Some photos from our July meeting

VPC members Charles and Graham chatting. In the foreground, you can see Graham's Ink Sample Vial Holder from GouletPens.com . Photo by Glenn M.


Maja's selection of pens brought in for the evening's theme- "Made in Canada". How many of them can *you* name?(click on image to enlarge). Photo by Glenn M.

We had good attendance at the July meeting, which was held at the Vancouver Public Library's Oakridge branch. Nineteen members in total showed up with writing instruments that matched the meeting topic/theme, as well as inks for the Ink Swap.

Our August meeting will be the annual summer dinner for VPC members (info in the group email sent to VPC members). Update: Thanks to all VPC members who RSVP'd to reserve a seat--we're all booked up now!

Regular (themed) meetings will resume on September 15 at Perks pen store at 5844 Cambie Street (our usual place). The September meeting theme will be Japanese Pens. Please check our website for any updates..

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Engraved Pens ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thanks to all who brought examples of pens with names or initials engraved to our last meeting on June 16th. Our next meeting will be held on July 21st at the Vancouver Public Library's Oakridge branch (please see previous blog post for details).

I took a couple of quick shots of a few of the engraved pens I brought with me and wanted to share them with you (click on photos to enlarge). Normally my photographs don't turn out this good, but I had some lovely late afternoon light to help me.



The top photograph shows three vintage Sheaffers (from top to bottom: a carmine-striped Sheaffer Balance, a black Sheaffer Touchdown 'Autograph' and a marine green Sheaffer Balance 'Autograph', with their previous owners' names engraved on them.




The second photo shows two modern ballpoints (a lovely Parker Classic ballpoint in the Milleraies pattern with the name of our brother-in-law's late uncle engraved on it, and a Sheaffer '300' ballpoint with my own name engraved ---a 2010 Christmas gift from myself to myself :)

There is an excellent article on PenHero.com about the Sheaffer 'Autograph' and 'Signature' pens here . After purchasing one of these pen models from a Sheaffer dealer, the buyer signed a card with his/her signature on it, and then the dealer sent the pen & card to the Sheaffer pen company to be engraved by their specially-trained personnel. The result was a signature as close to the original as possible. I have a large Sheaffer flat-top with an 'Autograph' band, but its former owner chose not to have his signature engraved on it, opting for his name to be embossed on the barrel. To each his own, I guess! I personally love the look of an engraved signature (or nicely engraved initials) on a vintage fountain pen.

July meeting info (including new venue details)

Our July meeting will be held at the VPL's Oakridge branch. Please note: this is *not* a permanent venue change; we just needed a venue with air-conditioning for this hot summer month :)

Time: Thursday July 21, 2011
Place: Community Room (Meeting Room) at the Vancouver Public Library's Oakridge branch -- #191 - 650 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. (behind the Oakridge Mall, by Kin's Market).
Time: 6:15pm to 8:30pm
Theme: "Made in Canada"----writing instruments made in Canada, plus INK SWAP!
As always, "New Acquisitions" is our secondary topic.

By popular demand, we will be doing another INK SWAP at the July meeting. Please bring any inks you don't want with you to the meeting and trade them with a fellow VPC member for ink/inks that you *will* use! No obligation to bring any inks if you love and use *all* your inks, of course :) Bottles and cartridges for trade are both fine for the Ink Swap.

Everyone welcome to attend & no admittance fees! We are a very casual club with no membership dues, so please drop by if you are interested in joining.
Any questions? Please contact us at vancouverpenclub@gmail.com

VPC meetings are held monthly, on the third Thursday of each month, *except for* December. Check this website for schedule changes/updates.

What's in a Name?? (June meeting details)

Here are the details about our next meeting....

Time: Thursday June 16, 2011
Place: Perks pen store, 5844 Cambie Street (@ 42nd Avenue), Vancouver, BC (tel# 604-266-3911)
Time: 6:00-6:30pm "Meet & Greet"..... 6:30pm-8:30pm Meeting.
Theme: Pens with Names or Initials Engraved.
I have several old fountain pens with names engraved and I tracked down some info on (what I think were) their previous owners, so I will bring it (and the pens) to the meeting. Please feel free to do the same.

