Happy Birthday Chris! So glad you’ve found a good balance of busy and happy!! I have to go back and watch your previous inkvent videos for 2023. Want to plan my next ink sample purchases! Merry Christmas to you and hubby and kitties! ❤❤️🙋🏼♀️🖋🎁🎂😀
It amazes me that some people can leave their pets behind when they move 😢. It's great that Toby has now found his forever home ❤️. I actually purchased a fountain pen and some ink this month......though not for myself lol, but for my youngest granddaughter, who will be 8 later this month. I gave all my other grandchildren, great nephews and nieces, fountain pens a few years ago, but she was far too young then for one. She informed me that they have been using dip pens and ink in her junior school (which is great to hear) , so I decided that it was time to get her a f.pen. Thankfully, I managed to find someone that had stock of the limited edition purple Lamy Safari (purple is currently her favourite colour) ....I gave all the others Safari pens, so obviously stayed with that pen for her. Purple is currently her favourite colour, so she'll love the colour.
Hi Annie -- oh that's so nice you found the purple Safari for your granddaughter!!!! Oh I forgot I have been meaning to email and tell you your card + letter arrived the Saturday before Christmas!!!!
Hi Chris! Happy Birthday!! 🥳 I am enjoying this Inkvent a lot! So many shimmering inks, some very special and unique ones in there. Love your cat stories! Toby sounds like a sweetheart, and he seems to fit right into your beautiful little family! 😻 Merry Christmas! 🎄🎅 Hope you have a wonderful time! 😊
Thanks Chris! Sounds like you had a great birthday. Thanks for all of the work on the Inkvent! Much appreciated. Happy Holidays to you and your family (now including Toby!).
It really was a great birthday and I haven't even finished sorting thru everything and starting to use new things!!!! 2024 is going to be such a great year to try out all the new to me notebooks and pens and stuff!!!! :)
Welcome to the family Toby! I kinda like how the Wearingeul card feathered because it looks like the cat has fur. Cute! Surprised you had such a good result with Cinnabon as a lot had issues.
Hi Brenda - it surprised me too ... but it did okay on the Tomoe River paper with that Sailor Hocoro Fude dip nib ... it did ghost very heavily ... almost seepage but no feathering. Strange!
Wow, so many beautiful inks. Glacier and Blizzard look somewhat similar. I like them both. Bah Humbug (what an odd name for the ink) is nice too. Actually, I liked them all but I've had enough of shimmer from Nov to Dec. Looking forward to January when I'm not putting ONE shimmer ink in my pens. LOL Oooh, that Hongdian pen is lovely. Very nice! Looking forward to hearing more about that one along with your other new pens. Congrats on your new family addition, Toby!
Hi @ubacat1617 -- thank you -- we are so happy that Toby is adjusting well and so are Coco and Princess. Especially Coco. He's younger and needs/wants a playmate. Princess just is a little bit offended that he's been allowed in ... she already knows him. :)
Hey, Happy Birthday! I just LOVE inkvent! Of course there is more "playing" to do with the inks but this is quite a shimmery set for sure! I even got the Enigma Stationery set so I'm doing double-swatching! It's great to see how Inkswatch has come along. I've still got inks I need to swatch for it - one of these days I hope! Thanks for the video! PS I'm glad you took Toby in as I think he adopted YOU!
LOL yes Toby definately made the decision to move into our lives .... we were the slow ones ... unsure of how it would go but it seems like everyone is getting along beautifully.
Happy birthday!! I didn’t like Weeping Willow, Walnut, or Cinnabun, but I can’t wait to get Astral in a pen. Using that as soon as I finish up Solar Storm! 🤩 Here’s the colors I’ve got on the chameleon shimmers for this set: Bah Humbug- Pink/Gold Rainbows End- Pink/Gold Astral- Green/Blue
I never liked shimmer inks until I started doing two things. 1. Using dip pens. 2. Adding my own shimmer to an ink. This way, I not only get the color combination I want, but I can also add two, or more, colors of shimmer to an ink, and I can add as much shimmer as I wish without clogging up a fountain pen.
