Diamine Inkvent 2024 Day 24

This is the Diamine Inkvent 2024 Day 24 door:

Day 24’s ink is Diamine Salted Caramel, a caramel brown ink with bronze shimmer. I used a Diplomat Elox fountain pen with an extra fine nib to test out this ink.

Diamine Salted Caramel is a raw sienna brown ink with a good amount of shading and a good amount of shimmer that shows through even with an extra fine nib. The bronze shimmer gives it a festive, golden sparkle.

Here’s a closer look at the shimmer effect in this ink:

On original Tomoe River paper you can see both the shading and the shimmer quite significantly:

Writing sample on original Tomoe River paper

However, even on more absorbent Rhodia paper and with an extra fine nib the shimmer and shading are evident. As only the day before yesterday featured a brown ink with shimmer (Diamine Nutmeg), it was a bit surprising to see another brown ink with shimmer make its appearance. I like Salted Caramel more than Nutmeg, though, because it’s a warmer shade of brown.

Here’s another look at the Rhodia paper writing sample, where both shading and shimmering are apparent:

Different angle of writing sample on Rhodia paper

And here’s a comparison of Diamine Nutmeg to Diamine Salted Caramel:

Col-O-Ring swab comparison of Diamine Nutmeg to Diamine Salted Caramel

I enjoy sketching with brown inks, and Diamine Salted Caramel was no different. I did have some weird flow issues at start, but they passed so maybe it was a one time thing. Salted Caramel shades beautifully, and so it’s nice to loosely sketch with it.

You can see where I had flow issues on the top right corner of Pumpkin’s head (the faded brown lines beneath the more prominent ones):

Close up of bear sketch on Midori MD Cotton paper

This tiny, tiny bear is called Pumpkin and she’s 3 of 4, made by Maddy Aldis, and is very, very heavy as she’s filled with lead shot. I love her wild look and her pastel rainbow colours, which is why I got her.

I would have liked to have seen a different shade of ink, one that isn’t brown, but having Salted Caramel make its appearance on day 24 isn’t the end of the world. It’s a nice, warm brown with lovely shading and shimmer, and it’s not its fault that Diamine Nutmeg was there two days before it. It’s a great festive ink to write greeting cards with, and I had fun sketching with it.

What do you think of Diamine Salted Caramel? Do you prefer it to Diamine Nutmeg?

Diamine Inkvent 2024 Day 23

This is the Diamine Inkvent 2024 Day 23 door:

Day 23’s ink is Diamine Pine Needle, a sap green with chameleon shimmer in green and blue. I used a Lamy AL Star with a broad nib to test out this ink.

Here’s a close up of Diamine Pine Needle’s Col-O-Ring swab. There’s a bit of shading with this ink, and the chameleon shimmer adds interest to what otherwise would be not the most interesting shade of green.

Close up of Col-O-Ring swab of Diamine Pine Needle

Here’s the Col-O-Ring swab from a different angle, where you can better see the chameleon shimmer:

Different angle of Col-O-Ring swab of Diamine Pine Needle

Diamine Pine Needle is definitely one of the more festive inks in this year’s calendar, and it’s delightfully neither grey nor brown, which is an added bonus. I use sap green as the base green of my watercolour palette so it was nice to get to see it in a different context and with a bit of chameleon pizzazz added.

Here’s the chameleon effect on the Rhodia paper. You can also see that Diamine Pine Needle shades quite nicely:

You can see the shading more clearly on original Tomoe River paper:

Even without the chameleon shimmer Pine Needle would have been a nice ink, but with it it’s one of the best inks in this year’s Inkvent. Here’s today’s bear sketch on Midori MD Cotton paper:

A different angle to show off the chameleon shimmer of Diamine Pine Needle:

Different angle of sketch on Midori MD Cotton paper

Today’s tiny bear is Oliver, a one of a kind handmade bear by June Kendall for Hardy Bears, a small English maker. His mohair is two toned and gorgeous and I love his classic teddy bear look in minuscule size.

