Notebookstories.com is giving away 2 free Whitelines notebooks! Click here to go to the blog and read the review, as well as the official rules for contest entry! It only takes a quick email and/or a blog post (yes, this is my entry ;-). (And yes, if I win, I'll review it! :-)
Hurry--emails must be received by 11:59pm on 4/30/09, and blog postings by 4/28/09! Good luck!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Review: J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage
Karen Doherty at Exaclair very graciously sent 2 inks in her most recent batch of products for review! I was happily surprised to receive both Lierre Sauvage and Orange Indien. Thanks so much, Karen! :-)
Lierre Sauvage is one of the J. Herbin "La Perle des Encres" (The Jewel of Inks) fountain pen inks. There are 30 colors available, which come in 30mL bottles and cartridges (6 cartridges in a cute little metal tin--I use the empty tins to keep dip pen nibs in them!). They are advertised as non-toxic and pH neutral, with natural dyes.
(Click on any photo to enlarge it.)
Here's a shot of the bottle. I had a bottle of Bleu Myosotis for years before I found out that the little lip on the front of the bottle is a built-in pen rest. Very cool idea!
Here's a full-length shot of my handwritten ink review (thanks to SProctor on the Fountain Pen Network for the template). I'm not ecstatic about the way it photographed--I tried it outside in bright sunlight, but got some weird effects. I tried it inside in natural sunlight, but as you can see, I got some shadows over it. However, the ink color looks pretty true to life on my monitor, for what it's worth! I'll try using a smaller sheet of paper or a notebook for my next ink review. Feel free to comment or tweet me with tips for improving my photography! :-) (But nothing too technical like fiddling with 15 different settings or downloading expensive software, please--honestly, it won't happen.)
Here's a closer view of the top half of the page:
A closer view of the bottom half of the page:
I used a Sensa Meridian fountain pen, custom ground to an XXXF nib. The paper was some random cheap copy paper I had around the house (Georgia Pacific). I also tried it on Clairefontaine paper, but didn't photograph it.
I really liked the bright green color--it wasn't too yellow, nor too blue. It was slightly on the yellowish side, but not much. And, surprisingly, it was quite legible for a bright green color. It's a nice spring/summery color, and makes you think of golf course lawns.
Flow: Flow was really good in my dry-writing, finicky XXXF nib! It wasn't a gusher, either--just a nice, consistent flow.
Drying Times: Granted, I'm using a really fine nib, but I find that J. Herbin inks typically dry pretty fast (and even work pretty well on glossy textbook paper). Lierre Sauvage was no exception.
Feathering: It feathered a little on this cheap copy paper, but I haven't found an ink yet that won't feather on this paper (I'm never getting it again!). Not surprisingly, there was no feathering on the Clairefontaine.
Bleedthrough: A few tiny pinpricks of ink on the back of the cheap copy paper, mostly where I paused. None on the Clairefontaine.
Shading: Yes, there was some shading, even with my XXXF nib. On glossy textbook paper, it was more noticeable.
Waterproof: This ink does not claim to be waterproof, and I did not test this quality myself.
Nib Creep: Just the tiniest drop on the very tip of the nib.
Staining/Clogging: I only used this ink briefly (see below for the reason), but there was no staining or clogging detected, and the ink rinsed out of the pen fairly easily.
Smear Factor: Since it dried quickly, it didn't smear on glossy textbook paper after 3 seconds! It was GREAT for the few pages of margin notes I took.
Odor: It has a noticeable, pleasant scent, though it's not a "scented" ink. The ink was somewhat like a perfume, slightly earthy and floral. The scent disappeared from the paper pretty quickly. However, I'm really sensitive to certain odors, and this ink gave me a bit of a headache. I was really saddened by this, since I loved the rest of its qualities. But I would be remiss in not mentioning it, so my fellow headache sufferers can be forewarned. If you have headaches from certain scents, you might want to try a sample of this first, before you buy a whole bottle!
Caveat--I'm REALLY sensitive to certain scents, and the average person probably won't have any problem with this ink. I had a headache in one class every morning at the same time, until I figured out that the hand lotion of a student a couple rows away was causing my pain! (I changed seats and everything was fine after that.)
Not all J. Herbin inks give me a headache--I've tried Orange Indien recently, I usually have a pen inked with Violette Pensée, and I've tried Rose Cyclamen and Rose Tendresse in the past. I didn't have a problem with any of those inks--just this one so far! (Oh, and I tried the rose scented J. Herbin ink, which also gave me a bit of a headache.)
The scent also lingers in the pen. I flushed it until the water ran clear, and washed what I could of the plastic feed, then refilled it with another ink. However, I can still smell the Lierre Sauvage one week later (though it's muted and isn't strong enough to give me a headache anymore). Just a warning, in case you object to the scent. (Many people love the scent, however, and actually like this quality!)
Appearance: The squiggle to the left is from one swipe of the Q-tip, and the squiggle to the right is from two swipes of the Q-tip.
Overall Conclusions: This is a happy, colorful green ink--the epitome of spring! :-) Bright enough to stand out, yet dark enough to be legible. The flow was great in my XXXF dry writer, and it dried really quickly on the 3 different papers I tried. I loved this ink, and would have continued to use it if it wasn't for the scent. The scent is really pleasant and not extremely strong, but unfortunately, I'm prone to headaches with certain scents (especially perfumes/botanicals).
