Modern, unique, creative and fun!

Affordable handmade calligraphy nib holders, hand-painted to custom designs.

One Christmas I asked Zach to make me a holder for one of my gifts, and he did and I loved it and I posted about it and other people wanted one! Totally took us by surprise, and I really love that that's how it started. It was a natural and organic thing, born from a gift of love. My favorite part about what we do is how each holder is a reflection of the person who designed and owns it, instead of being a reflection of me. I want your holder to be an extension of you and your creativity!

Design Your Own Semi-Custom Pen
Semi custom pens give you a handful of shapes and designs to choose from to design your own pen!
These are readily available in the shop, are cheaper than fully custom pens and have a faster shipping time!

Pricing

FAQ's

• How do I adjust my flange?
  The beauty of calligraphy is that every hand is different! This can making customized pens difficult to make because every writing style is different. If you find the default angle uncomfortable for your hand it's very easy to adjust! A set of small pliers are the most helpful when adjusting, just pull the arc of the flange wider to fit larger nibs, and squeeze it in to fit smaller nibs. See video for more assistance.

• How long does it take to make a custom pen?
  Custom orders generally take 3-4 weeks (per pen) to make, more intricate designs and multiple pen orders may take longer.

• How much does international shipping cost?
  $14.50 (that's the bare minimum at the post office, so unfortunately even if you buy a $2 item the shipping will be that much. This is out of my control.)

• How do I remove a non-affixed flange?
  Non-affixed flanges are pinned in place, but not glued in. You can pull the flange out, it will require some force. It's okay if the pin doesn't come out, you'll be able to push the flange back in. It's recommended to glue in your flange once it'd adjusted to your liking to prevent wobbling over time. You can do that with any super glue or epoxy.

• I'm a beginner, what do you recommend?
  I recommend carrot obliques with affixed flanges for beginners. The short and fat carrot shape helps alleviate hand cramps, and trains you to have a light grip and light hand while writing. It also gives you more control because more of the pen is being held in your hand. Oblique's can seem odd to work with at first, but are easier overall because the flange puts the nib at the 50 degree slant needed for calligraphy, instead of having to turn your paper and perspective to that angle. The affixed flange is more stable and prevents wobbling, altho an extremely heavy hand will cause wobbling no matter what.

• What's a carrot?
  A carrot is a short 5" pen with a thicker grip. The thick grip helps alleviate hand cramping and works to train your hand to have a light grip and light pressure. It also maintains more control than other pens because more of the pen is being held in your hand.

• Do you make ergonomic holders?
  No, we don't hand-carve any pens. The process is extremely tedious and time consuming and would result in our prices having to double, and our goal is to create mid-range, affordable pens in a designer style. If you're looking for an ergo pen you should definitely look up Heber Miranda's holders, they're amazing!

• Does it come with a nib?
  Fully custom pens, semi-custom Design Your Pens, and pens contained in a calligraphy kit come with a G nib. Colorful Carrots, Resonate pens and Paint it Yourself pens do not.

• The colors aren't a perfect match/why doesn't it look like "so and so's" pen?
  Just like how every calligrapher is different, every pen maker is different. There's no right and wrong way to make a pen, and a lot of it comes down to preference. There's also no pen-making manual out there, so every maker learns through trial and error. Difference in pens comes down to a lot of different factors: price, preference, style decisions, amount of time to make, personal goals, etc. Some things to take into consideration before comparing my pens to other pens out there:

  • Price: Our pens are very mid-range and affordable, and that's exactly how I want it. I want the average, or beginner calligrapher to be able to own a unique and creative pen. If you're looking at other pen makers, or other customized pens you should expect to spend $150-$300 depending on what you want.

  • Preference: I tend to prefer a steeper flange angle when writing, not everyone does - and that's okay! Just adjust the flange to your desired angle. I also purposefully use very light-weight wood, for many reasons: to help train you into a lighter hand and because the specific wood takes watercolor paint the best.

  • Style: I'm one of the few pen-makers who hand-paints the pens. That's my style preference. Every pen out there is beautiful in it's own right, I just specialize in watercolor painting and marbling. This process takes much longer than most pen-making processes out there (excepting hand-carved pens.) This hand-painting process also does not afford me the luxury of finishing the pens on the lathe - meaning I have a much more laborious lacquering process.
    *An important point to remember: these pens are hand-made and hand-painted... meaning not made by machines, so they have human characteristics and imperfections making each pen unique and different from another. Please don't hold me to machine standards and please don't compare me to other pen-makers especially when they have a completely different making process and price point.
    
    Since every pen is hand-painted we can't guarantee exact design or color matches. Especially with marbling - the process is much harder to control. Also light colors are the hardest to marble, the wood shows through much more and the light colors may be difficult to see or make stand out.

• Do you offer wholesale pricing/discounts?
  We do! Order minimums are $500 - Please contact us directly for specific inquiries.

• Do you accept returns/refunds?
  We only accept returns on non-custom items. Must be returned within 2 weeks of purchase and be in new condition. Feel free to resell anything!

• How do I store my pen/why did my pen crack?
  Any type of wood with a lacquer finish needs to be stored in a temperature controlled area for any long period of time. A crack in the finish of a pen means that the pen was most likely stored for a while in a very hot environment, causing the wood to expand. This can also happen if it's stored in a very cold place, causing wood to contract, and then expand and crack when going back to a normal temperature.