Diamine Pine Needle isn’t really the blue green shade of pine needles, but I don’t care much. It’s a nice, festive ink with a good amount of shading and lovely chameleon shimmer, and it’s one of the brightest inks in this year’s Inkvent. It’s like a breath of fresh air after all of the drab and muted colours we’ve seen this year.

What do you think of Diamine Pine Needle? Do you like this shade of green?

Diamine Inkvent 2024 Day 22

This is the Diamine Inkvent 2024 Day 22 door:

Day 22’s ink is Diamine Nutmeg, a greyish-brown ink with gold shimmer. I used a Levenger True Writer fountain pen with a fine nib to test out this ink.

Diamine Nutmeg has a mousy brown base colour with a good amount of shading, and with gold shimmer that saves this ink from being a bland, depressing disappointment.

Close up of Col-O-Ring swab of Diamine Nutmeg

The gold shimmer does two things for Diamine Nutmeg: it warms up what would otherwise be a “cold” brown, and it adds interest and life to this ink.

Different angle of Col-O-Ring swab of Diamine Nutmeg

This year’s Inkvent seems laden with grey, brown, and dark inks, and Diamine Nutmeg fits right in with this crowd. What “saves” it is the gold shimmer, because otherwise it would be the last sort of ink colour you’d want to see in a holiday themed calendar.

Here’s a close up on some of the shading and the glitter. This is a rare case where I would have actually welcomed more glitter:

Close up of writing sample on writing paper

On original Tomoe River paper you see more of the shading:

The photo of today’s bear sketch came out weirdly dark, I don’t know why. In any case, Diamine Nutmeg is a nice enough ink to sketch with, and as I expected it shades even more on Midori MD Cotton paper than it does on Rhodia paper, but still I wouldn’t call it a very interesting ink.

Here’s a close up of the shading and the shimmer:

Today’s bear is an unnumbered Clemens bear (so he’s a German bear). I love his solid squatness and his squashed face, which is why I got him.

I don’t know what made Diamine lean into the darker and more muted side of the ink colour spectrum this year, but the result isn’t inspiring or festive. Diamine Nutmeg is saved somewhat by its shimmer, and it most certainly fits its name, but I still don’t see myself wanting to use it with any regularity.

What do you think of the ink selection this year so far? Do you like Diamine Nutmeg?

Weekly Update: 3 year chemo-versary

It’s been three years today since I finished my chemotherapy and have been in remission. I spent the day celebrating with my family, I’ll have another celebration next week, and I’m about to watch Mischief Movie Night In to finish a very nice day indeed.

Having dealt with cancer at a relatively young age sets certain priorities very straight in life. Health, family, friends are above all. I start my journaling every day with a 4-5 things that I’m grateful for. I’m constantly aware that everything in life is fleeting, everything can be taken away from you at any time, so it’s really important to take the time and appreciate everything that you have, even if it’s not always everything that you’ve wanted.

Teddy bears getting ready to be photographed for Inkvent

Reading

I have finished two books this week, Cal Newport’s “How to Become a Straight A Student” and Samantha Harvey’s “Orbital”. Newport’s book was excellent and I plan on using the advice within it to help me prepare for a big certification exam that I’m taking this year. Harvey’s “Orbital” won this year’s Booker prize, which is why I read it, and it’s a complete waste of time. It’s around 140 pages of bloated, purple description, with no plot, no interesting or fleshed out characters, and nothing but platitudes to say about humanity, humankind or the planet. I have no idea why it won, and it was so bad that it completely put me off of trying to read Booker award winning books.

Inkvent

I’ve managed to build a small buffer, which will come in useful as I have to write this year’s Inkvent summary post and I’m still not sure how I’ll tackle it. This year’s calendar isn’t like the ones previous, and so I will need a fresh approach to this summary post this time.

Planning

I’m gearing up to switch planning notebooks after next week, and to start a new quarter. My plan for next quarter is largely ready, and is a little different this time. I’ve pared things down, and I might even streamline them more. I have a week to hammer out the final details, and I’ll likely be dedicating a post to the process in the end.

Have a great week and remember to count your blessings.

