Notebook Review: Black Ocean 1.2 by Whitelines

I'm still here! And I'm back after three months with a notebook from Sweden - Whitelines! When I started using fountain pens and writing reviews here, I read a lot about Whiteline's products and I have always wanted to try them. A Twitter DM finally helped, and after an exchange of emails with Whitelines CEO Johanna Ragnartz and Product and Brand Manager Anna Scherp, a package was on its way to me.

The notebook I am reviewing is the A5 Black Ocean 1.2, one of Whitelines' top of the line notebooks. The Black Ocean's front and back covers are made of sturdy board encased in a smooth, rich, rubber-like black material. It is soft to touch, like velvet, but delicate, too. If you are as fussy and finicky with your stuff like I am, the fingerprints and lint you will leave on the notebook covers will surely bother you. The cover also bears a debossed, unobtrusive Whitelines logo on its lower left portion.

Whitelines offers the Black Ocean notebook with either lined/lined or isometric/lined pages. Notebooks with lined/lined pages have the signature Whitelines orange for their inside covers and ribbon markers. The orange inside front cover is bright and happy, and has a single line of text that says, "Push it forward."

The inside back cover still has the happy orange theme, with a full page of text about creativity and how one can "push it forward". Notice something missing? Yes, the Black Ocean does not have a pocket in its back cover, a feature that I am happy not to be seeing because I do not like the bumps that these back pockets create in my notebooks' pages.

Black Ocean has 80 sheets of A5 (5.8 x 8.3 inches) white-lined 80g paper in Flexo binding. This binding keeps the pages secure and allows the notebook to easily lay flat when open.

A black elastic strap keeps the Black Ocean's pages tidy. The notebook covers and its pages have pointed corners, a feature that I do not like very much because these sharp corners sometimes cut into my fingers and palm when I write. But this minor issue can be easily remedied by my mini corner cutter, a nifty tool that easily makes pointed page corners round.

Did I say this notebook lies flat when you open it? It does. And I like that feature in any hard bound notebook. The Black Ocean's 80g paper is not the usual bright white or cream, or beige, but light gray. I think Whitelines used gray so the white lines in their notebooks' pages stand out. Field Notes did the same thing in their Northerly notebooks last year. Whitelines said this about the unique lines in their notebooks: "The lines support your writing and drawing without the distractions from conventional dark  lines and the background disappears when you copy, scan or fax." I tried to copy a sample page, and true enough, the white lines disappeared! They should have included photograph in there, too! I had such a hard time shooting photos of the notebook pages because the white lines disappear in them! The photos below of my pen and ink test pages do not show the white lines. I needed to adjust lighting to get a photo that will at least show the white lines, such as below.

See? I told you the white lines disappear in the photos! I excitedly tried a page to test its friendliness to fountain pens that I regularly use. Most of my pens have medium to broad nibs, and I usually see them bleed and feather on a lot of paper types most of the time.

And the results? All pen and ink combinations bled, except for the Esterbrook and Pelikan Blue Black duo. This broke my heart, really. Through the years, I have accumulated dozens of notebooks, in my search for  fountain pen friendly ones. I like the Black Ocean and would have been very proud to carry it around with me, but I have already established a rule (to avoid accumulating more!) that if a notebook cannot take fountain pens, then it goes to one of my nieces, or to my friends. But I was not letting go. Not yet.

I kept the Black Ocean for future review because I did not know what to do with it. Then an interesting discussion about iron gall ink in my local fountain pen collectors' board caught me. Interesting to me, but frightening for my pens. But what the heck, I want one! There are two available iron gall inks in the Philippines: Lamy Blue Black (Lamy BB, as I love to call it) and Mont Blanc Midnight Blue (MB MB, playfully). A search through all of Lamy's kiosks in Metro Manila for this 'endangered' ink (Lamy has changed the formula for the bottled blue black ink since last year) yielded a bottle, and my first test for the ink was on the Black Ocean! After writing my first sentence, I checked the back of the page. Now, could I just take back all the notebooks that I have given away?