Lierre Sauvage is one of the J. Herbin "La Perle des Encres" (The Jewel of Inks) fountain pen inks. There are 30 colors available, which come in 30mL bottles and cartridges (6 cartridges in a cute little metal tin--I use the empty tins to keep dip pen nibs in them!). They are advertised as non-toxic and pH neutral, with natural dyes.
(Click on any photo to enlarge it.)
Here's a shot of the bottle. I had a bottle of Bleu Myosotis for years before I found out that the little lip on the front of the bottle is a built-in pen rest. Very cool idea!
Here's a full-length shot of my handwritten ink review (thanks to SProctor on the Fountain Pen Network for the template). I'm not ecstatic about the way it photographed--I tried it outside in bright sunlight, but got some weird effects. I tried it inside in natural sunlight, but as you can see, I got some shadows over it. However, the ink color looks pretty true to life on my monitor, for what it's worth! I'll try using a smaller sheet of paper or a notebook for my next ink review. Feel free to comment or tweet me with tips for improving my photography! :-) (But nothing too technical like fiddling with 15 different settings or downloading expensive software, please--honestly, it won't happen.)
Here's a closer view of the top half of the page:
A closer view of the bottom half of the page:
I used a Sensa Meridian fountain pen, custom ground to an XXXF nib. The paper was some random cheap copy paper I had around the house (Georgia Pacific). I also tried it on Clairefontaine paper, but didn't photograph it.
I really liked the bright green color--it wasn't too yellow, nor too blue. It was slightly on the yellowish side, but not much. And, surprisingly, it was quite legible for a bright green color. It's a nice spring/summery color, and makes you think of golf course lawns.
Flow: Flow was really good in my dry-writing, finicky XXXF nib! It wasn't a gusher, either--just a nice, consistent flow.
Drying Times: Granted, I'm using a really fine nib, but I find that J. Herbin inks typically dry pretty fast (and even work pretty well on glossy textbook paper). Lierre Sauvage was no exception.
Feathering: It feathered a little on this cheap copy paper, but I haven't found an ink yet that won't feather on this paper (I'm never getting it again!). Not surprisingly, there was no feathering on the Clairefontaine.
Bleedthrough: A few tiny pinpricks of ink on the back of the cheap copy paper, mostly where I paused. None on the Clairefontaine.
Shading: Yes, there was some shading, even with my XXXF nib. On glossy textbook paper, it was more noticeable.
Waterproof: This ink does not claim to be waterproof, and I did not test this quality myself.
Nib Creep: Just the tiniest drop on the very tip of the nib.
Staining/Clogging: I only used this ink briefly (see below for the reason), but there was no staining or clogging detected, and the ink rinsed out of the pen fairly easily.
Smear Factor: Since it dried quickly, it didn't smear on glossy textbook paper after 3 seconds! It was GREAT for the few pages of margin notes I took.
Odor: It has a noticeable, pleasant scent, though it's not a "scented" ink. The ink was somewhat like a perfume, slightly earthy and floral. The scent disappeared from the paper pretty quickly. However, I'm really sensitive to certain odors, and this ink gave me a bit of a headache. I was really saddened by this, since I loved the rest of its qualities. But I would be remiss in not mentioning it, so my fellow headache sufferers can be forewarned. If you have headaches from certain scents, you might want to try a sample of this first, before you buy a whole bottle!
Caveat--I'm REALLY sensitive to certain scents, and the average person probably won't have any problem with this ink. I had a headache in one class every morning at the same time, until I figured out that the hand lotion of a student a couple rows away was causing my pain! (I changed seats and everything was fine after that.)
Not all J. Herbin inks give me a headache--I've tried Orange Indien recently, I usually have a pen inked with Violette Pensée, and I've tried Rose Cyclamen and Rose Tendresse in the past. I didn't have a problem with any of those inks--just this one so far! (Oh, and I tried the rose scented J. Herbin ink, which also gave me a bit of a headache.)
The scent also lingers in the pen. I flushed it until the water ran clear, and washed what I could of the plastic feed, then refilled it with another ink. However, I can still smell the Lierre Sauvage one week later (though it's muted and isn't strong enough to give me a headache anymore). Just a warning, in case you object to the scent. (Many people love the scent, however, and actually like this quality!)
Appearance: The squiggle to the left is from one swipe of the Q-tip, and the squiggle to the right is from two swipes of the Q-tip.
Overall Conclusions: This is a happy, colorful green ink--the epitome of spring! :-) Bright enough to stand out, yet dark enough to be legible. The flow was great in my XXXF dry writer, and it dried really quickly on the 3 different papers I tried. I loved this ink, and would have continued to use it if it wasn't for the scent. The scent is really pleasant and not extremely strong, but unfortunately, I'm prone to headaches with certain scents (especially perfumes/botanicals).
Monday, April 13, 2009
Update (of sorts) on Exacompta Basics Tan Lined Journal
Here's the Exacompta Basics Tan Lined Journal that I reviewed a few months ago, after a toddler got a hold of it with some markers.... :-) I had him test out the journal, so I could see if the paper could stand up to his current artistic style.
