INK REVIEW: De Atramentis – Silver Grey

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Really quick review for today…

Silver-Grey from DeAtramentis is one of my favorites from my Fifty Shades of Grey (Gray) post.

What I love…
..the name of the color matches the color of the ink!
..it’s a true gray – I don’t see any blue or red or green undertones
..no smear, no bleed, no nonsense

What I didn’t love so much…
..it smells a little funky (not like mold funk, but a definitely chemical / petroleum (?) smell. Something.
..maybe a little too fast-drying

I wrote with a glass dip pen for this test and you can see that things are a bit thin. I don’t think this is a necessarily a fair test of the ink for shading and ghosting.  I’ll need to retest at some point.  Maybe I’ll do a single post with all of the inks I’ve promised to retest at some point. It would be a doozy!
Have a great week, everyone!  xo

WISH LIST: Updated

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I’ve made some updates to my Wish List.

Added a few pretty things . . .

The Pelikan M205 pictured above. I swear an ink-a-boo (I made that up on Monday) window always gets me! And that COLOR. Yum.  It’s around $135 and I maybe might do it.

This Purple Lamy Al-Star is $36 from Goulet Pens (love them!).

I tested Pelikan Edelstein in Topaz and now I wanna gotta have it. At twenty-one bucks, it seems like a real possibility.

But this..THIS..is the big wish list item…

Wooo-wheeeee.  The Montblanc Paso Dobe Rouge Fountain Pen.  It’s $1100.  Eleven. Hundred.

I held its Roller Ball cousin a few months ago at the MB Boutique in Las Vegas. Lovely, but they didn’t have the FP in stock. And the salesperson insisted several times that I’d be really happy with the RB. Ha.

So it’s on the wish list. I’m wondering . . .

If I don’t buy another pen for the next six months years, could I? Would I? I might!!! The picture doesn’t show just how pretty it is. The depth of the red, the shiny shine of the platinum. I swear, it almost makes me swoon!  And who doesn’t love the Boheme style with the twist-action safety nib?

So! That’s my (current) wish list? What are you swooning over lately? Show and tell!

PEN REVIEW: Lamy Safari Charcoal with Black Nib

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As we all know from my first post, I’ve been in love with fountain pens since the 1980s.  Somehow, though, the entire Lamy line had eluded me.  Crazy, right?

Earlier this year, my deep love for fountain pens, ink, and paper was reignited. I blame Goulet Pens and their zillion ink samples. (Thank you, Brian and Rachel!)

I also started peeking in at Fountain Pen Network from time to time. Lamy this, Safari that. So prevalent were the posts about the Lamy Safari and its astounding incredible wonderfulness – how was I to resist?

Now, Jeff swears I bought this for him. I remember no such conversation. He even says it was delivered to him wrapped – with a bow! He so crazy. (Later, he admitted that he knows that all pens in the house belong to me – he’s just allowed to borrow them from time to time.)

This pen is the charcoal color. I chose a black medium nib.  I have it on good authority that the black steel nibs write the same as the traditional steel nibs.

The pen is hard plastic. The grippy section is triangular. Some people have issue with the shape – I think it depends on how you hold the instrument and your writing style. For me, it’s fine. Not ultra-comfy, but it’s definitely not uncomfortable. (Did you know I’m left-handed?)

I love the ink-a-boo (I just made that up) window. Let’s you see how much ink you have left – and, if you’re forgetful, what color is in your pen.

The Lamy Safari can take (proprietary) cartridges or use the (proprietary) converter for unlimited inking options. (Be brave, go converter.)

I found it to be one of the easiest pens to clean. Bonus points for that.

But we all know the big question. How did it write?
Like. OMG. That’s how it wrote.
I love this pen. The Lamy Safari is one smooth operator. (Maybe too smooth if you like a little traction.) And I think it makes my handwriting look nice without even trying.  (Click images to make them bigger.)
Obviously, some of this is the ink and paper combination (Pilot Iroshizuku Syo-ro and Clairefontaine Triomphe), but look at that shading!  Can you even stand it? In-freakin-sane.

