Project Enjoy Collection 2024: Q2
The quest to enjoy my collection continues and I think I would class the second quarter of 2024 as the wild choices quarter, especially after Q1’s palette which leaned heavily into blues, browns, and grey/blacks. If you’d like to check out my ink notes from Q1, you can find that here.
Throughout April and June I utilized at least one color from each of my color categories. I also paid extra attention to newly acquired inks (primarily purchased at the Chicago Pen Show) and inks that were on the forgotten ink list. I am happy to report that I did at least one inking of each ink I bought in Chicago and have continued to make a dent in shortening the “dusty inks” list, which includes all inks in my collection that I haven’t used/touched at least once in three years.
Inks that were used:
Red (4 inks) - Anderillium Chicago 1871, Anderillium Vampire Squid, Colorverse Dark Energy, Diamine Communication Breakdown
Burgundy (1) - Diamine Syrah (cartridge)
Pink (1) - Ferris Wheel Press Billowing Blush
Orange (1) - Ferris Wheel Press Terracotta Canyon
Yellow (4) - Diamine Candlelight, Diamine Three Kings, Colorverse String, Van Dieman’s Neptune’s Necklace
Green (4) - Anderillium Luna Moth Green (x3), Colorverse Cat’s Eye Nebula, Ferris Wheel Press Brilliant Beanstalk, Ferris Wheel Press Emerald Garden (x2)
Blue (17) - Anderillium Adonis Butterfly Blue, Anderillium Diversey Harbor, Colorverse Bow Shock (x2), Diamine Nightfall, Diamine Steel Blue (cartridge), Ferris Wheel Press Unfettered Flight (x2), Ferris Wheel Press The Sad Charade, Ferris Wheel Press Grand Central Skies, Ferris Wheel Press Bluegrass Velvet, Laban Poseidon, Monarca Mar Caribe, Papier Plume Lake Michigan Sunrise, Sailor x Tinterias Agave (x3), Vinta x Enigma Stationery Palaisipan, Wearingeul Romeo, Wearingeul x Atlas Stationers Atlas, Wearingeul Wicked Witch
Purple (7) - Colorverse Milky Lavender, Diamine Rainbow’s End, Diamine Raise Your Glass, Ferris Wheel Press Bayou Berry Mist, Lamy Violet Blackberry, Van Dieman’s Achilles, Wearingeul x Endless Pens The Black Cat
Brown (2) - Franklin-Christoph Bronze Age, Papier Plume Cafe Diabolique
Gray/Black (5) - Diamine Moon Beam, Montblanc Mystery Black (cartridge), Wearingeul Othello (x2), Wearingeul Macbeth (x2), Wearingeul Hades
That is 46 different inks written with in 2024 Q2, up five inks from Q1. In comparison to the same quarter in 2023, I am down by 11 inks (I used 57 different inks in Q2 2023). I didn’t do #30inks30days this April, so that might explain the reduction. This year was much more diverse in colors whereas last year was very firmly in the blue camp.
I’ve been keeping track of what inks I used each month in my planner, at the end of the month I write them out in the ink log for future reference.
Back to comparison with Q1, my spread of inks was much more equal across colors (except for blue, but last year I started including all shades of blue, such as turquoise, which expands the category quite a bit). Red and yellow had a much stronger showing which was great because I do genuinely enjoy those color categories. My biggest surprise amongst those inks is how much I enjoyed Diamine Three Kings from the 2022 Inkvent calendar. I was surprised that it took me this long to try the burnished gold color.
More stats:
Nearly half of my inks this quarter were shimmers, and there were surprises there as well. Ferris Wheel Press Unfettered Flight really held my attention as a header ink so much I kept it in a regular writing pen as part of my first inking of Q3.
I used 10 inks from the “dusty inks” list.
I used up 1 sample - Colorverse Cat’s Eye Nebula
I have added a few inks to my wishlist, but my acquisitions was pretty low. Mainly it was inks I bought during the Chicago Pen Show. I preordered the Diamine Inkvent Black Edition from Atlas Stationers. I look forward to getting it sometimes in October and then start opening it in December. I’m very interested to see what colors they come up with this year.
Favorites from Q2:
Anderillium Luna Moth Green - this green was bringing me so much joy. Anderillium inks continue to surprise me (and the little jam jars are very cute and super easy to fill pens from).
Kaweco Art Sport Terrazzo combined with Pen Realm’s ‘Imperial’ grind. I got this setup in Chicago and it took me a bit to get used to, but once I did, it’s been really fun to scribble with.
Chunky A6 notebooks - I just cannot get enough of books with lots of pages to fill. Midori MD, Sterling Ink tomoe river, Stalogy, Oasis Note are what I was scribbling in.
Collection Predictions for Q3:
Continuing to work through my “dusty ink” list to make more decisions about inks to keep or rehome. Also, seeing if there are dupes of inks I either want to buy or other inks I have.
Bright colors and wild color combinations. I had a lot of fun with that in May and June so I plan on doing it more through July.
Currently Inked
Colorverse Morning Star - Kaweco x Galen Leather Carmine 14K BB - It was a bit of a challenge to decide what I wanted to use as a header color in July. I’d been really enjoying teals in June and I decided to tap a Colorverse ink I haven’t used in a long time. It’s very similar to Colorverse Gravity Wave, but more blue and less sheen. It shades really well and it’s going to be very fun to use this week.
Ferris Wheel Press Harlequin Dream - Kaweco Art Sport Terrazzo B ‘imperial’- This ink has been stuck in my head for weeks, but I kept skipping over it for something else. It was finally time. This ink is very fun, the color is blurple, but leans more blue or purple depending on paper. When wet it looks like a slate blue, and then dries to the blurple color. Wrote through it doing some research at work this week.
Diamine Celebration - Kaweco Art Sport Tiger’s Eye 14K B- This ink falls into the salmon color category, not quite pink, not quite orange. Although it does appear to have orange shimmer. This is a cute color. It’s not really my style so it’s going in the rehome pile, but I’m glad I gave it a try.
Ferris Wheel Press Queen Allium - Kaweco liliput copper M stub - I haven’t used this ink in ages and it is one of my favorites so I have no excuse. This ink is a warm purple with gold shimmer. I’m on the end of the 5 mL ink charger bottle, but luckily I already have a bigger bottle ready to go!
Laban Athena Grey - Kaweco liliput fireblue 14K ‘journaler’ -> Kaweco Art Sport Tiger’s Eye 14K B - I have two Laban inks (Athena and Poseidon) and they are solid. Granted I have a soft spot for the Greek Mythology theming and the inks are just good colors with great flow. It’s the perfect work appropriate gray or when I want something dark, but not black.
Nonble Ragdoll - Kaweco Art Sport Terrazzo B ‘imperial’ - One of my San Francisco Pen Show inks from last year that I picked up because I didn’t know the brand. It appears to possibly be a Japan exclusive brand. This one is Ragdoll blue. It’s a soft blue with good shading. Just inked it up at the end of the week so haven’t done an extensive try yet.
Diamine Buck’s Fizz - Kaweco liliput fireblue 14K ‘journaler’ - One of last year’s Inkvent inks that I’m just now getting around to trying. I remember kind of shrugging about this one and it didn’t excite me enough to ink it right away. However, I’m kind of digging it right now. It was inked up at the same time as Ragdoll, so it’ll get some trials over the next week.