STAEDTLER – Writer's Bloc Blog

March 14, 2017January 22, 2018

8 Tips For Using the Leuchtturm1917 Adhesive Pen Loop

The Leuchtturm1917 Adhesive Pen Loop is a easy way to add a handy pen holder to a paper notebook or journal that doesn’t have one. Just peel the backing off the small 1.5″ x 1.5″ square piece of vinyl, stick it on to where you want it and voila, your notebook has a new elastic pencil or pen loop! Here are 8 tips for using your Leuchtturm1917 pen loop:

Leuchtturm1917 Pen Loop stuck on a Quo Vadis Habana Journal — Leuchtturm1917 Pen Loop stuck on a large Quo Vadis Habana Journal

The Leuchtturm1917 pen loop works best with slender writing tools such as regular size wooden pencils, Staedtler triplus pens, cheap Bic or Paper Mate ballpoints, Sakura Gelly Roll pens, you get the idea. I didn’t like using pens with rubberized or highly textured grips with this pen loop because they are too difficult to slide in and out. Maybe you are more patient than I am.

Leuchtturm1917 Pen Loop holding a Staedtler Triplus Textsurfer

2. I was able to use the pen loop to hold pens with a medium size barrel only if they were cigar-shaped (tapered on the ends) and had a smooth barrel. A couple of examples of this are the Platinum Plaisir fountain pen and Pentel Tradio pens.

Leuchtturm1917 Pen Loop holding a Platinum Plaisir Fountain Pen

3. For pens with a wide barrel and squared ends, the best you can do is attach your pen clip to the elastic pen loop. Check out the photo below to see how you can use it with the clip on your LAMY Safari fountain pen.

4. When I use a fountain pen, most often I prefer to write with it “unposted”, or without the cap placed on the top (non-nib) end of the pen. While I’m writing, I’m always looking for a place to put the cap so I won’t lose it. The pen holder is a handy place to attach the clip of my fountain pen cap until I need the cap again.

Leuchtturm1917 Pen Loop holds a LAMY Safari by the clip only

5. Think before you stick. The Leuchtturm1917 pen loop is only meant to be stuck in one place and not removed and stuck somewhere else. I put mine in the center of the back cover of my large Quo Vadis Habana Journal because I am planning on using the pen loop to grasp the center portion of my pen. If you want to use it to grasp the top part of a pen near the clip, you’re better off sticking the pen holder near the top of your notebook. It’s a good idea to figure out what pen you want to use with the holder, put the pen in the loop, and then put it next to your notebook to figure out where you want to place it before you stick it on the cover.

6. Once my notebook is used up, I will get another pen loop to stick on a fresh new notebook. This makes sense, because even if the Leuchtturm1917 pen loop used the best quality materials in the world, over time they eventually wear out.

7. The pen loop is not a fool-proof way to avoid losing your pens and pencils. You still need to exercise care so as to not lose your valuable writing tools. Also, if you want to remove the pen loop, don’t expect it to remove cleanly.

Leuchtturm Pen Loop holding an Apple Pencil

8. Even though the Leuchtturm1917 pen loop is designed to be used with paper notebooks, some people have successfully used it on a tablet or smart phone cover to hold a stylus for their device. It does a great job at holding the Apple Pencil! This is a hack, so try this at your own risk.

How do you use your Leuchtturm1917 Pen Loop? Do you have any tips or tricks to share?

May 10, 2016May 14, 2016

10 Graduation Gifts Under $30

Years of hard work have finally paid off for many students this time of year – graduation has arrived! What will you get as a gift for your favorite graduate? We’ve complied a list of 10 gift ideas that are all $30 and less.

1) The 5 Book. This is an excellent interactive playbook that inspires your grad to think about where they will be 5 years from today. The 5 Book asks thoughtful questions about plans, dreams, and priorities and to help them map out the best years of their life– the next 5.

2) Academic Planner. Keeping on top of a hectic college schedule can be quite a challenge! An academic planner comes to the rescue with a calendar that begins with the start of the school year. For a detailed weekly plan, we’d recommend the Quo Vadis Minister. For something pocket-size try the Quo Vadis University Planner. You can find these and other planners in our Academic Planners section (back in stock soon!).

3) LAMY Safari Fountain Pen. The Safari fountain pen is popular in countries all over the world. It’s easy to use, durable and fun! This pen is a great way to introduce your student to the world of fountain pens, or if your grad is already a fan of writing instruments, the Safari will become a treasured part of their collection. It comes in several colors and nib sizes to suit just about any writer.

4) Meeting Book. Whether or not your grad is headed to college or the office, the Cornell notes format of a meeting book makes it a valuable tool. The layout is designed for organized and efficient note taking during meetings or school classes. Both Rhodia and Moleskine make excellent meeting notebooks.

