Editing The Pen Addict 250/transcript (section)

== Ink Swabbing ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' So we'll get into that in a second. But tell us how, how did this idea even happen just from the ink swabbing and testing perspective?

'''Ana Reinert:''' Well, I'm like so many other like fountain pen users. I became a huge ink junkie in the process of becoming a fountain pen junkie as well. And I discovered those like the word cards and of course discover the Maruman word cards about the same time everyone else did just about the time they discontinued them.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right.

'''Ana Reinert:''' And so I was able to get, you know, a couple packs of them, you know, as they were being discontinued. And so, you know, ran out of them and was complaining, like, what am I going to do now? I really like this sort of size and format and I can't find anything in the market that's anything like this. You know, what am I going to use to test my inks? And this has become a real part of sort of how I do my blog and how I keep track of my inks. And I just had like volumes of things that I wanted to test and compare. And Bob's like, like every time I complain about something that I don't have, he's like, let's just make it.

'''Ana Reinert:''' And I'm like, are you serious? And he's like, well, what do you want? And I'm like, I want little cards that with a hole punched in them that I can attach a ring to so that I can, you know, group my inks together. And he's like, well, how hard can that be? He's like, I've got a machine that can die cut paper. We can find rings. Like, come on, this isn't rocket science.

'''Ana Reinert:''' And so he's like, all right, so what kind of paper do you want? And I'm like, it's got to be really good for fountain pens. And, you know, I showed him what the Maruman paper looked like. And he's like, well, it kind of looks like watercolor paper. So we started to look at watercolor paper. And we found out how expensive watercolor paper is. And we're like, okay, we could never produce anything with watercolor paper because these books would be like $40 a pop. Like, okay, this is not going to work. So we're like, okay. So we started looking at commercial printing paper. And every time he's like, he would bring home, you know, he would get samples from commercial printing vendors. And I would touch like a, you know, a cotton swab or a paintbrush to it. And it would just like soak in and just look like a blob. And we're like, okay, this is never going to work. Like, so first he was just bringing me like sheets of samples. And then he would just actually bring me the sample books that come from printers. He'd bring me the whole book. He's like, just try them all. Just try every single sheet. Just try them all. So I was like, I must have tried 100 papers. I'm like, no, none of these work. So then we started going to like art supply companies. And he's like, just try these papers. And I'm like, could we even get these in the quantities that we need? He's like, I don't know. But just try them. Like until we find the paper, like just try them.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Did you know what you were looking for specifically? Or was it like, I'll know it when I find it?

'''Ana Reinert:''' It was kind of, we'll know it when we find it. Like it had to be, you know, the right weight so that we could fit enough sheets into a book that it wasn't going to, you know, like, you know, we kind of like, it needed to be about the same weight as the Maruman so that we could get about 100 sheets in. It couldn't be too expensive. So we would go by what the retail price for a full sheet is that we could cut it down. Like, could we get it in the US? Like, could we order it? Or was it going to have to be shipped in from Europe or Asia? Like, it started to become this kind of thing, like, we just have to find the right paper. We'll figure out how to get it here later. Because at a certain point, it got to the point where we just couldn't find the paper. Like, nothing was right. And it's like, it would either be too rough or too smooth or too, like, it just, it started to be like, does this paper even exist? Like, nothing was right. And then we finally got this paper. And I'm like, I think this might work. And it was like, the vendor that showed it to us didn't have like a commercial price for it. And we're like, um, do you actually sell this paper? And he's like, well, I guess we can sell it to you. And we're like, seriously? And he's like, well, yeah, since you're just down the street, yeah, we'll sell it to you. We're like, awesome. So that's how we got it. It was literally because we are in town. It's an art supply vendor that distributes basically art supplies and art papers. Like, they bring it in from all over the world. And then they distribute out of Kansas City. But normally this paper, they actually use and make it into like sketchbooks and stuff. But because they're here in town, they'll actually sell it to us in the sheet.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Crazy.

'''Ana Reinert:''' So that's how we got the paper.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. And the paper's got a story to it, right? I mean, this isn't your run of the mill, no pun intended paper.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Yeah. It comes from a 400 year old European paper mill.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Of course it does. Of course it does. So it basically comes over from Europe to this warehouse that's literally like two or three blocks from my office where I work. And then like I basically can see their warehouse from my office. And then they put it on a truck and take it over to Skylab, which is like a mile away. Okay.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' This is why people love you and this product. And we're going to talk more about that. But just knowing the care that you put into just choosing the paper. Like people should just buy this sight unseen, right? I mean, this is why we're like into this stuff that we are. Because we can be so fussy about things that don't matter to a lot of people but matter greatly to us. And to have someone take the time and care into doing that, it shows up in the end product. And I just wanted to, you know, point that out and say that, you know, not almost anyone can make a paper product. Not anyone can make a paper product good. And it takes what you did to make it good. And I just think it's awesome. Thanks.

