2016/03/30

Pens and Ink: Omas Ogiva Alba Orange with Private Reserve Shoreline Gold OS

Ogiva Alba Orange with fine extra flessible nib inked with Private Reserve Shoreline Gold. @gouletpens #mondaymatchupgiveaway #mondaymatchup #gouletpens #ogivaalba #fountainpen #funtainpen #fpgeeks #fountainpennetwork #fpn

After hearing the sad news of the Omas company, I'm going to dedicate the next few weeks of Pens and Ink to my Omas pens. I did a tribute post of them last week. You can read about the situation around Omas in this blogpost on Peneconomics.

In a previous post I had already showed you my Omas Ogiva Blue Angel (from the cocktail series) and today I'll post another Ogiva in my collection; The Ogiva Alba Orange. It's in the Limited Edition range of the from the Aurora Borealis series. You can read more about these pens here.

Ogiva alba orange
This pen is a beautiful dark orange and I thought a great shading ink would go well with it. I picked Private Reserve Shoreline Gold and it's the older version of the ink. It's a more brown to deep orange (burnt sienna) tone than the new formula.

Comparison of the old and new formula of PR shoreline gold. @inkblobs I gave you a bottle of the one right, so @thepencilcaseblog that is what you inked your pen with at the #tilburgpenshow :)

A comparison of the old and new versions of shoreline gold. I'm not sure when they changed the formula, but I think the newer version is much closer to Orange Crush. And the older version does have a lot more shading. 
Ogiva alba orange
These are Limited editions and Omas only made 327 of them. The number is inscribed on the section of the pen. As you can see my pen has the number 272.
A thing of beauty, Omas extra flessible nibs. #Omas #ogivaalba #orange #fountainpen #fpgeeks #fountainpennetwork #FPN #flexnib #flexywriting
The Omas nibs are definitely a thing of beauty and this Extra Flessible nib in fine gives a lovely line variation. It will give you that extra flourish in your every day writing. 

Some happy colors on this rainy gray day #colorcoordination #omas #ogivaalba #auroraborealis #fountainpen #funtainpen #fpgeeks #fountainpennetwork #fpn
I had my nails polished with Essie's RRRoarange the day I got it, so yeah I had to take a fun pens and polish picture. The pen below the Orange Alba is the Jade Green Ogiva Alba which will be featured in next weeks Pens and Ink.

Thanks for stopping by! 
namasté

2016/03/28

Mailart Monday - Happy Easter!

It's easter monday, so I thought it would be fun to do a themed mail art post today.

easter egg

A while back I made the above easter egg rubber stamp and even held a giveaway on my blog for it years ago. I of course also made one for myself to keep and it's such a fun stamp, I used it to alter a postcard for easter theme this year as well.

Happy easter! #mailart #mailartists #snailmailing #snailmailrevival #postcard #easter #egg #easteregg #humour

A fast and fun way to make mail art is to alter a post card. I found this postcard of a lonesome Demoiselle Crane on a field in Mongolia in my postcard stash. I have no idea how I got it (probably through swap bot) but I thought it would be fun to use for this idea. I stamped my egg stamp on sticker paper, colored it and cut it out to stick on the head of the shadow. It looks like the crane pecked the poor little egg on its head. Probably trying to find chocolate ;)

Hope you all are having a wonderful and relaxed Easter Monday.

Thanks for stopping by!

namasté

2016/03/25

A coloring adventure - La Plume (Mucha)

At the American Book Center in Amsterdam I came across this Alphonse Mucha Coloring book by Pomegranate Publishing. And of course I just had to have it. But since I didn't want to color in the pages in the book, I bought some heavy duty printer paper at Van der Linde in Amsterdam (the Fabriano Academia paperpack 160gms suitable for inkjet printers) and printed a page which I scanned from the book, La Plume.
Finished page and the pencils I used for it. Derwent artist pencils and a caran d'ache colorless blender. That gets the smooth transitional colortotange done.
I used Derwent Artist Pencils, a caran d'ache blender and a faber castell pencil eraser for this project. I love these Derwent pencils, they have such beautiful and smudge proof leds. And with the blender the colors just pop and look creamy. Definitely love how the page turned out.

La Plume coloring process

I actually started with it last year and gradually added color to the page when I had time for it. Showing you the process is a lot better than talking about it, so here is a slideshow:
La Plume coloring process

See a behind the scenes for this coloring book on the Pomegranate blog which contains a free download from the book.