I made these lemon pots de creme using the lemons from the tree in our backyard. 
So. Yeah. I’m loving the Lamy Safari.  Costs around $30. Mine came with a cartridge I won’t use. The converter was around five bucks.
In fact, I loved it so much that I now have several of them – stay tuned! (Yikes!)

INK REVIEW: Noodler’s Baystate Blue

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The (in)famous Baystate Blue from Noodler’s.
I usually don’t read a lot about inks before I try them out for myself, but for anyone even a little into pens and ink, it’s impossible to avoid reading about Baystate Blue.
First impressions:  It’s pretty, for sure, but it looks a bit purple to me. SATURATED.  
Because of everything I read (staining pens, difficult to clean, beware, BEWARE!!), I decided to wimp-out and use a glass dip pen for my testing.  I don’t think this was the best decision. You can see the feathering above, yes?   I’m definitely going to be brave and retest it in a pen. I want to be fair. 
Of course, I plan to use a pen I like, but don’t love. A pen that is inexpensive enough to replace. 
Here’s what I know…
..no smearing
..ugly feathering on the cheapie index card (above)
..no ghosting or bleeding
..no shading
..COLOR!!
I looooove color. Look at the swabs above and below – that’s some color! Love the saturation.
Oh..and clean-up? Well, it was a bit of a mess (though not the biggest mess I’ve ever made with ink. I wiped the dip pen first to remove any of the wet ink and then rinsed. Unfortunately, I wasn’t mindful about the flow of water and it came rushing out, sending little droplets of water/ink all over the (white) sink. I used a little shampoo and it came right out. Not a huge deal, but I was a bit surprised. I also used shampoo (it was handy) on the glass dip pen – it cleaned right up.
Click to Enlarge Images

I am not even going to ask for your thoughts on this one! I know everyone has an opinion.

INK REVIEW: Diamine Grey

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Click Images to Enlarge
A quick look at Diamine Grey..
This color is a true gray (grey, for those of you who insist).  Stately and professional as I said in my Fifty Shades of Grey post last month.
It’s a bit darker than I like. If I’m going to get that close to black, I may as well go black.  
It smeared a bit on my Hammermill Premium paper, but it’s tolerable. Some shading is nice. Tiny bit of feathering – even on the index cards below.
The water test is a fail – not so much from the Q-Tip across “Water Test,” but more from the standing test in the word “from” below.  

But..it is a true gray (ok, grey!) and I do appreciate that.

I’m not going to buy a full bottle of this ink (testing was done from a sample as usual). There’s just nothing that special about it.

Tyler Dahl LOVED this ink. A true sign that YMMV.

Have you tried it? What do you think? Wonderful or just meh?

UPDATE:  For some odd reason, this post received a whole big mess of spammy posts. I’ve closed comments on this post, but please contact me if you have something to add to the conversation! xo

INK REVIEW: Pilot Iroshizuku – Momiji

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Yikes!
Is it pink? It is red? It’s – rose. Momiji from Pilot Iroshizuku is pretty, pretty, pretty, and BRIGHT! In yo face! 
It almost glows blue, yes?  
Momiji is also known as Autumn Leaves – not sure why.
But pink ink? I don’t know. I just don’t know! Definitely girly. But what possible use could one have for this? Love letters? You know what I mean? Journaling, perhaps. But I’m not 12 and I don’t dot my letters with hearts. (Usually.)

Momiji is $28 all over the place. And while that’s not a lot of money, it is on the high side for ink. And there are so many inks out there. So many I need to have. I’m going to pass on this one. For now. Unless I find can’t.

But if I’m ever in the market for pink/red/rose – this is going to be my color.

Even if it does schmear all over the place in the water test (even the droplet is a fail). Even if it was a bit of a pain to clean the pen after using. Even if it doesn’t have much shading. It’s that POW of color that has me.