'''Ana Reinert:''' So, yeah, at one point we like kind of had a panic. Because the paper is about the same texture, both on the front of the paper and the back of the paper. To the point where we had like a panic one night where we were like, what happens if people take these out of the ring and then can't remember what's the front and what's the back? So, like, what if they swab on the wrong side of the paper? Like, will it have a different effect? I literally got up in the middle of the night and like swabbed on both sides of the paper. Because I'm like, what happens if they swab on the wrong side? Like, will they get a totally different effect? And then they'll be really upset. And they're like, wait, this paper is terrible. So, I swabbed on both sides of the paper. And I like, Bob was literally like just handing me pieces of paper. And he's like, here's the front, here's the back. Just swab on both sides. Just do it.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And what were the results? Same?

'''Ana Reinert:''' It looks exactly the same.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Okay. You had to be stressed there for a second. I did.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Because I totally panicked. I was like, oh my gosh. Like, what happens if you do like a 52 card pickup? Like, and the paper just goes everywhere.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So true.

'''Ana Reinert:''' And because, you know, it happens to me all the time. I'm not, I'm always knocking stuff over and, you know, the paper's going everywhere. And I couldn't tell the difference. I mean, there may be a slight variation in your color, but not enough that anybody's going to get. Yeah. You know, like comparison. Like, you're not going to notice. Your, your aurora blue black is going to look like 98% the same, whether you're swabbing on the front or the back.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right.

'''Ana Reinert:''' And we were like, whew, okay. Not going to stress out over that. Because we were thinking like, even as we're putting the books together, because we're, we're hand assembling all the books. And we're like, well, what happens if we'd like put the covers on and the paper front or back? We're like, eh, it's fine. It's okay. You can swab on either side.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Real quick for the uninitiated. Skylab Letterpress is her husband, Bob's print shop. So this is a, this is a fame, all in the family business. So when she refers to Bob and Skylab, it's Anna's real husband and his real print shop.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yes. So, so you and Bob.

'''Ana Reinert:''' The rest of the family.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yes. Yes. You launched these just recently at the Little Rock Pin Show was the, the big unveiling, right?

'''Ana Reinert:''' Yes.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yes. So how, how did that go?

'''Ana Reinert:''' It went really well. Like what was so surprising was that like we were showing these to people and this was really the first time that we had actually shown anybody these. And in the case of Little Rock, for a lot of people, this was the first time that they had ever seen the idea of sort of doing ink swabs. For, for a lot of people, this was, they had never seen the concept. Like for a lot of like pen addict listeners and, and people who, you know, are on your blog, they've all seen these concepts and people who've been on the well-appointed desk have seen my ink swabs and stuff. So they kind of had, have a general idea of this concept, but a lot of people at the pen show had never seen this. So they, we were sort of educating them on the idea of doing ink swabs. And, you know, at a lot of pen shows, people just have no, they're like buying lots of colors of ink. Why? Right. Black, blue, maybe blue, black. Like that's all I need. We're like, that's fine. You can swab those three colors to, to your heart's content. You could use these as scratch pads, like whatever you want.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' How does Parker Black look on your paper?

'''Ana Reinert:''' Excellent. Looks lovely. It doesn't bleed, doesn't feather. You could use these as, you know, scratch pads. But yeah, so it was interesting just to watch them kind of just see us play and, you know, we're fascinated. And what was even more fun was we were sort of right next to the Van Es table with all of their inks and then the ink testing station. So for a while, there were people who were literally like taking swabs and walking back and forth and eventually buying like two and sometimes three books. Nice. Coloring books. So it was really fun.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Nice, nice. So then you, you had a, I guess that was kind of a soft launch. Then you, you, you took them home, put them up on the website and what happened?

'''Ana Reinert:''' Um, I spent a lot of time packaging orders.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' And that, how awesome was that? That was totally fun, right?

'''Ana Reinert:''' Uh, it was just really surprising because honestly, when I put them up, I, it was, again, we, it was kind of a soft launch. Like, you know, we put them up, I put like a post on Instagram and a post on Twitter and kind of just waited to see what would happen. Right. And it kind of exploded.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's funny.

'''Ana Reinert:''' You're sort of laughing at me.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I am because it's funny how, when you put in a lot of time and a lot of effort into something that you believe in and it's successful, it's like, huh, it's funny how that happened. It's not like you, you know, you didn't just wake up one day, print some books and throw them on the internet. You gave a crap. Right. And it shows in the end and like, I've gone through the same thing and, you know, and I'm still nervous about every product we launch. You know, at, at knock and it's nerve wracking as hell, but you know, like deep down that you put in everything you could into this product. And lo and behold, it's a huge success. And I'm just so proud of you. And I love the books. And it's just, it's just such an amazing product. It's a needed product. You know, I talked to you this weekend while you were packing and we talked about it and it was just, it's just, it's just fun to see this happen. It's just, I just get the biggest kick out of it and it's exciting for me to watch. And I'm just, I'm just so, so excited. So, you know, what are you able to keep up? How's the production looking? You know, do you have these ready for Atlanta or do you have a bunch more on the website now? How's it going?

