I grabbed a copy of the Paperblanks Midi Planner ($6.88 on sale, $22.95 USD/$24.95CAD at full price) recently when I was ordering even more of the heavyweight paper Midi notebooks which have become my go-to notebook these days. I wanted to give the thinner 80gsm paper Paperblanks make another chance and the sale price made it hard to resist. The design is called the Floralia and it is so riveting.  The matte black cover features a beautiful print of flowers and some shimmer and sparkle accents on the flowers. As the light catches the art on the cover, the flowers look like they are popping off the cover.

The cover is a soft flexi with two ribbon bookmarks (sealed so they don’t fray!) and the Midi size is B6-ish at 4.75″ x 6.75″. B6 is 4.9 x 6.9 in (12.5 x 17.6 cm) so the Midi-sized notebooks will fit into any B6-sized notebook cover (another bonus for me since my daily carry notebook cover is B6).

Before the monthly calendars is a two-page year-at-a-glance spread with 2022 and 2023 and a key for the symbols used through the planner which include the first day of spring, first day of autumn, the moon phases and when daylight savings starts/ends (though it was not accurate to the US. Paperblanks is a Canadian company).

I bought the “horizontal no closure” version of the planner, which is essentially a standard week-on-two-pages design with a month-on-a-page in the front. The edition I got was an 18-month version that started in July 2022. The 80gsm paper means the book is not overly bulky and the 18-month model would be great for anyone who is in academia or who might be looking for a planner switch-up mid-year. The paper is acid-free, sustainable forest paper.

In the back of the planner are:

• international holidays for dozens of countries
• year-at-a-glance calendars for 2024 and 2025
• international dialing codes (so retro!!)
• some time zone clocks
• clothing conversion size charts
• quick glance measurement conversions for imperial to metric
• travel planning and important dates page
• 14 notes pages, lined
• 14 pages for address keeping

The paper is a creamy ivory color and has a slight tooth to it. In my usability test, I wasn’t expecting the paper to be fountain pen friendly because its so lightweight but I often grab whatever pen is handy to write in my planner so I want paper to be at least tolerant of fountain pens. There was a bit of showthrough on the reverse of the page but its not terrible and I think the ink I have been using is particularly wet and inclined to bleed.

I have started adding some daily events and notes. I know not everyone loves lines in the notebooks but for some reason, I don’t mind the lines in the Paperblanks planners. There is a slightly wider line between each day making a clean delineation between all the lines.

When you look at the reverse of the weekly page, the olive ink had some show through but the purple ink (I am pretty sure that’s Monteverde Birthday Cake in a Sailor ProGear with a H-MF nib) did not show through at all.

I used the notes pages to do some pen testing. I really like when planners work well with a lot of different kinds of pens because I just never know when I need to jot down an event. I might have been sketching and had a pencil in hand or I just grab a gel pen out of the cup on my table. The Paperblanks 80gsm paper really isn’t terrible. There is minor show through but very little bleed through. For a thin non-Japanese paper, its beyond acceptable. I would compare it to Leuchtturm 1917 for being a good all-around paper. If you are inclined to use super broad, juicy fountain pens, these 80gsm notebooks from Paperblanks might not be for you.

But if you, like me, has a rainbow of felt tip, gel, rollerball, pencils AND fountain pens, these planners might be a good option. And at the clearance prices, it could be worth giving them a try.

I realize that I am a bit biased about Paperblanks but I think they don’t get a lot of props from the pen community and the books are really good quality. No, they are not Hobonichi, Tomoe River or Midori MD paper but they are better than so many other options at reasonable prices (even when they are not on sale).

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge for the purpose of review. Some items were purchased with funds from our amazing Patrons. You can help support this blog by joining our Patreon. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Planner Review: Paperblanks Planner appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

So I was thrilled a few weeks ago when Ana handed me a Paperblanks journal with the suggestion I use it to commemorate the trip. She’s so right – I’ll forget all the details if I don’t write them down, so thanks for the nudge.

I did decide to give the notebook a bit of a test run before I left home – today I’ll share what I found.

The journal Ana gave me is a Paperblanks Midi Notebook from The New Romantics series ($18.95). The hardcover is made of 100% recycled binder boards and covered in a pretty cover paper. The blue is called “Peacock Punk” and is lightly embossed in some fun patterns and a bit of yellow/gold color. (The notebook also comes in Velvet Cape (green) in Midi and Mini, and Midnight Rebel (black) and Urban Glam (red) in Ultra size.)

Inside the notebook has front and end papers in a kraft brown paper, along with a memento pouch in the back (perfect for ticket stubs and the like!). There is a black elastic which can hold the notebook closed (if I stuff it too full!) and a gold colored ribbon bookmark.

The paper in this notebook is great! It is thicker (120gsm) in an off-white color, and there are 144 pages. The pages are lined (lines are 6.67mm apart) which makes for easy journaling on the go without using lining sheets. The journal has sewn binding and feels pretty sturdy.

This one is a nice travel size: 5″ x 7″ and 0.75″ thick (130mm x 180mm; 20mm) though it does come in heavier than a Field Notes. With the hard cover, it weighs in at 9.8oz/279gm. That, to me, is the only drawback, especially on a trip where we’re always on the go moving our own luggage!

The paper performs really nicely. I tested it with everything from my magic rainbow pencil through Sharpies and Copic markers and nothing shows through except those last two.

