Tag Archives: red

INK REVIEW: DIamine Wild Strawberry

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Diamine Wild Strawberry Ink Swab

Ladies and gentlemen, it is safe to say…the losing streak of Monday reviews is OVER!  (In case you hadn’t noticed, my last three Monday reviews were not inks I fell in love with.)

But this!  This is an ink to love!  This is Diamine Wild Strawberry. Yum!

Diamine Wild Strawberry Writing Sample

Because seriously. Look at that color!  Wooooo…color like that makes me happy happy!  Similar in color, but with more saturation than R&K Morinda. Very different from Noodker’s Red.

OK.it’s not perfect. There is no shading and I love shading inks.  Other than that, though, it’s pretty darn perfect.

Dry time is a bit long – even with the fine nib I was using, but I can live with that.

Yep. It’s love!  Yaaay!!!

Tell me, what ink are you loving on this week? Is it a red?

QUICK LOOK WEDNESDAY – Six Pretty Colors

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Sometimes, I want to play with my pens, inks, and papers, but can think of nothing to write.

The first step is to write the name of the ink and the name of the pen (see above). I just noticed that each ink is from a different manufacturer – nice.

Apparently, the last resort is to write things that I overhear from the television (see below).

It was actually quite a bit of fun – watching and scribbling, changing pens and writing a bit more. I love the way the entire sheet of paper looks – each color is pretty amazing on its own, yes?

Let’s take a closer look . . .

Above – DeAtramentis Alexander Hamilton. I love this purple. It’s so rich and deep in color – nice saturation. I don’t see this ink discussed much on the various forums, but I think this is a purple that could be used anywhere.  (more on that another day)

Below – Private Reserve Spearmint. One of my favorite green inks. It looks a bit dark here to my eye, but it is usually quite cheery.

Do you have a guess as to which show I was watching at the time?

Below – Montblanc Hitchcock. A gorgeous blood red ink if I ever did see one. Some really pretty shading in there, too. I have to confess, I have a quite a lot of this in my cabinet. Shall I keep it forever? Use it as if I’ll never run out? Or maybe even sell some?

Below – Noodler’s Habanero. A favorite. That shading. The brightness of the color. Need I say more? Mm..wait, I already did right here.
 

By the way, the above quote is the one that seems like the one that would tell the secret of what I was watching. Have you guessed it yet?

Above – Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun. I wonder if I only could have one ink, if this would be it. Check out my big review here. It is crazy CrAzY to think that I, lover of bright and beautiful colors, would be so taken with a gray ink, but there you go.

Above – Diamine Majestic Blue.  Easy to see why it’s one of my favorites, yes?  So pretty.

And, so, there we have it – six pretty colors. All so different from one another and yet all so wonderful.

Which show was I watching?  Downton Abbey, of course!  Have you seen it? Highly recommended.

INK REVIEW: Rohrer & Klingner Morinda

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Dear Roher & Klingner Morinda,
I like you.  It definitely wasn’t love at first sight.

But the more time we spend together, the more I liked you.

You were a bit wet in the Lamy Safari with a broad nib, but who isn’t?  You were a little smeary, but I can deal with that.

But here’s the thing. You wrote great. And the water test? Holy smokes.

And you’re pretty. Oh-so-pretty. Just a tiny bit orange to make you softer than other reds. Totally different from Noodler’s Red.

The truth is, Morinda, after visiting with you for a week or so, I might be in love with you.  We’ll see – I’m not quite ready to commit to just one red, but maybe…just maybe.

Love,
Pentulant

P.S. I am just about at the end of the reviews that I scanned before the highlight test – thank goodness. And, yes, I am just lazy enough that I didn’t go back and fix the issue. Haha.

QUICK LOOK WEDNESDAY: You call that red?

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Time for another Quick Look Wednesday!

What do all of these inks have in common?  They are all samples from my bag of red inks.

Red?

 Private Reserve – Vampire Red
 Diamine – Maroon
 Pelikan Edelstein – Ruby
 Sailor Jentle – Grenade
So, yes, I sort my ink samples by color. I have so many that there has to be a system – I’ll take pictures and show you sometime soon. 
I first look at the name of the ink and sometimes it’s obvious where the ink belongs.  Delta Brown?  Not a big decision. Frankly, Pelikan Edelstein Ruby didn’t seem like a big decision either. Ruby – Red, right? Not so much. Yikes.
When the name doesn’t make it obvious, I open the sample, have a peek, and make a best guess. Sailor Jentle Grenade belongs with the purples. Oops.
I’m really liking Private Reserve Vampire Red. Perfect name for this color, yes? Can’t wait to write with it!
Maroon from Diamine is ok – nothing special to me. It’s one of those colors that isn’t really a color. Haha.
What do you think?  Do the names of inks get you all bothered, too? Ruby – ha!

Ink Review: Noodler’s Red

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Woooo..this is some red!  Great color. Terrific saturation.

love this quote

It writes well, too. No bleeding or feathering.  It’s a bit on the wet side, but I was using a broad nib.

