I find the beige color to look a bit more cool in tone than a true beige. It most reminded me of desert sage-y green and felt most appropriate for my first cactus leather journal cover. The exterior really does have the feeling of a thick leather but its cactus!!! The interior feels like suede. The edges are finished to match the cover and

The pen loop is a wide elastic strap that will attach vertically to keep the journal closed while providing an elastic slot to hold your favorite pen tool. I placed the Muji Fountain Pen in the slot and it fit just fine. I am not a fan of these vertical elastic strap however since they have to be completely removed to utilize the notebook and can then get lost, dropped, etc. I prefer looping my pen under the horizontal elastic with or without additional pen loop to secure the pen. Its just less stuff to keep track of or require table space when working.

The Storyboard Notebook included with the cover features 80gsm Regalia Paper. The paper is fountain pen friendly and is a popular alternative to many of the Japanese papers.

The journal includes three elastics but, unlike other notebooks, the extra elastics included with the Explorer Journal Cover are not sewn into the cover nor sold separately but simply looped around the cover material creating some color contrasts.  The main elastic is deep green and matches the horizontal closure elastics, the extra elastics are yellow and aqua.

There is an instruction sheet included to show how to attach additional notebooks using these extra elastics but I am inclined to utilize the techniques recommended by Traveler’s Company and loop the extra elastics inside the cover to keep the exterior minimal.

I am so accustomed to European measurements like A5 and B6 that when I read the size for the Explorer cover (8.1” x 5.7”) I just assumed it was A5 (148 × 210 mm). I think it would be helpful to include the metric measurements on the packaging.

The notebook included is the Storyboard Large Notebook ( 7.5” x 5.1”) which, for the record, is NOT A5 — see the above photo with an A5-sized Stalogy under the cover. Nope… not gonna fit.

I did grab one of my beloved Paperblanks B6-ish (125 × 176 mm or 6.9″ x 4.9″) notebooks which does look like it will fit though it might be a bit thick with the hardcovers. B6 cahier-style notebooks should fit fine into the Cactus Cover.

I love B6-sized notebooks but they are not as prevalent.

I really hoped that the Explorer Cactus Leather Cover would be A5 size which is such an industry standard for the pen community these days and definitely would provide more options for inserts and accessories. Maybe the next addition will be an A5-sized cover? Endless, please, make a larger cover! If you’re looking for a non-leather option for a journal cover and would like to try a B6 size, I would definitely recommend this cover. It’s so great to have non-leather options… finally!

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Luxury Brands USA for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Product Review: Endless Explorer Refillable Cactus Leather Journal appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Since the beginning of the year, the pockets of my planner have become filled with an assortment of stickers, postage stamps and washi tape. I’ve gotten into collaging on my daily pages so having a few stickers to add along the way is a great option.

I am still loving the B6 size for my planner. It’s not as small as an A6, which I often felt like I needed more than one-page-per-day, but not as intimidating as an A5 which always seemed like too much space and too large a notebook to tote around everyday. If you haven’t tried B6 yet, I highly recommend it as the Goldilocks of notebooks.

This image above shows that I’ve filled about 2/3rds of the Stalogy daily planner and evidence of collage-y bits can be seen from the edge.

I added the Midori pen clip to the back of the Stalogy at the beginning of the year and have managed to keep it for six whole months without losing it. Good news since my rare Sailor ProGear Slim Stargazer has been riding around in the loop all year.

I mark my place each month and each day with the Midori gold Chiratto Index Clips ($8.50 for 8 clips). It makes getting to my current spot fast and easy.

I’m getting some mileage with the monthly pages to keep track of silly holidays like Graham Cracker Day (July 5), travel, pen shows and birthdays and such but I am not using the week-on-two-pages like I thought I would.

I had thought I would utilize the page on the right of the week-on-two-pages in the Midori for work-related tasks and notes but I have ended up keeping a notebook at work for these tasks and the pages go largely unused. Its extra sad because I really like the paper in the Midori Pocket Planner and the little illustrations throughout are cheery.