After almost giving up on this notebook, I was given the chance to keep and use it. Now I am thinking of how I can make use of it. Probably in school, or at the office. I am always thrilled to see people taking second (and third) glances at my notebooks. 

Part of the Whitelines Black Ocean that I received was a request from  Anna that I take a photograph of the package when I receive it. Here it is, Anna. It got through quite a lot from Sweden to the Philippines, but it made through! Thank you, Anna! Thank you, Johanna!

(Don't you just love the stamps in this envelope?)

To buy a Black Ocean, and see the rest of Whitelines' products, visit the Whitelines Shop at http://www.whitelinesshop.se/.

The Black Ocean 1.2 used in this review is from Whitelines, through Anna Scherp and Johanna Ragnartz. The pens and inks belong to my personal collection.

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Notebook Review: The Northerly by Field Notes

I have been reviewing pen and paper products for almost four years now. I've reviewed notebooks from Asia, Europe, and mostly from the United States, but I have not had a glimpse of a Field Notes pocket notebook yet. Back then, I didn't like small notebooks, and Field Notes was not available here in the Philippines. Last December though, a local online shop announced that they are selling the Field Notes Brand, beginning with the Winter 2011 Colors Release, The Northerly. I knew I had to get my own set the moment I saw the bright white notebooks. Never mind that I don't like small notebooks.

The Northerly by Field Notes. Winter 2011 release.

Thirteenth in the Field Notes Colors Series, The Northerlies, like other Field Notes notebooks, measure 3.5 inches x 5.5 inches. Small by my standards, but large enough for my notes. My notebooks (each order comes in a pack of three) came before the New Year and it was definitely drool at first sight. The bright show-white Kromekote cover printed with "Icy Silver" soy-based ink on the embossed Field Notes logo is sooooo beautiful. Even the silver-coated band holding the notebooks together is beautiful.

The back cover of The Northerly bears Field Notes' logo, including the proud declaration of where the notebooks were made.

The inside cover of the notebook is for its owner's personal details. I haven't filled out this page yet because I'm still searching for a pen that will write permanently on the shiny, coated Kromekote. Perhaps I'll use a Sharpie here.

The inside back cover, on the other hand provides extensive information on Field Notes' story, the notebook's specs, and some suggestions on how to use the notebook. I like that. My favorites are 'Things Done Right', 'Resolutions, As Yet Unbroken', and 'More Reasonable Resolutions'. The specifications part is a marvel to read. As a publications designer, I'm in the printing and publishing business and I understand all the printing lingo written here. As I read on, I can see tall stacks of Kromekote and Finch paper and hear the mechanical noise of the press, the Heidelberg stitchmaster, and the round corner machine. I can even smell the 'smell' I get when I'm inside a printing press.

Another beautiful thing about the Northerlies: round page corners! All Field Notes notebooks have round page corners, including The Steno. I've always preferred round page corners for my notebooks, especially those with thick cardstock for cover. Square, non-round page corners can sometimes cut into my fingers and palm while I'm writing, or get caught in the fabric inside my bag.

Unlike other pocket notebooks with the usual two staples for binding, Field Notes notebooks are saddle stitched in three staples to provide extra durability. 

The Northerlies have the usual Finch paper that Field Notes use in their notebooks, except for a nice 'twist': the inside pages have 4.5mm x 4.5mm white graph lines on a cool, blue-gray background. I like this graph lines, except that I wish they were a bit thicker. The thin lines can sometimes be hard to see, especially when lighting is not very good.

A new collection? This is all your fault, Field Notes. 

This is my 'test page' for my first Field Notes notebook. Notice anything new? The Pilot G2. But of course!  I've always tested notebook paper using my fountain pens, and I did that with my Northerlies too. Initially, I was disappointed when I saw the amount of feathering and  bleed on the Finch paper (see photo below). I put away my notebooks, not knowing what else to do with them. Then I realized that I could still make use of them — using other pens that will not bleed. That's why this notebook review has a Pilot G2 instead of a  colorful Lamy Safari.

