Stalogy365 A6 Notebook

January 29, 2019January 28, 2019 ~ notebookjoy ~ Leave a comment

Nothing quite compares to Tomoe River paper. It is as smooth and thin as tracing paper yet sturdy and bleed-resistant. It exhibits more shading and sheen than any other paper I’ve tried. The ghosting takes time to get used to but becomes less of a problem as the pages fill up. I’d still rate TR as the best paper for fountain pen lovers. However, some other contenders come close in quality. Today I’ll be reviewing one of them, Stalogy. Many people use the A6 as a cheaper Hobonichi alternative. It sells for $17.50 rather than the $35 + that a Hobonichi demands.

Specs:

A6 (4.1 in. x 5.8 in.), also comes in A5, B5 and B6
368 pages
5mm light gray grid paper
pre-printed months and days on top of page
numbers indicating timeline on left side of page
A6 for $17.50 at Amazon

Design:

The Stalogy has a slightly-textured black cover with some golden stamps on the front. I was instantly impressed by its minimalist yet sleek exterior. The logos are off to the left side so they don’t get in the way. Stalogy’s motto, “What Should Have Been, Is” is printed in tiny letters. Unfortunately the cover is rather flimsy for me. If I used this as a planner, I would put on a protective case. From what I’ve heard, Stalogy notebooks fit inside of Hobonichi covers. It doesn’t lay flat easily. I needed to break in its spine so it wouldn’t spring up. Notebooks like the Nanami Seven Seas lay flat with ease.

Paper:

There are 368 pages packed into this small notebook! They are thin and crinkle easily. Inside is light gray 5mm grid that doesn’t reach the borders of the pages. It also has two unique features that are more useful for planners. Tiny months and days are printed where the header usually is. Numbers representing times line the left border. Unfortunately, these numbers are tiny and such a light gray I couldn’t see them well.

I’d like to see more features that distinguish it from an average planner. Hobonichi Techos have yearly/monthly pages and timetables. However, if you’re more of a bullet journal person and don’t mind making your own layouts, the Stalogy offers similar paper and portability, while being twenty dollars cheaper. For me, I prefer structure so I like the Hobonichi style more. (My current planner is a cheap Exacompta student one I got at my university bookstore lol.)

The paper is very thin and light, reminding me of tracing paper. But despite looking delicate, it handles ink well. There was heavy show through, but only my globby Pilot Precise V5 RT bled in places. The ghosting is distracting, but if you’ve used 52gsm Tomoe River paper, it is also known for that. I didn’t have any heavy sheen inks on hand, but all my inks showed shading. There was no feathering or spreading of ink. I did see a hint of sheen in my Iroshizuko Momiji sample. It takes over ten seconds to dry, around the same as Tomoe River or Apica paper. Be careful not to brush your hand against the drying inks, especially if you are a lefty. I’m left handed but I’ve grown used to writing in a way that my hand doesn’t touch the paper lol.

Compared to my Nanami Cafe Note B6, the grid on the Stalogy is much lighter. I’m usually a fan of lighter grid but in this case it looks fuzzy and hard to see. The TR paper is equally as thin. There are small boxes at the top and bottom of the Cafe Note, spaces for dates or page numbers I guess. The Cafe Note A6 is only a dollar more than the Stalogy and has 480 pages! I personally think the Cafe Note is a better deal but shipping can raise the price. Stalogy is available with Amazon Prime.

I liked the Stalogy at first, but I’m not a fan of making my own planner. It’s nice but not as mind-blowing as Tomoe River offerings. I’m thinking of using this as a diary because it is undated. I would recommend it for people who want more freedom in their planner or those who appreciate quality paper.

I bought these notebooks with my own funds. I was not paid for this review.

Stationery Shopping: Jenni Bick Fine Custom Journals DC

January 26, 2019January 25, 2019 ~ notebookjoy ~ 3 Comments

I always am on the lookout for new places to buy quality notebooks and pens. D.C. doesn’t have as many stationery stores as NYC, but it does have the homegrown Jenni Bick. I visited it a year ago, and finally had the chance to go again with a friend. The store is located only a few minutes walk from the Dupont Circle metro, if you take the 19th Street exit. There is also a Krispy Kreme nearby, if you hunger for fresh donuts and paper. 🙂

The store is easy to see, with a giant selection of notebooks displayed proudly in the window. Once inside, a rainbow of Leuchtturm1917s greet you, stretching across the wall to your left! Even though I’m not the biggest fan of the 1917, this display makes me smile.

