Diamine Inkvent Calendar Day 22

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

Happy Winter Solstice!!! I know, I know. If you’re an American, the Winter Solstice happened yesterday the 21st at 10:19 p.m. Central Time. But, if you’re British, the Winter Solstice comes December 22 at 4:19 a.m. And, Diamine is, of course, a British company, so they scheduled this ink for Britain’s Winter Solstice day.

Winter Solstice is the perfect color for celebrating the shortest day of the year. It’s a black (or a very dark grey) shimmer ink that evokes the night sky. I absolutely love that Diamine chose a black/grey ink for the Inkvent Calendar. I’m a big fan of the Ruth Galloway mystery series by Elly Griffiths. Her character, Cathbad, a Druid, always celebrates the solstices. This ink is a sparkly and beautiful tribute to the Winter Solstice.

The color looks good on white Rhodia paper and it works well in all nib sizes. But if you really want the shimmer to sparkle, I suggest using this ink in a super wide nib or a superflex nib.

Maybe, since I never did get my Christmas cards done, I’ll surprise my family by giving them Winter Solstice cards written in this ink! I also think it’s time to start a new family tradition of giving each other fountain pens on the Winter Solstice. I’ll let you know how that goes.

(Cult Pens provided the Diamine Inkvent Calendar to Pen Addict free of charge for review purposes.)

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Diamine Inkvent Calendar Day 21

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

One of the rituals of Christmas morning growing up was Mom making a fire in the fireplace. Us kids would wait anxiously in the hall with cold glasses of orange juice while she set the logs, stuck wads of newspaper in between, and lit matches. She’d use the old-fashioned bellows to try to coax the fire into action, but usually her ministrations failed and the house filled with smoke. She was relentless, however, and we had to wait, and wait, and wait, until the piñon logs started crackling. Then we’d hear the wonderful tones of “Here Comes Santa Claus” by the Ray Coniff Singers and that was our signal to come into the den to open stockings (and to sneak a peek under the tree to see what Santa had brought us).

The Inkvent color for today isn’t exactly a “traditional” Christmas color. It’s a fiery orange called “Fire Embers.” But I like that Diamine chose to include it, because a cheery fire in the fireplace is one of those things that made our Christmases special. This is a standard ink color, so it doesn’t have any sheen, nor does it offer shading.

It’s a vivid orange that looks good in any size nib. Some oranges are too pale to write with, but this one is dark enough that it has presence. It would definitely be a great color for artwork as well.

Even though The Embers is not a color I’ll be using for any Christmas writing, I like the shade. It looks like a perfect match for my Sailor Tequila Sunrise Pro Gear.

(Cult Pens provided the Diamine Inkvent Calendar to Pen Addict free of charge for review purposes.)

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Diamine Inkvent Calendar Day 20

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

When I was growing up, my older sister, Karen, and I shared a room. On Christmas Eve, she would get so excited she couldn’t sleep. So, she’d wake me up in the giddy hours after midnight, and we’d giggle and whisper and try to make the time pass by going through her jewelry box trinkets and telling stories. Sometimes we’d stare out our windows at the luminarias still burning on the sidewalks beneath the cold winter sky.

Today’s ink is called Midnight Hour. It’s a vivid blue that has purple tones and copper sheen. It makes me think of dark, frigid nights gazing at the darkening sky with the Milky Way splashed across it.

On white Rhodia paper, the color changes depending on the angle and the amount of sheen. Sometimes it looks like cobalt blue. When the copper sheen predominates, it looks more like purple. It’s a fantastic color, and I love that it has some color-shift properties.

I don’t think my sister ever actually slept on Christmas Eve. I would fall back to sleep and be awakened by her around 5:00 a.m. We’d get our brother, Stan, and go wake up our parents. Christmas was always a magical, crazy, exciting day at our house. I think of my sister every Christmas Eve because now I’m the one who wakes up every hour excited about opening presents even though I’m 55 and my kids are both in college!

(Cult Pens provided the Diamine Inkvent Calendar to Pen Addict free of charge for review purposes.)