And check out my Pinterest with a few Mucha Coloring book pages I found via google search (La Plume is also on there) 

Thanks for stopping by!
Have a colorful weekend.

namasté

2016/03/23

An Ode to Omas

Oh yes... let the unwrapping begin :) #fountainpen #fpgeeks #omas
After being seduced by Eclectitbits pictures on his instagram, I have completely fallen for this brand fountain pens. They are beautifully made and so amazing to write with. Not too long ago the news hit that the Omas Pen company might no longer make pens anymore. I feel lucky to have a few of these precious gems of fountain pens in my possession and with this post I want to do a tribute to Omas, following my friend Nicholas on his tribute.

The packaging is so pretty on the inside. And 3 guesses which color I got ;) #fountainpen #fpgeeks #omas #ogiva #alba #collectibles #pen #omg

"Italian creativity, History, Craftsmanship. The pleasure of writing. " 
Over 90 years of craftsmanship, it shows in their work!

You cannot go into #akkerman without being seduced by all the pretties there. And boy have I been seduced... #omas #arteitaliana #vision #limitededition #fountainpenporn #funtainpen #fountainpen #fpgeeks #unboxing

Really love the elegant packaging of #Omas #fountainpens And by the ink of choice you might have guessed which one of the two colors I went for... #fpgeeks #fountainpenporn #akkerman #arteitaliana #vision #limitededition #funtainpen #unboxing
They are definitely pieces of handmade ART, even the packaging is amazing!

Old style Omas Paragons. LE resins and celluloids. #Fpgeeks #fountainpen #omas #funtainpen #FPN #fountainpennetwork #paragon #vintage #writinginstruments #toolsofthetrade
The nibs and facets of the older pens are just gorgeous.

This nib 😍 #omas #ogivacocktail #blueangel #stub #funtainpen #Fpgeeks #nibporn #organicsstudio #julesverne #nautilusblue
The newer style nibs are also something spectacular!

Catching up in correspondence on this cold and grey monday #omas #ogivaalba #Fpgeeks #fountainpen #pelikanedelstein #aventurine #penpal #letterwriter #correspondence #FPN #penmanship #handwriting #handwritten #shittycalligraphy #emeraldgreen
The are a delight to write with.

A case of too many or too few? #theomasses #omas #Fpgeeks #FPN #fountainpennetwork #fountainpen #ogivacocktail #ogivaalba #paragon #writinginstruments #toolsofthetrade #collection
Gorgeous to display but also

I might have developed a brand focus 😍 #omas #omasexperience #Fpgeeks #fpn #fountainpen #fountainpennetwork #funtainpen #papsweden #dailycarry
suitable for every day carry.

La Mal du Pays - a quote from a book I am reading at the moment. Points for you if you can guess which book that is 😉 #flexnib #flexnibfriday #omas #fountainpen #fpgeeks #teal #bluegreen
Le Mal Du Pays - A groundless Sadness Called forth in a persons heart by pastoral landscape.  A groundless sadness is definitely what I feel knowing that there might be no more Omas pens made. But as Nicholas so well put it, "we are only a custodian of these pens, they will live on long after we are gone..." I completely agree with this sentiment! 

Thank you Omas!

namasté

2016/03/21

Mailart Monday - A Loving Kiss & Love Letters

A loving Kiss


The theme for the february ATC swap at Inkadinkadutchies facebook group was love. This is what I made for the swap. I used Carmen's Veranda's Klimt Kiss rubber stamp. The background stamp is a heart which I carved myself. First I stamped the Kiss with versamark and then embossed it with gold embossing powder. I made a mask and covered the image and stamped the back ground with Staz-On Cherry Red. Then I colored it in by using fountain pen ink and a kuratake brush pen (sailor apricot for the image and pilot red for the back ground). When that was dry I used my Letraset promarkers to color in the details of the image. I cut a heart out of a round sticker and placed that under the woman's face. To accompany this ATC I made a card.

A loving Kiss - Love Letters
I used the same coloring method and masking technique for the Klimt image. The background image is also from Carmen's Veranda (postcards) and I stamped it with Versafine Vintage Sepia. I just love the contrast between the colorful image and the sepia background color. I stamped the phrase 'love letters' with a typewriter alphabet font on sticker paper with Staz-On Cherry black (some letters with Staz-On black) and placed it below the image. I adhered the whole piece to an A5 sized note card to finish it off. 

