Journaling -- Merlins Tower

Free Handwriting Practice Paper

Posted on January 16th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Craft, Freeware, Hack, Journaling, Notetaking, Tutorial, Web Service.

Handwriting Practice Worksheets - Free Download Greetings Everyone - a loyal reader Dave was kind enough to send this tip for to me to share with the rest of the readers. It is where to get a PDF of handwriting practice paper. It is designed for children but can be quite useful when you want to practice your new found love of cursive or italic handwriting. Note if your printer can do it print it 2 per sheet to allow you a smaller line for more adult sized writing ** Great Tip Dave - THANKS**

The Paper is available here - just save out the PDF file to your computer and you will be good to go. (Sounds like a Taco Bell Commercial)

Now I didn't print this our for myself by upon inspection this paper is similar to that is included in the back of the write now book. I can see using this when I get a new fountain pen and just want to play with how the nib works and writes without scribbling in my journal.

Technorati Tags: Fountain+Pen, Fountain, pen, Ink, writing, free, worksheet, pdf, print, practice, help, guide, cursive, handwriting, writing

1 comment.

Pen and Ink - Online Fountain Pen

Posted on January 13th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Anything Else, Communication, Craft, Journaling, Web Service.

Thought I had to share a site that I came across today. It is a site that you can use your mouse to write with a broad italic style nib for a calligraphy writing. It was just fun playing around with. I did the drawing below on a laptop with only a travel mouse. You can do much better if you have a pen tablet to really get that fountain pen feel. Funny thing is that the Fountain Pen looks like a stick. You do get two choices of ink colors a nice Black and a bright red. You do get to draw and write on a nice piece of parchment paper on the screen. There is no easy way to save what you draw - The only way I saw you can do it is to screen capture the whole screen and paste it into a graphic editor and crop down to what you want to save.

Sorry for not posting the link to Pen and Ink

Technorati Tags: Fountain, Pen, Fountain+Pen, Online, Service, Art, Ink

2 comments.

Just Found - Tornado Elite Pencil

Posted on January 7th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Art, Gadgets, Journaling, Leather, Miquelrius, Office, Photography, Sketching.

I totally forgot that I even owned this pencil The Retro 51 Tornado Elite Pencil - I was received this Mechanical Pencil over 2 Years Ago and I thought I has lost this forever when one day it just dissapeared.

But so I happened to be digging in one of my Photography bags and low and behold this was stuck at the bottom just waiting to be found again. I really like this Mechanical Pencil as it was so classy looking but has an aire about itself.

The one I received was the Stainless Steel Version with a beautiful matte finish to it. The clip is very strong and will hold this pencil in place where ever you put it. (Unless You don't clip it to anything like me and Don't check the bottom of the bag )

I bought this to go along with my Business Card / reporter style notebook (Another Gift as well). I was using this to take notes and sketches while shooting some photographs. It was the prefect size too only 3.5 Inches long and clipped to the Reporter Notebook Easily and it stayed in place.

What I really liked about it was the Lead Size. This Pencil Requires a 1.1mm Lead which is a much heavier line then the standard .5mm or .7 Mechanical Pencils. Plus I loved the fact that this was a twist knob top to advance the lead. This is just one very stylish looking mechanical pencil. I was upset when I could not find this pencil anymore (well more possibly upset over the cost of it and that I only had it several months)

The Current price of this Retro 51 Elite Pencil is $14.95 with a few extra leads. It was just the right price. Not too expensive but still not cheap.

I think I will be using this again for quick sketches I make and ideas. Plus this clips onto my Leather Jacket I made for my Miquelrius Journal nicely So I can have both Fountain Pen and Pencil within Easy Access.

The only drawback is that it doesn't come with an eraser built onto this pencil. So, if you need to erase something you need to carry an eraser pen with you. This doesn't bother me as I like to doodle and draw with it thus I don't need the eraser portion.

Can be Bought as "The Writers Edge"

Technorati Tags: Mechanical, Pencil, Retro+51, Elite, Office, p0rn, gift, lead, pencil, drawing, sketching

0 comments.

The Ink Free Writing Instrument!

Posted on January 2nd, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Anything Else, Art, Communication, Craft, Gadgets, Journaling, Sketching.

The Metal Stylus Ink Free Pencil - It is made of Stainless Steel Alloy and is about 3.15 inches long. Grand Illusions from Cryers Hill in the UK has this Pencil for sale which will last almost forever (Or Until you loose it).

This type of pencil is one of the oldest forms of writing instruments used by many of the great thinkers and artists starting in the Medieval and Renaissance - They used a tool with a nib made of silver, lead, gold or bronze, to do what is called SilverPoint / MetalPoint. Metalpoint artwork is known through out the world. Below is one of the most famous metalpoint drawings.