The Northerlies are clearly not for fountain pen use. I don't care. It's still cool, hip, and fun!

So now I'm going to wait for the next limited edition Colors notebooks by Field Notes. I wonder what color they'll come in next. Purple? Black? Gold? I can't wait!

Now, who else can think of a really cool slogan like this one? Everybody, come on! Let's all write everything down to remember them now!

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Notebook Review: Banditapple Carnet

I first read about Banditapple Carnet notebooks in June when my friend Julie wrote a review in her blog. Out of curiosity, I sent an email to Banditapple's creator and owner, Arnie Kim, to ask for sample products to review on the blog. Three months of waiting and chasing the guys at our Post Office, I received the lovely notebooks that Arnie sent to me. 

Banditapple Carnet notebooks are sold by its creator and owner, Arnie Kim from Seoul, South Korea, though they are all hand-made in Vietnam. Arnie said that his notebooks are now available in stationery stores not only in South Korea, but also in selected stores in Japan.

The notebooks come in three sizes (Peewee, Handy, and Tablet) and two cover colors (Hanoi Red and Saigon Black). All Banditapple Carnet notebook sizes are available in either blank or ruled paper with 64 pages of acid-free, 80gsm off-white paperstock. The cover used on the notebooks is plain cardstock which makes them look very simple, and almost anonymous and unbranded. But I like that. I'm also glad that Arnie sent me samples of all available notebook sizes and covers, and that he sent me notebooks with both blank and ruled pages.

Peewee in Saigon Black cover with my first generation pink Lamy Safari.

Peewee is the smallest among the three available notebook sizes of Banditapple Carnet. It measures 3.5 x 5.5 inches, sized like a pocket Clairefontaine notebook, Venzi, or Field Notes. The photo below shows the Peewee on top, and all the notebooks I mentioned underneath it. All notebooks have the same dimensions, they just differ in either their binding (stapled or stitched) or corner cuts. Since I received the Banditapple Carnet notebooks, I've made the Peewee my 'ink diary'. It's the perfect thin, small, black notebook I can carry with me anywhere because it fits in the plastic zipper pocket of my Midori TN. When I need to see how a certain ink behaves in a particular pen, I just pull out my Peewee.

Handy in Saigon Black cover with my yellow Lamy Safari.

Handy, the 'middle' size, measures 4.25 x 8.25 inches. This notebook made me very happy as soon as I saw it. Why? Because it's the same size as my Midori Traveler's Notebook's refills! And what's better, the Banditapple Handy have round page corners.

Banditapple Handy in Hanoi Red cover on top, Midori Traveler's Notebook refill below.

See? Banditapple's Handy fits my Midori TN perfectly!

Tablet in Hanoi Red cover, with my LE orange Lamy Safari.

Tablet, the biggest Banditapple notebook, measures 5.125 x 8.25 inches. It is sized like a large Moleskine or Rhodia Webbie, or as shown below, a soft cover large Venzi notebook. I got a blank Banditapple Tablet, and I may just turn it into a sketch/doodle/calligraphy notebook later.

Banditapple Tablet in Hanoi Red cover on top, soft cover Venzi below.

The other wonderful feature of Banditapple Carnet notebooks is their binding — the pages are stitched — not stapled, not glued, but stitched. A single signature is stitched to the cover, and the notebooks' stitching match the color of their covers.

Neat stitching on spine...

...and on the notebook's pages.

And now, the best part about these wonderful notebooks: the paper. Banditapple uses 80gsm off-white (read: not-so-white), acid-free paper. Dr. Matthias Meckel, blogger at Bleistift, wrote that Arnie spent more than two years to find the right paper for his notebooks. And his efforts paid off. Banditapple Carnet notebooks have one of the best papers I've ever tried with my fountain pens.