Seriously, though. It wrote great, just like the other Iroshizuku inks. And if this color is your thing, I say go for it. I’m saving my pennies for something else. Probably, anyway. I don’t know!  What do you think? Love it? Hate it?

Here’s what others are saying…

Carpe David
Inky Journal

SF PEN SHOW REVIEW & BOOTY

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Jeff and I went to the SF Pen Show over the weekend. We came away with two great pens and a review of the show itself.  Lonnnnnng post.

First, this Pelikan M320 in Ruby…

It was the depth of color (deep red) and somewhat translucent cap and body that called me to this pen. Pretty, yes?
The first vendor who had this pen told me it was never officially in production – that his friend bought all they had, and he bought a few from that friend.
Then I walked around a bit more and spotted the same pen at another vendor, and another. And I know pen people get around, so anything is possible. 
But then I got home, found the pen on eBay, and then on Amazon. I believe it’s a special edition – everyone says it is – but I don’t believe there’s only a few of them out in the world. Annnd, I don’t really care – I buy pens because I love they way they look, they way they feel in my hand, and the way they write.
Click Images to See Larger

It measures just around 4″
14k nib
And..surprise!..it’s piston fill.

It came with choice of fine or medium nib. I usually like broader nibs, but this pen has such a delicate feel to it, that I went with the fine this time.

I’ve not inked it yet, but I’ll report back when I do.

Paid $225 – seems like a decent deal.

And Jeff…he found this for himself….

Wait, no, that’s just the case that the vendor gave Jeff out of the goodness of his heart. The case is well-made, super-duper-soft, and I’m going to enjoy “borrowing” it from Jeff – on a permanent basis – haha!
Hello, beautiful….
Oh yes, I’m talkin’ to you….

Mont Blanc Boheme Noir. Medium Nib.
(with my reflection in the cap..nice)
This pretty little thing also measures around 4″ long.
Cartridge only.
The rings are platinum-plated.
Nib is rhodium + 14k
We paid $300 for this one – a great deal for a gently used (one tiny scuff mark on the barrel) Mont Blanc that Jeff has been pining after.

We feel really really good about what we came away with, but there were a couple that we were swooning over and didn’t get – isn’t that always the way?

Pelikan Northern Lights

Taccia Nightlife (in NYC Blue, please)

The show itself was good and fun.  We went on Friday and followed my usual routine..

..walk around the entire show to find what I love most and talk with vendors
..take a break, really think about what I want most
..head back to (hopefully) get everything from one vendor and make a fantastic deal

Things were not laid out well. There were multiple rooms – some of which were really really crowded even that early in the show. (Multiple rooms is nice, but things were just crazy-tight in a couple.) One of the largest rooms was around the corner from the others – when we walked in, the people at the first table said, “Thank You for finding us!”

I didn’t see anyone selling ink. And I really looked. We all know how much I love me some ink.

Everyone had used vintage Parkers. In fact, there were a lot more vendors selling used vintage items than there were selling new.

The Stipula dude was there. I always swoon for their designs.

Swann was there with some of their auction pens in a case. Jeff nearly got his hand slapped (not really) for reaching into the case and touching a vintage Mont Blanc.

Jimmy from Atlanta was there. I love him. He never remembers me. Bummer. (He doesn’t have the best prices – if pricing is important to you, research to avoid being charmed by his southern ways.)

The Bittners were there. They tried (unsuccessfully) to sell me the Omas Emotica Fountain Pen last year and tried again this year, too.

I hope the show is near SFO every year, but that’s only because it’s easier for me.

I think the organizers would do better charging a little more for tables and offering admission for much less (or free) to get more buyers into the show. Fifteen dollars isn’t a lot – but it could make the difference for someone thinking about attending, yes? Or maybe I’m wrong and the show would get too crowded and no one would buy?  Or maybe the vendors wouldn’t like higher table fees. What do I know.

