Merlins Tower

Things that Are not there Anymore!!!

Posted on March 9th, 2008 by Merlin.
Categories: Analog, Communication, Fountain Pens, Free, Gadgets, Hack, Human, Pittsburgh.

I was playing around on Twitter today and found this great tool for twitter called TerraMinds - It allows you to search for a topic you want to see if anyone wrote about. I did a search on there for Pittsburgh and found some interesting articles. But I was lead to LyriqueTragedy and her web blog - DawnPapuga.com - And she wrote about Things that were not there anymore and specifically to Pittsburgh - But there are the general topics as well - Such as the handwritten note - to quote her on this:

There’s something magical about handwritten letters. To receive a handwritten letter from someone is a gift.

Boy isn’t that so true - I think this leads me to why I love to use my fountain pens and write things down instead of using a computer for everything.

Yes, Email is much faster. But, receiving a letter from a friend that was written down is way more personal.

They actually took the time to sit down at a desk, pull out a piece of paper, select a pen, and put their words in ink on paper. This truly is Magical.

Something that used to be taken for granted has been over taken by email, voicemail, faxing, (All things Digital) - Trust me - I love digital devices more then the next person but… There has to be a time and a place to sit down and write your friend a letter just because…. I know I would really enjoy getting a letter in the mail from a friend - Much more then I would like reading that same letter in email form. Yes, even the same words seem more powerful when put in ink on paper and not just represented on the screen in ones and zeros.

Well this is just my little push to go out and write a letter to someone that cares. And see what happens. You really don’t need to have a fancy pen, fancy paper or anything fancy at all. Just pull out a sheet of white paper from your printer and grab that bic pen that you have been chewing one and just write it down. Nice to write your thoughts down - when you have to think about them first and not have the backspace key at your beck and call. Now you don’t have to pre-think the whole letter but just think about the current sentence you are writing and just write what comes from your heart. I am pretty sure whom ever you are writing will be surprised and will love what ever you write no matter what.

Well now you need to send it to them - I know I don’t have any blank envelopes on hand so here you can make your own. - DIY - Fold Your Own Envelope.

But now that you have it folded what about a stamp - Two things - There are many post offices that are open 24 hours and you can put your pocket change in and get a stamp feed out to you - or go to and purchase a few booklets of the Forever Stamp from the post office - Cost the same as a first class stamp does now $.41 but it doesn’t have a price on it and can be used anytime in the future for no additional postage due. Very Cool - Nows the time to buy in bulk and use them in 20 years.

Merlin

Technorati Tags: Handwriting, letterwriting, writing, ink, paper, envelope, stamps, stamp, make, your, own, envelope, Hack, DIY, Free, love, fountain, pen, analog

2 comments.

Cool Tool: Authentics Pen Clip for Moleskines and Other Journals

Posted on December 2nd, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Analog, Fountain Pens, Gadgets, HPDA, Journaling, Miquelrius, Moleskine, Notetaking, Office.

I recently found this pen clip while stumbling around the web and this happens to be a really cool tool. It is made by Authentics - Just called the Pen Clip from what I can ascertain from the Japanese website I saw.

This Pen Clip can be used on a side of a journal like the photo to the left. And yes that looks like the Moleskine Notebook with the Pen Clip attached. But you can use this clip with other types of journals as well.

I have been looking around this morning and I am unable to find a place to purchase one of these really cool pen clips. So, If you know where I can get one please leave me a comment.

Here is the Pen Clip with my one of my favorite pens the Lamy Safari

Here is what the pen clip looks holding a Mechanical Pencil

Here is what the Pen clip looks like naked without a journal

Here is the Pen Clip attached to a Leather Journal Cover
Doesn’t need to be used on a spine of a journal.

Technorati Tags: Pen+Clip, Authentic+Pen+Clip, Fountain+Pen, Pen, Pens, Journal, Leather+Journal, Leather, Notebook, Moleskine, Miguelrius, Japan

6 comments.

Moleskine Museum - Photography of Various Historical Moleskine Notebooks

Posted on June 16th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Art, Coffee, Communication, Drawing, Fountain Pens, Journaling, Life, Miquelrius, Moleskine, Notetaking.

