I've always loved the following quotation:

In my ideal world, I would begin my day by arranging a vase of flowers. I would begin by writing something in my journal, and very often I do just that. I've read a number of articles lately on just this practice. So today, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite stationery items. You might not know, but in between jobs at the public library, I worked for a couple of years in a fancy stationery shop (which has since closed). My area was writing instruments, and I became pretty obsessed with fountain pens at the time. I used to write with a Faber-Castell Ambition, fine nib, in pearwood.

But I have since found that magic writing combination - the perfect pen, ink and paper. Of course, your perfect three might be something completely different. I have long written in Clairefontaine journals because the smooth paper is ideal for writing with a fountain pen. Recently though, I splurged on an Apica C.D. Notebook which is truly lovely. In reality, I'll probably go back to the Clairefontaine because of the price difference, but this one is a beauty. The ink that is my go-to is Pilot's Tsuki-yo (Moonlight). I have a couple of other Pilot colours but always end up back with the moonlight colour. It goes on smoothly, has a nice bit of show-through, and leaves the pen clean.

Last but not least, the pen I've been writing with for several years is the Edison Nouveau Premiere with a 1.1 stub nib. It's the only thing that I own that's purple, not being a huge fan of the colour, but: I love this purple pen. It's a lovely weight for me, nice balance, holds a goodly amount of ink. It's well-priced at $149US, and considering how many hours I've written with it, and how many I hope to write, I think it's been a good investment. (Fountain pens will go from between 50 and a thousand dollars+, just to give you an idea).

The secret for me has been the 1.1 nib - just a little bit of an italic which I find enjoyable.

The links in this post are to that mecca of writing instruments and stationery, 
The Goulet Pen Company, which is where I bought my pen. It can be a bit pricey shipping to Canada, but the service and nice little touches (handwritten note from staff, if I remember correctly) are lovely. The website is quite drool-worthy and they have cool videos etc. And hey, this is not even an affiliate link thing, just an appreciation. :)

Do you journal every morning? What's your perfect combination of pen, ink, and paper?

2016