Antra Marta 🐈‍⬛

yay 🙌

Two fountain pens (brown Sheaffer, blue Jinhao) resting on a notebook page listing currently inked pens.

Close-up of the handwritten ink list, highlighting the sheen on Diamine Energy and shimmer in Diamine Frostbite.

me too! I went with Energy (Sheaffer Coffee) and Frostbite (Jinhao 82)

yeah, for pure mixing I’d probably stick to the Forever line (Skyline, Solar Yellow, and Hot Magenta). But these are still fun! It makes sense that they didn't want to include exact duplicates of their existing inks in the Christmas calendar 😄

I honestly have never mixed inks before, but you're right, these mix very nicely! Enjoy your three calendars!! I’ve swatched my Diamine one, but it doesn't feel finished yet since I also started drawing an Inkvent village and only have one of three pages ready 😅

the colours really seem to be intentional, since the Forever inks are also mixable. Nice touch from Diamine!

it really is! I’m usually afraid to mix inks, but honestly, these pigment colour choices are so encouraging. It feels like they are supposed to be mixed to create whatever colour you like 😄

A hand-painted color wheel in a grid notebook created using Diamine pigment inks. The center triangle shows the primary colors (yellow, pink, blue), surrounded by mixed secondary colors like green, orange, and violet. The outer ring shows these same colors desaturated/darkened using brown ink. A legend at the bottom lists the inks used: Pineapple Spritz, Brrr!, Mittens, and Antler.

Turning the Inkvent pigment inks into a colour wheel 🌈 Used Pineapple Spritz, Mittens, and Brrr! as my primaries, with Antler added to the outer ring to create desaturated tones.

English isn't my first language, but 'duds' feels a bit harsh. To me, that implies they are defective and not usable, but all three of them are well-behaved inks. That yellow pigment ink is great for mixing with the pigment cyan and pigment pink inks.

Three ink swatch cards showing lighter, shading inks. Left: 'Blush', a soft pink. Middle: 'Overcast', a grey-blue. Right: 'Bittersweet', a light grassy green.

4. Pale shaders. I wouldn't usually buy pale inks for myself (except maybe Overcast), but I strangely liked these so much! They are great shaders. Now let's see how Blush and Bittersweet perform in actual writing.

Two ink swatch cards showing two inks with metallic finishes. Left: 'Molten Basalt', which has a heavy copper sheen. Right: 'Frostbite', a blue ink with copper shimmer.

3. Molten Basalt (with coppery sheen) and Frostbite (with coppery shimmer). I'm just drawn to copper and anything with that warm metallic feel – bronze, rose gold, and brass too. Combine that with my love for blue/blue-black inks, and these are perfect.

Two ink swatch cards side-by-side. Left: 'Chaos', a deep purple ink with a heavy green sheen. Right: 'Energy', a violet ink also covered in green sheen.

Close-up of handwritten Uncial letters showing extreme metallic green sheen reflecting light, contrasting against the ink's dark purple base colour.

2. Sheeners: Chaos & Energy. I didn't get others' excitement for Chaos until I put it in a stub nib. Now it's probably my favorite of the calendar. It just shows that swatches are actually only half the story - you might see the full potential only after trying them in fountain pens!

A fan of five ink swatch cards. These are the pigment inks from the calendar: the red 'Carousel', the blue 'Brrr!', the pink 'Mittens', the yellow 'Pineapple Spritz', and the brown 'Antler'.

🤩 Inkvent 2025 inks I've enjoyed the most so far:

1. Pigment inks! I haven't tried colourful ones before since they are usually quite pricey. I'm happy Diamine started making these and included them in the calendar. I especially liked Antler - the sepia colour is perfect for outlines in sketching.

Close-up of the fountain pen ink swatch. The ink is a deep teal covered in a heavy red sheen, with sparkles of blue shimmer visible on the handwritten text.

A flat-lay overview of all 25 ink swatch cards from the 2025 Inkvent calendar arranged in a 5x5 grid.

Day 25: Myrrh the Merrier. A teal ink with red sheen and blue shimmer – really pretty. Merry Christmas! 🎄☃️🦌✨

yes, right? I’m not an artist myself, but I’m so happy for you guys! Having an affordable Diamine waterproof pigment option in this colour seems like a huge win!

Swatch card comparison showing Inkvent ink Antler next to J. Herbin Cacao du Brésil and Diamine Nostalgia.

Day 24: Antler. The 5th pigment ink of the calendar! Such a beautiful brown 🦌

Six ink swatch cards lined up, comparing Let it Snow to other turquoise/blue-green/blue fountain pen inks.

