u/davidedgertonjr

I just moved to a new home this week and just finished setting up my office/studio/workshop in the basement. This room is behind the room with the furnace and water heater.

I'm looking forward to working in this space on my software, my content creation, and my new hobby of leathercrafting. I have a few hand tools and a pegboard to add more to later.

I think this will work for now. What do you think? Thanks.

So I had to travel to Minnesota to attend the funeral of my previous pastor. While here the pens I got at the Washington DC pen show ran dry of ink. I would call this a pen emergency wouldn’t you?

I remembered that there was a store called Wet Paint that sold all kinds of notebooks, paint supplies, and ink for pens. I stopped by and got these two bottles just as my pins were thirsty and dehydrated.

I had never heard of the Jack Herbin brand of ink but these colors are working very well. While getting some new ink I noticed this new notebook.

The brand is called Sakura and I love the 140 g weight of the pages. I got one so it was a good day at the store and now I have nursed my pens back to health.

I got to attend my first pen show, and it was the greatest pen show in the United States - the Washington, DC Super Pen Show.

Somewhere in that sea of tens of thousands of pens, one of them reached out and grabbed me by the neck. A Diplomat Cobra. As I passed the table where it was being sold, it was like I was being charmed by the snake instead of the other way around.

It didn’t ask. It said Love me, and I picked it up.

That’s not how I usually buy a pen. I look, I compare, I think about it for a while. This one skipped every step.

I walked out with the Cobra, a two-pen case from Galen Leather, two free editions of Pen World, and a free bottle of ink for showing up. The ink was a Robert Oster ink named for the show and the 250th USA celebration. It was sapphire blue.

Man the pen show was epic. I'm looking forward to attending other shows.

For my second piece, I thought I would try to make a keychain. This was a kit, but I was able to learn from the pattern now I don’t know if I like using lace for the stitching, but it was a good learning experience. I might be ready to make a wallet now.

I decided to go into this space as a mental health tool and something non-digital because I look at screens all day. I tried to make a wallet, but I messed up the stitching and couldn't recover.

This is a tablet cover I made for my Amazon Fire 10. There aren't many cover options, so I decided to try making a sleeve with a flap to fit it. I didn't use a template to make it - just an idea that worked. The tablet fits snugly in the sleeve. This was too much fun.

I'm also a musician, so I decided to make a product video with some leathercrafting music as a little promo video. Would love to hear any feedback or suggestions for a new piece I could try.

This is my first leather project - a journal cover. I used an 8.5 x 11-inch piece of brown leather from Michael's, some elastic cord, and a tool to punch holes in the leather to make this. No pattern - just eyeballing a journal cover at the journal store and seeing how to make this work.

I'm now learning how to burnish the edges and use a tool to bevel them. I may go back and put some better holes in this and add the little rings there. I put a Leuchtturm 1917 B6 soft notebook in it.

That...was fun. Now I'm off to see if I can make something else. I'm thinking of a simple pen holder or a small wallet. Thanks.

Giordanos is a Chicago-based pizza restaurant that has franchises in other cities. One was just opened in Washington DC in a unique location - around the corner from Fahrney’s Pens where I buy all my pens.

I had a taste for deep dish pizza yesterday so I had lunch downtown. When I was done I stopped by and asked my friends for the ‘drive-by’ options to take home with me (pens that are less than $100)

This pen is about $70 so it came home with me and I have enjoyed writing with it. It is heavy and light at the same time. This is a great piece if you want something elegant and ready to work for you.

I'm looking forward to visiting Fahrney's in DC next week when David Oscarson comes.

You can check out his work at https://www.davidoscarson.com/

He makes pens, knives, and cufflinks. Looks like some great pieces.

I'm looking forward to meeting him and learning about his craft.

The family gave me a new Lechtturm 1917 A5 notebook with my initials in gold and a gold Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen with a pen loop. I'm setting this book up to officially implement a Bullet Journal and folllow the practice daily. I've been using smaller pocket-sized bullet journal notebooks but I've got stuff all over the place and can't find anything - LOL.

This was nice. I've started writing about the collector's experience at Penficionado.substack.com and captured a couple of thoughts about being a collector. It is a glorious life.

I don’t know if everybody knows about this particular book, but I picked it up to add to my library because I was interested in understanding where the concept of a notebook came from. I’m hoping to get into this book over the next couple of days but I’m interested in the history of how certain things were created and how they were used in society. Check it out if you’re interested.

I analyzed my collection and determined that the next purchase has to be something made in Japan. I have nice pieces from Germany and Italy, so I headed to my local favorite pen shop, Fahrney's Pens in Washington, DC, and picked up a Pilot Vanishing Point pen.

So far, I’m enjoying the experience with it, and I picked up some ink that looks like graphite when it dries. I’ll carry it for a few days and see how I want to work my rotation going forward.

Happy New Pen Day, everybody.

Picked up a brand new Monteverde super mega carbon fiber, gunmetal fountain pen today. This was the first one I ordered from a different online vendor. I had one of these pins in my collection, but I decided to add another. My preference is for a heavier writing instrument, and this pen fits the bill. I’m using a quick-drying ink from my local pen store in Washington, D.C.

I’m starting to become a serious collector, so I’m looking forward to figuring out what the next addition to my collection will be.