Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 579

Hope you had a good weekend! Here's another review of a modern fountain pen, courtesy of Christopher....

He writes:
"I have to admit that my heart is not really with the newer fountain pens but, in this case, I will definitely make an exception. The general makeup of the Sheaffer Connoisseur line of fountain pens to my mind is outstanding and, better still, the Levenger 'Seas' models which take the excellence and quality just a step further. I am featuring my favourite, the Tasman Sea finished in a deep transparent turquoise with 23 K Gold fittings. This is a Sheaffer White dot model produced by the Sheaffer company in the late 1990s for the Levenger office supply company. As for a description, let us start with the cap, which sports a long-tapered ball ended clip. The white dot just mentioned is located directly above this cap clip. Above that, and at the top of the pen, is a thin gold banding held in place by a rounded matching top. Moving back down to the open end of the cap is a double gold banding with one broad banding carrying both the Sheaffer and Levenger inscribed brandings (and the fact that this fine pen was produced in the US of A) and directly above, a thin banding."

(photo courtesy of Christopher ~ please click on image to enlarge)

"The barrel has quite a good girth and features the gold banding both at its open end and at the bottom end. This bottom banding is supported by a matching end to the cap top. The jet-black section, which screws into this barrel, is also gold banded top and bottom but with thin gold bands. Held securely in this grip is both a superb 14k or 585 beautifully chased Sheaffer Levenger marked nib which, in turn, sits well on a black well-designed and working feed. Inside the barrel is an aerometric filler which leaves the dimensions at 6 ½ inches posted and 5 ½ inches capped. All and all, a magnificent writing instrument that will without a doubt became a part of my pen collection."

Our thanks to Christopher for sharing his newest finds with us! Info about our November meeting will be posted in the next few days, after some details are finalized :)

Saturday September meeting pics!

Our September meeting was held on the afternoon of the 19th (a Saturday) at the Fraserview branch of the Vancouver Public Library, a new venue for our pen club. There were 24 of us in attendance that day, including new/newer members Corinne, Daniel, Li, Steve and Tom! Jerred gave an informative talk on basic nib tuning, and it was so interesting that I forgot to take a photo of him during the meeting. My apologies, Jerred, but thank you again for taking the time to prepare your presentation--it was very much appreciated! 😊

I did snap a few photos of some fountain pens (and pen accessories) at the meeting, so here they are...

(photos by Maja ~ please click on images to enlarge)

Longtime VPC member Leo (above) brought in a very interesting fountain pen, one that he was sure I'd never seen in person before. Well, Leo was right! Can you guess which fountain pen this nib belongs to??

If you said "Pilot MYU" or "Pilot M90", you'd be wrong, because it's actually the Parker T1!

The T1 was the first fountain pen to have an integrated nib, and this one is extra-special for two reasons--the material is made of Titanium and the nib width can be adjusted with the tiny screw underneath the nib! Because it was so expensive for Parker to produce, it was only made for one year (1970-1), and Leo was lucky enough to buy one in 1970 when he was in the U.S. attending university.

Now to some modern pens... starting with new member Daniel's Jinhao X450, a popular Chinese-made fountain pen with a #6 size nib that comes in a multitude of colours and patterns. It's a very good starter pen and it won't break the bank.

I haven't been able to find a model name/manufacturer for the two pens above, also belonging to Daniel, but I've seen them for sale on AliExpress...

Brand-new member Tom brought along a leather pen roll with some very nice fountain pens in it--(left to right) a Sheaffer 'Legacy 2' (a Touchdown-filler), a modern Parker  'Duofold' Centennial, a green-striped Pelikan M800, a Montblanc '225' (a piston-filler), and the original Pilot 'Justus' (ca. 1981), another fountain pen with an adjustable nib!

New member Steve also brought some cool fountain pens---his black Lamy 'Joy' and (above it) his Pilot 'Vanishing Point', both of which he told me are his "daily driver" pens.

Steve also brought an accessory---his Rhodia zippered pen/pencil case; I love how the orange stands out so well against the black...

