The BUKE A5 Size Hardcover Sketchbook Journal (currently selling for $13.34) is kind of an amazing little sketchbook. First, the price! I think when I ordered it, it was about $15.50 which is still incredibly inexpensive.
The sketchbook came in a matte, white box with an iridescent foil feather on the box. Inside, the sketchbook was wrapped in a waxed paper and included a bookmark and some stickers. This is a very deluxe package for a sketchbook that sells for less than $20.
The sketchbook includes 160 bright white pages between two matte PU covers with an iridescent foil feather quill on the cover. The sketchbook includes lots of the popular attribute like three ribbon bookmarks, a gusseted pocket in the back cover for loose ephemera and a vertical elastic to keep the book closed.
The paper is 180gsm “Ultra Bamboo Paper” — THIS is the main reason I ordered it in the first place. Bamboo is the key ingredient in Tomoe River Paper but its very thin. So the idea of THICK bamboo paper was very appealing.
Just for reference, the Col-o-ring Ink Testing Book is only 160gsm paper so the paper in the Bamboo Sketchbook really is THICK. If you like mixed media, craft, collage and using a wide array of creative materials, this is a great sketchbook option.
Watercolor tests on the right — water did cause the paper to waffle a little bit but there was no bleed through.
I started my pen testing with brush pens, markers, colored pencils and other art supplies. I drizzled fountain pen ink and even tried some watercolors. The paper is very smooth and reminds me of Bristol Board from art school in terms of weight and smoothness, but its all bound into a handy A5 notebook.
Right, gusseted pocket and elastic.
When I flipped the pages over to see if there was any show through or bleed through.
The irori ink was applied after the backside of the page was used and there is heavy sheen/shimmer on the other side so I think there is a bt too much liquid in the paper that is causing the dark stain.
The only time there were issues with bleed through was with the alcohol-based Copic markers and a couple places with drizzled fountain pen ink on the page.
All fountain pens in writing tests performed beautifully. The ink did not spread at all in the tests — so a fine nib stays fine and so forth. Some papers can causes ink to spread and appear wider but this 180gsm bamboo paper kept all nibs true to size.
The fountain pen inks I tried included several sheening inks and all the sheen showed beautifully.
The only downside I discovered with this notebook is that the matte covers pick up dust and fingerprints very easily.
This is probably one of the best value sketchbooks currently on the market. If you are looking for a sketchbook or notebook that can handle a wide range of writing tools and materials, then this will be a book you’ll love.
Get creative and play with this great little value-priced bamboo sketchbook!
DISCLAIMER: The item in this review include affiliate links. The Well-Appointed Desk is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. Please see the About page for more details.
While I didn’t pick up many new items while I was in LA at the California Pen Show, I did pick up a nasty head cold. Luckily, it was not COVID but it didn’t mean the pesky bug didn’t linger. I have been slowly coming back from the illness (are bugs getting stronger or am I getting weaker?) and managed to pass it along to Bob who is now fighting it off as well. I don’t thin the pen show can be entirely blamed for the cold. When I returned home, I discovered that several co-workers were out sick with various versions of the season funk too so clearly something is going around.
That said, my energy levels have been extraordinarily low and just handling day-to-day tasks has been a challenge. I am starting to feel better this week but yesterday was my full day back in the office and that was a huge physical undertaking after days in my jammies and only needing to get myself from the couch to the kitchen.
I did take time yesterday to back date a week of entries in my journal/planner and it all fit on one page. I think this is why I so appreciate the bullet journal/open log book method of time keeping. Some weeks, I need to pre-write the whole week on multiple pages to keep track of all the minutiae and then there are weeks, like last week, that I can summarize with “sick, in bed for days”.
How do you handle your planner or journal when things go off the rails?
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Many of us are not quite back into the pen show circuit yet, but we’re eagerly watching others. One of my favorite ways to “do” a pen show that I can’t attend is to watch Mike Matteson’s feed (Inkdependence on YouTube). If he’s at the show, it’s a good bet he’ll do a Friday afternoon walk through. You do need to guard your wallet though, because it can be dangerous.
Back when he did the Philly Pen Show walkthrough in January I was on the hunt for a new notebook. I’m getting ready to change jobs (I start a new one on March 6th!) and I wanted to treat myself to a new notebook to store all those first few weeks of information in. You know, where they turn on the fire hose and inundate you with information you’ll need later but just can’t absorb all of. So here I was blithely watching Mike walk the pen show floor when he came upon Odyssey notebooks. And that Pompei Marine Life? I was smitten.
