In my last post, I was talking about my search for Tomoe River pocket notebooks. Another great option is from Pebble Stationery Co! They Kickstarted their first pocket notebooks in 2018 and have since expanded to A5 Cahiers and leather covers. Today, I’ll be reviewing the Midnight limited edition.

Specs:

• 2-pack for $12.99
• 52gsm white Tomoe River paper
• 4mm dot grid
• 80 pages
• pocket size, 3.5” x 5.5”
• covered stitched spine
• 350gsm cardstock cover
• black edged pages!

The Midnight is a very appealing notebook to me, because of its superior paper and the “stealthy” design. The cover is made of a thick cardstock with embedded sparkles in it, making it look like a starry night sky! Pebble Stationery Co. is printed in metallic black in the bottom right of the cover. The edges are covered in a matte black ink, further adding to the stealthiness. The binding is stitched with blue thread. The overall effect of the notebook is sleek and beautiful! It reminds me of the long-gone Field Notes Night Sky, which had foiled starry back covers. I love how the sparkle is subtle and most obvious under direct light. Compared to the Elemental Paper Electron I just reviewed, the cover is thinner and lighter but should still hold up.

There’s a thin belly band keeping the two notebooks together. Inside the cover is a place to write your name, contact information, dates, location, and content. The inside is a pleasing icy blue, matching the stitching. Inside the back cover is more information about the Midnight Edition. The notebook lays relatively flat once I press down on it but the cover springs up afterwards.

Inside is 80 pages of 52gsm Tomoe River paper! Because of its slimness, the Midnight packs in more paper than the average Field Notes. The ruling is 4mm dot grid, smaller than the 5mm that I’m used to. Because of this, my handwriting skewed smaller in this notebook than in a Field Notes or Story Supply Co. The dots themselves are light gray and inconspicuous. They’re much more subtle compared to the large Baron Fig dots and most comparable to the dots in Leuchtturm1917 notebooks.

There’s lot’s of shading and sheen as always in the 52gsm TR paper. I didn’t even try the gel pens this time, they would smear everywhere! Dry time is very long, from 30 seconds to a minute for fountain pens. I tried hard not to rub my hand across the paper this time. Show through was heavy. It’s still not the most practical paper in a pocket notebook. But if you want the best paper, Tomoe River is it.

Compared to the Electron, the Midnight feels a bit more fragile. I would be more careful with how I store this notebook. Before the pandemic, I carried notebooks in a zippered pocket in my backpack. The Midnight would do well there, but I’d be careful storing it in a pants pocket. Both of them are more expensive than the average Field Notes but that is because of the great paper. The Midnight only comes in a 2-pack which is a bit low but there’s almost enough paper inside for two more notebooks if they had the same page count as Field Notes! My other issue is that the company is situated in Australia so it took about two weeks for my notebooks to arrive but I was expecting delays anyways.

If you’re looking for a well-designed pocket notebook with quality Tomoe River, Pebble Stationery Co. has you covered! I love the unique elements like the black edges and the starry cover. The Midnight is a limited edition and will run out eventually so get it while you can. Pebble Stationery Co. also donates a pencil to a child in need for each notebook pack you buy, which is wonderful!

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

The last time I reviewed a notebook from Elemental Paper, the Nitrogen, I loved the thoughtful design but was disappointed by the quality of the paper. Since then, Elemental started using Tomoe River paper, my favorite! I loved the Proton and sold out Iodine and was excited to see new notebooks. Today, I’ll be reviewing the Uranium. It has interesting qualities that make it stand out among other A5 Tomoe River notebooks. It uses a lime green reticle grid that glows under black light! I’ll dive into this notebook more in the upcoming paragraphs.

Specs:

• 52gsm white Tomoe River paper
• $18
• bright green reticle grid (reticle means tiny crosses)
• 352 pages
• A5 size
• gray linen cover
• two bookmarks (one glows under black light)

The Uranium feels luxurious, with a gray cloth cover, green foil stamping on the spine, and the emission spectrum printed on the edges. It makes a great impression. It reminds me of the stylish design of my Baron Fig notebooks. Uranium comes in a sturdy slipcase that protected it from any damage in transit. The front shows the element from the periodic table while the back has more information on Uranium’s properties. The cloth feels nice to run my hand across. Of course, it is more susceptible to staining and dust than a plastic or paper cover. One negative for me is that the cloth is stretched unevenly across the notebook, which didn’t occur in my Iodine or Nitrogen. However, this might just be my notebook. Two bookmarks, one yellow and one green (it glows under backlight) extend from the cover. They are long enough to grasp easily, a positive compared to the stubby Baron Fig bookmark. The Uranium is a standard A5 size so it should fit into external covers.

The inside shows more thoughtful design! The endpapers are bright green and have a Bohr model one one side and a periodic table where you can fill in your name on the other. The back has a small logo and information about Elemental Paper. The Uranium lies completely flat, except for the first and last pages which are glued.

The paper is white 52gsm Tomoe River paper, which means it will handle any fountain pens you throw at it! I saw plenty of shading and sheen in Iroshizuko Kujaku. I see more sheen and shading on 52gsm than 68gsm, which is my usual go-to. I haven’t used 52gsm in a while, so I forgot how long it takes gel pens to dry on this paper. My Pilot Juice pen smeared all over! I don’t recommend using those. Papermate Inkjoy dried quickly but it actually bled through in spots. So did my rollerball Pilot Precise V5. So I’d stick to pencil, fast drying pens, or fountain pens on this paper.

I tried several different inks on this paper, and there was some clashing with the bright green reticle. Of course greens and blues blended in more while my Bungubox Sweet Love Pink looked a bit strange! However, I still love the idea of this colored grid and it doesn’t bother me too much. The reticle grid seems to be ink repellent but doesn’t stick out as badly as the large dots in a Baron Fig do.

The grid itself is a perfect size for me, large enough to guide my writing but not dominating the page. I compared the Uranium with my two Nanami Crossfield notebooks (the old edition had larger reticle crosses) and it was most similar to the old edition. The crosses on the new Crossfield are so small and dark that they look like dots. As a lover of the old edition, this is a great replacement for when I fill up that Crossfield.

One negative is that there’s a lot of show through. 52gsm white paper especially seems to have this effect. This is what turned me off from 52gsm in the first place. However, the ghosting becomes less prominent when you write on the backside, until it becomes less noticeable. If you hate show through, I’d recommend the 68gsm, but 52gsm is still great.

Overall, I love the Uranium notebook! It’s so delightfully nerdy that it makes me smile when I look at it. It’s also a good replacement for the old Crossfield if you loved a bigger reticle grid. This edition is selling fast, and there’s only 140 notebooks left! You can buy it on their website here. Sadly, this is one of the last notebooks Elemental Paper will be making, as they decided to close their business to focus on family. I’m very sad to hear that, and I wish the creators luck on their future ventures!

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