February Pinks

I had this master plan to get this post done and published on Sunday, but sometimes my plans go out the window, so it’s happening today instead. In February I reach for a lot of pinks and purples. By the end of the month I’m so ready for spring I could scream. I live in the Pacific Northwest, and so far this month has been nothing but rain and snow. This first palette is all about the purples. I love all five of these inks-Sailor Jentle Black is one of my go-to basic blacks, and it pretty much lives in my Pilot Custom 823 (one of the best pens ever designed).

Pink is rather cliche for Valentine’s week, and since my birthday is on Valentine’s day I grew up hating pink, but it has really grown on me. Sailor Peche is too light for me to use in small nibs, but it works in a flex nib or for sketching. I’m pretty sure I use Robert Oster Cherry Blossom and Pinky every spring, I just love the colors.

And we’re back to purples. Pilot Iroshizuku Take-sumi is another of my go-to black inks. It behaves so well and is a great basic black. I love that Sailor Jentle Chu-shu rides the line between grey and purple.

I try to bring flowers into the house, especially at the end of winter to help beat back the winter yucks. Lilies are my favorite, and I couldn’t pass up these vibrant pink ones. Monteverde Moonstone is one of my favorite brown inks, and I use Papier Plume Garden District Azalea often. What inks are you loving this month?

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and this post is not sponsored in any way.

January Blues

It’s January now, so it’s time to pull out some new ink palette combos! This month I decided to pull the whole month’s worth into one post rather than posting 4 individual ones.

This first week I’ve been using blues and purples. I’m obsessed with Sailor Manyo Nekoyanagi and have been looking for any excuse to use it.

I used Bank paper to create these trees. It really brings out the undertones of these two Sailor inks.

I love neutral inks so sometimes I love a palette full of nothing but neutral. Monteverde Moonstone, Sailor Jentle Black and Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun have all been long-time favorites of mine.

Train doodles make even the best inks better right?

This ink palette is all of my favorite colors. I love all five of these inks!

The Bank paper pulls a bit of the blue tone out of the Sailor Jentle Fuji-musume.

I love this combo so much! It would also work well for early spring.

I used a Waterman 452 1/2 V to draw these flowers, and a little bit of water and a paint brush to soften it up. I love the softer vibe with the pastel colors.

It seems I’m focusing on blues, purples and neutrals this month. What inks are you using lately?

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own. There are no affiliate links on this page, and this post is not sponsored in any way.

2019 Fall Trees Ink Palette

I’m still obsessed with fall colors this week. I’m enjoying browns, reds and oranges. This week we have been managing the kids’ karate lessons, rain storms and kid colds.

I fell in love with this picture last week and decided to use it as the base for this week’s ink palette. The trees near my home are all orange, yellow and red right now, despite all the rain we’ve been getting.

I decided to doodle little trees this week, I stink at doodles but that doesn’t stop me from doing them.

This week’s Col-o-dex swabs. Every time I swab Robert Oster Grey Seas I fall in love with it a little more.

I used: a Franklin-Christoph 45L in Italian ice-M, Pelikan M205 Star Ruby-F, Pilot Vanishing Point Crossed Lines-M, Pelikan M605 White Transparent-M, and an Edison Collier Persimmon Swirl-M.

What did you have inked up this week? Let me know in the comments below!

Fall September Inks

If you were to look at my life, you might think I hate color. All of my furniture is brown, beige or white. 99% of my clothes are neutral and most of the time I even choose neutral-colored notebooks whenever possible, but when it comes to ink and pens I want all the colors of the rainbow. I’m a bit odd in that I like to switch up my colors with the seasons-pastels and light colors in the spring, bright happy colors in the summer, jewel tones and deeper colors in the fall and dark colors and icy blues in the winter. So while I love all the colors, I try to stick to a few carefully chosen colors that coordinate well with each other. Lately I’ve been using 4 colors per week-a great neutral, usually black or blue-black, and three coordinating colors. This lets me have a few options to play with while still having a great basic in there too. This month I decided to plan out my colors in advance. I picked up this Col-o-ring Oversize at the San Francisco Pen Show and thought it would be great for keeping my color palettes.

This week I’ve been holding onto the very last of summer here, sticking to some brighter inks.

• Sailor Sei-boku

• Monteverde Garnet

• Montblanc Lucky Orange

• Diamine Aurora Borealis

• Sailor Kiwa-guro

• Monteverde Pumpkin Cake

• Monteverde Cherry Danish

• KWZ Chicago Blue

• Sailor Black

• Robert Oster Australian Shiraz

• Monteverde Olivine

• Robert Oster Midnight Sapphire

• Robert Oster Thunderstorm

• Sailor Jentle Yama-dori

• Robert Oster Berry d’Arche

• Robert Oster Caffe Crema

How many pens do you use each week?