Stabilo Pen 68

Pen?  I have my doubts... The Stabilo "Pen" 68 looks and writes suspiciously like a marker.  And just what does that number "68" mean, anyway?  Does it mean that there is a whole series of Stabilo Pens, from Pen 1 all the way to Pen 67, preceding it, or does it have some dark, occult significance?

A pair of Stabilo Pen 68's, in green and brown.

Regardless, the Stabilo Marker, er, Pen 68 has a long, slim, hexagonal profile, similar to that of a wooden pencil.  The body and cap are the colour of the ink, and the body is enlivened with white stripes, which gives the marker, I mean pen, a rather funky look.  The marker pen lacks a clip, which doesn't bother me since I rarely use clips, although you may, of course, have different preferences.  The cap is small and, although it posts on the end of the pen, it feels rather loose when it does so (especially on the brown - the green isn't that bad).  This, combined with its small size, makes me fear that the cap could be easily lost.

The tip of the Pen 68 was supposed to be in focus in this photo.  Unfortunately, it is not, a fact which I did not notice until I had transferred the photos for this post to my computer, at which point I was, also unfortunately, too lazy pressed for time to take a new photo.

As a pen, the Stabilo Pen 68 is a fail.  Its somewhat chunky felt tip writes with a line that is way too broad for my liking.  I also suspect that the tip may become even softer, and therefore broader, with further use.  The felt tip feels fairly firm now, but it is softer on the green than on the brown, leading to a difference in the width of the line produced by the two colours, which can be seen in the writing sample below.  I wouldn't recommend the Pen 68 as a pen unless you have large handwriting and enjoy writing with markers, or with markers that are masquerading as pens.

As a marker, the Stabilo Pen 68 is fairly decent, although unremarkable.  The colours are bright, the lines are fairly crisp (at least at the time of review, when the markers pens are still relatively new).  Although a fairly broad pen, it makes for a fine- to medium-tipped marker, which means that I'll probably be using it for colouring and adding bits of colour to my mandala drawings.

If you're expecting an everyday writing pen, look elsewhere than the Stabilo Pen 68.  On the other hand, if you're looking for a simple, inexpensive marker, the "Pen" 68 would not be such a bad choice.

And finally, a note to Stabilo: Your "Pen" 68 is not a pen.  It is a marker.  I would appreciate it if it was labelled accordingly.

Recent Acquisitions

Yes, it is true.  I am becoming one of those horrible people who post the contents of their latest JetPens orders on their blogs, just so all of their readers who have not just ordered some new pens from JetPens can turn green in envy.  In my defence, I had not ordered anything from JetPens in years, so I was absurdly excited to receive this order.  Maybe if JetPens extended their free shipping on orders over $25 to Canada as well as the United States I would place more orders?  However, I should say that the basic shipping to Canada only cost me $5, which is very reasonable, so I really shouldn't complain too much.

And here's what I got:

• Three-pack of Field Notes memo books, one each of graph, ruled, and plain
• Pentel EnerGel Euro Needle-Point gel pen - 0.35mm - black
• Uni-ball Signo DX gel pen - 0.28mm - emerald green
• Pilot Hi-Tec-C gel pen - 0.3mm -  yawaragi colours - kurikawa (chestnut bark brown)
• Uni-ball Signo Broad gel pen - white
• Pentel Aquash waterbrush - medium - compact body

I'll leave you now to be as envious as you wish.  Reviews of these items will be appearing at irregular intervals throughout the coming weeks and months, although I have a couple of older pens to review first.  And I need to use these for a while before I start reviewing them.

Have you used any of these items?  And what have been your recent acquisitions, from JetPens or elsewhere?

Pentel Fluorescent Marker

The Pentel Fluorescent Marker is a highlighter.  I don't know why it's not called that.  Did someone think that "fluorescent marker" sounded more elite than "highlighter"?  Or is "fluorescent marker" a term that simply means "highlighter" in some parts of the world?

The mysteriously-named Pentel Fluorescent Marker.

Mysteries aside, the Pentel Fluorescent Marker is a long, slim, pen-style highlighter.  In fact, its appearance is probably its best feature.  It is a quieter, more subdued, and even somewhat elegant version of the more commonly seen chunky highlighters that are reminiscent of the markers I used in elementary school, such as this Sanford Accent.

Admire the Fluorescent Marker's cool, calm, collected nature next to this bold and brash Sanford Accent highlighter.

The chisel tip of the Pentel Fluorescent Marker creates a crisp, smooth line that is 3mm in width, good for fine lines of text but perhaps not ideal if you are highlighting larger printing or handwriting.  Turned the other way around, the chisel tip comes to a narrow point that creates a relatively fine line to write with if, for some odd reason, you wanted to write with a highlighter.  The colour is intense and definitely fluorescent, as compared to other highlighters that may have a somewhat washed-out appearance.  Sadly, the intense colour did not show very well AT ALL in any of my photos.

The actual colour of the highlighter is about a thousand times more intense and fluorescent than this photo shows.  Sadly, most highlighters I have used end up with a dirty-looking tip after being used for a while.

