I’ve always been a fan of Musubi. The owner Daryl is completely transparent about what he is trying to do: create beautiful writing tools and notebooks that fully support artisans who hand make many of the products. The Pocket Folio Notebooks are just the newest to a wonderful product lineup.

There are a lot of pocket folio notebooks out there to choose from, often at similar price points. This particular one comes in a slim A6 size (90mm x 140mm, or 3.5″ x 5.5″. The books have cardstock covers and sewn binding, reinforced with tape.

The paper itself is Spica Bond 75, a white 75gsm paper made from 25% cotton. The books are available in blank, lined (7.2mm) or cross grid (5mm) and each book contains 48 pages.

The notebooks come in eco-friendly packaging of cardboard and ribbon. And here is why I love Daryl’s products so much – he truly thinks about how every part of the product and packaging can be used. The cardboard used to hold the package of 3 notebooks together is actually perforate and designed as index cards. These cards can then be used to sort your notebooks (for easy storage in any box that can store standard 3.5″ x 5.5″ index cards or photos). The only part of the cardboard that is “waste” is the small tab connecting the two index cards. The ribbon can be repurposed to be a bookmark, or used to tie the notebooks back together.

So let’s talk about the paper a little more. The paper is smooth to the touch and my pens glide across it easily. One thing I do really like is that the cross grid still absorbs the ink as normal – in some notebooks the ink is repelled by those grid points making it harder to read. I don’t see any feathering on the front side.  As for the backs, it’s not bad news. There is some bleed through where I reinforced my lines (the musubi up top) and when I used larger nibs (the Sailor Music nib I used for “pocket notebooks are the best!”)

Even so, I think these notebooks are perfectly functional for an every day carry. I can see carrying one in my purse or pen case (specifically the Sinclair) to jot notes, quotes I want to remember, to do lists, or more. And again, I appreciate that if I want to keep the notebooks as an archive of my daily life, I have some handy index tabs to sort them by! Are they the cheapest notebooks on the market? No, but it’s roughly comparable to other popular pocket notebooks like Field Notes and a number of other smaller brands. However, if you want to support a business that is committed to creating great craftsmanship and ethical production, I can’t think of a better place to shop.

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

The post Paper Review: Musubi Pocket Folio Notebook appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

While I tossed and turned in my hotel bed on Sunday night, I realized that the answer to the question “When was the last time you had your septic tank cleaned?” and my blank puzzling for a date/time could be resolved by none other than pen and paper. This morning, when we stopped back at the house, I grabbed a trusty Leuchtturm 1917 Hardcover A5 Metallic Edition. I also approached the file cabinet of doom, and grabbed the extra thick “House” file and took it with me. Today I have been busy building a journal of my house’s greatest and shittiest events (see what I did there?) so that I have dates and repair companies and what type of work was done.

I’ll see you again when indoor plumbing has been restored.

via GIPHY

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The Esterbrook “Write Your Story” journals are a collaboration between Esterbrook and lettering artist Betty Soldi. The A5 journal comes in three colors: burgundy, teal and camel. The cover has a faux leather feel and is adorned with foil and etched embossing in Betty’s “Alphabetty” font. The journal is hard cover, with a sewn binding.

The inside of the journal is also fun! The first spread shares a bit of history about the Esterbook brand as well as a few facts and tips about writing with different nibs. The next page provides a place to trace the “Alphabetty” font if you wish, and encourages you to have fun with your own lettering. What follows are 2 pages set up for recording the contents of your journal.

The bulk of the journal is made of up numbered pages (190) of 80 lb fountain pen friendly paper in a cream color with 5mm gray dot grid. To the touch it feels smooth and almost a little luxurious. The final details include an envelope at the back, and a ribbon bookmark with an Esterbrook charm.

Now we get to delve into the paper! I found the paper enjoyable to write on. It was super smooth, and the ink dried fairly quickly. There was no feathering or bleeding, and on the plain writing sample (the first one below) there was very little show through.

I then tested wider nibs, different kinds of pens (brush, gel, etc) and even a silver writer which I believe is alcohol based. Even with those there was show through, but no other issues.

Ultimately my opinion on this notebook is that it’s pretty darn nice. I am definitely a tactile person, and just holding the cover and feeling the paper in my hands is a pleasure. It’s not an inexpensive investment and I surely wouldn’t use it for to do lists and the like, but if I’m thinking about keeping it as a journal and re-reading it over and over, then I would definitely consider buying another!