Hi James -- ah those 2 things are excellent points ... I do have the shimmer stuff to add and I would be much happier if I love the underlying color lol. Also, all the difficult clean up I could live without and my dip pens do perform pretty well so I'm thinking never again will I load so many fountain pens up with shimmer ink. I'm facing the pile up of cleaning today!!!!!
Happy Birthday Chris, and a nice overview of the second 10 inks in the Inkvent Calendar. I think it was a good move to start using dip pens with so many of the inks being shimmers. I myself, have all the Hocoro nibs except the Medium. I also have the Pilot iro-utsushi as well as a glass dip pen that was a big disappointment. Just recently I was able to acquire a Kakimori Brass Nib and a Holder to go along with it. I'll be using that one for the time being. I'm looking forward to your presentation of the rest of the Inkvent inks in the coming video(s).
Hi @zeus52452 I hope you like your Kakimori nib -- I'm on the fence about mine ... I like how it can put a lot of ink on the page but I don't like how it writes kind of gloppy for me. Maybe I need to slow down and try it when I'm in less of a rush. LOL
Hi Annie -- lol -- afterwards I noticed it might be almost a grinch color ... but it's bright, cheery and warm + soft ... I found it for under $4 at a thrift shop. :)
Hi @jacobus57 Thank you! I still feel slightly guilty for not delving extremely deep with each ink every day but I too enjoy this more informal beginning approach. Later as 2024 unfolds there will be time to try the inks in other pens and do some comparisons with similar other inks. :)
Hi Sharon -- me too --- I still haven't taken time to do more research and I don't know if this pen was old stock that the little gift shop in NH just happened to still have one ... you never know in the more rural areas. :)
Hi Ann-Ingrid -- oh I hope so too. I am all set to do the final 5 days video except I'm not at my best because my Mom fell on Christmas Day and I'm awful worried about her she broke her arm. But I am doing all I can from here in coordination with my brother and the hospital staff ... I hope it will be a speedy recovery but we are still on hold waiting for the ortho doctor to make a determination about surgery. It seems like it should be faster!!!!
So sorry to hear about your mom. I hope all will go right and quick for her recovery, i do understand the worry, i took care of my mom and theworst is not being able to do anything but wait! You are in my prayers.@@ChrisSaenz13
Happy Birthday! I have to say I love Weeping Willow. I've already have it in a pen and I really like it. My old eyes don't seem to have problems with it. It's very close to Sailor Yurameku Yamamoi, which I haven't seen a bottle off in years.
I think I need to try a different nib ... but at the same time I guess the lighter inks are just not my jam. Not that I can't see the beauty of the ink ... it has amazing chromatography and complexity!!!!
@@ChrisSaenz13 I know you like saturated pinks, which I do not like most of the time. I'm a fan of more understaded ink myself. There is no wrong opinion here
Weeping Willow…yes a little boring but I agree it could be a great art ink. The Merry and Bright is my favorite. Congratulations on the new cat. Still loving my latest Acquisition, Diplomat Aero that I got from Atlas Stationers here in Chicago. It’s black/silver and I have Aurora black in it. Also recently got a bottle of Platinum Chou Kuro which is supposed to be one of the blackest inks. Haven’t opened it yet. 5 more days til Christmas, yikes!
Hi @lju5001 I know Christmas is coming in like a fast train!!!! LOL Oh you'll love Platinum Chou Kuro -- I have not yet tried it myself but pen friends have written me letters with it and it's pretty amazing!