I couldn’t capture the whole row in my picture!

You’ll find many types of notebooks here, both the usual Moleskines and Paper Blanks, to Japanese brands like Midori or Stalogy, to more obscure companies. The selection has only gotten larger since last year, to my delight. The Leuchtturms take up much of the front. There is a section for Nuuna notebooks, which I had never seen in person before! There is also a clearance table, a Moleskine display, some fountain pens behind clear glass and fountain pen ink from Lamy, Faber-Castell and J. Herbin. Jenni Bick also has a selection of store-made leather journals. They are beautiful but extremely expensive. If you need a memorable scrapbook or journal, this section is for you.

There also is some art supplies in the back! There is a table with notebooks for people to try out and write in. This is a great idea because often I am enthralled by a notebook’s cover but disappointed when the paper ends up being terrible.

The employees are so nice and helpful here! They are knowledgable about every type of paper. Honestly, I’d love to work at Jenni Bick so I could be around stationery all day. I was heading to the Phillips Collection afterwards, so I couldn’t buy anything too big or bulky. So I settled for a blue inkpad, a Stalogy365, a discounted Semikolon notebook and some elastic bands for my Traveller Notebook.

If you’re in Dupont Circle, I recommend stopping by. There are other great stores and museums nearby. Second Story Books is a treasure for anyone who loves used books for cheap!

My Triumphant Return

January 23, 2019January 23, 2019 ~ notebookjoy ~ Leave a comment

I’m finally back from the dead! I apologize for the long absence. This semester was really difficult for me. Between dealing with my student job, annoying roommate, and dreaded homework, it was hard to keep up with my blog. I focused mostly on new extracurriculars and keeping my grades up. Unfortunately, all my creative outlets fell by the wayside, including writing this blog. 😦 However, I did find a fun new hobby: art!!!!

I always liked drawing characters from the stories I wrote. But when I got older, I was intimidated by my amazing artist friends and stopped drawing. I never really improved past stick figures. But this year, I took an intro art class and drew five pages in a sketchbook every week! I was drawing much more than ever before. One of my aforementioned artist friends also encouraged my art. This time, I didn’t let insecurity stop me but kept on trying. In six months, I definitely improved! But I still have a long way to go. Maybe later I’ll show an album of my progress. Here’s one drawing I made recently:

I copied this from one of Albrecht Durer’s prints, where St. John is forced to eat a book by a floating head???

With the paycheck from my job, I also bought Copic markers!!! For those who don’t know, they are alcohol markers that can be blended together to make watercolor-like drawings. They are amazing but so expensive. I wish I got a whole set in Japan, but unfortunately I didn’t have enough room in my suitcase. 😦 So in December I picked out 45 individual markers for around $260. Yes expensive I know. But I already had other markers I collected over the years. My collection is now around 75 markers. I’ve wanted them for years now so I think that was a paycheck well spent.

In other news, here are some of my currently inked pens:

My current favorite ink is the Kingdom Note Thysanostoma thysanuran ink, aka the scientific name for jellyfish!!!! It’s a vibrant purple that leans more pink than blue. In my broad Sailor Nib, it shows lots of shading. It even has a hint of black sheen on Tomoe River paper! I’m going to treasure this ink because I don’t know if I’ll ever get it again.

I wrote some stories, but mostly for my creative writing classes. However, I hit the 250 page midpoint of my Hippo Noto! Despite my initial concerns, the spine did hold up. Some of the sections felt loose but didn’t fall out. As time went on, it became harder to keep the pages flat. I’m ready to move on to the next notebook but I still have 250 more pages to go. My other journals were 200-215 pages so this sure is a change. Besides the Hippo Noto are my two Field Notes I use to jot down lists and ideas.

Here are the notebooks I filled with school notes! For the first half of the semester, I wrote with fine tip gel pens, then switched to fountain pens. On the left are two 80 page Kokuyo Soft Ring notebooks and on the right are two Kokuyo Campus notebooks. I still need to write a review on the former. I obtained mine on my Japan trip but I didn’t get enough. Turns out the ones I have aren’t available online to ship to the US at all. 😦

I have tons of new blog ideas that I hope to bring to you soon. Look out for a review of a local stationery store and my thoughts on the Stalogy365, Taroko Enigma, Story Supply Co Morning, Studio C and other notebooks!