DISCLAIMER: Thanks to Esterbrook for providing this journal free of charge for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

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The four notebooks in this review are:

• Life Kleid Noble Note Section (B6, 2mm grid, 100 sheets, made in Japan, $16)
• Book Note 360º (B6, blank, 190 sheets, made in Japan, $29)
• Nakabayashi Yu-Sari (A5, 96 sheets, made in Japan, $14.40)
• Musubi Rasa 83 (A5, 7mm lined, 83 gsm, 105 sheets, made in Singapore, approx. $23 USD)

Like I said in my intro, I think my expectation may have been high for these notebooks, maybe unreasonably so. With the price points varying from just under $15 to almost $30, one might think that my preferences would fall along price lines — the more expensive, the better the performance but that was not the case.

When looking at the overall construction and binding of the books, all featured stitched Smyth-style binding with multiple signatures of paper stitched together and then taped with bookbinders tape or wrapped with board-supported book cloth covers. The Book Note 360º and Musubi both are completely wrapped in book cloth with board underneath to create a sturdy, flexible cover. The Yu-Sari and Life Kleid books both have book tape spines and cardstock covers but the Life Kleid has a plastic overwrap that can be left on the notebook to protect it or removed.

Both the Book Note 360º and Musubi have rounded corners while the Yu-Sari and Life Kleid have squared corners. I don’t know if these aesthetic decisions will be make or break for you, they certainly weren’t for me but its intersting to see the similarities and differences.

The Book Note 360º and Musubi Rasa 83 are the most similar in all aesthetic details but the Musubi is actually less expensive (minus shipping costs) than the Book Note 360º and its a smaller notebook. Even the paper texture on both books is more similar to each other than the Life Kleid and Yu-Sari — the paper in both books has a slight powdery texture to the hand. Under a pen, it is ever-so-slightly toothy creating a bit of friction, slowing down the writing process.

The Life Kleid and Yu-Sari are also more similar to each other with square corners and black-tapped spines. Even the paper is more similar being very smooth — more like Rhodia paper with an almost slick surface that will keep pens skating along the surface.

The only aspect where the similarities change is in paper color. The Book Note 360º and Life Kleid both feature a creamy, ivory paper color while the Musubi and Yu-Sari both feature more of a natural white paper color. The Musubi paper is the brightest white of all four books.

Now is the point in the review where the proverbial wheels come off the wagon. The writing tests. Which, in all honesty, is the most important part of any notebook.

My first ding is the Book Note 360º which performed fine overall except that there was a good deal of show through to the back side of the page. For the price, only getting to use one side of the paper effectively is not ideal.

From the front side, the paper looks just fine and will be a good writing paper. It does not handle copious amounts of ink well so don’t reserve this notebook for ink testing or swatching purposes.

The paper used in the book is OK Fools which I’ve tested in the Yamamoto Paper Sampler in the past but it always feels different when I start using paper in a notebook that just testing a couple full-sized sheets. There is also very visible laid lies and watermarks. This may be a bug or a feature depending on your personal preference. I am okay with it but is definitely something to be aware of.

Notebook grievance #2 is the Life Kleid Noble Note Section notebook. I was all keen to have a full notebook of the teeny tiny 2mm grid lines. What I didn’t realize is that the printing technique used to get the grid on the paper, resists most ink. This is a huge “nope!” for me. Overall, the Life Kleid was more tolerant of fountain pen ink than markers or brush pens but what a strange reaction!

On the plus side, there was no show through or bleed through on the Life Kleid paper, even when copious amounts of ink were thrown down so it did redeem itself a bit when used with a folded nib pen for ink experimentations.

This is the notebook grievance that is hardest to talk about. The Musubi Rasa 83 did not meet my expectations. Even after reading the lengthy explanation on the Musubi site about he paper choices and the trade-offs that had to be made in order to find a paper that would dry relatively quickly while keeping many of the properties required by fountain pen users. However, there was a mention in the description that the original paper has been modified to improve dry times and resist hand oils but in doing so, I found that the line weights of my pens was significantly altered. My Japanese fine and extra fine nibs performed more like medium nibs, and so on. I buy extra fine and needle point nibs because I like an extremely fine line and a paper which increases my line width willy-nilly is not acceptable.