(Click on pictures to enlarge.)
No feathering, but some smudging (especially the turquoise and purple at the top of the page), as the toddler's hand rubbed across the page while drawing. (After seeing that his hand was getting ink on it, he subsequently held the markers a little higher, and didn't rub his hand on the page.)
And yes, the bright green in the upper left corner is Noodler's St. Patty's Eire, in a Platinum Preppy highlighter. :-D
Reverse side of the page. No bleedthrough, and not much showthrough, especially considering how many layers of dark, wet marker went on the page!
It was love at first sight for the toddler with this journal--he grunted happily and ecstatically pointed at the gold gilding on the edges. I tried to have him test out the medium Piccadilly notebook I'd brought as well, but after seeing the Exacompta journal, he would have none of it! Apparently, he has very refined taste in notebooks! ;-)
(Click on pictures to enlarge.)
No feathering, but some smudging (especially the turquoise and purple at the top of the page), as the toddler's hand rubbed across the page while drawing. (After seeing that his hand was getting ink on it, he subsequently held the markers a little higher, and didn't rub his hand on the page.)
And yes, the bright green in the upper left corner is Noodler's St. Patty's Eire, in a Platinum Preppy highlighter. :-D
Reverse side of the page. No bleedthrough, and not much showthrough, especially considering how many layers of dark, wet marker went on the page!
It was love at first sight for the toddler with this journal--he grunted happily and ecstatically pointed at the gold gilding on the edges. I tried to have him test out the medium Piccadilly notebook I'd brought as well, but after seeing the Exacompta journal, he would have none of it! Apparently, he has very refined taste in notebooks! ;-)
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Review: G. Lalo Notes Tradition
Karen Doherty, the VP of Marketing at Exaclair very generously provided the notecards for this review! Thanks again, Karen! :-)
(Note: please click on any photo in this review to enlarge it. I took the intial photos under natural light, which was more true to the actual color, but after waiting around for days without any sun in sight, I took the "after" photos in natural light + light from an incandescent light bulb.)
These are "Notes Tradition" deckle-edged cards from G. Lalo. Here are the specs from the Exaclair 2008 Catalog:
• Clear cover box
• 20 fold over sheet notes and 20 lined envelopes
• Available in: White /00, blue /02, rose /05, champagne /06,
turquoise /07, grey /08, ivory /16, pistachio /03, lavender /10,
apricot /18, yellow /19
• 20 notes & envelopes 100 g Folded: 3 ½ x 5 ¼ L019/
Read more about the 400-year old Schut paper mill that makes most of the G. Lalo paper here.
These are the lavender colored notes, in the box they came in. I found the box very attractive, and I love the gold G. Lalo logo! :-) I found these notecards to be almost too pretty to use!
The back of the box.
Here's the front of a blank envelope.
Back of an envelope.
Closeup of back of envelope.
And here's the inside of the lined envelope. The lining makes the envelopes seem very refined and classy! It also made the envelope a little audibly crinkly when unfolding the top flap. The envelope itself did NOT wrinkle, but it makes a noise when you open it!
Closeup of lined envelope with embossed "G. LALO - PARIS" on the diagonal.
I found I really liked the deckled edges--it made the notecards seem more special than a "plain" straight border. The laid (Verge) finish was also really pretty--subtle, but definitely fancy.
This might be a little difficult to see in the photo, but there are vertical lines in the watermark, approximately 1 inch apart, visible when held up to the light. The paper is a nice thickness--not like heavy cardstock, but definitely substantial. And the texture is really pleasant--I had fun running my fingers over it again and again (yes, I have a problem ;-)!
But how does this paper perform with fountain pens? See for yourself!
Written on laid side:
Closeups of writing on laid side:
Reverse side (smooth side) of the writing from the laid side (yes, it looks almost blank because of the lack of showthrough ;-):
Written on smooth side:
Closeups of writing on smooth side:
Reverse of smooth side:
The inks I tried, with some comments on their performance:
• Noodler's X-Feather in an XF nib (Sensa Meridian fountain pen, chrome/iridium nib)
• Noodler's La Reine Mauve in a 0.3mm nib (Sensa Meridian, chrome/iridium nib)
• This ink feathered a little, more so on the laid side. But this ink normally feathers a bit on some papers. The purple color is even more pronounced on this lavender paper. Lovely! :-)
• Noodler's Prime of the Commons Blue-Black in a 0.3 mm nib (Sensa Meridian, chrome/iridium nib)
• This ink feathers a lot on many papers (but I still love it!). It wasn't too bad here.
• Noodler's Spirit of Bamboo in a 0.3mm nib (Sensa Meridian, gold/iridium nib)
• This ink feathers a lot on many papers, too. I think it feathered the most on this paper out of all the inks I tried.
• Noodler's Britannia's Blue Waves in a 0.3mm nib (Sensa Meridian, gold/iridium nib)
• This ink also tends to feather. It's also really dry, so I had a few problems getting it to actually play nicely on the paper.
• Noodler's Rachmaninov in a 0.3 mm nib (Sensa Meridian, chrome/iridium nib)
• This ink worked well on this paper.
