Look, I remembered I did another giveaway, and I was even in the presence of photoshop this time to compile the list of entrants. And among them, only one winner:
HOOORAAAAAAY
All right Karen Y! Email me your mailing address, and I’ll mail you these Sharpie goodies! Thanks again to my local pen store, Office Supplies and More.
My local pen store!
Perhaps you recall mention of my local pen store, Office Supplies & More. I was in there the other day telling the owner, Alan Cohen, about the Pentel Libretto giveaway I was doing, and he decided he wanted in on giving away something too, so he hands me two Sharpie items, fresh out of the box.
Two original Sharpie fine point markers and two Sharpie gel highlighters
I love the store, in spite of Alan’s refusal to get an online presence going, so for all you old-school types, if you’re ever anywhere near the capitol of North Carolina, swing by the town of Chapel Hill and hunt down the store: 1129 Weaver Dairy Rd, Timberlyne Shopping Center, Suite Q, Chapel Hill, NC 27514. The selection is huge, spanning high end to low end, pens, pencils, fountain pens, and a huge trove of Clairefontaine and Rhodia products. If North Carolina just isn’t in the cards for you, Alan has booths at multiple pen shows. This year he’ll be at the Baltimore show in March, the Atlanta show in April, the Raleigh show in June, the D.C. Supershow in August, and the Ohio show in November. Heck, if there’s something you specifically want him to bring to the show for you to buy, here’s the store’s number: 919.929.8595 — he’s got some of the best prices on pretty much everything.
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THE GIVEAWAY RULES!
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Almost forgot I needed to post the winner today. This one’s being typed up on the run, so bear with me. Your winner, as selected by Random.org:
Congratulations Erica! You have one week to get in touch and email me your mailing address.
Reminds me a bit of the Regular Show
It’s 2013, and MAYBE YOU DON’T HAVE A PLANNER? Or maybe, in the stupor of a New Year’s hangover, you stumbled into some cut-rate box giant and picked out some unspeakably atrocious calendar to drag through the next year. Or maybe you have an incurable addiction to calendars and day planners. Whatever your deal, perhaps I have a giveaway for you.
Unless you hate pink. In which case, WOW, you are looking at the wrong giveaway.
You remember Daycraft? And their super cool planners? Well, some time last year they sent me a box of 3 spankin’ new 2013 selections. Even I cannot use that many calendar-planners, so I figured I’d share some of the love.
I’m even going to let you have the stickers
A quick run-down on the specs of this diary/planner/notebook/bound configuration of paper:
The paper is the same thin sort as I reviewed in my 2012 Signature Diary, so I imagine it’ll take various inks as well as that did.
I hope you like cute illustrations
Each month in 2013 starts with a little illustration and a month overview with room for notes.
No page without cuteness; see the little sheep at the bottom?
And here’s the layout for each week. There’s also a set of 4 perforated sheets in the back, each sheet divided into 3 sections, so if you need to tear off a piece of paper to give to someone, it will be an adorable piece of paper.
Now, if you’re interested in this little planner to make your year better, read on.
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THE GIVEAWAY RULES!
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And if you can’t wait to see if you won, here’s the link to the diary—just remember that price is in Hong Kong dollars. Good luck, and thanks to Daycraft for providing this sample!
All right all you cats and kittens, we have a winner! And for a personal first, I had to do all of this on a tablet (nexus 7). No mini laptop, no GIMP, no Photoshop; just the tablet, so bear with me. Thankfully there were only 21 entries to screencap and number. The winner:
Your proof from Random.org, which in mobile mode doesn’t display the website name on the random number box (so I screencapped the URL bar as well):
Congratulations Arleigh! You have 1 week to leave a comment here acknowledging that you know you won, and to send me an email with your mailing address! Thanks to everyone for playing, and extra thanks to Pentel for supplying the spare set!
Pens AND pencils—TOGETHER?!?!?
You know how these things start. I get an email that begins with “do you want—” and I’m already shouting YES PLEASE as I reply with my mailing address before they can even get out the words “free pen sample.”
Does this desk look dimly lit to you? Or do I need to change my contacts?
Usually I’m skeptical of gift sets when it comes to the world of writing utensils. No good reason for it, really. If I don’t like something, there’s usually a good reason. Gift pen and pencil sets are the exception. I distrust them without any justification.
The subtle accents somehow seem festively appropriate. Or maybe that’s the red felt. Maybe the accents really indicate the number of times the pen was distilled. 150-proof pen, ladies and gents.
But I’m glad I gave these a shot. They’re simple yet elegant, with classy accents and a nice feel in the hand. I’d take them to a dinner party; wouldn’t you?
Pencil? Bueno. Rollerball? Not so bueno.
The pencil I found myself reaching for time and again on recent craft / notebook-making projects. The pen, however, is a bit of a let-down. It doesn’t apply well over pencil, meaning it’s a no-go for art use, and I had some occasional skipping. Not to fear though.
I doubt Pentel appreciates me kicking their refill out for a Uni-ball Jetstream refill, but maybe I wouldn’t have to if they’d stock the VIcuna in American retail stores.
Joyous wonder, the Jetstream refill fits in this body. So you can have a fancy all-fine-occasions pen with a delicious Jetstream center (and if you love the person you’d be giving this to, you WILL open it up and put a Jetstream refill in the pen).
