2025 Washington DC Fountain Pen Supershow

August 8th, 2025

I spent this last weekend at what is probably the largest pen show in the US—the Washington DC Fountain Pen Supershow. With four large rooms plus hallways full of vendors and a full lineup of workshops and seminars, there was a lot to see and do! I decided to drive to the show and thus was able to bring a lot of my swatches, notebooks, paper testing, ink samples, and more to share (and missed the weather-related flight delays that affected a lot of vendors and attendees).

A large natural canvas drawstring backpack with Galen Leather Co and Washington DC Supershow logos printed on the side, a light brown Galen leather single pen sleeve, an A5 Leuchtturm1917 black notebook with the pen show logo on the cover, a lanyard covered with pins and buttons with a fuzzy pink Rickshaw single pen sleeve and show badge for Lisa, OliveOctopus.Ink on the clip.

#PenShowViews from the 10th floor of the Fairview Park Marriott in Falls Church, VA. I did enjoy spending some time outdoors in the relatively mild mornings and evenings after weeks of oppressive heat in Tennessee.

The view of tall buildings rising above the tops of green trees from a hotel room window on a high floor.

NFP Designs

My first stop of the show was the NFP Designs table to look at pen storage. Most of their pen tray liners are an autumnal palette that really appeals to me, and I've gotten good use out of the dark green 4 pen tray I got in Atlanta earlier this year. There was a large pen box in green and a stacked four-tray storage tower that had caught my eye online so I was anxious to see what they would bring to the show (they brought a lot!).

A table at a pen show with fabric covered notebooks, large patterned ceramic plates, two styles of ceramic and brass single pen rests, pen cases and sleeves, and other tile items for sale.

A table at a pen show with several large, wooden pen storage boxes with multiple drawers in various shades.

A table at a pen show with pen storage trays made of wood in various shapes and sizes with slotted pen tray inserts in shades of dark green, orange, blue, yellow, tan, cream, gray, brown, pink, and purple.

I ended up falling for a smaller 24 pen box at the show. The larger boxes were beautiful, but something about this simple, compact design with the dark green trays really appealed to me. At the Atlanta show I had also really liked the "floating" six-pen tray design that just has wood at the ends with the tray suspended between them except they didn't have a color I wanted, but I was able to get it in yellow here.

A large black cloth bag with NFP Design logo, two keychains with NFP logo and fountain pen graphic, NFP stickers, a yellow 6 pen tray suspended between wood supports on the ends, a compact wooden pen storage box with four drawers that each hold 6 pens with a dark green liner, a small brass pen rest with a dark yellow and black pattern tile decoration.

Their boxes with inlaid tile and tile pen rests also caught my attention when I first learned about NFP, so I picked out a very pretty brass and tile pen rest so that I can continue to spread cool pen rests around the various desks and tables in my house.

Three pen storage items from NFP holding a variety of fountain pens including a compact wooden pen storage box with four drawers with dark green pen tray liners that can each hold 6 pens, a small brass pen rest with a dark yellow and black pattern round tile decoration and pen held in a slot in a ball of brass attached to the edge, a yellow 6 pen tray suspended between wood supports on the ends.

Drewnem Pisane

I've been admiring the pens shared by Drewnem Pisane on Instagram for a while so it was very cool to see a wide variety of their pens in person. I was immediately drawn to at least half a dozen pens on the table, so I spent a fair amount of time looking at various wood and dried flower pens.

A table at a pen show with trays holding dozens of handmade fountain pens made of natural and dyed woods, oparex, resin with dried flowers or coffee beans, other resins, etc.

I ended up narrowing it down to two wood pens with flower carvings, one in warm orange and purple shades with a dark flower carving, and another with light blue, green, and orange wood and a white flower carving that was the first pen to catch my eye.

A fountain pen made of wood and resin in dusty shades of blue, green, and orange with a carving of a lily of the valley flower in the body painted white, a spring green leather single pen sleeve, black paper pen box, business card for Drewnem pisane, and card with details about the pen model and materials.

I chose the blue and green pen with a lily of the valley carved into the body, which is protected by a layer of resin so the pen body is smooth. I love this blend of colors, the chatoyance in the wood is beautiful when it catches the light, and the light section really sets off the white carving. This is the only fountain pen I bought at the show, and I'm really happy with my choice.