Speaking of accessories, VPCer Ramiz has been hard at work making handcrafted leather products (a new venture for him), such as this really nice leather cover for a passport-sized Travelers Notebook, and a leather single pen sleeve for a Kaweco 'Sport' (or other small pen).

A couple of fountain pens I recently acquired--a Cross 'Peerless 125' Tokyo limited edition and my Opus 88 'Omar' clear. The latter pen was purchased from my fellow pen club member Skye---thanks, Skye!

And last but not least, my new Lamy 'Safari' "Neon Pink" (one of the two 2026 special edition colours...and it's not an obnoxiously loud pink! 😂) resting on a handcrafted fabric pen case made by my fellow VPCer Amy H (thanks again, Amy!)

Well, that's all for now! Thank you to everyone who came to our September meeting (it was a nice, sunny afternoon, so I suspect some members had other plans that day :) and especially to Jerred, for doing his presentation for us!

~ Blog post by Maja ~

**Information about our October meeting will be posted here on our website once the details have been finalized**

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 574

Thank you to everyone who came to our September meeting (esp. Jerred, who did an excellent talk on basic nib tuning) on Saturday; I'll post some photos I took later this week.

In the meantime, here's another pen review...and don't be too shocked---it's another review of a *modern* fountain pen by vintage fountain pen aficionado, Christopher! 😀

Christopher writes:
 "Personally, I have always favoured transparent pens, in part or in whole. Subsequently, in 1998 when Sheaffer brought out the Levenger Seas transparent models in limited numbers for a Florida-based company as part of their Connaisseur line, I was totally smitten, especially with the green one. And also, what I thought was really special about this line of Sheaffer transparent pens was that each different transparent coloured plastic represented a different sea around the world. In the case of the green Connaisseur Levenger, the ocean selected for this pen was the Aegean sea. But let me describe this well deserving Sheaffer fountain pen as follows..."

(photo courtesy of Christopher ~ please click on image to enlarge)

"Right off the bat, one can see that this is a substantial pen of extremely good quality. The material used is a high-quality resin complemented with 14K Gold plated fittings. The cap is single banded near the top and double banded --both wide and narrow-- near the open end. The clip takes me right back to the early Sheaffer days of long and tapered to a ball end. This is a Sheaffer White Dot model which is located just above the clip. The barrel is substantial, with an attractive single banding at the bottom. Like the cap, the end of this barrel is rounded off which really adds to the overall design of this fine pen. 

At the business end, held securely in a well triple banded jet-black grip section (two at the bottom and one very thin one at the top), is a superb 14K Gold Sheaffer/Levenger marked nib. As for posting, the overall length comes in just under 6 ¾ inches, but caps back accordingly to a pocketable 5 ½ inches. This fountain pen came with a responsible converter filler which works very well. The Sheaffer model designation for this pen is '831 Green GT Levenger/Connaisseur Aegean Sea. All in all, a wonderful fountain pen and well worth added to my pen collection."

Our thanks to Christopher for another nice review! If you want to read a bit more about this Sheaffer-Levenger collaboration, check out this page on the amazing SheafferTarga.com website.

A few photos from our August meeting at the Vancouver Pen Shop

We had an incredible turnout for our August meeting at The Vancouver Pen Shop on Saturday August 22nd! Store manager Shannon remarked that there were well over 70 people present, but I'd guess there were a few more than that; after I got home, I looked at our club's membership list and realized that at least 58 of our members were there --several with their spouses/partners-- in addition to many folks I didn't recognize. Needless to say it was a busy evening!

The evening's theme was Fountain Pens, Leather Goods and Stationery made by Independent Makers and it was well-represented by such items sold by the Vancouver Pen Shop, artisans in our pen club who came to the meeting with samples of their work, the door prizes generously donated by the Pen Shop, and by examples of artisan-made fountain pens and pen/stationery accessories brought in by our members to show other attendees.

Huge thanks to Vancouver Pen Shop owner Margot, store manager Shannon, and staffers Sunshine and Dee for their hospitality and customer service during a very busy-but-well-organized & fun event! 😊 I didn't have much time to take photos during the event, but I did take a few pics, so here they are....