Yeah the second I saw that Merry and Bright I put that in my Noodlers flex pen and then I made a bonehead mistake and bought a nib which I really should have waited till the new year but its gonna be fine Ill call it a christmas present to myself 160 dollars later I just cant beleive they put so many blue blurple inks in this years inkvent. and that weaping willow I couldnt wash that one out fast enough I wrote for the review and put the ink name and weather in my hobonichi and didnt touch it for the rest of the day and after my shower at night I open the next day and start to do the next days review cause I find that I like that better than having to scramble around in the morning and I didnt even touch that ink for the rest of the day which oh well ... then I got inks from cathie and put those away for next year and then I got a package from a pen club friend who gifted me 3 archer and olive notebooks I'm blown away by peoples generocity this time of year I just feel bad cause I havnt been doing too well with my budgeting after I left the medical profession I need to have a no spend and widdle down my credit card things these days cost so much more money than previous years ugh. I hope that you and Manuel and the kitties have a wonderful christmas its going to be nice and warm 69* here on christmas which I think is the warmest its ever been so I hope it sticks around for a while. Todays ink was :p not a fan of black inks even if they are sparkily lol I am off to make dinner Take care of yourselves
Hi Marilyn!!!! Oh I hear you on the no spend. We have a big bill to pay off in 2024 ... a serious project to knock it out under the promotional period and avoid paying interest. Books and pens and stuff .... I will use what I have. I can still buy stamps lol. :) We'll have to start a club or something. :)
I hope you had a great birthday Chris. Can't wait to hear what you think of your Hongdian pen I have been looking at that nib on a couple of their pens.
Hi Tamara -- so far I really love that pen/nib a lot ... it's perfoming excellent with Sailor 50 States Texas on several papers especially the Italian notebook I'm using for journaling and the Tomoe River 68 gsm. The nib is unique in my collection!!!!!
@@ChrisSaenz13 I heard it is meant to be like an architect nib. I might have to look into it. Have a wonderful Christmas and I hope that 2024 brings all you wish for.
Chris, would it be possible for you to share, either on here or sending through Instagram messenger, some of the Instagram accounts where artists are using these inks? I'd love to see them for inspiration. And speaking of inspiration, your video today made me purchase the inkvent calendar. I won't be opening in the days leading up to Christmas, but I am sure going to enjoy these inks in the new year!
Oh wow -- I wondered if you had purchased one!!!! :) In fact I was asking on Instagram private message yesterday ... gosh I wish I had asked you sooner. :)
Hi Chris, glad you got an extra kitty, to keep you busier..LOL!!! Yes as you and I discussed, we like the same sort of inks. I don't like the light colors at all. I have to be careful about the names because I have already opened all of mine. Do you really like that Diplomat with a Broad nib? I am sitting on the fence with that, I wonder if the Pilot Explorer would be better?
Hi @tbayless8324 yes I really love the B Diplomat Magnum -- it writes really great! Does Pilot Explorer come with a B nib? Ha! yes I'll be busier for sure! Especially in the up and down hot and cold winter ... the cats are restless. LOL They tend to like summer and spring better. Except the bad rains when they come.
Okay I might get a Magnum I don't have enough Bold nibs. And No Ma'am..the Pilot Explorer only come in Fine and Medium, which is a bummer. I am very familiar how the Pilot nibs write. We have an office cat and he is a Feral through and through, but he is coming around after a year and a half of not scratching and biting the fire out of us in the office. Every one has donated blood to the little sucker (pun) LOL!!! So Chris? How many more kittens are you getting ? HA HA!!!!!!@@ChrisSaenz13
I saw ur thumbnail with your beautifully displayed bottles and I have a question Ive been wondering for a while. Will the light (natural and artificial) affect the shade of the color over time with constant light exposure?
It could but I'm not worried about it. My bigger bottles are in their boxes. I'm just not going to stress over it. They are not in direct sun light just in daylight so to speak. But yes, it's a chance I'm willing to take with my smaller bottles.
Happy Birthday Chris! So glad you’ve found a good balance of busy and happy!! I have to go back and watch your previous inkvent videos for 2023. Want to plan my next ink sample purchases! Merry Christmas to you and hubby and kitties! ❤❤️🙋🏼♀️🖋🎁🎂😀
Hi @karma13612 Merry Christmas!!!!
It amazes me that some people can leave their pets behind when they move 😢. It's great that Toby has now found his forever home ❤️. I actually purchased a fountain pen and some ink this month......though not for myself lol, but for my youngest granddaughter, who will be 8 later this month. I gave all my other grandchildren, great nephews and nieces, fountain pens a few years ago, but she was far too young then for one. She informed me that they have been using dip pens and ink in her junior school (which is great to hear) , so I decided that it was time to get her a f.pen. Thankfully, I managed to find someone that had stock of the limited edition purple Lamy Safari (purple is currently her favourite colour) ....I gave all the others Safari pens, so obviously stayed with that pen for her. Purple is currently her favourite colour, so she'll love the colour.