I’m heartily looking forward to my vacation, and now I’ve got a pretty sweet little journal to travel with. I think I’m going to take my Kaweco AL Sport in Violet with me (plus extra cartridges). I chose that because it’s reliable and I can always toss out an ink cartridge if it leaks and start a new one. My journal won’t be colorful, but it will be fun to take notes, remember small moments and places we travel. I’ll share more when I get back!

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I had mentioned Paperblanks to someone recently and it led me back  to their website to discover that they now list the paper weights they use and noticed that they listed 80gsm, 100gsm and 120gsm paper stocks. Clearly, it was time to give Paperblanks another look.

I ordered one Flexi Midi notebook (approx. 5 x 7 “) with 100gsm paper. The cover featured artwork by Catrin Welz-Stein whose work I am enamored with. I also ordered a hard cover Midi notebook with 120gsm paper. Included in my order was a free A7 sized Paper-Oh lined notebook which is part of Paperblanks contemporary line and featured a metallic grey wave texture on the outside.

Upon further research, the Paper-Oh line is only available in 80gsm and 100gsm papers (when shopping on the Paperblanks site, select “more filters” to reveal the paper weight options if you are specifically looking for the heavier weight.

So, let’s start reviewing the notebooks.

Oceania Diamond Rosette Midi Hardcover Notebook

The Oceania Diamond Rosette Midi ($18.95) Notebook in Hardcover is beautifully embossed with antiqued gold foiling and a textural look though the cover is actually a matte soft-touch wrapped paper hardcover notebook.

The hardcover Midi version of this notebook includes a black elastic closure which I don’t particularly like how it looks with the antique centered design. But its nice that its been included.

The back cover includes a gusseted pocket for miscellany and a red satin ribbon bookmark that is cut and sealed on the end so it doesn’t fray. The book includes 144 pages.

The Oceania notebook features the 120gsm and this is what I wanted to try. The paper is a soft white ivory (which is very difficult to photograph correctly) and I purchased the blank version. The only other option was lined.

I tested several “everyday” fountain pens and a small assortment of felt tip and gel pens. They all performed beautifully.

Writing on this paper provides a little tooth and texture and feel velvety to write on. The Midi size also hits that sweet spot between an A5 and A6 size. I really like it.

From the reverse side of both pages, there was no bleedthrough and no showthrough either.

Wordscapes Flexi Midi Notebook

The Wordscapes “Free Your Mind” Midi Flexi  ($15.95) Notebook is the same size and the hardcover Midi but features a more flexible “softcover”. The design printed on the cover is done in the same way as the Oceania notebook — soft touch matte but this cover features a more contemporary, vintage-inspired illustration by Catrin Welz-Stein. The illustration is accented with gloss varnish and some metallic details on the figure’s dress.

This notebook also features a light, printed edge painting that reminds me of marbling. It’s very subtle and might be missed if I hadn’t looked closely. It would have been nice for the edge painting to be a little more bold to be more evident.

The secretary pocket in the back of the Flexi notebook is not gusseted and the Flexi notebook does not include an elastic for closing the book.

The Flexi notebook features more pages than the hardcover notebook — 176 pages vs. the 144 pages in the hardcover. The paper is also only 100gsm instead of the 120gsm option in the hardcover.

Compared to the velvety texture of the 120gsm paper, the 100gsm paper seems a bit smoother, silkier. I enjoyed writing on it despite knowing that it was more likely to bleed or showthrough. The advantage of the lighter weight paper is that a guide sheet is much more easy to see under the blank pages.

The lighter weight paper becomes evident with more showthrough and a little bleedthrough with heavier ink applications like the music nib and the broad brush pens. It’s not awful and if you use a lot of fine nib fountain pens and a mix of ballpoint, gel and other tools, you might not mind the lighter paper.

Paper-Oh A7 Yuko-Ori Lined Notebook

The Paper-Oh A7 Yuko-Ori Metallic Grey ($4.21) Lined Notebook was included in my order as a bonus and it gave me a chance to see and try the lined paper without investing in a third notebook. The Paper-Oh line is more contemporary looking and feeling with the textural paper cover and a “perfect binding” rather than the wrapped paper covers (hard of soft) of the traditional Paperblanks line.

Included in the tiny notebook was a paper bookmark which I could not figure out how it was meant to be folded and a little brochure about the development of the Paper-Oh line.

The Yuko-Ori notebook appears to use the same 100gsm paper as the larger Midi Flexi notebook. However, the paper seemed to behave a bit differently with inks. I believe this was a result of the printing necessary to add lines to the paper. The lines are very thin and printed in a light brown so they are very subtle. If I needed a lined notebook, this is the kind of lines I’d want. However, the alteration to the paper as a result of the lines is a bit of a disappointment. I may be reading more into the paper than was there. Maybe it’s just a slightly different paper?

The inconsistencies in the way the fountain pen ink adhered to the paper turned out to be difficult to capture in a photo so I guess it’s not as bad as I am making it out to be.

Conclusions

In the end, I am more inclined to stick to the blank pages to avoid any additional issues, especially with the 100gsm paper. The 120gsm paper may stand up to the printing process better. If anyone decides to try the heavier paper with lines, please let me know if you run into any issues.

I am glad I tried Paperblanks again. I am 100% sold on the the 120gsm paper and I do like the unusual Midi size. I look forward to trying more variations of the Paperblanks notebooks in various sizes.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were purchased by me and I was not compensated to write this review. Please see the About page for more details.

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