There were a couple little gems though including the Pen + Gear Gaming Journal ($7.50) that looks like a vintage gameboy.  The cover is made from translucent yellow plastic with die cuts that highlight the silver foil on the soft cover.

Inside are three colored paper sections with 40 sheets each in aqua blue, lemon yellow and fluorescent orange. Each section features a different phrase in the lower corner: Keep Calm, Game On and Level Up.

Each page is also perforated for easy removal.

I did my initial writing sample with a Platinum Carbon Pen and to my great surprise, the paper seemed to take the ink well.

In further writing samples, I tried a variety of pens that I might use with a notebook like this: gel, pencils, markers and felt tips as well as fountain pens all with similar results.

To my surprise, when I flipped the page over, their was very little showthrough or bleed through. There was a bit of bleed through with the Pentel Dual Metallic gel pens but they are quite a specialty pen.

I did a close-up image to see the few little dots from fountain pen tests.

Overall, this notebook is actually pretty good and ridiculously fun. I hope that I can find another notebook that will fit into the yellow cover so that I can re-use it after the colored paper journal is filled.

I was delighted to find a little treasure in the back-to-school section.

Bonus Review: Mead Five Star College Ruled Composition Notebook

I also picked up a Mead Five Star Composition Notebook ($2.50). It’s college-ruled with a plastic flexible cover. I have always loved the size and form-factor of a composition notebook but, unfortunately, since these notebooks are exclusively targeted to school age kids, the driving factor is often price over quality.

When I saw the pretty marble-look cover in pastel colors with metallic gold paint flecks, I had high hopes that the quality of the notebook would be above average.

The notebook includes 100 pages and QR-style codes in each corner that will allow pages to be scanned with the Five Star App. Notes can then be synced to Google Drive to access them anywhere from any device.

With standard writing tests, none of the pens bled or feathered but the show-through and bleed-through was ridiculous.

From the reverse, the paper looks so see-through as to be tissue rather than actual paper stock.

I’m very disappointed in the paper quality. Why do we do this to children? Why do we give them sub-par materials and expect to succeed?

Sadly, I find this notebook is seriously unacceptable. Mead, “High quality paper”? My ass. Give this composition notebook a hard pass.

DISCLAIMER:  Some items in this post 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.

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I always find it interesting when ink companies venture into paper products. Obviously they are highly complementary, but creating ink seems like such a different process than creating paper/notebook offerings. But I recently looked at some of the Wearingeul products as well so maybe I’m just behind the times?

The Casual Notebook is just what it says – a casual notebook. It’s A5 size, measuring 5.75″ x 8.25″ (14.5 cm x 21 cm). The covers (front and back) are cardstock and come in a variety of colors (baby pink, orange, dark navy, black, turquoise and oil green) with a few small foil details. Inside the notebook has 60 sheets (120 pages) of 90gsm white paper. The paper can be plain/blank, ruled or dotted and is perforated with easy tear sheets.

So how does the paper stack up? I’d say it’s pretty good. It’s an odd mix of fairly smooth, but also a little toothy. I know that sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it? The ink goes down smoothly and dries fairly quickly. I did a smear test and only hit the last few words immediately. I tested a variety of pens (sadly I have very few M and B nibs – I need to work on that!), and even an ink swatch and only the Sharpie bled through. The paper is fairly wrinkled from the ink so I’d say this isn’t one for ink wash/watercolor, though nothing bled through!

Overall I thought this was a nice notebook, although I’m not sure it’s a standout to me. Have you tried Colorverse Nebula Casual Notebooks? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

DISCLAIMER: Some of the items included in this review were provided to us free of charge or at a discount for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

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I was immediately drawn to the textured and foil-decorated hard cover notebook because of its look and feel. The journal is mauve with gold foil star patterns, a perfect journal for recording your all your dreamy thoughts. The end papers are simple in this notebook – lavender with small stars.

The paper included is 120 pages of 70 lb/105 gsm cream-color paper that is fairly smooth to the touch. Each page has a small area at the top where you can mark the day and date if you so wish and there is also a cream ribbon bookmark so you never lose your place.

The paper itself is lovely. I used a variety of gel pens, fine liners and a bit of fountain pen ink. The only thing that bled through was when I “swatched” ink onto the page, and even then only when I added a second coat (for the darkest part on the left). In general the ink dried quickly and I saw no feathering or bleeding.

