Inkvent Time...What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

We're a week away from Dec 1, the start for Advent calendars. This year I bought the Diamine Inkvent set, per tradition, but also snagged samples for the Colorverse Colorvent set, and signed up for a "Slackvent" ink swap...! I think I went overboard, definitely falling prey to FOMO. 😅

Last year I was bummed not to try the Colorverse set because it ended up having several odd or brown inks that I would've really liked (none of which were chosen by Colorverse for the full bottle treatment 😒). People also liked that there were more "standard" inks in Colorvent, as opposed to Diamine Inkvent which erred on the side of sheening and shimmer inks. I currently am more into non-shimmer inks – shading inks to be specific – so I can understand why some preferred Colorvent. This year I at least get to try the inks via the sample set I bought from a fellow Pen Addict Slack member.

And last year I joined the "Slackvent" ink swap, so I figured I'd do it again this year. But yeah, 3 different ink sets to play with at once is probably a bit much, so we'll see how and when I share the swatches. I'll maybe opt for weekly recaps to help keep things a little more relaxed.

A little while ago, I posted about some Diamine Inkvent and ink sample trees that I could print, now that the designs are modified to fit my Bambu A1 Mini 3D printer. In my excitement I bought some fun filaments to see how the stands would look, and now have these stands for my Inkvent shenanigans:

I love how the rainbow "macaron" tree on the left turned out, even though there's a lot of pink (😆). It's using a matte filament and looks very candy/dessert-like. Yay! 🥳

The translucent rainbow filament I used for the 25-ink sample tree stand is pretty nice, but I feel like it proportionally has more orange than I was expecting, and the purple parts are less visible than I would have liked. Also, there is very little green. It's fun, but the color proportions could be better.

I also didn't realize that the Colorvent set only has 24 inks instead of 25 like Diamine's. Since Advent season has variable days depending on where Christmas falls, I learned some Advent calendars stop their countdown at 24, while others go to 25 days. I should have my husband design a little star or snowflake topper if there isn't a 25th sample. ⭐️ ❄️

Finally, for my 12-ink Slackvent swap, I have a little snowflake stand. This is actually printed in TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane, or flexible filament), because when I bought this filament I didn't pay close attention to the type. I was just swayed by the fact that it was a "funfetti" glitter filament, meaning multicolored glitter, rather than all silver or gold or whatever. Oops! As a result, the stand parts are slightly bendy, kind of like a sturdy rubber material, but it will not tip over or anything. BTW, my swap partner actually gave me a full bottle for the 12th ink, which is a fun surprise! It won't fit in the stand, but no worries. Nice "problem" to have. 😀

Anyway, my Inkvent/ink-vent season is going to be pretty packed. How about y'all? Anyone doing DIY ink swaps or swatching the Diamine or Colorverse sets? Let me know if you post your swatches, because I'd love to follow along! You can comment here, or catch me on Mastodon or Bluesky.

P.S. If you're interested in any of the 3D-printed stands above, let me know. I can sell prints, but given how close we're getting to the holidays, shipping could take longer than expected.