Galen Leather A5 Folio

/

I have been using the Galen Leather A5 Folio for months now, so it’s time for a review! This is the Crazy Horse Smoky version. Thanks to Galen Leather for sending this Folio over for review!

The front is solid grey with lots of texture from use. It measures 7.3 x 9.2 inches with a zipper around three sides.

The back is solid grey with the Galen Leather logo embossed at the bottom. The back has just as much texture as the front does from heavy use.

The left has lots of pockets and pen loops while the right has a flap to hold a notebook. The center has a ring.

The left side:

There are two built-in pen loops, 4 removable pen loops and lots of pockets.

Pen Loops:

The pen loops hold fountain pens well, the Vanishing Point fits perfectly.

The right side:

The folio holds my Hobonichi Cousin, with a little bit of room for the tabs to fit as well.

My fountain pens have scratched up the leather quite a bit, but I don’t mind that. I enjoy the texture it gives to the leather.

Overall, I love using this folio. It holds my Hobonichi Cousin and has held up to daily use well. I’m probably going to need one in every color.

Disclaimer: This product was provided by Galen Leather for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and is not sponsored in any way.

PenBBS Season 14

/

PenBBS has so many inks now! Let’s take a look at five inks from Season 14: Iris Tectorum Maxim, Watermelon Green, Watermelon Red, Qingdao and June Pearl. You can find these inks for sale at Vanness Pens.

Swabs:

Left to right: Iris Tectorum Maxim, Watermelon Green, Watermelon Red, Qingdao and June Pearl

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry Time: 15-30 seconds

Water Resistance: Low-Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None-Low

Other properties: Low-medium shading and June Pearl has silver shimmer.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was feathering in every nib size as well as some bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Iris Tectorum is closest to Monteverde Horizon Blue.

Watermelon Green is lighter than Sailor Ink Studio 967.

Watermelon Red is a little less saturated than Montblanc Legend of Zodiacs.

Qingdao is lighter than Kobe 36.

June Pearl is lighter than PenBBS 315 Ice Lake.

Three inks had an average flow, June Pearl and Watermelon Red had a dry flow.

Overall, June Pearl is my favorite out of the five. It has a dry flow but the color is really interesting.

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

Ink Review #1859: Scribo Grigio Scribo

/

Let’s take a look at Scribo Grigio Scribo today. This ink is available in 30ml bottles. You can find this ink for sale at Vanness Pens.

The color:

Grigio Scribo is an unsaturated blue grey.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink has just a little bit of shading.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

*For my writing samples I use:

Dry time: 40 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: medium shading, no sheen, and no shimmer.

On 20 lb copy paper there is a little bit of feathering and bleeding in the larger nib sizes.

Comparison Swabs:

Grigio Scribo is closest to Birmingham Oxidized Brass. Click here to see the grey inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Pelikan M205 Petrol with a medium nib on a Taroko Breeze notebook. The ink had an average flow.

Overall, I enjoyed this ink. It’s a lovely color and well behaved.

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

Ink Review #1858: Van Dieman's Hailstorm

/

Van Dieman’s Hailstorm is from the Tassie Seasons collection. This ink is available in 30ml bottles. You can find this ink for sale at Vanness Pens.

The color:

Hailstorm is a deep green-grey.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink looks almost blue.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

*For my writing samples I use:

Dry time: 20 seconds

Water resistance: Medium

Feathering: Medium

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Low

Other properties: medium shading, no sheen, and no shimmer.

On 20 lb copy paper there is a little bit of feathering and bleeding in the larger nib sizes.

Comparison Swabs:

Hailstorm is more green than Birmingham Aluminum Oxide. Click here to see the grey inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Franklin-Christoph 45 Charcoal and Creme with a broad nib on a Taroko Breeze notebook. The ink had an average flow.

Overall, this ink has too much feathering and bleeding for me. It’s a nice color though.

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

Ink Review #1857: Van Dieman's Eclipse

/

Van Dieman’s Eclipse is from the Midnight collection. This ink is available in 30ml bottles. You can find this ink for sale at Vanness Pens.

The color:

Eclipse is a medium grey.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink looks almost purple.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

*For my writing samples I use:

Dry time: 40 seconds

Water resistance: Medium

Feathering: Low

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: no shading, no sheen, and no shimmer.