An uncapped fountain pen made of wood and resin in dusty shades of blue, green, and orange with a carving in the body of a lily of the valley flower painted white, a sparkly pearlescent white section, and medium Bock nib, resting in a yellow pen tray in bright sunlight.

Day Art Store

It can be difficult to find "fountain pen" themed wax seals, but the Day Art Store table had a few to choose from. I grabbed a simple pen nib wax seal that I look forward to adding to the rotation!

Closeup of a display on a table at a pen show of several metal wax seals with fountain pen nib, fountain pen, and air mail theme designs.

A metal wax seal with simple pen nib design and a round dark purple wax seal with that design pressed into the wax.

Hanabi Glass

I did not plan on buying a glass pen at this show... but it only took a few seconds of picking up and using a single pen at the Hanabi Glass table to change that.

A table at a pen show for Hanabi Glass with several colorful glass dip pens, eye droppers, and ink wells.

I seriously didn't even try any other pens on the table, just did a small writing and drawing test at the bottom of the test pad on the table and was sold.

A test paper notebook from the Hanabi Glass table with writing tests and sketches.

The extended matte grip that looks like wood (but is all glass) and the weight of this pen set it apart from other glass pens I've used. The tip is so smooth, it holds a lot of ink—I love writing and drawing with this pen.

A glass dip pen with twisted channels and a fine tip, a matte finish grip area that looks a bit like wood, and colorful swirls of blue and orange in the handle, resting in a dark green pen tray next to business cards with the Hanabi logo.

This pen is also a work of art. The swirls in the handle of the pen change color depending on the background. Over something light it looks pink and yellow, over something dark it's yellow/orange and blue/green, which is really neat.

The handle of a glass dip pen with part of the glass reflecting a white background and the colorful swirls looking pink and yellow and the rest reflecting dark green background where the same swirls look yellow/orange and blue/green respectively.

Beautiful in any light, the pen really comes alive in sunlight.

The handle of a glass dip pen held up in the sunlight with dark foliage out of focus in the background and large swirls of blue and green and finer swirls of yellow and orange glistening in the sunlight.

After buying the pen, I ended up hanging out with Lucas (the maker) for many hours in the evenings swapping book recommendations and talking about where we grew up, what it's like living in Japan, how these pens are made, and much more. That's one of the best things about going to a pen show, you just might end up finding a new pen and a new friend.

Papier Plume

I was looking forward to catching Papier Plume at the show—sure they had a show ink, but I still hadn't gotten any of the cool paper bug "puzzles" they sell! I fixed that by picking out a green scarab, also an octopus wax seal (naturally), and the shimmery purple Blossoms on the Potomac show ink with the lilac wax seal on the lid of the bottle.

A bottle of fountain pen ink with a light purple wax seal and flower on the cap, a notebook with a swatch of the ink which is a medium chromashading purple with lilac shimmer, an envelope with a paper scarab bug puzzle, and a metal wax seal with an octopus design.

Pen Realm

Getting nib work done wasn't on my list for this show, but I did stop by the Pen Realm table to look at the engraved nib offerings.

A table at a pen show with hundreds of engraved loose nibs, a tray of test pens for trying different grinds, and pen cases full of pens for sale.

Since this was my first time at the big DC show, I wanted to get the show nib with the cherry blossoms design. Keeping with that theme, I also picked out a rose gold nib with Sakura blossoms.

A close up of two loose fountain pen nibs in a small wooden, fabric-lined tray, one medium Bock nib with a cherry blossom design and a medium Jowo nib in rose gold color with sakura blossoms.

Newton Pens Notebooks

It was great to spend some time with Shawn Newton this weekend, and I picked up a couple of pocket notebooks with student art on the covers in support of the Newton Pens Scholarships.

Two small staple bound notebooks with art on the covers, one of two tall, skinny evergreen trees and the other with a person singing with mouth open, eyes closed, and a staff with music notes wrapped around their throat.

Shawn gave away a beautiful Prospector pen to a randomly-picked person who bought a notebook at the show.

Vanness Pen Lounge

All the shopping above was done during the "weekend trader" hours between 9am and noon on Friday. After that I headed down to the lower lobby to the Vanness Pen Lounge, a room with several big round tables with chairs where people could take a break, try out pens and paper, chat with others, and attend free seminars throughout the weekend. Before the show I had volunteered most of my time to Lisa Vanness (when I wasn't checking out the show floor during hours it would be least crowded or in class) to help support this space.