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

(photo above courtesy of The Vancouver Pen Shop, via their Instagram account)

I'm glad that Shannon said it was fine for me to post the photo above here on our club's blog, because I didn't take any photos of people that night (lol). There were a lot of new faces at the meeting, but I do recognize Rumi, Esther and James in the photo above :) 

There were many door prizes given out that night by our hosts, including this gorgeous notebook cover donated by the Pen Shop. It was made by a former RCMP member whose goods were sold by the store and Rene was the lucky winner of this beautiful handcrafted item!

Our fellow VPC member Anson of Springfield Pens also donated a door prize! This adorable 'Hummingbird" handmade (by Anson) resin pocket fountain pen was won by VPCer Enkay. If you are interested in seeing some of Anson's handcrafted fountain pens in person, you can find some of them for sale at the Vancouver Pen Shop.

VPC member James brought an item he handcrafted to show us---the cool pen cup on the right, featuring the logo of the hugely-popular anime series 'One Piece'. Its design was inspired by the Esterbrook '2GO' pen cup on the left, belonging to Kyle (well done, James!)

I snapped a couple of photos of the items I acquired at the meeting after I got home. In the photo above are: a wonderful print I won in the door prize draws---an image of Vancouver Downtown Eastside's historic Patricia Hotel done by Urban Sketcher (local artist Wong Kang), a lovely leather coaster handmade by our pen club's own Nine Lives Atelier, and a Sheaffer Levenger "Mediterranean" fountain pen I bought from Grant in our pen club. 

In addition to the generous door prizes, the Pen Shop also provided us with a lot of tasty food, beverages and some great goody bags! My goody bag included some of the items above -- a charming solo pen sleeve made by Victoria's Genevieve Primeau of Lolabuttons.com, a sticker of the Vancouver Pen Shop based on a sketch by Urban Sketcher, and a lovely botanical note card by Bowen Island watercolour artist Beth Turner (Watercoloursbybeth.ca). The Retro 51 'Tornado' "Big Shot" rollerball in the bright red "Hawthorne" finish was a last-minute purchase from the Pen Shop before the store closed :)

 

Sorry I didn't have time to photograph more artisan-made items--e.g. embroidered patches by VPC member Enkay (Enkay Designs), adorable stickers from The Hungry Hummie Paper Co. made by VPCer Candice (which you can purchase at the Vancouver Pen Shop!) and samples of some nice leather goods handmade by pen club member Ramiz, who just started his new venture last month!

On behalf of our pen club members, our thanks to everyone at the Vancouver Pen Shop for being such great hosts! 🙏 Thank you to everyone in our club who came out to the meeting, as well. Information about our September meeting will be posted this week, so watch for that!

(~Blog post by Maja~)

A few photos from our July meeting

We had a good turnout for our July meeting, held at the Renfrew branch of the Vancouver Public Library on Thursday July 16; I counted at least 34 people in attendance, including newcomers Chris, Daphne, and Sam L! It was just a casual get-together with lots of pen, ink and statoinery chats going on, so I had a bit of time to take a few photos of the items our members brought to show others....

(photos by Maja ~ please click on images to enlarge)

That's Andrii's new Enigma notebook by Taroko (with fountain-pen-friendly Tomoe River paper) and a Waterman 'Hemisphere' fountain pen he got from a pen friend.

Andrii told me that when he got it, the pen wouldn't write, so he removed the feed and discovered it was inserted incorrectly at some point; apparently, the feed is keyed (but very subtly so) and has to be put into the section at exactly the right orientation or the incorrect nib-feed alignment won't allow for the ink to flow. Well done, Andrii!

Stuart's brand-new Sheaffer '300' "Coffee Edition" in Matt Brown with Regal Brown Trims.

From Sheaffer's official website: "This beautiful pen features a rich dark coffee brown hue, accented with a refined cup and heart emblem on the cap." 😊 Stuart recently bought the pen from the Vancouver Pen Shop downtown. Sheaffer was sold to William Penn (an Indian luxury writing instruments retailer) in 2022 and it's good to see its new owners coming out with cool new stuff like this special edition fountain pen.