Today, while I finally had a few moments to peruse the web and finally catch up on a few of my favorite websites and blogs. Let me tell you it was really nice to site down with a nice cup of coffee from the aeropress coffee maker (Still using it and loving it more and more each cup of coffee I make from it)

Well, even though I have not used a Moleskine Notebook in quite some time - (Since I switched to Miguelrius Notebooks) I still like to keep up and see if there would be anything I could use or be interested in. Well, today I noticed what I call the Moleskine Museum. It is a collection of journals and notebooks used by famous or semi famous people. You can see photographs from Picassos Notebook cover to James Chapin, Paul Bowles, Guillame Apollinaire, Georges Bataille, and Emily Sowden. Below is a sample from James Chapin.

Technorati Tags: moleskine, modo, de, museum, historical, photography, notebooks, journals, sketchbooks, sketchbook, journal, notes, note+taking

0 comments.

Cool New Fountain Pen: Pilot Petit1 Fountain Pen

Posted on March 13th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Adult, Analog, Fountain Pens.

One of the readers wrote to me asking if I have tried this pen yet. Honestly this was the first time I seen it. (I might purchase one in the near future) This looks like it would be a nice everyday fountain pen that you can take with you when you want to have a little class with you at all times.

I am not really fond of the see thru looks of this but it I would rather see this in an all black or solid color instead. But on the other hand this pen has many colors available. Apple Green  - Apricot Orange - Baby Pink  - Black  - Blue  - Blue Black  - Cherry Pink  - Clear Blue  - Mandarin Orange  - Red  - Takoizu Green  - Violet and I am sure you will possibly find one that you like - I do like the Blue Black or the Black one. (links all link to JetPen)

Reading the reviews on the site (You have to look at each color to see all the reviews - What a pain) but a few people mentioned that the pen will leak a little in the cap and a few drops of in can be seen in the cap as well. They mostly state that this is a smooth writer. The nib is rated at a Japanese Med or an American/Euro Fine Nib.

For the cost of this pen only $4.95 - I would say this would be a pen to try. AND this pen can be refilled as well. The pen takes a refill which are 3 for 2.95. And quite possibly this pen can be filled with your own ink using a fountain pen refill kit. (Can not be positive as I don't own one)

Again for the Low cost of the pen and it can be refilled I would recommend this pen. 

Technorati Tags: Pilot, Fountain, Pen, Pilot+Fountain+pen, Petit1, Petit, Multi+Colors, Refill, Refillable, Ink, Analog, Jet+Pens, Office+Pron, Gadget

1 comment.

Video: How to - Calligraphy

Posted on March 9th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, Craft, DIY, Fountain Pens, Video, YouTube.

The following video "Calligraphy - Only You" makes doing Calligraphy look very easy - Too easy. I wish I could make my calligraphy look about half as good in twice the time. I believe the lettering style is Blackletter style. This really is a nice traditional style. I can see this style being used for wedding invitations, party invitations, basically anywhere you would like a stylish look and feel.

This style is also called German Gothic - Again a nice style In my opinion for a wedding invitation, or a fancy party invitation. I really need to practice this style - a very traditional style of calligraphy.

Technorati Tags: Calligraphy, Youtube, german+gothic, Calligraphy, Blackletter, Wedding, Wedding+invitation, Invitations, DIY, Lettering, Handwriting, Craft

0 comments.

DIY: How to make your own Parchment Paper

Posted on February 18th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Analog, Art, Coffee, Craft, DIY, Fountain Pens, Hack, Journaling, Leather, Tutorial.

Today I decided to write about a project I did some time ago it was make a new sheet of paper look old. Or how to make some good olde fashioned parchment paper. To the left is an example of what it could look like

First - I wrote in my best calligraphy handwriting on the page - (I used a heavier high cotton blend for the fiber look and feel).

I had to use Noodlers black ink as this ink will not run when adding the paper coloring. I let this dry while I gathered up the rest of the items needed.