The notebook is A5 size (8.25 x 5.625″/21 x 14.5 cm), weighing in at a hefty 423g. Though it’s not lightweight, it packs a lot of pages!
The cover is printed cardboard and the inner illustrations are beautiful as well with their Greek theme. Inside are 300 numbered pages of 83gsm Cosmo Air Light paper in an off-white color. I was super interested in trying this notebook out because I haven’t sampled Cosmo Air Light paper yet. While I love Tomoe River, I often find it’s too thin for my liking, so I was interested to try out a slightly heavier weight notebook. The paper is really interesting – it’s super smooth and just a bit toothy. On my wider nib pens (Kaweco B, Pelikan F) the ink is really wet, but it seems to dry quickly. I didn’t find any feathering, but the ink definitely spreads a bit. Even my Kaweco with the F nib isn’t a super thin line.
That said, there’s a bit of show through but no bleeding and the opposite side of the page is super useable (I get distracted if I can see too much of the previous page through the paper).
While I love the cardboard cover and it seems sturdy, I’ll likely slip it into one of my notebook covers (maybe my Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter?) to keep it from getting too banged up.
I’m excited to start a fresh new job with a fresh new notebook.
P.S. Next week I’ll tell you about the new pen I bought!
DISCLAIMER: I purchased the notebook above from Odyssey Notebooks with my own funds for my own use. Please see the About page for more details.
Exclusive Pen Show inks and other goodies are the carrot to make us all feel massive massive amounts of FOMO but I decided to make sure someone in our community doesn’t suffer from FOMO by giving away a brand new bottle of the Sailor 2023 Pen Show Exclusive Ink.
Its a bright, vivid orange to help see you through the last grey days of winter. When compared to other oranges in my collection, I’d say its a bit brighter and happier than Sailor Apricot, if that’s possible. This ink will definitely show best with a wide nib to get all the shading,
TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell me what your favorite orange ink is. 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, February 24, 2023. 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: Items included in this post 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.
While I was off gallivanting in California, we restocked a bunch of products in the shops (Big Cartel — the main US shop, and Etsy for international orders).
The Good News
First, in our Big Cartel shop, we have just relisted the Col-o-ring FOLIO ($40 each + $10 oversized shipping). We only make a small quantity of these pads at a time so place your order early to guarantee you get one from the new batch.
The Col-o-ring FOLIO is our biggest Col-o-ring product ever! It can double as a desk pad or drawing pad with 40 sheets of 12″ x 16″ original Col-o-ring paper (same 160gsm weight) and now with sturdier covers thanks to the fine work of Skylab Letterpress.
We ship the FOLIO out in large cardboard mailers and they weigh in at almost 4lbs so that’s why the shipping is high. We will be trying to bring these behemoths to some of the pen shows this year, so be sure to let me know what shows you’ll be attending and I’ll try to stuff a few extras in my suitcase.
We’ve also relisted our Ink Bottle Stamp Set ($40) on both Big Cartel and Etsy. These are miniature versions of the Ink Bottle (Short) and Sample Vial plus the rare, discontinued Pedestal Bottle (if you know, you know) and the Classique Bottle ($10 on it’s own, if that’s how you roll).
It’s a tale familiar to most of you that, in the current manufacturing climate, we have to announce that starting in March 2023, we will be raising the price on our Original Col-o-ring Ink Testing Books to $12. All other products are still the same price.
We have needed to do this for some time but we didn’t want to put undue pressure on our devoted customers. But we’ve hit a point where we feel the small bump will be acceptable to most everyone. Our paper distributor relocated to the other side of the country in 2020 and, on top of material costs, we have to pay shipping just to get our paper.
When we started the Col-o-ring project, our distributor was about two miles from the print shop and we could pick it up. During COVID, we figured that trying to keep people happy with our product was more important that trying to stay ahead of the curve. What can we say? We both have art degrees, and not business degrees!
When we launched the Col-o-ring in 2017 (SIX YEARS AGO!!!), we had no idea it would be the success that it has become.
Thank you for being such a large part of this success.
The California Pen Show, as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, was a great first show for the new group of organizers. I thought we’d share some photos and a more in-depth recap for our first show of the year. I know the California Pen Show was not the first show of the calendar year but it was the first one that Jesi an I attended this year and I think it was a great way to jump start a new year.
The best part of any pen show is getting to spend time with people who love pens and ink as much as I do and Jesi and I revel in the time we get to spend together at shows.
The hotel where the show was located featured a picturesque pool, garden and hot tub and our room had a patio that looked out over it. Thursday, when we arrived, the weather was pretty mild but the rest of the weekend was not particularly conducive to dips in the pool sadly. But it made for a scenic view nontheless.
