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A Blast From The Past: Red Cashmere Fountain pen Ink is available exclusively at: United States: Lemur Inks ( www.lemurink.com ) United Kingdom: Cult Pens ( www.cultpens.com ) Australia: JustWrite ( www.justwrite.com.au ) Red Cashmere was originally developed as a powdered fountain pen ink back in 2014 as part of the SuSeMai project by the Th-INKing Outside the Bottle Group on the fountain Pen Network. Red Cashmere was developed by Kevin Watson and Dave Marshall from the JustWrite Pen Company and the Th-INKing Outside the Bottle Group provided extensive support, advice, testing and feedback. Thirteen powdered inks were developed by the SuSeMai project but none were ever released for sale. Powdered ink had several advantages including the obvious savings in packaging and freight (no glass bottle or water) and fountain pen users could make the ink up as concentrated as they liked in their own empty ink bottles. The powdered inks worked fine but had a fatal flaw. There was no way to ensure the even distribution of biocide through the powdered ink. The focus shifted to gels and concentrated liquids and the powdered ink idea was abandoned. Most of the powdered inks did not adapt well to the gel concentrate form and sadly, they were lost forever... until now. Almost 18 months of extensive experimenting and development, made possible by the tireless and enthusiastic testing and feedback from FPN members, ultimately led to the establishment of Blackstone Inks and now Blackstone Ink is resurrecting Red Cashmere as a conventional liquid ink. The new liquid Red Cashmere ink has all of the characteristics and qualities of the original powdered ink but none of the disadvantages. It's a rich, dark red, free flowing ink that's very well behaved. If you'd like more information about the SuSeMai project or Red Cashmere search for 'susemai' on the FPN. Special Acknowledgement: Blackstone Inks would not exist if not for the encouragement, assistance and support of the members of the Fountain Pen Network. Thank you all so much.

I've been asked this question so many times and at first it had me scratching my head until I did a bit of research. I assumed Vegans were simply vegetarians and wondered why the question was being asked since fountain pen ink isn't a foodstuff. Vegans aren't just vegetarians, they are opposed to the exploitation of animals and avoid all animal based products. So, the question finally made sense. It seems important to a lot of people so I decided to check whether Blackstone Inks do meet the Vegan Friendly criteria. I wasn't all that surprised to find they did they did but I was surprised to learn that glycerine, which is used in a lot of fountain pen inks as a humectant is usually derived from animal sources. We don't use glycerine so we were able to issue the following statement for the information of Vegan fountain pen users which there seem to be quite a few of based on the number of inquiries I've been receiving. Blackstone inks do not contain any animal products or animal derived ingredients and no animal derived materials are used in the manufacturing process. None of the ingredients used in Blackstone inks contain any animal products or animal derived ingredients and have not been tested on animals. Blackstone inks do not contain glycerine, a humectant and lubricant often used in inks, that is usually derived from animal by products.

We're delighted to announce that Blackstone Inks are now available at Cult Pens in the UK. Cult Pens have been around since 2005, they have a huge range of pens, fountain pens and ink and they're as crazy about pens and ink as we are. Visit the Cult Pens website: https:www.cultpens.com

Coming soon exclusively to Pensive Pens in Australia and Anderson Pens in the US. Four new Barrister waterproof ink colours: Barrister Blue/Black :: Barrister Brown :: Barrister Red :: Barrister Purple. Blackstone Barrister inks are well behaved, saturated, waterproof, permanent fountain pen inks made in Australia by Blackstone Ink. Barrister inks are 100% waterproof and are unaffected by complete immersion in water. They are fade resistant and highly resistive to bleach, alcohol and mild acids. Barrister inks are nano pigment inks made with sub-micron sized pigment particles instead of the usual soluble dyes. These nano particles are so small that they can easily pass through fountain pen feeds and are treated with a special soluble polymer to overcome their natural attraction to each other. Blackstone fountain pen ink is packaged in reusable Polypropylene bottles. Polypropylene is one of the toughest plastics in existence and these bottles are practically indestructible. These bottle can be re-purposed as ink carry or storage bottles and Polypropylene is completely recyclable. Barrister waterproof inks are available in black, blue-black, blue, red, purple and brown

Visit Lemur Ink at the San Francisco Pen Show this weekend to see Blackstone Inks. https://www.sfpenshow.com/ https://www.lemurink.com/