Leonardo Da Vinci - Virtuvian Man

Unlike the metailpoint nibs of the past which needs a rough surface to help the metal oxidize on the paper this pencil only requires normal paper or copy paper to make its permanent mark as seen below. I can see using this to write in your journal as this makes it permanent with very limited ways to erase this mark.

For addtional Info on Silverpoint you need to checkout SilverPoint Web - With some beautiful creations in their gallery. But MetalPoint Drawings are not just left for the master of old but there are many masters of this artwork today. You need to check out Illusions Magazine and artwork of the Late Dennis James Martin. (More on Dennis Martin - Artnet - ASKArt.)

TAGS: ART silverpoint metalpoint nib nibs leonardo da vinci Leonardo+Da+Vinci Silver+Point Metal+Point Inkless Pen Pencil Stainless Steel Stainless+Steel

1 comment.

Fountain Pen Care and Feeding: Handwriting Improvement

Posted on December 26th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, Craft, Hack, Journaling, Notetaking.

Fountain Pen Handwriting So, you received a fountain pen from Santa for Christmas and now you realize the reason you mostly use email for all of your communications as even you can not read your own handwriting even 5 mins after you wrote it down? Well in the continuation of the Fountain Pen Care and Feeding Series - Todays topic is how to use your fountain pen for the greater good or how to improve your handwriting. Bad Handwriting can be extremely bad for all (Check out this Article on how much damage bad handwriting does to the medical industry - Via CNN Or This article)

I personally have used and like what I have learned from The Write-Now Course on Handwriting - Here is one of the many reviews on Amazon about this handwriting course:

It's Never Too Late to Change Your Handwriting, Reviewer: A reader
Like so many others, I learned the standard "ball and stick" print style of handwriting and progressed to the "looped" cursive style when I was in grade school–and I got very high marks in penmanship. By high school I could write fastest in cursive, but I was taking notes so fast it became illegible. Somehow I made it through graduate school taking notes fast and figuring out what I wrote later. Ever since then, I've chosen the computer over handwriting as much as possible. (Not to mention the "looped" cursive isn't very masculine.)

Enter "Write Now". What a great book! "Write Now" teaches a style of handwriting called Italic (meaning "from Italy"). My first thought was that this was some "new" style and couldn't be as good as the "basics" I was taught. Turns out, what I was taught is the "new" style (19th century) and Italic is the more traditional (16th century). It is the style that was used by Leonardo Da Vinci and Michaelangelo.

Italic focuses on efficiency, ergonomics, legibility, and speed. It easily transitions from print to cursive to calligraphy with little change in the way you write the characters. "Write Now" is broken into three sections: 1) Basic Italic (print) 2) Cursive Italic and 3) Edged Pen Italic (calligraphy). With good explanations and illustrations, it is a pleasure to learn a new style of handwriting.

"Write Now" is geared towards adults (or teens) and presents a "cartoon's guide" to the history of handwriting throughout–a good reference even if you don't want to improve your handwriting. The author's are veteran educators and have produced an entire series of books on Italic handwriting to take kids from kindergarten through grade school. They are also in very high demand for in-house hospital seminars to those who most desparately need handwriting help–doctors. :-)

I recommend this book highly. My handwriting has already improved. I actually look for reasons throughout the day to use my new skills. If you're like me, don't pass this one up.

But if you are not looking to purchase a book on how to improve your handwriting you can get some tips from the following websites such as the article "Handwriting Tips" on PaperPenalia.
Most of the other sites I found on Handwriting are usually geared towards youth such as "Draw Your World" Page on Handwriting. But still you can get some good information from it as well.

Calligraphy Example But perhaps you thought a fountain pen was going to "Make you write Fancy" well that fancy handwriting has a name - Calligraphy - and actually requires a special nib or ink pen for Calligraphy Writing called an italic nib and comes in various styles. Yes, you can still use a regular pen or fountain pen and follow the instructions for italic handwriting (I again like the directions in the Write Now Book) But if you would like some additional instructions on Calligraphic Writing check out the PDF located at the bottom of Handwriting for Kids Page Or you can check out the Italic Handwriting Page from Studio Arts Page. But to learn more about Calligraphy and explore more web pages with Calligraphy (Which BTW Means Beautiful Handwriting) would be the 42 Explore Page.

TAGS: Handwriting Italic Penmanship calligraphy fountain pen fountain+pen writing free course info

3 comments.

How I Use, Sort, and Store My Index cards

Posted on December 21st, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, GTD, Hack, Journaling, Search Engine, Tutorial.