Rhodia Meeting Book & Vanishing Point Fountain Pen

5) Pen Case. Whether it’s just one precious writing instrument that needs a little protection or a plethora of writing instruments that need to be corralled, there’s a pen case out there that’s just right for your graduate. The Aston Leather Single Pen Slip Case is an economical option for an individual pen, their rugged Pencil Pouch holds about a dozen pens and pencils.

6) Book Darts. These paper-thin metal line-markers are the perfect tool to mark things worth rereading, to note key points as you read them and to help you go back to ideas worth studying. Book Darts can be reused over and over again for a lifetime!

7) Leuchtturm 1917 Ex Libris Private Reading Journal. Is your grad a book worm? This bound Private Reading Journal is a classy way to create written memories of novels and other books they’ve read.

8) Platinum Preppy Highlighters – Set of 5. Studying at college can mean some of your new best friends are highlighters. Preppy Highlighters are refillable with Platinum highlighting ink cartridges so these pens can outlast many other kinds of highlighters.

9) STAEDTLER triplus fineliners – Set of 20 in a Wrap Case. This fun roll-up case is filled with a bunch of colorful superfine felt tip pens. The case is available in either Black or Pink. A great gift for creative students!

Staedtler Triplus Fineliners - Set of 20 in a Pink Wrap Case — Staedtler Triplus Fineliners – Set of 20 in a Pink Wrap Case

10) Coloring Book for Grown-Ups. College and work life both have their daily stresses. Doodling in a coloring book for grown-ups is a great way to unwind at the end of a hectic day. Clairefontaine has bird, flower or nature themed coloring books, or try the Secret Garden Inky Treasure Hunt and Coloring Book that’s inspired by the plants and wildlife found in rural Scotland.

Secret Garden Inky Treasure Hunt & Coloring Book

What will you buy for your new graduate this year?

December 22, 2015December 23, 2015

Staedtler Triplus Fineliners Review

Staedtler Triplus Fineliners are definitely on my list of favorite writing tools! I enjoy using these vibrantly colored fine tip pens for everyday handwriting, doodling, marking up my paper planner or relaxing with my Clairefontaine coloring book for grownups.

Triplus Fineliners are porous point pens with a superfine tip that’s metal clad to help the tip maintain its shape. The 0.3mm tip is finer than your average felt-tip pen which makes them ideal for small handwriting, detailed and precise drawing or for coloring in small spaces.

These pens have what is called a Dry Safe feature: they can be left uncapped for days without drying up (Test ISO 554 – except neon colors). We did our own test of this ability and you can read about the results here: Staedtler Pens Dry Safe Feature Test. Of course, for best results, we do recommend putting the cap back on your pens after you’re finished if you can remember to do it.

The long slender barrel of Triplus Fineliner pens has a triangular shape for a comfortable and ergonomic writing experience. The grey colored barrel is made of durable poly propylene and since it’s triangular it won’t roll off your desk. It has a plastic snap-on cap that matches the color of the ink inside the pen. The cap can easily post on the top of the pen and since the cap is light-weight it won’t throw off the balance of the pen while you’re writing. The cap does have a clip that’s about 1 1/2″ in length. Fineliners are about 6 3/8″ long when capped, 6″ long when uncapped and 7″ long when the cap is posted on the end.

Staedtler Triplus Fineliners have water-based ink that can be washed out of many types of fabric which means they are not waterproof or water-resistant. The pens are not refillable. They are airplane safe: automatic pressure equalization prevents the pens from leaking on board aircraft. From my own experience, the ink does not feather or bleed through most kinds of paper. The ink dries quickly so even though I’m a lefty I don’t smear it much.

If you buy them in a set of four, six, ten or twenty, Triplus Fineliners come in a plastic storage case that can stand up when it’s open so that you conveniently have your pens both organized and within easy reach.

As of writing this blog post, there are around 30 of these pens that are available as single colors: yellow (1), red (2), magenta (20), light carmine (21), bordeaux (23), tuscan red (260), carmine (29), blue (3), light blue (30), aqua blue (34), cyan (37), orange (4), peach (43), green (5), willow green (51), lime green (53), french green (54), green earth (55), olive green (57), violet (6), dark mauve (61), lavender (62), delft blue (63), mauve (69), brown (7), van dyke brown (76), warm sepia (77), grey (8), silver grey (82) and black (9).

Do you write or draw with Staedtler Triplus Fineliners? What do you like to use them for?

April 21, 2015January 25, 2016

Appreciate Our Teachers!

Our school teachers face many challenges and work very hard to educate our young people, so they certainly deserve much appreciation and thanks. Why not show your appreciation with a gift of quality pens and paper? One of my elementary school teacher friends shared what her picks would be:

1) Highlighters. Highlighters are part of a teacher’s daily arsenal. The skinny ones with a fine tip on the other end are my friend’s favorite, such as Zebra Optex Highlighters or Tombow Twin Tip Highlighters.

