Pilot Metropolitan - M - Black: One of my good friends has been using a pilot met for as long as I've known him, and for the longest time I was content to just stick with my Lamy and call it a day. However, this summer I finally took the leap and bought one, and its been one of the best decisions I've ever made (pen wise, at least. lol). The aluminum barrel is light and cool, yet the metal heft makes it considerably easy to control compared to a plastic barrel pen. Its just so elegant, and even with a medium nib, the lines it makes are so smooth. I love this pen so much. It is my favourite pen of all time. I don't use a converter with it though, I just have an empty cartridge that I refill with a syringe.
Parker (unknown) - M: I bought a vintage pen lot in the fall this year, which ended up being a complete bust except for the few Shaeffers I found, and, of course, this beauiful Parker. No clue on how old it is, nor what the model is, but its a joy to write with. The nib is quite smooth, and definitely wider than the pilot M nib, but I have no trouble controlling it, or writing for long periods of time.
Lamy Safari - M - Yellow: Not my first fountain pen but my first fountain pen that wasnt like $3 at the university bookstore. She is a workhorse, and her nib is so wide and tends to leak so much, and since I got the Met, I found her to be a little scratchy, but shes beautifully designed and eye catching. I will always love her.
Diamine Sargasso Sea: My first pen ink was a Diamine, and I do love their inks, especially in terms of quality for pricepoint. This one is a very vibrant BLUE ink, although when it flows heavily (as it is want to do) there is a purple sheen. I find that with all of my pens it tends to bleed, which tends to smudge a lot, and I end up going through more ink at once thank I'd like.
Ferris Wheel Press Bluegrass Velvet: Many many months ago I purchased an ink blind bag that had 2ml samples in them. I knew it would be trouble because I would naturally fall in love with one of the inks in that package, and they would be either discontinued or too expensive for me. I hate to compare two beautiful and talented women, especially because this ink was not one of those expensive inks, however miss Bluegrass Velvet is absolutely stunning. I love a blue-green ink so much, and it flows very gently without smudging. Currently in my Pilot and my Parker, will easily be my daily use ink.
Ink Institute Call at Midnight: A gift from my boyfriend when I fixed up some of the pens in the pen lot I bought, and I also helped him pick out his own pen. I dont normally use black ink, and this one is a little translucent as well. Not an every day use ink. Currently in one of my Shaeffers, which is not listed because I do not use them often.
Ferris Wheel Press Cloak and Forest: Shimmer ink that I enjoy, it has fantastic colourways. Got it along with the Bluegrass Velvet. Its discontinued, I think, which is too bad because I love it, but I don't see myself running out of shimmer ink for a very long time. While these inks are lovely to admire, and look great on paper, I just don't think they're practical for everyday use.
I have a very specific journalling/planning system that I'm still trying to work out. I've been experimenting pretty consistently since like 2023 on one that works and this is what I've come up with (although I will certainly update and change it as time goes on):
Clairefontaine A4 clothbound notebook, gridded: I used this as a personal journal and its evolved into a proper junk journal. Admittedly I used to use it a lot more, but ever since I started doing work and school full time its been on the backburner compared to my daily planners and whatnot. The fact that theres so much "junk" in there also does not allow it to lat flat anymore, so I kinda use it sparingly now...
Hobonichi Techo Accessories Memo Pad A6 size: I have been, admittedly, Influenced to hop on the Hobonichi train, but I started off small with these memo pads, which come in a set of 3. I had bought my first set of these along with the Hobonichi A6 cover, but since it was the mid-end of the year and all of the Avecs were sold out, I decided to try this out. It ended up for the better as I've devised a system that actually works for me, although as 2026 rolls around I've already modified it a bit. Also, I love the Tomoe River paper a lot.
Hobonichi Techo Accessories Weekly Calendar 2026: This will be the replacement for my old "weekly" section in the 2025 memo pages, since there arent enough memos (and not enough time) to individually lay out all of those weekly pages. Plus, its already formatted in a way that I like, so I'm excited to use it!
Traveler's Notebook 013 MD Cream Paper (passport size): I got this one in a blind bag back in November and have been using it as a sketchbook. I have always loved using lineless notebooks for writing as well, so its also being used as a gen writing notebook. Since it's smaller than the A6, which annoys me SO MUCH, I keep it in one of the folder of the Hobonichi cover... still cute though, and I love the paper.
Oasis A5 80 page notebook: I learn best by handwriting notes, so they naturally all go in here. Lecture notes, revisions, everything. I even considered taking notes on HTML and CSS on here, but that found kind of silly... I cant get enough of this paper, though. The grid is really useful, and I have written on it horizontally and diagonally, without any need to worry about bleeding through from even my most persistent inks!
Hobonichi Techo 2025 A6 cover (powder blue shell): I got this for a really good deal at Take Note around August. Again, I was influenced to get on the hobonichi bandwagon, but its not something I regret. I was apprehensive at first, as its pretty much only held together by pressure and a pen in the pen holder, but I've never had any issues with pages or things falling out.
Also, pockets. This bad boy can fit so many things in it. That can be a bit of an issue though, as it doesn't provide a flat surface for writing on. Because of this, I haven't found much use for them, besides one in the back for a stencil and some stickers. It's really easy to clean too, which is important because I have not yet bought one of those vinyl covers for it, and I dont think I really have to.
I really hate how you have to slide the covers of the inserts to hold the books together. This can be really annoying if you have multiple, which means I might customize it so that it uses elastic inserts.
Muji Polypropylene Case, 2 compartments: Just an all around solid pen case. Surprisingly fits all of my pens and whatever else I have in there. I love her!
Sat, 13 Dec 2025 16:57:53 +0500