Today I was viewing my favorite blogs and I wrote the following as a comment on Searching4Arcadia: He was talking about using 3×5 cards as a capture tool and how to organize and store them. This got me writing down How I do my system. I wanted to share this with my readers as well.

So Here is what I wrote in that comment: ( a few things added as I could not do linking in the comments)

Greeting - Great article By the way - as usual good information. I too use 3×5 quite a bit in my daily activities. I have the leather version of the shirt pocket briefcase from Levengers but I always have on hand is the International Shirt Pocket Briefcase.

I like this version better in some instances because it has a pocket to fit my daily use fountain pen inside and protect it and a place for my drivers license and money (When I have any).

I also bought the Levenger Index Cards - I find them better quality then he dime store variety But they work just as well also.

I too had a hard time organizing them. I use a old wooden cigar box for my "Current" cards and have a longer storage box from Office Depot/Max that I use for Long Term Storage.

When I am placing my cards away I will mark the card with a Topic and Number. I then store them alphabetically in the trays by the Topic & Number. Any really important facts or info I know I might need to remember I write it down on the index card index cards :-) that I have stored in the front of the tray - Thus I can quickly (Well sorta) find a past topic. Plus this gives me a way to place the card back into it correct spot when the time comes. I will usually do this once every week or so as not to get too many cards out of place but they are fairly easy to put back into order no matter what.

My local Big Lots store has the plastic dividers I use in the boxes for about $1.50 I like these better then the ones from Office Depot as the are all the same color and the letter is easier to read. Actually I bought sever sets - I put my own TAGS or labels on them (I have one for each of my clients or major projects that I am working on) That way when I mark the card I can put it in that Tagged section and make it the next number. For cards that don't have a "Divider" I put them into the alphabet dividers by letter. So notes I took about a particular pipe tobacco would be under P and the number would be then next number in the P section ex. P112. And If I thought this was something important as mentioned above I would put:

Pipe Tobacco (Haddo's Delight) - P112

This is just an example inde Taken from some objects I have in sight when I was writing this topic. Ok I was enjoying my pipe at the time.

On the index card index. I use one card for each letter in index. This helps keep my index cards in order Right now I have Several cards for each letter. Plus if I happen to have multiple topics on a card I can still find this information as well. These are easier to go thru then going though each and every card all the time. But I have to admit there are times like you mentioned that I just flip and scan though all the cards just to get some inspiration.

Depending on what I am writing and/or note taking - I will either use the index cards or my notebook. The notebook for me is more for info that I want to store long term (I use my notebook more as a common book) and want to have easy access to as when I leave to go to a job or client I have that with me in my backpack / work kit. And I alway in the front of my notebook carry a few extra index cards. That way if the info in not as important I write it on the cards. I also keep a couple with my Name and Email/phone number printed on to give notes to a client. I find this quite effective as it keeps my info with them.

One additional note not in the comment I posted was that I have a nice Card Holder that I bought from Ikea several years back that keeps my current projects close at hand.

Thanks A11en for sparking the writing bug today.

Merlin

TAGS: Index Card Storage Index+Card Notetaking GTD how to

4 comments.

Colfer Imperial Inks - Concentrated - Variable Intensity Fountain Pen Inks

Posted on December 15th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Art, Communication, Craft, Journaling.

There is a new fountain pen ink company just starting up. It is the Colfer Imperial Inks - But this company is very different from any of the other ink companies out there. As Colfer Sells his inks in Concentrated Form and you get to mix them yourself with distilled water. This is called the worlds only adjustable ink. Which means you get to select how much color you use. The inks can be made in a ratio of 4:1 to 6:1 (That is 4 parts water to one part ink concentrate - This gives you the stongest color) The 6:1 will be the lightest color. I like this Idea as I get to control the color and not the manufacture / producer of the ink.

Colfer Imperial Ink Color Chart - Links to Fountain Pen Network Page

Using these inks from what I read there are just a few rules to follow - First only use after mixing them with distilled water and second only mix the colors after mixing them with distilled water. Yes you can play chemist and mix the colors to make your own trademark color for your favorite fountain pen. I really like the colors that are available and I think it would be nice to have an economical ink that works as well as it is described. (I am going to have to save my pennies up and purchase a few of this inks) From the charts my favorites are Signat Red - Cotes de Nuits - New York Central Jade - Blue Spruce and Soveriegn Blue.

BTW - once I do get my hands on some of this ink I will be writing out a full review for all to read.

Addtional Notes - You can purchase these pre mixed or in several various options from small EZTrav vial or the EZUze or the complete kit 1oz of concentrate and a 2oz mixing bottle.

I have to admit I love trains and I just love Colfer's Logo: Wow one Great Train: The Pennslyvania T1 Steam Engine Streamlined.

Link to Order Inks from Colfer's Page