As always, "New Acquisitions" are our secondary topic.

Hope to see a good turnout! (and Go Canucks Go! :)


Late addition: Here's a photo (taken by Richard) at the June meeting....
~~Click on photo to enlarge~~Pictured (clockwise from center): Glenn M.(center-with glasses), David S., Glenn C., Maja, Louise, Norm, Bill K., Bruce R., Karlo and Hillary.

M is for Montblanc

Many thanks to all who skipped the Canucks' playoff game and came to our April meeting :) It was well-attended (14 of us showed up) and many lovely examples of stationery were displayed. Many thanks to Glenn Marcus for creating the VPC stationery and for the free samples.

Our next meeting is coming up soon, so here are the details!

Time: Thursday May 19, 2011
Place: Perks pen store, 5844 Cambie Street (@ 42nd Avenue), Vancouver, B.C
Time: 6:00-6:30pm "Meet & Greet"..... 6:30pm-8:30pm Meeting.
Theme: MONTBLANC WRITING INSTRUMENTS
Please bring any Montblanc fountain pens, mechanical pencils, rollerballs and ballpoints (modern or vintage) for an informal show & tell. As always, new pen-related acquisitions are our secondary topic.

Naughty!

A pen aficonado studies a nice pen, shows his approval and decides he'll just pocket it!

Watch out for this guy.

http://youtu.be/mWpTmFVOdRE

April meeting theme-- Stationery!

Our next meeting is coming up soon, so here are the details!

Time: Thursday April 21, 2011
Place: Perks pen store, 5844 Cambie Street (@ 42nd Avenue), Vancouver, B.C
Time: 6:00-6:30pm "Meet & Greet"..... 6:30pm-8:30pm Meeting.
Theme: STATIONERY--new, different & old standbys.
Please bring examples of the kind of "fountain-pen-friendly" stationery you use. As always, new pen-related acquisitions are our secondary topic.

The photo above shows my trusty Pelikan M800 on a large notepad made exclusively for the Fountain Pen Network many years ago. It is wonderful paper for fountain pens (or any pens) and is one example I will be bringing to the meeting.

Seattle Pen Club meeting in Bellingham:
The SPC has tentatively scheduled their April 16th meeting to be held in Bellingham, WA.
Time & place: TBA (watch this space). VPC members are welcome and encouraged to attend!
Just got an email update from the Seattle Pen Club that says due to various reasons their April 16th meeting will not be held in Bellingham.

FPN limited editions from Stipula in the works

I imagine most of you fellow FPN people have seen this already, but there's voting going on for the designs for limited-edition FPN Stipula Etrurias, Model Ts, and Passaportos: http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/blog/6-fpn-admin-column/

60s-70s Montblancs (x4/22x)

I was wondering if anyone in the club has a Montblanc 14, 24, or 34, or any of the 22x (220, etc.) or similar pens from the 60s and 70s. I've been thinking of picking one up as I really like the style but after seeing a picture of a 224 next to a Lamy 2000 I'm thinking they might be too slim for me, so I'd like to handle one first.

These are the sorts of styles I'm referring to:

http://www.azpens.com/AZPens/Montblanc_14.html

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/13220-montblanc-220/

Cheers.

A photo from last Thursday's meeting

(photo courtesy of Graham)

Thanks to all who brought Pelikan writing instruments to the March 17th meeting. In the picture above, you can see Julienne's and Glenn M's fine examples, from the trusty Pelikanos & Pelikano Jr fountain pens to the pricier piston-fillers in the Souverän line (M400, M600, M800, M1000) and the lovely Pelikan 'Cities' (Special Edition) "Piazza Novona" pen.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday April 21st, at the usual place and time (Perks pen store, 5844 Cambie St, Vancouver, BC. Meeting from 6:30pm-8:30pm approx.) Our meeting theme will be Stationery (new, different & old standbys) so please bring some examples for us to see. All are welcome! Any questions? Please email us at vancouverpenclub@gmail.com