• Noodler's Verdun Green in an XXXF nib (Sensa Meridian, chrome/iridium nib)
• Just the tiniest bit of feathering.
• J. Herbin's Violette Pensée in an XXXF nib (Sensa Meridian, gold/iridium nib)
• Beautiful purple color on this paper. No discernable feathering, and laid down really nicely on the paper, despite the XXXF nib.
• Pilot felt-tip marker
• Pilot Precise V5 Rolling Ball pen (O.5mm)
• RoseArt gel pen
• uni*ball Vision pen (fine)
I wrote on both the "inside" smooth surface and the "outside" laid surface. Since I use pretty fine nibs, I preferred the smooth inside surface, as it provided less feedback. However, I didn't find writing on the laid surface unpleasant, just more feedback than I personally prefer. Some of you may actually prefer this, though!
Some of my XXXF nibs didn't lay down ink quite as well on the laid side as on the smooth side, but that's probably due to their fine width. I had no problem with the wetter inks (e.g., Prime of the Commons Blue-Black). There was a little feathering from some of my inks that are notorious for feathering on lots of papers, but not enough to be bothersome (except maybe Spirit of Bamboo). It might be my imagination, but the feathering appeared slightly worse on the laid side than the smooth side.
Another wonderful feature of this paper--NO bleedthrough! I couldn't even really see any noticeable showthrough!
I didn't take a picture of it, but needless to say, the handwritten notecard inside the envelope did not betray its contents--you can't see the writing at all, even with the writing against the front side.
Overall Conclusions:
These are beautiful notecards that are fancy enough to make the recipient feel special, but not at all glitzy or gaudy. They have an understated elegance, which I really appreciate. And I love this color (I'm a purplophile, though)! Even though I use extremely fine nibs, I found the inner smooth surface to be pretty smooth, with just a tiny bit of texture. Even the laid surface was fairly pleasant, considering the nib size I use, though I will probably mostly use the inside smooth surface, since I personally prefer really smooth paper.
With absolutely NO bleedthrough and not even any showthrough to speak of with my fine nibs, a felt-tip marker, gel pen, etc., this paper is really remarkable. I was concerned that my colorful inks would look washed out on the lavender, but was pleasantly surprised to find this wasn't the case (and it made the purples look even richer). I look forward to using these notecards in my personal correspondence! Hmmm...to whom should I send one next.... ;-)
(Note: please click on any photo in this review to enlarge it. I took the intial photos under natural light, which was more true to the actual color, but after waiting around for days without any sun in sight, I took the "after" photos in natural light + light from an incandescent light bulb.)
These are "Notes Tradition" deckle-edged cards from G. Lalo. Here are the specs from the Exaclair 2008 Catalog:
• Clear cover box
• 20 fold over sheet notes and 20 lined envelopes
• Available in: White /00, blue /02, rose /05, champagne /06,
turquoise /07, grey /08, ivory /16, pistachio /03, lavender /10,
apricot /18, yellow /19
• 20 notes & envelopes 100 g Folded: 3 ½ x 5 ¼ L019/
Read more about the 400-year old Schut paper mill that makes most of the G. Lalo paper here.
These are the lavender colored notes, in the box they came in. I found the box very attractive, and I love the gold G. Lalo logo! :-) I found these notecards to be almost too pretty to use!
The back of the box.
Here's the front of a blank envelope.
Back of an envelope.
Closeup of back of envelope.
And here's the inside of the lined envelope. The lining makes the envelopes seem very refined and classy! It also made the envelope a little audibly crinkly when unfolding the top flap. The envelope itself did NOT wrinkle, but it makes a noise when you open it!
Closeup of lined envelope with embossed "G. LALO - PARIS" on the diagonal.
I found I really liked the deckled edges--it made the notecards seem more special than a "plain" straight border. The laid (Verge) finish was also really pretty--subtle, but definitely fancy.
This might be a little difficult to see in the photo, but there are vertical lines in the watermark, approximately 1 inch apart, visible when held up to the light. The paper is a nice thickness--not like heavy cardstock, but definitely substantial. And the texture is really pleasant--I had fun running my fingers over it again and again (yes, I have a problem ;-)!
But how does this paper perform with fountain pens? See for yourself!
Written on laid side:
Closeups of writing on laid side:
Reverse side (smooth side) of the writing from the laid side (yes, it looks almost blank because of the lack of showthrough ;-):
Written on smooth side:
Closeups of writing on smooth side:
Reverse of smooth side:
The inks I tried, with some comments on their performance:
• Noodler's X-Feather in an XF nib (Sensa Meridian fountain pen, chrome/iridium nib)
• Noodler's La Reine Mauve in a 0.3mm nib (Sensa Meridian, chrome/iridium nib)
• This ink feathered a little, more so on the laid side. But this ink normally feathers a bit on some papers. The purple color is even more pronounced on this lavender paper. Lovely! :-)
• Noodler's Prime of the Commons Blue-Black in a 0.3 mm nib (Sensa Meridian, chrome/iridium nib)
• This ink feathers a lot on many papers (but I still love it!). It wasn't too bad here.