Jerred recently acquired a red and black marbled Filcao 'Columbia' fountain pen, shown above next to its larger counterpart, the Filcao 'Atlantica' "Lapis". The 'Columbia' model came out in 2004 and was followed by the 'Atlantica'; both pens use a button-filling mechanism. Jerred did a nice review of the 'Atlantica' on our club's website a few years back (posted here).

One of our newer members, Richard P, brought two lovely Pelikan fountain pens he recently acquired--the M200 'Orange Delight' and a M205 'Star Ruby'!

(I took this photo on the hood of my car, in the library parking lot, after the meeting lol)

I purchased the beautiful Galen Leather x NOCK Lookout pen case in Deep Cognac (part of their Legacy Collection) from Buchan's Kerrisdale Stationery earlier this month, and I love it! The leather is supple and gorgeous-looking, and the inside of the case is lined with silk.

The three fountain pens I had inside the case are (left to right) a wonderful Stipula fountain pen with a Titanium nib that I bought from Mark & Sharon (in our pen club) of PenDen.ca, a Levenger 'Plumpster' in "Tides" resin, and a Narwhal (Nahvalur) Voyage Cult Pens exclusive (made specially for the well-known UK retailer) that I got from a dear pen friend (that you so much, Bonnie! 🙌)

Our thanks to everyone who came to our July meeting at the Renfrew VPL branch this month!
Information about our August meeting is in this post: https://www.vancouverpenclub.com/2026/07/august-2026-meeting-meet-up-at.html

(~Blog post by Maja~)

March meeting pics!

We had a good turnout for our March meeting (held on the 19th at the Kitsilano branch of the Vancouver Public Library) with thirty members in attendance, including six (!) newcomers - Chris, David M, Geoff, Kyle, Lemo and Mariana. There was no topic/theme for this month's meeting, but it was a good opportunity to chat about pens/inks/stationery in a casual setting with tables and chairs (thank you, VPL!). Quite a few members did bring some new acquisitions to show each other....

(all photos by Maja ~ please click on images to enlarge)

...starting with Stuart, who recently acquired this vintage Parker 'Jotter' first-year (1954) stainless steel "Flighter" ballpoint (the dating is based on its "trough clip", which was replaced by Parker's famous Arrow clip in later years). The ballpoint sports an advertisement for a corticosteroid cream/ointment called Aristocort^®. What a cool find!

Another nice vintage find of Stuart's -- a "Forest Green" Parker '51' Demi fountain pen (which is resting on a Moleskine planner I got from Paul at the meeting--thank you, Paul!) ... 

A couple of new acquisitions of my own---a maroon Sailor 1911 Profit Standard 21 (which came with a 21k gold nib) fountain pen, and a cute Esterbrook 'Peanuts' pouch (with Charlie Brown's sister Sally on it) that I got from Amy H (thank you so much, Amy! :)

Though he's a massive fan of vintage fountain pens, Grant told me he's enjoying using this modern Esterbrook 'Camden Composition' fountain pen in “Back to School Black”. Grant won the pen in the door prize draws held during at our February meeting at the Vancouver Pen Shop (prizes generously donated by our awesome Pen Shop hosts :)

The speckled pattern on the 'Camden Composition" pens (which also came in the “Spring Break Fluorescent Green" colour) was inspired by the famous Composition notebooks. These durable cloth-bound notebooks (which lie flat -- a nice feature) have been used for over a century by students and artists, and are still going strong.

A vintage Sheaffer double-desk set recently purchased by Paul. It has a handsome clock in the base and two different writing instruments--a Sheaffer Touchdown-filler fountain pen (with a so-called "dolphin nib"), and a ballpoint.

And here are two modern pens Paul purchased--Waterman 'Allure' fountain pens in "Pastel Yellow" & "Pastel Pink". Paul said he got them from a local London Drugs store for under $40 CAD each (looks like they're currently selling for $29.99 + tax).