The notebook does come in at not quite an A5 size, measuring 5.25″ x 7.25″ (13 cm x 18.5 cm). The cover is beautiful and I”ll be interested to see how it wears over time.

The final thing I’ll note is a small message inside the front cover about Dinek. Dinek’s mission is that they believe art can change the world. A small portion of each purchase goes to funding schools and providing supplies in Mali, Guatemala, Laos, Ghana, Nicaragua, and the U.S. That’s a mission I can get behind!

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

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The Leuchtturm 1917 Metallic is a hardcover notebook in A5 size available in Gold, Silver or Copper. I opted for silver. The cover is textured, almost giving it a faux fabric feel, and it’s a bit sparkly, though I don’t see any actual glitter. Inside, the notebook is full of 125 pages of 80gsm paper in dot grid (totally my jam). It also has 2 pages for a table of contents, two silver ribbon bookmarks, an expandable pocket at the back, and an elastic closure.

If I’m being 100% honest, it mostly looks and feels like another notebook that I really love: my well loved and slightly worn Rhodia Goalbook. Both are A5, and feature about the same number of pages, the extras (bookmarks, pockets and elastic). The Rhodia is a softcover whereas this Leuchtturm edition is hardcover, but the weight between the two is virtually the same.

The biggest difference I noticed between the two has to be the paper.

The Leuchtturm paper is a slightly different weight (80gsm vs Rhodia’s 90gsm), but the primary thing I noticed is that it’s toothier, more textured. Rhodia’s paper is super smooth, almost like it’s coated. So as I wrote I noticed that my ink went down on the paper differently. Whereas the ink sort of sits on top of the Rhodia coating and takes a short time to dry, the Leuchtturm paper sort of absorbs the ink a bit more. There’s no feathering or bleeding, and dry time is quicker; it’s just a very different texture.

Do I like it better than my Rhodia? I don’t know! I can definitely feel the difference when I touch the paper, and as I write, but I don’t know which one I prefer. Have you tried both? What do you think?

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There are a variety of interior paper options (Point, Graph, 7mm Lined and 6mm Lined) and the notebooks can be found around the internet in a variety of sizes. Yoseka Stationery stocks the Logical Prime notebooks in A5 size ($6 each).

The more unusual B5 size (6.9″ x 9.8″ or 176 x 250mm) was picked up from a vendor at a pen show. Which show? Maybe the California Pen Show. Which vendor? Taccia but they don’t list these notebooks on their web site.

According to the Nakabayashi Global web site, the Logical Prime notebooks are only available in A5 and B5 sizes though in the US market, you are more likely to find an A5 notebook than the larger B5.

All the internal rulings are in a fine dark green line. At the top or each page is a space for writing a title or description and date.

What’s really interesting about these notebooks is the unusual ruling options (I didn’t get one of the standard grid notebooks because after seeing the Point and Lined, the graph was just ho-hum). The Ruled options, both 6mm and 7mm actually feature two additional light dotted lines between each solid rule creating guides for much smaller increments. There are also dotted vertical lines at the same interval as the ruling so the paper can be used as graph if you want or need it to do so. The multiple horizontal lines would be great if you want to practice your handwriting or calligraphy.

At the top and bottom of the page are dots and tick marks indicating the center of the page, 1/3, 1/4 and so on. If you were wanting to grid something out on a page, these marks will help you maintain consistency from page to page. If you were to use these notebooks for bullet journaling, this would help to divide the page for week-on-two-pages, making a monthly overview calendar, etc.

The paper is a soft cream ivory color, not bright white.

There is not a huge difference, obviously, between the 6mm and 7mm lined paper but I know folks have clear preferences. When I was testing the paper, I thought I preferred the 7mm lined because I had a little more space but I was really jumping between the margins in a weird way so I think the 6mm is a bit better for my tiny handwriting.

Then there was the Point style which has dots spaced really far apart. On the back cover it says “12x15pt” which I think is 12mm dot grid (approx 9/16″) or thereabouts. That’s some pretty big grid!

I feel like a grid of this scale is a good compromise for someone who might want blank but needs a little guidance.

Did I mention that this paper shows sheen? Probably should have mentioned that sooner. So, good quality paper, unusual ruling options, and its affordable? You should probably stock up now. I don’t think you’ll regret it.