I don’t normally use lined paper but the 7mm line width on the Musubi Rasa 83 is good with a pale, extra fine line printed on the sheets. But the issue with lined or grid papers, like the Life Kleid is the printed lines or grids can have unexpected results depending on the type of ink chosen to write on the paper. When I attempted to use a folded nib on the lined Rasa 83 paper, weird things happened.

So, those were the three disappointments for me: the Musubi Rasa 83, the Book Note 360º and the Life Kleid. They all have things that recommend themselves depending on how you use your notebooks. I use my notebooks for everything and I ask a lot of the paper contained within them. Some of the issues I ran into specifically had to do with the pre-printed lines so I recommend that if ink resistance is something you don’t like, I recommend purchasing blank notebooks and using guidesheets behind your page to help keep you straight.

I plan on purchasing a Life Noble Note in blank because the paper is really good, with no bleed through or show through. It was really the grid lines that made the Life Kleid a no-go for me. I will also pick up a blank Rasa 83 from Musubi in blank as well since I am hoping that without the lines, the paper might perform better. Though the widening of the line widths might still be an issue so I’m on the fence about investing in any more of this specific paper from Musubi.

The one notebook that was the pleasant surprise was the Nakabayashi Yu-Sari notebook. It was the least expensive of the four and performed the best across a variety of writing tools and techniques from extra fine nibs to folded nibs that I use for ink testing. This is the second time that a Nakabayashi notebook surprised me. The first time as the Nakabayashi Logical Prime Notebooks. They are such unassuming notebooks with simple paper covers and a small gold foil logo on the cover. I just didn’t expect the Yu-Sari to be the runaway winner in this batch of notebooks. I expected it to be a solid option but not necessarily the notebook I would most likely recommend to others.  I tested the blank version of the notebook so it had the unfair advantage of not having any pre-printed lines or grids that might resist my fountain pen ink or markers. The Logical Prime notebooks I tested earlier were pre-printed with grid lines and I did not notice any ink resistance like I saw with the Life Kleid and Musubi Rasa 83 so I feel fairly confident in moving the Nakabayashi notebooks into my Top 5 list at this point.

Have you tried any of these notebooks? If so, what are your favorite features or not? I’d love to hear how these notebooks perform for you.

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

The post Notebook Reviews: 3 Disappointments and 1 Surprise appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

In a lovely B6-sized (12.5cm x 17.6cm / 4.9in x 6.9in) cahier-style notebook with 68gsm Tomoe River paper are an assortment of differnt weekly page layouts to try. Most weekly styles include two weeks of the layouts but a couple just have one week to try.  There are also a couple options for monthly overview pages as well to test out. Honestly, Yoseka, you had me at B6.

The monthly spreads include a month-on-two-pages (classic monthly view calendar), Vertical Gantt (based on Bushimen’s PAL), and Horizontal Gantt (based on Art Print Japan’s Visualife Planner). The Gantt style calendars blow my mind a little but find them useful for Habit Tracking. It’s definitely a different style.

The weekly spreads include:

• Vertical Schedule
• Horizontal + Memo
• Vertical + Memo
• Horizontal Quadrant
• Vertical Quadrant (Divided)
• Vertical Quadrant (Memo)

Of the weekly layouts, the horizontal + memo and vertical + memo are my favorites. I don’t use my planner for time keeping as much as task lists and logging activities from what and where I ate to activities I did and media I consumed. I like bbeing able to got back through the year and see what movies were watched, books were read and which podcasts were keeping my attention during different moments in the year.

Yoseka, then included a printed sheet with a chart of which planners they sell that feature each of the different styles of layouts as well as the sizes available. It’s a great cheat sheet for finding which planner aligns with your favorite layout at a glance. So efficient!

Since the notebook is undated, you can try all these different layouts right now and still have tie to find your perfect planner for 2024. With a full 10 weeks of weekly planner pages, that’s enough to get you almost to the end of the calendar year too.

I think, depending on feedback from customers, Yoseka should offer some of the most popular options as full undated planners. The size is great, the paper is great. Honestly, blank B6 Tomoe River cahiers would be amazing to offer too! Please!!!

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DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review 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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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 met a new vendor at this show – the wonderful group from Oblation Papers – a nearby brick-and-mortar store. They have beautiful items that I rarely see at shows including handmade papers and vintage typewriters. I picked up several goodies from them including one that I’m showing today, the Kunisawa notebook called the Find Ring notebook.