The only creature in my house that uses the ribbon bookmark is Apple. He thinks it’s delicious.

In the Stalogy, on days without a lot of activities (like a Sunday when you discover you have Covid-19), I have started adding collage elements with washi, stickers and some rubber stamps. I also bought a Polaroid Mint mini-printer to add the occasional photo to my planner.

I often treat my planner more like a log book of what I did, what I ate, where I went, who I saw, what I read, watch or listened to, etc. so adding photos in is a good way to log activities. If you want to be able to add photos to your journal or planner, many people recommend the Canon Ivy which is currently available. The Polaroid Mint has been discontinued. Both the Mint and the Ivy use Zink 2″ x 3″ printer paper. The color output is not great but the printer uses instant film technology and the printers don’t need ink cartridges making it a little easier to use. So, it makes fun, little retro-looking images that add some much-needed personality to my planner.

Usually, on Sundays, I try to pre-decorate a few pages. Since I am doing a (sort of) page-a-day for my planner/journal/logbook I just add a few decorative elements to add some interest for the week but I am not locked into using a whole page for one day. Some days, I might use two or more pages. I’ve found this open method so much easier for me since there is no pressure from day-to-day. Some days are super busy and active, and some days I skip altogether.

I don’t know how to solve for the largely unused Midori Pocket Planner. I thought about removing the monthly pages and pasting them into the Stalogy but I would want the whole year’s worth of calendar pages so where doe I put them? In the back altogether? At the beginning of each month but what about later months?

I would like to streamline a little bit but I haven’t figured out the best way to do that. As it is right now, the book is quite chonky so I suspect I will try to reduce the bulk I carry on a daily basis a bit.

How’s your planning/journal/notebook set-up serving you? Have you needed to switch it up?

Bonus helper photo:

Apple insisted on hanging out with me while I photographed this post so he wanted to put his paw stamp on this post. It’s “Apple-approved.”

The post Mid-Year Planner Review appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

The elastic on the notebook cover is the same color as the cover.

The cover fabric is soft and flexible but there is some stabilizing material between the cover material and the lining to help give the cover more stability. It feels a little sturdier than a softcover notebook cover.

The branding tag is a translucent paper wrap around the back cover. It’s easy to remove and reveal the subtle gold foil logo on the back cover.

The gold tone pen that’s included is a standard 1.0mm ballpoint pen and the refill is similar to the Cross threaded refill. It’s a little shorter than the Cross style refill in the Ferris Wheel Press Scribe. As for the gold pen, I don’t know how easy it would be to swap out the refill but as an extra for this notebook cover, its charming.

Oh, the interior fabric!!! This is really what sold me on this cover. The interior includes a secretary pocket and a gorgeous burgundy fabric printed with stylized leopards. The back cover has a long slash-style pocket as well to help collect bit of ephemera.

Inside there are two possible elastics for enclosing notebooks, similarly to the Traveler’s Notebook.  The bonus is a matching elastic loop to hold a pen along the edge of the notebook.

Testing the Notebook:

The notebook cover is an ivory, parchment cardstock cover with gold foil lettering, the paper inside is a soft white with gold lines. It has sewn binding. The line spacing is about 7mm.

While I purchased the cover specifically to use with my vast collection of A5-slim sized  notebooks that I already own, I thought I’d go ahead and test the notebook that shipped with the cover.

Most standard style pens work fine on the paper included in the notebook cahier but wider fountain pen nibs did bleed and show through to the back side of the paper. Some of the liquid inks did show through a little bit but pencil, ballpoint and gel pens seem to be good on this paper. That said, I didn’t buy this cover for the notebook insert.

Compared to Traveler’s Notebook:

When I completed the testing, I pulled out one of the many Traveler’s Notebook covers that I have to compare to the Designworks cover. I noticed that the Designworks cover was ever-so-slightly smaller than the standard TN. Oh no!

