TWO YEARS of POSTS & A PENTASTIC GIVEAWAY!

Today is my two-year blogiversary!  

Let's celebrate with a leisurely stroll down memory lane and a fantastic giveaway . . . 

Have you read the story about my first fountain pen? That's it above. The Waterman Expert. Swoon!

OK, that's enough strolling for one day - let's get right to the giveaway!

Here's the scoop . . . 

One randomly chosen reader can choose either a $50 gift certificate from either Amazon.com or GouletPens.com.

Use the Rafflecopter widget thing below to enter. 

Follow me on Instagram for an additional entry.  (If you're already following, that counts - just be sure to enter your user name below.)

And for an additional extra entry, post a picture of one of your favorite pens on Instagram, tag @pentulant and use #pentulantgiveaway. Whew...that's a lot. 

This giveaway isn't sponsored by anyone. Amazon doesn't know who I am and Goulet Pens didn't know I had this up my sleeve.

I'm trying out Rafflecopter (see below) for contests because I hear it works great.  (If the widget below isn't visible, please be patient while it loads.)

Thursday, September 4 is the last day to enter.  Go, go, go!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

FRIDAY FOLLOW: Instagram

If you're not on Instagram, you're really missing something.  

In no particular order, here are some of my more recent Instagram images . . . 

The Waterman Edson Twins (they are not identical)

VW swag for Baby O (because, really, how cute is this?)

An inky project I'm working on

Love #inkinthesink

Right?

My TWSBI Collection makes me swoon just a bit.

Strawberry Ice Cream

Doesn't everyone meal plan with a #wetnoodle?

My beloved Montblanc Boheme collection.

I opened Mr. Pentulant's textbook, took this picture, and then promptly closed the book.  

And here's a listing of just some of the people I follow...

Gourmet Pens

Ed Jelley

Ellina

Pablo Garcia Melnick

Gerald Taylor - aka MyCofeePot

Chrissy Sparks

PenAddict

What I love about Instagram is that most of the people I follow post more than just pens. It's a real glimpse into the person and what is important in his/her life.

Here's my Instagram link.  Where is yours?

QUICK LOOK WEDNESDAY - Six Pretty Colors

Sometimes, I want to play with my pens, inks, and papers, but can think of nothing to write.

The first step is to write the name of the ink and the name of the pen (see above). I just noticed that each ink is from a different manufacturer - nice.

Apparently, the last resort is to write things that I overhear from the television (see below).

It was actually quite a bit of fun - watching and scribbling, changing pens and writing a bit more. I love the way the entire sheet of paper looks - each color is pretty amazing on its own, yes?

Let's take a closer look . . .

Above - DeAtramentis Alexander Hamilton. I love this purple. It's so rich and deep in color - nice saturation. I don't see this ink discussed much on the various forums, but I think this is a purple that could be used anywhere.  (more on that another day)


Below - Private Reserve Spearmint. One of my favorite green inks. It looks a bit dark here to my eye, but it is usually quite cheery.

Do you have a guess as to which show I was watching at the time?

Below - Montblanc Hitchcock. A gorgeous blood red ink if I ever did see one. Some really pretty shading in there, too. I have to confess, I have a quite a lot of this in my cabinet. Shall I keep it forever? Use it as if I'll never run out? Or maybe even sell some?

Below - Noodler's Habanero. A favorite. That shading. The brightness of the color. Need I say more? Mm..wait, I already did right here.
 

By the way, the above quote is the one that seems like the one that would tell the secret of what I was watching. Have you guessed it yet?

Above - Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun. I wonder if I only could have one ink, if this would be it. Check out my big review here. It is crazy CrAzY to think that I, lover of bright and beautiful colors, would be so taken with a gray ink, but there you go.

Above - Diamine Majestic Blue.  Easy to see why it's one of my favorites, yes?  So pretty.

And, so, there we have it - six pretty colors. All so different from one another and yet all so wonderful.

Which show was I watching?  Downton Abbey, of course!  Have you seen it? Highly recommended.