• 1 cup of strong brewed coffee (I made two - one for me to drink while working on the Calligraphy and one to sit and wait till the right time to be put to use)
• 1 tablespoon of any instant coffee (This is to add the extra color on to the paper in a varied pattern)
• 1 baking pan - large enough for the paper to be put into.
• 1 sponge or several paper towels
• an Oven or hair dryer - I prefer the oven method - but both work
  if using the oven pre-heat it to 200-225 degrees
• An Iron (Optional)
• A zippo lighter (Optional)
• Woolen Yarn or Leather Strip (Optional)

Now this is the hard part - after you finished the calligraphy work on the paper - You need to first tear the edges in varied patter to give it that old torn look (Do this if you want to) Doing this before adding the color helps the edges get better coloring in them. Next is the really hard part - you need to crinkle the paper up into a small / medium size ball. Then you need to unball it and flatten it down - almost flat but will some of the crinkles still showing to hold the coffee to help break up the solid pattern of color.

Place the flattened sheet into the pan and pour the coffee all over the page. Making sure to cover the whole page. 

Now wait a few moments or about 1 min then sprinkle the instant coffee randomly across the page. Don't make it even as these will soon dissolve and give the page that extra color that will make it look more like beautiful old parchment paper.  

Next you want to use the sponge to blog the coffee off the paper - I waited about 2 or 3 mins to let it soak in. Use different amounts of time depending on how much color you want.

Now empty any remaining coffee back into a cup if you intend to do another sheet or throw it away. (I heard coffee grounds were good for some plants - I wonder if you could use this for some of them plants)  

Now put the paper on the tray into the oven for about 5 to 7 mins. (Make sure to watch and check often - you don't want the paper to burn after all this work)

The last step is optional - I used an iron on low setting to remove all the creases in the paper and make it flat again. Some people will like the the creases in the paper. It does look good both ways.

Now this last step is also optional - I only did this to one of my parchments and it looked really classy but I was afraid of redoing all my work. Get out the zippo lighter and light it up and get near the edges to "Burn" them slightly. This really will give it that old world look - just like this was an old pirate treasure map.

Now you can mouth this in a frame or if you want to use these for other uses you can roll this up and tie a woolen piece of yarn around it or a strip of leather to tie it with a bow. 

You can use this for creating a beautiful love poem for your wife or girlfriend, or if you are having a party and want to have some cool invitation (Great for a kids Pirate Party) or You are running a scavenger hunt - these make cool looking location maps or scavenger hunt lists. The Ideas for what you can use this for is endless. I have seen a photo printed out on a laser printer in a grey scale pattern to make the photo look like an old sepia type print.

Good luck and Stay warm (Brr)

Technorati Tags: parchment, sepia, old, fashioned, olde, diy, paper, craft, hack, calligraphy, fountain, pen, ink, noodlers, black

5 comments.

Free Sample of Various Handwriting Font Styles Print and Italic

Posted on January 16th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Adult, Analog, Anything Else, Art, Communication, Craft, Firefox, Fountain Pens, Free, Freeware, Hack, Journaling, Notetaking, Office.

Did you ever wonder what we are talking about when you see the different styles of handwriting. Here is a link for homeschoolers and / or anyone interested in seeing the visual style of the various handwriting that is taught all over the world.

Draw Your World has sample sheets in the form of smaller images showing all the letters for all the forms of writing. From Getty-Dubay, D'Nealian Style, Palmer Handwriting Italic and Cursive,  Handwriting Without Tears, Zaner-Bloser Style. I am sure if anyone wants a small reference card these can be easily printed out. (I have not tried but looks like they should be large enough for reference) - These samples were printed out from the Starwrite Handwriting Software - Which if you want to try it out lets you try it unhindered for one time only. (So, make sure you get the most use from the first time you run it. Even Print it out to a PDF) From what I saw if you were homeschooling I would recommend trying this out and purchase if you like how it works, By the Way the program is only $39 at Starwrite Handwriting or $35 at Draw Your World.

But if you are just looking for a few FREE graphics to print out check out Studio Arts Guide to Italic Handwriting. (Click on the image on the left column to display it on the right - At that point if you are using Firefox (Highly Recommended) or IE you can right click on the image and hit the save as to save the images to your hard drive and print out later on) They have a nice chart, font families, guide, practice sheets and more for your use.

You can also check out dnealian.com for some addtional samples and primer on the D'Nealian Style of handwriting - Very Similar to the Getty-Dubay Style. 

Technorati Tags: Italic, handwriting, font, art, calligraphic, word, free, palmer, zaner, bloser, cursive, getty, dubay, dnealian, getty-dubay, homeschool, practice, adult,

1 comment.

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