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While at the California Pen Show, I was able to score a few samples from the Traveler’s/Plotter table. Not that I needed any Traveler’s Notebook samples. I’ve been a loyal fan of Traveler’s for …. hmmmm… over a decade now! But it was a delight to revisit some of the classic refills. Because Traveler’s is part of the Midori product family, much of the paper included in the refills is Midori but I often forget that. This particular sample, a “Refill for a Short Trip” in Passport Size. This insert only include 32 pages compared to the regular Passport inserts that feature 64 pages but features the same high quality Midori MD paper in the cream color.

The Midori MD Cream paper has a slight tooth to it making it good for all around use and it stands up to pretty much any pen you can throw at it.  I had no issues with feathering, even with my Pilot Custom 912 with the FA nib.

It’s a thinner paper so there is some show through but no bleed through at all. I have a soft spot for the Midori MD Cotton and Midori MD Light, so much so that I had forgotten how good the standard Midori MD paper was. Honestly, I don’t think there’s much more I can say about Midori MD paper that hasn’t been said already but its nice to take another look at the classics. They are classics for a reason. Thanks for the sample, Traveler’s Company, and for reminding me that I love this paper!

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

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However, I find that I can never quite make up my mind what kind of purse I want to carry. Sometimes I want a behemoth bag that’s big enough to hold a smaller purse, a knitting project, and 12 other things that I can’t seem to live without. And then other times I want a small purse to just grab and go. Either way, I need a notebook and pen, right?

Last time I was browsing Yoseka, I spied the Kleid Kraft Work Memo notebook in A6 size ($7.50). I’m currently on a small bag kick, and I thought this might be the perfect notebook for on the go. It’s small, lightweight, has an elastic loop for closure at the corner, is a spiral so it lays flat – could it be the perfect notebook?

This notebook is A6 size, meaning it measures in at 4 1/8″ x 5 7/8″ and is approximate 1/2″ thick. (10.5 cm x 15 cm, under 1 cm thick). The cover is made of sturdy cardstock, with a tight spiral. Inside are 70 pages of kraft paper with 2mm grid. The only other “frill” is the elastic strap to keep it closed at the corner.

I have to say, I like this size and I like the paper, but it’s probably not really designed for fountain pen ink. The grid is printed on the page in a way that doesn’t get covered by the fountain pen in, meaning it shows through which is a bit distracting.

Worse, I’m a lefty and I rest my hand on the page. Just that slight bit of moisture from my hand changed the texture of the paper a bit, and the ink was more prone to feathering and bleeding through there.

I did test it with my gels, fine liners and ball points though and the paper seemed to perform quite well with those.

So this may not be the perfect notebook if you’re a die hard fountain pen lover, but if you’re good throwing a ballpoint or gel pen in your purse, then this still might be a great notebook for jotting important things down when you’re out and about. And I do love that elastic loop at the corner for keeping the notebook closed and the edges tidy when I throw it in my bag.

DISCLAIMER: I purchased this notebook with my own funds for the purposes of this review. Please see the About page for more details.

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The sketchbook came in a matte, white box with an iridescent foil feather on the box. Inside, the sketchbook was wrapped in a waxed paper and included a bookmark and some stickers. This is a very deluxe package for a sketchbook that sells for less than $20.

The sketchbook includes 160 bright white pages between two matte PU covers with an iridescent foil feather quill on the cover. The sketchbook includes lots of the popular attribute like three ribbon bookmarks, a gusseted pocket in the back cover for loose ephemera and a vertical elastic to keep the book closed.

The paper is 180gsm “Ultra Bamboo Paper” — THIS is the main reason I ordered it in the first place. Bamboo is the key ingredient in Tomoe River Paper but its very thin. So the idea of THICK bamboo paper was very appealing.

Just for reference, the Col-o-ring Ink Testing Book is only 160gsm paper so the paper in the Bamboo Sketchbook really is THICK. If you like mixed media, craft, collage and using a wide array of creative materials, this is a great sketchbook option.

I started my pen testing with brush pens, markers, colored pencils and other art supplies. I drizzled fountain pen ink and even tried some watercolors. The paper is very smooth and reminds me of Bristol Board from art school in terms of weight and smoothness, but its all bound into a handy A5 notebook.

When I flipped the pages over to see if there was any show through or bleed through.

The only time there were issues with bleed through was with the alcohol-based Copic markers and a couple places with drizzled fountain pen ink on the page.

All fountain pens in writing tests performed beautifully. The ink did not spread at all in the tests —  so a fine nib stays fine and so forth. Some papers can causes ink to spread and appear wider but this 180gsm bamboo paper kept all nibs true to size.

