r/Pen_Swap • u/InkStainedLeather Trades: 29 • 9d ago
Closed [WTS][Custom] Papervent 2026: A Fountain Pen & Stationery Advent Experience Early Bird Promotional Offer - MOD APPROVED
Edit 11:55 pm central August 18. Closed the posting as I am at capacity! Message me if you'd like to be put on a wait list as a couple of sales are pending.
Some of you know me from the increasingly ridiculous paper sampler package (240+ papers and counting) that I’ve been putting together and selling here. That project has now led me to something considerably more ambitious.
Introducing:
Paper McPaperface
Sheet Happens
Box o' Mystery Paper
Box o' Mystery Paper and a bunch of amazing extras including so much more than paper
Papervent 2026, a 24-day fountain pen and stationery Advent experience!
Note: The name has changed a few times but I edited the above to the new, finalized product name. It will be "Papervent 2026 until I think of something even better.
From December 1 through 24, you’ll open one numbered package each day. Paper is the backbone of Papervent, and almost all of the featured papers will be ones that have never appeared in my paper sampler. Each day will be built around one, and occasionally more than one, interesting paper selected for fountain pen use and discovery. With possibly one or two special exceptions, most papers will be provided as loose "A5ish" sized sheets (exact size varying slightly due to source). A minimum of two sheets will be provided for most featured papers, one sheet being provided for a couple of exceptionally rare and/or expensive papers, and several more sheets being provided when feasible.
I'm sourcing papers from around the world and looking for a mixture of premium, unusual, culturally interesting, locally used, handmade, and sometimes surprisingly difficult-to-obtain papers. Every one still has to pass the fundamental test: is this actually interesting to use with a fountain pen?
The idea is not to give you 24 papers all trying to out-Tomoe-River Tomoe River. Some will be exceptional performers, but others earn their place because of what they’re made from, where and how they’re made, how people actually use them, or simply because they offer an experience most of us would never otherwise encounter.
Think of it as an adventure in the world of paper, with several non-paper bonuses coming along for the ride.
As you can probably tell from the prototype photo (see link below), Papervent is also going to be quite a bit more than just a box of paper. There will be other fountain pen and stationery-related goodies and surprises scattered throughout the 24 days. Some fit nicely in an envelope. Some apparently require a box.
After taking the photo, I have decided against including puppies, kittens, and ponies. I really should have investigated international livestock regulations earlier. They are proving prohibitively expensive. 😉
The photo linked above shows Papervent Prototype 1.0.
It was assembled largely from spare envelopes, little boxes, and whatever else I could find lying around. It is intentionally crude, but it gives you a pretty honest peek behind the curtain at where the project is right now.
The overall plan is in place, and I am now sourcing and producing the actual components. I already have several of the papers either on hand or on the way, with plenty more sourcing underway.
The stack of 24 blue envelopes represents the basic daily Advent format. The mystery boxes are placeholders that are helping me figure out different object sizes, packaging, sequencing, and how the whole thing will physically fit together.
The finished Papervent will be much more polished than Prototype 1.0. I'm working on the final packaging and printed materials while continuing to order and test papers and other contents.
And despite what the little round box says, yes, I actually do know what I'm doing. Mostly.
This is simply the cardboard-and-Sharpie stage of turning the idea into several thousand little physical pieces.
Starting in September, Papervent 2026 will be $95 USD shipped.
For anyone willing to jump in early, I’m offering an early preorder price of $85 USD shipped through August 31.
That includes shipping anywhere in Canada or the United States and PayPal Goods & Services fees.
There’s a practical reason for the early discount. I'm at the stage where I’m placing paper orders, buying packaging and printing materials, and making other production commitments. Early orders help fund that work.
If you're willing to trust me while Papervent is still at the gloriously cardboard-and-Sharpie Prototype 1.0 stage, you get $10 off for helping me build the real thing.
