January-April 2025 in Stationery
I’ve done a few of these 4-month retrospectives in 2024 (you can check them out under the tag Year Planning). I like doing the retrospectives, but I am not convinced that I am dividing the year well. I think alternatives could be seasonal (Spring, Summer, etc) or quarterly - I have seen other stationery folks doing Q1, Q2 etc retrospectives - but I am just not sure I have enough variety of usage to do quarterly updates. I’m going to keep the four-month format for now, though I might rethink in the future.
Pens
My beloved Scribo Feel Maddalena with the new EF 14k Flex ruthenium nib, with beadbird friend; MG Venetia Vintage Conifer and Kilk Yggdrasil in the background.
Scribo Feel Magenta 14k EF (Flex). Catch and Release. I acquired it from a pen friend for a great price with the intent of swapping the nib with my Maddalena. The pen was lovely, so I wrote with it for a while before swapping the nib and letting the Magenta go. The 14k EF Flex nib is magnificent and perfect for me. The M 18k I let go was also an excellent nib, but I’m into these thinner EF/F nibs at the moment, plus of course italics; my once-beloved M nibs have been seeing less use, so I rotated quite a few of them out. I’m grateful for the brief presence of the Magenta in the Gathering - it reaffirmed my love for the Feel, and I enjoyed the semi-translucent resin quite a bit. Berry is just not my color.
Montegrappa Venetia Vintage Conifer. So this amazing sale happened, and I bought this pen at a deep discount. It’s a lovely tree-themed pen with pointy ends. Kirk Speer of Pen Realm ground the steel Jowo nib to a reverse architect. It’s been a great companion. Writeup here.
Refilling my Venetia with MB Jane Austen - I love this combination. As observed by Menagerie friends turquoise raven and grumpy beadcat.
Montegrappa Venetia Plum Agate. Something something mumble mumble Montegrappas lost their distributor in the US and many of the pens went on excellent sales, and since I loved the Conifer but originally wanted the Plum Agate, I went for it, and now I have two of them. Having lived with both Venetias side by side, I prefer the green Conifer; the Plum Agate might become a catch and release. It’s gorgeous, so I have been dithering.
Onoto Magna Sequoyah. I ordered it in April but received in May; it’s hard to know how to count such things, but in the interest of transparency I will count this as an April purchase. I have wanted this pen for four years, and when the tariff situation began to develop, I decided to bite the bullet and use up the funds I had from this year’s pen sales. It was not perfect when it arrived, and I sent it back for an exchange. I have the exchange in my hands now; it’s still not perfect, but it’s wonderful. I’ll write more about it soon - there’s a kind of strange poetry in this pen, and its journey to me, and even my hesitations about it.
The Onoto Magna Sequoyah.
Tally: four pens in, three pens sold (this is inclusive of the Scribo Feel Magenta catch and release). I think this pattern is consistent with previous years: numerically, I added only one pen to the number of pens in the Gathering, and used the proceeds from the sales to fund most of the purchases. However, I am also on track to overshoot my goal of 6 pens or less in 2025. It’s been a rough time, and pen medicine has been happening.
Onoto Magna Sequoyah on my desk - a gorgeous pen
I’ve also used my pre-existing pens, especially the Onoto Magna Keats (always a winner), Kilk Yggdrasil, Leonardo Momento Magico Bohemian Twilight, and my three Auroras.
Ink
Small mercies: I have not overshot my ink goals in 2025 (yet). I acquired 3 bottles of ink, and all of them were on my list. One was an ink from late 2024 that arrived this year (Diamine x Cult Pens Maple Leaf), and two were purchases - Teranishi Antique Black and J. Herbin Cornaline D’Egypte. Maple Leaf and Cornaline are more autumn colors, so I’ll use them later in the year, but Teranishi Antique Black is marvelous and is currently inked. I also got five Diamine Inkvent 2024 samples from The Gentleman Stationer, of which Salted Caramel has been a highlight so far.
Diamine Inkvent samples I got in January - I love Salted Caramel and am looking forward to using it in the Fall. I also tried Winterberry in January - and liked it a lot.