• Noodler's Spirit of Bamboo in a 0.3mm nib (Sensa Meridian, gold/iridium nib)
• This ink feathers a lot on many papers, too. I think it feathered the most on this paper out of all the inks I tried.
• Noodler's Britannia's Blue Waves in a 0.3mm nib (Sensa Meridian, gold/iridium nib)
• This ink also tends to feather. It's also really dry, so I had a few problems getting it to actually play nicely on the paper.
• Noodler's Rachmaninov in a 0.3 mm nib (Sensa Meridian, chrome/iridium nib)
• This ink worked well on this paper.
• Noodler's Verdun Green in an XXXF nib (Sensa Meridian, chrome/iridium nib)
• Just the tiniest bit of feathering.
• J. Herbin's Violette Pensée in an XXXF nib (Sensa Meridian, gold/iridium nib)
• Beautiful purple color on this paper. No discernable feathering, and laid down really nicely on the paper, despite the XXXF nib.
• Pilot felt-tip marker
• Pilot Precise V5 Rolling Ball pen (O.5mm)
• RoseArt gel pen
• uni*ball Vision pen (fine)
I wrote on both the "inside" smooth surface and the "outside" laid surface. Since I use pretty fine nibs, I preferred the smooth inside surface, as it provided less feedback. However, I didn't find writing on the laid surface unpleasant, just more feedback than I personally prefer. Some of you may actually prefer this, though!
Some of my XXXF nibs didn't lay down ink quite as well on the laid side as on the smooth side, but that's probably due to their fine width. I had no problem with the wetter inks (e.g., Prime of the Commons Blue-Black). There was a little feathering from some of my inks that are notorious for feathering on lots of papers, but not enough to be bothersome (except maybe Spirit of Bamboo). It might be my imagination, but the feathering appeared slightly worse on the laid side than the smooth side.
Another wonderful feature of this paper--NO bleedthrough! I couldn't even really see any noticeable showthrough!
I didn't take a picture of it, but needless to say, the handwritten notecard inside the envelope did not betray its contents--you can't see the writing at all, even with the writing against the front side.
Overall Conclusions:
These are beautiful notecards that are fancy enough to make the recipient feel special, but not at all glitzy or gaudy. They have an understated elegance, which I really appreciate. And I love this color (I'm a purplophile, though)! Even though I use extremely fine nibs, I found the inner smooth surface to be pretty smooth, with just a tiny bit of texture. Even the laid surface was fairly pleasant, considering the nib size I use, though I will probably mostly use the inside smooth surface, since I personally prefer really smooth paper.
With absolutely NO bleedthrough and not even any showthrough to speak of with my fine nibs, a felt-tip marker, gel pen, etc., this paper is really remarkable. I was concerned that my colorful inks would look washed out on the lavender, but was pleasantly surprised to find this wasn't the case (and it made the purples look even richer). I look forward to using these notecards in my personal correspondence! Hmmm...to whom should I send one next.... ;-)
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Review: Exacompta Basics Journal
Karen Doherty, the VP of Marketing at Exaclair (the US distributor of Clairefontaine, Exacompta, Rhodia, Quo Vadis, J. Herbin, and more) generously provided this blank journal for review purposes. Thanks, Karen! :-)
Here's the link to their website, where you can find the latest catalog (Karen informed me that the new catalog will be coming relatively soon!).
The Exacompta "Basics" Tan lined journal is the subject of this review (E993/, page 22 of the 2008 catalog). It's a little bit confusing, since they have basically the same name, but this is NOT the same thing as the Clairefontaine "Basics" journals (p. 13 of the catalog, C79546).
Note: You can enlarge any of the pics in this review by clicking on the picture!
According to their website:
• Tan with brown cloth binding and gold edge /1 (lined only)
• 25% cotton, pH neutral, 100 g off white paper
The paper appears to be 80gsm.
This journal also comes with a black cover and silver gilding. There are 100 lined sheets in the journal, and it measures 5 1/2" x 8".
Here's a pic of the journal, still in its protective plastic:
And a pic of the back cover in plastic:
The front cover, with the journal standing up. Love the picture of the inkwell and quill dip pen on the cover! The cover is a textured cardboard cover, clothbound. According to their catalog, there is a leather cover available (M9934/), but I haven't seen this at the "usual suspects" websites.
A bright, multicolored ribbon marker (orange, red & green) is bound to the spine. It has an unfinished edge, cut at a diagonal. As you can see, the ribbon doesn't extend that far past the bottom of the journal. It's not too short, but if it was any shorter, it might be hard to grab.
Love the gold gilt edges! Unlike some gilding, this didn't come off on my fingers when I rubbed the edge of the journal. What a relief! I didn't want to look like an 8-year-old who had played with glitter glue after handling the journal. (Not that there's anything wrong with that! ;-)
Inside the front cover and 1st endpaper (there are 2 in the front and 2 in the back). The first endpaper doesn't open fully (it's attached to the front cover), but the second endpaper opens completely.
The first "real" page. This journal opens pretty flat (almost all of the pics in this review were taken without any assistance in holding it open). However, there is a bit of a hump in the middle, especially at the beginning of a signature. I'm not very picky about this, but some of you out there might care!
