{"product_id":"van-diemans-2026-fairy-100ml-shimmering-fountain-pen-ink","title":"Van Dieman's 2026 - Fairy - 100ml Shimmering Fountain Pen Ink","description":"\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/2198\/8667\/files\/Forest_Artwork.jpg?v=1786319050\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003ch2 class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer\"\u003eAugust 2026: Fairy\u003cspan class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchor\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThere are fairies at the bottom of the garden. But whether you should follow them is another question entirely.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor centuries, fairies have occupied that peculiar place between beauty and danger, familiar enough to inhabit our childhood stories, yet strange enough never to be entirely trusted. Long before the tiny, winged fairies of Victorian illustration and modern fantasy, European folklore told of the \u003cstrong\u003efae\u003c\/strong\u003e as mysterious beings belonging to a world that existed alongside our own. They might offer gifts, play tricks, lead travellers astray, protect a particular place, or punish those careless enough to offend them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAcross Celtic, English and broader European traditions, there was never really one definitive kind of fairy. Some were household spirits, some belonged to forests, hills and waterways, and others were powerful supernatural beings whose motives could be difficult for humans to understand. Encounters with them were often governed by peculiar rules. Accepting the wrong gift, entering the wrong circle, revealing a fairy secret or simply failing to show sufficient respect could have consequences.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/2198\/8667\/files\/Fairy.jpg?v=1786319138\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOver the centuries, that older folklore gradually mingled with literature, art and the Victorian fascination with the supernatural. Fairies became smaller, more delicate and increasingly winged, appearing among flowers and moonlit forests as beautiful little embodiments of the natural world. It is this meeting point between the old and the new that inspired \u003cstrong\u003eFairy\u003c\/strong\u003e, our August 2026 Ink of the Month.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt first glance, Fairy is a wonderfully soft \u003cstrong\u003edusty pink-lilac\u003c\/strong\u003e, but it refuses to remain quite that simple.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe base is a strong shader, moving from delicate, almost powdery pink-lavender washes into deeper pools of mauve and muted violet. There is a very mild multichromatic quality hiding within it too. It is deliberately subtle rather than dramatic, allowing cooler greyed-purple undertones to emerge around shaded areas and edges, particularly on papers that encourage the ink to separate.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePaper makes an enormous difference to Fairy. On one page it can appear light, rosy and almost ethereal; on another it becomes cooler and more subdued, with dusky mauve and violet gathering through the heavier strokes. Tomoe River allows those variations to spread and mingle beautifully, while more absorbent papers can draw the colour toward a softer and more uniform pink-lilac.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWithin our existing range, \u003cstrong\u003eMoon Jellyfish\u003c\/strong\u003e is perhaps its closest relative, although Moon Jellyfish runs hotter and brighter. \u003cstrong\u003eSnowy Mountain\u003c\/strong\u003e occupies similar territory too, but leans further into mauve. Fairy settles between them with a softer, dustier character of its own.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd then there is the shimmer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFairy contains a carefully balanced mixture of \u003cstrong\u003egold, silver and purple shimmer\u003c\/strong\u003e, which together produce something quite different from any one of those colours alone. Across the dried ink, the three combine into a luminous \u003cstrong\u003echampagne-gold\u003c\/strong\u003e finish. In direct light it can completely transform the page, flashing brightly across broad strokes and pooled areas before retreating again as the angle changes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe effect is particularly lovely because the shimmer does not simply sit on top of the colour. Against the cool pink and mauve beneath it, the warmer champagne tones create an almost pearlescent contrast. In softer light, Fairy is a delicate dusty lilac shader scattered with fine points of light. Turn the page toward the light and suddenly the same writing glows in champagne gold.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is \u003cstrong\u003eno sheen\u003c\/strong\u003e, leaving the shading, subtle colour variation and unusual three-part shimmer to provide all of Fairy's character.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBelinda created the artwork entirely by hand, painting the moonlit forest exclusively in Van Dieman's inks before creating the fairy herself in a combination of Van Dieman's inks and pencil, placing her within a hazy woodland of violet trees, mist and moonlight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFairy is delicate without being sugary, pink without being simply pink, and shimmering without sacrificing the character of the ink beneath. Like the creatures that inspired it, its appearance depends very much upon where, and how, you happen to encounter it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBase Colour:\u003c\/strong\u003e Dusty pink-lilac to soft mauve, with strong shading and very mild multichromatic variation into cooler violet and greyed-purple tones.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSheen:\u003c\/strong\u003e None.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShimmer:\u003c\/strong\u003e A blend of gold, silver and purple particles that combine on the page to create a luminous champagne-gold appearance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePen Recommendation:\u003c\/strong\u003e Medium, Broad or Stub nibs will best reveal Fairy's shading and champagne shimmer. Wetter-flowing pens are particularly well suited to bringing out the deeper mauve tones and subtle colour variation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cspan role=\"text\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInk of the Month Special\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs always, our \u003cstrong\u003eInk of the Month\u003c\/strong\u003e comes with a little extra.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBuy any 10 bottles of ink before the end of August and receive Fairy FREE.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is our way of saying thank you to those who keep their collections growing month after month. The free bottle will be added automatically when your order qualifies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOffer valid while stocks last and during August only.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Van Dieman's Ink","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53502513119525,"sku":null,"price":38.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0091\/2198\/8667\/files\/FairyBoxandBottle.jpg?v=1786318917","url":"https:\/\/www.vandiemansink.com\/products\/van-diemans-2026-fairy-100ml-shimmering-fountain-pen-ink","provider":"Van Dieman's Ink","version":"1.0","type":"link"}