On 20 lb copy paper there is a little bit of feathering and bleeding in the larger nib sizes.

Comparison Swabs:

Eclipse is closest to Rohrer & Klingner Thea. Click here to see the grey inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Pelikan M805 Stresemann with a medium nib on a Taroko Breeze notebook. The ink had an average flow.

Overall, this is a good basic grey ink, no shading or sheen.

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

Ink Review #1856: Van Dieman's Cradle Mountain Grey

/

Van Dieman’s Cradle Mountain Grey is from the Colours of Tasmania collection. This ink is available in 30ml bottles. This ink was recently reformulated but I finished this review before the new version was released. The old version is still available at some stores. You can find this ink for sale at Vanness Pens.

The color:

Cradle Mountain Grey is an unsaturated deep grey.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink looks almost blue.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

*For my writing samples I use:

Dry time: 20 seconds

Water resistance: Medium

Feathering: Medium

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Low

Other properties: low shading, no sheen, and no shimmer.

On 20 lb copy paper there is a little bit of feathering and bleeding in the larger nib sizes.

Comparison Swabs:

Cradle Mountain Grey is closest to Colorverse Costar. Click here to see the grey inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Pelikan M205 Moonstone with a fine nib on a Taroko Breeze notebook. The ink had a slightly wet flow.

Overall, this ink is a nice color but there’s too much feathering and bleeding for me.

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

Fruity July Ink Palettes

/

We are fully into July so it’s time for another ink palette post. I’m loving the bright colors for summer, and Sailor Irori is my favorite bright red.

I’m here for all the oranges right now. Yu-yake is a long-time favorite.

I love all five of these inks, especially together.

I love coral and teal together, it’s such a happy combo. Let me know what inks you’re using for summer in the comments below!

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own. This post is not sponsored.

Papier Plume Limited Edition Inks

/

Today let’s take a look at 3 limited edition Papier Plume inks: Cloud Gate, Carolina on My Mind and Irish Channel.

Swabs:

Left to right: Cloud Gate, Carolina on my Mind and Irish Channel.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry Time: 15-20 seconds

Water Resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: Low-medium shading and Cloud Gate has gold shimmer.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was feathering in every nib size as well as some bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Cloud Gate is similar to Diamine Snow Storm except for its gold shimmer instead of silver.

Carolina on my Mind is close to Birmingham Glassmith.

Irish Channel is lighter than Pure Pens Glens of Antrim.

All three inks had an average flow.

Overall, Carolina on my Mind is my favorite out of the three but I enjoyed all of them.

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

Ink Review #1852: Robert Oster Chicago

/

Robert Oster Chicago is from the Cities of America collection. This ink is available in 50ml bottles. You can find this ink for sale at Vanness Pens.

The color:

Chicago is an unsaturated blue grey.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink has some nice shading.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

*For my writing samples I use:

Dry time: 20 seconds

Water resistance: Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: high shading, no sheen, and no shimmer.

On 20 lb copy paper there is a little bit of feathering and bleeding in the larger nib sizes.

Comparison Swabs:

Chicago is greyer than these other blues. Click here to see the blue inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Pilot Custom 74 Teal with a broad nib on a Taroko Breeze notebook. The ink had an average flow.

Overall, I enjoyed this ink, but it can be a bit light in the smaller nib sizes.

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

Ink Review #1851: Monarca Tierra Colorada

/

Monarca Tierra Colorada is from the Semidesierto collection. You can find this ink for sale at Vanness Pens.

The color:

Tierra Colorada is an unsaturated brown ink.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink looks much darker.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

*For my writing samples I use:

Dry time: 30 seconds

Water resistance: Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: medium shading, no sheen, and no shimmer.

On 20 lb copy paper there is a little bit of feathering and bleeding in the larger nib sizes.

Comparison Swabs:

Tierra Colorada is a bit lighter than Monteverde Canyon Rust. Click here to see the brown inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Kaweco Al-sport Gold with a broad nib on a Taroko Breeze notebook. The ink had an average flow.

Overall, this ink is generally well behaved but there’s nothing about it that jumps out at me. It’s a good basic brown shader.

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