One of my favorite things about pen shows is that even if I don’t get to go, Ana always brings home fun stuff to review. This week I’m checking out OEDA Letterpress Two (and 5) Color Paper Notebooks ($15-24.00 via Dromgoole’s)
If you love testing fun new paper, wouldn’t you love it if there were multiple papers in a single notebook? These Traveler-sized OEDA notebooks contain blank paper in 2 or 5 different colors. In the two color books, paper alternates between white and natural every five pages, for a total of 50 pages. The five color books contain 5 different types of paper (8 sheets each 40 in total): Buff Paper, Tracing Paper, Half Air Paper, Wax Paper and Bumpel Paper. What is Bunpel paper? A quick google search suggests that it is a type of craft paper that feels textured. The covers on all the books are board paper, available in beige, craft or brown (2 color) or navy/tan (5 color).
So how does the paper handle fountain pen ink? The answer is pretty darn well. The paper is highly textured, but doesn’t feather or bleed with different inks. The one thing I will say is that the paper is fairly thin (not quite Hobonichi Tomoe) and there is quite a bit of show through. If you’re someone who likes using the front and the back of the page, this may be a concern. But it may not!
Now for the most important part: the GIVEWAY!
Two lucky winners will each receive an OEDA Letterpress Two Color Paper notebook PLUS a gorgeous calendar designed by Ana and printed by Skylab Letterpress, plus a big of swag from us.
TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell me, what is your favorite paper? Play along and type in something. It makes reading through entries more interesting for me, okay? One entry per person.
If you have never entered a giveaway or commented on the site before, your comment must be manually approved by our highly-trained staff of monkeys before it will appear on the site. Our monkeys are underpaid and under-caffeinated so don’t stress if your comment does not appear right away. Give the monkeys some time.
FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Friday, March 1, 2024. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Monday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your actual email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. If winner does not respond within 5 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. Shipping via USPS first class is covered. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money. US and APO/AFO only, sorry.
DISCLAIMER: The items included in this giveaway were provided to us free of charge by Dromgoole’s and Skylab. Please see the About page for more details.
My favorite paper is tomoe river paper. But, the pen addict ( Brad) has been raving about bank paper so I am sampling Yamamoto bank paper right now.
My favourite paper is Verge de France. It’s a wonderfully white and absorbent paper – very well behaved with fountain pens. I know people love Tomoe River but I find that I’m too clumsy with it and often cause inks to smudge on it.
Also it’s a great paper for letter writing. To get a nice thick paper is much nicer than the super thin tomoe river!
I love TR but I also love trying out new paper.
Well, to be honest, at one time I would have said Tomeo River Paper like most people. But of late, I’ve decided that Rhodia is a better choice all round. It is has less “tooth” than paper in my Leuchtturm1917 for one thing. Another is this, many black inks smudge pretty easily and have very long dry times on TRP and others. But Rhodia does not suffer from this as much. For example Rhodia and Heart of Darkness play very well together. That’s it. Rhodia for me at least for now. (Though I must admit I enjoy exploring other possibilities.)
Thanks for doing the give-away.
For the longest time, old Tomoe was my BAE. When the great Tomoe disaster of 2020 happened, I decided to branch out and explore other papers. Right now, I adore the Takasago Premium Bank paper and the New Chiffon Cream that Yamamoto uses in their Ro Biki notebooks. It doesn’t work with all fountain pen and ink combinations, but it feels so luxurious to write on!
Honestly, I haven’t tried many of the big names yet! I like Moo soft notebooks for my commonplace book for now.
Heh, I tend to like whatever paper I’m using, but for the purposes of this giveaway (thank you!!) I really like airmail paper or tracing/onionskin type papers. I love the crinkle and the texture they get after they’re written on.
I’m definitely curious about these notebooks & the paper, I have some OEDA letterpress labels from Stationery Selection (was a collab), but don’t have any of their actual paper/notebooks. Thank you for the opportunity!
Normally, as an avid pen pal person for many decades who uses fountain pens, I have preferred Tomoe River and Clairefontaine Triomphe. But recently I have been loving a Yamamoto Takasago premium writing pad that I think I ordered from Jet Pens. I need to check because I want to order another one–lol! 🙂
My favorite paper is Claire Fontaine with french ruling. I use it for everything but especially for penmanship practice. I prefer journals with Tomoe 68 gram as it isn’t show through and I don’t want to wait a long time to turn the page when I am writing. For just playing around vintage onion skin always surprises me. I like parchment for baking. Tissue for wrapping packages and brown paper for groceries if I forget my reusable bags. I like Hammermill 30lbs for running through the copier as it is fountain pen friendly but it eats sheen and shimmer. Oh, and news print for fish and chips.
I have some older Miquelrius A4 hard cover spiral notebooks (artwork by Jordi Labanda) that have the best paper for someone who enjoys a large format spiral but wants a more substantial feeling book. They’re hard to find now.
