So there I was, I had bought a small pack of Hallmark Expressions valentines to give with flowers to my wife and two daughters. I had carefully removed the cards and decided who was getting what and then even more carefully decided which fountain pen to use. This was going to be a real pleasurable writing experience with pen and special thoughts and I was savoring the moment. But--arghhhhh! The fine-nibbed pen I chose, a Sheaffer, didn't do so good on the card stock, but OK, good enough. Then I wrote the name on the front of the envelope. Or tried to. Just puddles of ink and NO cohesion to paper. Arghhhh! OK, wipe it off. Grab a Sharpie fine point. Still very little cohesion! Arghhhhhh! No, no, no. Grab a ballpoint, works fine. So on the next card I grab a pretty heavy medium-nibbed Parker and it wrote well on the card, but still no go on the envelope. Back to the BP.

So the pleasure of sitting and writing on the cards was really ruined. Happily the recipients could have cared less and enjoyed the flowers and thoughts. But gosh, why are they making such lousy, slick, techno fiber envelopes without FP Advisory Warning Lables on the packaging?

We feel your pain. A lot of card stock and envelopes are quite unfriendly to fountain pens. With experience, you'll be able to stay away from the worst offenders.

I dislike preprinted cards (where's the fun in not writing the message yourself?), and this sounds like another reason to abjure them. I have blank (inside) note cards from watercolorist Paul Jackson of his Manhattan Tapestry, which have a great (albeit smoother than I might have chosen otherwise) coating. Ink doesn't feather at all and it takes a few minutes to dry, but it looks nice and the nib glides smoothly.

They're sized to fit in a normal envelope (since the painting is much wider than it is tall) and I have cotton envelopes I bought separately, which I use for the cards and other correspondence. The cotton envelopes absorb ink beautifully, and italic writing on them immediately looks classic. The texture requires slow writing, but it's worth it.

Paul Jackson's Manhattan Tapestry, available as note cards from his web site:

www.pauljackson.com

Yeah, I just wasn't thinking. I have some FP appropriate card stock I often use for notes, but just thought for some reason all would be fine with the Hallmark pack. Thanks for the commiseration. I'm living and learning ...

After a 10 minute wait on P.R. Black Cherry (from a slightly wet medium nib), I broke out the heat gun. Oddly enough, the envelope was much nicer, and was dry to the touch in 30 seconds or less.

Of course, I've seen envelopes where rollerball ink beaded and refused to soak in. A fine-point Sharpie saved the day, but what earthly purpose could such paper serve? Besides looking pretty, of course...

Jon

Exactly.

...and this is why being teetotal doesn't pay. I carry a coaster from my favourite pub around, because it's a brilliant blotter-card. On the slicker paper which looks like the ink will never dry on, you apply the blotter and there is frequently a perfectly good impression of what you meant to write still clinging to the paper, and usually quite smear resistant. It's not a panacea, but it does help in a lot of circumstances.