The particulate in Ferris Wheel Press’s “sparkling” ink seems much finer than the glitter in the Diamine Inkvent shimmering inks, resulting in a much more subtle glitter. To be honest, I spent some time shaking the pen to keep the glitter in solution, but not a ton. Accipiters include over 200 species of Hawks, Eagles,…

Another stunning color today, this time a green-black or green-blue, deeply saturated, smooth ink with a hint of shading. And some New World Vultures to go with it!

What a terrific ink: highly reccommend, and may end up near the top of the list for January. The Pelecaniformes have some pretty amazing birds in the order (then again, aren’t we doing this because ALL birds are amazing?) 🙂

Another elegant ink, today in a rich turquoise. The Suliformes are a debatable order taxonomically speaking, for sure. Apatite was Pelikan Edelstein’s 2022 Ink of the Year (2012 Turmaline, 2013 Amber, 2014 Garnet, 2015 Amethyst, 2016 Aquamarine, 2017 Smoky Quartz, 2018 Olivine, 2019 Star Ruby, 2020 Moonstone, 2021 Golden Beryl).

The first non 2022 Diamine Inkvent Calendar color is…. yet another shimmering ink. You can call it shimmer, or sparkling (as FWP does), you can call it Corn Flakes if you want to, but glitter particulate is quickly becoming a love-hate thing for me. Along with the perplexing ink is the perplexing order Ciconiiforms (Storks).

This was the third Diamine Inkvent Calendar; the first two were the “Red” and “Blue” editions, and this was the “Green”. So today’s finishing color was, suitable, a shimmering green. Plus, you get the fascinating marine species of the Porcellariformes: albatrosses, storm petrels, and such.

Yet another dry ink, which I tried in a never-used Pilot Explorer (meaning it cannot possibly have shimmering particulate clogging up the works). I will try it one more time in a never-used medium nib pen, since the Explorer was a fine nib, but I am not hopeful. Also, who doesn’t adore Sphenesciformes?! (Also, sorry…

Happy National Handwriting Day, you loons! (I honestly cannot recommend this ink, unless there’s something wrong with my fine-nibbed Pilot Prera after having shimmering ink in it throughout the month.)

Probably my favorite ink of the year so far! A terrific purple with lots of shimmer, a saturated ink that writes smoothly – just perfect! Plus the three tropicbirds as a bonus to brighten your day.

Diamine is a British company, so… Cosy (sic)! Beautiful color – an almost perfect match for the fine-nibbed Prera I use each day – nice color on the memorial of St. Meinrad, the Martyr of Hospitality. But UGGGGH SO DRY! Cannot recommend, much as I would like to. Unlike Eurypygiformes, which I recommend highly (two…