In Planners & Organizers

GIVEAWAY: Mark’s EDiT Reading Notebook

Author Laura CameronPosted on 57 Comments

In the last few weeks I’ve sort of become obsessed with journaling. So I’m at a crossroads in my life. In many ways I’ve adapted to the digital life. I use Goodreads and Storygraph to track what I’m reading. I have used Ravelry to track my knitting projects. I’ve tried and failed at a variety of ways to record daily events in an electronic format (i.e. blogging on various sites). Ultimately what I’ve decided is that there IS benefit to digitally recording what’s going on, but sometimes I also want to record it in an analog fashion. Here are two use cases.

A few years ago I decided to limit my use of Ravelry. I used to track each and every knitting and spinning project I do there, as it has a rich database that links to patterns, yarns, techniques and more. I could add pictures and it was a highly efficient way to track what I was making (and refer back to it in case I wanted to see what I did, how I did, when I did it, etc.) For the last few years, I’ve tried and failed to set up many systems (both digital and analog) and the problem is that none of them do it as well as Ravelry did. But then I saw this Instagram reel:

And I thought, hey I have a MILLION notebooks (have you seen how many notebooks I’ve reviewed), I HAVE to be able to come up with something good. I bought a mini printer (Polaroid Hi Print – reviews forthcoming) and I’m running with it. I hope to share the journal soon.

Next up to tackle was reading. While I do use a few sites to digitally track what I’m reading, what I’m missing is a way to write about what I’ve read, to process what I think. Less of a public review for prospective readers and more of a way to record how the book made me feel, what it made me think about, etc. I don’t necessarily envision this as a complete tracking of what I’ve read (let’s face it – beach reads often need no further thought), but more a memory of the books I loved or hated. Again, I have a million notebooks and ideas on how to start this – I just need to take the plunge.

Now let’s get to the point of this post: the Giveaway. In mulling over the options, I went out and looked at journals specifically designed for tracking your reads. And I really liked what I saw of the Mark’s Edit Reading Notebook ($28.50 from Jetpens). This notebook seems like the perfect mix of structured information (the data points), and free form sections for you to write down whatever you’re thinking. It has room for:

  • 71 book journal entries
  • 16 dot grid pages for whatever you want!
  • A Favorite Books section
  • A Book Stores section
  • Expenses section with room to record 100 book purchases – you may not want to know (I’d skip this section)
  • An Aphorisms section for remembering 10 favorite quotes.
  • A Fold-out book log for charting out your reading accomplishments over a 12-month period.

This is a slim, hardback volume with a fabric cover, measuring roughly 5.2″ x 7.6″ (13.3 cm x 19.2 cm). The end pages are a plain black and the inside title page allows you to add the dates it covers. The pages themselves are white, featuring a variety of lined and dot grid sections. The whole book is 88 sheets and the paper is advertised as fountain pen friendly. (Note – I did not test the paper since this is a giveaway!)

Are you a reader? Would you like to win this Reading Journal to kick off your 2024 year in books? If so, keep going to find out how to enter!

You are entering the giveaway to win:

TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell me, what is the best book you read last year? 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, January 12, 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 Jetpens. Please see the About page for more details.

In Paper Review

Yamamoto Paper Writing Pads: Tomoegawa Tomoe River vs. Sanzen Tomoe River S

Author AnaPosted on 3 Comments
Yamamoto Paper Writing Pads: Tomoegawa Tomoe River vs. Sanzen Tomoe River S

We’ve discussed the change in the Tomoe River paper here on the blog and many other bloggers have also done research on the subject. Hobonichi also posted an interview with the Sanzen CEO and Manufacturing Manager and even a post on how Sanzen makes Tomoe River S paper.

At the St. Louis Pen Show, pen friend Andrew purchased two Yamamoto A5 Writing Pads — one was the Sanzen Tomoe River S paper and one was the Tomoegawa Tomoe River Paper. Andrew, Alan T.  and I happily spent the evening alternating between the two papers, testing the ink shading, sheening and absorption. By the end of the evening, we could tell just be touching pen to paper which paper was which.