Some Things Were Just Meant to Be

Waterman 52 / Private Reserve Spearmint / Clairefontaine

My posts have been a bit sporadic over the last few weeks.  I was just a little busy.  Getting married!

It's true! Mr. P. and I finally tied the knot last week and we couldn't be more happy.

I wrote the above several weeks ago and the following just one day before the wedding.

A small peek at our invitation below. We sent around twenty invitations. Each was individually calligraphed by someone we found on Etsy. I love the way they turned out. Perfectly us.

The day before the ceremony, we went to Max's Opera House Cafe.  Following is a quick picture of their menu. Green + Typography + Darling = Perfection.  (Did you know my new last name is Darling?)

When we checked into our hotel the night before, we had no idea we would have a view of San Francisco City Hall where we would be married. I took this picture in the morning when the fog was still laying low.

I have to admit - looking at all of this makes me a bit teary all over again. Such a happy day. So perfectly us.

PEN REVIEW: Waterman 52

On Friday, I shared some recent purchases including this little gem I acquired from VintagePen.

Going to (mostly) let the pictures do the talking here . . .

That's a little nib creep - not rust or anything icky like that

love the gentle chevron - so subtle

And now . . .

Sammy is one of our three (!!) dogs.

My handwriting needs a bit of work, but man-oh-man, I am digging this pen. So much so that some of my other favorite pens have been sitting around unused in the short time I've had the Waterman 52.

It's a little skinny, a little short - neither of those things are a bother to me. It writes wonderfully - perfectly smooth, easy to flex. It's not even a little scratchy and it doesn't skate uncontrollably across the paper.

The lever-fill is easy to manage - perhaps a pain to clean and ink capacity seems a bit low, but I can live with those things.

I love everything about the pen except there's no clip on the cap - making the pen very likely to roll around. I hope so much that I never inadvertently set it down and have it roll onto the floor. Yikes.

This is a pen that will stay in the house because I really would be heartbroken if something happened to it.

It's love! True love.

The Fine Point: Recent Purchases

I've been shopping!

The picture above are some of the items from my most recently Goulet Pens order. Reviews coming to a blog (this one!) near you soon.

I've heard Private Reserve Spearmint is a great shading ink. Going to take it for a spin.

I've read a lot of positive things about Nalgene bottles - especially for traveling with inks. I bought a few bottles and am going to give them a try soon. Will report back.

And...omg...finally...

It's a Waterman 52. I have to tell you - I'm in love. Over the moon. Warm + fuzzy. I am in love with this pen. It's a wet noodle - ultra-super-flexy - and I am in love. Mini review and handwriting samples coming soon!

Have a great weekend!

INK REVIEW: Noodler's Turquoise Eel

Noodler's Turquoise Eel

Now. This is what I'm talkin' about!

Some real, in-yo-face, color.

And, bonus! It writes like a dream.

Noodler's Turquoise Eel rivals Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-peki in every way. It has great color and saturation. It writes beautifully - flow from the pen is just right.

Smear factor isn't bad.  Not much shading. Is there a turquoise that shades wonderfully? Guess I'll have to try them all and find out!

Back to the ink . . .

. . . I really don't have anything negative to say - if I don't talk about the water test - ha! It's a great well-behaved ink that I would consider purchasing if I didn't already own a couple of other turquoise inks. (I test from sample vials, but you probably knew that already.)


A bunch of side notes...

...this is my first review with my new form. Totally excited. Let me know what you think?

...my ink reviews all fall into broad color categories (new this year). This one ended up with the blues because it's more blue than green. Maybe I need a turquoise - but then I'd need a teal - and sometimes it's hard to decide. I'll just keep doing the best I can.

...omg, did you notice the first Compare Square? De Atramentis Hyacinth. I'm excited about reviewing that one sometime soon. Pretttttty.

...Waterman Mysterious Blue felt watery compared to the other inks on this page. Wonder how that will translate in a pen when I get around to testing it.