So, I immediately tried to put a standard A5-Slim insert into the Designworks cover. The cover is the EXACT same size as the notebook refills. Unlike the notebook included with the Designworks cover. It is about a half an inch shorter and 1/4″ smaller in width. So, the actual A5-slim notebook inserts come right to the edge of the cover.

Depending on how many inserts that are added to the cover, how close the inserts are to the edge might not bother you. I wouldn’t try to put more that four inserts into the cover as they will start to hang over the edge.

I really wish Designworks would have made this cover large enough to accommodate A5-slim notebook inserts but I love the color and the lining and the cover is very reasonably priced. So, I would definitely buy this cover again, even knowing its a bit smaller than an average “regular” Traveler’s Notebook.

On the topic of the Scribe, it matches the pink cover almost exactly if you want to coordinate your stationery.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Vanness Pens Inc. for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post DesignWorks Vegan Suede Folio in Blush Pink appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

And that Roterfaden was gosh darn handy, and fun too! The inside felt pockets were perfect for business cards, swag and other accoutrement. The pen loop was perfect for adding an inexpensive fountain pen. The metal tabs that secure the notebooks in place weren’t bothersome to me at all in writing. Overall it worked great!

Except when Ana saw me using it she remembered how much she loved it and asked for it back. What’s a girl to do but order one of her own? The Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter isn’t an inexpensive proposition. JetPens carries a few of the standard models in professional (read: a little boring) colors for between $120 and $180 depending on materials.

However, if you want to design your own, you can do that at the Roterfaden website. (Be sure to select EN at the top if you’re not a German speaker for an easy English translation!). The Taschenbegleiter comes in a variety of sizes (small, medium and large) which include A5 and A6. There are a variety of covers: leather, suede, recycled leather, and my personal favorite: danceflooring. There is a design your own option which offers you lots of choices on covers, interior felt colors, extra pen loops, elastic colors, additional pocket features and engraving. It’s easy to click through the menus and assemble the one you want, within their parameters.

There are also a variety of other fun combinations that they’ve put together. For instance, I chose the Taschenbegleiter – DL_22 in a size medium (approximately A5) with a cover made out of a purple printing blanket and an interior of magnolia felt. Apparently I entered my pink and purple phase in my mid-40’s?

Buyer beware – if you choose to order from Roterfaden directly it does take a bit to arrive. Mine took approximately 2 weeks to ship, and then another 2 weeks or so to find its way to me. I had a tracking number, and never doubted it would arrive, but it’s definitely not overnight (although they might have that as an option). I will say though, Roterfaden added in lots of cards, info and a bit of swag including a pencil (destined for Ana of course) declaring it Mein Roterfaden!

Now I guess I need to buy more A5 notebooks to put inside?

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were purchased with my own funds for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Notebook Cover Review: Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

The Features:

There are some fantastic details beyond the darling ink bottle pattern Angela created for the cover. There is a metal slot detail on the cover with a slot to keep the elastic in place. The cover itself is made from a PU material (vegan-friendly!)

Inside are two plastic card holder sleeves, one is all card slots and the other has a zip pouch to hold miscellaneous ephemera. The cover itself only has one elastic  stitched into the cover but it ships with an extra extra-thick elastic to loop around the notebooks and attach to the cover elastic.

The cover comes with two notebook inserts: one graph and one dot grid. The covers of the inserts are warm kraft cardstock with ivory paper. Dots and grid are printed in a blue-grey color and the inserts have 72 pages each.

The Paper Quality:

When I bought the cover, the inclusion of notebooks was a bonus. I had intended to load the cover up with custom inserts but I thought I’d go ahead and test the paper just to see how it performs.

With my flex nib Pilot Custom 912, I did get some feathering and show through with some of my wetter, wider nibs and even some of the rollerball pens. For everyday work notes where I might be jumping back and forth between gel pens, pencil and fountain pen, the paper isn’t terrible. Sadly, it’s just not great.