After this experiment in July, I kept thinking about the experience and realized I needed to share the results with a bigger audience so I purchased one of each of the Yamamoto A5 Writing Pads to be able to recreate the experiment for you as well as add in an old Elia Note A5 notebook which I know uses some of the original Tomoe River produced on the old No. 7 machine. The Tomoegawa Writing Pad contains the paper produced on the No. 9 machine as is the last paper produced in the Tomoegawa factory before the equipment and branding were sold to Sanzen. As is discussed in the interview mentioned above the CEO and manager at Sanzen help to explain how anything and everything can effect the quality of the paper both in production and afterwards. Heat, humidity, the pulp. and the water used in manufacturing can all effect the final result.

As such, I wanted to be able to both experience and try to explain the differences. My goal is not to make people covet or go in search of marked up “vintage” Tomoegawa Tomoe River paper. What I wanted to do is establish what the differences are and, in the end, establish that while the Sanzen Tomoe River S is different from the previous iterations, it is still, by far, some of the best fountain pen friendly paper available.

Above are MOST of the tools I used in testing. I wanted to test both fountain pens as well as felt, gel, liquid ink, as well as folded nibs and dip pens in order to see the full scope of paper capabilities. Since the new Sanzen Tomoe River paper is featured in the Hobonichi planners, its important that the paper handle a wide assortment of pens since so many people use the planners, not just fountain pen people.

Fountain Pen Tests:

In my first round of pen tests, I didn’t notice huge differences between the papers. All line weights and colors were pretty consistent. The Sanzen may have shown a bit more green in the Sailor Hinoki multi-chromatic ink but it could also be how I put the ink down so, despite efforts to be scientific some differences may be user error.

The only noticeable difference was some feathering in the dip pen test but dip pens are not used by most people. And the Sanzen paper seemed “drier”. I don’t know how else to describe it. It’s most noticeable with the Pilot Parallel writing sample and how there are more rough edges comparatively.

In the longer writing sample, it became more evident that the vintage Tomoe River (Elia Note) creates a broader line with the HF Sailor nib when compared to the Sanzen Tomoe River. This solified my theory about the Sanzen paper being “drier”.

Heavy Ink Application:

When using a folded nib (and Robert Oster Torquay) the Sanzen paper created a slightly lighter color and finer line. The color is relatively consistent on all three papers.

Another folded nib sample on all three papers make the dry quality of the Sanzen more evident. The wobbliness of the edges may have to do with the slightly more tooth (texture) in the paper. The vintage Elia Note paper is the smoothest and the Tomoegawa paper is in-between.

The color fidelity is pretty consistent on all three papers. None had bleed through issues but the show through was pretty similar. The paper is only 52gsm so dumping this much ink is bound to cause a little showthrough.

Other Pens:

On the Elia Note paper, the smudges are the only indication that this paper takes a bit longer to dry than the other two.

With other pens tested, the only notable issue was the Uniball ONE 0.38. The ink looks — oily? The black ink color was more notable than the light green color but the color is quite light.

All three papers show a little granulation, particularly in the light pink Pentel Sign Pen. This is an odd effect but none of the brush pens feathered so its probably not a male-or-break for most people.

Pencil on all three papers was actually okay. It will smudge a little bit if you are left handed or are working in a hot, humid environment.

My final opinion:

As the Sanzen version of Tomoe River paper is the only option readily available, I think its a good option. Is it the same as the Tomoegawa paper made on the old No. 7 machine? No. But the Sanzen version is not BAD. It’s just different. It’s a little drier and a little toothier. Over time, Sanzen may adjust things or replace rollers or blankets (those felt sheets that soak up the water) and the overall texture of the paper may shift slightly, for better or worse. But, given all the other alternatives currently available (and not being discontinued, I’m looking at you, Cosmo Air Light), I think continuing to purchase and support the efforts of the Sanzen company are in the best interests of the stationery and (particularly) the fountain pen community.

