Choosing Keeping Composition Book Giveaway Winner

I knew there was one item that was coming home with me on recent stationery tour of London, and that item is the classic Composition Book, made by Choosing Keeping.

This A5 notebook features a unique flower-patterned paper cover, red linen spine and corners, mottled paper edges, and 90g blank creme paper on the inside. In short, it’s beautifully made, and ready for you daily notes, innermost thoughts, or your next novel. I have one to give away this week, and the winner is:

Congrats Kay! I’ve sent you an email to collect your shipping address.

Sugar Turtle Studio - Four Ink Reviews

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

I may have twisted the Bossman’s arm when I said we HAD to get these Diamine exclusive inks from Tom Forsythe of Sugar Turtle Studio. These inks came out in two releases in 2023 and 2024 - the first two inks were Turtle Belly and Wet Turtle and the second two were Cold Blooded and Warm Heart. Given that Tom just released a new set of inks, I knew I had to swatch and review the first four before I could even think about getting the new ones!

The first four bottles of Diamine x Sugar Turtle Studio inks - Turtle Belly, Wet Turtle, Cold Blooded and Warm Heart. They are currently only available in 30 ml bottles.

As in the past, all swatches were done on Col-O-Ring cards using a Kakimori steel dip nib, while writing samples were done with a TWSBI Go with a Medium nib and a Lamy Vista with a steel Medium nib. The TWSBI Go is a wetter writer and the Lamy is a drier writer, so these two give me a good idea of how an ink will look from different pens. The notebook used for writing samples is from Endless Recorder with 68 gsm Tomoe River paper. Dry times for the Vista is shown with “(V)” and the Go will be below that and might also be shown with “(T)”. Dry times may be a bit slower on 52gsm TR or faster on paper like Cosmo Air Light, Rhodia, copy paper, or with drier or finer nibs, etc.

Tom’s Etsy page for Turtle Belly describes it as a deep orange with a hint of red, and depending the on the wetness of your pen/nib, it might appear more orange or darker red. It is a fairly quick drying ink, especially in the Vista.

Writing sample of Turtle Belly on 68 gsm Tomoe River Endless Notebook. You get more shading from the Vista compared to the Go, which leaves a more saturated line.

Chromatography of Turtle Belly shows the dominantly reddish orange tones separating at the end to yellow and brown at the edges.

Inks similar to Diamine Turtle Belly: Not really a surprise that Diamine 150th Blood Orange and Cult Pens Deep Dark Orange (also made by Diamine) would be similar. Monteverde’s Jungle Giraffe is a touch darker, KWZ Flame Red is a touch lighter and Diamine Ancient Copper has a bit more brown.

Swatches of Diamine Wet Turtle.

Diamine Wet Turtle is a green-leaning darker teal and is the only one of the four that is sold out.

Writing sample of Wet Turtle on 68 gsm Tomoe River Endless Notebook. As expected with the drier Vista, the ink is almost a medium-light mint green, while the Go’s wet nib and feed makes it a nice green teal.

Chromatography of Wet Turtle shows some yellow followed by a turquoise blue. It’s always fascinating to see the different colors which are often not obvious in the final product.

Inks similar to Diamine Wet Turtle: Hard to tell from the photo, but Montegrappa Green is pretty close in color. Diamine Holly from the 2019 Inkvent is just a touch darker, while Pelikan 4001 Dunkelgrun (or Dark Green) is a bit lighter in swatches and despite the name, a touch bluer. Robert Oster Peppermint was a bit darker and greener too.

Swatches of Diamine Cold Blooded.

Diamine Cold Blooded is a bright blue with a hint of purple and some red sheen on wetter swatches/writing samples. This ink is almost an ultramarine or blurple in color.

Writing sample of Wet Turtle on 68 gsm Tomoe River Endless Notebook. The ink is almost “school blue” with moderate shading in the Vista but a much darker, more saturated line from the Go.

Zooming in on the writing sample, you can see the light red, almost copper sheen on the edges of the letters.

