When I first got into pens over a decade ago, I never really got into ink swatching, so now that I have come back into the hobby in a different way, exploring inks and trying to incorporate more colors into my writing as a whole. Part of this exploration is obtaining and swatching both the new inks, and all of the bottles that are on my shelf.
Like most people, when I first started swatching with the 2024 inkvent calendars, I was using Q-Tips and a dip nib that I inherited from an old speedball set that my mom had that ended up in my supplies. I got my first ever Col-O-Ring cards and I was off to the races. This was what I thought swatching was, and while it worked, as time has progressed I have learned there are better ways.
When I did my interview with Lisa (Link Found Here) , who can be found online at OliveOctopus.ink, she shared her knowledge of using non porous objects when swatching, as they won’t absorb any of the ink that could affect the colors on the page. I have switched to using glass stirring rods, but there is still a need to write the name of the inks, and that is where the nib holders are going to come into play. I have a travel glass dip pen, but I wanted to continue to add to my toolset.
I knew that eventually I wanted to get both the kakimori and colorverse shuttle nibs, but in order for that to happen, I needed some nib holders. When I noticed that Amarillo Stationery got some more kakimori nibs in stock, I placed an order and originally was just getting one of the basic wooden handles. After I placed my order, I got a message from Erick asking if I wanted to upgrade to one of the Amarillo nib holders that he was going to be releasing soon, and of course I said yes.
While waiting for the delivery, The Pen Addict Brad released the Pen Addict Ink Thrower, and he had a slim model which caught my eye, as it might be a good option to have for ink bottles with a smaller neck, so I ordered one of those as well. They arrived so close to each other, I was able to make the combined video. This also works well, as both of these were turned by River City Pen Company out of materials made by Nic Pasquale for the Amarillo holder and Turnt Pen Co. for the Pen Addict offering.
The first impression was great for both of these, and I look forward to using them as I get more into my inks and swatching them on the variety of papers in addition to my Col-O-Ring and Col-O-Dex cards.