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Journalize Starwave Meadow Ink Review # 210 --- 🧾 Description Journalize is a Hong Kong-based company. Inks are made in Hungary, boxed in France, and stamped in Hong Kong. Ink is lovely sea-glass blue-green colour with gold shimmer. Ink was atrocious with Pilot Kakuno, great with Kaweco Sport, and OK with Kanwrite flex. The amount of shimmer in the feed is frightening. (Check photos) There’s some shading. Dry times are relatively long on Rhodia. Colour is not suited for cream-coloured papers like Midori. It behaves decently on copy paper, though I cannot fathom why anyone would like to write on copy paper with shimmer ink. --- 🧪 Chroma --- ✍️ Writing Samples (scan) Rhodia / Iroful Midori /Tomoe River 68gsm Colour is off. Hammermill 20lb 📸 Photo Rhodia/ Iroful Midori / Tomoe River 68 gsm Shimmer 🔍 Comparison --- 💧 Water Test --- 🎨 Artwork Eternal, in Life and Beyond The brand Journalize was inspired by Van Gogh’s Starry Night, so I decided to attempt a drawing in his style with my cat and mouse in a psychedelic mood. I took multiple photos to show off the shimmer. Inks: Journalize Starwave Meadow (shimmer) Tintenlabor Basalt (iron gall) Paper: Talens Mixed Media --- - Pens Used: Pilot Kakuno EF, Kaweco SPort (EF/F/M/B/ BB/Stub 1.9) Kanwrite with a FPR Flex. - What I Liked: Colour. Ink washes, drops of inks. - What I Did Not Like: Shimmer, clogging. - What Some Might Not Like: Same as above. - Writing Experience: Ok with some pens. So, so with others. - Pros: Lovely colours. - Cons: Shimmer, price. 🧷 Ink Characteristics - Shading: Yes. - Ghosting: Decent u to M nib. - Bleed Through: From BB onward. - Flow Rate: Ok. - Lubrication: Ok. - Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. - Start-up: It can clog. Needs either a water brush or a bit of priming. - Saturation: Nope. - Sheen: Don’t be so greedy. - Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Did not notice. - Nib Creep / Crud: Shimmer, baby, shimmer. - Staining (Pen): Nope. - Clogging: Yes. - Cleaning: I used pen jacuzzi with this one. - Water Resistance: OK. --- 🛒 Availability - Available in 30ml bottles worldwide. --- 💬 Closing If you like shimmer inks and Van Gogh, this ink is for you. If not it’s not for you. No fountain pens were hurt in preparing this review. Please don’t hesitate to share your experience, writing samples, or any other comments — the more the merrier.

I really ought to stop browsing Taobao altogether, or ‘better’ yet, delete my account and cut up my credit card! Not even 48 hours ago, I updated my spreadsheet of bottled inks, and mused (on Reddit) that, come end of May when my ink orders totalling ninety-odd bottles placed in April on Taobao arrive by slow boat, I'll effectively have just over 1,000 bottles of ink here. The spreadsheet said 997 bottles, but I figured a bottle of Montblanc Corn Poppy Red was unduly absent in it; and that's before taking into account ten ‘blind box’ (i.e. ‘lucky dip’ and/or ‘mystery’) bottles KittyInkpot sent me, of which the contents are unidentified and unidentifiable. Also, last time I ordered a dozen bottles of chromatographic multi-shading inks at once (but not as a pre-packaged set) from Ostrich Ink's official store on Taobao, it also sent me three small bottles in a labelled set as a freebie; so, with 93 bottles of Ostrich inks incoming, I figure there's a good chance that I'll find some extra bottles in the packages (and assuming no bottles are broken or go missing in transit). Well, well. I just placed an order with yet another Chinese ink brand (鳳凰翎, literally ‘Phoenix Plume’) previously unknown to me, for thirty 18ml bottles of different waterproof pigment inks and eleven 30ml bottles of shimmer ink. At an average of AUD $2.41† a bottle, how wrong could one go? It's a sickness. 🤧 † Inclusive of 10% tax on the item, and apportioned non-trivial international shipping charges and Alipay's credit card processing fees applied on the entire order. (In case you're curious, the fees and charges come to 30% roughly.)

I was kindly sent this beautiful set to review some time ago by Diamine. Unfortunate events have meant I have only just been able to get them on here. I welcome your thoughts and feedback as always. This is a stunning, bright, punchy blue-green-teal with a silver shimmer. Cue scenes of Caribbean Seas.... (the image appears lighter than the actual ink, apologies, got tired of trying to make it work!) Black n Red, Taroko Breeze and Fabriano Notebooks

I was kindly sent this beautiful Shimmer Set to review some time ago by Diamine. Unfortunate events have meant I have only just been able to get them on here. I welcome your thoughts and feedback as always. Black n Red, Taroko Breeze and Fabriano Notebooks respectively

