Notebooks

This is a Good Sign

Today’s review is of a set of notebooks from Roaring Spring Paper Products.   Shoplet.com sent me several different products from Roaring Spring so you’ll see several reviews from Roaring Spring products over the coming weeks.  Let’s get to it!

“This is a Good Sign” Notebooks

The first set of products is a few different notebooks from the “This is a Good Sign” series.  These notebooks are 70 sheets, college ruled, and measure 11 x 8.5.”   These are spiral notebooks with a three hole punch and are very typical of spiral notebooks one would use in school.  These would be good for children or students that need single subject spiral notebooks in their classes.  I have personally been using them on my desk at work, on phone calls to take notes, or to jot down whatever things I need to jot down. The cover designs are not ones I would typically choose, but I do really like the messages they display.   All of the covers have a traffic-type sign that says “This is a Good Sign” —  a funny pun and a positive message.  My favorite of the group is probably the purple cover that that says “Do What You Love / Love What You Do”  because I like how they combined both sentences of this important truth of life.

The paper in the notebook works very well with your normal ball point pen.  When using fountain pens and fountain pen ink there is significant showthrough and bleedthrough, such that when using a fountain pen you can only write on one side of the paper.  I find this is actually quite wasteful and I would rather be able to use both sides of the paper on each page.   Fountain pen ink also tends to feather on this paper, and while it’s not the worst I’ve seen, it is slightly noticeable.  Ballpoint pens are really the ideal type of pens for these notebooks.  The ballpoint still yields minimal showthrough, although not enough to prevent using both sides of the paper.  This notebook also works well with pencils so they would be good for people who like to write with pencils or for students that need to do math homework in a notebook.

Another unfortunate aspect of purchasing these notebooks is that they only seem to be available in a case quantity — a fact I was not made aware of when Shoplet.com sent me the product.  So if you are interested in a case of 24 notebooks, it is available on Shoplet.com for $75.60.  Personally, I would rather save the $3.14 a notebook and put it towards one I can buy individually with better paper quality.  Apologies to you for having not known about the price issue ahead of time, but I still had to post the review after receiving the product.

 

New Daycraft Products!

I received a wonderful package from Daycraft in the mail today with some more products that I will be reviewing shortly.  Here is a quick preview with full reviews forthcoming.

Vogue 2012 Diary:  I reviewed the 2011 version previously.  You can read that review here.  I love the cover on this and am happy to be using it in 2012.

Gutenberg Notebook:  You have a choice between a white or black cover and Bible or Times New Roman font.

Astrology Notebook:   Each astrology sign features Swarovski crystals and the notebook comes in a gift box.

Slab:  I chose gold, which looks like  a real slab of gold.  So cool!

I’m looking forward to sharing more details with you!

Giveaway followup

I am happy to say Sandra from Life Imitates Doodles contacted me with her information and she loves her Cookie Bookie notebook from Daycraft!

She has posted about it at her blog here.

Thanks again to all who entered!

Journal Review: Daycraft Executive Journal and GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!

Daycraft’s Executive Journal is another great product from one of my new favorite companies.  Keep reading for a GIVEAWAY at the end of this post!

**Please note, the Executive Journal will not be available for the retail market, but is “for corporate clients to emboss their logo and/or insert advertising pages.” (according to Daycraft)**

Cover: The cover is made from “fine Italian PU.”  “PU” is polyurethane, which for this journal is like synthetic leather.  It is black and soft.  Is PU good for the environment?  I have no idea.  However, it’s great for those of you who don’t want to use real leather and save the animals.  Also, it’s Italian so I automatically like it.  I chose the black version, which the Daycraft website lists as dark grey.  The padded cover has some nice black stitching with a little stitched box on the side featuring an embossed number for the current year.  I thought this was a great idea for a planner or journal because if you use the product in the correct year, you automatically know when it is from when looking back through your old journal stash!

Size: This one is w142 x h203 mm and 240 pages.

Layout: There is a monthly calendar in the front and space for names/addresses in the back, along with some maps and area codes for Hong Kong.  The rest of the book is filled with lined paper.

Paper: The paper in this journal is a nice weight, white and lined with grey lines, except that the top and bottom lines of the page are red.  The paper is very smooth and very friendly with fountain pen ink.  There is no bleedthrough, nice shading if your particular ink is prone to that, and minimal feathering (only with some inks – otherwise no feathering at all).  The paper also has silver gilding on the edges – fancy!

Overall: Like I said, another great product!  Visit Daycraft’s website at http://www.daycraft.com.hk.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Daycraft now has a USA distributor.  If you live in the US and would like to purchase any of Daycraft’s products, contact:

Company:  Star Imports

Contact:  Mr. Andrew Oentojo

E-mail:  starimport.andrew@gmail.com

NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One lucky reader will win the adorable Cookie Bookie Notebook in “Cheese Cracker” by Daycraft.  Cheese cracker is brown and orange, with 6.5 mm lined orange paper in and sandwich biscuit style cover (fine Italian PU).  It measures 125 x 125 mm and has 144 pages.

How to enter: Leave a comment here listing your favorite way to eat cheese crackers (toppings, accompanying food or drinks, etc.).  You will get an extra entry if you Tweet or re-post about this giveaway, then come back here and add an additional comment with proof you posted the giveaway (e.g.  a link.)  I will pick one entry at random for the winner.

Contest run: Contest opens at 12:00 AM on Saturday, June 4, 2011 and ends at 11:59 PM on Saturday, June 11, 2011.

Additional rules: (Even though I don’t like excluding my international readers) this contest is open only to US applicants due to the cost of postage and because I figure Daycraft would want more US writers to be using their products.

Good luck!