Diamine Inkvent 2024 Day 21

This is the Diamine Inkvent 2024 Day 21 door:

Day 21’s ink is Diamine Cosmic Glow, and Extreme Sheen ink that has a royal blue base colour and extreme pink sheen. I used a Lamy Safari fountain pen with a medium nib to test out this ink.

Diamine Cosmic Glow utterly earns its name and its Extreme Sheen designation. The base colour is a very rich, deep, saturated purplish blue, and the pink-purple sheen overlays much of it, literally making it glow.

Here’s an angled view of the Col-O-Ring swab, where you can better see the extent of the sheen on this ink:

Diamine Cosmic Glow sheens less than Diamine Vibe but it still shows a lot of sheen on every letter, even with fine nibs, even on relatively absorbent Rhodia paper:

Here’s an angled view of the writing sample where you can see the sheen:

On original Tomoe River paper the sheen is even more clear:

And you can see it well on Midori MD Cotton paper in today’s bear sketch:

A closer look at the sheen on Midori MD Cotton paper (you’ll notice that since Diamine Cosmic Glow is a very saturated ink, there’s no shading visible with this ink):

Today’s bear is very special and precious to me. I bought it a long time ago in a beautiful store in Greenwich, London that no longer exists. It was in the Greenwich market, part of an array of wonderful and unique shops that no longer exist in the market, and it sold doll houses and doll house things for collectors, and collector’s teddy bears. People who were trying to create doll houses that were period specific would go there and could find everything, from the house to the wallpaper, furniture, dolls, cutlery, stoves, etc. You could build a Victorian house, including servants and servant quarters, or a ’60s flat, all to the highest level of precision. Apart from that they had a stunning, large and wide selection of collectors’ teddy bears, and the patience to explain the ins and outs of hand made, limited edition teddy bears to a new collector like me. I purchased Midnight Micky (this bear’s name) because he was a black bear, and the only black bear in a store with hundreds of bears on display. The couple that ran the store explained that black bears are difficult to make, and so there’s very few of them. Midnight Micky is one of two bears made by hand by a small English maker, and I cherish him very much both because I love his looks and because he’s one of the few bears I have from that lovely shop, Greenwich Bears.

Diamine Cosmic Glow is likely going to be one of this Inkvent’s stars, and not only because so many of this year’s inks are on the darker or more muted side of things. Its rich and beautiful base royal blue colour in itself would make it pop, but with the added glow of extreme purple-pink sheen it really becomes a super-star. I wouldn’t trust this ink with a vintage fountain pen, and it takes a good long while to dry, but it’s a fabulous ink and one that I would consider buying a full bottle of.

What do you think of Diamine Cosmic Glow? How do you think it compares to Diamine Vibe?

Diamine Inkvent 2024 Day 20

This is the Diamine Inkvent 2024 Day 20 door:

Day 20’s ink is Diamine Potpourri a standard mauve ink with plenty of shading. I used a Lamy AL Star fountain pen with a fine nib to test out this ink.

There is an insane amount of shading with this ink, even with a fine nib. It’s a very dusky pink, not the most attractive or bright of colours but the shading makes it much more interesting.

Close up of Col-O-Ring swab of Diamine Potpourri

Even on Rhodia paper with a fine nib you can see the amount of shading you can get with Diamine Potpourri. Thankfully, despite the name, Diamine didn’t make this one a scented ink. As it is it’s an unusual colour with unusual shading, so it’s worth a second glance even though there have been other inks in similar shades in the past and even in this calendar (Diamine Masquerade, Diamine Wilted Rose, Diamine Harmony, Diamine Memory Lane come to mind).

Here’s a close up on the shading you get with this ink. It’s pretty significant even on Rhodia paper:

Close up of writing sample on Rhodia paper

Diamine Potpourri’s shading gets even more pronounced on original Tomoe River paper:

As I expected, Diamine Potpourri shades even better on Midori MD Cotton paper, and it’s a nice ink to sketch with. Beyond that there’s not much to say about it – it’s a standard, well behaved ink.

Today’s bear is a Dean’s Rag Book company. He’s unusual in that he’s doesn’t have the regular Dean’s bear look. I bought him second hand in York, and he looks as good as new, and very classically “teddy bear” (apart from the blue mohair).

