when things don't always work out as they should. (plus an ink review?)

I had this brilliant idea to do fountain pen ink reviews.

I have gotten super into fountain pens and ink is kind of like nail polish in that ten people using the same ink (or polish) will have ten different experiences and opinions. I end up reading tons of reviews that often cover the same or similar products, albeit inks, pens or paper.

So, since I've bought a ton of samples lately (and a ton of pens) I decided to start writing out some reviews. Everything was going smoothly so far.

Then I scanned them.



Firstly, my scanner refuses to can the entire page. Not sure why. Obviously, I don't use it very often. There isn't even anything about this in the manual! (Next time I'm going to try scanning it still on the pad and see if having three dimensions helps. Also considering drawing borders.)

Secondly, this color is not even close to the actual color.

Then I googled: https://www.google.com/search?q=noodler's+black+swan+in+australian+roses&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=5iNwUtTzNuGBiwKr04DgCA&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=643

It seems to show up this way in everyone's photos and scans, so I don't feel as bad.

In reality, it is a much more red purple. Almost a burgundy. It isn't as red as Black Swan in English Roses, but is still more red than it shows above. It's a nice color. It's not my favorite, as I've yet to find a purple that has really wowed me.

The pen, the Fountain Pen Revolution Dilli flex pen is fantastic! I adore it and it is currently my favorite. It's highly versatile and can write from a very fine line to a fat, flex-y puddle. The pen and ink combination here was ideal, because BSAR shades so well. I anticipate picking up at least one more.

I'm a bit discouraged and re-thinking this ink review thing. I'm going to try scanning a few more and see what happens. Please, any feedback is welcome.

*All products here were purchased by me for my own use and review. 


ETA: I decided to not include swabs because I think swabs can be kind of misleading about how a color writes. How it looks in a big ol' blobs is not really relevant for me because I am only writing and not doing art. Plus, everyone posts as swab so I really don't need to. Right?

DIDNEYLAN! (or How I Can Go On Vacation And Still Be Succulent Crazy)

I went to Disneyland. It happens.

Yes, I am a childless (childfree!) grown-ass woman.

Yes, I took pictures with Mickey and Minnie and Goofy and Pluto and Donald. (And Daisy!)



One of the things that I appreciate most about Disneyland is that everything is so detailed and well-done. Everything fits into its theme to a T!

Imagine how delighted I was to look around while I was in Frontierland and discover SUCCULENTS! Everywhere!



There were a ton of strawberry pots like this with a huge variety of plants. There were also plants in wall hangers and quite a few in the ground as well. (I also saw quite a few in California Adventure in the Cars Land and Bugs Land sections.) I really wanted to take cuttings because how cool would it be to have a plant that came from a plant growing at Disneyland? I'm too big a square for that. I kept thinking, "If everyone did it, there'd be none left to enjoy."

I always enjoy when two of my interests come together!

Is it an addiction if you can't stop buying plants?

I wrote in June about succulents and haven't looked back. I've gone a leeeetle bit crazy. I mean, as crazy as one can get buying plants.




This is just one such purchase. I love echeverias and rosette-like succulents in general. I was super excited to find the Perle Von Nurnberg (back left) because I'd been admiring it in photos for quite a while. I'm currently debating whether to plant it outside or not. I also love weird plants of all kinds, like the Baby Toes (back middle), Split Rock (front left) and lithops (front right). My Baby Toes plant is pretty beat up, so you can't really see how creepy they are. The Split Rock got a purple buddy this week, and I'll have a really neat picture of the apothecary jar they were planted in.

What I'm the most excited about are the lithops!



I love these, because they are some of the weirdest and most boring plants on the face of the planet. If you aren't paying attention, you might not even notice that they are plants! Surprisingly, they have a really pretty, daisy-like flower. Of course, they bloom in spring so I will be waiting quite a while for that. Before that, mine will be getting new leaves, which I am also looking forward to.

I'm planning to repot these (about two weeks after their initial planting) to do something like this, in a really beautiful vintage vase:

(image found on pinterest. original source is http://www.solxsol.com/p/11725/)

Expect more succulent pictures and chatter! I repotted a bunch today but didn't take photos.