Daycraft Vogue Diary/Planner

Is it possible to be in love with a planner?  Is it?  If it is, then I might be in love with the 2011 Daycraft Vogue Diary in Ivory.

Cover: In my opinion, this is one of the greatest cover in the history of diary covers.  It is available in ivory, blue or black quilted patent leather.  It might be plastic, but it looks like patent leather.  I chose ivory and it is feminine and oh so glamorous – just my style.  It is case-bound and sturdy with a red velvet ribbon to hold your page.

Size: I chose the large size, which is is w151 x h215 mm and contains 408 pages.  It also comes in a tiny pocket version, a small version, and a long skinny version.  You can view all the dimensions at the product page here.

Layout: The large size is a day per page with timeslots for each hour, 8am to 10 pm.  However, the weekends featuring Saturday and Sunday each filling one-half of a page without hour markings.  Each page also features a few lines at the bottom for notes.  Each month has a different color scheme.  The months are separated by a colored and patterned page and then each day of the month also has a matching strip of that color/pattern at the top of its page.  The first page of the month also features an extra space for notes, a quickview calendar of the days of the month and an inspirational quotation.  I find the quotations are quite a nice touch and make the diary feel more personal.

Paper: The pages are sturdy and the paper is a nice weight, although not as thick as Clairefontaine.  The shade is a nice white (not too bright), lined with black/dark grey lines for your entries.  The paper is definitely fountain pen friendly.  You can see writing on the backside of the pages, but there has been no actual bleed-through.

Improvements: There are two things that I would prefer differently for this diary.  First, I would prefer Saturday and Sunday to have their own pages with hour markings, just like the other days of the week.  Second (and most important), I would like the cover to be re-fillable.  Daycraft changed the Vogue covers from 2010 to 2011 and I do not know if they will change the covers again for 2012.  I would absolutely love to just refill the planner part and keep using the cover forever!

Other notes: Daycraft diaries feature extra pages, such as international holidays, world times, IDD codes, nutritional information and more, which can be helpful.  There are also pages for contact information and notes; another great addition.

Overall: LOVE LOVE LOVE!  This Daycraft Diary definitely makes my day.  Visit Daycraft’s website at http://www.daycraft.com.hk.

Notebook Review: Miquelruis – Spiral-bound Notebook, Designed by JOSHUA DAVIS

I apologize for taking so long to post another review, but other things have occupied my life recently and I haven’t been able to post. I will be back posting regularly again soon. I have many great items waiting to be reviewed and I am excited to let you know about my experiences with them. I apologize to those who are waiting to see product reviews and I promise I will get to them as soon as I can.

For now, I want to tell you about a GREAT notebook I have been using. It is a spiral bound notebook designed by Joshua Davis for Miquelruis and can be found here. I have covered what I think are the most important categories for a notebook, but please let me know if there is another aspect you would like to know about that I have not covered here.

The Company: Miquelruis is located in Barcelona, Spain and has been in business for 150 years. The company started making cards, bindings and accounting books. Now it carries notebooks, pads and various other accessories; as well as offering collections by several guest designers. As of yet, I have only tried the notebook featured in this review, however I have a few more of them to test. If the others follow suit to my experience with this notebook, Miquelruis’ products arer going to be some of my favorite. For more on the Miquelruis and to view the product catalogue, visit http://www.miquelrius.com/eng/portada.

The Cover: As described on the Miquelruis website, the cover is “note book (sic) card covered with printed paper laminated in plastic.” The plastic is shiny and looks nice. The plastic on the corner of mine is slightly creased, like when you try to lay contact paper on a shelf and you get a line instead of it laying completely smooth. I have the “Maps” cover, which is mostly black with some splashes of color. It has a good contrast of brightness against dark, without being too flashy. It also comes in several other cover choices, which should suit a variety of tastes. The hard cover also makes it easy to write while resting the notebook on one’s lap instead of a desk.

Size: I have notebook model A4, which is 9 x 11 in. (210 x 297 mm). It may be too big for some as a normal journal, but is also too nice for messy note-taking. I suggest picking a particular purpose for a great notebook like this.

Binding: As mentioned, this is a sprial bound notebook. I was never a huge fan of spiral bindings because: sometimes the pages do not properly fold back around the spiral; the spiral unravels, catching on clothing or stabbing me; or the spiral gets in the way when I’m writing. However, I was very impressed with the spiral binding on this notebook. Each page folded back around the spiral without getting stuck around the spiral’s curve. It did not unravel, which means no catching or stabbing, and the spiral did not get in the way when I was writing.

Paper: The paper is 70 gram with 5mm ruling. The paper is divided into four sections, each section with a different color border and ruling. My notebook has 35 sheets each of blue, red, grey and bright green, for a total of 280 pages. This is great for separating subjects, as well as matching or contrasting with ink colors.

The paper is smooth and is great on which to write. It is not glassy like Clairefontaine paper, but is also a really pleasurable writing experience. There were a few waxy spots where the ink would not properly adhere to the paper, but this was only on several pages. I imagine this is not a recurring or common problem.

The best thing about this paper is that there is very minimal bleed-through. For some reason, it shows up more on the picture below than what I actually experienced when writing in the notebook. I used a variety of inks on this paper, including dark and saturated inks like Private Reserve’s DC Supershow Blue, and there was still no bleed-through. I could see that there was writing on the other side, but could neither read the writing nor see the ink color. The fact that the ink did not bleed through the paper made writing on the reverse side of pages almost as pleasurable as starting a fresh sheet. The DC Supershow Blue did take a long time to dry on this paper, but all other inks had normal drying time.

Overall: I love this notebook! I am really happy with it and have enjoyed using it. I definitely want to use more of these notebooks in the future.