Some photos from July's meeting!

There were 34 of us in attendance at our club's July meeting, which was held on Thursday July 17th at the Vancouver Public Library's Kitsilano branch; among those present were two brand-new members, Francisco and Rob (welcome to our club!)

The meeting featured a special presentation on vintage fountain pen repair (by our fellow VPCer Grant) ... and many door prizes (tons of ink, courtesy of VPC member Godwin)! Here are some photos taken during the meeting...

 (~click on images to enlarge~)

Grant gave an excellent talk on the repair of vintage fountain pens, as well as a demonstration on how to change the latex ink sac in a vintage Waterman fountain pen with a lever-filling mechanism

Before getting to the demo, Grant gave us a good overview of things to consider when a pen repair opportunity presents itself -- the pen's material, the tools required for the job, repair techniques, as well as a reminder about the limitations of some repairs. Thank you, Grant, for explaining things in such an engaging and concise manner! 

(*photos above taken by Catherine; photos below taken by Maja, except where noted*)

The meeting was very busy, so I didn't have time to take many photos of the pen-related items that members brought to show each other (we didn't have a "show & tell" at this meeting, though). Some of our members (esp. the folks in the foreground of the photo above) used the casual format of this meeting to do some ink-swatching...

… and here's a quick shot of some nice ink swatches done by Catherine (lower left), Lisa (upper left) and Audrey (right side of photo)...

After his presentation, Grant took the time to look at some vintage fountain pens brought in by our members…

Above (left to right): Grant, Stuart, David C, and Allan.

Grant also brought some of his own wonderful vintage writing instruments to show others. The other side of his pen case (which you can't see--sorry!) had restored vintage pens that Grant brought to sell at the meeting...

That's me next to Stuart, who joined our club way back in September 2013 - time flies! (photo taken by Audrey)

Above photo (left to right): Grant, Shawn and brand-new member Francis.

(** all photos below courtesy of Sherman ~ click on images to enlarge **)

Sherman was kind enough to send me some photos he took during our July meeting, including a couple of his famous selfies! In the background of the photo above are (L-R): James, Grant, Alejandra, newer member Steve K, and Allan.

I was busy calling out door prize ticket numbers (above), so I didn't have time to take any selfies during the draws...but Sherman did (lol); he's holding up the bottle of Diamine 'Platinum Jubilee Ink' that he won.

Here's a closeup of the Diamine ink that Sherman won. The ink was an exclusive made for well-known UK retailer Cult Pens, and it was created to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee in 2022. Cult Pens describes the ink as "a rich, regal purple symbolising Royalty with a platinum shimmer."

Sherman brought some of his nice writing instruments to show -- (left to right): a Golf Propelling Pencil 0.5mm, his élysée Damascene Sports (40 Line) fountain pen, and a Pilot Custom 743 Black fountain pen with 14K Gold F nib. His single-pen sleeves (above) were made by Rickshaw Bagworks of San Francisco.

Sherman's door prize ink and some inks he brought to trade. Members are free to bring ink and pen-related items to trade/sell during any of our meetings :)  

Thank you to everyone who came to our July meeting, special thanks to Audrey, Catherine & Sherman for taking some photos for this blog post, and to Audrey & Michelle for helping with the door prize draws 😊. Many thanks, once again, to Grant for his informative vintage pen repair presentation & demo 👏, and to Godwin for his immense generosity in donating so many ink door prizes! 🙌

⚡ Our August meeting will be held at the Vancouver Pen Shop on Saturday August 23rd ~ details in this recent blog post: https://www.vancouverpenclub.com/2025/07/august-meeting-at-vancouver-pen-shop.html 

(~Blog post by Maja~)

A few photos from our March meeting

We had an excellent turnout for our March meeting, held on the afternoon of Saturday March 22nd --- a total of 36 VPC members (including five newcomers!) attended an informal gathering at the Vancouver Public Library's Champlain Heights branch.

I had a lot of fun talking to everyone (including brand-new members Andrea P, Ben F, Beverley, Kimberly, and Nadiia)... so much so that I almost forgot to snap any photos for our website 🙄. I did remember to take a small handful, though, and Christopher T. was kind enough to take some group shots (thanks, Christopher!), so here they are...

(photos by Maja, except where noted ~ please click on images to enlarge)

Above: That's me (Maja) on the far left next to Paul and brand-new member Beverley, In the background, you can see Lyndon and another new member, Ben (back turned to camera) ~ photo by Christopher T. ~

A nice group shot (also taken by Christopher) of (L-R) Shona, Steve, James, me, Paul and Beverley.

