Over the course of 2024, I ended up using a few inks more than other and they were not all inks I would have said were my favorites or most-used previously.
Since I have been trying a more seasonal theme for my planner/journal this year, I used a lot of warm browns and orange-y colors in the latter half of the year that I would not have normally chosen.
My fall-focused inks were the Robert Oster Campfire (limited edition, no longer available) and Kaweco Caramel Brown which were used in my journal in September and October. Callifolio Andrinople was my go-to for February. Monteverde Birthday Cake has unexpectedly become my everyday ink. Sailor Chu-Shu is one of my favorite not-black inks that I use whenever I want a dark natural color but don’t want to go all the way to black.
The last three colors are, of course, shades of green. The Pen BBS No. 342 is no longer available but is one of my favorite yellow-green inks. I used it for Spring as well as for the holidays. Vinta Karnival is such a joyous, ocean inspired blue green. And Diamine Olive Swirl is the ink that has lived in my TWSBI Eco that I use to sign invoices. The dark yellowy olive green has iridescent blue sparkles and give its such charm!
With the exception of the Diamine Olive Swirl, all these inks worked extremely well in my fine Japanese nib pens. The shimmer in the Diamine Olive Swirl is used in a 1.1mm TWSBI only and has worked all year without a clog or hard start issue, even in the hot dry months of late Summer.
If you want to watch me painting these swatches, enjoy the video below!