I received this wonderful ATC from Grytsje
 
 
Our next ATC swap at Inkadinkadutchies is "Let's Party" and you can sign up by joining the events page. You can use any stamps from Lost Coast Designs and/or Carmen's Veranda in your project (a minimal of one). If you live in the EU you can order them through Inkadinkadutchies webshop, if there are stamps not on the site they can be special ordered for you. Just use their contact form

Hope you'll join us at the next swap :)

Thanks for stopping by!
namasté  

2016/03/16

Pens and Ink: Pelikan M620 Palace de Concorde with Montblanc Violet

My #mondaymatchup for @gouletpens #mondaymatchupgiveaway Pelikan M620 Palace de Concorde with Montblanc Violet #Fpgeeks #FPN #fountainpennetwork #fountainpen #pelikansouverän #pelikan #montblanc #inked
This pen was a lucky find as I stumbled across a website which sold this for a really good price. It's also one of the city series from the Pelikan M620 line, the Palace de concorde. I love the beautuful marbled effect the pen has. I chose to ink it with a vintage ink, Montblanc Violet.

Vintage ink score: montblanc violet #vintage #montblanc #Fpgeeks #FPN #fountainpennetwork #fountainpenink #violet
I got this ink from across the border and it does look very similar to Montblanc Lavender purple.
This is definitely one of my fave combo's @gouletpens #mondaymatchup #mondaymatchupgiveaway #pelikansouverän #athens #montblanc #laverderpurple #fountainpen #Fpgeeks #FPN #funtainpen

Which is also a great pairing for my Athens.

Pelikan Palace de Concorde with Montblanc Violet #mondaymatchup #gouletpens #mondaymatchupgiveaway #beingpelikan #montblanc #mindfulwriting #writtenmeditation

The B nib on this writes so smooth and the pen just looks gorgeous! The city series really has some great unique finishes.

A new bird added to my flock: pelikan palace de la concorde #pelikan #beingpelikan #fountainpen #funtainpen #Fpgeeks #FPN #fountainpennetwork #m620 #cityseries #limitededition

This is the last in line for the Pelikan City Series in my weekly pens and ink. But next week i'll be back with a new pairing.

Thanks for stopping by!

namasté

2016/03/14

Meesha Monday

An intermission in my Mail Art Monday posts with some cute cat pictures :) Meesha is such a sweetheart! Hope you'll enjoy these pictures of her cuteness & antics of the past month:

Goodmorning! Looking at birds from the bedroom window is Meesha's fave morning activity. #caturday #catsofinstagram #cutenessoverload #kitty #meeshathecat #meesha #cats

Our Meesha is very interested in what the birds are doing #caturday #meeshathecat #meesha #catsofinstagram #kitty #cats #cutenessoverload

Loafing on the couch #catsofinstagram #meeshathecat #meesha #cutenessoverload #cats #kitty

Meesha is enjoying her new tubular toy and cuddling up next to it #meeshathecat #meesha #catsofinstagram #kitty #kittycuddles #cutenessoverload

This cutie really likes to snuggle 😻 #meeshathecat #catsofinstagram #cutenessoverload #kittycuddles #cats #kitty #meesha

She has been settling well with us for the past month! 
So grateful and we are just so inlove with her!
I might make these intermission posts on a monthly basis :) 
Have a great week &Thanks for stopping by!

namasté

2016/03/11

Monthly planning MTN: February 2016 overview

Another month just flew by! 
Time for another update in my Monthly Planner in my Midori Traveler's Notebook.
February pages
An overview shot with my used tools: on the top are pentel and kuratake water/ink brushes. On the right fountain pens: Sailor Sapporo blue sky (season series) inked with montblanc turquoise, Faber Castell basic carbon inked with AM turquoise, Franklin Christoph Intrinsic inked with Sailor Kingdom Note saskia charona, Namiki Falcon SEF inked with De Atramentis Atlantic and Franklin Christoph Pocket 66 antique glass finish inked with Sailor Kingdom Note Phasanius Versicolor.

A lot has happened this past month and the highlights were the Bowie IS exhibition in Groningen and of course getting our cat Meesha from the shelter to come and live with us.

February pages

I took pictures with my instax mini and used paper punches to cut out the images I wanted in my midori overview. The cat stamp is from Lost Coast Designs (which you can also order through Inkadinkadutchies if you are in the EU) The stamp has a bird on it too, but I only inked the cat part for this print.

