It's my birthday on Thursday and for the past few days I've been searching online for presents for myself from my family. I had a bit of a rush because I still hadn't decided what I wanted, and time was running out to get it delivered!
In my Filofax I have a wishlist of things I want, but shouldn't buy immediately. A few months ago I also made a list of things I'd like for my birthday. It's really interesting to come back to these lists a few months later and see how your desires have changed. Sometimes, you've changed your mind on something so completely that you are very happy you didn't buy that thing on impulse, because you know that if you haven't been missing not having something over the past few weeks, you didn't really want it badly enough, and if you now look back and think 'I really don't want it now', it would have been a waste of money if you had bought it on impulse!
So I consulted my lists and transferred the things I still really want onto a new birthday list. I worked my way through the items on my new list- things like Sims 3 University Life and a Pilot Prera fountain pen- and worked out that if I wait, I can get them cheaper in a couple of months, and do I really need them for my birthday now anyway? Choosing to not get these things for my birthday opened up some money for other options for presents. For example, the Pilot Prera fountain pen would have cost me just over £40, plus I wanted some more things, but in the end all of my presents cost less than £40!! My mum (who was paying for my presents) doesn't give me a budget, but she and my dad have always taught us to be careful with our money, and I feel bad asking for too much money.
I had a few things I really wanted for my birthday: fountain pen stuff!! A new pen, a few inks, and an ink syringe to fill my converters and cartridges from the bottled inks. This is my new hobby, and I know I'm really going to enjoy it! However, I also know it's going to get really expensive! Although a bottle of ink can cost as low as £5.80 (much cheaper than buying a Filofax to get your stationery thrills!), it's difficult to stop at buying just one! I think I will have to put myself on a tight leash and permit myself to buy only 1 ink per month!
I already knew where I would buy most of this from: Cult Pens. This is an excellent stationery online shop, with the most amazing customer service! I will be doing a review of this company soon in my Retail Recommendations series! The reason that buying from them was so brilliant is because I know that, even though I've placed my order only 3 days before my birthday and today is a Bank Holiday so Royal Mail isn't operating, I will get my order on my birthday! If you order before 3pm, Cult Pens will ship your order on the same day!, and they are based in Tiverton, which isn't far from where I live in Plymouth, so I know it will get to me even if they post tomorrow morning (when Royal Mail starts working again!). I recently bought a pen from them at 2pm, and received it before 9am the next day!!
So how to decide what to buy?
I decided to evaluate the inks and pens I already have, so I laid them out like this:
I realised I have a lot of blacks (I don't know how that happened, since I've never bought any, and don't really use them!), and blue-black, brown, purple, turquoise and a raspberry colour. Therefore, I could see a few gaps in my colour palette. I consulted my wishlist of inks, and realised that they would slot into those gaps nicely!!
I really love the colour of Diamine Ancient Copper, and I also wanted a vibrant pink, so I chose Diamine Deep Magenta. When I heard of Diamine Eau de Nil, I realised that as an Egyptologist I needed this ink as it's named after the Nile!
Then I set about working out which pen would be used for which ink. This was harder than it looked! Finally I decided on a sensible arrangement (the pens on the picture above show which pens are now assigned to which inks, and the 3 on the right are assigned to inks that I don't have yet, but will be coming from Cult Pens!). I realised that I don't have an ink that suits the gorgousness of my Rosetta Magellan, so I chose Diamine Red Dragon for it, which was another one to add to my order! Then I thought that Diamine Ancient Copper was such a gorgeous colour, that it deserved a wonderful pen- so I decided to get a Lamy Al-Star in Ruby Red as another birthday present specifically for that ink :)
List so far:
Diamine Ancient Copper
Diamine Deep Magenta
Diamine Eau de Nil
Diamine Red Dragon
Lamy Al-Star Ruby Red
However, there were a few more things I had needed for ages, including the ink syringes with needles and a converter for one of my Lamys, and I decided to buy them out of my own money, as I have some money in my paypal. The only place I could find the ink syringes was The Writing Desk, which is another great stationery website. I decided to buy three, just in case I lose a couple, and I also wanted a waterproof ink because I've been having trouble with my Diamine Registrar's ink, so I consulted The Writing Desk's list of permanent inks and, after a lot of deliberation, decided to invest in De Atramentis Document Ink in blue! This would be one of my normal everyday inks, so would go in one of my favourite pens, my Lamy Safari Apple Green!
List so far:
Birthday-
Diamine Ancient Copper
Diamine Deep Magenta
Diamine Eau de Nil
Diamine Red Dragon
Lamy Al-Star Ruby Red
Me-
Ink syringe with needle x3
De Atramentis Document Ink Blue
But the bug had bitten me and I wanted some more ink! Once you pop, you can't stop!! So I went back to Cult Pens, and shopped for some more things to buy myself (not for my birthday!).
I decided to get some more pretty inks, maybe not ones I would use all the time like the ones I had chosen for my birthday, but ones I could use when I felt in the mood :) I chose the gorgous Diamine Sunset, and Diamine Emerald!
