Well, happy news. My "Inkvent" calendar arrived a couple of days ago. I have been trolling the Pinterest, looking at all the different ways that people make ink sample pages. There are a LOT of them. Yikes! But I managed to narrow it down to three. I'm doing a whole page spread using the ink with various pens and with certain tests that demonstrate the different qualities of the ink. Then a simple swatch page with the name of the ink and the pen used. And finally, what I'm calling a 'wall o' text' page that I thought was very cool looking once you get several inks done. I forgot to save the original photo and I surely hope I run into it again so I can show you the inspiration piece.
Anyway, here are my first two inks and their respective pages.
In the bottom corner of the full page test there is a little rectangle of Tomoe River paper. [pronounced Toe-mo-ay]. It is a Japanese paper that is universally considered one of the very best for fountain pens. Only thing is in the last few years, there have been changes in its manufacture, and some people think that the OLD paper is better than the new. Here's an article about it if you are interested:
Why Tomoe River Paper Is The #1 Fountain Pen Paper | Galen Leather
I am very happy to be in possession of three packets of the original Tomoe River paper. I had considered making myself a booklet to use for my ink swatching project, but I didn't want to use it all up. So, I cut up a few sheets and decided to put them on each page of my notebook as an example of how my inks could look on the very BEST paper! I'm glad I thought of it.
I didn't include a photo of the 'wall o' text' yet, because right now it's just a 'crown molding' of text. As we go along, I'll take a picture.
I'm looking forward to seeing what the other 24 colors of ink look like. I really am going to open them one at a time, and not even one every DAY. I'm enjoying the suspense. They are tiny little bottles but would probably fill my pen several times. I'm thinking at least 10 or 12. That's a LOT of ink when you add it all up!