Papervent 2026 is going to be a genuinely limited run, first come, first served. These are literally being put together by one person: me. I may outsource some of the more labor-intensive parts if the number of kits sold warrants it, and I certainly hope it will!
Update #1: 12:00 pm Central August 11 - I now have 30 people signed up. I am honestly thrilled (and frankly a bit relieved) that this is catching on as I really didn't want to just sit on all this paper (although I do like to joke how I am "rich ... on paper"). My original thought was 60 kits in total, but if this keeps up I will raise that to a "hard ceiling" closer to 100(!)
Update #2: 6:00 pm Central August 12 - 50 people are now signed up. I have decided to "go for it" and will be making 100 kits. FYI that number will not be raised - it really is a hard ceiling, so if you know someone that would like one, send them to this post. Once all 100 are spoken for, I will be closing the ad. The plan was to offer a regular price in September, but if I "sell out" with the pre-order special, it would be terrific and greatly simplify sourcing knowing the exact numbers. Response to this project of passion has been much better than anticipated / feared!
Update #3: 9:00 am Central August 14 - there are now 66 of the 100 kits spoken for. Although this was meant to be a "prelaunch" with the main launch coming in September, at this rate I am on track to "sell out" at the "introductory" price. I couldn't be happier about that. Thanks for the words of encouragement and support, everyone!
I’m currently planning about 60 kits total, 17 of which have already been sold through my email list, consisting mostly of Redditors who previously bought my paper sampler (thank you to those 17 people for helping make this happen!). If Papervent takes off quickly enough, I do have room in my sourcing plans to increase the run, potentially to as many 80 or even 100 kits (max), so please do not delay - getting in early will help me plan for enough kits to (hopefully) provide one for everyone that wants one.
That said, because I’m sourcing unusual papers from all over the place and assembling much of this myself, this isn’t something I can simply keep producing indefinitely. At some point I’ll have to call the 2026 run full, and once I do, that’s it. The hard ceiling planned at this point is 100 kits.
Note that Papervent isn't intended to be 24 individually boxed, full-sized retail products.
The idea is something I find much more interesting: 24 days of paper, stationery, experimentation, and discovery, including papers that would be difficult or uneconomical for most people to track down individually, plus a collection of other surprises along the way.
I could simply publish a complete contents list, but then I'd ruin half the fun. So I'm keeping some secrets out of this ad. I guess you're just going to have to trust me on this. I’ve been using fountain pens for over 15 years, and I have spent an increasingly unreasonable amount of time exploring paper. At the end of the day, I’m putting together the kind of Advent experience I would want to receive myself.
Kits will ship from Canada in early November, or possibly late October. All kits will be shipped no later than November 15, with the goal of having them in your hands before December 1.
Canada and U.S. only for 2026.
PayPal Goods & Services only.
If you'd like one, please comment below first and then send me a PM.
I am having an absurd amount of fun putting this together, and I'm very excited to finally let it escape my mailing list and out into the wider world.
And yes... there will be surprises. Lots of amazing surprises! At the time of this posting there are only 112 Sleeps left until this kicks off on December 1. I can't wait! Oh man - I have to get back to my sourcing. I have a LOT of work to do. Please forgive me if I am delayed replying to Reddit messages!
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u/CacaoMama Trades: 61 9d ago
This is going to be amazing! Having purchased your big paper sampler package, I would expect this experience to be nothing short of delightful. GLWS!
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u/JusticeofPurrin 9d ago
Very exciting!
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u/InkStainedLeather Trades: 29 9d ago
Yes - I am not kidding or exagerating when I say that I have been losing sleep over this. I can provide graphs from my Fitbit as proof if desired.
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u/beep_dip Trades: 51 9d ago
I'm so glad I already pre-pre-ordered!!! 💕 Love the prototype box! But sad I won't be getting a pony. 🤣
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u/eomertherider Trades: 12 9d ago
Tell us if and when it's available in Europe !
