I really appreciate the prompt questions that circle around the pen community, get me out of my comfort zone, and challenge me to reflect on things with a different perspective. At the beginning of December on A Gathering of Curiosities RB posted their #2025StationeryHighlights as a seven-question journaling prompt which I have used as a lens to look back at the year and note down some thoughts.
Since pens, inks, and stationery (and the community around them) has been the primary focus of my free time and travel—I'm going to struggle with distilling the year down to single items, but I appreciate RB's challenge to identify the things that had the most impact and I'll try to stick to the spirit of the questions as much as I can. After answering the questions I'll wrap up 2025 with some thoughts about a "Color of the Year" and a brief list of highlights from 2025.
#2025StationeryHighlights Questions List
Question 1 If you could only keep one pen out of the pens acquired in 2025, which pen would you keep, and why?
I have a higher volume, less-curated collection of fountain pens than some and added several pens this past year. I am not one to find a favorite nib, brand, maker, etc. and stick with it. I love exploring variety and use different types of pens for different purposes. These days most of my new acquisitions are "maker" pens and I think I acquired 8 unique pens this past year from small makers, many of whom I've gotten to know personally, and none of these pens are going anywhere. I really tried to pick just one and failed miserably.
All that said, there is one pen maker in particular who I met and connected with in 2025, Darrell Davis of D² Arts. I got the chance to see Darrell's pens at his table at the Arkansas show. I spent time checking out most of the pens on the table and talking with Darrell about his process of hand-carving each one. These are pens you choose by feel as much (if not more) as by appearance. The pen I picked is a rich blue swirl with a continuous spiral carved from end to end and there is a twist to the taper on each end. Later, at the DC pen show, I picked out an iridescent nib and got a Katana grind from Kirk Speer that pairs with the pen wonderfully.
I also had the opportunity to visit the Arkansas Pen Club twice where I got to see Darrell again, and on the first visit I came home with a second hand-carved pen.
Both of these pens are so unique in the hand, they are functional art. I love using them for journaling or more thoughtful writing because the tactile experience of holding the pen, or the cap in my other hand, is satisfying—even comforting—while I'm writing or when I pause to think. To me these pens represent some of the best of what this community has to offer.
I have a few honorable mentions. TWSBIs, particularly ECOs, are workhorse pens for me and I picked up several new colors, including what might be the most "me" color so far—the Serpentine. TWSBI is where I started, and some of my all-time favorite colors were released in 2025.
One more pen that I've become rather fond of is the TGS and Hinze collaboration Tachensteift Micarta pen. I have been unsure of how I feel about Micarta material, but IYKYK, the material has a significance in TGS lore that I didn't want to miss out on so if I was going to give a Micarta pen a shot this had to be the one. I love the pocket size combined with the satisfying weight of the metal grip. It pairs well with a wide range of favorite purple inks which I've been enjoying cycling through. This is a pen that starts with a story that will continue as the Micarta material takes on character with my use.
And if we're counting glass pens... obviously this is a keeper.
I think the number of pens I get in a year will significantly decline going forward, but I'm happy to have had a few great acquisitions in 2025.
Question 2 If you could only keep one ink out of the inks acquired in 2025, which ink would you keep, and why?
Suffice to say, my ink situation is not typical—this question is impossible for someone who collects as much ink as I do. There are at least 300 new entries in my FPC for 2025, and while a lot of those were samples generously shared with me, a lot were full bottles too. As I've done for the past couple of years I will painstakingly narrow down a not-so-short short list to "25 Memorable Inks for 2025" sometime in January and that will be my primary answer to this question. Instead of a single ink I'll pick a relatively new (and new-to-me) brand I discovered in 2025 that I definitely want to keep around.
Ka-Ku, which means "write" in Japanese, is a Japanese brand that began offering their own line of inks (produced by Ink Mazeru) a few years ago. I picked up a couple Ka-Ku inks at the M. Lovewell table at the California Pen Show, and later ordered a few more. Matchmaking of Money, an interesting yellow shade, was the first to catch my eye and is still probably my favorite of this bunch. The inks are lovely colors that perform well, but I love the thoughtful curation of colors and names, and even specially-themed packaging for some of the inks.
This Wakayama Orange ink is packaged in a mini orange produce bag, and the Pistachio ink is in a tracing paper package like something that might hold a pistachio food item. They seem to have a focus on offering products that will inspire people to create, and I'm enamored.
Question 3 If you could only keep one paper/journaling/planning product you acquired in 2025, what would you keep, and why?
