Every December, I break out the Speedball italic nib and the Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bombay Red india ink. I tried a few too many inks until I found one that was Christmas red and sufficiently opaque.

My lettering isn’t great, but people give a fair amount of slack for hand-lettered gift tags.

Give it a try. You might have better lettering than I do. A bottle of ink is only $3 and will last a long time. I’ve probably had the nib and holder for a couple of decades. Nah, longer, they were pre-kids.