Inkventpocalypse 2025 Day 9

We're almost a third of the way through this project! Just a scheduling note: I'll not be posting on the 25 December, but will still swatch on 24 December & will post on 26 December. I just want a day to stare at nothing & enjoy the rain. To the inks this day: an unusally named dusty teal, a light green & a sparkly additive; a dark primary paint, & a very calming sleepy tea with a lovely story to round us out.

Starting off with the Inkvent inks, we'll have an extra photo of a mixed ink I made with the sparkly additive.

First one up is Enigma Stationery Inkvent 2025 Day 9, Amarillo Stationery Blue Suntan. This is an ink that another small stationery store made to be the blue colour of their world mascot. It's a desaturated, slightly dusty, not too watery teal blue that has a lot of shading. There could be some light sheen on papers that bring it out, but I don't think it's a feature of this ink. The doodle is of their mascot.

Next up is Diamine Inkvent Teal Edition 2025 Day 9 Bittersweet, a standard ink. This ink is pale minty green, with a lot of shading. It felt very watery, but was still legible (aside from my inability to write, apparently) when used with a fine nib. The doodle is of the plant Bittersweet.

Lastly, we have a not exactly an ink. Colorverse Colorvent 2025 Day 9 is Morning Frost on Mars, a sparkle/shimmer additive for other inks they call Gleamix, but with a lot of shaking and heavy application, I was able to get some legibility out of it on its own. The base is nearly clear when allowed to settle, but on the page, there's a pearly pink/warm taupe sort of base colour to the shimmer which has a blue and pinky-purple flash to it. It's a more complex version of yesterday's watercolour! I do want to call out that the shimmer/sparkle in this ink is a pasty consistency and needs to be shaken very thoroughly. It also clogs up in the very narrow neck of the small Colorvent bottles.

The name is referring to ice seen on imaging in Olympus Mons on Mars. I tried to doodle the adjusted image but it was not easy to see where I was drawing. There was a small, very squished pipette included with this ink. The door flap had this to say: "Morning Frost on Mars: Frost glistens palely on the peak of Olympus Mons in the Martian morning sun.
*Gleamix? Add a small amount to standard ink to achieve a shimmering effect.
*Shake to use"

Here's a bonus photo of a mixed version of the Colorverse Morning Frost on Mars Gleamix mixed with some of the sample of Amarillo Stationery Blue Suntan from Enigma Stationery. That is what's in the blue-capped vial and I wrote the URL with this mixture. I probably added too much Gleamix to the tiny amount of ink, but can you ever have too much sparkle?

Next up is another possibly unreleased watercolour from Greenleaf & Blueberry.

Day 9 of the Greenleaf & Blueberry Watercolour Advent Calendar in Shells 2025 is Bismuth Vanadate Dark Yellow, PY184. There isn't any info on Greenleaf & Blueberry about this paint, but some research into the pigment seems to say that it's another organic-inorganic pigment hybrid. It's a slightly dry feeling (not gritty) paint that is creamy when wetted.

In the swatch it is very opaque when full strength (a buttery, pasty mix) and very glowy when diluted with water & wetted out. The doodle from far away looks kind of like the poop emoji, but it's supposed to be a log with a fire atop it. I think the only subjects that don't look like blobs are Day 6's Rudolph, Day 5's mittens & Day 1's tree, but wow, it's a definite challenge to make something not look like a poop or a blob when it's this small, all in one colour.

Last up we have a very lovely, calming tisane with a really charming backstory that made me cry.

Friday Afternoon Tea 2025 Decaffeinated in Pyramid Bag Day 9 is in Sweetest Dreams, a calming, sleepy blend of coziness. Friday has a blog post about this tea, and how her Grandmother was her inspiration not only for this blend, but her love of tea in general. It's a beautiful blend of rooibos, chamomile, & peppermint. This is such a comforting hug of a tea, even cold, the chamomile is nostalgia in a cup, for me. It's a sleepytime tea done just perfectly. This is another one I'd like to try again with honey in a bigger mug. Perfect warmup for these gloomy rainy cold evenings of winter, or as a relaxing wind-down during a hectic summer night.

Today's inks and paints weren't as emotional (aside from the tea) as past days, thankfully. The Gleamix was fun and I'm now looking around at what I can add more sparkle to.

Now for the questions: What ink colours do you think would do well with a shimmery addition? Are you into allll the sporkle or do you prefer more subdued inks? What do you think about cleaning them out of pens? Do you have another way you could use more sparkle in your life? What do you drink or do to help you relax and calm down before bed, or when sick? Any teas or meals that feel like a warm hug to you?

Thanks again for reading along! Let me know if there's anything I'm forgetting to talk about, or if there's more information about something I'm featuring that would help. -subgirl aka the inkygeek