Here's the inside of the journal, showing a stitched signature. There are 4 stitches, approximately 1" each in length. There's about 1 1/8" margin between the top of the top stitch and the top of the journal (and the same margin on the bottom of the page). I didn't find this to be a problem in turning the pages--the signatures did not lift up while I did so--but again, some people are concerned about this.
Here's the ribbon bookmarker.
Closeup of signature stitching.
The paper is a laid finish, but not as obvious as some G. Lalo cards I have. It's pretty subtle, but definitely present. The paper is an off-white/cream color, easy on the eyes, but not buttery yellow.
I wrote with several different colors of fountain pen ink, with nibs ranging from 0.3mm to XXXXF super-needlepoint. Normally, since I write with such finely-nibbed pens, I prefer glassy smooth paper--I don't like a lot of feedback while writing. I expected to really dislike the texture, but I was surprised that I actually found it pretty interesting with my 0.3mm nibs. It was a little distracting with my super-needlepoint pens, however.
I normally prefer bright white Clairefontaine paper, because I use lots of brightly colored inks, and the white paper shows off the ink color better. However, the color wasn't too yellow for me, and made some of my ink colors seem warmer. I still prefer the bright white, however, given the choice, though many people like off-white paper for ease of reading.
Most of the inks I tried fared pretty well on this paper. There was some feathering with Noodler's Spirit of Bamboo, Britannia's Blue Waves, La Reine Mauve, and Prime of the Commons Blue-Black, but those tend to feather on many papers. The feathering wasn't bad enough to be really distracting, but this did feather more than the standard bright white Clairefontaine paper. It didn't widen the line as far as I can tell.
Here's the reverse side of the page. As expected, the lines written with my finest-nibbed pens didn't show through much at all. There is a little bit of showthrough with the darker inks and the wider nibs, but not much. And absolutely NO bleedthrough whatsoever (YMMV). Britannia's Blue Waves tends to bleed through many different papers, but not this one!
Here's a comparison with a small Clairefontaine notebook:
The line spacing in this journal was a bit wide for me (10mm between lines). I find Clairefontaine line spacing a bit wide, and this was even wider that that! But some of you may actually prefer this, especially if you write with juicy broad nibs, or have large handwriting and feel cramped by the line spacing of other journals.
Here's a comparison with a Markings by C.R. Gibson small pocket journal. I like the line spacing in the Markings journal better, but that's a personal preference. This journal is almost 2 Markings lines per 1 Basics line.
Here's a comparison with the small US Quo Vadis Habana. The line spacing is similar to the Markings journal, almost 2 lines to 1 Basics line. Note the difference in paper color, too.
The back cover.
Conclusions:
Overall, this is a nice journal, and would be even nicer as a refill with a cover--I found the cardboard cover more durable than I expected, but I'd prefer to use it with a refillable cover. The line spacing is good for people with large handwriting, and the laid paper gave a little feedback, but not too much. The paper performed better than some journals with my FP inks (mostly Noodler's), as it didn't widen the lines of my nibs, but not as well as the regular bright white Clairefontaine paper--there was a bit of feathering with this paper. There was very little showthrough, and absolutely NO bleedthrough with my ink/nib combos, so those of you who write on both sides of the page might accept a little bit of feathering for this quality! The paper is very easy on the eyes without being too yellow, and the size is nice for those of you who don't need a pocket-sized journal--it's still small enough to put in a bag or large purse easily.
Update: For those of you interested in a cover for this journal, there are a couple of different covers available for this journal--a beautiful, upscale Mignon leather version (M9934 or M9924) and a pebble-grained Prestige Leather version.
Update #2: This also comes in a leather Saint Germain cover and a leather-like Madeira cover. Both on sale now at Writers Bloc (as of 2/18/09)--$20.00 and $14.50, respectively!
Update #3 (4/13/09): Here's the same notebook after it's been "toddler tested!" :-D
Here's the link to their website, where you can find the latest catalog (Karen informed me that the new catalog will be coming relatively soon!).
The Exacompta "Basics" Tan lined journal is the subject of this review (E993/, page 22 of the 2008 catalog). It's a little bit confusing, since they have basically the same name, but this is NOT the same thing as the Clairefontaine "Basics" journals (p. 13 of the catalog, C79546).
Note: You can enlarge any of the pics in this review by clicking on the picture!
According to their website:
• Tan with brown cloth binding and gold edge /1 (lined only)
• 25% cotton, pH neutral, 100 g off white paper
The paper appears to be 80gsm.
This journal also comes with a black cover and silver gilding. There are 100 lined sheets in the journal, and it measures 5 1/2" x 8".
Here's a pic of the journal, still in its protective plastic:
And a pic of the back cover in plastic:
The front cover, with the journal standing up. Love the picture of the inkwell and quill dip pen on the cover! The cover is a textured cardboard cover, clothbound. According to their catalog, there is a leather cover available (M9934/), but I haven't seen this at the "usual suspects" websites.
A bright, multicolored ribbon marker (orange, red & green) is bound to the spine. It has an unfinished edge, cut at a diagonal. As you can see, the ribbon doesn't extend that far past the bottom of the journal. It's not too short, but if it was any shorter, it might be hard to grab.
