When I first started using fountain pens, I knew that at some point I would need to invest in a good case to house them in. Fountain pens, as you may already know, can cost a pretty penny so it was very important to me to find a case that would protect my pens when not in use.

Out of all the pen case options that I saw, I was most drawn to these Galen Leather Pen Cases. In particular, the 10-pen cases seemed perfect for my needs. It seems a bit silly now, but at the time, I thought I could keep my fountain pen collection to just simply 10 pens...well, we all know how that turned out. Haha.

There are many reasons why I enjoy these cases, but overall the craftsmanship is outstanding. I also appreciate the ability to personalize cases as you saw on the front with the stamp, "DEV". (: Some of the finer details of this great case include its compactness, zipper closure, individual elastic slots, and leather covers (to protect your pens from rubbing against each other).

​The two cases that I have are the 10-pen cases, but Galen Leather also offers many other sizes and colors of leathers.

This week's Friday Faves feature is Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-Peki Fountain Pen Ink. A very special thanks to my sweet friend, Daniel, for sharing this ink with me! 

Pilot Iroshizuku Inks, from what I understand and have experienced so far, are luxurious, shading, no-fuss fountain pen inks. If we're talking luxury, let me just say that the 50ml bottle is absolutely stunning. Kon-Peki is actually my first and regrettably, my only ink from the line. 

Kon-peki can be best described as a "deep azure blue" and is the perfect match to my TWSBI Vac700r Iris fountain pen with an extra-fine nib. I think it compliments this pen quite well in terms of color, but is really quite wonderful in use as well. A match made in heaven if you will! (:

After trying Kon-Peki, I definitely want to try other Pilot Iroshizuku Inks such as Yama-Budo, Tsutsuji, and Asa-Gao.

Lately, I've been really enjoying my Kaweco Skyline Sport White Fountain Pen. I actually received this pen as a gift during Christmas 2019 and have been holding on to it since. It was only recently that I decided to take it out (probably feeling inspired by my recent Stationery Declutter) and ink it up with Faber Castell Garnet Red (an ink from my pen friend, Peter - thank you again, Peter).

Unlike most of the other fountain pens in my collection, this one has a medium nib which I'm really enjoying! I tend to gravitate toward extra-fine and fine nib fountain pens, so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked writing with a medium nib. I suppose it's nice to change things up! :P

And if I'm remembering our conversation correctly, Peter had recommended I try a medium nib Kaweco Sport when I first expressed my interest in this pen to him. Now I can see why!

I was actually very surprised that I haven't talked about this in a Friday Faves post before! It's my TWSBI Diamond 580 RG II Fountain Pen. (:

Based off the original TWSBI Diamond 580, the RG II features a beautiful black smoke cap and end with rose gold accents. When I first saw that TWSBI was going to launch this pen, I was pretty fixated on acquiring it at all costs.

I'm not sure if I was just feeling overwhelmed with the size of my stationery collection at the time, but I decided to hold off and not order one. I had even come to terms that I probably wouldn't get it, but some time later, my sister surprised me with it for my birthday back in November! Thank you Ate! :)

​With the help of my friend (thanks Danny), my sister brought this beautiful pen into my life and I'm shaking my head now thinking that I thought I could live without it. Haha! (:

​I did have the TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR in Purple with a broad nib, but it simply did not get as much love as this 580 RG II with an extra-fine nib. Perhaps it's the color or the nib size, but in any case, my RG II has been my everyday writer. 

I'm still learning how to best work with these in terms of layering, but so far they've been a lot of fun to play around with. This set of 7 extra-fine point markers were a gift from my parents, so mom and dad, thank you so much! (:

These paint markers feature 0.7mm wide tip making it easy to draw finer lines and do more detailed work. The Posca ink is a water-based, acid-free ink that is also waterproof.

The only other surface I've tried these markers on are on polaroids and the result was pretty phenomenal. You can see a bit of it in my Bullet Journal Set-up for 2021 video.  The markers are so opaque and the pastel colors really pop! I would definitely use these markers again on polaroids and look forward to trying them on other surfaces.

​As someone who doesn't really paint often, I find that these Posca Paint Markers are super easy to use. No cleaning up brushes and what not, just cap the markers until inspiration strikes again! (: