Paper Plant Co. Shop Visit

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

I hung out for a couple extra days after the 2025 California Pen Show and one of the things I wanted to do was visit some stationery shops. Let’s be real, that’s what I want to do in pretty much any city, lol. One of the places I wanted to check out was Paper Plant Co in Los Angeles’ Chinatown district. They recently expanded their space and now have a separate space for home/lifestyle goods (and coffee!!) next door to their stationery space. Let’s take a look!

The Paper Plant Co coffee shop/home space on the left and stationery shop on the right.

Can’t wait to go inside! Pro tip: Go do your shopping before you get your coffee/tea so you can take your time, have your hands available to check out the goodies, and not spill!

I love all the red lanterns that were hanging from the ceiling of this entryway.

The shop is pretty compact, but they manage to pack a lot of fun things in the shop.

Look at all of these shelves full of goodies like papers, pens, and more!

Paper, stickers, wax seals, bookmarks…

More stickers, papers, tags, portable scissors, too.

I forgot to get a shot of this table of pens and notebooks so you get a zoomed in picture instead, oops.

Next to the stationery shop is the cozy Home & Lifestyle space, where you can order a coffee or tea and shop for some fun products! Pro tip: If you’re not pressed for time, after stationery shopping, grab a coffee/tea and sit outside to enjoy the Southern California weather.

Inside the Home & Lifestyle space.

Look to the right from the entrance and you’ll find wooden boxes from Classicky, as well as candles, incense, and other fun things for the home.

Look to the left and you’ll see embroidery kits, air fresheners, key chains, pins, etc. There are also cups, brewing equipment, etc. along this wall too.

So many neat things in here, including chocolates packed like sardines!

Since I just came from the CA pen show a couple days before, I kept my haul to a minimum: Multi-sticker sheets by eric small things (you can put them on fabric!), a shop sticker, an exclusive Stalogy x Paper Plant Co notebook, and a Shchi-iro marker that allows you to write on washi tape! I also played with their shop stamps too.

Both of the Paper Plant Co spaces are relatively small, but there’s even more online, so be sure to check out their website too. Paper Plant Co’s stationery space is located at 936 N Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90012, while the Home & Gifts space is next door at 938 N Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90012. They are open daily from 9AM - 4PM. They can also be reached by email or by phone at 213-269-9784, and they are on Instagram as Paper Plant Co.

Colorverse vs Kakimori - Dip Nib Showdown

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

I first reviewed the Kakimori dip nibs (along with several others) in my dip nib comparison article a while back, so I was very excited when I heard that Colorverse was coming out with their own version of the dip nib, called the Shuttle nib.

I am using the same methodology for the Colorverse Shuttle nibs as I did last time with the others:

1. Ink - I am using Waterman Serenity Blue as a baseline for the swatches/writing samples. This is most nib grinders’ preferred ink of choice as it has consistent flow, does not stain and is good for vintage pens. I also picked a shimmer ink to see if it behaved differently. I capped and shook the vial between each test.
2. Paper - I used a combination of a 68 gsm Tomoe River notebook, a 80 gsm Rhodia graph pad, and the standard sized Col-O-Ring cards made from 160gsm paper.
3. Cleaning - I have used the steel Kakimori dip nib as my primary swatching tool for the past couple of years, so it has been rinsed/cleaned/wiped many times. I use tap water to rinse between uses.
4. I use a syringe to gently shoot water downwards towards the tip of the nib.
5. I do not dip the nib/holder into water and swish for cleaning, so I don’t get ink stuck inside the holder.
6. Writing - Aside from the name of the dip nib, I tried to write the same text on the different papers so you can see how much writing I could get out of one dip. For the Colorverse nibs, I will write a line without an initial cleaning, so I can see whether it writes on first use. Then I will rinse/dry it before rewriting the line again.
7. Swatches - I am making a broad line swatch as well as my typical Col-O-Ring swatches with both sets of nibs.

Note: After about 6 months of use, the Kakimori dip pen holder started allowing the dip nib to slide out of the ferrule (the “round thingy” that holds dip nibs in place). I showed a video to Kakimori, who ended up replacing the holder. Unfortunately, the replacement started doing the same thing some months later, so I stopped using that holder. I have also since misplaced it, so I don’t have any comparison photos of it next to the Colorverse holder.

The Colorverse Shuttle nib is packaged in a black box with holographic logo/design (right), which is then encased in a simple black box sleeve (left). The nib holder is similarly packaged but in a longer box (not pictured).

The Kakimori’s packaging (left) has a very different aesthetic. For lack of better words, I would say it feels more organic, while the Colorverse packaging gives off a very modern, space-like vibe, appropriate for its Shuttle namesake.

The hand marked check matches the rest of the Kakimori’s packaging aesthetic. Easy to see at a glance Colorverse’s brass or steel nib.

Before I get into the nitty gritty, let’s just get this out there ‘cause I know you’re dying to know if they are compatible with other holders. And the answer is YES! Both the Colorverse Shuttle and Kakimori dip nibs fit in standard ferrule nib holders, and yes, both will fit into the other’s nib holders as well! This is great news for folks who already have nib holders for the Kakimori or other dip nibs (neither will work in oblique nib holders).

Colorverse Shuttle aluminum nib in a Tachikawa holder, Kakimori steel dip nib in the Colorverse Shuttle holder, and Shuttle brass nib in a Speedball holder.

You can easily fit a Zebra G or pretty much any other standard dip nib in the Colorverse Shuttle holder.

There’s no denying that the shape of the Shuttle nib is similar to that of the Kakimori, but they are also a bit different. The Shuttle is a longer nib and has sharper channel grooves than the Kakimori. It is also more narrow and pointed, while the Kakimori is a bit broader and more “rounded”. Both of these differences factor into how the nib feels when using them at more extreme lower angles.

Colorverse Shuttle nib on the left, and the Kakimori nib on the right. Both are Brass and are in the Tachikawa holder, which has a standard dip nib ferrule.

Despite using a very light touch at more horizontal angles, the swatches still show “scratch marks” where the nib scratches the Col-O-Ring. I didn’t feel this quite as much on the much smoother TR 68 gsm paper, but neither performed quite as smoothly as the Kakimori.

The Colorverse Shuttle nib (Aluminum) in the Shuttle nib holder (also Aluminum.)

The Colorverse Shuttle nib holder has a ridged grip section, which is neither too smooth nor too sharp. It makes it easy to hold without your fingers slipping. It is slim with a bit of heft to it, unlike a traditional wood or plastic dip pen holder which is very light. As such, it can be a bit uncomfortable for long term writing if you prefer a lighter pen or more girthy grip section or both. This nib holder is the Large model and is 7.4”/187 mm. There is also a Small one which is ~5.6”/142 mm.

Thanks to technology and poor photo editing skills, here is an approximation of the Kakimori holder (left silver) with the Colorverse Shuttle holder (right center). The holders on the left/right sides are from Tachikawa and Speedball.

The Shuttle nib holder doesn’t look like anything more than a ferrule in a ridged-grip long nib holder. The grip actually unscrews itself from the rest of the “barrel”, revealing a brass ferrule which is still attached. When attached, this piece and the grip form a gap which holds the dip nib in place. This brass piece is also detachable from the holder, making cleaning easy if you somehow manage to get ink back there. Unscrewing the section also makes it easier to fit into shorter cases/pouches.

Grip section unscrewed from the nib holder. You can see that the piece that holds the ferrule is still attached to the rest of the holder. It would be cool if you can get grips with different materials, designs, etc.

You can unscrew the ferrule if you need to disassemble it further to put it in a small case or for further cleaning. I wonder if the ferrule is replaceable - that would have solved the problems with my Kakimori holder.

For the writing sample below, the first part was done with the Shuttle nib right out of the box without any rinsing or cleaning. I did a quick wipe with a napkin to ensure no particles would get in the ink.

Header with 4 lines of text before running out of ink. A simple rinse and wipe before a new dip gets an additional line of text. No problems writing cursive or print on the slightly textured Col-O-Ring card either.

Making my swatch line with the Aluminum Shuttle nib. There is less of a curvature of the Shuttle nib, so I had to use a very low angle in order to not cut the paper or make much thinner lines.

Writing samples on Rhodia 80gsm (left) as well as writing at some different angles

This was really hard to do towards the bottom of the page of a super thick notebook, especially for someone like me who is also used to writing at 75 degrees.

One of the things that differentiates the Colorverse Shuttle nib from the Kakimori nib is a small reservoir which stores a wee bit of ink so you don’t have to dip it as often. I dipped it a few times because I could see that it was a surface tension bubble as opposed to ink in the reservoir.

Ink in the nib reservoir.

After dipping and confirming ink was in the reservoir, I managed to write a bit more than 1 page of A5 slim, which is about 3-4x what I got from a non-reservoir dip.

The number of pages you get will depend on multiple things including writing angle (my steep angle meant that ink flowed down faster initially), and how the reservoir is oriented (I had it facing up, but in another writing sample, I rotated it almost face down and got a lot more/too much ink flow).

Like I did with the Aluminum nib above, there was no cleaning of the brass nib prior to first writing. Not gonna lie, I absolutely HATED my Kakimori brass nib, so I was pretty nervous about how the brass Shuttle nib would perform. No need for worry as it wrote right away with zero problems whatsoever!

Header with 5.5 lines of text vs Aluminum’s Header + 4. Clean, wipe and re-dip gets an additional 3.5 lines of text.

Swatch line and Rhodia samples. I had a bit more trouble writing on the Col-O-Ring than I did with the Aluminum nib, which surprised me.

Different angles on TR 68gsm and Rhodia. I rotated the nib a bit while writing at the 20 degree angle on top, hence the drastic line width compared to the Rhodia sample.

After dipping and confirming ink was in the reservoir, I managed to write a few lines more with the Brass nib than I did with the Aluminum nib.

In general, the two Colorverse nibs wrote similarly for me from 45-75 degrees (these were all done as “below reservoir” dips, aka, not super saturated, but with plenty of ink to write with). The widths were a bit more noticeable around 30 degrees and even more so when lower than that.

The angles are approximate and how much ink is left on the nib will also affect its width. Colorverse Brass (top), Aluminum, Kakimori Brass, Aluminum.

Both the aluminum and brass Shuttle nibs handled shimmer without any issues.

Alongside other dip nibs using the same Robert Oster Glistening Orange Rumble ink sample.

TLDR: If you don’t already have a Kakimori dip nib, the Colorverse Shuttle dip nib would be a good purchase, especially if you want to use it more for writing. I had a slight preference of the Brass because the line was just a wee bit thicker and held a bit more ink, though I probably would never use it for more a lot of writing (that’s what FPs are for, lol), But, I liked the Aluminum for writing on Col-O-Rings more than the brass. On smoother paper like Tomoe River, I liked either of Shuttle nibs a bit more than the Kakimori steel nib (and we all know how I feel about the Kakimori brass regardless of paper). However, given that my primary swatches are done on Col-O-Ring cards, the steel Kakimori feels smoother when making the large swathes of ink. You may like or dislike how either nib feels on different kinds of paper (like textured papers or watercolor paper versus Tomoe or Rhodia) or if you plan on using it for writing versus art, etc.

I would hands down get the Colorverse Shuttle nib holder over the Kakimori because I don’t have to worry about the nib eventually sliding out of the ferrule like what happened with 2 of their nib holders. Plus I like the ability to disassemble it in case of inky accidents.

The Colorverse Shuttle nibs cost $42 and $48 for the Aluminum and Brass, respectively. The nib holder in Aluminum costs $75 and $60 for the large and small, respectively, while the Brass holder is $85 and $67. They are priced similarly to their Kakimori equivalents. You can find the Colorverse Shuttle products on the Pen Realm website.

(Disclaimer: The two Colorverse Shuttle dip nibs and the nib holder were purchased from Pen Realm at the 2025 CA Pen Show. All of the other products are my own, including the Kakimori nibs and various holders.)

2025 California Pen Show Recap

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

Lots of pics in this one, so let’s get the 2025 California Pen Show (aka CAPS) recap started!

2025 CAPS is in its third year and, like last year, was held at the Torrance Marriott Redondo Beach, site of the last LA Pen Show in 2022. This show was very similar to last year’s but with some improvements, which is nice to see from a growing show.

The trip to Los Angeles was a bumpy one, quite literally. The takeoff from SFO to LAX was one of the bumpiest I have ever been on (and I’m on a lot of planes). It continued to rain/pour on Thursday, so some folks were delayed, and most of us wondered if the storm would impact attendance. Thankfully, it did not.

Can’t tell from the picture overlooking the Del Amo mall across the street, but it was raining quite steadily.

One of the California Pen Show branded items that you could purchase at the front desk. Other items included t-shirts, pins, and Robert Oster show exclusive ink.

As with many past LA shows, the CA Pen Show was held during Presidents’ weekend, and also coincided with Valentine’s Day on Friday. The show felt fairly well-attended, with Friday and Saturday being the busier days. Despite the moderately wide aisles, it was still quite crowded and it was difficult to get through on the busier days/hours, especially for folks with walkers/wheelchairs.

Like the 2025 Philly and last year’s CAPS, I was working at the Franklin-Christoph table so I had limited time to take pictures (and shop).

This was my view on Saturday from the Franklin-Christoph table, which was at the far back wall of the ballroom.

It was Truphae’s first time at the CA Pen Show! They were full of smiles and happy tunes - they had music playing in the background!

Adrena Atkins of Retro Steno makes fun retro-inspired writing items.

Like these whimsical cards, letter kits and bookmarks!

Might have been the only time I saw Zach Skogsberg of Skogsy Pens at the table without his wife, Amy, who I saw at the table more often than him, lol!

The Skogsy Baby Saguaro Graft is two pens in one! It’s a regular sized pen if you use the regular barrel (as shown) or a bebe pocket pen if you swap that out for the short barrel at the bottom!! Thankfully, another customer bought that far left one and saved my wallet!

Lupe Gonzales of Itoya US is showing off their Sailor Pen Guild tote bag.

A beautiful sunset after a busy Saturday. Far cry from the rainy Thursday!

This 15th anniversary edition of the Pelikan Pura is extra cool with its special barrel engraving and packaging.

The newly released Pelikan INEO looks cool and it’s inexpensive too! Hey, Bossman, I need one or six for review, please!

Interested in learning more about vintage Esterbrooks? This book, published by The Aniline Press, is for you!

Bart Conner of Zodiac Pen Company was a first-timer at the CA Pen Show and I can tell you that there were nowhere near this many pens left by the time Sunday rolled around!

Always great to see Jeremy Saumere of Flax Pen to Paper, Ryan Finnegan of Saiko Stationery, and Adam Finer of Retro 51.

*Just ‘cause someone’s a vendor doesn’t mean they’ve seen it all or that they only want to sell you things. Here is Aiki from Pilot, trying my Pilot Myu with a Fine Medium nib. He didn’t even know that nib size existed (he knew about F and M) and was super excited to write with it! *

You could build your own Drehgriffel pen!

Like last year, there were many nib workers to choose from. They were spread out in the hallways (Matthew Chen, Anabelle Hiller, Gena Salorino) and inside the ballroom (CY, Kirk Speer).

Matthew Chen (right) and Momma Chen (Nina) said they had a good, busy weekend.

Anabelle was also part of the hallway gang and her appointments filled up before getting to the show!

Makes me happy to see a smiling Gena!

CY was near the F-C table and every time I looked over, he was busy doing grinds and tunes. He also had his Kyuseido pens for sale too.

Kirk Speer is heads-down checking out a customer’s pen.

Had to take a selfie with Mike Masuyama, who wasn’t at the show as a nib grinder, but as part of his new venture with Pacific Pen Works!

Like last year, CAPS had a lot of international vendors like Sarj Minhas, St John’s Pens, and Ray Walters from the UK, Miroslav (Miro) Tischler from Croatia, Osman Sümer from Germany, Mora Stylos from France and others. The folks from Galen Leather came from Turkey, and Nagasawa, Sey Pen, and Laurett’s came from Japan and I know there were other international vendors there as well.

This is Seypen’s second trip to the CA Pen Show.

Some beautiful pen trays from Seypen, as well as…

Urushi pens, cups and more!

Caught this wonderful moment between Paul Erano (left) of Black Pen Society “fame” and Takehiro Nagamine from Lauretts.

In recent years, there has been a noticeable increase in the presence of pen-adjacent vendors, which is great! I absolutely love seeing the different vendors whose products go beyond pens and inks. Some of them include returning vendors Mai Imai of Paper Treats and Christine Herrin of Everyday Explorers, and they were joined this year by Sakura Dragon, The Washi Station, M Lovewell and others (whose photos I forgot to take).

Christine Herrin of Everyday Explorers brought some of her memory keeping goodies, including a new CA stamp set (20% of sales benefits World Central Kitchen efforts in LA).

Mai of Paper Treats was super busy all weekend, but that’s not surprising since she stocks so many cute products.

Look at this awesome stamp that RiraRiraHanko made for Mai, so her customers could stamp in their journals or in this little pamphlet!

Pro tip: sticker paper (or shipping labels) is great for stamping! Rather than getting a partial imprint because your journal is bumpy or curved or you didn’t apply enough pressure, stamping on sticker paper means (1) you get a cleaner imprint, (2) you can rapidly do multiple stamps, (3) your stamp doesn’t bleed through to the other side, and (4) and you can stick it anywhere you want!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Mai makes use of her journalism background by publishing newspapers for her shop and at several of the shows.

I was so excited and humbled to be one of the featured posts in this issue!

Kayan Pepper Co had so many cute things at the table!

Like this cat bag, and I’m not even a cat person!

The Washi Station had lots of washi tape to choose from!

I loved flipping through the washi swatch book so you can see the different designs.

Part of the Sakura Dragon crew - they came prepared with a rotating crew of 6-7 folks for the show!

It was M Lovewell’s first time at the CA Pen Show and they brought a variety of stationery products.

Did someone say exclusive ink? M Lovewell partnered with Ink Mazeru (the brand behind Ka-Ku) to produce A Sweet Treat, which was inspired by this year’s Pantone Color of the Year, Mocha Mousse.

Last year, having gotten feedback to add classes or seminars added several. This year, they added even more paid seminars/classes and gatherings. Some of those classes included Fountain Pen Basics (with Lisa Vanness), Explore Creative Journaling (with Tom from Sugar Turtle Studio), Secrets from the Ink Collector (with Ana Reinart), and even a class on Improving Your Handwriting (with yours truly). There were also two gatherings where people could do a “vintage pens tasting” (no, you don’t eat the pens, but you get to try them and learn more about them), or join an after-hours pen mixer (hosted by Lisa Vanness) where folks got to hear about Rickshaw Bagworks, the story behind the Col-O-Ring, and different types of nibs and grinds.

Really enjoyed teaching the folks in my handwriting class, which included a few pen friends I already knew!

Cheryl Ball from Rickshaw Bagworks walks through how they get from design to finished product. Here she is showing how the art is transferred onto the fabric.

Cheryl, Lisa Vanness, and Ana Reinart answering questions from the group. Yours truly did a short walk-through of nibs, grinds, and other magic that nib workers can do.

After we finished our respective topics, folks wandered from table to table to chat with different folks and try their pens, etc.

Overall, the show felt fairly well-attended, most vendors did better on Friday than Saturday (though a few had the reverse experience), and Sunday was pretty quiet in the morning and picked up a little in the afternoon. I talked with a variety of vendors, from larger shops to makers, stationery vendors, international vendors, modern and vintage alike, and it seemed like people had “really good” to “solid” shows.

As a first time instructor at this show (and still a teaching newbie in general), I had a good experience working with Frank Zhang (co-organizer of CAPS) for my class. He was proactive in asking me for description/photos/price, etc. and regularly updated me with how many spots were sold/remaining.

Lest you think that everything went smoothly, there were a few things that the show could work on which would make it even better.

• For starters, the temperature. It was especially warm on Saturday and everyone felt like they were in a sauna. Even though the hotel staff couldn’t/wouldn’t turn on the AC, I think some box fans or something would help with circulation.
• Speaking of circulation, because the show packs the vendors in the hallways, you can’t get into the ballroom without walking through the hallways. This makes it crowded because there are folks trying to get into the show and others trying to shop at the hallway vendors’ tables. I know they don’t want other ballroom doors opened , but so many doors closed contributed to the heat problem.
• Class locations - All of the classes took place on the second floor, which is fine, but no one knew where their classes were. The front desk folks said there would be signs upstairs, but the hotel lighted signs didn’t specify which class was in which room, e.g. “Pier 1 Workshops/Seminars 10:00am - 5:00pm”. A relatively minor issue, but I did hear from folks that they were late because they didn’t know where their classes were.
• Website could use a little work - For example, if you clicked on Attendee in the menu (instead of hovering on it), you might not know that there was a seminar list or a vendor list. I did like that they had a floor map available online.

I had a great time this weekend (other than melting in the ballroom). The show is in a good hotel, rooms are nice, good food options, lots of hanging out spots. Lots to see, lots to buy, lots of people to meet for the first time and get reacquainted with. More classes of all sorts and more opportunities for people to hang out and learn from others. I griped about their social media presence last year and I’m happy to report that they did a much better job this year, with their first post for 2025 in the middle of June last year, as well as highlighting vendors and classes and posting/sharing IG stories. Considering the history of the former LA Pen Show, it’s really nice to see this show taking feedback seriously so they can continue to improve it.

Pretty sure I’ve said it in every show recap, the best part of pen shows are the people. And the CA Pen Show is no exception. I loved meeting folks in my class, at the Friday night mixer, at the bar. Even if you can’t stay at the hotel, I highly recommend sticking around in the evenings so you can experience this too.

Part of the after-hours scene at the hotel bar.

More bar shenanigans.

I was part of the Ink Pony Club thanks to Lisa from Olive Octopus! It was a lot of fun to play with different inks and color my pony whatever colors I wanted!

This might be the most lopsided haul ever, as I only bought one fountain pen, and everyone I talked to said it doesn’t count cuz it’s a TWSBI Eco and I would’ve bought it whether there was a show or not, lol.

I made a navy/yellow Drehgriffel (Go Bears!), got stickers from Retro 51, Carolina Pen Co, Sailor Pen Guild, Flax Pen to Paper, Carola, Travelers, Sakura Dragon, and Everyday Explorers, and the aforementioned TWSBI Espresso and Bronze.

”News” from Traveler’s Company, Paper Treats, Retro Steno Post, Pan Am stickers from Traveler’s Company, CA stamp set from Everyday Explorers, Robert Oster x CAPS Golden Coast Amethyst, A Sweet Treat (from M Lovewell), blotter paper from Esterbrook, and two Line Friends notebooks from Itoya US.

As awesome as all the stuff is, the real haul are the friendships made and nurtured at shows.

I got a Valentine from JacToy - super sweet of her!

So glad I got to see Meltem and Yunus from Galen Leather!

Pen Friends are the best friends! (Rheena, Toasty, Bettina, CY)

Hanging at the bar with Ana and some rando 😃

I’m excited for the next show coming up: the Baltimore International Pen Show, (hopefully) the Little Craft Fest in Houston, and the Chicago Pen Show. I hope to see you at one of these shows! Until then, stay warm, stay safe, and stay inky!

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