All posts by Alison

Summer Solstice Competition! Kaweco Sport Highlighter | Rhodia Pocket Notebook

Time for another competition from those generous sorts at United Inkdom!

For the Summer Solstice giveaway, we have another Kaweko – this time the very BRIGHT Kaweko Sport Highlighter AND a  pink Rhodia Pocket Notebook!

There will only be one prize per applicant, so please state in your email entry which of the two prizes you are interested in.

As ever, the questions are very easy, with all the answers either in the United Inkdom review for the pen or from the manufacturer’s website for Rhodia or the pen manufacturer’s website  www.kaweco-pen.com/en 

 

To enter all you have to do is:

a) be resident in the UK
b) subscribe to the United Inkdom blog for email updates
c) Answer the following questions:

  1.  How many colours does the Rhodiarama soft cover journal come in?
  2. How many sheets in the Rhodia Spine Sewn Notbeook?
  3. How many UK distributors do Rhodia have listed, on their website?
  4. What kind of nib does this Sport Highlighter have?
  5. Is the clip included in the price?
  6. Why do you need this pen in your fountain pen collection?  Maximum of 50 words please 🙂

That wasn’t too tricky was it?  Get your answers to me at unitedinkdomprizes@gmail.com by 6pm on  Thursday, 25th July and we’ll contact you by email to let you know that you’ve won!

 

Easter Give Away! Kaweco Skyline Sport | Fox

We have a quickie give away for you this month – the prize is the Kaweco Fox!

 

As ever, the questions are very easy, with all the answers either in the United Inkdom bloggers’ review blog posts for the pen or from the manufacturer’s website  www.kaweco-pen.com/en

To enter all you have to do is:

a) be resident in the UK
b) subscribe to the United Inkdom blog for email updates
c) Answer the following questions:

1  What’s the accent colour on the Kaweco Fox Sport that we reviewed?

2  How does the nib fit – screw in or friction fit?

3  What is the RRP for this pen?

4 How many colourways does the Kaweco Skyline Sport come in?

5  How many nib choices are there to select from?

6  In which country are Kaweco based?

That wasn’t too tricky was it?  Get your answers to me at unitedinkdomprizes@gmail.com by 6pm on Sunday 21 April and we’ll contact you by email to let you know that you’ve won!

Good luck!

February Giveaway!

It’s time for our first Give Away of 2019 and what a classy act we are kicking off with – the LAMY Aion!

 

 

 

To take part in the February Give Away, you must be resident in the UK and answer the following questions. The answers to these questions can be found here on the United Inkdom metablog for the pen, the LAMY website area for the pen or in the reviews provided by the United Inkdom reviewers.

And although not a prerequisite of taking part in the LAMY Aion Give Away, if you wanted to sign up to receive email notifications of updates on the United Inkdom blog, that would be a super-wonderful thing to do that we reviewers would greatly appreciate!

We have one pen to give away and the competition will close on the Spring Equinox (20th March). The winner will be selected at random and notified by email.

Ready?

  1. How many nib options are there for the LAMY Aion?

  2. What colours does the LAMY Aion come in?

  3. Does it have a screw cap or a pop-off cap?

  4. Although LAMY is a German brand, what nationality is the Aion’s designer?

  5. Is the UK RRP over or under £50?

  6. What is LAMY’s magazine called?

Send your answers to us at unitedinkdomprizes@gmail.com

Many thanks to our friends at LAMY for providing us with the pen to review and generously allowing us to offer it as a giveaway!

 

Manuscript Lettering Pencil

A little bit of history:  The Manuscript Pen Co Ltd are based in Shropshire, where they have been producing nibs and calligraphy pens since 1856. Despite their vintage they evidently love coming up with new products and this holder with interchangeable leads set is one of their latest.

manuscript pack

How it looks:  The big pack arrives in one of those tricksy-to-open plastic blisters, packed with everything that you need to get cracking on your pencil calligraphy; a lead-holder, five different lead colours (including graphite) for you to play with and a nifty glass ‘sharpener’ to help you keep a good edge on your leads. There’s also a more select pack for those who just want a lead-holder and some italic graphite.

