Until you are a blogger who deals with situations like this to produce ink reviews:
Or a maniac ink collector who decides that amassing this many tiny vials is a good idea, you cannot truly appreciate a well-designed ink vial holder.
Because those infuriating vials will do everything in their power to destroy your sanity, or what remains of it after trying to photograph a gently sheening ink. They will fall over if you so much as look at them, and they will spill the last precious drops of an ink that must be reviewed. Yes, that's happened before. Very little ink to start with, vial tips over, spreading contents far and wide over the desk, and that's the only vial I have and I need to review it.
Let the swabbing of ink from the desktop commence.
Ink vial holders are such a good idea, and yet there are only a few out there. If you do come across a shop or small business that sells them, you'll usually find that the design isn't all that exciting - a block of wood or plastic with a hole, or multiple holes in it. They do the job and they look good on a more formal desk...
But formal isn't much fun, and we need more fun in our lives.
8-year-old Calvin solved this dilemma for us with a penguin in a pirate's outfit, and a sleeping cat. Who knew that the world's ink vial problems would be solved with small, colourful animals?
Calvin loves fountain pens,3D printing and animals, so he combined these three things to produce his first product, a sleeping cat pen rest (which you will see a little later on). His Dad posted this on the Pen Addict Slack group, where a friend suggested a design alteration to convert it into an ink vial holder. Calvin went on to produce many more designs, including the penguin you see here, and a range of accessories to add to the Ink-A-Pets.
The beauty of the design lies in its inherent stability. The wide base of both the penguin and the sleeping cat vial holder makes it extremely unlikely that either will tip over during use. In fact, I placed a vial in both, then attempted to knock them over. It didn't work, as they simply slid away instead.
The holes in each Ink-A-Pet are deep, so there's no chance of a vial falling out. Just the top is exposed, so you can easily unscrew the lid and fill your fountain pen.
Perhaps one of the best things about these little 3D printed animals is their cuteness. It's so much more fun to have a tiny penguin staring at you instead of a plain block, and as a cat lover, I appreciate having a cat asleep on my desk that's small enough to not get in my way. The pirate accessories for the penguin must be bought separately, but certainly increase the adorability factor...
And the sword is removable.
The sense of childlike joy that this inspired when I discovered it was immense. It took a bit of firm pulling to remove - you don't have to worry about babies or pets getting their hands on it - but it is removable all the same and you get to wield what is perhaps the tiniest sword on the planet. This is just a cool little extra feature that I really appreciate - it shows how much attention to detail goes into making these.
The hat also means that the penguin functions as more of a desk ornament when not in use, because it covers the hole, making it look even more polished.
Now we come to the tape. This is also sold separately, but if you want to make your stand extra secure, I would recommend it. If it had been double-sided tape, I wouldn't have done so. It can leave residue, damage surfaces, and once it accumulates hair, you have to throw it away as it no longer sticks (that's if you can wrestle it off the bottom of the object). This stuff, however, is quite clever.
It is essentially double-sided tape, but not. It's microsuction tape, which means no residue and you can clean it when it gets dirty! I applied the tape to my Ink-A-Pet per the instructions included. Perfectly easy to apply, and I then pushed the Ink-A-Pet on to my clean desktop. The grip is definitely strong! There's no chance of your ink spilling if you use this stuff (and I can keep blotting paper behind it to have on hand for my writing).
In fact, the hold was so strong that I began to wonder if it would unstick from the desk without damaging it. I cautiously twisted the ink holder, gradually increasing the amount of force until it unstuck.
No residue, and no damage! I re-stuck it, and it held just as strongly as before.
A few dollars for these little strips may seem expensive, and you could buy double-sided tape, but if this tape cleans up as well as it claims to I think that this may be the cheaper option for long-term use. I'll update when it gets dusty enough that I need to clean it!
The little pen rest on the side of the Sleeping Cat vial holder is positioned conveniently and prevents pens from rolling away. I've also found that both designs are stable enough, even without tape, to hold pens! Unless you have an extremely long pen, the hole should be deep enough to hold pens upright, making it even more useful!
I really can't find anything wrong with the Ink-A-Pets. There is a seam on the back of the penguin, but it isn't sharp. It's on the back and is very smooth, so I don't think it'll be noticeable or annoying as I won't even look at the back of it that often.
Calvin has done a really good job of producing these handy animals and adorable accessories to liven them up even further. The colours are bright, they're stable during use and do what they were designed to do!
As a special discount to my readers, Daniel from Ink-A-Pets provided me with a special discount code to give to you!
To get 15% off your next order from Ink-A-Pets, use the code KRAFTYCATS15. Good for use all the way through November!
Disclaimer: Ink-A-Pets provided these products for review purposes. All opinions expressed in this article are my own.