If winter’s gray skies are giving you the blues, check out this colorful review from California, where Erin of La Plume Etoile tries out J. Herbin’s pearlescent inks.

I really enjoyed testing these inks and plan to use them for special occasion items such as when writing someone a special card… If you are interested in them, I would recommend giving them a chance and playing with the right nib and paper combinations.

Meanwhile, it’s not surprising that you’d say nice things about a company that gave you a prize (which is not to say we expect our own contest winners to rave about their loot if they don’t like it!) but I enjoyed reading this blurb about a UK contest winner all the same. Her name is Sheila English, and she won something we don’t make — an iPhone. Here’s what she had to say about the pleasingly named Europa Minor notepad she bought when she entered the contest:

I am always making notes and was looking for something that I could easily carry in my handbag, and the Europa Minor Pad was an ideal size (plus came in purple, my favourite colour!)

(Europa Minor is a notebook by Tollit and Harvey, an Exacompta subsidiary whose products we don’t import in the US.)