It’s definitely not water-resistant (not many reds are).

Noodler’s Red is a true red. Not too much blue or orange in the mix – just right. Look at the Compare Squares below and you can see what I mean. It’s perfectly red.

I don’t see a lot out on the Interwebs talking about Noodler’s Red. I think it’s because so many people are looking for a blood red rather than a true and bright red.  Which do you prefer?

INK REVIEW: Caran d’Ache Sunset

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Caran d’Ache Sunset is such a pretty color. Before you fall in love with it, though, you should know something. 
It’s been discontinued.
In fact, the entire line is being refreshed. Here’s a post about it from back in February on Ink Nouveau. The new ink names amuse me. The new price does not. At 40 bucks a bottle, it better be some impressssive ink, right?
But that’s not what we’re talking about today.  This is…

It’s a good ink. I liked it a lot. After writing with it for a week, I no longer thought it was  true red – too many pink-ish tones for that, but it is a beautiful color.

Have you ever had a favorite ink end up discontinued? I have not – yet.

PEN REVIEW: Waterman 52

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On Friday, I shared some recent purchases including this little gem I acquired from VintagePen.

Going to (mostly) let the pictures do the talking here . . .

That’s a little nib creep – not rust or anything icky like that
love the gentle chevron – so subtle

And now . . .

Sammy is one of our three (!!) dogs.

My handwriting needs a bit of work, but man-oh-man, I am digging this pen. So much so that some of my other favorite pens have been sitting around unused in the short time I’ve had the Waterman 52.

It’s a little skinny, a little short – neither of those things are a bother to me. It writes wonderfully – perfectly smooth, easy to flex. It’s not even a little scratchy and it doesn’t skate uncontrollably across the paper.

The lever-fill is easy to manage – perhaps a pain to clean and ink capacity seems a bit low, but I can live with those things.

I love everything about the pen except there’s no clip on the cap – making the pen very likely to roll around. I hope so much that I never inadvertently set it down and have it roll onto the floor. Yikes.

This is a pen that will stay in the house because I really would be heartbroken if something happened to it.

It’s love! True love.

INKY REJECTS

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Three inks that will never ever ever (well, maybe) make it into any of my pens.
We’ll start with Organics Studio Mercury in the middle. Turns out that after sitting for awhile, this ink solidified – well, actually, it gellified (it’s a word).  You can actually see the clumps in the third swab of this really pretty color.
Organics Studio Cobalt is guilty by association. I know, I know. I could try it with a glass dip pen, perhaps. It is a really pretty color – especially when it’s laid down in three layers, yes?
Noodler’s Rochmaninoff. I bought a sample of this from Goulet Pens (love them!) and it’s clear this isn’t like other inks. I had to shake the vial to mix it all up and even then, it looked – suspicious – like something I wouldn’t want to put in a pen. But. When I swabbed it, no problem – perfectly smooth and kinda pretty (in a Pepto kind of way). And look at the glow – pretty, right? I think I’m going to get brave sometime and test this one. Maybe. 
Are there ink brands you just won’t use? Have you ever changed your mind and it worked out ok? Or (yikes) didn’t work out?

INK REVIEW: Montblanc Winter Glow

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hello gorgeous
Now. There is some red!  That in-yo-face color that I adore!
Highlight test went (surprisingly) well.
The colors in the Compare Squares don’t really compare at all – even for a second try! Even Tiananmen from Noodler’s and not even Florentine Red from Stipula.  No, Winter Glow from Montblanc is in a class by itself.

On very close inspection, it’s has a bit of spread. Spread = not quite perfect, but not really feathering. With the naked eye, though, this just isn’t noticeable on any of the papers I’ve used with this pen/ink combination.

Speaking of the pen/ink combination, you’ll notice that I used a Montblanc Boheme for this test. That’s because the ink is in a cartridge rather than a bottle. I have a bottle, too, just wasn’t ready to open it. 
Wait, let’s be honest here, I wanted to try a MB ink in a MB pen and this is what I went with.

Suggest keeping it dry
The only bit of trouble I had was on the review paper (HP Premium Choice 32 lb.). Just a little hard starting.
The letter to Mr. P below is written on Whitelines Paper and it worked out just fine.

In closing, I’d like you to notice how kind I am to refer to the pen as his. Everyone knows all of the pens in the house (and in the cars, and in the world) belong to me.

The End 🙂

PEN REVIEW: Pilot Varsity All Colors

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We’ve already looked at the blue – and now here are the remaining colors of the Varsity Pilot fountain pens.

The Classics
Some people worry that something is wrong with the pen when they see the ink down in the section (the part of the pen between the barrel and the nib). This is perfectly normal and is a result of the ink moving through the feed system into the nib. In most pens, this part of the pen is opaque – but if you could see, you would see – this is perfectly normal.

Handy Ink Window

The Whole Enchilada
Bottom Line? In a pinch, these get the job done. The colors are fun.