2) Colorful Pens. Smooth writing colorful pens are good for grading papers. We like the STAEDTLER Triplus Roller pens – they have an ergonomic triangular barrel and the dry-safe feature enables these pens to be left uncapped for days at a time without drying up.

3) Pencil Pouch. A leather pen & pencil pouch is just what a teacher needs to corral a bunch of these colorful pens and highlighters. The Clairefontaine Basics Trapezoid Leather Pencil Case is just what your child’s geometry teacher needs, or the Aston Leather Pencil Pouch is another classy choice.

4) Fountain Pen. This old fashioned writing tool is making a comeback! It reduces writing fatigue because compared to a ballpoint pen less pressure is required when writing. This might just be the special gift that your teacher takes home to treasure for themselves! The Pilot Metropolitan Fountain Pen is a great deal for the price, or the LAMY Safari is noteworthy for its worldwide popularity. Remember to get some extra ink refills to go along with it!

Pilot Metropolitan Fountain Pen - Dots, Medium Nib — Pilot Metropolitan Fountain Pen – Dots, Medium Nib

5) Book Darts. Book Darts are metal line-markers that easily slip onto a page to mark important points so that you can find them later on. They can be reused over and over again in teacher books.

6) Organizing Notebook. A teacher needs a good notebook for taking notes during teacher training and meetings. We recommend the Clairefontaine Multiple Subject Notebook or the Rhodia Meeting Book with its Cornell note-taking page format.

Rhodia Classic Meeting Book - Large, Orange Cover — Rhodia Classic Meeting Book

7) Academic Planner. Help your teacher stay organized and on top of all of their meetings, activities and classroom events with a planner designed with teachers and students in mind. The Quo Vadis Minister Academic Weekly Planner provides your teacher with a detailed 8am to 9pm weekly schedule. The Minister and other academic planners are due to arrive in our shop towards the end of May or in June.

Quo Vadis Minister Planner - Black Soho Cover — Quo Vadis Minister Planner – Black Soho Cover

How do you like to show your appreciation for your favorite teacher?

January 5, 2011November 13, 2016

Refillable Felt-Tip Highlighters

Refillable felt-tip highlighters are designed to help reduce the amount of plastic waste in our environment. Just think – if everyone were able to refill their felt-tip highlighters five times, this would eliminate the need to throw away four out of five plastic highlighters as they become dried-up. Obviously this isn’t going to solve all of our problems, but it’s nice to see the selection of refillable felt-tip highlighters is increasing. We’ll talk about three of them in this blog post.

The Platinum Preppy Highlighter Pen can easily be refilled by inserting a new ink cartridge or by using a converter and bottled fountain pen ink. Noodler’s bottled ink comes in regular highlighter and long-lasting highlighter colors such as Year of the Golden Pig and Dragon Catfish pink, green and orange. When the felt tip on this highlighter starts to break down you can even replace it with a brand new felt tip! The body and cap of this pen are made from recycled polycarbonate. Preppy Highlighters are available in the colors green, orange, pink, yellow and blue.

Tombow Twin highlighters can easily be refilled using the Tombow Coat Highlighter Charger. All you need to do is set the open recharger on a level surface, gently put the pen’s felt tip into the ink, and 10 minutes later your highlighter is fully recharged! If you can’t wait 10 minutes you can use it sooner – after one minute the highlighter is 20% recharged, in five minutes 70% recharged. There is enough ink in the recharger for 10 refills and each highlighter pen can be refilled about 5 times. At first, the Tombow Coat recharger bottle design seems rather curious since the ink full level is near the bottom of the bottle. However, if you happen to accidentally knock the bottle over while a pen is recharging you’ll discover that the ink won’t spill out. I’m thinking someone has done this before… Tombow Coat Highlighter Chargers are available in ten different colors: yellow, red, brown, orange, golden yellow, yellow green, sky blue, blue, purple and pink. I have not tested to see whether or not this ink is compatible with other highlighters (yet).

The STAEDTLER Textsurfer Classic Ink-Jet Safe Highlighter is another good example of a refillable highlighter. It’s clean and easy to recharge by firmly inserting the felt tip into the top of the open refill station. After three or four hours it is completely refilled, but it can be used after spending just a few minutes in the refill station. It’s impossible to overfill the highlighter since it draws out only as much ink as needed to fill it to capacity. The refill station is specially designed not to spill ink if it is tipped over. Be sure to match the Textsurfer Classic Ink-Jet Safe Highlighter to the STAEDTLER refill station with ink-jet safe ink or you’ll lose the ink-jet safe property. STAEDTLER Textsurfer Classic Refill Stations come in yellow, blue, green and pink.

Do you have a favorite refillable felt-tip highlighter? Please tell us about it!