Blackstone Inks of Australia are in the process of launching their fountain pen ink CMYK kit – consisting of 1x 30ml dropper bottle of each Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. As a concept, this is nothing new, in fact I recently took 3 Diamine colours and did something similar. But what is different here is the purity of the colours. As you’ll see from the swatch tests these are pretty much pure Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. The inks wash out evenly with no sheening and no chromatography. They are consistent and true. These are the base dyes, the source of all our beloved fountain pen inks and the fundamental ingredient in desktop printing. From the interaction of these four base colours, we are able to enjoy the full colour experience. The colour wheel created below is absolutely pure and the full colour spectrum can be achieved with this kit. The abstract alphabet shows this much better with the whole range of blended colours options in evidence – check out the yellow and brown ochres. But what this exercise also demonstrates is the craft, creativity and skill of the ink maker. Here is fountain pen ink creation at it’s simplest – and we are ALL capable of doing this. BUT it’s when you examine some of my many test swatches – of Noodler’s, KWZ, Robert Oster, the recent Blackstone Scent range for example – that we begin to realise that there’s a lot more to these ink concoctions that just CMYK! Because it’s these ink makers’ extras that give us the fabulous sheens, the hidden hues and ultimately give the individual inks their unique characters that fascinate us. Understanding colour should really be mandatory for any serious Ink Geek to fully wallow in the wonders fountain pen ink, and what better way to start the journey than here? Of note: Cyan, Magenta and Yellow all react with bleach but not the Black which turns absolute black. The full review can be read on my blog. Find a link on my profile page or google 'quink and bleach'. Of interest: if you are interested in my techniques and want to try them yourself – come to my workshop - details below:

Coming May 2017 The fountain pen experience is much more than simply putting a pen to paper. The right pen, the right paper, the right ink and the right environment can all combine to create an incredibly enjoyable and uplifting experience. Sometimes the unpleasant smell of some fountain pen inks can detract from this experience so we've created a range of scented inks to add a new dimension to the fountain pen experience. We've chosen a selection of uniquely Australian scents and tested them thoroughly to ensure the scents do not interfere with the free flowing and well behaved characteristics that Blackstone inks are famous for. These scents are designed to enhance the writing experience and provide a subtle but noticeably pleasant fragrance when the bottle is opened and when writing. Australian Bush - Ink Colour: Green The classic aroma of the Australian Bush, a crisp and vibrant blend of Australian Native Eucalyptus, Kunzea, Lemon Myrtle, Rosalina and Nerolina. This is what you can smell when you walk out into the bush after rain. Blue Cypress - Ink Colour: Green/Blue Callitris intratropica Common Name: Cypress Pine A sweet, earthy, woody smell reminiscent of herbs and balsam. The Blue Cypress is mainly found in the Northern Territory and North Queensland, can live for over 200 years and grow to 45m. It has highly fragrant wood, bark and leaves all of which are used to extract the scent. Kunzea - Ink colur: Red Kunzea ambigua Common Name: Tick Bush, White Cloud, Duncane Kunzea A mild eucalyptus and myrtle smell with hints of pine and herbs. Mainly found in cool coastal areas of Australia, Kunzea is a tall shrub with white, pink or red flowers. Kunzea was given the common name Tick Bush because native animals are often found sleeping underneath the plants to get rid of ticks and other parasites. Blue Gum - Ink Colour Blue/Green Eucalyptus Globulus Common Name: Tasmanian Blue Gum A very pleasant, mild and spicy eucalyptus smell. The Blue Gum is a massive gum tree that can grow up to 100m. It is found mainly in Tasmania and Southern Victoria and is the floral emblem of Tasmania. New leaves are covered with a blue/grey waxy bloom which gives it it's common name. Brown Boronia - Ink Colour: Brown Boronia megastigma Common Name: Heaven Scent The Brown Boronia has a wonderful, lemon scented aroma which is not surprising considering they belong to the same plant family as citrus. Regarded as a serious contender for the title of ‘World’s Best Perfumed Plant’ by Don Burke, Brown Boronia is an evergreen, Australian native plant with flowers ranging in colour from yellow to dark brown. Wild Orange - Ink Colour: Orange Capparis mitchellii Common Name: Wild Orange or Native Orange The wild orange has a sweet, fresh, orange scent but is not related to oranges or citrus, nor to the Wild Orange (Osange Orange) of the USA. It is actually a member of the Caper family. The Wild Ornage is widely distributed throught Australia and is a well known 'Bush Tucker' food. It starts life as a rambling vine and grows into a tree up to 6m in height.