Yamamoto Paper A5 Writing Pads can be purchased directly on their web site (¥1760 per pad) or through Etsy ($21 per pad).

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge for the purpose of review. Some items were purchased with funds from our amazing Patrons. You can help support this blog by joining our Patreon. Please see the About page for more details.

In feature

Pen Show Calendar Updated!

Author AnaPosted on

Another photo of my pink hands

Just a quick note to let you know that the Pen Show Calendar has been updated with all the most recent information available. There are still some shows that have not published their 2024 dates and a few shows that may no longer be in business.

If you have any updates, please drop me an email. You can use the contact form to reach me.

Can’t wait to see you all in 2024!

In Link Love

Link Love: Dead Week Reflections

Author AnaPosted on 1 Comment
Link Love: Dead Week Reflections

I often hear the week between Christmas and New Year’s called “Dead Week”. With the crazy prep leading up to Christmas behind us and it’s not the “get back to work, Johnson!” of January 2, there’s often not a whole lot to do. Heck, most of us don’t WANT to do anything. For bloggers and other online folks, this is when we write our wrap-ups, best-of’s and resolution-type posts for the new year.

This week, we have an array of end-of-year posts plus several planner set-ups and goals for 2024 scattered throughout.

I have also been interested in the Inkvent (purple edition) reviews and overviews this year because I was too sick in November to remember to order an Inkvent for myself so I’ve been living vicariously through everyone else.

No matter what else, I feel safe in guessing that most of us hope to use more of our pens, inks and notebooks in 2024. Am I right?

Love Ana

2023 Highlight Reels:

Pens:

Ink:

Inkvent 2023 (Purple Edition) Special Coverage:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

Thanks for squandering another perfectly good half hour reading Link Love. We truly appreciate it. Please support our sponsors or join our Patreon. Your support helps this site. Without you, we could not continue to do what we do. Thank you!

In Pen Review

When is a knock off worth the fun? Jinhao 82

Author Laura CameronPosted on 10 Comments

Ana and I met up this past Saturday to exchange holiday gifts, sip coffee, chat stationery and knit. She presented me with a beautifully wrapped package and the first thing I opened was a fountain pen. For a second I gasped, but then she assured me it wasn’t what I thought it was. Ana had bought me a Jinhao 82 ($8.98 on Amazon). If you don’t know anything about fountain pens, Jinhao is a series of pens from China, often made to look like other pens; i.e. knockoffs.

So I decided that today I would take the Jinhao 82 out and test it side by side with its “inspiration”: a Sailor ProGear Slim. (the Spring Rain, full review here.)

I don’t know which order I was supposed to start in, but I chose the Spring Rain first. Spring Rain was part of the Sounds of Rain series released in 2021. The body on this pen is acrylic, but don’t let it fool you – it’s full of extra details. The nib is a two-tone 21K gold nib. All the trim is in gold and the edition has special finials.

So I loaded it up with a purple ink (Diamine 150th Anniversary Purple Dream), and away we went. This one is an exquisite writer. It’s smooth and luscious against the page, it just flows. The ProGear Slim is my Sailor model of choice, fitting my small hands perfectly. And their nibs are really perfection – without compare. This one is an MF.

Next, I picked up the Jinhao 82. The body is similar though not exactly the same (a few mm difference here and there). The trim on my model is silver, although “gold” is available – I assume this is a color rather than the precious metal at an $9 price point. The trim is similar – the cap ring isn’t as hefty and the clip doesn’t contain the same striations, but they definitely look somewhat alike.

I can’t diss the writing on the Jinhao 82. The nib is a steel one in Medium (although other sizes are available) and so it isn’t nearly as light as the gold one. It’s stiffer with less variation. But it’s still pretty darn smooth across the page. Really it gives a much better performance than I would expect of an $9 pen (and it exceeds the Jinhao Shark pen!). Ana and I had a good chuckle that the very cheap knockoff comes with an ink converter, whereas in the original you have to buy the converter separately.