Meesha has been keeping us quite busy, she is cuddly and playful and sometimes a bit naughty, so yeah exactly cat like! We are so lucky to have her in our home. The best part is when she wants to cuddle when we have our breakfast together. She is such a sweetheart!

And with this cute picture I'm wishing you a great week.

Thanks for stopping by!

Namasté

2016/03/09

Pen and Ink: Pelikan M620 San Francisco with Montblanc Jonathan Swift

My #mondaymatchup is the Pelikan M620 SanFrancisco with Montblanc Jonathan Swift. Thought it would be nice to do the San Fran page in my #1000dottodot book for this one :)

The next in line of my Pelikan City Series collection is the M620 San Francisco. This is a page I did in Thomas Pavitte's 1000 dots activity book, which I am a fan of. Obviously its depicting a tram in San Fransisco.

I like pairing this pen with this specific color so it seems because it's the 2nd time I have inked it recently and I reached for the same ink again:

Pelikan M620 San Francisco with Montblanc Jonathan Swift #mondaymatchup #mondaymatchupgiveaway #gouletpens @gouletpens
I like that hint of moss green in the chocolate brown swirls of the pen. The green is also called a 'seaweed green' but to me it's a bit of a 'foggy green' which actually reminds me of San Francisco. I was lucky enough to visit this gorgeous city in 2007.

Someone asked if I have had the nib worked on, because it shows some line variation. This is actually the stock nib that came with the pen! Its fitted with an older medium nib and the nib width is just a little wider than the mediums now on the pelikans. I really love how this one writes.

May they be safe and protected. #writtenmeditation #gratefulness #gratitutejournal #mindfulness #lovingkindness #pelikansouverän #pelikan #fountainpen #funtainpen #Fpgeeks #FPN #fountainpennetwork #m620 #sanfrancisco #montblanc #jonathanswift
A close up shot of the nib and of course on a page in my Metta Mediatation journal (which is getting almost full...)

Last week in pens and Ink I have hosted an Ink Giveaway and 3 people could win a 5ml sample of Potassium Lavender by Organics Studio (which has been discontinued) I randomly selected a few winners from my facebook page likes and the the three winners are:
Gnoe Graasland, TE Coke and Susan Theron
Please email me your address at miss.thundercat@gmail.com and I shall ship the ink samples to you asap.

Thank you everyone for participating! I might be doing more of these giveaways so keep an eye out for them :) 

Thanks for stopping by. 
Have a great week!
namasté

2016/03/07

Mailart Monday - In ieder stadje een ander schatje

In elk stadje een ander schatje

I'm a member of some fabulous mail art groups on swapbot and I made this one for a swap hosted in the group Handmade Postcards Club. There are several themed swaps hosted where you have to use the mentioned element in the handmade postcard and this required a map of some sort. 

I created a collage work of materials I keep in my "paper junk box".  
The background I used is a vintage map of a dutch city and I added border strips from a page of an old Atlas. The city imagery is from left over from older postage stamps. On the right I placed an image of a woman in the section where the postage stamp used to be. And on the left I placed an image of another woman. I added a few other vintage looking elements to it and stamped the word "desire" under the man's face. And then used some pearl/metallic rub ons in pink and red on the edges and faded out towards the middle.

I wanted to portrait the dutch saying "in ieder stadje een ander schatje" which in english means, "in every town another honey" and I think the imagery came together nicely. 

If you want to have mail art prompts to inspire you to create something different, consider joining some of the great mail art groups on swap bot. Besides the handmade postcards club these groups are definitely worth checking out:

You have to have a profile on Swap Bot and with some groups there are some extra requirements to join in. This sometimes may seem like a hurdle to join the group, but it does ensure a safer swapping environment. If you have any questions about joining swap bot, check out the New User page and the Frequently Asked questions. Also as an International Ambassador of the site, feel free to contact me via PM on swapbot, or comment on this blogpost if you need any further help.