'''Ana Reinert:''' We're continually putting more up on our big cartel page. So we're just going to keep adding them. We're in contact with our paper distributor. So we're going to have, we'll have more for Atlanta and we're just going to keep rolling. So if there's not more up on big cartel, we'll get some more up shortly. So we're just going to keep rolling. But yeah, so we're, we're working. We were really surprised at how enthusiastic people were. So we just, you know, we did, we just didn't know. We weren't, you know. Sure. Our expectations were low because, you know, with anything you, you know. Yeah, I think that's good. We didn't, we didn't make a million and like, and sat back and like, let's watch the money roll in. Right, right.

'''Ana Reinert:''' We definitely, you know, we're, we're prepared for, you know, let's, let's wait and see what happens. And, you know, and we're, we're learning. I mean, like things just, you know, figuring out things like we, we, we prepared for packaging for, you know, people who placed orders for one and two books. And then we had people order four and five and 10 books. And we didn't have packaging for that. So we kind of had to improvise for a lot of that. And so we may have, you know, I was nervously packaging, trying to figure out how to package larger orders. And, you know, like literally like sweat beating, like, I'm not sure I did that right. Like, I hope the packaging worked out, you know, so.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Pro tip, that never stops. There's always going to be something.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Like, I'm not sure I did that right.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep.

'''Ana Reinert:''' But yeah. So, you know, we'll figure all that out. Everything went, you know, everything got shipped out with tracking numbers. And, you know, if we have to send them, send them out again, because they got muddled in the mail. It's been raining like cats and dogs here. So I'm a great, I shipped paper in the rain. Awesome. Awesome. You know, we'll ship more of them. You know, it's, it's paper. We can make more.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So does this get the wheels turning for any other products?

'''Ana Reinert:''' We're definitely thinking about what else we can do, but I don't want to rush anything. Because again, you know, this was something that we made because we felt like there was a need and a want and a desire to do it. So.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' No, I was just going to say it. It's, it's clearly you, you've hit on something and, you know, it's just, it's cool to see. And, and anything we can do to support you in the coloring book, Myke, we are glad to do. And you even, you've, since you, you mentioned like an Arkansas show, people didn't know what an ink swatch book was. And you've gotten a bunch of questions since you've put them online. So you did an ink swatch video too, right?

'''Ana Reinert:''' Yes, I did. It was sort of my first, first attempt at doing stuff like that. So.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, I thought it was awesome. We'll link that in the show notes. So give the, give the quick overview of just your general process for swatching.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Oh yeah. I, my, mine's, you know, it's kind of been refined over the years, but I just use a paintbrush, just like a watercolor paintbrush to do a big swab. And then I use a dip nib to do just a quick writing sample. And then that way everything can be cleaned up really quickly and I can do another one. And that's how I do each one. And so that was actually sort of my litmus test for the paper that I use for the coloring is that it had to stand up to that test, which I think is sort of like the hardest test for any paper because dip nibs are the most likely to feather and bleed. And it's the same thing with using like a watercolor brush, which is sort of laying down a lot of ink.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, I thought it was the most accurate test too, because I've used cotton swabs in the past and they just don't do a great job of giving you a real expectation of what the ink looks like. But I think your swatches and the way you do it with the paintbrush and the dip nib give you like a really accurate and the paper too. Obviously, you know, that's important. And, you know, we were looking at as you were doing them at the show, we were looking like, oh, my God, look what this ink did. And I'd go and like buy the bottle of ink. It was like, okay, I need this now because look at this. It's crazy.

'''Ana Reinert:''' And with a brush, you can do like a big glob of ink and then you can kind of let it kind of dry brush it a little bit and get a little bit less color. So you can kind of see what it looks like when you're getting sort of that faded edge quality. So that's kind of why I ended up settling with using a paintbrush is because I can kind of get like the variation of color. So what it looks like really saturated and what it looks like when it's a little bit drier kind of thing. And then same thing with the dip nib. You can kind of and you can do that sort of you can get the line variation, the thicks and thins. So.

'''Ana Reinert:''' But yeah, so the whole video kind of is my very nervous attempts at showing all of that. But hopefully it'll get better as you know, if I do any more videos, if anybody wants to see other examples of things that I do, I'd be willing to do another one and maybe improve my quality a little bit. I just did it with my phone and very quickly. I was teased about the sound quality and stuff. And I'm like, well, I used my mic stand to hold up my camera, which is why there is no mic involved.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. No, I think it's perfect. That's all you need. All you need. We're neither one of us are at Myke's level of video production. And I think we can be forgiven. Absolutely not. Yeah. We're not at we're not at Pen Chalet's level of fountain pen sales either. Are we, Myke?