And so we encounter the age-old dilemma of possessing an astonishingly aesthetic notebook, but not being able to use it because it would be wrecked forever. I’ll use this one. Really I will. It won’t be like the other times.
Anyway, I needed to use at least one page for reviewing purposes, so I put on my big reviewer socks, broke out the fountain pens and scribbled across one page as neatly as possible. But before that, packaging!
Everything’s better boxed, with the possible exception of drinks and anything in gas form, and I’m happy to see that this notebook was graced with similarly attractive packaging. The understated white box with gold detailing make this notebook perfect for a gift, or for storing the notebook when not in use.
The white box creates a nice contrast with the black notebook inside, which is printed with a simplistic moon design in gold, with three gold flowers on the spine. An elastic band is provided to keep the notebook close. I like this feature, but I find that bands can often leave a subtle crease on the cover. So far, this hasn’t happened – the cover feels sturdy, so hopefully it will be crease-resistant!
The pages are edged with the same gold as the cover and spine, and there are un-edged areas that form flowers. This is a nice touch, since many edged notebooks tend to have a block-colour edge rather than a decorated one, if they’re edged at all.
As this is a bullet journal, the inside of the notebook is dotted rather than lined or blank. It’s very thick paper and I thought I might be accidentally turning two pages as a time when I flicked the pages. Nope, just one page of very decent paper! It also feels very smooth. Perhaps not quite Tomoe-River smooth, but something approaching that.
Smooth paper usually shows up sheen and shimmer well. That said, while any high-shimmer inks can and probably will blind you on this paper, the sheen falls a bit flat, at least in the Van Diemans ink I used on the second line. I’ll have to test this paper out with a few more inks, but I didn’t see much, if any, sheen in any of them. You don’t see any at all in the photo due to poor lighting. I need to upgrade my photography set-up!
There was minimal feathering – the Van Diemans ink did feather a little but that usually happens when I use it. I think the formula leans on the wet side, so most papers tend to struggle with it a little. There was no perceptible feathering in the other inks, and minimal show-through. There’s a bit of show-through where I coloured in a box, and some on the second line, but apart from that it’s handled the inks very well.
I appreciate the two rose-pink bookmarks inside, and happily, they’ve been cut in such a way that they won’t fray! Bookmarks that fray are a pet peeve of mine, so I like this smallest of adjustments to prevent that happening.
Finally, there’s a pocket in the back of the notebook, perfect for storing the washi stickers, card bookmark and flower paperclip that come as extras in the box. I always like fun little gifts with my stationery, and usually end up saving any stickers because I can’t decide how to use them. Should I use them in the notebook? But then what should I use the notebook for in the first place? Ah, glorious overthinking. It makes everything so much harder than it needs to be.
This notebook scores top marks for aestheticism and the quality doesn’t disappoint either. What would you use it for?
Disclaimer: This item is from my personal stationery collection – all opinions in this article, as always, are my own. For more details, visit the ‘Ethics’ section of KraftyCats.