Swatch card comparison showing Let it Snow next to other Inkvent 2025 inks Brrr! and Celestial Skies.

Day 23: Let it Snow ❄️ The blue/violet chameleon shimmer is still exciting, even after almost two Inkvents :)

Gifts wrapped in paper with a festive knitted pattern, decorated with twine and wooden tags.

happy wrapping time

I don’t think there are many options, but that’s due to physics and dye chemistry, not because ink companies like to be repetitive.

are there fountain pen inks with a bluish sheen? Which ones?

Angled view of an ink swatch card for Diamine Pineapple Spritz. Distinct lime-green shimmer appears on the capital D.

Angled view of an ink swatch card for Diamine Pineapple Spritz. Green shimmer appears on the bottom of the ink bottle illustration and on the handwritten text below.

beautiful letters and drawing! 💛 I’m noticing the green here too. But I feel like it’s harder to catch the chameleon shift in this one compared to Brrr!, which is also a pigment ink and wasn’t even labelled as chameleon :)

Swatch card comparison showing Inkvent ink Pineapple Spritz next to Diamine Lemon & Lime and Diamine Amber.

Close-up of the handwritten text in yellow fountain pen ink with heavy gold shimmer.

Flat-lay of an open notebook next to a Pineapple Spritz mocktail in a glass with a metal straw. A slice of fresh pineapple and a lime sit nearby.

Handwritten recipe in Uncial reads: 'Pinapple [typo] spritz mocktail * ice * pinapple [typo] juice 90 ml * fresh lime juice 15 ml * soda 120 ml * pinapple [typo] wedge for garnish'

Day 22: Pineapple Spritz, chameleon shimmer ink. I can make the mocktail, but can’t write the word 'pineapple' correctly without auto correction, sorry about that 🍍

thanks ☺️ I got the pen mostly for the design, but the stub nib turned out to be amazing, too!

Close-up of handwritten Uncial letters showing extreme metallic green sheen reflecting light, contrasting against the ink's dark plum base colour.

Close-up of handwritten Uncial letters showing extreme metallic green sheen reflecting light, contrasting against the ink's dark plum base colour.

A notebook page featuring Uncial calligraphy. A swatch card for Diamine Chaos ink rests on the paper. The text reads "I believe in the duality of chaos. Even when everything feels like a wild mix, there is harmony if you look close enough. I’m just trying to find that quite [typo] cosmos hidden inside the daily noise."

A notebook page featuring Uncial calligraphy written in Diamine Chaos ink. A William Morris floral fountain pen rests at the bottom.

Day 21: Chaos. Extreme sheen ink, beautiful in a stub nib. Apologies for the typo: *quiet, not quite

Eight ink swatch cards lined up, comparing Inkvent ink Ambience to other orange fountain pen inks.

Diamine Ambience fountain pen ink swatch, viewed from an angle to show off pink chameleon shimmer.

Diamine Ambience ink swatch, viewed from an angle to show off gold chameleon shimmer.

Day 20: Ambience. New ink for February's #KillWinterWithOrange. Pink/gold shimmer chameleon ✨

thanks 💖

Close-up of Diamine Overcast fountain pen ink swatch showing pale grey-blue shading.

Comparison of three pale, highly shading inks: Sailor Manyo Haha, Diamine Overcast, and Diamine Celadon Cat.

Comparison of three grey-toned ink swatches: Diamine Overcast, Diamine Celadon Cat, and Dominant Industry Soleil Couchant à Etretat.

Day 19: Overcast. A hug in a bottle. The calmness and silence of fog on paper. Might be too light for writing, but it is perfect for the mood 🤍

Foggy urban view from a bridge showing rust-coloured buildings and warm window lights against a grey winter sky.

this morning

I think it might be named because of the nature of duality – it appears cool-toned in thin layers but becomes warm-toned in thick layers 🙃

Writing in Diamine Fountain pen ink : Laurel and a drawing of a Roman coin in the same shade.

A close up of the coin to show the sheen.

#Inkvent Day 18: Laurel.
A teal with extreme pink sheen. I keep thinking that one day I will grow tired of these, but not today.

Swatch card comparison showing Inkvent ink Laurel (dark green with heavy pink/magenta sheen covering the green) next to Diamine November Rain and Dominant Industry Forest.

Close-up of a modern building drawing, viewed from an angle to show off the magenta sheen.

Day 18: Laurel. Extreme sheen ink.