Hi Annie -- oh that's so nice you found the purple Safari for your granddaughter!!!! Oh I forgot I have been meaning to email and tell you your card + letter arrived the Saturday before Christmas!!!!
Happy birthday!!! And congratulations on adding Toby to your family!
Hi Chris! Happy Birthday!! 🥳
I am enjoying this Inkvent a lot! So many shimmering inks, some very special and unique ones in there.
Love your cat stories! Toby sounds like a sweetheart, and he seems to fit right into your beautiful little family! 😻
Merry Christmas! 🎄🎅 Hope you have a wonderful time! 😊
Hi Janny -- Merry Christmas!!!!
I'm so glad you are feeling well💐 please show us the cats 😺
Thanks Chris! Sounds like you had a great birthday. Thanks for all of the work on the Inkvent! Much appreciated. Happy Holidays to you and your family (now including Toby!).
It really was a great birthday and I haven't even finished sorting thru everything and starting to use new things!!!! 2024 is going to be such a great year to try out all the new to me notebooks and pens and stuff!!!! :)
Happy Birthday! Sounds like you had a beautiful day.
Happy Belated Birthday! 🎉
(Same day as my dad. Cool.)
Welcome to the family Toby!
I kinda like how the Wearingeul card feathered because it looks like the cat has fur. Cute! Surprised you had such a good result with Cinnabon as a lot had issues.
Hi Brenda - it surprised me too ... but it did okay on the Tomoe River paper with that Sailor Hocoro Fude dip nib ... it did ghost very heavily ... almost seepage but no feathering. Strange!
Wow, so many beautiful inks. Glacier and Blizzard look somewhat similar. I like them both. Bah Humbug (what an odd name for the ink) is nice too. Actually, I liked them all but I've had enough of shimmer from Nov to Dec. Looking forward to January when I'm not putting ONE shimmer ink in my pens. LOL
Oooh, that Hongdian pen is lovely. Very nice! Looking forward to hearing more about that one along with your other new pens.
Congrats on your new family addition, Toby!
Hi @ubacat1617 -- thank you -- we are so happy that Toby is adjusting well and so are Coco and Princess. Especially Coco. He's younger and needs/wants a playmate. Princess just is a little bit offended that he's been allowed in ... she already knows him. :)
Hey, Happy Birthday! I just LOVE inkvent! Of course there is more "playing" to do with the inks but this is quite a shimmery set for sure! I even got the Enigma Stationery set so I'm doing double-swatching! It's great to see how Inkswatch has come along. I've still got inks I need to swatch for it - one of these days I hope! Thanks for the video! PS I'm glad you took Toby in as I think he adopted YOU!
LOL yes Toby definately made the decision to move into our lives .... we were the slow ones ... unsure of how it would go but it seems like everyone is getting along beautifully.
Happy birthday!!
I didn’t like Weeping Willow, Walnut, or Cinnabun, but I can’t wait to get Astral in a pen. Using that as soon as I finish up Solar Storm! 🤩
Here’s the colors I’ve got on the chameleon shimmers for this set:
Bah Humbug- Pink/Gold
Rainbows End- Pink/Gold
Astral- Green/Blue
Hi @FlybyStardancer I was impressed how well Astral flows and how much shimmer can be seen!!!!!
I never liked shimmer inks until I started doing two things. 1. Using dip pens. 2. Adding my own shimmer to an ink.
This way, I not only get the color combination I want, but I can also add two, or more, colors of shimmer to an ink, and I can add as much shimmer as I wish without clogging up a fountain pen.
Hi James -- ah those 2 things are excellent points ... I do have the shimmer stuff to add and I would be much happier if I love the underlying color lol. Also, all the difficult clean up I could live without and my dip pens do perform pretty well so I'm thinking never again will I load so many fountain pens up with shimmer ink. I'm facing the pile up of cleaning today!!!!!