When used over the ink of different pens, the Pentel Fluorescent Marker did smear the ink (and I let the ink dry for several hours), especially the ink of the gel pens.  The liquid ink pens smeared the least.  The writing was still legible even when smeared, so it would depend on your personal aesthetic sense as to how much of this smearing you would tolerate.  Ink on printed paper was not smeared, although this highlighter did smear ink from an inkjet printer.  (Most highlighters smear inkjet ink.  Try a gel highlighter, such as this one from Sharpie, if you want to be safe.)

Dishonest practices: never a good policy.

The greatest complaint I have with this highlighter is that it can bleed through papers, especially if it is held down for a while in one spot.  If you just make a quick pass over the page or if you're using better-quality paper (such as the Rhodia paper in the pen test), you shouldn't have a problem, but use caution if you're highlighting thinner papers, such as in a textbook, or if you're highlighting more slowly.

As I've mentioned before, I don't normally use highlighters (and this is only the second highlighter that I've ever reviewed here), so I don't really know what an "average quality" highlighter is.  However, I suspect that this highlighter may be it.  It looks good and has crisp, bright colours, but it can smear some inks and bleed through some papers.  I don't recommend it, unless you are certain that the smearing and bleeding will not be issues for you.

The Gluebook Becomes an Art Journal

Despite myself, my gluebook is beginning to look suspiciously like an art journal.  If you recall from my earlier post on it, my first pages were very square and linear in appearance.  Squares and rectangles of paper were neatly lined up with almost mathematical precision.  Now, however, things are starting to get a bit looser.  I'm still cutting out squares and rectangles, but I've stopped using my ruler and they're getting glued down at all angles and even overlapping.  The resulting pages look something like this:

"The Warmth There is in Winter."  Collage, stickers, Staedtler triplus fineliner, Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Brush Pen.

Before, I felt more like a collector, like I was merely assembling a collection of pieces of paper on a page, not that there's anything wrong with that.  Now, however, I feel more like an artist.  My pages have themes.  I choose images for their symbolism.  I draw together colours, textures, and patterns to create a whole that is larger than its parts.  And I'm having fun.  Just me and my scissors and my glue stick.  The top of my desk is already too crowded so I spread everything out on the floor of the library and work there.

"Come Home." Collage, stickers, Staedtler triplus fineliner.

I received a query earlier about the kind of glue that I am using, so I thought I would share it here:

My glues of choice.

On all of the pages in my gluebook I have used my trusty UHU glue stick.  These glue sticks are available just about everywhere around here, and they are non-toxic, acid-free, and archival quality.  I actually used the very same kind of glue back in elementary school and it is still my favourite glue stick to use today!  I like to get it in purple, which dries clear and allows me to see more clearly where I have applied the glue.  These glue sticks are somewhat prone to leaving little lumps of glue on the page when you are applying it, but these can usually be smoothed out.  You also need to apply a nice thick, even layer to make sure that it sticks well.  I go through these glue sticks fairly quickly, but because they are inexpensive and readily available, I don't mind.

If I need a stronger hold, I use liquid white glue of some sort.  The bottle in the photo is of Aleene's Tacky Glue, and I'm pretty sure that the glue in the bottle is the original glue.  When the bottle runs out, I've been known to refill it with carpenter's white glue.  This comes in a plastic jug and it looks and feels basically the same as the tacky glue.  These glues work on just about everything. I mainly use them on paper, but I recently also used white glue to attach fabric to metal, and that also worked well.  These glues do, however, take a while to dry and, because they are quite wet, can cause thin papers to curl, which is why I prefer drier glue sticks for thinner papers.

Vellum paper.  Like other translucent items, hard to photograph well.

The above photo shows something new that I've discovered recently - translucent vellum paper.  I only have a few sheets that came as part of a package of scrapbooking papers, so I have a very limited selection of colours and patterns right now.  I think I will try to find some more, however, as it is great to use in layering in collages.  You can see a small piece of it being used on the left-hand page of the first page spread I showed above.  It looks better in person however, since it tends to disappear in photographs.

Leaf stencil.  Like other shiny, reflective items, hard to photograph well.
Or maybe it's just my photographic skills that are lacking.

Finally, I recently picked up this brass leaf stencil at a local thrift shop, and I would really like to start using it in my gluebook/art journal as well.  I'm a bit unsure though, since I don't think I've used any stencils since elementary school and this one has such a small, fine pattern that I'm not sure how best to use it.  I should just start experimenting, I guess.  Any suggestions?

Do you keep an art journal, gluebook, or something similar?  If so, how has your style of working in it changed over time?  And what new supplies have you discovered lately?

Pen Storage: Horizontal or Vertical?

This is a follow-up to my earlier post on pen storage.  I want to know: is it best to store pens horizontally or vertically?  And does the answer vary depending on the type of pen that is being considered (fountain pen, ballpoint, gel pen, etc.)?  And, if pens are stored vertically, should they be stored tip up or tip down?

My mom, who primarily uses ballpoints, swears by storing her pens vertically, point downwards, in a pen cup.  This practice has, on occasion, led to globs of ballpoint pen ink being deposited in the bottom of the cup.  In contrast, I've always stored my pens horizontally, thinking it was the safest option, although an acquaintance once suggested that was the reason why some of my gel pens developed air bubbles in their ink cartridges.

So now I turn to you, readers: what is the best solution?  Are pens best stored horizontally or vertically?  Or does it even matter at all for some types of pens?