Crucially, how it writes:  Uniquely! When have you ever seen big wide italic lead before? It takes some getting used to, and perhaps as a factor of the rectangular manufacturing  process the graphite/crayon is remarkably hard. While our reviewers had fun with it and it DOES work, some felt that their own calligraphy skills were not good enough to show the product off to its best advantage. The coloured lines produced were quite faint. So, while it could be fun for kids, a concern might be whether the results will look smart enough to encourage them to take calligraphy further. However, a good calligrapher could create something special with this.

scribble.jpg

Lead! What is it good for? It’s an innovative product that offers a less messy way for beginners to try their hand at calligraphy. It could be especially fun for children and using the coloured leads instead of inks means that parents can relax without worrying about their soft furnishings being ruined.  In the hands of a good calligrapher, the results from this pack could be a contemporary blend of the rustic and the stylish.

manuscript colour

VFM: At the moment, a version of this product can be purchased from John Lewis for £20.00. We think that’s quite steep for a pencil, but also not crazy money for a product as unusual as this.

If this isn’t quite your cup of tea, but almost: then why not try calligraphy with an ordinary pencil? Any pencil that is blacker, rather than harder (ie B rather than H) will be fun to try calligraphy with. Try anything from 2B to 5B or maybe 6B. But watch out for smudges! The softer the lead, the more smudges you can make, so protect your paper as you work. Or just let the kids go crazy – the choice is yours!

Alternatively, it is possible to buy the italic leads on their own from Manuscript direct, and they should work with any 5.6mm lead-holder you already have.

Our overall recommendation:  The Manuscript Calligraphy Lettering Pencil is a fun and innovative product for a style of writing that has remained popular for hundreds of years.  In the hands of a good calligrapher it could perform marvels – but we think caution is advised for beginners, as if your lettering skills aren’t that wonderful, the initial results may leave you less than enthusiastic to pursue calligraphy further.

See our reviewers’ individual reviews:

Yule Giveaway | BeNu Friendly Chameleon Fountain Pen

Can you believe it? It’s December ALREADY! This year has flown by. I don’t know where it’s vanished to at all; possibly down the side of the sofa with all my pound coins!

We are at the last United Inkdom giveaway of 2018.  So, ladies and gentlemen (and all shades in between), the United Inkdom review team present to you… the BeNu Friendly Chameleon!

Let me tell you a little bit about this pen. She’s a VERY attractive Russian pen, part of the BeNu range (all hand-made and equally strikingly coloured) and retails for $90 (converter extra). Read what the United Inkdom reviewers said about it HERE.

What do you think? Isn’t it just the best-looking pen?

This lovely creature could be delivered to your door by Hogmanay! Just think, you can start your 2019 journalling with this classy fountain pen and it won’t cost you a bean!

Interested? To take part this month, you should be resident in the UK and sign up to receive updates for the United Inkdom blog by email (hit that red ‘ink me up’ button). And that’s it!

The giveaway closes on 22 December, with a winner drawn before 24 December. And providing we get the winner’s address details in good time, the BeNu Friendly Chameleon will be with you before 31 December.

And if you’re not the lucky winner, why not visit the BeNu site and check out their whole range – that Christmas present money isn’t going to spend itself!

Hallowe’en Give Away | Paper Republic | Grand Voyager Notebook

Our next give-away is a classy leather (sniffs appreciatively) journal cover, replete with Grand Voyager Notebook, kindly donated by the manufacturer, Paper Republic.

To take part in the give-away, you must be within the UK, have the right answers to this handful of questions and send those answers to unitedinkdomprizes@gmail.com by 31 October. The winner will be notified in the following week and the journal cover sent out thereafter.

As ever, the answers to our questions are all to be found on United Inkdom website or on the Paper Republic website.

They also do amazing kits too!

Ready?  Let’s go!

1 In which city is Paper Republic based?

2 How many colours does the Grand Voyager XL Notebook cover come in?

3 What price does the Grand Voyager XL Notebook retail at on the Paper Republic website?

4 How many pages does the insert notebook have?

5 How many suppliers does Paper Republic have in the UK?

6 Who are the 3 United Inkdom reviewers for the XL?

And that’s it!

Happy hunting for the answers!

United Inkdom Team.

August give-away!

This month it is a lovely Faber Castell E-motion fountain pen with black parquet finish that is up for grabs.

 

To be eligible to take part, all you have to do is be based in the UK and correctly answer some questions about the pen. All the information will be found on either the Faber Castell website or in one or more of the United Inkdom blog review posts. Check out the United Inkdom meta-review for the a quick start!

 

Question 1: Which lovely company supplied us with our Faber Castell pen?

 

Question 2: What date is engraved onto the pen lid?

 

Question 3: What is the name of the LEAST expensive Faber Castell fountain pen on the FC site?

 

Question 4: How many employees to Faber Castell have, worldwide?

