Blog - Pen Boutique

Last Friday, I had the immense pleasure of attending my very first Pelikan Hub, right around the corner from Pen Boutique at Cafe Columbia. None of us at Pen Boutique had ever been to a Pelikan Hub before, so we were very excited and a little nervous. I really had no idea what to expect. All I knew was that Pelikan Hubs are an annual event sponsored by Pelikan Pens for Pelikan pen lovers around the world. On Hub Night, participants gather in the place appointed by their local Hub Master, and share their love of fountain pens, ink, and writing. This year, Pelikan selected Hubs in roughly...

One of my all-time favorite blog article topics is Sailor fountain pens. Even before I bought a Sailor of my own, I loved taking photos of Sailors and writing about what makes each one special and unique. Sailors just make me happy, so I always look forward to adding another chapter to my "So Many Sailors! Navigating the Colorful Waters of Sailor Pens" series. I started this saga back in March, 2022 (wow!), because I wanted to feature some of the older releases you may have missed over the past few years. So far, I've written two follow-up episodes, and this will be the fourth. You...

If you've read very many of my blog articles, you know I love color. I love delicate subtle shades like mauves and pale greens and soft grapefruits, and I love intense hues like vibrant fuchsia and the cheerful orange of my new Royal Tangerine Sailor 1911. I even wrote a whole blog article called Bonkers for Bright Colors!  However, I also appreciate the absence of color... a.k.a. black. There's just something about the crispness and elegance of black. Black tie, black cars, black and white film, black leather... all have a je ne sais quoi that appeals to our sense of style. I feel the same way about black pens, and...

I'm going to try to make this week's blog article short and sweet. I've been meaning to write about Montblanc's Starwalker pens for a while, and the new Space Blue series finally pushed me over the edge. I don't own any Montblanc pens myself, but this new Starwalker really intrigues me. Like other Starwalkers, it's a sleek and futuristic shape that evokes a much more contemporary mood than the iconic Meisterstück introduced in 1951. The Starwalker pen collection was first launched in 2003, and was intended to appeal to a younger audience or to anyone who wants something a little more daring than the classic cigar-shaped pen. It offers a very different look and feel, while still retaining the...

I hope you enjoyed my article last week, where I talked about my experiences preparing for this year's DC Pen Show and collaborating with Leonardo Pens. Saturday was my first time working a table at a pen show, but the rest of my days at the show were quite different. As I alluded to at the end of the article, most of my time at the show was spent running around, meeting people, learning valuable information, and talking until my voice was hoarse. It was such a high-energy weekend, filled with positivity, fulfillment, and the growing feeling that I was in...