The Bad News:

The inserts are 190 x 105mm (7.4375″ x 4.25″). This is an unusual size which came as a surprise to me when I started doing my research. This cover is not a standard size like A6, B6 Slim or classic Traveler’s Notebook . The images here show the cover and inserts compared to a standard Traveler’s Notebook insert from Galen Leather which measures 210 x 110 mm.  The difference in width is negligible but the height difference is disappointing. A Midori MD B6 Slim is 174 x 106 mm so it’s about the same width but a bit shorter. The B6 Slim size would probably fit better but I could not find my B6 Slim notebooks to show a comparison. If you have A5 notebooks you’d like to use with this cover, they would need to be trimmed to fit.

Final Thoughts:

I really like this cover and would love to find a way to make it work with paper that I genuinely like so I’m going to try some Cosmo Air Light in B6 Slim ad see if it pairs well with the cover. I love the idea of a non-leather cover designed by an artist I truly want to support.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were purchased with funds from our generous Patreon subscribers for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Notebook Review: Inky Converters Traveler’s Notebook appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

We have one of each of the following, and each will go to one lucky winner:

3-Pen Case XL (₱2,350, approx. $48.50USD)

The Shibui 3-Pen XL case is designed to hold longer and/or larger pens, the ones that many standard 3-pen cases can’t accomodate. Featuring a Pull-Tag detail, snug leather loops and an interior pocket.

Life Organizer A5 (₱3,995, approx. $82.60USD)

An A5 case with a sturdy plastic zipper and pull tab. Room for a notebook, interior pockets (large enough to hold a standard credit card!), pen loop, and smaller zippered compartments.

THE DETAILS: Two lucky winners will be selected from the comments on this post to win their choice of either the 3-Pen XL or the A5 Life Organizer.

TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell us which case you’d prefer to win and what you would put in your new case! Play along and type in something. It makes reading through entries more interesting for me, okay? One entry per person.

If you have never entered a giveaway or commented on the site before, your comment must be manually approved by our highly-trained staff of monkeys before it will appear on the site. Our monkeys are underpaid and under-caffeinated so don’t stress if your comment does not appear right away. Give the monkeys some time.

FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by midnight CST on Friday, April 30, 2021. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Saturday. Winners will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your actual email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. If winner does not respond within 7 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. Shipping via USPS first class is covered. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money. US and APO/AFO only, sorry.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge for the purposes of this giveaway. Please see the About page for more details.

The post GIVEAWAY: Shibui Leather Stationery Cases appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

I received the following cases:

• 3-Pen Case XL (₱2,350, approx. $48.50USD)
• Life Organizer A5 (₱3,995, approx. $82.60USD)
• 8-Vial Case (₱2,125, approx. $44USD)
• A6 Hobo/Notebook Journal Cover (₱3,450, approx. $72USD)

Upon receiving the package, I noticed a few things about the cases right away and I have to admit that my reaction is completely related to already owning several leather pen cases from Galen Leather. The first thing I noticed was that the exterior leather did not feel like the leather on the Galen cases. This is not good or bad, just different. Galen offers smooth leather as well as their beloved “crazy horse” treatment. I’ve handled both repeatedly and love the look and feel of the “crazy horse” material.

I also noticed right away that, while the packaging says that all the zippers are YKK brand, on all but one case, the zippers are plastic teeth rather than metal. I have a tendency to overstuff a pen case or notebook case so heavy-duty metal zippers seem more likely to withstand abuse but I can’t definitely say that the plastic zippers will be less reliable. Plastic zippers just don’t feel as durable.

Other overall reactions to the cases were that they featured lots of pocket extras in each of the cases making them appear, at first glance to be competitive products to Galen — regardless of my feelings about the leather used — at lower prices.

So, let’s now review each case individually.

9-Vial Case:

The 9-Vial Case is similar in size to the 3-Pen XL Case. It’s a long slim case that comfortably fits into the hand.

The case features stitched leather strap that has been designed to perfectly hold 5ml sample vials. While not many people have need of a case to carry samples, Jesi pointed out that she uses the 5ml sample vials to store spare nibs which do warrant a good case.

The stitching is neat and clean and the zipper has a metal, branded pull.

