy as gifts.

Many thanks to Bruce for this idea; we've never done it before, so I'm curious as to what our members will bring! Hope to see you at Perks on the 19th :)