Back to vintage -- a handsome black German-made 'Mercedes' fountain pen owned by Dominique. I love the fine chased design on the cap and barrel :)

Lyndon's Pilot Custom 912 FA nib fountain pen (on the left) and Allan's new Junlai '930' fountain pen...

The nibs are both interesting, but for different reasons--the Pilot (left) has a 14K gold nib with side cuts to increase its flexiness. while the Junlai came with a huge #9 size steel nib!

One last photo from the meeting---a closeup of the nib on Sheila's Pelikan '481' fountain pen, a model which was the predecessor of the famous Pelikan 'M200' model. The '481' was only made from 1983-1985 and lacks the Pelikan logo on the cap top -- early 481s had the logo underneath the blind cap, while later ones didn't have any logo on the body. Excellent information on this Pelikan model (and many more models) at https://www.pelikan-collectibles.com/en/Pelikan/index.html

Many thanks to all who came to our March meeting! Information about our April meeting will be posted on our website before the end of this month :)

(~blog post by Maja~)

Photos from our January 2026 meeting

Our first pen club meeting of 2026 was held on Thursday January 15th at the Renfrew branch of the Vancouver Public Library with 40 members in attendance, including six newcomers (Cindy, Elle, Enkay, James Y, Joe, and Samuel)!

The format of this month's meeting was a casual "show & tell", and the topic was "Newest Pen-Related Acquisitions". I think the two-minutes-per-person show & tell time limit moved things along nicely and gave us extra time to chat amongst ourselves after show & tell was over. Many thanks to Amy, Mark, Paul and Sheila for the door prizes they generously donated (3D-printed ink vial holder, wooden pen display case, Crocodile fountain pen set, hardbound books, Platinum Carbon Black ink), which were won by James Y, Shona, Mindy, Kerwin, and Samuel respectively! 👏

It was a busy meeting, however, I did remember to take some photos for our blog, so here they are...

(all photos by Maja ~ please click on images to enlarge) The meeting was very well-attended (more people arrived after this photo was taken!) and we saw a multitude of new acquisitions brought in by our members, such as ...

(Above, left to right) Liz R's TWSBI Eco 'Cosmos' fountain pen, Vladan's two Stabilo 'Grow' fountain pens (Beech (Blueberry Blue) and Oak (Moss Green)), Liz's TWSBI '580 ALR' Caribbean w/ Onyx (a special edition which came out in November 2024), Stuart's new-style MUJI aluminum fountain pen, two vintage Waterman C/F fountain pens,  his Sheaffer Imperial Triumph, and Jinhao X450 in matte black. 

Some cool facts about the Stabilo 'Grow' model (taken from its Amazon listing): 
The Stabilo 'Grow' is a climate neutral product (saving approximately 70 percent CO2 emissions in raw material compared to a filler made of conventional plastic; the remaining CO2 emissions are compensated by a certified climate project) with a shaft (barrel) made from 100% FSC-certified wood from Germany, an ergonomic grip made from almost 100% renewable raw materials, and a cap made of conventional plastic partially replaced with natural fibres (sunflower seed shells). The renewable raw materials used are waste products from the food and paper industry and therefore ethically harmless. 

(Above, top to bottom) Fred's black Pilot 'Custom 74' fountain pen (with a BB nib Architect grind done by CY of Tokyo Station Pens), Asifa's new red Jinhao '20' fountain pen and Jerred's light green Online 'Icone' model resting on Aumbrine's ink swatches (and lovely calligraphy) ...

A close-up of the Online 'Icone' fountain pen (which includes a stylus tip).... 

(Above, left to right) Stuart's Otto Hutt 02 sterling silver fountain pen, Vladan's Stabilo 'Grow' Plum Red (Cherry) fountain pen, an elegant vintage Lady Sheaffer "White Tulle" set belonging to Jerred, Yang's dazzling Benu 'Euphoria' "Vibrant Summer" fountain pen (a Cult Pens exclusive), and a beautiful Montegrappa rollerball owned by Aumbrine. Kai's new Akkerman "Zuiderpark Blauw-Groen" (Blue-Green) ink is in the upper left corner of the photo. 

