Sunday, October 31, 2010

November meeting details---our last meeting of 2010!

Date: Thursday November 18, 2010
Time: 6:00pm-6:30pm ("meet& greet"); 6:30pm-8:30pm meeting
Location: Perks pen store at 5844 Cambie Street, Vancouver, B.C
Theme: "BLING PENS" (no, this isn't some obscure German vintage brand,
but, rather, what you might call "flashy" or "bejeweled" pens).

Many thanks to Bruce R. for coming up with the topic. The holiday season is fast approaching, so this theme might help some of you come up with items to put on your "Wish Lists". Please note: we won't be having a December meeting due to the holiday season, but will resume meetings in January 2011.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Diamine Inks at Perks store on Cambie Street!

Yes, the Perks pen store at 5844 Cambie Street in Vancouver now carries Diamine fountain pen ink!

This English-made (in Liverpool) fountain pen ink is highly regarded among fountain pen users and at $13.50 per 80mL bottle, it's a great deal. Richard at Perks just got in a shipment containing 22 different colours and they won't last long.......so come on down to Perks on Cambie Street and pick up a bottle (or more) today!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Rhodia lined pads and pad holders review

Hey, folks - I just wrote my very first stationery review, of Rhodia's lined pads and pad holders (Quo Vadis Canada sent me an #11 and a #16 for review), so I wanted to show it off while beaming like a proud new parent.

You can find it here!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Frankenpens etc. - our October meeting

Ever wonder how to fix that pen you can no longer get parts for? Maja had some answers to this question in her wonderful presentation at our October meeting on 'Frankenpens' - mixing and matching pen parts. For example, Waterman nibs will go into a lot of non-vintage, non-Waterman pens. And Esterbrook nibs, which are screw-fit, will fit British Osmiroid pens. A Cross 'Solo' nib-section will fit into the Parker ‘Big Red’ rollerball, turning it into a fountain pen. Those cheap Iridium nibs will fit into many brands, too. She has even found a way to get a standard Bic refill to work in her vintage Eversharp Skyline ballpoint. The secret, Maja says, is to experiment. You might be pleasantly surprised at the results.



As for our other theme, 'orange pens', Maja took top honours on that too with all her bright selection of fall colours. Plus as always, there were plenty of new pens on show.

Thanks everyone for being there and making it yet another great meeting. See you next month!






Saturday, October 2, 2010

October meeting --- themes: "Frankenpens" and "Orange Pens" (in honour of Hallowe'en)

Here are the October VPC meeting details:

Date: Thursday October 21, 2010

Time 6:00pm-6:30pm ("meet & greet"); 6:30pm-8:30pm (approx.) meeting

Location: Perks pen store at 5844 Cambie Street (@ 42nd Ave.) in Vancouver, B.C., across from Oakridge Mall and just one block from the "Oakridge-41st Ave" Skytrain stop.

In honour of Hallowe'en, the primary theme for this meeting will be "FRANKENPENS" (many thanks to Bruce R. for the suggestion). For those of you who aren't familiar with the term, a "Frankenpen" is a pen that is made of components from more than one pen, in much the same way that literary figure Dr. Victor Frankenstein created his Monster from various body parts. To give you an example, I have a Parker 'Big Red' ballpoint that I fitted with a Cross "Solo" nib-section unit to create a nifty-looking fountain pen. Other examples I own are: an Epenco fountain pen fitted with a vintage Waterman nib and a modern rollerball pen fitted with a nib-section unit from a modern fountain pen. The possibilities are (almost) endless....so bring along some examples of pens you've put together from parts.

As a secondary theme we will have "ORANGE PENS" (again, in honour of Hallowe'en) so if you don't have any Frankenpens, bring along an orange pen or two (or more-----I love the colour orange!)....or your latest writing-instrument-related acquisition (new ink/paper/pens/etc).
A photo taken during the October 21st meeting (courtesy of Richard)