Stationery Pulse: The Case for Leather Pen Cases

August 17, 2026

New here? The Stationery Pulse is a short weekly letter for people who still think on paper. Every Monday I round up what's worth reading in the analog world: pens, notebooks, planners, and the people using them well, then close with whatever's new from Planning Engineered. One letter, once a week. That's it.

If you leave your pens loose in your bag, your pocket, or on the desk, a leather case is going to be a great choice. This one is a five-pen case, and again, thank you to Galen Leather for sending this over for me to check out. The leather is aging beautifully, and I love that it matches my wallet. That's one of the nice things about Galen Leather, and it shows in some of the reviews I've seen online too. This week's roundup picks up that same leather thread, with a giveaway winner walking off with the Sinclair pen case.

What's new in analog

Giveaway Winner: Galen Leather Sinclair Case (Well-Appointed Desk): Only one Sinclair case was up for grabs in this giveaway, and Well-Appointed Desk has already emailed the winner directly to claim it. Check your spam folder if you entered, because an unclaimed prize gets handed to a new winner after seven days.
Sunday Reading for August 16, 2026 (Gentleman Stationer): This week's Sunday Reading roundup singles out Dromgoole's collaboration with Pilot on the Custom 823 "The Sixty-Five," alongside recaps from the 2026 DC Pen Show and a returning Leonardo Dolcevita colorway. It's the quickest way to catch what pen show buyers and bloggers linked to this week without reading every post yourself.
Swatching the #ferriswheelpress Vintage Photography ink collection (Mark Your Pages): Ferris Wheel Press's new Vintage Photography ink collection leans into old Hollywood, with dark moody inks and silver and champagne shimmer inside packaging styled like vintage film reels. Mark Your Pages can't keep every box, so the swatches get paired with cut-out pieces from the packaging in a stamp journal instead.
My NEW Homemade Notebook-Making Setup! (Gare the Bear): Gare the Bear returns this week with another update to a homemade notebook-making setup that's been evolving in stages. If you've been following the process video after video, this is the next step forward.
The Paper Workout Journal (Bullet Journal): The Bullet Journal blog's author has logged every CrossFit workout on paper for nearly 12 years, a habit that keeps drawing questions from gym members who assume paper means avoiding screens. Reading Audrey Watters' Substack piece "The Case for a Paper Fitness Journal" prompted a look back at why the method still holds up after more than a decade.
The best thing you can do for yourself in 2026 is to keep a daily diary (Bullet Journal): Bullet Journal's latest piece frames a daily diary as a personal project: small entries add up over time into what it calls an asset built from years of scattered sentences. It also introduces two parallel stories, one about a pottery professor and one about a photography professor, that make the point that producing a high quantity of work beats aiming for a single polished one.
Ask TGS: Are Leather or Fabric Pen Cases "Better" for your Pens? (Gentleman Stationer): The Gentleman Stationer weighs leather against fabric pen cases and lands on a clear verdict: neither material actually risks damaging a pen, so the choice comes down to weight, animal-product concerns, and how a case ages over time. The piece runs through four cases currently in rotation, from a Rickshaw Fillmore to a Nagasawa Kip leather folio, with cognac and saddle named as the favorite leather colors.
What I Kept From Bullet Journaling & What I Finally Let Go (Mark Your Pages): Before building out a 2027 planner, Mark Your Pages revisits years of Bullet Journaling and sorts the method into what still works, what's been adapted, and what's finally been dropped. The video isn't arguing for or against the system itself; it's making the case that a planning setup should keep changing as life does.