The moral of an inky story

A few months back I joined Goulet Pens Ink Drop which, if you like pens, is more fun then Glitter Nail Polish and Chocolate-Covered Peeps combined.  If you need a less girly description, here's the way they describe it:


For only $10 per month (or $12.50 per month outside the U.S., Canada, or Mexico), you'll receive 5 fountain pen ink samples as well as access to a special club page with extra discounts and promotions.

Every month you get little vials of ink and for me, the only thing better then  ink... Is ink with a theme.   Last month being February it was Valentine's Day so the inks were pink, purple, red, and chocolaty.  

My samples live in an old Chanel No.5  jar...

This month the theme is Spring Cleaning which sounded promising.  


When I read the info card, these were vials of the most unpopular inks and some pen flush in case the samples didn't rate well on my Giltter-Peeps scale.  Hope springing eternal, Brian added the caveat that maybe I'd find a gem.


I was scared, no lie.  They sent inks so bad I'd want to chemically sandblast them from my pen?  Something by the way, I'd never done.  


I went to Goulet and looked for reviews on these inky pariahs and hey! The reviews were good!  With a here goes nothing attitude and a deep breath I added Private Reserve Foam Green... because I'm a total sucker for green anything.  

Foam green looked green in the vial, on the sample page, and the reviewer described it as a fun neon highlighter color.  Sounds perfect! So up it went into my Lamy Converter. 


Looking forward to neon green, I was confused  to see dank and swampy

Figured there was some inky left-overs in there so I do what I always do when I think that.  I  wrote and wrote and wrote but no matter what I did the color  read:  Okefenokee.


This morning I cleaned my pen.  I sucked up about 15 converters of water before the bog cleared... But then my pen started oozing violet.  I was confused.


Reluctantly I pulled out the Pen Flush, don't know why that seemed like  such a big deal; it was easy as Sunday morning - only took one converter full for the pen to be clear.

Now that's what I call fun neon highlighter green!

I haven't tried the others yet but I know what I'll be doing between converter-fulls.  It's possible I'll love some of the other colors too but Brian was right, I did find a gem.

I just wasn't expecting it to be this...

I learned a few lessons.  First, don't be afraid of my ink drop samples.  Second, I haven't seen an accurate color since each of my pens were new.   And third,  there's more to caring for a fountain pen then just filling it when it's empty.

Colored ink with a theme is fun but the moral of this story my friends is, flush. 


 Pen Flush might not be as much fun  as Chocolate-covered Peeps but without flushing, you're Peepless.

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