The fountain pen inks I tried included several sheening inks and all the sheen showed beautifully.

The only downside I discovered with this notebook is that the matte covers pick up dust and fingerprints very easily.

This is probably one of the best value sketchbooks currently on the market. If you are looking for a sketchbook or notebook that can handle a wide range of writing tools and materials, then this will be a book you’ll love.

Get creative and play with this great little value-priced bamboo sketchbook!

DISCLAIMER: The item in this review include affiliate links. The Well-Appointed Desk is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. Please see the About page for more details.

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Just reading the description on the order page tapped into my long-buried teen angsty Goth girl:

Who is this grievance journal for?

Humans! Particularly humans who like to write things on paper and vent about all the ways in which the world has wronged them. It’s cheaper than therapy and less dangerous than the incarceration that would surely result if you acted on your darkest impulses instead of just jotting them down in this sweet journal for sourpusses.

Ah, the gratitude journal made for dark souls!

The journal is hardcover with a matte finish. Inside is about 214 pages that features prompts and quotes to. inspire your own complaints and grumblings.

The book features two types of page spreads: one is a prompt at the top of the page followed by two pages of lined paper for a response. The second is a 2-page spread on blank paper with a decoratively framed quote on the left had page and a full blank page on the right that can be used to comment on the quote of freeform write or doodle.

I spent an inordinate amount of time reading out the prompts and quotes to my knitters, my dark-hearted friends and my patient spouse. I found them to be inspired and delightful.

Of course, with a “novelty” product (for lack of a better word), the paper quality was going to be immediately called into question. This is a book made for its message, not for the exacting standards of the picky-ass fountain pen community.

Truly, the Grievance Journal lives up to the hype, at least for me.

Anger management journal  for venting about life’s annoyances.

If you have friends, family or children who need a good place to revel in their dark thoughts, this journal is the place. Would I love it even more if the paper was truly fountain pen friendly? Yes. But do I love it in spite of its short comings? Yes. We all have our flaws, mine are just written down in this journal now.

PS: If you see a Grievance Journal on Amazon, its not the “real deal”. There’s a note in the description page on Bored Walk that they don’t sell on Amazon so beware of fakes.

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.

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Although I haven’t been buying many Moleskine notebooks in recent years, every now and then a design will capture my heart, and I can’t resist. This year it was the Year of the Rabbit design by Minju Kim (I purchased mine at the Seattle Asian Art Museum’s gift shop; available on Amazon for $22.75).

The 3 ½-by-5 ½-inch hardcover notebook has 176 ruled pages. (It’s also available in the 5-by-8 ½-inch size.) The distinctive cover material is not Moleskine’s usual faux leather; it’s a linen-like fabric befitting fashion designer Kim. The red elastic band is an especially nice accent against the dark green and cream design. Even the Moleskine logo on the back cover, a fabric label, is a nice touch. The lovely, understated motif for Lunar New Year 2023 tickles this bunny lover.

According to Moleskine, award-winning Korean fashion designer Kim “is known for her unique imaginative style that combines bold silhouettes, feminine characteristics and an overarching sense of joy.” The Year of the Rabbit notebook is part of Moleskine’s Asian Collection 2023, which also features art by Japan’s Kosuke Tsumura and China’s Angel Chen. “Created to empower creative energy and celebrate the diversity of Asian traditions, each distinctive notebook design enriches the Moleskine mission to support creativity and inspire the ideas of the future.”

In addition to the usual attached ribbon bookmark and back cover pocket, the notebook comes with two sheets of themed stickers. According to the product description, a “lucky envelope” is also included but seems to be missing from mine. (Perhaps it comes with the large-size notebook only.)

Although I didn’t have high expectations, since Moleskine does change its paper occasionally, I scribbled with the usual test materials, just in case it was different. It performed the same as it has in a while: My juicy Sailor Naginata Fude de Mannen fountain pen with Platinum Carbon Black ink bled through, as did the Kuretake brush pen – no surprises there. All other pens and pencils did fine.

It’s a delightful little notebook that I will enjoy jotting notes in throughout the Year of the Rabbit. (Shown below is another rabbit that was purchased at the same museum gift shop. At last – rabbits are everywhere! Happy Lunar New Year from Weather Bunny!)

DISCLAIMER: The item in this review include affiliate links. The Well-Appointed Desk is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. Please see the About page for more details.

Tina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.

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