Project Enjoy Collection 2024: Q1
Group shot of all of the inks (minus samples) that I played with in the past 3 months.
I am really enjoying the Project this year, especially due to some of the newer tools I have at my disposal. For a simple recap, Project Enjoy Collection is to constantly be rediscovering my collection and finding joy in what I have. The Project does not exclude new things, but rather keeps me mindful about what I am using and how it makes me happy. Each year I try to engage with my collection in a slightly different way to keep things interesting.
If you’d like to check out some of last year’s Project Enjoy Collection posts: 2023 Q1, 2023 Q2, 2023 Q3, 2023 Q4.
At the end of 2023, I set up the following intentions for Project Enjoy Collection 2024:
Move my ink tracking over to a Hobonichi weeks.
Limit ink acquisitions to limited/special/exclusive inks (not counting inks that are sent as part of an affiliate program)
Reach for inks that were identified as not being used in a while to decide if they need to be rehomed.
Overall the Tomoe River paper in the 2023 Hobonichi Weeks holds up to most heavy swabs, with a few exceptions (that’s Colorverse Purple Cosmo in the upper right side).
The Hobonichi Weeks ink “passport” (a single book version of an experiment I started last year with a combination of a Stalogy that I’d been tracking in and some Midori MD Light notebooks, you can see examples in those old posts) has been working out beautifully. Essentially, as I use an ink, it gets an entry on the left side of the spread with the name written out in the first pen I inked up with it. On the right, I stamp the date I inked or re-inked it. In the notes pages I keep my ink list and then mark which “date” the ink resides in (ex. Diamine Cashmere Rose is 12/1/22 - because that’s the date in the 2023 Hobonichi Weeks that it was swatched into). It’s nice to be able to flip back and forth. At the rate I am filling things up, this book will probably last me at least two years based on how many inks I used in 2023.
Colored dots designate years that the ink was used, starting with 2021.
In January through March 2024, I’ve used 41 different inks.
These inks were:
2 Red: Franklin-Christoph Urushi Red and Colorverse Intense Magnetic Field.
0 Burgundy
1 Pink: Ferris Wheel Press The Sherry Sonata.
3 Orange: Birmingham Golden Ale, Ferris Wheel Press Wonderland in Coral, and Montblanc Single Malt Whisky.
4 Green: Ferris Wheel Press Brilliant Beanstalk, Ferris Wheel Press Knitted Nettle, Ferris Wheel Press Dancing Thyme, and Ferris Wheel Press Emerald Garden.
14 Blue: Colorverse SM1, Pennonia x Amarillo Stationery Azul Frida, Colorverse Kuiper Belt, Colorverse Butterfly Nebula, Colorverse Supernova, Ferris Wheel Press Crystal Blue Legacy, Ferris Wheel Press Unfettered Flight, Ferris Wheel Press Tumultuous Tides, Diamine Tudor Blue, Diamine Midnight Hour, Ferris Wheel Press Lapis Lullabies, Colorverse Bow Shock, Ferris Wheel Press The Sad Charade, and Colorverse Extra Dimension.
4 Purple: Diamine Jacaranda, Ferris Wheel Press Aurorealis, Colorverse x Dromgoole’s Purple Cosmo, and Ferris Wheel Press Madam Mulberry.
7 Brown: Pilot Iroshizuku Ina-ho, Colorverse Coffee Date, Birmingham Pen Co. London Fog, Diamine Pick Me Up, Sailor Ink Studio 273, Ferris Wheel Press Land of Shangri-la, and Kiwi Inks Jasmine.
6 Black/Gray: Colorverse Sunspot, Sailor Ink Studio 223, De Atrementis Steam Locomotive, Taccia Black Jeans, Wearingeul Othello, and Colorverse Under the Shade.