The reverse side of the flap leather looks pressed and fabric-y as if the leather may have been processed and backed with a thicker material. It’s not what I think of as cowhide on the back. The leather used for the strap looks more in keeping with leather I am familiar with.

Sample vials do fit perfectly and would definitely make a statement at your next pen meet-up or pen show.

A6 Hobo/Notebook Journal Cover:

The A6 Hobo/Notebook Journal Cover is another unique case. It features a carrying handle along the spine which makes the case a good option for toting your Hobonichi around the office (or home office). This notebook does feature a metal zipper. It was the only one of the four cases that did.

Inside, the cover features slots for cards but the slots were too narrow for a standard US “credit card” size. The reinforced stitching is nice though.

The pockets and slots behind the notebook are not reinforced, except for the horizontal slot for the actual notebook.

The Pull-Tag inside lays alongside of the slots for cards.

The downside of this placement is that when there is a notebook inside the case and a pen, the pen presses against the notebook. Looking down at the cover, there appears to be space along the spine that would perfectly nestle a pen but the Pull-Tag loop is just a bit too far to the left on the inside cover.

Overall, I found the A6 Hobo. Journal Cover to be the most disappointing.

3-Pen Case XL:

I saved the 3-Pen Case and the Life Organizer A5 for last because I have Galen covers that are very similar and wanted to compare the cases.

The Pull-Tag inside the case works great to keep the pens snug. Of all the cases, the Pull-Tag in the 3-pen case is the most effective.

My Galen 3-Pen Case ($39) is my oldest and most beloved pen case and it’s got some miles on it. It is a standard size versus the Shibui 3-Pane XL case which is designed to hold longer and/or larger pens. Size difference aside, the Pull-Tag detail on the Shibui case is a good feature. In my Galen, the elastic is not snug enough for my thinner pens like the Kaweco Special. Both feature an interior secretary pocket on the left-hand side. Without the metal zipper, the Shibui doesn’t look quite as polished.

Life Organizer A5:

The large A5 Life Organizer is so similar to the Galen Leather A5 Notebook Folio ($119) that it was hard to not immediately start comparing them. The Shibui case features a two-way zip but its a plastic zipper compared to the Galen Folio.

Again, the Shibui has a plastic zipper and the Galen features a metal zip.

Inside, both cases feature pockets for cards and, this time, the Shibui case pockets are large enough to hold a standard credit card.

The Shibui A5 case a zipper pocket inside as well as a zippered coin pocket. The Galen Folio has a 4-pen panel that can be removed as well as elastic loops for cords and other miscellaneous items. Galen also includes a ket chain with fish hook clasp.

The downside of the zipper pocket is that it bumps into the pen in the pen loop. The zipper head is metal and could potentially scratch or dent a pen, depending on the material the pen is made of.

Inside the back cover, the Shibui cover has a card pocket and a cable loop holder with snap. Galen’s back cover is a fleece felt material with a slot to make it easier to slide a notebook cover in and out of the cover.

Final Perspective:

The Shibui pen and notebook cases photograph much better than they feel in hand. I know it’s weird to say that but the leather material doesn’t feel leathery. It has an odd texture and feels almost plasticky. I had to ask some local material experts if the cases were real leather. They felt confident that it was but thought it was a very inexpensive hide, possibly bonded to other material. (I had it confirmed by Shibui that their material is indeed leather. 100%.)

Some of the design decisions in the Shibui cases seem odd or just not as well-considered as the Galen cases.

Initially, I thought people might be inclined to consider the Shibui cases because they are less expensive than Galen and other cases. However, after looking more closely at the cases and the price differences, the Shibui cases are not necessarily less expensive or lesser by much than the Galen cases.

However, the 9-Vial case is a unique item and, should you have need for such an item, this is probably my recommendation from Shibui.

Shibui Leather Cases are available from Pen Gallery (Malaysia), Cityluxe (Singapore), Pierre Cardin (HK), and Endless Pens (USA) and soon more locations will be added in the USA and Taiwan.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Shibui for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Product Overview: Shibui Leather Stationery Cases appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.