Thanks for stopping by!

namasté

2016/03/04

Art Journal - Imagination is more important than knowledge

Making custom masking tape with colored MT tape and clear stamps #DIY #craftyendeavors #creativemess #maskingtape #mttape #rubberstamps #techniquetuesday #colorcoordination #workinprogress

For a while I had this great idea in my head to make custom washi tape with the rolls of MT pastel washi tapes I don't really use enough. I had bought them like 6 years ago at the MET store in NYC and still a lot of the tape is left. So I thought I better put them to great use! I put together a fun color cobination and stuck them on a long cutting mat so you can decorate longer strips of tape. The stamps I used is from Technique Tuesday's Pens and Brushes. This is actually one stamp, but for this purpose I cut the individual items loose with a small sharp scissor. Warning: Do this at your own risk!! The space between stamps is really small, so you have to be really careful while cutting. But it's definitely doable!


Then came the fun part, stamping and making unique patterns on the tape. But the fun part, turned out pretty frustrating for me. I didn't get the sharp and clear imprints on the tape as I wanted. I used memento ink drops stamping pads, but the print didn't stick on the surface well enough. And then I tried stamping with Staz-On but still it did not stick well on the tape. I had to use my heat tool the make the ink set. The imprints were not so sharp either. I found out that this MT tape with a glossy finish is water resistent! So sadly the stamped tape didn't come out as well as I hoped it would. But we all learn from mistakes, right?




Einstein quote


I ended up using the stamped tape in my Art Journal none the less. I covered the whole page with it (you can see the unclear and faded imprints on the tape) and then covered it with clear artist medium. Then I got some yellow, lavender and red Amsterdam acrylic paints and the Pen and Ink stencil from Stencil Girl Products to stencil on the images you see on the page. When the paint dried I took a fine black sharpie and the stencil again to add the outlines. In the end it does show a messy and fun effect!

Imagination is more important than knowledge 
- Albert Einstein

An inspiring and, for me, true quote. I still do not know how to make the imprints on the water resistent tape sharp and clear, but my imagination won't let me stop trying :)

Wishing you an imaginitive and inspiring weekend! 
Thank you for stopping by!

Namasté!

PS: Ink giveaway on this week's Pens and Ink is still going on until next wednesday!

2016/03/02

Pens and Ink: Pelikan M620 Picadilly Circus with OS Lavender (+ ink giveaway!)

So shiny! Picadilly Circus M620 Pelikan City series. #fountainpen #fpgeeks #fountainpenporn #beingpelikan #funtainpen #limitededition #pelikansouverän #pelikaninternational
Another one of my Pelikan's in this weeks Pens and Ink. This was a great coïncidence spotting this pen at a somewhat local store. Tt's calledThe Picadilly Circus (although I don't really see why exactly...)  and another one in the line of the Pelikan M620 city series. It has beautiful swirls, red, grey and blue. The blue has a bit of a purple hue and I chose an ink close to that tone.

And suddenly I have a pretty decent collection of organics studio inks #ink #fountainpen #organicsstudio #fpgeeks #colorful #inkswab #test #inkjournal #posypink #burgundy #lavender #julesverne #emilydickenson #janeausten #violet #nickel #copper #green #pu
The Organics studio ink line has been discontinued for a few years now. I got these inks in Sweden a couple of years ago when they were still available at the Pen Store in Stockholm. The ink I used in my Pelikan Picadilly is the bottom right one.

Pelikan M620 Picadilly Circus with Organics Studio Lavender @gouletpens #mondaymatchup #mondaymatchupgiveaway #mondayblues #Fpgeeks #FPN #fountainpen #fountainpennetwork

This was my pair up for last week's Monday Matchup. The pen has a Medium single tone nib and writes super smooth. Though these M620 come with duo tone nibs, the lady at the shop was so kind enough to change it for me to a single tone one because I think it matches the other details, like clip and rings on the pen better.

Loving kindness #writtenmeditation #meditativewriting #mindfulness #gratefulness #gratitutejournal #pelikansouverän #m620 #picadillycircus #organicsstudio #potassium #lavender #Fpgeeks #FPN #fountainpen #fountainpennetwork
Another page from my loving kindness gratitude journal. I have to say that even though the color does match the pen, it's not my first go to color for a solid blue. But it's definitely a decent 'work safe color'. Check out this review from Katy on the Goulet Pens Blog if you wanna know more about the ink. 

If you are curious to try this ink yourself, now is your chance to win a sample :)  I am giving away 3x 5ml samples of this ink. All you have to do is go to my facebook page, like it (if you have not done so already) and comment here that you have. Then you'll be in the running to win a sample of this ink. Giveaway is open world wide and I will announce the winners next week on my blog. 

Thanks for stopping by and good luck!

namasté