February's 365/30: 10/28 My top must have pens are...

10. My top must have pens are...

Oh dear... This is not a question you want to ask a stationery addicted graphic designer! How much time do you have?

• Faber Castell: Anything by Faber Castell makes me incessantly happy! I've used these pens for years due to their versatility and incredible life span. They're almost like the Fairy Liquid of the of the art-pen world (this may vary between users). I'm a sucker for bold outlines and noticable details, so the variety of thicknesses and quality of the finish (unless my hand isn't quite as steady as I want it tot be) makes me proud of almost every piece of work I've used them on. I highly recommend these pens to anyone who is arty or creative. A felt nib set of four will set you back about £9.99. I recommend waiting until you have a voucher for WHSmith, valid for stationery or art supplies, and use that to pick up a set.

• Paperchase Mechanical Pens: There's something about the action of these pens that makes me really happy to use them. Slightly smudgy on finer grain paper and cards (I've already one card with my inky impatience) these pens seem to be made for filofax flex paper. As Paperchase is constantly creating new ranges, there is a design for everyone and almost every filofax!

• Bic 4 Colour: I've had many multicoloured pens in my time, but none have matched the quality, strength and ergonomic design of the Bic 4 Colour. I currently own two; one for each of my Kingfisher Metropols (Oh? Did I not mention the second one?...) as the colour match of the blue Bic makes the designer within me very happy. Very useful for anyone who still writes things down. Comes in two sets of colours (that I know of), normally around the £2.20 mark from most retailers.

• Frixion Erasable Pens: I first discovered Frixion pens in secondary school (that's  "high school" for those of you with alternative, and therefore incorrect, dialects) and then proceeded to forget about them until college/university. This may have been due to their unsuitability for check-box based examinations as the computer that is used to mark the papers has difficulty in reading the "ink" inside Frixion pens. Right now I use these for noting things which may change, like work shifts, and for labelling tabs. I despise filofax's recommendation to label your fresh new tabs with indelible ink.

My flexible friend

As 2013 is the year of the organised, and the bargain hunter, I've made an addition to my collection.

Guess who...

I purchased an A5 flex for my younger brother this Christmas; as he as a dissertation to fight with this year, I knew that anything that would help him focus his energies (you know what musicians are like) and was easily portable would be an advantage.

After seeing the versatility of the flex I couldn't help but want one of my own, and they come in pink! Filofax can label it how they like, it is not quite magenta. Though calling it 'magenta' may help it to appeal to the print industry (everyone loves a touch of CMYK) and the feminine shade prevents women from being alienated from the First Edition range.

I'm really starting to get a liking for the non-leather products; combine this with Jeremy and you've got a regular ray of stationery sunshine! 

I've haven't written in it yet, but I know exactly what I'm going to use it for: CVs! In the past I've always written tailored covering letters to accompany my CV, which I also go over every few months depending on my priorities. I believe that hand writing them first instead of going straight to the computer, gives you two stages of thought between the document you're going to send out into the world. Pretty similar to my thoughts on the design process really.

As you can see, I've been influenced by Filofancy in using the flex as a Kindle case. My brother has decided against this for some reason, but each to their own. I also appropriated a metal bookmark from a cracker to hold any lose leaves I may have to carry, though I've only had bad experiences with these destroying the tops of pages, so this won't be holding anything more important than printing receipts.

I've hidden the tare and share jot pad, or the pizza sheet as I like to call it, underneath the ruled notebook and moved the pen holder to the right exterior pocket. Being right handed, I like to have everything on that side. I'm really going to have to force myself to write on the reverse of pages to prevent paper waste.

Huge phone is huge.

On the interior is another lovely pocket perfect for a mobile phone, thought it's probably not designed for one as large as mine.

Using this pocket does make it fatter than it's intended to be, and may compromise the condition of any cards you're carrying.

I have to say that I'm more than happy with this purchase, and finding it for less that £14 really sweetens the deal. The only down side is that the refills are expensive; £10 for a blank notebook seems extortionate. Luckily at a standardised size, you can use any sketch or note book you like. I'm looking at you recycled Paperchase stationery.

Magenta temptation

Is it bad that I've been eyeing the A5 filofax flex in magenta? They're 30% off at a local stationers, and I'm exceptionally tempted! Purely for the portable & protected note/sketch book aspects, I don't think I need another calendar right now. I just think it would make a perfect creative space (and hidey-hole for slim-line gadgets). My exceptionally fabulous boyfriend kindly going shopping with me today. While he is my voice of reason, his powers of persuasion are sometimes not strong enough. There was an unloved, and slightly damaged, A5 Domino in lavender giving me the eye last week for a mere £17.50. If that calls to me again, what do I do if he can't keep me away from it, and I fall completely for the flex!? It really has begun D: Due to bad weather, we didn't venture out into the dangerous world of temptation. You are safe for another day Domino!