Like usual, blue inks saw the most love during this quarter. I’ve been especially craving sheening blues, which quite a few of these are. Three of these inks were actually in use around the same time last year: Diamine Pick Me Up, Ferris Wheel Press Lapis Lullabies, and De Atrementis Steam Locomotive. Interestingly, the color spread is about the same as last year at this time as well.
I ran out of room, so the last few swatches happened on a piece of plotter paper. Ink sampling was done with a Sailor Hocoro fude nib dip pen.
Some other stats:
Inks used more than once: Colorverse Bow Shock (x2), Colorverse Butterfly Nebula (x2), Colorverse SM1 (x3), Coloverse Under the Shade (x2), Ferris Wheel Press Crystal Blue Legacy (x2), Ferris Wheel Press Aurorealis (x3), Ferris Wheel Press The Sad Charade (x2), Taccia Black Jeans (x3).
Inks used up: Birmingham Pen Co. Golden Ale (sample)
Inks to sell/trade/giveaway pile: Diamine Tudor Blue. I hadn’t used this ink in years and it was an early ink in my collection. It’s a good blue, but I have other blues in my collection that I prefer to use before this one.
Inks added: Colorverse Bow Shock, Colorverse Intense Magnetic Field, Ferris Wheel Press The Sherry Sonata, Ferris Wheel Press Knitted Nettle, Ferris Wheel Press Emerald Garden, Ferris Wheel Press Dancing Thyme, Ferris Wheel Press Unfettered Flight, Ferris Wheel Press The Sad Charade, and Ferris Wheel Press Aurorealis. Note: All the Ferris Wheel Press inks except for The Sad Charade were sent to me by Ferris Wheel Press as part of their creative ambassador program.
I used 6 inks from my dusty ink shelf list.
I think a pretty solid start to the year and trying out a lot of different inks in my collection. It’s been a pretty wide selection of ink properties. Shimmer and sheen have been my favorite properties.
Currently Inked
Montblanc x Purdy & Sons Single Malt Whisky - Kaweco Sport Burgundy M - This ink has been doing some heavy lifting on editing documents this week. I have a soft spot for burnt oranges and this one works really well. The medium nib isn’t allowing it to show off a ton of shading, but it’s still there in letters where ink pools.
Ferris Wheel Press Dancing Thyme - Kaweco Sport Olive Green BB - This is one of those green tones that has been growing on me. The earthy, soft shading greens. It has a little bit of a blue undertone on some papers giving it a soft green-leaning teal vibe. The shading is excellent in the BB. I’ve been using this one for journalling and note-taking this week.
Ferris Wheel Press Oyster Hour - Kaweco Art Sport Tiger’s Eye 14K B - This ink needed a wetter nib than I had it in last week which led me to swapping the 14K B nib back into this pen. At the start, Oyster Hour had a bit of a misadventure being green because I didn’t quite get the last of Colorverse Bow Shock out of the feed. However, now it’s showing off its quirky brown tones. A note-taking and journalling contender.
Colorverse Under the Shade - Kaweco Art Sport Terrazzo 14K BB ‘journaler’ - I haven’t used this nib in a bit and I forgot how much fun it is when I’ve got the right ink in it. This nib is very wet and has a little bit of bounce. The line various provided by the journaler grind is distinct. The ink shading is on point. I actually wrote out an entire fill on a brainstorm and re-inked it because I was enjoying using this combo so much.
Ferris Wheel Press The Sad Charade - Kaweco Liliput copper M stub - I think I’ve started an unintentional collection of this shade of blue. I haven’t done a direct comparison with Diamine Celadon Cat or Kobe Do You Believe in Fairies? but I feel like they live on the same spectrum. This is just a really enjoyable color, serious, yet fun at the same time with the shading. FWP has had some winners so far this year.
Colorverse Extra Dimension - Kaweco Liliput fireblue 14K M ‘journaler’ - I remember why I loved this ink in the past. It’s a lovely deep blue with just enough red sheen to keep it from looking like every other dark blue out there. It’s really well-behaved. It’s been a great ink to turn to when I need to play when writing.