Inkventpocalypse 2025 Day 2

Day 2! I'm only a week behind, heh. I'll try to start getting these done in a more timely manner, but we may just be doing this shifted by a week. It's fun! Prolong the suspense! Lets get to the Inkvents & Advents!

Oh, but one note before I get into the photos, I have added a post that has a list of all the tools I use (aside from the empty yogurt pots for water, paper towels & the tea accoutrements), the advent calendar makers & where you can buy all the things that are still in stock. I'll link it again at the end.

Day 2 is a seemingly simple one, though the doodles got a bit complex. The first ink up is Enigma Stationery's Inkvent 2025 Day 2, which is Ferris Wheel Press Scarlet Metropolis. This is a neutral red with a tiny bit of green sheen on the wetter areas, but the thing you can't see well is the super fine shimmer in a purpley blue. It was hard to capture, and wasn't IN YOUR FACE like many shimmers are. The doodle is a really weird looking tiny version of the Metropolis poster. I realise now that the ink is a Superman collab, but I much prefer Fritz Lang. The shimmer is visible in most of the swatch and doodle, but is not super apparent in the fine nib writing. (Note: I am linking to the Ferris Wheel Press page for more information, but I do not endorse or condone FWP's use of AI or the support of bigotry.)

Diamine Inkvent Day 2 is a deep purple with a green-black sheen in heavier areas. The lighter area in the swatch I think was where some hand oils caused some resistance to the paper, but it does show the base colour very well. The sheen obfuscates the purple in the finer lines, and is more of a purple-black. I did the doodle of one of those plasma-balls.

Colorverse Colorvent Day 2 Apollon is of course the last one I did and the top right of the swatch got contaminated by some of the dark rinse water. The vast majority of the swatch is accurate, though. This is a surprisingly legible buttery yellow, even readable in the finer lines. It does have some shading in the doodle, which is a semi-legible hand (of Apollo) holding a shiny golden globe. The door to Day 2 says "Apollon, god of light and the arts. The golden light he carried held a quiet strength."

Greenleaf & Blueberry's Watercolourvent Day 2 is a holiday red, Pyrrole Scarlet PR255. It painted out very easily and was beautifully staining, but washed out of my brush well. The doodle suggestion was a "Sprig of Holly".

I attempted to paint some Holly on the door, but it isn't really legible as a sprig of holly. It's very hard to paint tiny things on a partially detached door flap over a wet shell of paint. The swatch was very saturated, dried to a neutral-warm true red and was lovely to paint out.

Last *vent up for today is Friday Afternoon Tea's Decaf Teavent 2025 (in pyramid bags). I love having a mug of tea when doing these swatching sessions. I do not like trying to swish my paint brush in the tea every time. I'll never learn.

Day two's tea is one I already have a bulk bag of - Red Masala Chai - so I know I love it. I do usually make it very strong, with honey & oat creamer, so I made it as suggested for today's cuppa. My water is good, but I just did not steep it long enough or hot enough, I think, for the full flavour of the cardamom to bloom. It is still a very delicious tea!

Day two's tea is one I already have a bulk bag of - Red Masala Chai - so I know I love it. I do usually make it very strong, with honey & oat creamer, so I made it as suggested for today's cuppa. My water is good, but I just did not steep it long enough or hot enough, I think, for the full flavour of the cardamom pods and spices to bloom. It is still a very delicious, cosy, warming tea!

I know I'm running very far behind here, but I do love to yammer & waffle and take my time with the swatches & doodles. That said, thank you for reading this far, if you have!

Here's the promised link to the supplies & links page at the end. (note, some of the links aren't working, I'll fix those after publishing this post.)

If you read this far, do you drink tea? What is your favourite way to drink it? What kind of tea do you prefer to drink, if you like tea?