Happy Birthday Chris, and a nice overview of the second 10 inks in the Inkvent Calendar. I think it was a good move to start using dip pens with so many of the inks being shimmers. I myself, have all the Hocoro nibs except the Medium. I also have the Pilot iro-utsushi as well as a glass dip pen that was a big disappointment. Just recently I was able to acquire a Kakimori Brass Nib and a Holder to go along with it. I'll be using that one for the time being. I'm looking forward to your presentation of the rest of the Inkvent inks in the coming video(s).
Hi @zeus52452 I hope you like your Kakimori nib -- I'm on the fence about mine ... I like how it can put a lot of ink on the page but I don't like how it writes kind of gloppy for me. Maybe I need to slow down and try it when I'm in less of a rush. LOL
Chris, I love the colour of your hoodie 👍
Hi Annie -- lol -- afterwards I noticed it might be almost a grinch color ... but it's bright, cheery and warm + soft ... I found it for under $4 at a thrift shop. :)
Happy birthday! Chris, your presentation of these inks is the best I've seen. Now I kinda wanna get one 😹😹
Hi @jacobus57 Thank you! I still feel slightly guilty for not delving extremely deep with each ink every day but I too enjoy this more informal beginning approach. Later as 2024 unfolds there will be time to try the inks in other pens and do some comparisons with similar other inks. :)
I thought Peter Pauper Press only dealt with paper and notebooks, but not pens! Cool!!
Hi Sharon -- me too --- I still haven't taken time to do more research and I don't know if this pen was old stock that the little gift shop in NH just happened to still have one ... you never know in the more rural areas. :)
Happy belated birthday. It is my understanding that scented inks feathers.
I've been seeing talk of that too online. It seems true by the way the 2 in the Inkvent behave!!!
Happy birthday 🎂 🥳. Hope to see you before the end of the year!
Hi Ann-Ingrid -- oh I hope so too. I am all set to do the final 5 days video except I'm not at my best because my Mom fell on Christmas Day and I'm awful worried about her she broke her arm. But I am doing all I can from here in coordination with my brother and the hospital staff ... I hope it will be a speedy recovery but we are still on hold waiting for the ortho doctor to make a determination about surgery. It seems like it should be faster!!!!
So sorry to hear about your mom. I hope all will go right and quick for her recovery, i do understand the worry, i took care of my mom and theworst is not being able to do anything but wait! You are in my prayers.@@ChrisSaenz13
Happy Birthday! I have to say I love Weeping Willow. I've already have it in a pen and I really like it. My old eyes don't seem to have problems with it. It's very close to Sailor Yurameku Yamamoi, which I haven't seen a bottle off in years.
I think I need to try a different nib ... but at the same time I guess the lighter inks are just not my jam. Not that I can't see the beauty of the ink ... it has amazing chromatography and complexity!!!!
@@ChrisSaenz13 I know you like saturated pinks, which I do not like most of the time. I'm a fan of more understaded ink myself. There is no wrong opinion here
Weeping Willow…yes a little boring but I agree it could be a great art ink. The Merry and Bright is my favorite. Congratulations on the new cat. Still loving my latest Acquisition, Diplomat Aero that I got from Atlas Stationers here in Chicago. It’s black/silver and I have Aurora black in it. Also recently got a bottle of Platinum Chou Kuro which is supposed to be one of the blackest inks. Haven’t opened it yet. 5 more days til Christmas, yikes!
Hi @lju5001 I know Christmas is coming in like a fast train!!!! LOL Oh you'll love Platinum Chou Kuro -- I have not yet tried it myself but pen friends have written me letters with it and it's pretty amazing!
