This month I am in the Pink with #StationeryWednesday. Or should that be P-ink?

The wonderful thing about Bureau Direct is that if you feel you are losing yourself in stationery quicksand, if you are searching for a gift, if you know you want something but don’t know what, they have a category for that.

Last month I was seduced by the content of the weekly Bureau Direct email, which you can sign up for so that you get the latest stationery news, along with discounts and offers, to your inbox every week. It really is worth it: there’s a 10% discount code for all subscribers.

In treating myself** to a little something for my birthday, I discovered that the site has a Hampers and Bundles section– great if you need a gift for a friend, family member, or indeed self. I went with the Castelli bundle– a pink edged notebook with Lamy rollerball pen in pink that fits into a teeny elasticated loop on the side of the book so is always where you need it when you need it!

The Castelli notebook is splendid- it hides at the bottom of my handbag but is easy to spot because of the coloured edge. It has lovely narrow lines and no margins so is perfect for jotting down your life list as you think of things. It has the aforementioned elasticated pen loop but in addition it has an elasticated loop to hold pages in place so if you slip anything- a birthday card, lottery ticket or parking ticket- between the pages, it will hold them all in place. Frankly it holds my life in place. I love it.

The Lamy rollerball is very pretty, very pink and comfortable to hold. The writing I am less impressed with. The nib is too fat for writing neatly within the confines of the narrow lines, and the flow of ink seems to vary from almost-invisible to flood-through-the-page. It holds it’s own on different quality paper, so independent of the book it is a much more enjoyable pen to use, but buying them as a pair represents great value.

And this is how I came upon my December choices, for under the Suggestions tab, there are stationery shops sorted by colour. So if you, like me, live in a pink-loving household,you can choose stationery to suit you! In DH’s case, he can choose blue and know that he will stand out form the pink masses. And isn’t it all lovely?

 

Shown: Faber Castelli sparkle pencil set, pink Brunnen sharpener and eraser, Bureau Vintage Stationery bundle with J Herbin pen and Pink Cyclamen ink, Brunnen eraser and some lovely Marks Camera Roll Memo Tape. The folder you will find more out about soon, I hope!

Naturally some of these things never saw the light of day before being swept into The Girls’ rooms- they now each have an excellent pencil sharpener and eraser, not to mention a good pencil with sparkly grip which is very comfortable to hold and has withstood repeated dropping on the floor without the lead shattering. The erasers are firm and wipe the pencil marks easily- interestingly the better quality the pencil, the better the marks disappear.

The Clairefontaine notebook that came in the bundle I have coveted since Being Mrs C got a pack of them last year: cute and pink, it fits into my pocket and is ideal for noting down the funny things that I hear the children say. I likewise coveted her J Herbin pen– a rollerball that uses real ink cartridges, enabling you to have the joys of writing with real ink and marry it with the madness of day to day life when all you want is a pen that works. There’s even a very lyrical scratching noise that comes with writing with the beautifully narrow nib, so it is almost like writing with a real pen.

The barrel too is easy to hold, though without the lid the whole thing feels like a micropen. I needed to pop the lid onto the rear end of the pen in order to write well with it. But I sat and wrote almost 100 New Year Cards using the pen for all of them, and it remained as comfortable at the 99th as it felt on the first card. I love the distinctive colours of the Cyclamen ink too, neither too pink, nor too purple. Bright and quite cheering and available in 20 different colours so there’ll be one you love too!

If you bought anything from Bureau Direct I would recommend this pen. I haven’t seen it anywhere else and I really love it; I cannot wait to try the fountain pen, or indeed the scented ink. Yep. Scented. Ink.

Enjoy that thought!

 

*Disclosure: I continue to work with Bureau Direct, choosing and reviewing a number of products to enable you to get my honest feedback. I have paid for some of the items mentioned** and chose to write about those items. I have not received additional payment. Frankly this is my dream job.