Unfortunately, I then didn't have enough pens to put these inks in, so I decided to buy some Platinum Preppys, which are cheap and cheerful fountain pens at £3.25 each, which I can use to hold my occasional inks by refilling their cartridges with my ink syringe needles. I bought a pink one for a handbag pen, 2 blues to hold Herbin Bleu Azure and Diamine Eau de Nil, a red one to hold Diamine Sunset and a green one to hold Diamine Emerald. I have assigned my Lamy Vista to be the pen I use to hold whichever of my occasional inks I love the most at any one time, to use instead of one of the Preppys, to just switch the ink out whenever I want!
Final shopping list:
Birthday-
Diamine Ancient Copper
Diamine Deep Magenta
Diamine Eau de Nil
Diamine Red Dragon
Lamy Al-Star Ruby Red
Me-
Ink syringe with needle x3
De Atramentis Document Ink Blue
Diamine Sunset
Diamine Emerald
Platinum Preppys
I noticed a pattern when I had finished choosing my inks.
Swatches from http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/
L-R, U-D: Ancient Copper, Deep Magenta, Eau de Nil, Red Dragon, Sunset, Emerald (looks darker in writing)
Swa
I love really deep, gorgeous, brooding colours. Ones that look like they would have been around hundreds of years ago, as if Shakespeare could have used them! Although I'm attracted to bright, fun colours, like lime green, I stop short of buying them. I like inks that look like they have a story to them, inks that I can use when I'm feeling in a certain mood. I'm attracted to Diamine Oxblood, and I saw that someone said it looked like you were writing in blood- well, if I'm feeling really melancholic one day, I might just buy it and pretend I'm writing in blood! I want a fountain pen inks to make me feel.
I think writing is such a passionate thing. I love the process of a thought or idea shooting down your arm, out of a pen and onto paper. So I want my inks to feel like they are my thoughts and emotions in liquid form, coming out of your pen, the extension of your fingers, and to soak into the paper. It's almost as if the ink is your thoughts' essence, your emotions' blood. If I want my writing to be magenta pink, or Nile blue, then it will be. If I want it to actually look like blood, why not? Ink is the blood of your thoughts.
In my Filofax I have a wishlist of things I want, but shouldn't buy immediately. A few months ago I also made a list of things I'd like for my birthday. It's really interesting to come back to these lists a few months later and see how your desires have changed. Sometimes, you've changed your mind on something so completely that you are very happy you didn't buy that thing on impulse, because you know that if you haven't been missing not having something over the past few weeks, you didn't really want it badly enough, and if you now look back and think 'I really don't want it now', it would have been a waste of money if you had bought it on impulse!
So I consulted my lists and transferred the things I still really want onto a new birthday list. I worked my way through the items on my new list- things like Sims 3 University Life and a Pilot Prera fountain pen- and worked out that if I wait, I can get them cheaper in a couple of months, and do I really need them for my birthday now anyway? Choosing to not get these things for my birthday opened up some money for other options for presents. For example, the Pilot Prera fountain pen would have cost me just over £40, plus I wanted some more things, but in the end all of my presents cost less than £40!! My mum (who was paying for my presents) doesn't give me a budget, but she and my dad have always taught us to be careful with our money, and I feel bad asking for too much money.
I had a few things I really wanted for my birthday: fountain pen stuff!! A new pen, a few inks, and an ink syringe to fill my converters and cartridges from the bottled inks. This is my new hobby, and I know I'm really going to enjoy it! However, I also know it's going to get really expensive! Although a bottle of ink can cost as low as £5.80 (much cheaper than buying a Filofax to get your stationery thrills!), it's difficult to stop at buying just one! I think I will have to put myself on a tight leash and permit myself to buy only 1 ink per month!
I already knew where I would buy most of this from: Cult Pens. This is an excellent stationery online shop, with the most amazing customer service! I will be doing a review of this company soon in my Retail Recommendations series! The reason that buying from them was so brilliant is because I know that, even though I've placed my order only 3 days before my birthday and today is a Bank Holiday so Royal Mail isn't operating, I will get my order on my birthday! If you order before 3pm, Cult Pens will ship your order on the same day!, and they are based in Tiverton, which isn't far from where I live in Plymouth, so I know it will get to me even if they post tomorrow morning (when Royal Mail starts working again!). I recently bought a pen from them at 2pm, and received it before 9am the next day!!
So how to decide what to buy?
I decided to evaluate the inks and pens I already have, so I laid them out like this:
 |
| L-R: Diamine Registrar's ink with Lamy Al-Star Raspberry; blue cartridges with Parker Urban; Parker Quink black, Herbin black and a little vial of black with a Waterman silver f-pen; Herbin Rose Cylamen cartridges with Kaweco Ink Roller; Waterman Havana Brown with Lamy Safari Aquamarine; Waterman Violet with Lamy Al-Star Purple; My 'Raspberry' ink made of a mix of Diamine Cerise and Waterman Violet with Lamy Safari Pink pen; Herbin Bleu Azure ink; Rosetta Magellan pen, Lamy Safari Apple Green pen and Lamy Vista pen. |
I realised I have a lot of blacks (I don't know how that happened, since I've never bought any, and don't really use them!), and blue-black, brown, purple, turquoise and a raspberry colour. Therefore, I could see a few gaps in my colour palette. I consulted my wishlist of inks, and realised that they would slot into those gaps nicely!!