 

Question 5: How many choices of nib width do you have with the E-motion (black parquet)

 

Question 6: Does the E-motion come with a converter?

 

Question 7: (You’ll need to have the answer for Question 1 correct for this!) What price is the E-motion by Faber Castell currently on sale for on our pen supplier’s website?

Got all your answers? Good! Get them e-mailed off to unitedinkdomprizes@gmail.com by  6pm on the 31st of August 2018. A winner will be chosen at random and will be notified by the end of the following week.

Good luck!

Summer Solstice give-away

It’s time for us to announce another give-away here at the United Inkdom Citadel!

Today it’s the Scrikss pen that’s up for grabs – procured in person by our very own Scribble from a trip to Nuremberg’s Insights-X trade fair at the end of last year. This is the Noble 35 that we’re offering up here, and it’s rather lovely to use!

 

As usual, all the answers are found on the blogs of the United Inkdom bloggers or on the Scrikss website.

 

Gillian at Pens, Paper, Plans

Scribble at Too Many Pens

Alison at Her Nibs

 

If you are based in the UK and as fountain-pen-mad as the rest of us at United Inkdom, why don’t you take part?

 

You just need to answer the following questions:

1) How long is the warranty on a Scrikss pen?

2) What is the finish of the Noble 35 pen that we’re giving away?

3) Which country are Scrikss based?

4) What year was Scrikss founded?

5) Our pen is from the ‘Noble’ range of fountain pens. How many ranges of fountain pens do Scrikss have in total?

 

Send your answers to unitedinkdomprizes@gmail.com   The closing date for this give-away will be 21 July. Good luck everybody!

Italix Deacon’s Doodle fountain pen review

A little bit of history: ‘Mr Pen’ is one of a number of business ventures owned by Ruislip-based company P. J. Ford & Associates Ltd, set up 1989. Their in-house Italix range of pens is already well-known thanks to the famous Parson’s Essential and, as we’ve already reviewed, the English Curate. Italix has now entered the budget end of the market with the Deacon’s Doodle – and of course, we had to put it to the test.

How it looks and feels: It’s a classic look in brushed stainless steel and it comes with a choice of nibs AND a converter. One might be concerned that a stainless steel pen could feel a little heavy, but this is not the case – the Deacon’s Doodle is pleasantly ‘there’ in the hand, but it’s no dead weight.

How it fills This one’s a straightforward universal cartridge-filler, but amazingly at this price point it comes with a good converter as standard.

Crucially, how does it handle? All our reviewers report that it performs well, offering a smooth writing experience and a fairly wet nib worthy of a much more expensive pen.

Pen! What is it good for? The Deacon’s Doodle looks and feels expensive, but – and you might want to sit down for this one – it costs LESS than £15.00!

There are gift set options which include engraving, intelligently aimed at the gift market; nobody would ever guess from its looks and performance that it is a budget pen.

VFM Frankly astonishing. If this pen cost £30 you would be delighted, but for £15.00 it’s a bargain.

If this isn’t quite your cup of tea, but almost…  The Faber-Castell Basic is available in a stainless steel version of similar quality, but that’ll probably cost you a fiver more.

Our overall recommendation  For a budget pen which actually writes rather well and looks a lot posher than it really is, this is pretty much unbeatable. Try one.

Where to get hold of one Straight from Mr Pen

This meta-review references:

Thanks to Mr.Pen himself for sending some review samples our way.

DEACON’S DOODLE GIVEAWAY!

If you are based in the UK and you would like to win the gift set or the fountain pen on its own, all you have to do is answer these three easy peasy questions about the Deacon’s Doodle – all info found on the Mr Pen site.

1 How many nib options are there for the Deacon’s Doodle fountain pen?
2 How much does the fountain pen/ballpoint pen gift set retail for?
3 How much does the Deacon’s Doodle fountain pen weigh?

Two winners will be chosen at random after the closing date 27 April.

Send your answers to: unitedinkdomprizes@gmail.com

Perkeo Give-away

DSC00478It’s time for another United Inkdom give-away! You’ve seen these attached to meta-reviews, but we thought it would be fun to run them as a stand-alone exercise every now and then to share some of the gorgeous items that we have been sent to review.

To take part, all you have to do is be based in the UK and correctly answer some questions about the prizes.  All the information will be found on either the company’s website or in one or more of the United Inkdom blog review posts.  Check out the United Inkdom meta-review for the a quick start!

We kick off today with a competition to win a pair of PERKEO pens in a smart Kaweco presentation tin.

Continue reading Perkeo Give-away