Inky T O D - Welcome To The Co-Razy Community

[amberleadavis]

In fairness to the other moderators, I'm sort of a crazy experimenter, think outside the inky box kind of FPNer. When I was asked to be a moderator, I was already knee deep in fade tests and group buys. I haven't slowed down. I was told my job was to keep the conversation going, and fighting off the boards (I'm from Las Vegas, so this metaphor confused me).

 

So, to keep the conversation going ...

 

Inky T O Ds (Topics or Thoughts O' Day) are a way to encourage discussion beyond, "what's the best blue ink" and "what's the darkest black ink". Inky TODs may be started by me, or may be the contributions of others. For more information see this Inky TOD.

 

So, what about those written conversations?

 

As we play with our pens and inks, we also share our love of paper, office gadgets and WRITING. Reviews are but one way to share information. Alas, in the days before online communities, letter writing was frequent method of communication. On FPN, in addition to the threads, we may meet others with whom we correspond (as in we exchange letters). The penpals that I've acquired through FPN have shared their inky wisdom with me, in addition to sharing their time, inks and knowledge. As I've become more knowledgeable, I have wanted to share not only my inky knowledge, but the the inky pages I've received.

 

Thinking of Inking

 

One day when I was thinking about Peacock Blue (Vintage Skrip). (Well, I think about Peacock blue every few months). My sample just didn't match the samples of others. So, I wrote a letter to my penpal MrCharlie who had just acquired a vintage bottle. I wrote to him and left one side of the paper blank for him to write back, so I could compare the two inks on the same paper.

 

Surely others wanted to see the results?

 

See, that's the ego talking, but really, lots of people like Peacock Blue. So, I posted the letters. Then I thought, hey some of my pen pals have some really cool stuff ... I've gotten letters written with penman sapphire (better than gold). So, I thought what if we expand our pen pal system to include digital scans and not just me, but many others, we could have a loosely organized pen pal system that shared information about inks. MrCharlie and I had collaborated on an ink review. Hey maybe others would like to do that too?

 

Hence the new Co-Razy Views.

 

Co-Razy-Views - are CO-Written by one or more FPNers, and are often COmparing different inks or maybe the same ink in different pens. Not only do these posts drive others mad, they are cRAZY and do not follow the traditional review format. Finally each one is a small reVIEW, and a VIEW of an ink. Hence the amalgamated name of CO-RAZY-VIEWS. Now, I have realized that I may be making the other moderators Crazy(er), and for that I do apologize, especially since my Co-Razy-Views end up in forums moderated by others.

 

How can you do a Co-Razy View?

 

Ask your pen pal to try one. If you don't have a penpal, check out this thread. If you aren't sure you're ready for that, send me a letter. (PM me for my address.)

 

Most importantly, enjoy FPN! Be part of the community.

 

So, back to the real message - FPN is a place to learn about inks and pens and writing...and so much more. Please be sure to look at the Review Forum to see what your fellow FPNers think about a particular ink. Check out the comparisons, scans and tests forum to see how various inks look next to each other, or hold up to repeated torture. Check out the threads about particular manufacturers. Look at the pen porn in the First Stop forum. As an inky enabler, I must warn you, whatever you do, don't go look at the Estie Loaner program, where generous members of the FPN community allow others to test out Esterbrooks. (This thread is highly addictive). The classifieds are an excellent way to buy and sell otherwise hard to find items. Finally, when you find what you love, and decide to part with items, you no longer need, share them on the PIF thread.

 

Now, what is your favorite hidden gem on FPN? What nifty thing did I forget to include?

[Runnin_Ute]

Of course we can't forget The Penmanship forum: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/forum/12-penmanship/ for tips on improving ones Penmanship, different hands/scripts and more...

 

Or The Write Stuff : https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/forum/32-the-write-stuff/ The home of the FPN Post Office, Snail Mail threads and other fun stuff.........

Edited July 10, 2014 by Runnin_Ute

[tmenyc]

I'll be glad to do a CoRazy on blues, blue-blacks, or blacks .... Let me know via PM if you're interested and we can pick a couple of inks and get started!

 

Tim

[amberleadavis]

Tim, a letter will be on it's way to you shortly.

[amberleadavis]

So here is a sample of a Co-Razy-View ...

 

both of these inks are named Poppy Red.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/2014-Inklings/slides/2014-Ink_682.jpg

[amberleadavis]

Here is a sample of another Co-Razy-View - this time with the same ink.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/2014-Inklings/slides/2014-Ink_659.jpg

[tmenyc]

Excellent! thanks!

 

Tim

[vossad01]

Not quite sure all of these are quite special enough to be hidden gems, but still thought recognition may be appropriate:

• Amber's fade test has a spreadsheet of results. You will hear about the fade tests and come across pictures from it pretty readily. However, you can go quite a while before you come across the [very useful] link to the spreadsheet.
• I thought this lengthy post about Noodler's ink from Nathan Tardif was a gem when I first came across . It is a bit old and he is not heard from often but the post has useful information on Bay State Blue, and come knowledge of some Noodler's inks of past.
• If you have not seen Noodler's CMYK Color Mixes, it is worth knowing they are out there. Pictures start here. Full disclosure: I have contributed to that thread, but I think it has value independent of that.
• Amber mentioned them in passing, but if you are new here it is worth pointing out that group buys do happen on occasion. They are a good opportunity to get inks that may otherwise be hard or more expensive to come by. (They happen for non-ink things too, but I am not familiar with those)

[disillusion]

The Inky Recipes forum. Nice to see what mixes people come up with. There are probably many enablers out there encouraging people to buy new ink, but it is also a good idea to give old ink some love by mixing and creating new colours.

[stonezebra]

So here is a sample of a Co-Razy-View ...

 

both of these inks are named Poppy Red.

 

 

Hey Amberlea and Everyone,

 

I just discovered that the ink I labeled Diamine Poppy Red was actually DeArtramentis Poppy Red. My apologies all.

Got your letter Amberlea.

Edited July 11, 2014 by stonezebra

[amberleadavis]

 

Hey Amberlea and Everyone,

 

I just discovered that the ink I labeled Diamine Poppy Red was actually DeArtramentis Poppy Red. My apologies all.

Got your letter Amberlea.

 

 

OH NO, now we need to go acquire both inks again.