(Above, top to bottom) Aumbrine's maroon Sailor fountain pen, and then a mystery pen I'm trying to identify (lol), Aumbrine's Visconti 'Rembrandt' "Khaki Green Ops" fountain pen, and Asifa's Jinhao '20' glittery clear demonstrator with rose gold trim (a limited edition). Several of our members (Asifa, Amy, Allan, Mindy, and myself) brought their new Jinhao 20s for the topic; due to its low price, it's quickly become a very popular fountain pen (and it's available in a large variety of colours!).

(Above) James D's handsome Springfield Pens fountain pen (with a modified Architect nib done by fellow VPCer Jerred) resting on Liz R's colourful ink swatches...

(Above, top to bottom) A wonderful four-pen cloth case handmade for me by fellow VPC member Amy (thank you again, Amy! 😊 ), my new Asvine C80 in "Galaxy" (which comes with a #8 size steel nib), a Springfield Pens fountain pen (in an unnamed poly-resin material) that I recently acquired from its pen maker (Anson), my Champagne Pink Pilot 'Decimo' and my new limited edition "Ice Blue" Jinhao 20 with rose gold trim (the Pilot Decimo isn't new, but I brought it in to show its similarity to its clone, the Jinhao 20 :)

(Above) Sheila's brand-new (she did a quick unboxing during her "show & tell"😂 ) Pelikan 'M300' fountain pen in Pelikan's classic striped green. The M300 is the smallest model in the Pelikan Souverän lineup, but it's as beautiful as its larger counterparts...

(Above) Last but not least, that's Phil's brand-new Springfield Pens fountain pen in Inlace Acrylester material. The pen is a 'Robin' model that was handmade by Anson and finished the day of our meeting!

Thank you to everyone who came to our January meeting, whether you brought anything to show or not; you brought yourselves -- that's the main thing! 😀 I had fun at the meeting, and I hope you did, too. Information about our February meeting will be posted very soon!

(~ blog post by Maja ~)

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 559

Today we're shining a spotlight on another one of the "Big Four" vintage pen companies;  Waterman was featured on Sunday and Parker yesterday, so that just left Sheaffer and Wahl-Eversharp. Today's write up is by Christopher and it's about a vintage Sheaffer fountain pen. Christopher writes: "Currently, I have a number of Sheaffer Snorkel pens in my collection, but if I was asked to select only one to retain, I would have to say this one is it."

So...which one is it?
To find out, read on!

 (photo courtesy of Christopher ~ please click on image to enlarge)

Christopher writes:
"When it came to filling mechanisms back in the day, I would have to say that Sheaffer's 'Snorkel' definitely was a leader and a sheer bit of mechanical genius. Complex, yes, but with a neat and tidy way of putting ink into a pen. The beauty was that the nib never had to be immersed in or touch the ink. Instead, it was a thin narrow metal tube which, by turning a knob at the end of the barrel, could be extended out of the feed.  A Sheaffer 'Touch Down' mechanism was also incorporated and by pulling that knob up, a metal tube was extended out of the back of the barrel. A further 'push back' of this knob in turn pushed the tube just mentioned back into the barrel. creating a capillary vacuum, which drew the ink into the barrel. Of course, the thin filling tube was of need of a wipe free of ink and then it was simply a matter of screwing the knob back into its original place which, further in turn, brought the thin filling tube back into the feed. Although complex, the filling system worked extremely well

In taking a good look at this particular Sheaffer Snorkel pen, the finish on the gold-filled barrel and cap consists of groups of five vertical chased lines running horizontally from end to end, broken by a cartouche engraving band at the open end of the cap. The section is jet, sporting a silver threaded ring to accommodate and screw on the cap, and at the business end of this grip is a most substantial and quite impressive Sheaffer platinum-masked Triumph 14K Gold nib. This is a white dot warranted Sheaffer pen, which sits extremely well in the hand, posting at a full 6 ½ inches, but capping back responsibly to 5 ½ inches. The Sheaffer catalogue model is 1125ky and had a successful retail run from the mid-fifties up to 1959. If you have your sights set on a Sheaffer Snorkel, I think this is the one that ticks off all the boxes and will definitely find a place in my vintage pen collection."