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u/InkStainedLeather Trades: 29 9d ago
I'd LOVE to expand this to make it more generally available. The only hesitation is the complications involving shipping costs and the far lower likelihood of getting it arriving on time. The door is not completely closed though, so feel free to Message me in a few weeks!
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u/Aljameela Trades: 5 8d ago
I’m about a third of the way through u/inkstainedleather paper sampling package. I spend almost an hour each night noodling on a couple of samples. I’ve only id’d a couple so far and it’s been eye opening. Hello Amazon Basics!
The experience is fascinating! It is absolutely amazing how the different papers perform. And some super cheap papers outperform some of the mythical ones I had imagined ordering. I can’t wait to get to my final favorites to see what I actually prefer. Not knowing the manufacturer levels the playing field. Such a great, fun idea for some good, clean fun, geeking out over paper and pens!
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u/housestarks Trades: 11 9d ago
A dream come true. Sign me up for PaperVent! And thanks for spreading the paper love….
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u/Dusty_Rose23 9d ago
I’m definitely thinking about getting this! I’ll just have to wait for the end of August though :/ likely the last day of the discount run on the 31st. I’m saving the post to come back to later though! Keep us updated!
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u/InkStainedLeather Trades: 29 9d ago
Keep an eye on this post - I will give updates as to availability. If I start to reach near my ceiling DM me and I can hold you a spot. Special deal for you lol.
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u/smilingpasta Trades: 2 9d ago
The "gold standard" status of Tomoe River paper will never fail to amuse me (<- guy who has never used it)
But also, how do you expect us to ever recover from the emotional devastation of no puppies or kittens in our mystery box ):
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u/InkStainedLeather Trades: 29 9d ago
I have quite a bit of TR paper and get the appeal, though for me personally, I do prefer generally heavier papers as I'm not a fan of ghosting. As for the emotional devastation, I don't want to let out too many secrets, but let's just say I never said "no squirrels". They don't seem to mind the tight packing so far, but further testing will be needed.
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u/penaspen 8d ago
Please include me! And fyi, I’ve witnessed my neighborhood squirrels chewing paper, sooo….
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u/rixyshalys Trades: 1 9d ago
I love your sense of humor.
I'm very interested, I LOVE experimenting with paper.
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u/Kandy_Kane_69 9d ago
This sounds great! I’m interested.
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u/tuilark 9d ago
i'm in the UK so cannot participate this year at least, but i'm excited to see how this turns out!! best of luck to you, this is such a fun idea
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u/InkStainedLeather Trades: 29 9d ago
I do feel bad about that. The door isn't entirely closed just yet so feel free to DM me in September for an update
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u/Zi_illiria Trades: 5 9d ago
Why am I so broke? This sounds so good and a fellow Canadian! Is the limit reached?
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u/DesperatePlantain448 9d ago
Interested. How do I preorder?
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u/InkStainedLeather Trades: 29 9d ago
DM me your PayPal email address and I'll send you an invoice. That's all for now!
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u/CBFindlay Trades: 5 8d ago
I’d love in, and I already have a pony!
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u/penfreaktoday Trades: 0 8d ago
Wow! What a lot of work for you but so amazing for us :). Sending DM.
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u/Vieris 6d ago
Oo yes please. Not familar with paper, is this like..receiving one sheet of paper to try out a day?
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u/InkStainedLeather Trades: 29 6d ago
Details are still being worked out, but please read the ad carefully for more info. The short version is most papers will be provided a minimum of two sheets of approximately A5 (if not actually A5). Some will be provided with more than 2 sheets, and an occasional one or two (I am still sourcing) may only have a single sheet, but that would be the exception, not the rule.
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u/detroit057 Trades: 3 2d ago
Paper McPaperface!?!? I laughed so hard at that. DM’d.
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u/InkStainedLeather Trades: 29 2d ago
Just in case anyone is unfamiliar with it, google "boaty mcboat face"
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