The paper is only available in a 5mm graph ruling, and I chose the A5 notebook which has a heavy cardstock cover and ring-bound paper.

The 80 sheets in the notebook are made of a smooth, thick, and slightly creamy paper.

The shading in Sailor Homemade Tortilla is fabulous.

Even Van Dieman’s Wasabi shows distinct shading.

Sailor Manyo Kikyou gives a pleasant sheen – I was surprised at this – I hadn’t expected a sheen to show up on the paper.

Sailor Manyo Ume came through with a beautiful halo sheen in almost every letter.

Through all of the writing, scribbling, and heavy ink applications, there was never a sign of feathering, bleed-through or even ghosting.

My favorite small detail – the inside cover of the notebook includes a quote from Picasso:

At $15 for 80 pages, I do think this is a great purchase to add as an option for fountain pen lovers. beautiful sheen, shading, and it can handle any ink so far. Ring-bound notebooks are always welcome in this category as well!

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were purchased by me 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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Let’s start with the pens:

My pens in order, left to right:

• Kaweco AL Sport in Vibrant Violet – F nib (inked with cartridge roulette) and Kaweco x Hello Kitty AL Sport in Opal Green (inked with cartridge roulette). My Kawecos tend to be my favorite desk pens these days. I love the feel of the aluminum barrel, just the right weight in my hands. The faceted caps (and roll clips) means that they never roll away from me. And there are just gosh darn consistent writers. Even if they sit for a week or two, they never have a hard start.
• Pilot Explorer in Pink – F nib, inked with black Pilot cartridge. I’ll be honest, this one is on my desk because I reviewed it a few weeks ago and it’s got an ink cartridge I should use up. It’s fine, but definitely not a favorite and it won’t be seeing any desk time again soon.
• Platinum Procyon Maki-e – F nib. This pen is pure pretty and it makes me happy to write with it. It’s a smooth writer and it’s likely it will be inked for some time to come. It’s currently inked with Monteverde Rose Noir.
• Platinum Preppy Wa Modern Maki-e in Dragonfly – F nib (inked with a Platinum cartridge in Pink). It almost seems silly to have this one out next to a pen with actual Maki-e, but for the quick note this one is still a nice writer. It doesn’t have the same luxury feel to it, but it’s perfectly serviceable!
• TWSBI Eco Glow in the Dark Green – EF nib, inked with Yoseka x Ink Institute No 1 Origin. Ana and I have agreed to disagree on Ecos. While I don’t think they are precision writing instruments, I like the way they write and I dig getting to see the piston and ink inside. This also is a candidate for never having a dry start.
• SchonDsgn x Indepdendence Cheerio Waterpen – F nib, inked with Colorverse Morningstar. This pen is gorgeous and Morningstar is one of my favorite teal inks so it’s a match made in heaven. I just like to look at this one, but it’s fun to write with too!

These aren’t the only pens I have, but they are what is most currently inked on my desk lately. I would like to do a better job of using my own bottled inks rather than grabbing cartridges (which is what’s easy with my Kawecos!). I need to invest in a few more converters!

Next let’s look at notebooks:

The two main notebooks in my life currently are the Effin Birds 2023 Monthly/Weekly Calendar and the Midori 5 Year Diary.

The Effin Birds Calendar is one that I use daily to keep track of all my events, appointments and work tasks. I have to say that I am thrilled with the paper. I haven’t really been able to narrow down what paper was used other than “FSC certified paper with soy-based ink,” but it is thick enough that there isn’t any show through even with my wettest writing fountain pens. I also haven’t seen any feathering or bleeding. The planner looks a bit worse for wear, but that’s because of an unfortunately ramen incident where the planner came out the loser. It’s not waterproof (ramen-proof)?

The Midori 5 Year Diary is something I’ve had mixed success with. I should say I really like the paper and it performs well for me (no bleeding, no show through). My biggest problem with the diary is myself! I find myself forgetting to write for days at a time and then trying to catch up. I also find that many days I can’t think of something good to write, and on other days I have so much and there’s just such a tiny space (yes I know I could space things out!). I guess I still haven’t quite figured out how to make this a daily habit and record the things I think I’ll want to remember in a year or 5 years’ time.

Now that we’re partway through the year, what do you find yourself using the most? What are this year’s winners? Any particular losers?

DISCLAIMER: Some of these items were purchased with my own funds, others were provided for free or at discounted cost for the purposes of review. Please see the About page for more details.

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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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