So I got a bit behind on the Advent Calendars due to the holiday rush in the shop, but hopefully I’ll get caught up now that I have a couple days off! I do forget how much ink you end up accumulating with two calendars. (I can’t imagine keeping up with three or more like some people!) For today’s post I thought I would pick a handful that spoke to me and might make their way into the 3-4 inks from each calendar that I keep every year. If you missed the first two parts, check out my recaps of Days 1-5 and Days 6-10.
Day 16: Diamine Ruby Taffeta and Colorverse Polar Night
Taffeta is a dark red with a subtle gold shimmer, and Polar Night is a color-shifting ink that I’ll probably need to try out a bit more to see how dark it actually gets.
Day 19: Diamine Overcast and Colorverse Cosmic Reef
The color-shifters and multi-shaders were my favorite this year. Diamine Overcast has those multiple shades of blue and grey while Cosmic Reef combines tasteful levels of reddish sheen with color-shifting properties.
Day 20: Diamine Ambience and Colorverse Golden Airglow
Two really nice shimmer inks. Is subtle shimmer growing on me? Golden Airglow was a favorite.
Takeaways So Far From This Year’s Calendars: Enough with the Green/Gold Super-Sheeners
Not only do they tend to smear, but they all end up looking the same to me whether the underlying color is blue, purple, green, etc. The handful of sheening inks included in this year’s Diamine Calendar were my least favorite, and from what I’ve heard from readers and customers it wasn’t an uncommon take. I am, however, interested in further exploring the Diamine pigment inks, though given how sticky some of them have been I will be careful with the pens I use.
The Wonderland222 A5 Core (S) might be the dated paper planner that actually meets my needs.
Finally, to everyone who has supported us through the holiday season, a huge thank you! We’re looking forward to a couple of days off and then we’re back at it, with the store open Friday and Saturday normal hours. (Yes, we will be closed Christmas Day.) In the meantime, I'm busy getting ready for 2026, including closing out my 2025 notebooks and setting up planners and notebook systems for 2026. Believe it or not, this is actually one of my favorite things to do during the last week of the holiday season. Be sure to check out my recent video walkthrough of my main 2026 Planner that I’m still in the process of setting up, and I’ll have more 2026 notebook content in the week ahead!
The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. You can also come visit us and see any products we sell directly at our physical stationery store in Nashville, Tennessee!