We ran into old friends like Joel Hamilton (pictured above with Jesi). He’s a charmer and always has a smile for us. Below, we will just photobomb you with all the folks we love to see at shows.
Jesi with “Matthew’s Mom” of Matthew’s Nibworks fame.Dinner on Friday with the Dromgoole’s team, Gena of Custom Nib Studio, a couple guys from Flax Art and the gang from Rickshaw Bagworks.Marty giving the side eye to Mark Dwight of Rickshaw Bagworks and his dinner choice.Kirk Speer from Pen Realm rocking a stylin’ jacket.John from FlexinibpensMe and Myk of the Mad MercantileGive us his most stern look, John from Lemur Ink.
Jesi and I were working at the Dromgoole’s tables for this show. We were stationed at the “ink station” but we also helped with paper, pencils (100% me) and several of the pen tables. Marty and his wife Kimberly were there as well with their tables of NOS Retro51s right next to the new team at Retro51 who are great guys. Rickshaw was also in the Dromgoole’s table island with special pen cases and sleeves for the show.
Like all pens shows, set-up for the vendors starts early with a quick breakfast and then unpacking and setting up before the first customers barrel through the door ready to spend theoir had-earned cash on pens, ink and accessories.
Early morning breakfast with the Dromgooles in the Club Lounge.
Vendors were allowed in at 8am to start setting up which was not nearly enough time for us since the show opened at 9am for three-day pass holders and 10am for one-day pass holders.
Jesi and I stopped for a photo during set-up on Friday.Early on Friday, Cary from Kenro can be spotted wandering the show with a shopping bag.
By the end of the day on Friday, we were shredded. We ate dinner and Jesi crashed early. I stayed up,, hanging in the bar for a little while and then conked out around midnight. We knew we had a big day on Saturday.
And on Saturday, we wear stripes. Trust us when we say this was a total accident but we liked it!On Saturday, it was a sea of hands hovering over the delectable colors of Benu, Leondaro and Sailor pens on this side of the tables at Dromgoole’s.A quick bird’s eye view from our spot in the ballroom on Saturday.
As expected, Saturday was very busy. It was a delight to see lots of old friends from shows past and to meet new collectors and pen enthusiasts. I was only to capture a few photos, including the one above until we were seated at the bar in the evening.
And the Saturday stripes continue! Our favorite Montblanc-toting auctioneer, Stephen, got into the spirit of things with his own striped shirt.
Sunday was a bit slower overall which is the antithesis of the previous LA International Pen Show. The “LA” show only allows the public to attend on Sunday where the new “CA” show allows the public to attend any day throughout the weekend which made the whole show a good deal more shoppable and not nearly as harrowing for vendors and attendees.
Gena from Custom Nib Studio was still hard at work grinding nibs on Sunday.
Since we hada little time to shop and walk around, Jesi and I both got some nibs adjusted. Gena from Custom Nib Studio adjusted a janky nib for me and ground my Pilot Cavalier down to a needlepoint to be the perfect office pen (snap cap and a nib tiny enough not to bleed on copy paper). Jesi also had a nib adjusted by Gena who was stationed next to the Schon Design table. I got a chance to try the new Monoc nib that they have created. That nib is hella impressive.
Our Takeaways
Of the enhancements I’d like to see to the California Pen Show, I’d like to see the addition of workshops, classes and/or scheduled meet-up events. Maybe add an auction? The younger crowd, often made up of newer pen enthusiasts would be willing and would benefit from all sorts of classes and workshops. Everything from “how to fill a pen” or “how to clean a pen” to journaling workshops, calligraphy or nib tuning. What other kinds of classes and workshops would you want to see at a pen show?
And maybe, just maybe, reduce the entry fee on Sunday to entice people who may have missed Friday or Saturday? If Sundays are slower, its a good day for pen newbies to come and get some advice from vendors. However, if they’ve not invested in a fountain pen before having to pay a $15 entry fee plus parking might be too steep to get them in the door.
For vendors, it would be nice for the show to add some volunteers to act as table sitters. Other shows have offered this service and its really helpful for anyone who may be manning a table by themselves and need to step out for a minute or two. Providing coffee service near the ballroom in the afternoons would also be most appreciated. Its not always convenient to run all the way up to the hotel lobby and wait in line at the Starbucks kiosk for that late-afternoon pick-me-up.
Overall, the new California Pen Show is a vast improvement over the previous LA International Pen Show. I don’t know if the organizers of the LA show will try to change or improve it but I think they will definitely have stiff competition with the rise of the much better organized California Pen Show.