Are the two pens the same? Heck no. There is definitely a big difference in quality between the two. But there’s also a HUGE price difference. For someone getting into the hobby, or even someone who loves collecting pens, Sailor ProGear Slims are a $3-400 minimum investment, and that’s before you upgrade nibs. Conversely, I don’t think the Jinhao 82 really takes anything away from Sailor. Although it’s a “knockoff,” the logo on the cap ring and nib is Jinhao – they’re not trying to pass themselves off as Sailors. I think they write pretty well and I’d totally recommend them to someone who loves the look, but not the price, of Sailors.

What do you think?

DISCLAIMER: Some of the items included in this review were provided to us free of charge for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Planners & Organizers

Let’s Start 2024!

Author AnaPosted on 7 Comments
Let’s Start 2024!

Happy New Year! I hope 2024 is starting well for you (or at least appears to be on the upward trajectory). Mercury went direct today which will hopefully help us feel like everything isn’t a long, slow ride on the struggle bus this month. Last month though?… let’s just leave the past in the past.

If you’re like me, you look forward to the start of the New Year so that you can officially start your new planner or journal.

I have hacked/mastered/settled-on a format for planning and journaling that works for me so I was delighted to start setting up my new planner last night (because homebodies are gonna homebody!)

I started by using my existing leather cover from Bassy & Co in the B6 size (starting at $95) then I added a new Stalogy B6 Editor’s Series 365Days notebook ($21.60-$24) inside the now gold foil decorated cover.

Inside, I added a page for my goals for the year. These are not resolutions rather things I want to accomplish this year.

I’d like to improve my physical activity after being sick this year. I need to get my stamina and endurance back up since convalescing for over a month. Other goals include organizing a yard sale this spring to clear out even more stuff from the basement and a few things I am not ready to share publicly yet. For me, writing these goals down give me a chance to protect these goals and make time to accomplish them.

No matter how silly or mundane you think your goals might be, write them down. You are the only one who will see them and regardless, the first step to making anything real is writing it down or saying it out loud. So if you want to change jobs, go back to school or just clean out the gutters, write it down. Remember that it was important to you when the day-to-day tries to encroach on your dreams. Clean gutters are a total valid dream!

I use a page-a-day system similar to what is established in the standard A6 Hobonichi planner. I add my own month-on-2-pages at the beginning of each month and add personal holidays and important dates to the monthly calendar. In the past, I’ve used the single page Midori dated and undated sticky calendars but this year I disassembled another undated planner and saved the monthly calendar pages which I tip-in or paste in to the Stalogy.

I also added a ribbon book mark that is exactly the same shade of citrus green as my Sailor/Nagasawa Pro Gear Slim. I glued it to the outside of the cover and covered the somewhat wonky attachment method with a bit of book binder’s tape (see the cover photo to see the printed book binder’s tape at the top edge).

After a year of using this process for logging/journaling, I have set up a bit of a system for maintaining my stride and not overwhelm myself. I start each month by I choosing a few seasonally appropriate colored markers for writing my headers and if I add any bullet journal-style list pages like “Books to Read” or “Podcasts to Check Out”, a few rolls of washi tape in coordinating colors/themese, some stickers and pair of scissors and glue stick.  I paste in my monthly view calendar at the beginning of the month and add a tab with the month written on it. I have a Kitta Washi Tape Folio and a massive collection of Kitta Tapes which I am hoping to start using up this year. They are small pre-cut strips of washi come in little matchbook-style covers which are great for on-the-go planner jazzing. I slide one into the pocket in my leather planner cover. The strips can be used to cover up an oopsie, FYI.

Everyday, I just write the day on the top of the page. Some days require multiple pages. Some days get skipped completely. Some days get missed and I go back and then retrospectively filled in.  But by making writing the date each day, I give myself permission to make it a big day or no day at all. It’s a lot less pressure than those endless blank pages that I ended up with in the Hobonichi when I tried it. Now if I fall of the journal bandwagon for a week, I don’t have seven blank pages staring back at me. I have NO blank pages.