Diamine Potpourri isn’t a very holiday themed ink, but it is on the more practical side of the inks in this year’s Inkvent. It’s a standard ink, that’s clearly readable, has an unusual colour and an unusually prominent amount of shading. It is, however, a bit drab, so I do expect it to be somewhat divisive. At least it isn’t a scented ink…

Do you like Diamine Potpourri or is it too washed out and drab for you?

Diamine Inkvent 2024 Day 19

This is the Diamine Inkvent 2024 Day 19 door:

Day 19’s is Diamine Fruit Cocktail, an almost neon orange ink with zero shading properties and… scent. Yes, this is another scented ink, again with a sickly sweet artificial smell and an overly wet and weird ink flow due to the addition of said stink (I hate scented inks, can you tell?). I used a Diplomat Aero fountain pen with a fine nib to test this ink.

Col-O-Ring swab of Diamine Fruit Cocktail

It is absolutely uncanny just how flat this ink is, especially considering how light and unsaturated it is. I would have expected such a “thin” light ink to have at least a little shading, but as you can see from the Col-O-Ring swab close up, Diamine Fruit Cocktail doesn’t shade at all:

Close up of the Col-O-Ring swab of Diamine Fruit Cocktail

It’s weird writing with this ink because you learn to expect certain things from fountain pen inks, and this ink doesn’t behave at all like you’d expect. It’s scented, so it does have the usual flow issues that scented inks have, but it’s much less pronounced with this ink: in fact, it’s almost negligible. There’s also an expectation of some amount of shading in an ink that isn’t a dark, super saturated ink, and that doesn’t happen here at all: it’s like writing with a gel ink pen. And you don’t expect this kind of neon-ish colour in a fountain pen ink, because it’s normally accompanied by some amount of colour variation or shading.

I was tired when I sketched this bear, so the proportions are a bit off. It was wild sketching with a fountain pen and getting the sort of results that I expect from a gel ink pen. Also, I really didn’t appreciate the addition of the sickly sweet smell to this ink.

Today’s bear is Jayson, a one of a kind hand made bear from Cornfield Cubs, a small maker. I bought him in York because he’s got an usual look to him.

Putting aside the fact that Diamine Fruit Cocktail is a scented ink and I don’t like scented inks, I really don’t like this ink. There’s something about an ink that has none of the properties of a fountain pen ink that I find really off-putting. If I wanted flat colours I would use a gel ink or a felt tip pen. The whole point of using fountain pens, for me, is that they’re their own thing, and that includes the way that fountain pen inks look and behave. It doesn’t matter that I don’t really like Fruit Cocktail’s colour nor do I think that it’s thematically tied to the holiday season, what makes me dislike it most of all is that it doesn’t do what fountain pen inks do. If Fruit Cocktail had some interesting shading going on, I could almost ignore the smell and flow issues and rejoice in there being a bright and cheerful ink in what is shaping up to be a pretty dark Inkvent calendar this year.

What do you think? Do you see yourself using Diamine Fruit Cocktail? Does it bother you that this ink doesn’t shade or sheen or have any sort of interest beyond its scent?

Diamine Inkvent 2024 Day 18

This is the Diamine Inkvent 2024 Day 18 door:

Day 18’s ink is Diamine Vibe, a dark turquoise ink with a pink “Extreme Sheen”. This is in fact the most extreme of all the Extreme Sheen inks so far – there’s so much sheen that you can barely see the base ink colour, even with the Lamy AL Star fine nibbed fountain pen that I used to test this ink.

Tilting the Col-O-Ring swab just a little bit shows just how much magenta sheen there is: you can see the base in colour of Diamine Vibe in just the tips of certain letters and the edge of the ink swab. The rest is just glowing sheen.

Different angle of Col-O-Ring swatch of Diamine Vibe

Even in my Rhodia writing sample, on paper that’s relatively absorbent and with a fine nib you can see the deep magenta sheen. It’s wild to write with this ink: you put down words on the page in a gorgeous dark turquoise and watch them dry into a vibrant pink. It’s like a magic trick.