Love the gold gilt edges! Unlike some gilding, this didn't come off on my fingers when I rubbed the edge of the journal. What a relief! I didn't want to look like an 8-year-old who had played with glitter glue after handling the journal. (Not that there's anything wrong with that! ;-)
Inside the front cover and 1st endpaper (there are 2 in the front and 2 in the back). The first endpaper doesn't open fully (it's attached to the front cover), but the second endpaper opens completely.
The first "real" page. This journal opens pretty flat (almost all of the pics in this review were taken without any assistance in holding it open). However, there is a bit of a hump in the middle, especially at the beginning of a signature. I'm not very picky about this, but some of you out there might care!
Here's the inside of the journal, showing a stitched signature. There are 4 stitches, approximately 1" each in length. There's about 1 1/8" margin between the top of the top stitch and the top of the journal (and the same margin on the bottom of the page). I didn't find this to be a problem in turning the pages--the signatures did not lift up while I did so--but again, some people are concerned about this.
Here's the ribbon bookmarker.
Closeup of signature stitching.
The paper is a laid finish, but not as obvious as some G. Lalo cards I have. It's pretty subtle, but definitely present. The paper is an off-white/cream color, easy on the eyes, but not buttery yellow.
I wrote with several different colors of fountain pen ink, with nibs ranging from 0.3mm to XXXXF super-needlepoint. Normally, since I write with such finely-nibbed pens, I prefer glassy smooth paper--I don't like a lot of feedback while writing. I expected to really dislike the texture, but I was surprised that I actually found it pretty interesting with my 0.3mm nibs. It was a little distracting with my super-needlepoint pens, however.
I normally prefer bright white Clairefontaine paper, because I use lots of brightly colored inks, and the white paper shows off the ink color better. However, the color wasn't too yellow for me, and made some of my ink colors seem warmer. I still prefer the bright white, however, given the choice, though many people like off-white paper for ease of reading.
Most of the inks I tried fared pretty well on this paper. There was some feathering with Noodler's Spirit of Bamboo, Britannia's Blue Waves, La Reine Mauve, and Prime of the Commons Blue-Black, but those tend to feather on many papers. The feathering wasn't bad enough to be really distracting, but this did feather more than the standard bright white Clairefontaine paper. It didn't widen the line as far as I can tell.
Here's the reverse side of the page. As expected, the lines written with my finest-nibbed pens didn't show through much at all. There is a little bit of showthrough with the darker inks and the wider nibs, but not much. And absolutely NO bleedthrough whatsoever (YMMV). Britannia's Blue Waves tends to bleed through many different papers, but not this one!
Here's a comparison with a small Clairefontaine notebook:
The line spacing in this journal was a bit wide for me (10mm between lines). I find Clairefontaine line spacing a bit wide, and this was even wider that that! But some of you may actually prefer this, especially if you write with juicy broad nibs, or have large handwriting and feel cramped by the line spacing of other journals.
Here's a comparison with a Markings by C.R. Gibson small pocket journal. I like the line spacing in the Markings journal better, but that's a personal preference. This journal is almost 2 Markings lines per 1 Basics line.
Here's a comparison with the small US Quo Vadis Habana. The line spacing is similar to the Markings journal, almost 2 lines to 1 Basics line. Note the difference in paper color, too.
The back cover.
Conclusions:
Overall, this is a nice journal, and would be even nicer as a refill with a cover--I found the cardboard cover more durable than I expected, but I'd prefer to use it with a refillable cover. The line spacing is good for people with large handwriting, and the laid paper gave a little feedback, but not too much. The paper performed better than some journals with my FP inks (mostly Noodler's), as it didn't widen the lines of my nibs, but not as well as the regular bright white Clairefontaine paper--there was a bit of feathering with this paper. There was very little showthrough, and absolutely NO bleedthrough with my ink/nib combos, so those of you who write on both sides of the page might accept a little bit of feathering for this quality! The paper is very easy on the eyes without being too yellow, and the size is nice for those of you who don't need a pocket-sized journal--it's still small enough to put in a bag or large purse easily.
Update: For those of you interested in a cover for this journal, there are a couple of different covers available for this journal--a beautiful, upscale Mignon leather version (M9934 or M9924) and a pebble-grained Prestige Leather version.
Update #2: This also comes in a leather Saint Germain cover and a leather-like Madeira cover. Both on sale now at Writers Bloc (as of 2/18/09)--$20.00 and $14.50, respectively!
Update #3 (4/13/09): Here's the same notebook after it's been "toddler tested!" :-D
I Have a Problem....
(click to enlarge)This is a pic of the journals stacking up on my desk from about a month ago. Can you name the journals in this pic? (Answers forthcoming.)
Embarrassingly, there have already been several new additions since this pic was taken--probably at least 11 new journals. While I've written in several of these journals, none of these are full! (Well, okay, one has been filled since this pic was taken. :-)
Anyway, more journals reviews will be added, as I find the time (and if the weather ever obliges me--it's been overcast for at least a week!).
Thursday, January 1, 2009
FPN Review: Noodler's X-Feather
(Here's a link to my review on FPN.)
As many of you know, Jetpens has started carrying Noodler's ink. They had a few bottles that were damaged during shipping that couldn't be sold. They offered the damaged bottles free to the first 6 people who responded in exchange for a review of the ink. They kindly sent me a bottle!
