In feature

Ink Review: Laban Inks

Author Jessica ColesPosted on 1 Comment
Ink Review: Laban Inks

Just before Christmas, I purchased samples of the five newest Laban inks in their Mythology Series: Athena, Ares, Zeus, Hera, and Hermes. Beautiful colors! I haven’t been able to review these until now – there have been so many new inks released lately.

I am only reviewing these latest five inks but if you would like to read about the original five inks in the series, you can find them here:

Ink Series Review: Laban Mythology Series

I purchased my samples from Vanness where you can buy 4mL for $3.00 or the 50mL bottle for $20.

First, Zeus. Because this is a purple ink and purple is always the best! Zeus is a bit darker than ColorVerse Einstein Ring and a touch bluer. The sheen is amazing – see the swatches on Cosmo Air Light and Tomoe River paper at the end of the review for that.

Hera is a beautiful blue-black-teal color that is incredibly close to Private Reserve Ebony Blue (the original ink – I haven’t been able to compare to the recent Private Reserve release). The shading with Hera isn’t dramatic, but it shows up even in writing.

Laban Hermes is a light sky blue. I didn’t have a perfect match for this ink in my Col-o-ring cards, bu Faber-Castell Gulf Blue is close. In writing, though, Hermes is lighter.

Laban Ares is a bold red with a touch of orange – I would recommend this as a great replacement for Mont Blanc Corn Poppy since that ink is getting harder to find. There is a touch of sheen with Ares, as well!

Athena stumped me. Every time I held the card next to a blue-black swatch, it was quite obviously a black ink. Every time I held it next to a black ink, it was obviously a blue-black ink. Tono & Lims Neuschwanstein was as close as I could get until I compared Bungubox Silent Night. Athena does have a touch of sheen and I would recommend it as a replacement for Silent Night (especially since the price of Bungubox inks has skyrocketed up to $40 – $50 for a 30mL bottle). Athena is a wonderful blue-black-grey ink that would be perfect for office use.

Now for the paper. Below are swatches on Cosmo Air Light paper. The sheen is amazing on Zeus and the shading in all other inks is tremendous.

Tomoe River paper tones down the harsh edges seen on Cosmo Air Light paper, but the sheen on Zeus is somewhat lacking.

Here is a photo with both papers in the same light – Cosmo Air Light on the top, Tomoe River on the bottom.

So there is the newest five inks from Laban in their Mythology line!

 

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were purchased at full price by me. Please see the About page for more details.

In Link Love

Link Love: Groundhog Day! Chinese New Year! Snow Day!

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment

Groundhog Day!

Today is Groundhog Day and we currently have about 5 inches of snow here in the Midwest and it’s still coming down! Most of the US is covered in snow, ice or rain. I think today is a good day to stay home, snuggle under blankets, drink hot cocoa and play with your pens. Sure, you might have to work for a little while but make sure your work set-up is warm and cozy today. Put on some warm socks, your favorite sweater and convince a cat or dog to nap on or near you while you work.

2022 Year of the Tiger

Today (technically yesterday) was also the start of Chinese New Year. It’s the Year of the Tiger.  If weather allows, order some dumplings from your favorite local Chinese restaurant (or make your own!). Eat an orange for good luck, have some tea and greet friends, family or furry ones by saying “Gong hei fat choy”, which means ‘Wishing you happiness and prosperity’ in Cantonese. In Mandarin, say “gōng xǐ fā cái” (gong-sshee faa-tseye). (For pronunciation guides, check out this site.)

Stay warm! And Gong Hei Fat Choy!

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Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

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In Art Supplies

Letter Writing and Coloring: Secret Garden Postcards

Author Laura CameronPosted on 20 Comments

I’ll let you in on a little secret: I’m absolute balls at letter writing. I love to receive mail, but I’m terrible at responding. So I’m a big fan of the postcard. A fun photo, a short snippet of text, and someone has happy mail!

Where do you stand on coloring? I love looking at art and color, and I like to color, but in general I don’t think I’m very good at it. I second guess my color placement all the time.

So how does a girl resolve these likes and dislikes? The Secret Garden Postcards from Jetpens ($11.75 for a book of 20). I was thrilled to find them the last time I was shopping and I’ve been looking forward to getting a chance to color them. These postcards are pulled from the gorgeous artwork of Johanna Basford, and the larger coloring book of the same name.

The postcards are easily detachable from a glue binding, and ready to be colored and sent to your nearest and dearest. I’ve only spent a bit working on the first one, but I am enjoying it (though what was I thinking with all those colors for the tail?) I’m using a combination of Inkjoy Gels, Marvy LePens and a few other pens I’ve picked up along the way. I’ve been desperately looking for my Sakura Gelly Rolls, but I may need to place an order for some more of those! (And I’m soooo tempted to buy this set.)

So… who wants a postcard? I can’t make any guarantees on how timely they’ll be, but I’d love to send you a postcard I’ve colored, and I’ll throw an uncolored one in so you can pass the love on! Just leave a comment here and I’ll contact you for your mailing address when I’m ready. The book only has 20 postcards, so I’ve got a max of 10 people for this one.