Thank you, Christopher, for sharing this very cool vintage fountain pen with us! For a more detailed look (with illustrations) of Sheaffer's Snorkel-filling mechanism, check out Richard Binder's article here.

Some photos from our October meeting!

A total of 32 VPC members and guests came to our last monthly meeting, which was held on Thursday October 16th at the Renfrew branch of the Vancouver Public Library. The meeting was a casual get-together (ie. a meeting with no "show & tell") that also featured a writing workshop by Paul! 

It was a fun evening and the time flew by quickly, but I remembered to take a few photos during the event, so here they are....

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

With his wife Villoo and son Pierre in attendance, Paul (above) gave an inspiring talk on the use of pen and ink for creative/reflective writing. His talk was followed by a short handwriting exercise--an opportunity to write whatever we wanted, with the fountain pens we brought to the meeting. Paul explained that this exercise was inspired by Mario Levrero’s novel "Empty Words", a book about a novelist who attempts to better his life/himself by improving his handwriting.

Paul provided the handout above, which hopefully will look familiar to some of you :)

Some of the workshop participants (like Paul's friend Drew) were inspired to create art; this is a sketch of a painting that Drew is currently working on...   (photo courtesy of Drew)

We saw many interesting fountain pens in use in the meeting room (both modern and vintage)-- from a bright yellow Sheaffer calligraphy fountain pen (bottom of photo above) that Paul loaned to Amy and a couple of vintage Parkers (a Vacumatic & a Duofold) that Catherine brought (right side of photo)....  

...to some fountain pens that Phil recently acquired--- (top to bottom) a black Pelikan M205 with a 12K gold nib (very unusual), a modern Caran d'Ache, and a vintage Aurora '88'.

Catherine brought two lovely handmade items to the meeting with her ---a fountain pen in a beautiful abalone-like resin made by our fellow VPC member Anson of Springfield Pens ... and a leather notebook cover Catherine made herself!

Phil holding a vintage Lady Sheaffer ballpoint (not something you see every day)...

Speaking of vintage, longtime VPC member Mark (the friendly pen repair guy at PenDen.ca) brought a nice selection of wonderful vintage writing instruments with him (in the black pen cases above). In addition to doing vintage pen repairs, Mark also sells vintage writing instruments (and a few moderns, too).

Lyndon brought a handsome fountain he acquired a little while ago---a Pelikan M805 Black-Silver...

...and Rumi brought her lovely Gravitas 'Entry' "Rainbow Skittles Paisley", an anodized aluminum fountain pen made in Ireland by Ben Walsh (my photo doesn't do it justice!). The pen stand was made by Larry Bennett, a local penmaker.

In addition to Paul's family members and his friends Drew and Lionel (Lionel came with his support dog, West Highland White Terrier Maggie 😊)...

...we were happy to have two avid fountain pen fans from Saskatchewan at our October meeting -- Thomas and Nadya! They brought some fountain pens of their own to show us, of course 😄 :These are ones that Nadya brought to our meeting (L-R) -- a TWSBI 'Diamond Mini AL Grape', a wooden Kakimori dip pen, a Sailor 'Pro Gear Slim' - Cult Pens exclusive, a Pilot 'Metropolitan 'Grey Houndstooth'' and an Esterbrook 'Niblet' "Botanical Garden" pocket fountain pen...

 ....and here are Thomas' fountain pens (L-R)--a green-striped Pelikan Souveran (not sure of the model #), a Pilot '74' "Merlot" , an Esterbrook 'Estie' "Nouveau Bleu" and a black Sailor fountain pen.

Many thanks to everyone who came to our October meeting, especially to Paul for doing his writing workshop during our get-together! 👏 
Our next meeting will be held at Buchan's Kerrisdale Stationery on Thursday November 20th at 6:00pm (all info in previous blog post) Hope you can make it! (no need to RSVP beforehand)

(~blog post by Maja~)