Several large round tables surrounded by chairs in a breakout room at a hotel.

The free seminars offered were "Fountain Pen Basics" with Lisa Vanness (Vanness Pen Shop) and "Notebook Systems 101" with Joe Crace (The Gentleman Stationer). For a variety of reasons (travel delays, the Vanness tables getting super busy upstairs, etc.), some sessions ended up being covered by different people throughout the weekend including Brad Dowdy (The Pen Addict), Inkdependence Mike, Simar, and even a certain inky octopus. While that may not have been the original plan, I think Brad and Mike appreciated the opportunity to interact with people new to fountain pens—I certainly enjoyed getting to show people how pens work, the difference between sheen and shimmer ink, etc. in person by passing things around.

An oversized model of a Retro 51 fountain pen nib, nearly a foot tall, used to identify the main parts of a nib, next to packing material with a label that says 'Big Nib'.

I took advantage of the table space myself to sort out some things I brought to share with friends and people I met at the show, and catch up with different people throughout the weekend.

Loose fountain pen papers for testing, Dominant Industry Ink Archiving book open to painted page of sea creatures, papers with things to color being sorted into envelopes, stack of envelopes and holographic stickers.

While things didn't always go perfectly, I think the Vanness Lounge was a success overall and a great addition to the pen show. The seminars were well attended with good participation, and the space to sit down, take a break, and visit with other attendees was appreciated. It was my honor to help support the lounge at this show and I look forward to seeing how this concept can grow in the future!

Workshop: Inky Messes with Gourmet Pens

I signed up for one workshop a day, and my first class was Inky Messes with Azizah of Gourmet Pens on Friday evening. I was really looking forward to finally meeting Azizah in person, and I could have spent hours flipping through her notebook full of amazing inky messes but there wasn't time for that—it was time to get inky!

We cracked open our bags of tools, got our ink samples set up in custom holders printed by Kaleidocraft (I got to pick a color, can you tell?), and started off strong by dropping large splats of ink on paper.

Large drops of blue and green ink on a page in a square Midori cotton notebook and a full sheet of blank white paper with a plastic pipette and ink sample vials in a dark green 3D-printed holder with an ink splat and the words 'Inky Messes 2025' on the front.

By the end of the class I had a colorful pile of inky papers and appropriately inky hands. Azizah did a great job walking us through practicing one technique at a time and then combining multiple techniques to make fun messes with beautiful inks.

A hand with slightly inky fingers over several sheets of paper with colorful ink lines, mist, splats, circles, words, etc. in blue, green, and purple.

After Hours

Every night during the show I hung out in the lobby of the hotel late into the night sharing pens, inks, swatches, etc. and talking with people. (At some point someone's bound to pull out a big nib or two.)

A small number 5 silver color Bock nib next to a giant gold nib.

After buying the Hanabi glass pen early on Friday, I brought it down with me on Sunday night do some more random sketching/coloring and let other people see it or try it out—which led to discussions about vintage glass pens, how this pen was made, other glass pen makers, etc. with Lucas and others who were hanging out.

A glass dip pen from Hanabi with swirled wood-look grip and colorful twists in the body resting on a disc-bound notebook with random writing and sketches, an image of stained glass flowers colored in blue, green, and light brown, and a small wooden case with 10 tiny glass bottles of fountain pen ink.

I got to catch up with a lot of friends, make some new ones, and see/try/learn lots of interesting things after hours at the pen show.

Workshop: Sketching with Fountain Pens with The Cloudy Desk

My second class was Sketching with Fountain Pens on Saturday morning with Claudia of The Cloudy Desk. Even as someone who has been doing quite a bit of sketching with inks and pencils the last few years, I found the techniques, exercises, and tips Claudia walked us through very helpful for better understanding what I'm looking to achieve with sketching and how I can practice and improve. I also think this class would be very approachable for someone brand new to sketching.

A printed zine for Sketching with Fountain Pens, practice sheet with a grid of different line types, reference photos of a building with tall, dark arches, and a black ink sketch of the arches on another practice sheet.