I've tried out dozens of new papers and a stack of new notebooks over the past year. Some notebooks I would get again, others I'm happy to have tried once and moved on. Many of the papers I've tried have become favorites.
However, I think my pick here needs to be the multi-paper testing and coloring notebooks I made. I started with an A5 slim booklet with 12 different papers. Since one of the papers, Kin Kaku Den, is more of a one-sided paper I formatted these booklets to have stained glass flowers to paint on in one half, then if you flip the book over the pages are blank with the paper type printed on the bottom for writing tests in the other half.
I made a few different iterations of these booklets including an A6 version with a different mix of papers for St. Jude thank you rewards—plus plain coloring/painting books with just the stained glass floral designs, tiny booklets with perforated pages from the off-cuts from the A5 slim pages, etc. Most of these have been staple-bound, but recently I've started doing some hand-sewn bindings.
I've been picking up lots of loose-leaf papers and cardstock and have many more ideas to explore in 2026.
Question 4 If you could only keep one accessory and/or a stationery-adjacent item you acquired in 2025, what would you keep and why?
My choice here is the TGS_25 A5 Slim Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter—this has become my almost daily companion since July. One of the first notebook holders I got as I was getting into fountain pens was the "A5 slim" Franklin-Christoph NWF Vagabond cover. I like the tall narrow format and wanted that to be my daily carry notebook system, but it turned out I don't love writing in notebooks that are still in the cover. Pulling inserts in and out of a banded system like that wears everything out quickly, so I re-purposed that cover to hold ink swatches and went looking for other options to help manage my personal life.
This Roterfaden is the same size, but the clip system is a much better fit for me. I can keep multiple notebooks with different papers and formats in one easy to carry unit, there are additional slots and pockets to stow other items in the cover, and I can quickly unclip a notebook and remove it to write anytime I'm doing more than jotting down a quick note. It's also easy to move the clips to hold at a different page like a bookmark. I was able to put the Hobonichi Weeks planner I used for 2025 in this, but plan to switch to a custom A5 slim insert for 2026. I've also added a Traveler's folder to hold folded up sheets of loose papers related to projects I'm working on with a tall Ro-biki notebook in the middle in the first set of clips.
The one thing that was holding me back from this system in the past was my general preference for materials other than leather, though the Roterfaden uses very nice leather. Then Joe mentioned in the spring that he would be getting an A5 slim version—the tall, narrow format I prefer for my personal planner and notes—and when they arrived this summer they also happened to be a perfect shade of olive green. How could I resist?
I didn't plan this photo, it was just a random day when the Roterfaden was still new and I'd just gotten home from work and realized I was all matchy-matchy and took a picture. This leather hasn't bothered me, and compared to some of the other models I really like the slimmer profile with the suede lining (instead of the thicker felt) and the easily-replaceable cord closure. I got ink on it almost immediately and it's continuing to wear in with my use, and you'll have to pry it from my cold dead fingers.
Question 5 Is there a standout stationery item from previous years which you rediscovered in your collection?
I don't think I have a particularly good answer to this question, but the main thing that came to mind is that as I've been cleaning and reorganizing things around my home office I ended up really going through a five-shelf paper sorter that I've had forever. This has been easily accessible near my primary desk and packed full of random papers I've had for years—in many cases decades—many of which have not been touched in a very long time.
It was a reminder of how I used to spend time at the big-box office supply stores looking through all the reams and packs to find interesting papers. It really struck me during a recent visit to one of those stores how much smaller that section is these days. I found all kinds of random specialty papers for printing on, from parchment-style paper from Southworth for resumes (or crafting things to look old-timey) and letter-size stationery with printed background designs like an underwater scene with various sea life or a paper scroll, to photo paper and even printable transparency sheets (remember those?!). There's also paper I'd used for making greeting cards or other crafting projects in shiny metallic or pearlescent finishes, a rainbow of Astrobrights including classic and neon shades, black paper, cardstock, etc. I even found an old pack of cheap, 3-hole-punched, lined looseleaf that's very thin with inconsistent printing of the lines but the paper actually holds up well to fountain pen ink, as does the much nicer Southworth paper.
This was yet another reminder that I've actually always been really into paper. Sure, I got tired of using whatever paper notepads were available in the office supply closet and when I started having a little more disposable income I bought my own notebooks and paper for work, and in school I always wanted the fancy 5-Star notebooks. But also, there was all this.
I've ended up using some of the colorful cardstock and parchment papers for covers for some custom booklets I've made recently. I've also used some of the colored papers to make booklets for sketching with pencils.