For all your favorite gift-based holidays!
Now, on to the good stuff.
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THE GIVEAWAY RULES!
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Good luck everyone!
Many thanks to Pentel for providing these sets for me to review and for the extra to give away!
Pentel Libretto Pen & Pencil Set
Thanks to everyone who entered! To be able to post the winner by Wednesday (I meant to say Wednesday in the original post), since I work today, I had to do this up on my little laptop that doesn’t have photoshop, so not only are the comments hand-numbered (with a crappy old trackpad) but they’re in five parts. And the winner is… Pilot G2.38!
Not the worst example of my hand-numbering attempts
Congratulations! Leave a comment on this post so I know you know you’ve won, and send me an email with your contact information so I can mail you this notebook!
To everyone else, don’t worry! I’ll try to do another notebook giveaway eventually to celebrate when I finally stop dragging my feet and start selling some of the notebooks I’ve made on Etsy. Keep your eyes peeled!
You remember that post I did about making your own cahier-style notebooks? Well I’ve been making scads of them, and I’ve made one to give away to all of you! Literally, all of you, as this contest will be open to everyone!
Lazy iPhone photos ahoy!
It has 26 pages of white Rhodia dot grid paper, size equal to 1/2 of a sheet of Rhodia Bloc No. 16.
Please forgive this experiment in laziness, but pulling out the big camera takes more effort. More effort means longer to get the giveaway to you.
The cover is red posterboard, and the notebook features a back pocket:
Grocery list not included
And baby blue hand stitching:
This phone takes good pictures, but perhaps not when I can’t hold my hands still at 4 in the morning and I only upload the medium image size. TOO LATE NOW. THE GIVEAWAY MUST GO ON!
That’s about all there is to the notebook, just a simple, lovingly hand-made imperfect little notebook up for grabs.
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THE GIVEAWAY RULES!
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Good luck everyone!
Thanks everyone who entered this TUL Pen giveaway! As in giveaways past, I have not had the time to devote to figuring out how to have comments display numbers, so I’ve numbered them myself. Many thanks again to OfficeMax for supplying these pens, and without further ado, the winner is: Alli!
With proof from Random.org, and hi-tech RESOLUTION ZOOMING MAGIC FEATURES! Very dramatic techniques in this image, I assure you.
Congratulations, Alli! Leave a comment on this post so I’ll know you know you’ve won, and send me an email (link in the upper right links menu on the webpage) with your contact information so we can let OfficeMax know where your pens need to go.
Everyone else, stay tuned! I have more giveaways in the wings!
Four for one special!!
This review would have been brought to you sooner, but someone decided to make vanish my original sample package. Whoever you are, I hope you weren’t expecting pens in that box. I hope whenever you so much as look at a pen you are filled with an unending sense of guilt that haunts you all your days.
ADMIT YOUR GUILT OR BE CURSED FOREVER, MYSTERY THIEF
So, I too was contacted by OfficeMax to see if I’d be interesting in taking their new premium line of pens for a whirl. As always, I am thrilled for the opportunity to test some new pens. Also, something about a giveaway? We’ll come back to that.
From top to bottom: marker pen, rollerball, gel pen, ballpoint
I like the general design of this TUL line (confession: I am not at all acquainted with the previous line so I can’t really compare the two). These pens don’t try too hard; they adhere to basic, minimalist designs that stick to a general theme while giving each pen a unique look.
The ovals are another good element
Design-wise, the gel pen is my favorite. I like the long grip, and the color accents are just enough to let you know what the ink color is while not detracting from the simple, stolid office theme. The capped pens (marker and rollerball) have hard plastic that I’m afraid might be prone to crack over time (similar to the Platinum Preppy). The ballpoint would be better with a longer grip section, like the gel pen, but I’ll survive.
Here’s where all the important parts come in.
The marker pen is smooth, and the only bleedthrough I had was on the drawing portion. The rollerball was a little inconsistent (or character-filled, if you prefer), and was probably my least favorite of the bunch just due to that and the occasional odd sensation of the ball rolling not quite properly. If I’m going to have character-filled lines, I prefer to have them coming from a fountain pen, when I can have whatever color ink I want. The gel pen was smooth, bright, and consistent, all good. But my favorite, by and far, was the ballpoint pen. It was dark and smooth to the point that it took me completely by surprise. I think I’ve finally found a pen that performs close enough to a Jetstream that I can keep on my desk, but not be too distraught if the pen walks away.
If I ran an office, I’d order them
Suggested retail prices range from $1.99 (single pens) to $20.99 (12-pack). Not bad at all.
TUL Rollerball Pen from OfficeMax
TUL Ballpoint Pen from OfficeMax
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THE GIVEAWAY RULES!
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Now for the part you’ve been looking forward to: the giveaway! OfficeMax is generously providing a sample set directly to one lucky reader here. Your rules as follows:
Good luck, and thanks again to OfficeMax!
Disclaimer: I received the TUL products mentioned in this post from OfficeMax in order to facilitate my review. The items featured in this giveaway are also provided by OfficeMax and will be sent to the winner directly. Opinions expressed in this post are 100% my own. I have not been compensated for this post in any other way.
