[Pen/Pencil Review] The SoonerCon Coolness
EDIT: THE ARTIST IS CRAIG GRISWOLD!
This is kind of a double review from some of the stuff I picked up at SoonerCon following a Day Job Conference. I could do the random collection of swag pens I picked up – or I could show you these two awesome pieces.
Since it’s a pen blog – let’s start with this amazingly fun mermaid tail pen. My friend, Lillian Butler – who also designs awesome jewelry – has found a vendor that does not only the weird tentacle pens (which I love) but also these mermaid tails. These pens are long but not obnoxious. It runs just under 7.5″ long. It’s a hard resin carved with scales but the grip is smooth and just on that edge of being too narrow but not quite.
The metal tip leads into the tail. There’s an edge, but I don’t think it’s going to be too uncomfortable. It is a (by US standards) a “fine point” so it’s a 0.7mm tip with decent feeling ballpoint. The black ink flows well and dark. It doesn’t smear much on a glossy page.
Which leads me to the page I did the sample on – it’s a black cover Field Notes 48-page notebook. These are nice 3.5″ x5.5″ pocket notebooks. But that’s not the coolest part. That notebook is inside a handmade leather by a Colorado artist who’s name completely escapes me – but pretty sure his initials are “CG” (Sorry, Peri). He does sturdy, beautiful leather work. This is the harder leather which gives a sturdy enough surface to make a note on without needing a table, and I couldn’t resist the quote from Princess Bride. There’s a beautiful scroll work on the back I’ve treated this cover with a waxed-based leather conditioner I got at Scarborough Renaissance Festival years ago to weatherproof it as well. The cover is completely refillable and I have a TON of similar sized notebooks to put in it.
I look forward to years of working with the notebook. The pen? I hope to get a goodly bit of use out of it.
The numbers:
1. How does it work? – 0.5 The pen is decent. It’s a bit on the long side and almost too narrow. Probably spent more on it than I needed to. The notebook is functional – kinda wished I’d picked up one of them that had a closure band.
2. Grip and feel – 1 – It’s a mermaid pen. There’s nothing ergonomic about it. But it is what it is. A decent novelty pen. The notebook is just amazing. I love a good leather notebook.
3. Material – 1 The pen is carved resin. The notebooks is leather with a great brand of notebook inside
4. Overall Design – 1 -It’s a fun stick pen with the separate cap already gone. The notebook is my happy place
5. Price Point – 0.5 – I got these from friends at a convention – that means supporting local artists. The pen was $5 – which yes, you can get them in bulk on Amazon for WAY cheaper, but supporting artist with something fun. The notebook was $25 – but handmade and unique design? Totally worth it – not cheap, but a good investment. Especially since it helps an independent artist.
4.0 out of 5 Bronze Pencils