I tracked my overall ink usage with Chart Grid pages, one per month. Unfortunately, January fell victim to “I set this page aside for archiving as a part of a separate ink series, but it is not where I thought I filed it.” January had my heaviest ink use too, since I was finishing up pens inked in late 2024, so it’s annoying to not have it in front of my face. There is no helping this now - but if I find it, I will add it to the tally :)
One of the monthly ink spreads from my Plotter
February: 6 pens inked, Montblanc Moctezuma (carryover - this ink pretty much always in the Aurora Internazionale), J. Herbin Kenzo Takada Shogun, Montblanc Sand of the Desert, Diamine Salted Caramel, Diamine Raspberry Rose, Montblanc Dragon Red.
March: 7 pens inked: Montblanc Moctezuma (carryover), FWP Sunlit Jade, Montblanc Gatsby, Montblanc Sand of the desert (carryover), Diamine Salted Caramel (carryover), Akkerman Gourmet Pens Pink,
April: 10 (!) pens inked with 8 inks: Montblanc Moctezuma (carryover), FWP Sunlit Jade (carryover, Montblanc Gatsby (carryover; it ran out, then I inked a new pen with it), Montblanc Sand of the desert (carryover), Diamine Salted Caramel (carryover), Akkerman Gourmet Pens Pink, Teranishi Antique Black, Montblanc Jane Austen, J. Herbin Cornaline D’Egypte.
Overall used in February, March, and April:
Montblanc - 5 different inks inked 6 times.
Diamine: 2 different shimmer inks + 1 nonshimmer Akkerman.
J. Herbin shimmers: 2
FWP shimmer: 1
Teranishi: 1
This pretty much fits what I feel has become my ink comfort zone: for nonshimmer I love Montblanc inks, and have a nice set of them collected over the years. I also love Teranishi. For shimmer, I love J. Herbin and some Diamine. Only the Akkerman Gourmet Pens Pink deviated from this pattern.
I loved much of the ink I added last year, and there was so much of it that I did not get to truly explore, especially with the inks acquired in the end of the year. Two highlights were my Montblanc additions, Jane Austen and the Great Gatsby. Both are seeing repeated use in 2025.
Montegrappa Venetia Vintage Conifer with MB Jane Austen and the turquoise raven friend. I’ve reinked this pen with this ink already - and will likely reink again.
Paper
I’m still using my Hobonichi inserts with the A6 Orange Leatherworks cover, and I’m using my A5 Plotter in Liscio Wine with assorted Plotter inserts - all this works well. I added Notsu to-do cards from The Gentleman Stationer and use them as inserts into my Plotter rather than the blue quadrant grid. I have been enjoying those.
My paper regimen is supplemented by the Stickii subscription, which alternates between Vintage and Pop. They’ve had some setbacks this year, and dealt with them graciously. I recommend this company wholeheartedly.
Accessories
Back in January, I acquired two Lin Cia Ning wax seals, which I wanted for a while and which were on my to-buy list for this year. By the time I was ready to buy them from Yoseka, they sold out, but I found them in a Malaysian stationery store Sumthings of Mine. The packaging of my purchase was superb. I love the seals and hope to be able to use them more frequently.
The highlight of my accessory additions in the first four months of the year has been the Hightide bicolor hourglass I acquired from The Gentleman Stationer. (I am not affiliated with his shop - I simply like it!) I use the hourglass to measure 30-min writing and grading chunks. It’s helpful.
I was not sure if I would use the Hightide bicolor hourglass, but it’s in daily use to measure Pomodoro writing segments, and it’s a big help when I need to squeeze in a bit of grading. The stream of sand is soothing, and the bicolor situation is beautiful. I also added a box of Notsu daily to-do list cards, and I have been using and enjoying those.
Overall, I’m staying consistent with my use case. Not a lot of big changes in the first four months of the year as compared to 2024; this is good, I think this means that my solutions and preferred tools work well for now.
What’s next
I want to feel more alive, but physically and emotionally. I’m exhausted and in pain. I used my pens to draft some poems, which was lovely. A few of those pieces have already sold, others are on submission. I want to hand-write some letters. I want to rest. Hopefully coming after the final push of the semester.
I’m also planning to attend my first pen show, the St. Louis Pen Show, which is in a driving distance from me, kind of. That’s exciting :)
In terms of acquisitions, I am thinking about another Aurora. I’m also excited to add a special nib at some point this year; beyond that I have no plans so far.