Col-o-dex Review
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A little while ago I got an email from Vanness Pens stating that a reader had sent me a gift card just to be nice. So whoever you are, thank you! I’ve wanted to try these Skylab Letterpress Col-o-dex cards since they came out, and decided to use the gift card to try them out. I love the Col-o-ring and use it everyday so I really wanted to try this new set. You can find the cards online at Vanness Pens or The Well-Appointed Desk.
Top to bottom, the Col-o-dex Tab Accessory Pack, the Col-o-ring, and the Col-o-dex Rotary Cards. I use the Col-o-ring for all of my inks, but decided to create a separate set of swabs for the inks I have full bottles of. That’s where the Col-o-dex comes in.
On the left is the standard ‘dex cards and on the right is the tab accessory pack. The tabs come in this kraft, a Blue Raspberry and a Limeade Green. The cards have the same 100lb/160gsm bright white paper as the Col-o-ring, but the cards are 4”x2.625” to fit in the average Rolodex. Each pack contains 100 cards. The tabs pack contains 20 cards.
I did some testing to see which swatch method would work the best for me. I did six different swabs and posted them on Instagram so readers could vote. The left middle was the most popular, so that’s the one I stuck with. Ana from The Well-Appointed Desk also has some different styles on her site, you can find them here.
I use a number 2 Master’s Touch Watercolor Round brush, and a Pelikan 400N. Right now I have the swabs grouped by color and shimmer inks on their own in the back. I’ve found the shimmer usually rubs off onto the surrounding swabs, so I stick them in their own category.
Ana recommended this Heidi Swapp Memorydex Card Tray, and it works perfectly for the cards. I keep my swabs in my desk drawer so the light doesn’t degrade the colors, and the tray fits perfectly in my drawer. I’m keeping an eye out for a vintage rolodex that I love, but I haven’t found the perfect one yet.
My daughter helped hold the cards at one end. There are 100 cards in there right now, so this box can hold quite a few cards.
I love these little cards. They are perfect for swabbing inks, and the rotary style is very helpful. I need to get a few more sets so I can finish swabbing all of my bottles, but I would absolutely recommend them.
Disclaimer: I purchased this product with a gift card. All photos and opinions are my own. This post does contain an affiliate link, but is not sponsored in any way.