Banditapple uses a .25 inch page ruling; top margin of .75 inch, and bottom margin of .625 inch. Ruling has been printed using soy type ink.

The pages have no side margins, though. The ruling extends to the edges of the page spread.

And I saved the best for last: the pen and ink tests on Banditapple's Handy notebook. Because the Handy is a tall notebook, I was able to test a couple of pens on a page, including fountain pens, a rollerball, gelpens, and a permanent marker. I like using different pen types to test a notebook's paper because it shows me instantly how the pens and inks react to it.

Banditapple uses paper that is not smooth and shiny white. But it is very excellent for fountain pen use, especially to very broad and wet nibs such as those on my Esterbrook pens. The Esterbrook LJ and Trans J pens below both have 9968 (firm broad) nibs and I did not see any feathering or bleed at all. Even the badly notorious bleeder called Noodler's Midnight Blue behaved so well on this paper. I also noticed that some ink types even showed better color in Banditapple's paper, like Edelstein Jade and J. Herbin Bleu Myosotis. Drying takes a longer time compared to other paper types, but that is just fine.

All in a page: 21 fountain pens, 1 rollerball, 9 gelpens, 1 permanent marker.

Banditapple paper up close. Ink is  J. Herbin Café des îles. I love the pure, cottony goodness of paper on a close shot like this. And even at a very close view, I just don't see the ink feathering on paper.

This is how the back of the pen and ink test page looks like. Not one of the 21 fountain pens bled or feathered, but the Sharpie permanent marker just had to bleed very badly. But that's how Sharpie behaves on almost all of the paper types I have ever tested.

Lastly, here is the Peewee notebook that I have made into an 'ink diary'. Very cool. I like keeping an 'ink diary' because it's a way of keeping an informal inventory of my inks and pens. And I am very strict with myself that whenever I fill a pen, I have to write down the date, ink type, and pen used so I have an ink/pen reference.

If you need more information about these wonderful notebooks, Arnie Kim's contact details are on his site, http://www.banditapple.com/. Or you can email him using this email address: owner@banditapple.com if you want to discuss notebook orders. You can place orders for his notebooks in bulk and he will gladly give you a good price and a choice of whether to ship by air (faster), or water/surface (slower by 2 weeks, but then, the package gets to you). This is the best way of ordering from Arnie at the moment.

I am not affiliated with Banditapple Company, I am just a very satisfied owner of these wonderful and amazing notebooks.

The Banditapple Carnet notebooks used in this review are from the Banditapple Company through its creator and owner, Arnie Kim. The other notebooks, pens and inks used in this review all belong to my personal collection.

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Go Online to Buy All Your Office Stationery!

If you’re running a business and own an office space, then you will definitely need a wide range of office stationery items to ensure an organized operation. Such office supplies include desktop stationery, desk accessories, bags and envelopes, pens and pencils, diaries, calendars, labels, notebooks and notepads, packaging items, files and folders, etc.

With the advent of the internet, the best way to buy all these items without any hassle is to go online, where you will discover a number of trusted stationery stores such as Euroffice, an online store that offer all the office supplies you need at the most reasonable prices. Some of them provide low-cost delivery alternatives, while others give freebies such as free deliveries when you purchase products over a certain price limit.

Online shopping provides you with greater alternatives for your office supplies and lets you get them in amounts that not only match your requirements but meet your budget as well. Beloware some guidelines to make the most of your office supplies on the internet.

• Make sure that the company you select is trusted and reputable in its field and has been in the business for a long period of time. In this manner, you are assured that in case you have any difficulty, or seek any recommendation, they have the knowledge and experience to assist you.


• In the event that you need stationery items fast, you can always choose a company that facilitates quick delivery within 1-2 business days. Some may ask for an additional fee for this option, but you must be aware of it before your order is processed and even delivered. However, Euroffice always ensures next day delivery free of cost.