I really love the colour of Diamine Ancient Copper, and I also wanted a vibrant pink, so I chose Diamine Deep Magenta. When I heard of Diamine Eau de Nil, I realised that as an Egyptologist I needed this ink as it's named after the Nile!
Then I set about working out which pen would be used for which ink. This was harder than it looked! Finally I decided on a sensible arrangement (the pens on the picture above show which pens are now assigned to which inks, and the 3 on the right are assigned to inks that I don't have yet, but will be coming from Cult Pens!). I realised that I don't have an ink that suits the gorgousness of my Rosetta Magellan, so I chose Diamine Red Dragon for it, which was another one to add to my order! Then I thought that Diamine Ancient Copper was such a gorgeous colour, that it deserved a wonderful pen- so I decided to get a Lamy Al-Star in Ruby Red as another birthday present specifically for that ink :)
 |
| Picture from www.cultpens.com |
List so far:
Diamine Ancient Copper
Diamine Deep Magenta
Diamine Eau de Nil
Diamine Red Dragon
Lamy Al-Star Ruby Red
However, there were a few more things I had needed for ages, including the ink syringes with needles and a converter for one of my Lamys, and I decided to buy them out of my own money, as I have some money in my paypal. The only place I could find the ink syringes was The Writing Desk, which is another great stationery website. I decided to buy three, just in case I lose a couple, and I also wanted a waterproof ink because I've been having trouble with my Diamine Registrar's ink, so I consulted The Writing Desk's list of permanent inks and, after a lot of deliberation, decided to invest in De Atramentis Document Ink in blue! This would be one of my normal everyday inks, so would go in one of my favourite pens, my Lamy Safari Apple Green!
List so far:
Birthday-
Diamine Ancient Copper
Diamine Deep Magenta
Diamine Eau de Nil
Diamine Red Dragon
Lamy Al-Star Ruby Red
Me-
Ink syringe with needle x3
De Atramentis Document Ink Blue
But the bug had bitten me and I wanted some more ink! Once you pop, you can't stop!! So I went back to Cult Pens, and shopped for some more things to buy myself (not for my birthday!).
I decided to get some more pretty inks, maybe not ones I would use all the time like the ones I had chosen for my birthday, but ones I could use when I felt in the mood :) I chose the gorgous Diamine Sunset, and Diamine Emerald!
Unfortunately, I then didn't have enough pens to put these inks in, so I decided to buy some Platinum Preppys, which are cheap and cheerful fountain pens at £3.25 each, which I can use to hold my occasional inks by refilling their cartridges with my ink syringe needles. I bought a pink one for a handbag pen, 2 blues to hold Herbin Bleu Azure and Diamine Eau de Nil, a red one to hold Diamine Sunset and a green one to hold Diamine Emerald. I have assigned my Lamy Vista to be the pen I use to hold whichever of my occasional inks I love the most at any one time, to use instead of one of the Preppys, to just switch the ink out whenever I want!
Final shopping list:
Birthday-
Diamine Ancient Copper
Diamine Deep Magenta
Diamine Eau de Nil
Diamine Red Dragon
Lamy Al-Star Ruby Red
Me-
Ink syringe with needle x3
De Atramentis Document Ink Blue
Diamine Sunset
Diamine Emerald
Platinum Preppys
I noticed a pattern when I had finished choosing my inks.
Swatches from http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/
L-R, U-D: Ancient Copper, Deep Magenta, Eau de Nil, Red Dragon, Sunset, Emerald (looks darker in writing)
Swa
I love really deep, gorgeous, brooding colours. Ones that look like they would have been around hundreds of years ago, as if Shakespeare could have used them! Although I'm attracted to bright, fun colours, like lime green, I stop short of buying them. I like inks that look like they have a story to them, inks that I can use when I'm feeling in a certain mood. I'm attracted to Diamine Oxblood, and I saw that someone said it looked like you were writing in blood- well, if I'm feeling really melancholic one day, I might just buy it and pretend I'm writing in blood! I want a fountain pen inks to make me feel.
I think writing is such a passionate thing. I love the process of a thought or idea shooting down your arm, out of a pen and onto paper. So I want my inks to feel like they are my thoughts and emotions in liquid form, coming out of your pen, the extension of your fingers, and to soak into the paper. It's almost as if the ink is your thoughts' essence, your emotions' blood. If I want my writing to be magenta pink, or Nile blue, then it will be. If I want it to actually look like blood, why not? Ink is the blood of your thoughts.
I love the idea of blood red writing, on deep cream thick paper. Mmmm. Have a good birthday!
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