Overall, it was good. The LA Pen Show is in February. Going to try to make it down there for that!

Your turn – what did you get? Did you love the show?

INK REVIEW: Caran D’Ache – Carbon

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Did you know that Caran D’Ache means pencil? (There’s probably more to it, but that’s my understanding.) Here’s how I learned….

A long time ago at pen show far far away, I marched right up to a dealer and exclaimed, “Oh! You have Caran D’Ache! I love her pens!!”

Ug.

Put me right back to high school when someone asked me if I like Def Leppard. Trying to sound like I knew what he was asking while still staying non-committal, I replied, “Yeah. He’s ok. I mean, some of his stuff is alright.”  Oops..Def Leppard is a “them.”

So, anyway. Check out that black. Pretttttttty?  Nice and dark – totally saturated. And it wrote beautifully from the very first stroke of the pen.

No feathering. No shading isn’t a surprise.

Beatiful.

The water test? Well. Not so beautiful. Not a total fail, but definitely a surprise.
Here’s my bottom line – if I had a bottle of it, I’d use it.  I’d rather have Noodler’s Black, though – all of the color, and water-resistance.

Read what others are saying..

Fountain Pen Network (a comparison of blacks..er…an unrealistic comparison)

Goulet Pens is selling for $19.50
and Amazon has it for $20

SF Pen Show is this weekend!! Who’s going?

INK REVIEW: Pelikan Edelstein – Topaz

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Aggggh…let’s start with the ugly, shall we?  The water test for Topaz from Pelikan Edelstein did not go well. But, dude, that color. That color!

Moving past the water test – I looooove the bright saturated nature of this ink. Look at how it compares to Pilot Iroshizuku’s Syo ro in the Compare Square. BIF! Bam! Boom! That’s what I need: COLOR!

Topaz almost passes the smear test – just a little wet – when not near water, that is.

You know what else I love about this ink? The name of the ink perfectly matches the color. Topaz!

Oh. So. Pretty.

Whereas so many other inks seem a bit flat, Topaz has a certain glossiness, a beautiful sheen that lasts well after the ink has dried.

As always, click to enlarge images

Check out a close-up of the color . . .

Tiny bit feathering only visible with some magnification (at least to my old eyes). Minimal shading.

This one is a winner in my big book of inks!

What are others saying?
Fountain Pen Network (very in-depth review!)
Art Brown has for $20,
Jet Pens for $21, 
and 
Goulet for $25.   
I’m getting it!

INK REVIEW: Pilot Iroshizuku – Kiri Same

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Kiri same from Pilot Iroshizuku is such a pleasing shade of gray.  I like my gray inks to look as much like pencil as possible – so that the reader may even wonder if I’d written in pencil. A simple fine line. Mmm. This one fits the bill, but when compared with other grays – it seems to have some red qualities to it. It’s probably not enough red to notice when the ink is on its own, but the red is definitely there.

The above swab is on a cheap index card (really, are there any quality index cards out there these days?). The feathering on the index card had me concerned, but look below at the water test – no feathering, no smearing.  For the water test, I write, wait a few seconds, and then drag a moistened Q-Tip across the writing. I also place a water droplet on the card – in this case, it’s on the L in “Pilot” – crazy, right?

Pricing is the same as the other Iroshizuku inks – $28 at most places. 
I like the hint of shading, too. Some feathering on my Hammermill Premium paper, but you have to get pretty close to see it. Definitely not something that would keep me from enjoying this ink.
This one is a temptation! I’m going to plan to try another sample. Perhaps on a variety of papers. And then I’ll know. Is this my gray?  Which is your gray (or is it grey)? I answered that question last week.
Here’s what other people are saying . . . 
Fountain Pen Network  (look at that shading!)

Seize the Dave (the essence of storm clouds in a bottle)

Grays are a favorite color for me. Love, hate, or indifferent – how do you feel about gray ink?