Pen Organization!

You may have noticed I do extensive pen sampling in my journals for reviews. I realize it may be very boring for some but I do it because it shows a wide range of colors, nib sizes, and ink types on each type of paper. This helps readers decide how they feel about paper color in relation to ink color, as well as the effect of nib size on the ink flow/color.

I try to keep the pens in groups, in order of nib sizes and color, so that each time I have a journal to sample in, I don't have to reorganize them. This is easier said than done. I have four cats they deem themselves very "helpful". The original set up was just on the table. ... This would shortly end up on the floor, scattered about. It was a pain having to line them up over and over.

 

Then I found a flat box that most of the pens fit into but it still wasn't good enough. I couldn't leave the box out! And, the amount of pens included in the writing sample was growing.

Pens just aren't safe to leave out in order on the table without some sort of protection. I was trying to think of some device that would be locking and flat so I could leave the pens lined up in order and sorted, but safe from the grubby mischievous paws of this household. I actually considered baking sheets and stacking them, then putting them in the oven when I was done writing samples... but I worried that one day I may turn on the oven, forgetting there were pens in there! NOT SAFE!!!!

On a recent trip to Costco, we came across a photo storage container. At Costco, it was only $17.95 (I can't find it on their website though). Not bad. Here's the new set up!

Open for viewing.

It's great because they all stay in the order I need them in for my writing samples in journals, and I can carry them all around in the tote container! Safe from "helpful" and curious cats! So far, all my non-fountain pens fit in the cases no problem.

You'll notice the first nine pens of the first box correspond with the first nine of this writing sample...And so on and so forth.

You may be thinking, "these can't be all of your pens, Ziza." No. No it is not. I keep all my doubles and back ups in a separate pencil case (with an inventory list...) and as I go through a pen from the working stock, I replace it from the back up.

A two-page sample of the Inventory List.

This pile also doesn't include my large quantity of Sakura pens (only a few of the Glazes in there), or fountain pens! Or the working stock. It looks pretty small now that I think about it...

These pens starred in the most recent Pen Porn. 

See? Easy to pick up and tote around! Now obviously if I were to put this on its side, all the pens in each individual container would fall out of its intended place but at least they will be in some sort of group still. It's easier to line up ten pens at a time than digging through a pile of... 50? I don't even know how many I sample with!

I hope you enjoyed being part of my pen organization!