GIVEAWAY/CONTEST: Diamine Ink Samples!

Diamine recently released a set of eight inks to celebrate their brand's 150th (!!) anniversary.

I ended up buying all of the bottles for myself - and got a set of samples for you!

The set includes 2 ml samples of the following inks . . .

• 1864 Blue-Black
• Blue Velvet
• Carnival
• Regency Blue
• Safari
• Silver Fox
• Terracotta
• Tropical Green

Well, except Tropical Green. I spilled about one ml of the ink. Arrgh.

How to win?  

Come closest to guessing (over is fine) the number of inky cotton swabs in the gallon-sized bag shown below.  If more than one person guesses right on the number, the person who entered first will win the samples.

These are nearly all of the swabs I used during 2015. It's been a busy year! Last year, the jar I use was only about half full, this year it overflowed with inky goodness.

I'll be back after the beginning of the new year to announce the winner.

Until then...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

So, what's your number?  

Contest open to US/CAN only.  Sorry to my friends in far away lands!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


This isn't a sponsored post. The samples (and my bottles) came from Goulet Pens, but they don't know what I'm up to over here today. 

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Diamine Poppy Red Ink Spatters

I recently reviewed Diamine Poppy Red (spoiler: I loved it) and I've been practicing my spatter techniques with it.

Here's a link to the full-sized image - it's huge.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Diamine Scarlet Ink Review

In love with Diamine Scarlet

Amazing pink-red color, great saturation.

Side Note: I'm beginning to think that if I put my words in italics, it's like whispering. And whispering is kind of like wordless, right?

INK REVIEW: Diamine Autumn Oak

Hello, Autumn Oak!

I'd been hearing good things about Autumn Oak from Diamine. Seeing is definitely believing!

With its name, I assumed the ink would be some shade of brown and not very exciting. So glad I finally decided to check it out.

Insane shading.  Writes great.  No ghosting or bleeding. Acceptable dry times. No water resistance. Not incredibly saturated, but definitely not watery.

Here's the full review . . . 

And a link to the original file (it's huge).

I mentioned in the handwritten review that Autumn Oak seems to be comparable to other orange inks.  The color reminds of Pelikan Edelstein Amber - though Autumn Oak definitely has more shading.

I wrote in the review, "I like it!" Based on my usage of it over the last few days, I'm going to revise that to . . . I love it!  There are definitely many orange fountain pen inks out there, but this one is definitely unique in terms of color and shading and it writes great.

Ooh - bonus images - I've been practicing my splash techniques.  Getting better!

Alrighty, your turn.  What do you think of Diamine Autumn Oak? Do you have an orange ink that you love love love? 

xo

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Diamine Imperial Blue Ink Review

I like this one. A blue that leans toward purple.

I'll definitely be back with a full review of this one.

Do you like the way it looks?

INK REVIEW: Diamine Poppy Red

It feels like it's been awhile since I've been able to say this - I LOVE this ink.

Diamine Poppy Red fountain pen ink is a pure, bright red ink with a teeny tiny bit of potential for shading.  The ink dries faster than average on the page and doesn't feel dry (nor too lubricated) in the pen. There is not much water resistance, but I didn't expect there to be. There were no hard starts, no ghosting, no bleeding, no problems.  Just plain ole happy red RED saturated ink.

Check it out . . .

The swabs above are 1, 2, and 3 passes with a super-soaked cotton swab.

And here's a close-up of some handwriting with it . . .

Seriously, I have nothing but good things to say about Poppy Red from Diamine.  This review is from a sample I bought from Goulet Pens. I will have a full bottle of it in the very near future.  Love, love, love.

Here's the full review . . .

If you want to see the full-sized version of the handwritten review, here's a link for you.  (It's huge.)

What do you think? Love it? Maybe you have another go-to favorite red ink?

How was your Thanksgiving? Mr. Pentulant and I were at the beach for the long weekend. We had a great time. So relaxing.

xoxox

Seven Orange Inks

A photo posted by Christine Darling (@pentulant) on Nov 11, 2014 at 10:35am PST

I've been on an orange kick. It all started innocently enough back in May, and then over the last few days, I've inked seven pens with seven different orange inks.  CrAzY!

I won't have room to go into great detail on each ink here, but let's explore a little, shall we?

Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki Writing Sample

Pilot Iroshizuku's Fuyu-gaki runs a bit toward the red side of orange. It writes wonderfully, doesn't display much shading, and is an all-around nice ink.

Fun with ink splatters. I did these on Word Cards that I got from Jet Pens. The paper is more like a thin watercolor paper than writing paper.

Moving on . . .

Montblanc Gandhi Writing Sample

Montblanc Gandhi fountain pen ink is no longer available. It can be found on eBay (I've been thinking about selling my spare bottle, but I'm not sure I want to let it go, you know?)

The ink is such a pretty pretty orange, lots of good shading, and is definitely one to try if you can find it.

Spatters, anyone?

Diamine Amber is next on our hit list . . .

Diamine Amber Writing Sample

Diamine Amber is just so light and feels a bit dry. This ink is in a Lamy with extra-fine nib and that may be part of the issue, but I've had other orange inks in the same pen and they've not been this light. I like inks that work in all of my pens (makes life easier, you know?) and with so many orange options available, I'm not so keen on this one. Others seem to like it.

And look at the spatters - good saturation there, friends.

Montblanc Gandhi isn't the only game in town . . .