I personally love any type of paper with beautiful or interesting artwork along the borders. I am obsessed with airmail design though, so a majority of my paper has airmail designs, haha. I love the thickness of the paper that Oeda uses for their letterpress labels though for junk journaling or even as a simple note to pen pals. I guess I’m just a sucker for any paper as long as I love the design that comes with it. Thanks for sharing and doing this giveaway!
I love old-fashioned onion skin paper, the cockle-finish kind. It has the most delightful crunchy sound and despite the texture, it does well with most fountain pens.
Difficult to say. My most used paper is Tomoe River since I can be confident it will play nice with any fountain pen I happen to be using at the time. I can’t say it’s my ideal though, because it can be a little too slick with ball-tipped pens like Uni-Ball One gels or Pilot G2s. I’m currently on the hunt for something equally hearty, but with a little more bite.
If I’m honest, my favorite paper must be Moleskine. I have a stack of cahiers dating back to 2013, long before I became a regular fountain pen user. (Mostly using mechanical pencil, Pentel P207 or P205.)
I’m also partial to composition books — 50¢ for 100 pages is a deal I can’t pass up.
For fountain pens I use a mix of Rhodia, MD, and Leuchtturm… and they’re all great.
My heart is still with Tomoe River paper. I use both a Hobinici and Lochby journals but I have other journals as well. Elia, Fabiano and Rhodia as well as a Cosmo Light
Those are beautiful notebooks! My fave paper is 68gsm Tomoe River Paper. I’ll take 52gsm in a pinch.
I like having travelers notebook with graph paper
Thanks for the chance to win
As a Bookbinder, I tend to go with Mohawk text weight paper since that’s usually what I have around
Those are beautiful notebooks. I love the idea of multiple colors in one notebook.
I’m still new to this world of pens and papers, although I’ve been using fountain pens for years, so I haven’t tried too many papers. Currently my favorite notebook is a Letterbox notebook a friend gave me. It has very little show through and just the right amount of tooth for me to write comfortably without slipping (if that makes sense).
I have yet to try Tomoe River and have been eyeing some Clairefontaine notebooks to try when I’ve whittled down my notebook stash to a reasonable level.
My favorite paper is the “Kraft” foolscap paper used in Kleid brand notebooks. I don’t know what gsm it is.
For letter-writing, I’m quite fond of Original Crown Mill Laid Paper. Super soft!
I absolutely love chartpak clearprint 16 lb cotton vellum paper. This paper is the best. You can use indian ink, fountain pen ink, watercolors, markers, pencil… anything. I also like the paper that they used to print the older versions of Norton’s Anthology. Sometimes it is called onion paper or bible paper, but it hard to find just the right kind. A company called Onion Skin Journal has bound versions of their paper, and it is similar. There is something about using ballpoint on onion skin paper, and having a journal filled with crinkly paper at the end.
I love all paper from regular post its notes to composition notebooks to my Travelers notebooks. I would love to try out these new notebooks if given the chance.
Been a big fan of your newsletter for a long time. Have been journaling for about 50 yrs, got into planners about five years ago. Started off loving Peter Pauper Press notebooks, mainly for those gorgeous covers. Then when I found fountain pens it was all about the TR paper. Then I tried a stone paper notebook from Walmart out of curiousity a couple years ago and have been head over heels in love since. But only for journaling. For art, it’s all about what mediums I want to use, smooth coated for inks, watercolor paper for ballpoints, etc. For planners, I love the feel of the Plum Paper, but usually end up bouncing around with Moleskine or Filofax. Keep up the great work y’all! Look forward to the next newsletter. 🙂
My favorite paper, so far, is lined Clairefontaine. Rhodia is another favorite, but by the same company I understand. I’ve only sampled a few types of paper but just reading the comments here makes me want to try so many more! So much paper, so little time…,
One day your monkeys will unionize and you’ll have to caffeinate them properly.
I’ve been really liking the Sakae Iroful paper lately. I think of it as the lovely offspring of Tomoe River and Rhodia. It’s smooth and shows up sheen and shimmer, but not so much that the ink disappears. I prefer mine blank, but I think it comes in dots and maybe a grid version, too. Stickers and washi adhere to it nicely so it can be magically transformed into stationery.
I also love the typewriter paper I got from Ana and the WAD a while back. Lovely for writing and it definitely shows off sheen and shimmer!
For journals, I do usually prefer paper that’s thick enough to allow me to use both sides.
I am very intrigued by this new (to me, at least) paper you are showcasing here. I appreciate both smooth and textured papers, so would like to try this notebook.
Thanks!
I have a Kanso Noto notebook from Jetpens that I think has some Tomoe paper. It’s really nice. Everyday I use Campus….Sarasara, I think.
I discovered beautiful paper when visiting Europe. Claire fountaine is my every day favorite but I love to just feel papers from fabriano. I remember riding a bus through the country side of Italy, feeling a little stressed at being in a strange new country. I dug out a business card sized price of thick rich paper and just felt it while my spouse napped beside me. It helped me relax and enjoy the beautiful countryside.
