Ink Test: in the Leuchtturm 1917 Jottbook

Last month I wrote about my monthly notebook for May the Leuchtturm 1917 Jottbook.

At the time of writing this was a fresh and new notebook, now it is almost full (and I am not even half way through the month yet). That is clearly a good sign.

If I like it, I use it.

I have found myself speed through the pages during a quiet moment.  I have also taken the opportunity to carry out a quick ink test (although I fear my fountain pens seem to have gone walkies as people keep borrowing my pens).

As you can see very little bleeding  – in fact the only bleed through is the permanent marker. My writing instrument of choice appears to be a mechanical pencil at the moment despite the pots (and pots) of pens I seem to have on my desk.

Quaderno Italiano

Quaderno Italiano is exactly what it says it is – a quaderno (exercise book) from Italy. If you used these sort of thing at school, it will really take you back. Thin small book, with space to write your name, teacher and subject on the front cover and on the inside. There is even a box at the back of the book with the times tables.

This note book has a dark cover, which is just thickened paper, quite flexible and with flimsy flickable pages inside, edged in red which is a nice touch – like I said before it is basically a school exercise book which it part of the novelty of it. Once again this notebook is part of my daily collection of notebooks. I use this particular one for drafting blog posts while commuting if inspiration strikes.

The particular one that I bought is the Maths version with squared / grid paper as can be seen in the photos below, but the notebook is also available in plain and lined paper.

As for the paper, here I’ve been writing in basic blue ink fountain pen, and it writes well.

So why get it? Well for one they are reasonably priced at a few quid (I got mine in Waterstones), light and easy to carry around, not to mention the novelty factor of being a School exercise book and red edged. To top it of, it has been admired on numerous occasions because not a lot of people have them, yet.

The V&A Floral Decoration Notebook

As I mentioned before Christmas I bought a V&A Design For Silk notebook from Waterstones:

Small Soft Notebook

100 Lined, Hand Sewn FSC Pages

148x105mm

The main attraction of this notebook is the feel of it, soft and silky. The cover itself is very flexible and can bend right round. Again like a Rosehip, is the right size for placing in your bag.

The design, the second attraction is called Floral Decoration and is a textile design by JD Cornuaud, Britain 1800-1900.

As for writing in the notebook. Well I’ve been using this notebook as a career log – but more on that later. I used 2 main pens in this notebook – a basic blue ink fountain pen and a black black point. Both work very neatly, the paper is smooth to write on, and is reasonably thick as the impression doesn’t go through to the other side.

Downsides? Well there is not much wrong with them other than the flexibility of the cover means that the front cover folds up after use, the cover also stains a bit. but relatively minor points.

Countdown to 2010 #6: Moleskine Colour-a –month planner

(Photo Credit: Notebook Stories)

I’ve had my eye on one of these for a while and have of course been waiting for the new year to debate whether to make such a purchase. However, help is on the way if you are like me and lust after one of these babies:

Notebook Stories has done a great another great review of this planner and even has some to give away. So check it out if you haven’t done so already.

Good Luck Everyone.

The Wanderlust Travel Journal

One of my colleagues is going to Australia travelling for 9 weeks. I got her a Wanderlust Travel Journal as a going away gift. In part I thought that this beautifully designed notebook would get her inspired to write something, or at least treasure her memories.

This A5 notebook is vibrant, and colourful with the travel theme playing throughout the whole book rather than simply being an image on the cover, making it a notebook with a difference. See more photos here. There is a mixture of blank and squared pages as well as space for addresses in the back. Great for getting someone who has turned their back on the written word into notebooks.

I bought my notebook at Waterstones for £10, but the notebook can also be purchased online at Amazon.

Signature Collection

I had great visions of doing a proper notebook shopping trip when I discovered I needed a notebook to use as a log book for my sign language classes. Unfortunately rainy weather put my plans on hold and today I found myself picking up a notebook in the train station.

Signature, in case you’ve not come across it before is WH Smith’s own brand moleskine-alike notebook  available in a range of sizes and colours. The one I bought is the A5 (known as large) brown notebook, priced at £9.99. My favoured colour however is that of mulberry -  beautiful notebook, but unfortunately they were sold out.

It is a soft covered, very flexible, giving it a nice worn feel even though you still have that pristine paper feel, best of both worlds. It is narrow ruled which may put some people off, but I think it works beautifully, the paper is 80gsm quality paper, has a nice smooth feel, for those of you who need to like the touch sensation like me. I have not tried out a fountain pen on the paper being more of a bic pen user of late but I believe most pens are fine, although some fountain pens go through. But as I’ve only begun to use this notebook today, I’ll let you know how it develops.

Royal Mail: Inspiration Notebook

With the pending postal strikes from Royal Mail I thought it might be nice to look back to a time when I remember Royal Mail to be reliable.

I bought this little red “royal mail” notebook entitled “thoughts ideas and actions” in a second hand bookshop or charity shop about 10 years ago. To this date it is one of my favourite notebooks, providing lots of inspiration. It could be argued that it is not strictly speaking a notebook, but the principle is the same – it is to encourage people to write.

Inside the notebook is a wide range of postcards, coloured paper and inspirational messages and quotes to fit various moods and occasions.  A great idea and a great product. I don’t think they do anything like this now, although they still do a great range of fun stamps.

I will keep a look out for similar products, as there seems to be a gap in the market.

Alife B6 planner

This Alife planner was just something I picked up in the Bargain Bucket in Paperchase. This notebook has a PVC enamel covering and is available in a variety of colours.

What is so great about this notebook is that it is made to be functional – with a variety of pages, labelled on the front as: Free Writing 176 pages, Free Drawing 196 Pages, Memo 16 pages, Information archive 16 pages. It also has plastic pockets in the over to place loose bits of paper (and in my case souvenir beer mats).The notebook is incredibly durable and survived a month backpacking round Europe.

There are many specialised travel journals out there, but I found that this notebook suited my needs more as I could tailor it to suit me.

I planned my journey in the free writing section, detailing the cities I was going to and mapped out locations of hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions. The perfect way to cut down from a full-on travel book. The other sections are suitable for diary entries, keep track of you holiday budget, keeping your souvenirs and  keeping note of information.