Review: Victoria's Journals Purse Journal

Thanks to Victoria's Journals for sending this over for review! It's the first Victoria's Journals product I've used and it was a positive experience.

ABOUT

Size: 3.5 x 5.5 inches
Color: Off-White
Ruling: Lined
Price: Not available online yet
Where to buy: Check out Victoria's Journals

APPEARANCE

This is a cute, glitzy purse/pocket-sized journal. It has a slightly squishy front and back cover with rounded covers. The cover has a fake alligator skin-type texture and is an iridescent green-purple. Inside is a satin cream bookmark. The paper is light cream with grey ruling.

It's cute and shiny but based on that alone, it's certainly not going to appeal to everyone.

PERFORMANCE & FEEL

This is some nice paper. It does well with pencils - lead glides on smoothly and with good coverage. It also erases clean as the paper is pretty smooth - fewer places for the lead to remain hidden.

Other pens - inky ones, gel pens, rollerballs, and ballpoints all work well. They glide on well, glitter sows up easily, and there is no show through, bleed through, or feathering with the inkier pens.

Fountain pens do well! This paper is quite fountain pen friendly. From fine to double-broad to flex nibs, there is no feathering, low show through, and no bleed through. Inks shade well, sheens show up nicely, as do particles. Overall, the paper performs very well and I enjoy it.

The construction of the notebook itself has been decent so far - it handles being in my bag without major damage. The covers protect the pages inside well and has remained intact. What I dislike is there is no elastic closure, so once I broke the spine, I could no longer keep the notebook shut without turning it face down.

PROS

• Cute and portable.
• Has a bookmark.
• Very nice paper - fountain pen friendly.

CONS  

• Not a over that everyone will like.
• No elastic closure - once the spine is broken, it doesn't stay closed easily.

OVERALL 

Aside from the very eye-catching cover - which will either appeal to you or not - the paper is very decent. It's fountain pen friendly but also performs well with other utensils as well. It's not a bad journal and is currently ink use as my notebook for currently inked pens.

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I received this item free of charge for the purposes of this review. I was not compensated monetarily for my review. Everything you've read here is my own opinion. 

Serious Nibbage Part 29: Pilot Vanishing Point

Once again, he picks the thumbnail where I look horrible but he looks fine. Thanks, S.

Check out my review.
Check out SBRE Brown's review.
Find previous episodes of Serious Nibbage here!

If you'd like to sponsor an episode of Serious Nibbage and would like us to review a pen/nib/ink, etc, contact Stephen or myself!

Review: Clairefontaine Back to Basics Bob Foundation Notebooks @NoteMakerTweets

This rather lovely notebook was sent to me to review by Andy... and I'm ashamed to say it was ages ago. But here I am, finally reviewing it. I really didn't want to write in it because I love it. And I only have one. LOOK AT IT. Of course I didn't want to write in it...

ABOUT

Size: 3.5" x 5.5" / 9 cm x 14 cm
Color: White
Ruling: Lined
Sheet Count: 48
Price: $5.595AUD (discounts with purchase of multiples)
Where to buy: NoteMaker

APPEARANCE

This is the reason I didn't want to use it - because of its appearance. It's adorable and lovely. It's the pink notebook in the Rays design, of the Waves, Rays, and Stripes designs of the Bob Foundation Back to Basics collection. It's a wonderful, vivid pink polypropylene cover. The waves are solid lines with cream in between. The cover has a cream box for a subject or your name, or whatever you wish to put in there. The edges are rounded and flush with the paper inside. The paper is bright white with violet lines. I love this notebook. It's so pretty.

They compare perfectly in size to other pocket notebooks!

PERFORMANCE

The paper is 90gsm brushed vellum paper - it has the smooth satin finish that you can feel - it's glossy smooth and everything just glides across it, whether it's your fingertips or a nib. I didn't even waste time with ballpoints/pencils/gel pens in this. It's all about the fountain pens.

With fountain pens, you can expect longer drying times, because the paper is so glossy, it takes some time for the ink to dry. I don't care. It's entirely worth it, however, this may make it less useful for you as a pocket notebook (unless you use blotting paper).

The paper performs admirably with all fountain pens - from fine to some seriously broad nibs, as well as with flex nibs. It can handle a large amount of ink at once without bleed through, and even show through is minimal. If you haven't used a Clairefontaine notebook before, you should. This is a wonderful experience. There's also no feathering, which is great. You'll notice wonderful shading and gorgeous sheens in your inks. In other words, there's no issues with the paper. It's darned good. Fountain pen friendly? Check.

PROS

• Fountain pen friendly - no feathering or bleed through.
• Shading and sheens are highlighted.
• Very pretty and cute notebook (also available in other colours if you don't fancy the pink).
• Pocket-sized and portable.
• Thick covers are pretty tough.

CONS  

• Because of long drying times, not the most useful as a pocket notebook with fountain pens.
• Not inexpensive, but if you buy in multiples, it gets better.

OVERALL 

I absolutely love this notebook and I have my eye on picking up a few more. They're not available all over the place though so that makes it a bit difficult to get a hold of them, but they're so nice. If you use Clairefontaine pocket notebooks, consider popping one of these into your rotation.