Unsurprisingly the sheen is even more extreme on original Tomoe River paper. You have to tilt the page away from the light source to even get a hint of the base ink colour of Diamine Vibe. You can see it here compared to another extreme sheen ink, Diamine Grotto.

And here’s a closer look at these two extreme sheen inks on Tomoe River paper:

Close up of writing sample on Tomoe River paper

I tried to get a none sheening angle of today’s bear sketch, but U was only partially successful – you don’t get the sheen but the base ink looks much darker and almost black from the view I did get. The sketch was done on Midori MD Cotton paper, and as to be expected, Diamine Vibe was a sheen machine, and it took ages for it to dry.

Here’s a look at the amount of sheen I got in this sketch:

Here’s today’s bear, Finn from Charlie Bears. I bought him in York, and he’s cute but unnumbered.

I love the base colour of Diamine Vibe and the extreme sheen on it is WILD. I may find myself buying a full bottle of this ink just for the magical colour changing effect when the ink dries and sheen emerges. Is it practical? No. It takes forever to dry and I wouldn’t let it anywhere near my vintage pens. Is it holiday themed? Not really. But in the end, who cares – Diamine Vibe is a seriously cool ink with a big wow effect that is really fun.

Isn’t that something to celebrate?

Diamine Inkvent 2024 Day 17

This is the Diamine Inkvent 2024 Day 17 door:

Day 17’s ink is Diamine Winterberry, a bright red ink with chameleon shimmer that ranges from pink through red to gold. I used a Lamy AL Star with an extra fine nib to test it out.

After yesterday’s drab Diamine Tundra it’s very nice to a truly festive, joyous ink. Is Winterberry practical? No, but who cares: it will make you smile and brighten up your day. Sometimes that’s exactly what you need an ink to do.

Close up of Col-O-Ring swab of Diamine Winterberry

The chameleon effect on Diamine Winterberry makes the letters shimmer and glow, and also tones down the red colour. The effect is an impressive red that isn’t harsh thanks to the chameleon shimmer.

Different angle of Col-O-Ring swab of Diamine Winterberry

Diamine Winterberry is the perfect ink for anything holiday related, and it’s bound to impress, especially if you use it in a wide nib. Even with this fine nib you get the impact of the red colour with some of the impact of the chameleon shimmer:

Here’s a photo of the writing sample from a different angle, where you can see the chameleon effect better:

Diamine Winterberry is a relatively “flat” ink (there’s not much shading going on with it), which is why the chameleon shimmer compliments it so well. There’s something about this ink that wants you to write greeting cards full of Mariah Carey lyrics.

Today’s bear is a small German bear in a very unusual green fur colour. He’s called Apfelino and is No 39 of 133. I bought him in York.

It’s nice to have a completely impractical, utterly joyous ink like Diamine Winterberry. Would I want an entire calendar full of inks like it? No. But after some of the greys and browns in this year’s Inkvent it’s nice to have an ink like Winterberry make its appearance.

What do you think of Diamine Winterberry? Do you see yourself using it regularly?

Diamine Inkvent 2024 Day 16

This is the Diamine Inkvent 2024 Day 16 door:

Day 16’s ink is Diamine Tundra, a standard grey brown ink with a good amount of shading. I used a Lamy LX fountain pen with a fine nib to test out this ink.

Diamine Tundra really brings out the drab in this year’s calendar, because what’s Christmas without a mousy brown ink?

I had the same reaction to Diamine Tundra as I had when seeing 2025’s Pantone colour of the year: but why?

Diamine Tundra is a pale raw umber colour so it work well for sketching, especially with its shading properties. That’s one of the few things it has going for it.

Today’s bear is tiny (not much larger than the size of your hand) and is a one of a kind British bear called Murdock. I bought him in York and he’s designed and made by Carole Richardson.

I have no idea what made Diamine think that including Tundra in this year’s calendar was a good idea. Was there a need for a depressing colour? Did someone lose a bet? In any case I’m not going to purchase a full bottle of this ink, even though I often use my fountain pens for sketching and it’s a decent colour for that.

What do you think about Diamine Tundra? Do you like it?

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