It's that time of year again and Diamine are releasing their latest additions to the Shimmer Inks range. Eight new colours featuring three silvers: Starlit Sea, Peacock Flare and Neon Lime plus five golds: Pink Champagne, Razzamatazz, Rockin' Rio, Dragon Blood and Mystique. And what a lovely range of colours they are too, with plenty of shimmer, as you'd expect. For me, the colours seem more mature than previous and they blend together beautifully - take a look at the modern calligraphy examples and the portraits of Mr Glam himself! From a handwriting perspective, these look absolutely amazing. I really do like that Mystique. The inks flow well and dry quickly. But as with all shimmer inks, the metals do dry on the surface and as they are fine particles will come away from the surface if accidentally brushed or rubbed, so do take care. So, if you're looking for some fun, you can't go too far wrong here, BUT don't forget to shake well before use! If you're interested to find how versatile fountain pen inks are and want to learn how to utilise them in your art and journalling, I'm running some workshops this autumn. All materials and refreshments are included and we'll be looking at Illustration techniques, Modern Calligraphy, Shimmer Inks, Ink and bleach, Ink Art etc. For further info, please click the link: www.nickstewart.ink/events If you like what I’m up to, you can sign up to my newsletter by clicking here

Following on from my thread announcing the launch of Diamine Shimmertastic inks I am happy to post my reviews of them. This one is Brandy Dazzle This ink is chestnut brown with a great gold sheen My reviews show you my experiences with these inks in several of my pens. I’ve experimented by having these inks in my pens for weeks, and have intermittently written with them to see how they start, and how they write. I must say I’m pleasantly surprised. I’ve experienced no feathering with any of them, and they have all behaved really well for me. Diamine recommend that you gently agitate the bottle to mix the particles through the ink before filling your pen. They also recommend that you gently agitate your pen to mix the particles with the ink in your pen when starting a new writing session. I recommend good FP maintenance when using ink that contains particles. I suggest you clean your pens out a little more frequently than you might do with normal ink. These inks will come in 50ml glass bottles, and they have either gold or silver particles in them.

Following on from my thread announcing the launch of Diamine Shimmertastic inks I am happy to post my reviews of them. This one is Magical Forest. This ink is emerald green ink with a great silver sheen My reviews show you my experiences with these inks in several of my pens. I’ve experimented by having these inks in my pens for weeks, and have intermittently written with them to see how they start, and how they write. I must say I’m pleasantly surprised. I’ve experienced no feathering with any of them, and they have all behaved really well for me. Diamine recommend that you gently agitate the bottle to mix the particles through the ink before filling your pen. They also recommend that you gently agitate your pen to mix the particles with the ink in your pen when starting a new writing session. I recommend good FP maintenance when using ink that contains particles. I suggest you clean your pens out a little more frequently than you might do with normal ink. These inks will come in 50ml glass bottles, and they have either gold or silver particles in them.

Following on from my thread announcing the launch of Diamine Shimmertastic inks I am happy to post my reviews of them. This one is Blue Pearl. This ink is medium bright blue with a great silver sheen My reviews show you my experiences with these inks in several of my pens. I’ve experimented by having these inks in my pens for weeks, and have intermittently written with them to see how they start, and how they write. I must say I’m pleasantly surprised. I’ve experienced no feathering with any of them, and they have all behaved really well for me. Diamine recommend that you gently agitate the bottle to mix the particles through the ink before filling your pen. They also recommend that you gently agitate your pen to mix the particles with the ink in your pen when starting a new writing session. I recommend good FP maintenance when using ink that contains particles. I suggest you clean your pens out a little more frequently than you might do with normal ink. These inks will come in 50ml glass bottles, and they have either gold or silver particles in them.

Following on from my thread announcing the launch of Diamine Shimmertastic inks I am happy to post my reviews of them. This one is Red Lustre. This ink is bright red with a great gold sheen My reviews show you my experiences with these inks in several of my pens. I’ve experimented by having these inks in my pens for weeks, and have intermittently written with them to see how they start, and how they write. I must say I’m pleasantly surprised. I’ve experienced no feathering with any of them, and they have all behaved really well for me. Diamine recommend that you gently agitate the bottle to mix the particles through the ink before filling your pen. They also recommend that you gently agitate your pen to mix the particles with the ink in your pen when starting a new writing session. I recommend good FP maintenance when using ink that contains particles. I suggest you clean your pens out a little more frequently than you might do with normal ink. These inks will come in 50ml glass bottles, and they have either gold or silver particles in them.

Dear Friends, It is my pleasure and honour to share the latest Shimer Inks from Diamine due to be released this month. There are 12 colours and I have been able to review them all thanks to Diamine. I welcome your thoughts and feedback, as always. EDITED TO ADD SCANS

Diamine sent me samples of their latest 12 shimmer inks to try out, and I've had 12 pens inked with them for over a week now. So here is a quick look at the colours. Maybe I should have separated Caramel Sparkle and Pink Glitz as they look a little similar next to each other, on this sheet. However, Caramel Sparkle is a reddish brown and Pink Glitz is a pinkish red. I'm loving the green, orange and silver. Anyway, this is just a quick look.

