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brown ink sketch design 7.mov Time lapse of my updated sketch of fountain pen and ink display / organizer per you guys’ feedback. There’s also an alternative inspired by one of your comments (will share later). Let me know what you think and then we get closer to some prototypes! Will share more designs in due course Photos below so that it is easier for you to give feedback.

I've just completed another 'rescued' pen box, slightly different from my previous ones. The box was a very battered little artist's box, still spattered with a coat of many colours of oil paint inside, the clasps at the front torn off, with little brass tabs inside for holding sheets of board, I think. First thing to do was remove the brasswork, using pliers and a lot of 'huile de coude' (a very useful supply easily available in France). Next, the outside was thoroughly stripped down, starting with 80 grit (that's bad! I usually start at 120) and going up to 360 wet-and-dry. http://i1058.photobucket.com/albums/t411/amk-fpn/pentray3.jpg This left me with a lovely grain to the wood, but there were little holes where the brasswork had fitted. There's no way of disguising those so instead I filled them with dowel (knife-trimmed cocktail sticks were just wide enough) glued and pushed well in, then trimmed and sanded off. That explains the four little white dots on the front of the case. http://i1058.photobucket.com/albums/t411/amk-fpn/pentray1.jpg Next for the inside. I don't think I could ever have made it look lovely, as the paint had stained the wood badly, so I decided to cover both bottom and top with felt. Rather than lay it in directly, as I usually do with leather, I decided to cut a piece of cardboard slightly undersize and then fold the felt over. The top was glued in. I've tried a slightly different pen holding method than usual. I pierced holes in the bottom felt-and-cardboard piece at roughly 2cm intervals with an awl, and then stitched elastic through the holes. I'm afraid I botched it a bit; the elastic isn't regular - some loops are large, others are almost flat. I'm also a bit unsure how well it will last, so I haven't glued the pad in. If the stitching comes undone, I can easily take the piece out to re-do it. http://i1058.photobucket.com/albums/t411/amk-fpn/pentray2.jpg Stitching the elastic was the most time-consuming and frustrating part of the work. Any suggestions for how to attach the elastic more easily would be welcome. Rivets?