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It began with a pen

It wasn’t even one of my pens, it was a pen I had bought my husband at a local art shop. I didn’t realize what this was going to turn into at the time.

The pen, an Alibi from London.

The problem, it ran out of ink. I searched online & in every office supply store I could think of, looking for a ceramic-pen JUMBO refill made by MICRO #92001 0.5 ..nothing. Then, I searched for ANY pen refill that was remotely close in shaped to the tip of this one ..again nothing. It wasn’t torture though, I (well my whole family) have a thing for pens so muddling around stationary sections in stores is a pretty usual occurrence. But I did carry these empty pen guts in my handbag for over a year asking any and every shop keep “do you have this or do you have something like this?” ..sad I know.

Along came an online shop that carried Japanese pens & refills called JetPens.

I found a perfect fit refill by OHTO the OHTO C-305P (just incase you are searching too) it comes in black, blue & blueblack. My problem was solved!

Well, that was until I had one look around their website, any pen lover will instantly begin to salivate. blah..blah black, blah..blah blue Pilot, UNI, Zebra & Pentel is what we find in most US stores, but these companies are actually Japanese companies and they are seriously holding back on style in the American market. I found pens from those familiar companies in amazing colors, shapes, materials & sizes (both pen barrels & nib sizes). I found things I never knew existed!

SUN-STAR SharPits Lead Holder, basically it’s a mechanical pencil with big 2mm leads & a funny little lead sharpener. I bought the B grade leads as I really like a softish dark lead for sketching & writing.

I needed a quirky eraser for my new pencil, it’s a Sun-Star Mignon Mini Twist. The eraser is actually x shaped. I don’t know why, but it’s CUTE!

This pen was a I NEED TO HAVE THIS PEN, a Kuretake Zig Letter Pen COCOIRO. There are so many body colors to choose from, traditional neutrals, super brights & soft candy colors. Oh and the Refills, well there are 12 colors to choose from colors like gray, rose, sunset & mint. I went with a lovely brown sepia. It has a fine felt tip that does give the look of old-timey writing & is a bit spotty, but I love it!

The only down side to this is, they are sold separately, the pen body is empty when it comes to you.

I am crazy for needle-point pens. I love the incredibly thin writing line, they can sometimes they can be scratchy & a bit uncomfortable for long term use, usually due to the sleek skinny pen barrel. Not true anymore, the Pilot Down Force Ballpoint is a super chubby 7.0mm pen, it has the needle-point that I love, with a comfortable thick barrel (offered in some pretty cool colors too) and it has a big funny side spring clip. Oh yeah and I got GREEN ink refills, who has those? ..they do.

I love pens, if you love pens, you’ll sympathize with this post. If you don’t love pens, maybe this will inspire you to find the beauty in them.

bubble tea & a back issue of cotton time

I have some serious devotion to Japanese craft books (they have such a woody slightly sweet smell), while I tend to favor the crochet book variety, I do so love the hefty general craft magazines.

Around 100 pages of beautiful design & aesthetics, incorporating some of my most favorite pleasurable pastimes, sewing, quilting, embroidery and crochet, all while being adorably cute, silly captioned and all around quite excellent.

This one came with a project a month wall calendar in addition to the usual pull out paper pattern sheet and mini project book inside. It’s jammed full of cozy goodness, If I remember correctly I bought this over at superbuzzy.

I love crochet edgings and this issue January 2009 has quite a bit of them. Adorable apples, cupcakes and flatware look at the squirrels & mushrooms.

Best of all they are charted out, for universal understanding!

There is something charming and cute about these matching apron outfits. I really should of made these for us when my daughter was young. I would of photographed us just like this, I would of loved it.

Wooly needle felted gnome sweeties, these are so endearing to me. I might have to make a mini Jason & Amanda for the holiday tree this year.

I can flip through these magazines over and over again staring at the images of the rooms picking out all the perfect little bits in the pictures, I love this kitchen, that red & white potholder is the best. Read the photo’s text “HAPPY” this makes me happy all day long.

Lastly a splendid chicken telling you the joys of subscribing, cute.

A Merit Badge

I have always had a thing for pinback buttons, brooches & badges. I love them huge, I love them tiny, I love them kitschy, I love them silly, I love them sweet. Some I don’t love at all, but still keep them, how can you throw away something so useful!

Here is a super project to put those old pinback buttons to a good new use while show your love of knitting. I have yarns in my stash I have put off using for a project, because I love the color or feel of them so much, I can’t bear to see them gone (you know how it is) now I can always have a little wearable swatch of that irreplaceable/extinct yarn.

It’s also a perfect use for those little left over scraps or small sample balls. I can’t stop making these. They are seriously quick, done in a snap and have just enough quirk to be cool!

I was never a girl scout. I really tried to be, really I did. Well sort of, I went to 1 meeting and that was it, but I remember the little neck ties and being envious of my sis who had the uniform (knee-highs and all) and the sash filled with those lovely, lovely merit badges.