Diamine have announced today that they are almost ready to launch their latest "shimmer" inks. They should be available at the end of September or the beginning of October. They are called Diamine Shimmertastic inks, and each ink will come in a 50ml glass bottle. Each ink contains either silver or gold particles and these are the colours: NIGHT SKY ( Black/Silver) BLUE PEARL ( Blue / Silver) A medium blue shade PURPLE PAZZAZZ (Purple / Gold) MAGICAL FOREST (Green/ Silver) BLUE LIGHTNING (Blue / Silver) A cerulean type blue shade RED LUSTRE (Red / Gold) SHIMMERING SEAS (Blue / Gold) A blue-black shade BRANDY DAZZLE (Brown / Gold) GOLDEN SANDS (Yellow / Gold) SPARKLING SHADOWS ( Grey / Gold) Reviews to follow soon.

I wanted to introduce these previously tested but not issued Diamine Shimmer inks in the Inky Thoughts forum because Diamine would like to hear your thoughts on them. Some more Shimmer inks will be introduced into the range, and your ideas would be gratefully received. Please vote for the colour or colours you like, or feel free to suggest your own colour. The first one one is Silver: Then there is Orange: Bright Green: Other writing samples will be added.

Following on from my thread announcing the launch of Diamine Shimmertastic inks I am happy to post my reviews of them. This one is Purple Pazzazz. This ink is a dark purple with a great gold sheen My reviews show you my experiences with these inks in several of my pens. I’ve experimented by having these inks in my pens for weeks, and have intermittently written with them to see how they start, and how they write. I must say I’m pleasantly surprised. I’ve experienced no feathering with any of them, and they have all behaved really well for me. Diamine recommend that you gently agitate the bottle to mix the particles through the ink before filling your pen. They also recommend that you gently agitate your pen to mix the particles with the ink in your pen when starting a new writing session. I recommend good FP maintenance when using ink that contains particles. I suggest you clean your pens out a little more frequently than you might do with normal ink. These inks will come in 50ml glass bottles, and they have either gold or silver particles in them.

Following on from my thread announcing the launch of Diamine Shimmertastic inks I am happy to post my reviews of them. This one is Golden Sands. This ink is yellow with a great gold sheen My reviews show you my experiences with these inks in several of my pens. I’ve experimented by having these inks in my pens for weeks, and have intermittently written with them to see how they start, and how they write. I must say I’m pleasantly surprised. I’ve experienced no feathering with any of them, and they have all behaved really well for me. Diamine recommend that you gently agitate the bottle to mix the particles through the ink before filling your pen. They also recommend that you gently agitate your pen to mix the particles with the ink in your pen when starting a new writing session. I recommend good FP maintenance when using ink that contains particles. I suggest you clean your pens out a little more frequently than you might do with normal ink. These inks will come in 50ml glass bottles, and they have either gold or silver particles in them.

Following on from my thread announcing the launch of Diamine Shimmertastic inks I am happy to post my reviews of them. This one is Sparkling Shadows. This ink is grey with a great gold sheen My reviews show you my experiences with these inks in several of my pens. I’ve experimented by having these inks in my pens for weeks, and have intermittently written with them to see how they start, and how they write. I must say I’m pleasantly surprised. I’ve experienced no feathering with any of them, and they have all behaved really well for me. Diamine recommend that you gently agitate the bottle to mix the particles through the ink before filling your pen. They also recommend that you gently agitate your pen to mix the particles with the ink in your pen when starting a new writing session. I recommend good FP maintenance when using ink that contains particles. I suggest you clean your pens out a little more frequently than you might do with normal ink. These inks will come in 50ml glass bottles, and they have either gold or silver particles in them.

Following on from my thread announcing the launch of Diamine Shimmertastic inks I am happy to post my reviews of them. This one is Night Sky. This ink is black with a great silver sheen My reviews show you my experiences with these inks in several of my pens. I’ve experimented by having these inks in my pens for weeks, and have intermittently written with them to see how they start, and how they write. I must say I’m pleasantly surprised. I’ve experienced no feathering with any of them, and they have all behaved really well for me. Diamine recommend that you gently agitate the bottle to mix the particles through the ink before filling your pen. They also recommend that you gently agitate your pen to mix the particles with the ink in your pen when starting a new writing session. I recommend good FP maintenance when using ink that contains particles. I suggest you clean your pens out a little more frequently than you might do with normal ink. These inks will come in 50ml glass bottles, and they have either gold or silver particles in them.

Following on from my thread announcing the launch of Diamine Shimmertastic inks I am happy to post my reviews of them. This one is Blue Lightning. This ink is bright cerulean blue type with a great silver sheen My reviews show you my experiences with these inks in several of my pens. I’ve experimented by having these inks in my pens for weeks, and have intermittently written with them to see how they start, and how they write. I must say I’m pleasantly surprised. I’ve experienced no feathering with any of them, and they have all behaved really well for me. Diamine recommend that you gently agitate the bottle to mix the particles through the ink before filling your pen. They also recommend that you gently agitate your pen to mix the particles with the ink in your pen when starting a new writing session. I recommend good FP maintenance when using ink that contains particles. I suggest you clean your pens out a little more frequently than you might do with normal ink. These inks will come in 50ml glass bottles, and they have either gold or silver particles in them.