This week is the end of the Yoseka Stationery Fest in Brooklyn and, for many of us, counting down the hours and days until the two largest pen shows in the US — the DC Supershow and the SF Pen Show. As we prepare for the upcoming shows, check out our special “Pen Show Prep” category to plan your shopping, packing and preparation for the upcoming shows.
My top five pen show “best practices”:
- Bring cash (most vendors like cash). Some foreign vendors will prefer credit card so they don’t have to convert currency so have your tap-to-pay and have chip credit cards ready. Cards without a chip require vendors to type the number in which is a higher fee and takes longer. Make sure your card have a chip or your credit cards are in your cell phone “wallet”.
- Map out the show floor before you get there to figure out where your favorite vendors are. If there is no map available, try to build a list of the vendors you’d like to visit and hopefully there is a map at the event you can refer to.
- Carry a SMALL tote bag that you can carry close to your body (not a backpack. I refer to backpacks as “turtle shells” since I frequently get hit in the head with them. People forget that they stick out a lot further in the back than they realize with a backpack on). If you can take purchases to your hotel room or out to your vehicle to lighten your load, please do. The aisles get crowded and everyone would prefer to have a little space than be sandwiched against a giant backpack.
- Pack a water bottle with a sealable lid and snack bars to stay hydrated and avoid sugar crashes. Hotel food options are often expensive and very limited. Leave space in your tote for small snacks, trail mix, and water.
- Pack your own notebook to test pens, samples inks, and take notes. Testing pens and ink on whatever paper is provided by a vendor might not have the same ink friendliness or texture as your preferred paper so using your own paper is the best way to guarantee that you like how a pen or ink feels on your favorite paper.
Pen Show Prep
- Countdown to the DC Pen Show: Pen Boutique’s 2026 Exclusives (via Pen Boutique Blog)
- Pen Shows 101 (via The Pen Addict)
- Pen Show Prep, Differently (via Rachel’s Reflections)
Pens:
- Comparative Overview: Pilot Custom 823 & Pilot Custom 74 (via Scrively)
- The Ferris Wheel Press – Limited Edition Twilight Symphony Masque Fountain Pen and Fountain Pen Ink (via Nick Stweart FOUNTAIN PEN INK ART)
Ink:
- ink review : Teranishi Guitar Night Time Soda (via inkxplorations)
- Ten Pens, But Inks (via Dime Novel Raven)
Pencils:
- Mechanical Pencil Rankings, August 2026 (via Urban Adventure League)
Notebooks & Paper:
- Guest Post – Planner Gadgets – Hans (via Philofaxy)
- 5 Considerations When Choosing a Notebook System (2026 Edition) (via The Gentleman Stationer)
Art & Creativity:
- Sharing My Sketch Journal Process (via Fueled by Clouds & Coffee)
- On My Table: Beginning of August 2026 (via Apple-Pine)
- Scientists Say They’ve Discovered a New Color Called Olo (via My Modern Met)
- France 2026: Reflections from my 3-week trip (via Liz Steel)
- Old Holland Watercolour complete range (via Jane Blundell Artist)
Other Interesting Things:
- No photo outing (via Drewscape)
- How in-camera tricks, colourful paper and patience brought Sam Nicklin’s reflective photographs for Alessi to life (via It’s Nice That)
- 13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. 777) (via Messy Nessy Chic)
- The story behind Present & Correct, the perfectly curated stationery shop that’s every graphic designer’s dream (via It’s Nice That)
- “Long live Hyrule jazz!” The Z Suites is “a modern jazz reinterpretation” (via Kottke.org)
- Christmas Cookie Stamp Designs for the Holidays (via USPS Newsroom)
- HK is magnetic (via José Naranja)
- Stationery Favourites – July 2026 (via Inky Imaginings)
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