Overall, my journal/planner is not as pretty or fancy as many YouTubers but I like how it looks. I am using up the massive amount of washi tape and stickers I’ve accumulated over the years which makes me happy.

I use Austin Kleon’s logging method which is more bullet list of activities than a long form written journal or diary. I log the podcasts I listened to,  the people I saw or places I went. I will sometimes note “still reading ____” if I’m in the middle of a book or the season of a series we are watching on television. If the weather is particularly notable, I might add a note about that. I also started pasting in the occasional receipt so that some day I can look back and marvel at either what I purchased or how much it cost.

I will sometimes insert a photo printed from my phone using a mini printer (mine has been discontinued but there are lots of others still available that will print your photos on stickers or as mini polaroids). I prefer to use a mini printer that prints photos about the size of a playing card and does not require ink cartridges. While the paper is a bit more expensive, I don’t have to purchase or worry about ink cartridge availability.

I plan to add a “word of the year” or other bits of inspiration. I’ve found that the advantage of using an undated planner/journal is that I can use more than one page when necessary or cram two or three days on the same page when not much occurred. Then insert a list or idea page randomly and just put a tab marker or book dart to mark a page as being special. Maybe this year, I’ll add an index and number my pages to make it easier to locate the chaos.

Really, the bottom line is that my journal/planner has become an “everything book”. It’s a commonplace book, it’s a journal, it’s a diary, it’s a brain dump.

I have been tickled to hear that last year’s planner has inspired others (including my husband!!!) to try their hand at keeping a planner or journal for this year. I will try to continue to share my progress both good and bad to hopefully continue to encourage others to keep on trying!

What’s your method of remembering, archiving or planning?

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. . Other items were purchased with funds provided by the gracious support of our amazing Patrons. You can help support this blog by joining our Patreon. Please see the About page for more details

In Pen Review

Marker Review: Uni Posca Glitter Paint Marker Set

Author Laura CameronPosted on 2 Comments

Review by Tina Koyama

This seems to happen at least once or twice a year: I find myself craving some kind of glittery, sparkly product even as I insist that I’m not that kind of girl. At least this time I have the holidays as an excuse.

I’ve lately been using standard Uni Posca Paint Markers to sketch with, so the seven-color set of Posca Glitter Paint Markers (7 for $16.50; $3.30 each) caught my eye. I got the 3ML (line width measured at 1.0mm) fine point size; the set is also available in the 1ML (measured at 0.7mm) extra fine point size.

The barrel and section are as glittery as the paints.

To make test swatches, I used three types of paper: a black Stillman & Birn Nova sketchbook, a Col-o-ring Oversize book and a sheet of Sakae TP Iroful paper. As always, the tough part is photographing the swatches to show optimal shimmer, so I hope you can see that these pens deliver the sparkle. Although they look best on black, they still shine on white, too, and remain especially glossy on the Iroful.For a test sketch, I looked across the street before the sun came up, where our neighbors had wrapped the trunk of their small palm tree in festive lights.

For a test sketch, I looked across the street before the sun came up, where our neighbors had wrapped the trunk of their small palm tree in festive lights.


Although the nocturne appeals to my minimalist esthetics (especially when it comes to holiday lights), it didn’t feel like enough bling to see what these Poscas can do. So I channeled my inner seventh grade self to do what we used to call “balloon writing” for a holiday greeting. That’s some nice sparkle and shine! This closeted glitter gal approves.


(For the record, this is the only form of glitter I will knowingly and willingly bring into my home. Whenever I open an envelope and see that a card has glitter on it, I remove the card gently from the envelope over a wastebasket, peek to read, then put it back in the envelope slowly to keep as much glitter contained as possible. I then tape it shut for storage. It’s the only way to get ahead of Satan’s dandruff.)

Tina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.