In Planners & Organizers

Follow-up: Leuchtturm 1917 Some Lines a Day

Author Laura CameronPosted on 7 Comments

By Tina Koyama

It has been more than a year since I reviewed the Leuchtturm 1917 Some Lines a Day five-year diary, so I thought it might be a good time to check in and let you know how I’ve been doing with it. 

Distressed at the time about some negative thoughts and feelings I had been having, I intended with Some Lines a Day to focus on writing at least one kind thought about someone each day. On most days, it was easy to think of at least one person to think a kind thought about. Often it was related to a kindness someone had shown me. But occasionally I was so angry, sad or despondent that it was a challenge to pull myself out of my own head to think about someone else – and having the diary to write in gave me a reason to do so. 

I didn’t always have perfect attendance; some days I left blank, but I rarely skipped more than one day. After about half the year, though, I fell off the wagon completely and wasn’t sure if I’d ever pick up the five-year diary again.

Since I had begun the book on my birthday in November 2020, a year later on my birthday I started reading some of those early entries. I was surprised to find it gratifying and sometimes moving to be reminded of whoever I had thought and written about each day. Reading made me realize that now the book would have two rewards: Thinking about something positive and also recalling whatever positive thought I had had a year prior. It had become a “memory book” and not just a diary.

In November 2021, I started writing in it again with a more general theme of gratitude and appreciation. Most of my entries are still about people, but now I also acknowledge situations or events that are not necessarily associated with specific individuals. As I read the entry for the prior year on the same page, I see the full value of keeping a diary in this format: Without having to dig through my shelves or closet to look for old journals, I can see in an instant whatever or whoever I was thinking about a year ago. Yes, it’s only a few lines a day, but that’s all I need to pull myself out of my own head to recall a good moment.

According to one source, 68 percent of resolution-making Americans will break them by Feb. 1. Although I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, I’m here to say that it’s OK to fall off the wagon and then get back on again. Just because you’ve abandoned a diary, a sketchbook or whatever you had committed to using doesn’t mean it’s forever. If it gave you joy then and might give you joy again, just start again.

Tina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.

 

In feature, Ink Review

Ink Line Review: Robert Oster Cities of America

Author Jessica ColesPosted on 3 Comments
Ink Line Review: Robert Oster Cities of America

New ink!

Robert Oster has started to release inks inspired by various cities in the United States. As of today, seven inks have been released:

Napa, California- a deep wine red
Chicago, Illinois- steely, snow-inspired blue
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma- a grassy plains green
Kansas City, Kansas- a golden brown inspired by the wheat belt
Miami, Florida- a blue-green inspired by the water
New York, New York- bright red for The Big Apple
Las Vegas, Nevada- a shimmering purple inspired by the glitz of Las Vegas

I purchased my samples from Vanness where they were $3.00 ($3.75 for Las Vegas) for 4mL and the bottles run $18 for 50mL ($26 for Las Vegas).

Oklahoma City is a grassy green color, somewhere between Robert Oster Lemon Grass and Robert Oster Grun-Schwarz. This is going to be one that Ana likes!

Napa is a fabulous burgundy – very much a wine color.

Chicago. This one is probably my favorite (other than Las Vegas, because, of course, it’s purple)This is an ink that shows multiple layers of color – not quite multi-chromatic, but almost. It is very close in color to several vintage iron gall blue-black inks.

New York is a bold red lighter than Robert Oster Red Candy.

Kansas City is a great ink for shading. I would say ripe wheat is about right for this color description – a brownish gold.

Miami is an ink that I had expected to be more turquoise. Like Chicago, it is close to several vintage blue-black iron gall inks but it leans much more towards the blue side.

The swatches I had seen of Robert Oster Las Vegas looked nothing like the color that came out of this sample. Las Vegas is a mid-lavender with plenty of sparkle – either silver or a pale blue. Although the sparkle is hard to see in this photo, the second photo below is better.

WONDERFUL sparkle. Amazing purple. This ink makes me feel like I’m 8 years old again.

I mentioned that Chicago and Miami both looked like vintage blue-black inks – here they are side by side.

Below are swatches of the seven inks on Tomoe River Paper:

And Las Vegas shimmer close-up on Tomoe River paper:

The seven inks on Cosmo Air Light paper:

And the Las Vegas shimmer shot on Cosmo Air Light paper:

Tomoe River paper is on the left and Cosmo Air Light paper on the right. The difference in how color shows on the two paper types still amazes me – on CAL, Miami is darker but Chicago and Napa are lighter.

So there you have it! Robert Oster Cities of America inks:

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided at a discount for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Link Love

Link Love: … and Bears

Author AnaPosted on 1 Comment
Link Love: … and Bears

In an effort to get back on schedule, this week’s Link Love is being posted without an editorial intro. It’s also not being published after 4pm. You’re welcome!

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

We need each other. Please support our sponsors, affiliates or join our Patreon. Your patronage supports this site. Without them, and without you, we could not continue to do what we do. Thank you!