A quick photo of our club's newest limited edition fountain pen - a beautiful Radius 1934 'Settimo' Marmo! (the one above belongs to Allan, but I'll take some photos of my own pen and post a review soon) The multi-refill ballpoint in the photo was one of many that Steve handed out to all attendees (thanks, Steve!).

Several of our members brought really interesting pen cases to the meeting, so I snapped photos of a couple that were actually handmade by them...starting with this cool vinyl multi-pen holder made by Catherine using leftover vinyl from a 'Star Wars' purse!

Catherine likes the design because she can fold over the flap and use the case as a desk pen holder, as well.

 

Joy made this cute leather solo pen sleeve as a holder for clipless mini pens using materials from two local companies---leather from Hand and Sew and thread from Lonsdale Leather.

Peeking out from it is her adorable Montblanc Heritage Rouge et Noir Baby Ivory-coloured special edition fountain pen!

Last, but not least, we have this Rickshaw Bagworks two-pen sleeve made specially for online retailer Pen Realm featuring the lovely artwork of our fellow pen club member, Carola!

Well, that's all the photos from the meeting! Many thanks to everyone who attended; I hope you had a good time 😀. It wasn't a themed meeting this month, but April's meeting will have a theme, so check our website later this week/early next week for details about next month's meeting (including the theme); I'll post them after our venue booking is confirmed.

(~Blog post by Maja~)

Record-breaking attendance at our November meeting at Buchan's!

Huge thanks to Buchan's Kerrisdale Stationery for hosting our November meeting on Saturday the 23rd! 😀 There were at least 70 people in attendance (including at least 59 VPC members!!) and a good time was had by all. Our thanks also to Michael Pons of the LSF Group (distributors of Pelikan, Faber-Castell, LAMY, Visconti, Monteverde, Platinum, Pineider, and Diplomat) for donating many of the door prizes given out that night. Sherman (the "Selfie King") was kind enough to document the evening with lots of photos (thank you so much, Sherman!👏) so, without further ado, here they are...

(all photos courtesy of Sherman ~ please click on images to enlarge)

As at our previous meeting at their lovely store (in October 2023), Buchan's provided tables and chairs for our members to use. Seated around the one above are (clockwise, from lower left) Rumi, Allan, Bruce, Charles and Sherman.

Is Sherman practicing writing without looking at the paper?!? (hey--he did it while wearing a blindfold the last time we had a meeting at Buchan's -- link 😂)

Store staff preparing signage for their Black Friday sale...

(L-R) Sherman, Margaret, Matthew, me (Maja) and Grant (in hat)

(L-R) Asifa, Sherman and (Buchan's employee) Cat.

(L-R) Sherman, David C, Trevor, Lisa (✌️) and Cynthia.

(L-R) Dana, Rebecca, Amy (👋) and Sherman.

(L-R) Sherman, brand-new member Joy, Shirley, her husband Dave, Rishi and David L.

(L-R) Sherman, Andrea, her husband Don and Rumi. Andrea is holding up her brand-new Rickshaw pen storage "Coozies" with our exclusive VPC Orca design on them.

(L-R) Stuart, Fernie, Deborah, (Andrii & Glenn in the background), Asifa and Sherman.

(L-R) David C, (someone I don't recognize in the background - sorry!), Rene and Sherman.

(L-R) Mmina, Rishi, David L, Amy, Luc, Francis, Mindy and Sherman enjoying the snacks & hot drinks Buchan's provided for us!

(L-R) Rebecca, Dana (👋) and Sherman. As you can see, Buchan's doesn't just carry stationery --- they also sell things like puzzles (and other gift items)...

(L-R) Sherman, Kenneth (👍), David C. and Andrew.

(L-R) Sherman, Esther and Rumi.

(L-R), Sherman, Buchan's employees Camila & Yugo (orange hoodie), and newer member David M.

(L-R) Matthew, (Jerred & Esther in the background), Alvin, Sherman, Yen (✌️), and Grant. Alvin is holding my Radius 1934 "Settimo" fountain pen in "Cielo Blu"---a great Italian-made fountain pen!

(L-R) Anson (of Springfield Pens), Rumi, Sherman and Vladan.

(L-R) Vladan (seated), Andrea, Anson and Sherman.

(L-R) (Alejandra and Dominique - both in the background), Sharon T. (seated), Charles, Vladan and Sherman. I don't know the names of the two ladies wearing hats behind them; if you do, please drop us a line!