My favourite paper vacillates between old Tomoe River and Cosmo Air Light. Unfortunately, both are now discontinued. I have a stock, so I haven’t needed to find a replacement, fortunately, but I’m not looking forward to the day. Though by then, maybe there will be a great option available!
My favorite paper is handmade paper!
My favorite paper for several years now has been the Midori MD. I used an A6 sized lined notebook for my daily journal/commonplace book for about 4 years or so, filled at least ten of them. Recently, I was given a Traveler’s notebook for Christmas, and that has inspired me to switch my journal over to the Midori ruled inserts for that.
So far, my favorite is the Maruman Nnemosyne paper that’s inside their notebooks. It’s got a good combo of features (fountain pen-friendly, little to no show-through, some other niceties), and the notebooks are priced pretty well for what you get.
I’ve been enjoying Claire Fontaine Triomphe for letters. I’d love to try others for other uses.
I love Midori MD grid paper.
At the moment, I would say it’s Kokuyo’s Perpanep Tsurutsuru and Sarasara paper. I love that the notebooks lay flat as well!
Favourite paper… mmm… possibly Midori 013 for their Traveller’s notebook… great for my fine/extra fine nibbed fountain pens… a little show through being such a thin paper but no bleed… and a absolutely beautiful cream colour to the VERY smooth paper!
But… then again… whatever paper that is in front of me is often the best in that moment too 🙂
My favorite paper is Clairefontaine. Enough said!
My current favorite is Midori MD paper. It just happens that I’m using various Midori products right now for my planner and 3-year diaries.
I haven’t figured out my favorite fountain pen paper yet, but I love watercolor paper for making art.
I have many favorites for many reasons. Here’s just a few…if Im painting its (Arches) watercolor paper. If I’m drawing its Bristol. If its my birthday its wrapping paper and if im in the bathroom its Charmin.
Picking only one favorite is really, really hard. I like to write with fountain pens almost exclusively, all wityh broad, double broad, and stub nibs. The juicer and smoother, the better. So, any paper I use must work well with this obsession.
There are 2 that I love – Clairefontaine for correspondence and journaling, and Tomoe River 52gsm for when I want to really show off my inks.
I suppose to have a valid entry, I do have to make a choice. After much deliberation and a lot of coffee this AM, my favorite would be the Clairefontaine.
What makes it the winner for me – yes, even over TR52 – is it works well when I punch the paper and place it into my disc bound notebooks.
But, who knows, maybe one of the papers (if I win, please, oh please) will result in a new favorite for me!
My favorite paper is BLANK paper. I can’t be confined by lines they make me all anxious and wonky.
I haven’t delved into the varieties of papers yet, so if I win, this would be fun to explore. I’m a lined-page type of gal, because I just write. Beyond a smiley face or two, I’m not an artistic person, so blank pages are wasted on me. And I can’t write in a straight line without lines.
Is it a cop out to say that my favorite paper depends on the purpose? I regularly use planners and notebooks that have Mohawk, Tomoe River, smooth 160gsm white paper, and Midori MD paper and I love them all for different reasons. I love the rough feedback that Mohawk paper can give and I mimicked it via my screen protector on my iPad. TRP for my fountain pens when I really want that sheen to come through and the 160gsm and Midori paper for when I’m bullet journaling.
While I am sure it would have been completely awful for fountain pens, my favorite paper was the Big Chief Tablet. I remember sitting in the floor with my grandmother and drawing in one. Good times.
When I was in first grade I LOVED the little rainbow notepads. Today for fountain pens I like Tomoe River paper.
I LOVE trying new things but my favorite paper is the Tomoe River paper. I would love to try these because I need a new favorite!!
I like Japanese Bank Paper, all of them. They work with all of my pens and nibs and even a bit of watercolor painting.
Current favorite paper is Tomoe River S as I’m currently enamored with my Hobonichi 5 year Techo and the paper, as thin as it is, is gorgeous.
I still like 68 gsm Tomoe River paper and yes, I have a stash. For just jotting things down, Rhodia pads are awesome.
I enjoy using Rhodia paper.
I love stalogy paper! But also Erin conference and tomoe river..
I’ll have to agree with the masses here and say Tomoe River. Thanks for the giveaway!
The paper in Rhoda’s meeting notebook is some of the nicest everyday notebook paper.
I love Cosmo Air Light! Too bad it’s going the way of OGTR…
These note books are lovely! What a great giveaway! I love any kind of paper … I’m sort of a paper hunter and gatherer! I enjoy using fun stationery, note cards, and repurposed paper like lab notes and invoices. Why not? Different textures make the world go ’round!
Once upon a time, Barnes and Noble used to sell mulberry paper notebooks. It’s highly textured but with a super smooth finish. I love that paper. I can’t find it anymore and it makes me sad. It was great with fountain pen ink, but also because I was an absolute weirdo and used a dip pen in every day life, dried quickly and the nib never caught on the fibers.
Bond paper Is my go to
I am not yet sure which is my favorite paper. For fountain pen use I need it to be smooth and opaque. For all purposes i prefer off white or ivory. Why do Japanese notebooks and Fiekd Notes seem to always do better than anyone else?