Category: Notebooks

Thrift Shop Haul

Charlie RufusLeave a comment

A couple of weeks back I found myself in Warwick; which for anyone not familiar with that part of England is a delightful little town to spend an afternoon in. I recommend, if you can get a slot, parking at The Butts carpark at the back of St. Mary’s Church. Then walk through the church gardens and follow the pathway through the churchyard out on Church Street and follow the road to Old Square and finally on to Market Place.

Following this route I soon found myself outside the Relate thrift shop and decided to go in just to see if anyone had donated some unusual stationery or desktop novelty; instead I came across a pile of notebooks, eight in total.

But not what you would expect! The pile (which went home with me) included Midori, Endless, Blackwing; so not your average thrift shop stationery this was a collection of notebooks bought by someone who knew what they were buying.

As I wanted to review them all as a batch I decided to list the key points that I consider when buying a notebook and use that to give a pocket overview of each of the notebooks.

So, make yourself a comfortable this might take a while.

Graf Von Faber-Castell

Appearance: Stone grey linen cover

Size: A6

Number of sheets/pages: 60/160 100gsm

Paper colour: White

Line spacing: N/A

Line, grid, dot, plain: Plain paper

Type of binding: Stitched

Lay flat: No

Bleed through: No

Ghosting: Yes

Other features: the GVFC website only offers this notebook in A4 & A5 and this has a dedication so it may have been a sample?

Recommended: Yes

05 GvFC 600 hpx

Semikolon – Travel Diary Grand Voyage

Appearance: Dark blue linen cover

Size: A6

Number of sheets/pages: 152/304 100gsm

Paper colour: Cream

Line spacing: N/A

Line, grid, dot, plain: Plain

Type of binding: Stitch

Lay flat: No

Bleed through: No

Ghosting: Yes but light

Other features: Double marker ribbon, Elastic closure and pencil loop, pocket sized pencil, rear pocket & world map.

Recommended: Yes

06 Semikolon 600hpx

Blackwing Reporter

Appearance: Similar size to the average cell ‘phone.

Size: 3” x 6.25”

Number of sheets/pages 80/160 80gsm

Paper colour: White

Line spacing: 5mm

Line, dot, plain: Available in all three.

Type of binding: Wire

Lay flat: Yes

Bleed through: No

Ghosting: No

Other features: Elastic closure.

 Recommended: Yes, ideal pocket notebook.

08 Blackwing Reporter 600hpx

Rhodia – A7 Notebook

Appearance: Small pocket notebook.

Size: A7

Number of sheets/pages: 24/48 80gsm

Paper colour: White

Line spacing: 5mm

Line, grid, dot, plain: Grid

Type of binding: Staple

Lay flat: No

Bleed through: No

Ghosting: Very light, barely noticeable.

Other features:

Recommended: Yes

07 Rhodia A7 600hpx

Endless Storyboard

Appearance: Discreet black notebook suitable for use anywhere.

Size: 5.1” x 7.5”

Number of sheets/pages: 32/64 68gsm Tomoe River Paper

Paper colour: White

Line spacing: 7mm

Lined: Ruled also available in plain and dotted papers.

Type of binding: Stitch

Lay flat: Yes

Bleed through: No

Ghosting: No

Other features:

 Recommended: Yes

09 Endless Storyboard 600hpx

Midori MD Notebook Cotton A5

Appearance

Size: A5

Number of sheets/pages: 100/200

Paper colour: White

Line spacing: N/A

Plain

Type of binding: Thread

Lay flat: Yes

Bleed through: No

Ghosting: Very light

Other features

Recommended: Yes

10 Midori 600hpx

Paperchase Black PU Leather Journal

Appearance: Black cover with silver gilder edges and the word ‘Journal’ stamped into the cover.

Size: Slightly smaller than A5

Number of sheets/pages: c.100/200

Paper colour: Cream/White

Line spacing: 8mm

Line

Type of binding: Stitch

Lay flat: No

Bleed through: No

Ghosting: No

Other features: Decorative flyleaves

Recommended: Yes, but sadly no longer available since Paperchase closed down.

02 PChase Journal 600hpx

Nuuna Notebook Voyager L

Appearance: Solid black notebook with black edging.

Size: A5

Number of sheets/pages: 128/256 120gsm

Paper colour: White

Line spacing: N/A

Grid: 3.5mm

Type of binding: Stitch

Lay flat: No

Bleed through: No

Ghosting: Yes

Other features: Elastic pen loop, page numbering & recycled leather cover.

Recommened: Yes

04 Nuuna Notebook 600hpx

All ink tests were done using a Medium nib and Tom’s Studio Marmalade ink.

Disclaimer: All of the notebooks were purchased with my own funds at retail price. The opinions expressed in this review are my own; and I am not connected with either the retailers or manufacturers in any way.

Bodleian Libraries Mini Notebooks by Flame Tree Publishing

Charlie Rufus2 Comments

A couple of weeks ago I was in Foyles bookstore enjoying the fact that I was their only customer which meant I could wander at will with no one to get in my way. My wandering took me to a quiet corner of the store filled with notebooks and in amongst every conceivable size and colour of Leuchtturm1917 was a little packet of brightly coloured notebooks; that looked like tiny bookcases.

03 3 Pack Web 600hpx

The notebooks just stood out as being something different, so a few minutes later I was leaving the store with a pack of three mini notebooks tucked safely in my bag.

They are produced by Flame Tree Publishing and based on book covers in the Bodleian Libraries collection. The cover design is amazing detailed for an A6 pocket notebook and if you look closely, you can read the titles of the books on the cover and just like the original books the books on the cover are gold foiled as the originals were. 

This level of attention to details is quite something especially when you consider the fact that this pack of notebooks retails at £5.99GBP/$8.99USD and similarly priced packs are just plain card.

And the attention to detail goes beyond the cover design; Flame Tree have opted to have the corners rounded and the spines stitched; the latter means the notebook should lie flat when opened and I have tested this, and it does meaning you can write on pretty much the full width of the page. 

06 Lay Flat Web 600hpx

The paper is cream coloured and feels around 80gsm and the pages are alternately lined and blank which is in itself an interesting choice as notebooks are more often one or the other. But this is a useful choice for anyone using these notebooks because it gives you the best of both worlds, somewhere for notes and somewhere for sketches.

04 Page layout Web 600hpx

When it came to the ink test, I opted to use a Broad nib TWSBI Eco and Pennonia Sour Cherry ink, the ink is a wet well saturated colour and consequently when I tested it it showed through the pages. However, this is ghosting and not bleeding through so as long as this doesn’t bother you then you should be fine to use both sides of the page.

07 Ink Test Web 500hpx

For better results I would suggest a fine nib and a dryish ink if you want to use a fountain pen or better still a pencil or a ballpoint such as a Bic would probably be a better option.

All in all, I am happy to recommend these notebooks, but I would suggest that you visit the Flaming Tree website and view their entire range before making a final decision on which notebook/s you would like to spend your pennies on.

Disclaimer: These notebooks were purchased at retail price. The opinions expressed in this review are my own; and I am not connected with either the retailers or manufacturers in any way.

Made From Coffee Cups, Seabright’s A4 Landscape CupCycling™ ECO Sketchbook

Charlie RufusLeave a comment

The number of products being made from recycled materials is growing all the time but it’s not often you find something made from discarded take away drink cups. In fact, many people still believe that these cups cannot be recycled; how wrong can you be because today’s review is a sketch book made using the CupCylcling technology of James Cropper. Continue reading “Made From Coffee Cups, Seabright’s A4 Landscape CupCycling™ ECO Sketchbook” →