I’ve mentioned it a couple times with my Patrons that I’ve been on a bit of a stationery and ink declutter this summer. I’ve been going through my 600+ bottles of ink and attempting to pare it down to a more manageable number. Over the past year, I’ve discovered that I tend to favor a couple bottles of ink over everything else. I’ve even considered purchasing new bottles of the ink when I finish these bottles.
Alternately, other inks have languished for months or even years. It’s not that they are not beautiful colors its just that I am likely to have three or more similar bottles of ink.
I’ve become aware, over the years, my penchant for fine nibs limits the usability of inks that are lighter in color. Some lighter inks are often too light to be usable in a fine nib pen.
Also, 600 bottles is a lot of ink to store. I had it in my head that I could get the collection down to 100 bottles but everyone who knows me has laughed at my optimism. While I appreciate a good declutter, I also love having all the things I might need to make or create.
Over the years, I have gone on various adventures to fine the “perfect” grey ink, the one-true lime green ink and a mission to find the finest plummy purple color. This has left me with several, close-but-not-quite-right inks that have sat idle in my collection. I have also made various attempts made to bring a red or orange ink into my collection. I am just not a fan of red and orange inks. They’re pretty but I never want to ink up a pen with them.
Each month, I have been selecting a few brands and attempt to edit out some of the many bottles I own. So far, I’ve gone through my Montblanc inks, Robert Oster, and Sailor inks along with a few random inks. Patrons got early access to these sale inks but now I’m opening it up to regular readers of the blog.
This ink declutter/purge means that if you love red or orange inks, have been looking for that perfect grey ink or just want to try a lot of inks cheap, my loss is your gain.
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