As someone who watches a lot of fountain pen YouTube videos, I’ve been really enjoying seeing all the 8 Pen Question tag videos that everyone has been doing recently (started by Seemownay and Liane Likes). 

I then saw a fellow blogger take part the other day (Pascal from Peacock Pens), and really enjoyed his post too, and so I decided to do the tag myself. 

So here are my answers to the 8 Pen Questions tag: 

1. When and how did your fountain pen journey begin?

My fountain pen journey actually began in the latter half of last year. I can’t even remember how I stumbled upon it, but I saw a Kaweco Sport somewhere online, and thought it was really cute! So I bought it in the Lavender colour, and absolutely loved it!

I was interested in getting more Kaweco Sports, and ended up watching a lot of Kaweco collection Youtube videos, which then progressed to general fountain pen collection videos. I was inspired by those videos to buy and try other pens, and so I entered the slippery slope of fountain pen collection. It’s been a lot of fun so far, but not great for my poor wallet!

2. Favourite inks in the beginning? What are your go-to inks now? 

Pretty much all of my early bottled inks were 30ml Diamine bottles, as they were easy and cheap to get off Amazon or eBay, and they offer such a huge array of colours. Diamine still makes up a bulk of my ink collection, and my two early favourites – Aurora Borealis and Imperial Purple – are still firm favourites.

My most used ink is probably Diamine Jet Black though, since a good black ink is an essential. And two recent inks that are now favourites are Faber-Castell Violet Blue and Octopus Fluids Karamell. 

3. How have your ink and pen tastes changed over time? 

As I’m still fairly new to fountain pens, it’s a little hard to say. So far I’ve just been trying a lot of things out, and trying to get a sense of my likes and dislikes. 

As far as pens go I’ve surprised myself in a few ways. Generally I’ve always been a fan of brightly coloured, cute pastel stationery, and whilst that does comprise a large part of my fountain pen collection, I’ve also found I really like more neutral, classic looking pens as well. 

I’m not a huge fan of plain black pens, but cream and brown pens I seem to gravitate towards, and similarly some of my favourite inks are brown, which isn’t a colour I generally consider to be a favourite! 

I also now feel like I’ve reached a bit of a turning point in my fountain pen journey. Most of the fountain pens I’d been buying until recently had been fairly cheap, as I tried to figure out my own taste. But I now feel like I’ve reached a stage where I know enough about what I like to start really investing in my collection, and branching out with pens and inks. I recently made my first ‘big’ pen purchase – the Platinum #3776 Century Nice Lavande – and I’ve just started to experiment with shimmer inks, and branch out from Diamine. I’m excited to see where my pen and ink journey will take me next! 

4. Are there inks and pens that you’ve yet to try but would like to?

So many! As I’ve said, I feel like I’ve reached a new stage of my journey and am ready to invest in some pens I really love. The ones at the top of my shopping list are a Sailor Pro Gear Slim, a Benu Talisman, and an Opus 88 eyedropper pen. I’d also really love a handmade resin pen, and am on the lookout for one that really catches my eye. 

And whilst inks have so far been secondary to pens on my fountain pen journey, I’d love to experiment more, and there are so many I want to try. Sheening inks in particular are at the top of my list to try next!

5. What is your Holy Grail pen? 

I guess it all depends on how you define a ‘Holy Grail pen’. For some people it would be a pen they love, but will probably never obtain, because it’s either too expensive, too rare, or both. 

For me, if I know I’ll never be able to afford something, I barely spare it a glance, to save myself from pining after something I can’t have. So I guess for me, my Holy Grail pen would be one that I hope to own one day, but it’s the most expensive thing on my wishlist. And for me, that would be the Pilot Decimo in Violet. 

To some people, that’s probably an unambitious grail pen, but it will take me a little while and a lot of saving to acquire!

6. How many pens do you currently own? 

I had to count them for this question, and the answer made me wince a bit, considering I’m less than a year into this hobby…59!

Yes, I know, crazy! Bear in mind that most of these are extremely inexpensive pens like Jinhao 82s and Platinum Meteors though. But now I know what I like in a fountain pen, I’m hoping to slow down and make some bigger purchases that I’ll absolutely love. 

7. Do you have a limit on pens and inks in your collection? Is it a number? Is it a feeling? When do you know you’ve met your maximum?

Until now I haven’t really set a limit on pens I can own, but since I want to start slowing down, I think that’ll have to change. 

I recently revamped my pen storage system and now have my favourite pens in a 23-pen display case, my Kawecos in a 12-pen case, and my overflow in a 48 pen case. I then keep two Majohn retractable pens in my regular pen case. So I figure that once all my current storage is filled, I should start getting rid of pens before I buy new ones. That leaves me with a maximum of 85 pens in my collection, which to be honest is pretty huge! 

As for inks, I’m only just getting started with inks really, so I don’t have a limit on them…yet. 

8. Consequently, what would you do if another pen/ink came along? 

If I have the money and I’ve researched it enough to know I’ll probably like it, then I guess I’d buy it!

So have you answered the 8 Pen Questions tag? If you have, feel free to link your post in the comments, so I can check it out! And if not, why don’t you join in?