De Atramentis Gandhi Writing Sample

This was my first time using this ink and for some strange reason, I didn't have high expectations. Silly me - it's a perfectly fine ink. Some shading, writes quite well. No reason to be concerned. It's really not like Montblanc Gandhi - not that it matters, I think it would be a little silly to compare the two just because they share a name.  I like it.

I also think I did a pretty good job on the spatters here . . .

Next up . . .

Noodler's Apache Sunset Writing Sample

People are generally coco-crazy for Noodler's Apache Sunset.  Even using an extra-fine nib, I can see the potential here. Absolutely insane shading. The color is very orange. People who don't like this ink seem to say that there is no practical application for it - I'm not sure I understand. Maybe they feel that way about all orange inks?

So . . . check out the spatter. See the streak? Please know that I waited a full 24 hours after creating the spatters before scanning. THE INK WAS STILL WET!  Insanity.  (Even more insane - you can see this streak on other images, too...arrrgh. I need to figure out how to clean my scanner.)

Anyway . . .

Dude. Check out Pilot Iroshizuku Yu-yake . . .

Pilot Iroshizuku Yu-yake Writing Sample

Shading, saturation, great orange color - maybe a little red in there. Yu-yake is bright and cheerful. Writes like a dream. A new favorite of mine.

I've had good experiences with all Pilot Iroshizuku inks. They are a bit more expensive than other brands, but they are incomparable in terms of overall brand quality.

Last, and certainly not least:  Noodler's Habanero.

Noodler's Hanbaero Writing Sample

It's been awhile since I've had Noodler's Habanero in a pen. I'm not sure why. I fall in love with it every time. The beautiful shading, the gorgeous orange that reminds me of autumn.  Yum.

The only issue is that it seems to stay wet forever. Though, apparently, not as long as Noodler's Apache Sunset.

That's it!

Which are your favorites?

xoxo

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Diamine Florida Blue

Diamine Florida Blue

Almost Wordless Wednesday returns ;)

I wanted to show you this today.  See how pretty Diamine Florida Blue is?

The above is written with a dip pen.  The following is written with a fountain pen . . . 

Swabs and dips cannot give the same color as actually filling a pen with the ink and writing with it. 

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Diamine Pumpkin and Diamine Blaze Orange

Tis the season for Diamine Pumpkin.

And I couldn't be more happy.

See my full (old) review of it right here.

Or maybe you prefer blaze orange?

FOUND AROUND FRIDAY: Winner Winner Edition

I'm happy to say that Francesca is the big winner of the bottle of Diamine Sepia ink pictured above. Francesca was randomly chosen from all of the entrants and I've already contacted her to arrange getting the bottle of ink off to her.  Yaay!


Here's some of what I've been reading this week . . .


Well Appointed Desk and how Crayons are Made. I love crayons. The smell.

Fountain Pen Physicist unboxed her Hobonichi. I did, too, I just didn't get pictures ;)

Inkdependence reviewed Caran d'Ache Ultra Violet ink. I'd expect SCREAMING color with that name, yes?

Inklode showed us Pelikan Edelstein Turmaline. Not really a color I'd considered before seeing this review.

Pen Addict took a close look at the Sailor Lecoule. I have one of these and had it inked last week - it was a terrible writing experience. Maybe I'll have a look at the nib and see if I can do anything about that.

The Unroyal Warrant had a paper review for us. I think paper isn't given nearly the attention it deserves in the pen community. Oh..and did you get your Unexposed Field Notes?

The Clicky Post asked Hobby or Obsession?  Yes.


Hope you all have a great weekend!

xo

INK REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: Diamine Sepia

Handwritten Review - Diamine Sepia

Happy Wednesday!

Today, I'm giving away a full-sized bottle of Diamine Sepia Fountain Pen Ink.  I know, I know you were hoping it was the pen. Sorry.   #sorrynotsorry

When I learned that Goulet Pens was sending me the Fall 2014 Edition of  Edison Nouveau Premiere and a bottle of ink, I suggested that they could also send me a sample of the same ink. "I'll use the sample and giveaway the bottle."

I had no idea which ink they were sending, but when I saw that it was sepia, I was so glad I was only getting the sample-sized.  Brown inks are a waste on me. Ick.

At least they used to be. And then I fell in love with J Herbin's Lie de The. 

And now this:

Diamine Sepia Ink Swap

Let's dive in . . . 

A beautiful golden brown - with perhaps a bit of red?

No green or gray to muddy things up.

Shading makes me happy.

cRaZy shading makes me crazy happy.

I love this ink. The color is great, saturation is good, there is definitely shading. No bleeding, minimal show through (ghosting).

Water resistance isn't super-important to me. Good thing, too . . . .

You'll also note on the full review (click here for full-size version) that the color seems to be less saturated as I get further down on the page.  Totally user error. I was having trouble filling from the sample bottle and ended up with ink clinging to the converter. A small twist of the converter got me going again.

Here's the review I wrote for the pen review. Click here for the full-size.

Bottom line?  I've added this ink to my wish list so that I can keep my word and give you this full-sized unopened bottle.

Leave a comment below to be entered to win. Remember to tell me how to get in touch with you. Open to US mailing addresses only (so sorry, international friends). Entry must be received by Wednesday, September 17. Winner will be announced on Friday, September 19.

Of course, you can always order Diamine Sepia from Goulet Pens.

Good luck!!

xo

EDITED TO ADD: After you've entered to win this ink, run on over to Ink Nouveau and enter to win the pen! I'm catching up on my blogs and just saw that you enter to win until the end of today!