Yeah the second I saw that Merry and Bright I put that in my Noodlers flex pen and then I made a bonehead mistake and bought a nib which I really should have waited till the new year but its gonna be fine Ill call it a christmas present to myself 160 dollars later I just cant beleive they put so many blue blurple inks in this years inkvent. and that weaping willow I couldnt wash that one out fast enough I wrote for the review and put the ink name and weather in my hobonichi and didnt touch it for the rest of the day and after my shower at night I open the next day and start to do the next days review cause I find that I like that better than having to scramble around in the morning and I didnt even touch that ink for the rest of the day which oh well ... then I got inks from cathie and put those away for next year and then I got a package from a pen club friend who gifted me 3 archer and olive notebooks I'm blown away by peoples generocity this time of year I just feel bad cause I havnt been doing too well with my budgeting after I left the medical profession I need to have a no spend and widdle down my credit card things these days cost so much more money than previous years ugh. I hope that you and Manuel and the kitties have a wonderful christmas its going to be nice and warm 69* here on christmas which I think is the warmest its ever been so I hope it sticks around for a while. Todays ink was :p not a fan of black inks even if they are sparkily lol I am off to make dinner Take care of yourselves
Hi Marilyn!!!! Oh I hear you on the no spend. We have a big bill to pay off in 2024 ... a serious project to knock it out under the promotional period and avoid paying interest. Books and pens and stuff .... I will use what I have. I can still buy stamps lol. :) We'll have to start a club or something. :)
Happy Late Birthday!🎂
Thank you!
Happy belated birthday!
Thank you!!!
I pul astral in my Pelikan twist with a medium nib but it clogged 😮 honestly my first time inking a pen with a shimmer ink. I do like the ink though
Hi @momtoeve I don't like when the inks clog!!! I suppose I should just use dip pens for these shimmer inks. :)
I hope you had a great birthday Chris. Can't wait to hear what you think of your Hongdian pen I have been looking at that nib on a couple of their pens.
Hi Tamara -- so far I really love that pen/nib a lot ... it's perfoming excellent with Sailor 50 States Texas on several papers especially the Italian notebook I'm using for journaling and the Tomoe River 68 gsm. The nib is unique in my collection!!!!!
@@ChrisSaenz13 I heard it is meant to be like an architect nib. I might have to look into it. Have a wonderful Christmas and I hope that 2024 brings all you wish for.
Chris, would it be possible for you to share, either on here or sending through Instagram messenger, some of the Instagram accounts where artists are using these inks? I'd love to see them for inspiration. And speaking of inspiration, your video today made me purchase the inkvent calendar. I won't be opening in the days leading up to Christmas, but I am sure going to enjoy these inks in the new year!
Oh wow -- I wondered if you had purchased one!!!! :) In fact I was asking on Instagram private message yesterday ... gosh I wish I had asked you sooner. :)
Hi Chris, glad you got an extra kitty, to keep you busier..LOL!!! Yes as you and I discussed, we like the same sort of inks. I don't like the light colors at all. I have to be careful about the names because I have already opened all of mine.
Do you really like that Diplomat with a Broad nib? I am sitting on the fence with that, I wonder if the Pilot Explorer would be better?
Hi @tbayless8324 yes I really love the B Diplomat Magnum -- it writes really great! Does Pilot Explorer come with a B nib?
Ha! yes I'll be busier for sure! Especially in the up and down hot and cold winter ... the cats are restless. LOL They tend to like summer and spring better. Except the bad rains when they come.
Okay I might get a Magnum I don't have enough Bold nibs. And No Ma'am..the Pilot Explorer only come in Fine and Medium, which is a bummer. I am very familiar how the Pilot nibs write.
We have an office cat and he is a Feral through and through, but he is coming around after a year and a half of not scratching and biting the fire out of us in the office. Every one has donated blood to the little sucker (pun) LOL!!! So Chris? How many more kittens are you getting ? HA HA!!!!!!@@ChrisSaenz13
I saw ur thumbnail with your beautifully displayed bottles and I have a question Ive been wondering for a while. Will the light (natural and artificial) affect the shade of the color over time with constant light exposure?
It could but I'm not worried about it. My bigger bottles are in their boxes. I'm just not going to stress over it. They are not in direct sun light just in daylight so to speak. But yes, it's a chance I'm willing to take with my smaller bottles.
@@ChrisSaenz13 love that attitude. I had mine displayed but put them in a drawer to protect them from the light. Should’ve kept the boxes lol