Noodler's X-Feather was designed to resist feathering, especially on cheap papers. It is billed as archival and 100% bulletproof.
I tried to use different papers than those used by the other 2 reviewers. I tried Noodler's X-Feather along with Noodler's Esplanade (Singapore exclusive), Noodler's Prime of the Commons Blue-Black (UK exclusive), and Noodler's La Reine Mauve (regular distribution). Esplanade in particular feathers a lot on many different papers, PCBB varies in its feathering qualities, and La Reine Mauve is generally well-behaved.
I used Sensa Meridian FPs, custom ground to 0.3mm, in all the handwritten samples.
Here are pics of samples on the different papers I tried:
Cheap copy paper (Georgia Pacific, 88 brightness, 20#)
(click on picture to enlarge)
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Mead Composition Book, Vietnam paper
(click on picture to enlarge)
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Index card (Oxford brand, really old and slightly yellowed)
(click on picture to enlarge)
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Newsprint (old TV guide from the Sunday paper)
(click on picture to enlarge)
Facial tissue (Puffs)
(click on picture to enlarge)
(click on picture to enlarge)
Ink drying time: As you can see, it smudged at 10 seconds (but not much at 5 seconds). This will be variable depending on how much ink was laid down by the pen, etc. I've used X-Feather to take notes on cheap copy paper, and it seemed to dry pretty fast--I'd heard it takes a long time. It probably does on Clairefontaine paper with a super-smooth finish, but that's not the type of paper this ink was made for!
Ink flow: I really like the flow--it's not too dry in my pens, but not too wet, either! It puts down a nice, tight line, and doesn't widen on the page. I left it in a pen without using it for 5 days, and it started up immediately. I haven't experienced any problems while pausing during writing.
Overall, this is a nice, rich black ink that was very well-behaved in my Sensa Meridians. It performed beautifully on cheap recycled papers, and, true to its name, didn't feather! It didn't bleed through anything I tried, either, not even on the facial tissue! Its flow was perfect in my pens, and felt nice while writing. The drying time on cheap, absorbent papers was much better than I thought (on the newsprint, it seemed to dry almost instantaneously). I wouldn't bother using this ink if you mostly use Clairefontaine paper or other papers that are pretty feather-resistant anyway, but if you use a lot of more porous papers or a wide variety of papers, X-Feather will do the trick!
As many of you know, Jetpens has started carrying Noodler's ink. They had a few bottles that were damaged during shipping that couldn't be sold. They offered the damaged bottles free to the first 6 people who responded in exchange for a review of the ink. They kindly sent me a bottle!
Noodler's X-Feather was designed to resist feathering, especially on cheap papers. It is billed as archival and 100% bulletproof.
I tried to use different papers than those used by the other 2 reviewers. I tried Noodler's X-Feather along with Noodler's Esplanade (Singapore exclusive), Noodler's Prime of the Commons Blue-Black (UK exclusive), and Noodler's La Reine Mauve (regular distribution). Esplanade in particular feathers a lot on many different papers, PCBB varies in its feathering qualities, and La Reine Mauve is generally well-behaved.
I used Sensa Meridian FPs, custom ground to 0.3mm, in all the handwritten samples.
Here are pics of samples on the different papers I tried:
Cheap copy paper (Georgia Pacific, 88 brightness, 20#)
(click on picture to enlarge)
(click on picture to enlarge)
(click on picture to enlarge)
(click on picture to enlarge)
(click on picture to enlarge)Mead Composition Book, Vietnam paper
(click on picture to enlarge)
(click on picture to enlarge)
(click on picture to enlarge)
(click on picture to enlarge)Index card (Oxford brand, really old and slightly yellowed)
(click on picture to enlarge)
(click on picture to enlarge)Newsprint (old TV guide from the Sunday paper)
(click on picture to enlarge)Facial tissue (Puffs)
(click on picture to enlarge)
(click on picture to enlarge)Ink drying time: As you can see, it smudged at 10 seconds (but not much at 5 seconds). This will be variable depending on how much ink was laid down by the pen, etc. I've used X-Feather to take notes on cheap copy paper, and it seemed to dry pretty fast--I'd heard it takes a long time. It probably does on Clairefontaine paper with a super-smooth finish, but that's not the type of paper this ink was made for!
Ink flow: I really like the flow--it's not too dry in my pens, but not too wet, either! It puts down a nice, tight line, and doesn't widen on the page. I left it in a pen without using it for 5 days, and it started up immediately. I haven't experienced any problems while pausing during writing.
Overall, this is a nice, rich black ink that was very well-behaved in my Sensa Meridians. It performed beautifully on cheap recycled papers, and, true to its name, didn't feather! It didn't bleed through anything I tried, either, not even on the facial tissue! Its flow was perfect in my pens, and felt nice while writing. The drying time on cheap, absorbent papers was much better than I thought (on the newsprint, it seemed to dry almost instantaneously). I wouldn't bother using this ink if you mostly use Clairefontaine paper or other papers that are pretty feather-resistant anyway, but if you use a lot of more porous papers or a wide variety of papers, X-Feather will do the trick!
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