To my lovely Ink rack readers..

I have not forgotten you. I know it has been over a year since anything came to this blog. Perhaps some of you have forgotten me, and that is okay it is my own fault. You see my lovely supplies and the bulk of my ink had to be stuck in storage for a time. BUT we are settled in, our own new home Ahh how perfect.

So Look forward to more ink reviews coming to this blog. I will need to get the domain again sometime, but for now Blog spot will do will it not? *blows kisses*

One change..my standard review pen may have met its death I have not decided yet but bless its heart it lasted a while for a cheapie! If it has indeed gone to the big pen box in the sky a Preppy may be its replacement. We shall see what comes!

Enjoy the ink as always and keep tuned reviews coming soon!

Ink Review: Noodlers Navajo Turquoise

I know I posted the PR Plum review earlier this month but I had written that one some time ago and just not scanned it in. So the Noodlers Navajo Turq. Is the first one I have written out in a while. The scan is not that fantastic but you get the idea. His is a great ink, a beautiful rich color that to me speaks of the lovely tropical seas that I wish I could see and hope that I do someday. No feathering no bleed through there is a little bit of shadow but it is not anything to worry about. There i.e. beautiful shading that just adds to the fantastic color. It would be beautiful even solid but with the shading just that much more. A fantastic wet rich color.

Dry time is not too bad on this one. Most noodlers take a lot longer to dry but this one would be good for left-hander on the right paper. I would not recommend they use it on something like Sugar Cane or Clairefontaine Triomphe. Water test is a mega fail but it does not claim to be bulletproof. While you can see that, much of the color came off you can still read it. Over all THUMBS UP.

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Ink Review: PR Plum

Did anyone miss me? I know I have not done any reviews in a while but I have been pretty sick so here we go I will start reviews again with a purple..PR Plum.

This was my first shot at a PR ink and of course because I love wet ink I had to get the Plum, I have been told the Tanzanite was even wetter but the jet pens was out of it when I ordered. So here is the lovely PR Plum. I love it. Over all the ink behaves very well on my paper it is a deep rich saturated color with a lovely wet line. I can see no feathering or bleed through. I have some small showing through on the otherside of the notebook page but nothing that would keep one from using both sides of the page. Plum doesn't have a large amount of shading, but there is some subtle work. Because of how wet the ink is the dry time is a bit slow but I think on the right paper it would be great for a left hand writer or just one who is careful. Make sure to keep this one away from water it does not like it at all.

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Ink Review: J.Herbin 1670

Photo by Margana from FPN

This ink made it to me from France because I was too impatient to wait for it to be ready and available here stateside. I am glad I made the plunge and got it early. This is a great rich red. This is what I would call a Roman Lady red and is great and saturated. Herbin says it is modeled after the reds of the old royal court and I can see that.

The ink behaves very well flowing freely and in a good wet line from the nib. No feathering at all and no bleed through. I did not see any shadowing either which is even better so you can use both sides of even the thin paper. For myself I did not see a lot of shading just a hair, which is very pretty.

Dry time is in line with other Herbins, on a more absorbent paper I would say a left-hander would have no trouble using this one. The sugar cane paper seems to leave things on the top of the paper more than absorb. This ink does not do well with water at all. Over all as long as they offer it this is a keeper red for me.

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Ink Review: Noodler's Baystate Blue

The infamous Baystate blue some have called it the Pen eater. Well when I placed it into my Conklin Mark Twain signature, I can say it did not melt in my hand or explode on impact. Now I will say this is the only ink that will not be used in my standard Jinhao F5 for review. Because of the unique compounds in this ink, many think it is best to choose one pen and dedicate it to Baystate Blue only. Not wishing to have a magically melting pen this is what I did and my pretty Blue Conklin fit the bill.

Now onto the ink itself. The ink is a vibrant well-saturated and pretty blue. It is unique and you will not find the same color blue elsewhere so that hype is true. The flow was very well for my pen with no feathering on the paper. There was no bleed through and very light shadowing. I do not see much shading in the ink but I do not mind there not being much because it is such a very nice blue on its own.

Dry times are a little long so if you are using a dip pen or are a lefty just be careful of it. I would not say do not use it because it is just too nice of a blue not to use it. If you want to make a statement while still sticking to the professional standard this would be a good ink. Just make sure you are informed about all of the claims before putting it in your pen so you can make your own choice.

The reaction to water was a pretty good one I was impressed. This is going to be a daily use ink for me. This from a gal who does not use a lot of blue (usually).

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Sneak Peek: J. Herbin 1670 Ink

Here is a little sneak peek at the New ink from J.Herbin they call it simply 1670. I will be doing a full review.

Ink Review: Noodler's Lexington Gray

Another Noodler’s and one that I honestly never thought I would have. The idea of a gray ink just never hit me, but a friend asked me to review this ink for them so here I am. The ink lays down a very nice very wet line and has some subtle but pretty shading. It is hard to see in the scan but I promise its there, subtle like a wisp of grey mist. There is some very slight feathering but you cannot notice it without looking very close, no bleed through and some slight shadowing on the other side of the paper.

In this review, I did forget to write a dry version of the Lexington Gray as I have in all of my other reviews. however because it lays down such a nice wet line I am going to assume that aside from the shading being muted out (as it often is in a finer nib for all inks) that it will look very similar. The ink is supposed to be modeled after the Lexington, which it does well, but the other thing I think of when I look at this ink is Confederate Gray’s so bring on the civil war historical thoughts.

The ink has a nice dry time and does not take as long as some of the other Noodler’s Inks and the water did not have any affect on it at all which since it is listed, as a bulletproof ink is what I would expect.

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