For my final sketch, I pulled up a photo I had taken when I first arrived of a huge, empty water fountain and sculpture of salmon swimming upstream in a courtyard outside of the show hotel. I tried to apply more of what I learned and reduce the detail to focus on the one thing I wanted to capture from this scene which was the implied motion of this structure.

Collage of a photo of a large empty fountain with statues of salmon swimming up stairs toward part of the hotel building and a sketch of that scene with limited detail in gray brown ink with fish painted with dark blue-green ink and a light blue color where there would be water if the fountain was working.

Workshop: Gamify Your Life with Ana Reinert

My final class was Gamify Your Life on Sunday morning with Ana (The Well-Appointed Desk). While I haven't been part of any gaming groups to play D&D or similar role-playing games, I have played video games most of my life including several that use similar systems so the structure is familiar to me.

A zine called Gamify Your Life Players Handbook, two sheets of stickers of neutral color gaming dice, and a set of 7 gaming dice including a D4, D20, etc. in blue and brown swirled plastic.

I disconnect a bit from "real life" while at a pen show, so while I started thinking through how I could apply the structure and strategies from these types of games to support the goals I have in my life during the class—I took most of this back with me as homework.

I should be able to use what I learned to leverage my personal experience and affinity for gaming to apply a different structure to how I approach my to-dos (and rewards) to hopefully get more things done (and have a good excuse to use pretty dice, shiny pens, and nice paper more)!

Sugar Turtle Studio

On Sunday I went around the show floor a bit more, and picked out some stickers and washi from Tom of Sugar Turtle Studio. I accidentally walked off without the washi (whoops!) but fortunately passed back by and Tom flagged me down and sorted me out. I've used the colorful ink bottle washi a lot and it's getting low so I got a new roll, plus washi with cats and stickers of old postcards that are really neat.

A sheet of stickers with photos of old used postcards, a large iridescent heart sticker with fountain pen design, Two rolls of washi tape and a large green envelope with swatches of washi tape with cats and a rainbow of fountain pen ink bottles, and a couple cards for Sugar Turtle Studio and the Journal Genius Patreon community.

Franklin-Christoph

I didn't go to the show expecting to pick up any inks in particular, but when I visited the Franklin-Christoph table on Sunday and saw the swatch of the show ink, it was a nice blue-green shade with some chromashading so I got a bottle. I also caught up with Audrey (the resident nib specialist for Franklin-Christoph) a little bit and checked out some cool pens made with unique materials and the pens painted beautifully by A.A. Vacharat.

Bottle of Franklin-Christoph DC '25 Limited Edition Show fountain pen ink and swatch of the blue green chromashading ink on Midori cotton paper.

Pilot Paper Test

Thanks to Ana (Chair of The Well-Appointed Desk) I found out Pilot was doing a paper survey at the end of the hallway where the Vanness tables were, so on Sunday I went to answer some questions and compare two papers from Mark's. I wasn't quite sure how to answer some of the questions like "What kind of paper do you use?" concisely, since "Anything I can get my hands on?" probably isn't very helpful of a response. I preferred what was labeled Paper A, a thinner planner style paper, but both performed well enough with the fairly wet medium nib I used.

A collage of three images with the first being a sign describing two types of paper from MARK'S Inc. including a Lightweight Daily Planner Paper and a Bright White Writing Paper, the second being a writing test in green fountain pen ink on paper A, and the third showing a writing test on paper B.

Final Thoughts

My focus at pen shows is increasingly about spending time with people, both vendors and attendees, and I got a lot of good people time in at the show.

Collection of stickers and cards from NFP Design, Little Hollow Customs, Pourly Controlled, Kaleidocraft, The Cloudy Desk, Papier Plume, Pen Addict, White Bear Pens, Bungubox, and the Washington DC Supershow.

Collecting stickers from vendors and friends is always a fun part of the show, and this time I had my own stickers to share. I love how these new stickers turned out.

Five stickers including two with ink drawings and a QR code and domain for oliveoctopus.ink, two round Ink Pony Club stickers with shiny holographic background, and an ink sketch with a bewildered donkey standing in a swamp.

This was a big show and I only took in a fraction of the show floor, but I'm very happy with how I spent my time (and money). I came home with beautiful, yet functional, objects that I'm already putting to use and my heart is full from seeing old friends and making new ones.

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