Question 6 If you could go back to January 1, 2025 and give yourself a piece of advice for your fountain pen/stationery hobby adventures in 2025, what would you tell yourself?
Lean in. Be yourself. Dare to dream.
Going into 2025 my engagement within the pen community was already rapidly expanding—I'd been writing on this website and streaming regularly, was starting to get to know quite a few people in the community, had plans and reservations to attend twice as many pen shows as the past year, and was regularly haunting the newly opened physical location for my local stationery shop. I still did not fully anticipate the opportunities, experiences, connections, and personal growth in the hobby that were ahead of me.
The intensity of my interest in things can be a lot, and that's certainly been the case with inks, fountain pens, and paper. In hindsight I would tell my past self to worry less about being "too much" and to not underestimate the level of acceptance I could find in this community. To be more aware of the impulse to downplay or constrain myself to something more "reasonable" when that's not necessary. I've cautiously dared to ask this community to accept me as I am—giant Mary Poppins bag of ink swatches and paper samples and all—and my confidence has grown, but it took a while. Feelings of self-doubt, imposter syndrome, that I'm still too new to all of this and couldn't possibly have anything worthwhile to contribute still have the potential to hold me back from fully embracing what could be possible—I would tell both my past and current selves to be more aware and resilient against that.
I'm still learning more every day and there's always room for growth and change to be a better person in the world—I'm just increasingly less interested in feeling ashamed or apologizing for my level of excitement and interest... or the number of ink bottles tucked away in Alex drawers.
Question 7 What is a word (or a phrase) you would use to describe your fountain pen/stationery hobby in 2025?
"Ink Pony Club"? I'm sort of joking but actually that was an unexpected yet incredible development that started in February and became a significant part of my life, growth in this hobby, and connection with the pen community. The spirit of the Ink Pony Club is an encouragement to make time for creativity—a reminder I got about a decade ago that has continued to be an important factor in my overall wellbeing, that now I hope to pay forward.
It's primarily been an invitation to paint (or otherwise color in) the outline of a pony printed on nice, fountain pen friendly paper with fountain pen ink. On the Pen Addict Twitch stream that Brad titled "Ink Pony Club" which started this ball rolling, people in chat were all sharing what they thought an "ink pony" would look like, and I wanted to see them all. In particular I'd love for this invitation to make it easier for someone to perhaps try being "artsy" for the first time, or in a whole new way—anyone can color so that's a good place to start, plus lots of us have more ink than we know what to do with.
For me, it's also become another way to test and get to know the properties of a bunch of different papers and inks better. Seeing the absorption, dry time, color representation, bleed through, etc. through painting can make some similarities and differences more apparent than just a writing sample, and in general continuing to explore inks and understand papers is a big focus of my engagement in the hobby. It's also a fun way for me to share paper samples (anything I can manage to feed through my printer) with others to try out—sharing all this stuff is an important element of the hobby to me as well.
It's also simply been fun. If I were to pick a more serious word for the past year it would be community. I've found plenty of tools, paper, pens, etc. I love to use, I could enjoy my current stash for my own purposes for a good long while, but my engagement in the hobby is becoming much more community-focused—exploring new things not just for myself but to understand more of the landscape and help others find what will meet their needs and click with them, and be inspired or challenged to see and use things in different ways myself. Ink Pony Club has become part of that, and I hope that continues at pen shows or other events in a more organized way in the upcoming year.
Bonus Topic Color of the Year
All the recent talk about the various "color of the year" announcements being made for 2026 (particularly Pantone's choice) got me thinking—since this is a retrospective, I was drawn to idea of recognizing a color that persisted through my year retroactively more than picking a color for the year going forward. My personal color of the year for 2025 was yellow. Yellow started becoming more of a go-to color for me several years ago, but 2025 was a particularly yellow-heavy year.
In February, I attended the California Pen Show in LA and the one fountain pen on my list was "something I would use with yellow ink" and I found what I was looking for at Bart's table with this Zodiac Capricorn pen.
From LEGO to ballpoints, storage to shoes, home decor to an oversized octopus, I've added a lot of yellow things into my life this year.
I've also been using a lot of yellow ink, we'll all have to see which make the memorable list for 2025.
What can I say, autumn has always been my vibe.
Olive drab will continue to be my main defining color, but I've enjoyed my year of yellows.
2025 Highlights
This was a year with a lot of change and growth, and a big part of that involved exploring more of what being an "olive octopus" could be—visiting pen shows from coast to coast, making new things, and getting even more involved in my local pen community.
Thank you to everyone who was part of my story in 2025.
