Category Archives: But How?

But How?, Fountain Pens

Morning Daily Sample/Pen Routine – Process

Alright, you know those posts I have about the daily samples? Well, let’s get into the technical specifics of how I currently do my daily morning ink and pen routine. I assume someone out there will get something out of it. Here we go!

Step One:

Three notebooks stacked on top of each other. The one on top is a Hobonichi Techo 2022 Original, underneath is a textured black notebook with a Goulet Pens purple ink splatter sticker on the cover, and the one on the bottom is purple, with 2 stickers visible. The top sticker is a lightbulbs with a garden and a black cat inside. And the bottom one is partially obscured, but the whole thing says, Don’t Believe Every Thought You Think.
Set up the notebooks. For this I add some stickers to the pages where I start today in my Captain’s Log, and that day’s page in my Nightly Journal. I also pull out my Daily Sample Journal. 

Step Two:

On a wooden desk are: - paper towel which caught a ton of ink drops and spills - a blank white sample card - a purple vial holder in the shape of a giant d20, which is holding a vial with a cap that has three white stickers on top. One is blank, one says “4” and the other says “9.22” - a grey dip pen with a protector over the metal nib, and is resting on a glass pen holder - a stamp ink pad with the lid taken off - a stamp with the shape of a B nib
Pull out the sampling supplies. First, the sample vial, which I put in the 3D printed d20 vial holder Aaron made me. Next I pull out the nib stamp I am using that month and the ink pad for it. Then the dip pen I am using – currently an Iro-utsushi, metal nib instead of glass. Last the two paper towels I use – one where I can catch any spills and one where I can rest the q-tip when I am done with it.

Step Three:

A wooden desk with various ink sampling supplies. Centered is a sample card with blue ink swapped across the top, a black nib stamped on the right side, and drips of ink off the nib tip and a larger pool of ink.
This is where I start putting ink down on paper. I use a q-tip to pick up ink from the vial and swab the top of a sample card. Then I’ll stamp the card with that month’s nib stamp. Next I pick up a little more ink and use it to make a puddle of ink on the card, making it look like the ink is dripping off the tip of the stamped ink nib.

Step 4:

6 places that had ink applied by a q-tip: - the top of an ink vial lid - the blank dot has had a drop of ink applied - My Captain’s Log page that lists the Akkerman inks for that month, a drop of ink has been applied next to the #4 - the sample card with ink on the top of the card and a puddle of ink - the daily sample journal page with the puddle of ink and the stamped ink bottle filled in with color
I use this q-tip in seven spots, funnily enough. The swab at the top of the card, the ink puddle on the card, an ink puddle on that days journal sample page, a dot on top of the vial lid, a dot next to the name of the ink written out in that month’s list, then I swab in the ink bottle stamp on that days page, then! 

Step Five:

A close up of a page in a planner, each line with the day of the month to the left. At the top is “9” and “September,” underneath I have written Akkerman in purple. There are four days visible, each with a line of ink drawn from right to left - they are all different color blues.
Seventh and finally for the q-tip, a line of ink on the page that lists every day of months in a column. And then I rest it on a paper towel because it pulls the rest of the ink out slowly and sometimes you can see some really interesting color separations. 
Two notebooks, the smaller planner resting on the larger. In the planner, you can see “04 Nassaus Blauw” and a square of the same color to the left. The larger notebook page is for September Daily Samples for Akkerman, with the first 4 ink names listed twice - once on the left in alternating orange and purple, and once on the right in that days ink color. There are drops of ink on the far left of that days ink.
Once the q-tip is done – moving on to using the dip pen. I start with the Captain’s Log and Nightly Journal – I write out the name of the ink on the page I list all of that month’s inks next to itself. Then I write it again at the top of that days Nightly Journal page, and fill in a square – the top of those pages have a very short checklist, so I basically color in the box you’d normally mark when something is done. 

Step Seven:

The sample card has a swatch of ink applied to the top of the card, there is a nib stamp with what looks like the same ink dripping off the nib and into a puddle. The card text reads: Akkerman 04 Nassaus Blue Xxxooosssssss 22SeptVent-4 Standard
Next is the sample card. I put the ink manufacturer, series if applicable, name, and some test x’s, o’s, and interconnected s’s. I also add which month it is usually by year, month, “vent” and the day – for example, 22SeptVent-4. And last I put the kind of ink it is on the right edge of the card – standard, shimmer, or sheen – those are the three types I’ve sampled so far. Well, ColorVerse calls their shimmers “glistening” and there are some shading inks that go by different shades. 

Step Eight:

A notebook page - there is a sticker applied to the top left corner, it looks like a sample that has floating lantern art. To the right of the sticker is text reading “04 Nassaus Blauw” with scribbled marks to the left and underneath and the right side. In gold ink in the top right hand corner the text reads “9.4.22 Sun”
I write the name of the ink in one last spot in my Captain’s Log – that days first page.

Step Nine:

A planner page - what is on this page is explained in the caption of the photo.
Then I switch over to the Daily Ink Sample Journal. I make 4 squares, 4 circles, and 4 triangles all filled in. Then I scribble a square to be as saturated as I can make it. Then more interconnected squiggles. Below that I put the same info I had on the sample card – manufacturer, series, name and then whether it is a standard ink or not, and finally which dip pen I am using. Beside that I draw straight lines until the ink starts to fade. Below that I write “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” because that phrase has every single letter of the English alphabet at least one. Then a line of dots and dashes. Then a description and my FEELINGS about the ink. Lastly, after one last dip into the vial, I draw what I call my sharp squiggles – it’s just a mess really, but I find the motions soothing and the visual appealing.

Step Ten:

A notebook page - there is a sticker applied to the top left corner, it looks like a sample that has floating lantern art. To the right of the sticker is text reading “04 Nassaus Blauw” with scribbled marks to the left and underneath and the right side. In gold ink in the top right hand corner the text reads “9.4.22 Sun” underneath is the text “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” written 10 times, in 10 different inks. The first is purple, the next two are different blues, the next two are different greens, a shiny red with gold sheen, a maroon, a orangey red with gold shimmer, a yellow orange, and a gold with gold shimmer.
I finish by testing all of the pens I have inked that day. I started doing this when I would find a pen wasn’t working well in the middle of the word day which was so very frustrating! So the pen test gives me an idea of which ones to avoid that day haha. In this photo I just repeat the quick brown fox sentence, but really I’ll just write down my thoughts, changing pen colors on every line.

And that’s it! When I first got started with this I would just ink up the sample card, usually just with a square swab applied by q-tip and the ink manufacturer and name. I added the daily sample journal later. Then I added writing it in my Captain’s Log, then my nightly journal, etc. It has evolved over time. I switched from a glass nib dip pen to a metal nib – recently, actually. I’ve changed up the kind of sample cards I use for samples and I have changed the format I use on the card. Huh…this line of thought could end up being a whole other post. So I will leave it there!

I want to share these kinds of things in case it is helpful to someone. And I love collecting this data and putting it somewhere, so throwing it on this blog seems like a good place for it.