Even though this project has been going nearly 2 years and attracting a substantial audience I very very rarely get asked to review ink product ahead of launch. So when Kevin Watson of Blackstone Inks contacted me to test some of his new products naturally I jumped to it. The last time I reviewed the initial range was back in February 2016. You can read this on my blog, details of which are on my profile page. So, first up are his new range of scented fountain pen inks. Now, he says the chemistry may well be similar to the current range, but the colours aren’t necessarily. The only real constant is Golden Wattle, all the others are new and they’re lovely. I’m not generally into the scented side of things but these are pungent! The Australian Bush is worth a good sniff. All of them are great bleeders and blend with water readily, they react with bleach and they blend together beautifully. From a chromatography angle, Wild Orange, Brown Boronia and Australian Bush all reveal hidden hues AND all of the colours are great for writing. But take a look at the test art below and see what you think? The petal samples were created by painting the petal shapes with water and then flooding in the colours. I used Golden Wattle with Wild Orange and Blue Gum with Red Kunzea. The abstract alphabet featured all seven colours. Once again, I created the alphabet with water and then bled the colours in with a brush. This a lovely range of colours and as you can see, they’re not just good for writing either! Check out the the diverse range of other colours created through the blending of the core colours! One of the other NEW products sent over is Ink Concentrate. This is a brand new product, not released as yet and grew out of the SuSeMai powdered ink odyssey on the Fountain Pen network some years ago. When testing the powdered inks Kevin was surprised to find so many fountain pen enthusiasts did not have a ready supply of empty ink bottles so this time he has packaged the conentrate in 30ml PP bottles, ready to just add water. The concentrates are primarily a way to adjust the wetness and saturation of fountain pen ink to personal preferences but spreading the concentrate directly with a palette knife and brushing a water wash over it gets some pretty amazing effects. Sheen freaks, please note the 3D sheen below! Tasty or what! And finally, a little love. The love heart was created in the same way – painted with water and then flooding in Blue Gum with pure Blackstone Magenta and then adding a shake of Bronze powder. Pretty! Which leads me to sign off with a teaser for you. Pure Magenta? Oh yes! My next review, Blackstone again, is a real corker and the Magenta is a key part of it so stay tuned! If you’d like to buy any of the original art featured on my site please contact me direct. I will do my upmost to add value to your investment over time. I am also accepting commissions for swatch tests. So, if you have a favourite ink(s) and some words for someone special, or maybe just for yourself, drop me a line and we can discuss further. All tests on Bockingford 200lb watercolour paper using brushes and a Noodler’s Ahab for the ink work. Just for the record – I do this for myself, I receive no remuneration what-so-ever and I tell it exactly how I see it. Of possible interest: if you are interested in my techniques and want to try them yourself – workshop details below: And don't forget - there's are reviews on my blog site that don't appear here. You can link to my blog site from my profile page.

We've had a lot of requests to 'bring back the pouches' and package Blackstone Ink in them. We received a lot of feedback and comments when we first introduced ink in plastic pouches and we've taken a lot of this into account this time. We received a lot of positive comments about the environmentally friendly aspects of the pouches but the major criticism we received was that the cost savings did not override the extra time and effort involved in decanting the pouches and that the pouches were difficult to decant with the spout in the centre. We've addressed both these issues this time. Our new, even tougher, glossy white pouches have a side spout which makes it much easier to pour without spilling. We have also reduced the cost per ml from 18.3 cents per ml (first pouches) to 11.9 cents per ml and 10.9 cents per ml in the set of six colours.. The same ink in 30ml PP bottles is 26.5 cents per bottle. The new 50ml plastic pouches cost $AUD5.95 for a 50ml pouch. We only have a limited number of pouches available this time and depending on the feedback we get, we will look into introducing larger sizes and including a pouch version for all of our inks. Please feel free to offer any comments, suggestions or advice about ink in plastic pouches. I value everyone's opinions and always try to take the community's views into account.

We're very excited to release our first waterproof Blackstone ink. Barrister Black is a well behaved, pure black, nano carbon ink that is 100% waterproof, fade proof and is highly resistant to bleach, alcohol and acid. Barrister Black comes packaged in in 30ml HDPE Nalgene bottles. If any Australian FPN members would like a free sample for review please email me at kevin@justwrite.com.au You can see a review by dcwaites HERE Barrister Black is now available at JustWrite in Australia and will soon be available at Anderson Pens in the US and at Appelboom in Europe. http://justwrite.com.au/image/cache/catalog/products/Blackstone%20Ink/barrister-black-waterproof-fountain-pen-ink-1100x619.jpg

Finally back in stock after some delays with the Nalgene bottles. Nick Stewart has been weaving his magic again and one of these yellows will be our next Colours of Australia release. You can see the full review HERE. And Nick's earlier review HERE.

Blackstone Inks are very much a product of the FPN. They have their genesis back in 2013 in a thread discussing powdered inks. The original SuSeMai powdered inks evolved into Blackstone ink concentrates and the Colours of Australia are based on those concentrates. The evolution of these inks has been directly influenced by the feedback and advice of FPN members who tested this ink in its different forms. I've always believed that the people who use fountain pens on a regular basis know best how a fountain pen ink should appear and how it should behave. We will continue to invite and encourage feedback, comments and advice from the fountain pen community as we refine, improve and develop new inks. These five inks are just the beginning. Prices: 30ml Nalgene Bottles: $7.95 60ml Pouches: $11.95 Complete Set of 5 x 30ml Bottles: $35.00 Complete set of 60ml pouches: $54.95 5ml samples: $1.75 Complete set of 5ml samples: $7.87 Domestic Shipping: $7.15 International Shipping: $25.00