Sherman with Andrii, who attended his first VPC meeting that night....

There was a lot of activity at the tills that night, with many members taking advantage of the time to socialize *and* shop!

(L-R) Sherman, Buchan's store manager Irena and Camila. Sherman is holding up a lovely leather pen case by Galen Leather, whose products Buchan's started carrying a few weeks ago...

Door prize time!! Shona (in black puffy jacket) is about to spin the wheel of prizes, while Buchan's owner Inna (next to Shona) and Luc (standing across from them) look on. Brand-new member Sarah (wearing a grey hoodie) is leaning against the shelving on the far right of the photo.

That's Villoo and her husband Paul on the far left. In the foreground is Liz R's adorable little boy, who attended his second VPC meeting that night (his first was back in September 2023)... and he was as good as gold, despite all the activity 😊

Above: Andrii using one of Buchan's two pen & paper testing stations. The stations are part of a large (and beautiful) wood pen display in the store's main aisle.

A good view of the main (writing instruments and ink) aisle. The store has a great selection of pens and other writing instruments at every price point...

Luc (standing to the left of the wheel) did a great job announcing the winning door prize ticket numbers...and he did it without a microphone -- thank you, Luc!

Above (L-R): Mark (seated), Daryl, Christopher T (with hat), Adam, David C. and Lyndon.

(L-R) Lyndon, Rebecca, Andrea, Lisa, Amy, and Cat.

More spinning of the prize wheel!

There were a total of twelve prizes given out that night...

Andrea's ticket number was drawn, so she got a turn to spin the wheel...

That's Yugo (Buchan's hard-working marketing manager) snapping a photo while Bruce looks on....

Don and Andrea (holding up her Buchan's gift certificate prize)

Lucky prize winners!

That's store owner Inna (center) handing a door prize to Paul (far right). Paul's wife Villoo also won a prize that night!

Me (Maja) in the middle, with Matthew (left) and Yugo (I know I was tired that night, but I did not fall asleep during the meeting lol)

Esther showing a bottle of Octopus Fluids "Write & Draw" ink (waterproof ink) she won in the door prize draw!

(L-R) Yang and Jen L. waiting patiently during the door prize draws...

Andrii also won a chance to spin the prize wheel....

(I'm not sure what he won, but he looks pleased!)

Amy also won a prize that night...

Yours Truly also won a spin of the wheel...

...and I wound up winning a Buchan's gift certificate!

New member Joy (attending her very first VPC meeting!) won the grand prize -- a Lamy 'Studio' fountain pen!

Buchan's owner Inna with Joy (holding her prize)

Sherman with Alvin & Yen...

It's 9:15pm already??? Time for just one more photo! (L-R) Liz R. (making a last-minute purchase), Sherman, Cat (at the till), Yugo (Inna is behind him), Irena (✌️) and Camila (far right). Many thanks to the friendly staff at Buchan's for their help with our inquiries and purchases that night!

Sherman's caption for this photo: "I took a napkin from the pantry last night (at the meeting at Buchan's), and used it as the background for my Conklin Mark Twain Crescent Filler™ Collection - Spring Green/Gold Leaf Marble.  It was an echo of the napkin that I brought home (after the October 2023 meeting at Buchan's) and, later on, used as background for the Hongdian D5 Qin Dynasty Red." (seen in Sherman's photo directly below)

(very nice photos, Sherman!)

Above (left to right)--the pens Sherman brought to our November meeting:

Conklin Mark Twain Crescent Filler™ Collection - Spring Green/Gold Leaf Marble
élysée Parthenon (10 Line) Laque Trajan Blue
élysée Dragon Pen (DP Line) 龍的傳人 SE Laque Noir
élysée Finesse (20 Line) Swirls Bi-Colour
élysée En Vogue (50 Line) Laque Leather Burgundy
élysée En Vogue (30 Line) Laque Brown (1992) (Set)

Parker 25B Matte Black (Pair)
Leonardo Momento Zero Blue Hawaii
Leonardo Momento Zero Turquoise-Green
Leonardo Furore Vancouver Pen Club L.E. Blue Mosaico
Maiora Impronte Terre GT
Delta Horsepower

(Sherman's famous briefcase!)

Thanks again to Inna and her staff at Buchan's for being such wonderful hosts, and thank you to everyone who came to Buchan's for our November meeting! Details about our December meeting will be posted on our website very soon!

(~blog post by Maja~)