Chromatography of Cold Blooded is predominantly blue but you can see hints of purple in the mix.

Inks similar to Diamine Cold Blooded: Not a big surprise that two of the similar inks are also made by Diamine - Thunderbolt from Inkvent 2021 and Festive Cheer from Inkvent 2019. Taccia Ao Blue is also very similar. These inks all have a hint of red sheen, but it’s the bit of purple to them that distinguishes them from many of the other blue-with-red-sheen inks.

Diamine Warm Heart is a light, slightly dusty pink in drier pens and a darker vibrant pink that’s almost fuchsia, but not quite.

Writing sample of Wet Turtle on 68 gsm Tomoe River Endless Notebook. It is surprising how different the ink is in a dry vs wet writer! Bright cotton candy pink in a dry pen and darker hot pink in a wetter one.

Zooming in on the writing sample, you can see the pretty dramatic difference between the two writers. I didn’t see any sheen despite the description on the Etsy page.

Chromatography of Warm Heart starts out with bright pink and faint yellow before separating into purple/magenta.

Inks similar to Diamine Warm Heart: Pelikan Edelstein 2019 Ink of the Year, Star Ruby aws the closest match. It is not quite as electric as GvFC’s Electric Pink or Kyo-no-oto’s Imayou-iro. Iroshizuku’s Tsutsuji is also similar and has more sheen. Akkerman’s #20 Pulchri Pink is a touch too red.

Diamine x Sugar Turtle Studio inks can be found on Tom’s Etsy shop for $8 for a 30 ml bottle and Wet Turtle the only one that isn’t available any longer. The upcoming Slowpoke series will be making their way to his Etsy shop as well.

(Disclaimer: All 4 bottles of ink were purchased at last year’s DC and this year’s Baltimore pen shows.)

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OHTO Minimo Ballpoint Pen Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

The wee OHTO Minimo Ballpoint Pen takes the cake as the miniest of minimal travel. The 3.7 mm diameter and 3.5 inch length makes this pen about the size of a Q-tip, minus the fluff. It slides into a clear plastic sleeve that is attached to a plastic card that fits easily in a wallet pocket.

Typically, even when I'm traveling light, I have a decent pen on me. At the very least, my Spoke Roady is always in my wallet, and then there's usually at least one other pen within arm's reach. So why do I need the world's tiniest pen? Because it's cute, that's why.

I figured this would be a last-resort pen--the emergency, better-than-nothing pen, but it's actually a decent writer. Not terribly comfortable, but a perfectly decent choice for making quick notes.

The pen's body is plastic, and while it's sturdy, there's just not enough of it to be really strong. It does feel delicate in the hand, and I wouldn't want to be too rough with it. It has a thin, flexible metal clip, silver metal accents, and the teeniest click mechanism ever. The click deploys the ballpoint tip, and you're ready to write very small notes. To retract the tip, press on the little bump of wire exposed on the side of the pen.

You probably won't want to write for a long time with this pen, but if you should manage to write out the ink supply, this pen is actually refillable. It takes a standard D1 refill, which are available from many brands in a bunch of fun colors. The pen itself is available in several colors. I picked black, but there's also orange, green, and pink.

There's not a whole lot to this pen. Its whole deal is just being the most simple version of a simple tool that you might need while on the go. And while it will totally fit in your wallet, it won't drain it. This wee treasure is only $7.50 at JetPens, which is fair, I think. It could be less--there are bigger pens for a third of that cost--but the specialty parts that have to exist just for this one pen likely explain that difference. Pretty much every millimeter (few as there are) of this beauty is proprietary, I'd imagine.

What am I going to do with this strange wee thing? It's going in my work badge. It will be the perfect tool for when I need to make a quick note when I'm running around my library, four floors away from my desk and pen cup. And I think it's perfect for the hardcore minimalist travelers who want to lighten the load at all costs and may only need a pen for customs forms and singing up for adventures. Hooray for tiny pens!

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!