Cult Pens Haul

I don't normally splurge on pens, but occasionally you just have to don't you? I'd never ordered from Cult Pens before but I decided to give it a go, especially as their postage rates were cheap (free over £10) and they have such a wide selection.

Left to right - Staedtler Fineliner (free sample), Uni-ball Vision Elite, Zebra Antique Rollerball, Gelly Roll Stardust, Artline Calligraphy liner, Berol Fineliner, Zebra Antique Rollerball, Faber-Castell Highlighter (sample)

All the lovely swatches!

I ended up getting an assortment of pens; one calligraphy liner, two fineliners, one highlighter, one gel pen and four rollerballs. Whoops. I swatched them all and then decided that in this post I would rather focus on the four rollerball pens, as they will be the ones I'll be using the most often in my Filofax and generally. I tested them all on filofax paper and on the scrap paper I use to make most of my blank inserts as this is what you find in my filofax!

All four tested on scrap cream paper

Other side of the scrap cream paper showing visibility of writing

As you can see, all four write really nicely and there's not a massive amount of show through on the other side. Whilst there is a little bit from the Uni-ball it's not enough to put me off using it on this paper. I imagine that cotton cream filofax paper would have similar results as the scrap paper I use is comparable to the weight and colour of it (even though it looks a bit grey in these photos).

Now for the filofax paper - again I just used some random address paper scraps I had lying around as I didn't want to ruin my diary if they bled or were bad for showing through!

All four tested on Filofax standard white paper 

Back of Filofax paper showing ink

As you can see, on the Filofax page none of them are particularly good at being invisible on the underside and the Uni-ball Elite in particular is quite prominent. However it's not as bad as some pens I've used! I think I'm going to do a trial run of using the Antique pens in my Finsbury as the main writing implement. They all make my handwriting lovely and neat which makes me very happy! They'll be great to use in my revision posters and notes for my upcoming final exams. Definitely a good purchase!

A new addition!

This summer I decided that since it's damn near impossible around here to find a short term paid job, I would work in a charity shop for a little while. Unfortunately this week saw my last shift but it doesn't stop me from browsing charity shops! I think working in a charity shop has given me a new found respect for shopping in them; you really can find some little gems.

Such as... *drum roll*

Swoon!

A pocket chocolate Domino, in fairly good nick for the princely sum of £2! The inserts are untouched (apart from the plastic surrounding) and there are just a couple of scuffs on the outside. The elastic is also slightly loose (does anyone know how to/if it's possible to tighten it?). I think it's probably been given as a gift and then not really used as there seems to be signals that it's quite old and has been left in a drawer for some time... see:

First thing to be axed - the 2009/2010 diary, methinks!

My favourite thing is it has a world map insert, haha. Such a fickle person I am :D It has a top opening wallet at the back too. Shame it's not personal size as I'd be snagging them for my Finsbury! I also love that the pen holder actually holds a pen, rather than my Finsbury which doesn't because it's too damn tight...

Here's my little filo family now: 

A4 Zipped Metropol, Personal Finsbury, Pocket Domino

Something that strikes me is how small the Domino is - it's definitely a pocket sized, all the inserts and the cover stamp say pocket; but it's nearly half the size of my personal Finsbury?! Crazy. 

Usewise I kind of went on a 'buy now, figure out uses later' approach. Current hot idea is a catalogue of all the nail varnishes I own sorted by brand and divided using the ABC tabs, and keeping a running list of what I have in my larder/fridge and what I need to buy when I do a big shop. I currently do small shopping lists on a post it note on the fly sheet of my Finsbury but for longer lists, this may be perfect! 

Does anyone else have a pocket Domino? What do you use it for?