Bumper Post | Pens! Inks!

I've been working like a dog writing Press Releases and scribbling hundreds of notes and the downside of all that is that sometimes the last thing you want to look at when you are chillaxing with a lager shandy in the Lady Cave is another pen.

BUT - today I took my writing ennui and gave it a good slap and threw myself into looking at a couple of new pens, new inks and a glorious pen roll.

Let's start with the pen roll - it was made for me by my newest fountain pen friend, Emmy Gregory.  Who is as funny as she is talented.  She asked me whether I like cactus or roses and I went for cactus - because who doesn't like cactus?

I'd very much like one of these please if anyone has got some spare cash.

Cartier Cactus Ring.  I wants it BAD.

Then this lovely confection of greyhounds, cactii and roses arrived in the post and I luff it sick.

Nero (the black, overly hot-dog pictured) approves

Greyhounds and Cacti on the outside

Greyhounds and roses on the inside.

Where does she find this material because I WOULD WEAR THIS EVERY DAY IF IT WAS CLOTHING.

I digress - it's a fantastic little pen-holder and I shall treasure it for always.

So I bought myself a Deacon's Doodle with a Cursive Nib from Mr Pens.  Today was Try Out Day.

I also had a Jinhao 159 kicking around that I hadn't tried, so it got roped into today's mega bumper post too.

The inks tried out were:

Krishna Black Rose

Krishna Jungle Volcano

Organics Walden Pond (sample from Emmy - thank you!)

What a lovely grown up colour of ink.  The sort of thing a love-sick vampire might use to write his poetry with.

Quietly pleased with the cursive nib from Mr Pens too - I will need to spend more time with it when I am more interested in making the pen work beautifully than I am in watching the colour unfold beneath my nib!

Next up is Krishna Inks Jungle Inferno.  I confess that as I started writing I thought 'very red brown.  I don't like it.'  Then as it started to dry, wowzers! Did I change my tune, look at this!

God in heaven - it's such a lot of fun! Not only does it change colour, but the green shading has the loveliest SHEEN to it!

The Jinhao 159 was wheeled out for this one as a dipping pen and it's perfect for this ink - good-sized nib and nice and wet writer.  Perfect combination!

Sheen!! Look at the sheen!

I'll level with you, I was looking at the Walden Pond and thinking that it was going to be such an anticlimax after the Jungle Volcano .....

Extra large photo to show off the sheen.

I used the Jinhao again and had a quick dip into the sample phial.  It laid down as a beautiful blue green. So far so pretty.  But then, around the edges of the letters I started to see a tiny pink red outline.  What alchemy is THIS?!

I continued to scribble, but the genie had left the bottle.  Or rather, the genie was sitting inside the phial begging me to shake it properly.  Which I did.  And LOOK AT THE DIFFERENCE.  You can definitely see the pink sheen on this ink now! 

What a day! I am no longer ennuied! I am revitalised and firing on all cylinders to be using these pens and inks.

Have you tried any of these? What do you think of them?!