• In addition, make certain that the online store you choose offers the products of the brand names you desire. If you have been using a particular brand for your copier paper and pens, then just persist with that brand name without being enticed with a low-priced product. If they don’t provide the brands you need, it is advisable to get in touch with them and ask first if these products can be delivered. Always keep in mind that other retail stores may accept your request.


• Thousands of products from brands like Avery, 5 Star, Emgee, Leitz and Concord are on sale at Euroffice. So, make your selection for office stationery now!


• This may seem like an obvious one, but check that you’re buying products at the best prices available in the cyberspace. Furthermore, ensure that the company you choose is offering excellent customer service. There are many web-based stores for stationery supplies and even if some may charge a bit higher than others, you may notice that the product delivery is without charge, making the ultimate difference in the product price.


• If you own a big office and need huge amounts of office stationery, make certain that the online store is able to fulfill that need. A lot of stores do not maintain a large inventory, thereby resulting in non-fulfilkment of your order, particularly if you have to place one more order after a week or month.

When purchasing over the internet, you should know that if you need any suggestion or have a trouble with any item, there is competent customer support in place. An online contact form or an email address is not going to be sufficient; there must be a telephone number that you can call in case of urgency.

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Notebook Review: Daycraft's Juicy Notebook

The rainy season has definitely started here in the Philippines, but I'm stuck in summer's ambrosial delights - fruits! At home, we still get to enjoy these colorful, sweet, and juicy summer pleasures: plenty of bananas, cantaloupes, green and yellow mangoes, pineapples, and watermelons. Soon, most of these fruits will be gone from the stalls and we will all wait till next summer to enjoy them again.

Luckily for me, one watermelon has remained to keep me company until the next summer. It's Daycraft's Juicy Watermelon notebook that Foreal Lee, Retail and Marketing Manager of Hong Kong's Tai Shing Diary Ltd. sent to me a few months back. With a very apt tagline of 'Pick A Fresh One', Daycraft's Juicy notebook line comes only in A6 size, but has five 'delicious fruit flavors' to choose from: orange, watermelon, strawberry, pineapple, and honeydew melon.

The Juicy Watermelon notebook's cover is soft, fine Italian polyurethane (PU), designed to resemble the rind of a watermelon.

This notebook opens to a wedge of watermelon. You'd want to grab a juicy, wet bite when you see the front and back inside covers are watermelon red with watermelon seeds.

The Watermelon notebook, like the rest of those in Daycraft's Juicy line, have 128 pages of 6.5mm lined cream-colored paper with distinctive 'fruit' designs. The 'fruity' spread below has apples on the lower left of the page and watermelons on the upper right of the page. The 6.5mm spacing is just right for my handwriting.

Here's the watermelon design up close. I think the fruit designs are cute. And because they're printed lightly, I can write over them and still read the text I've written. 

The notebook's back cover has the same watermelon rind design as its front cover, but bears the clearly pressed Daycraft logo centered at the bottom.

Like most of Daycraft notebooks, the Juicy line is case bound, so the pages are threaded and glued together to make it durable.

The pages have round corners which I like very much. Pointed/Squared corners are more likely to snag my arm while writing, so the rounded corners are safer and better.

And now the best part of the review is here: pen and ink tests! I always do a number of tests when I have a new notebook. These tests help me choose the best pen and ink combination for any particular notebook. I grouped the tests according to the ink brand this time.

The first page has the ink tests for J. Herbin, Diamine, and Caran d'Ache. There was no feathering on the page and all the inks dried fast. Most of my pens have medium nibs and put large amounts of ink on paper, which is why I am concerned about the inks' drying time. Surpisingly, they all dried fast, including the saturated J. Herbin 1670 Anniversary ink. I'm loving this Juicy Watermelon notebook's paper already. The Herbin inks looked bright and happy, but Diabolo Menthe is the runaway winner here. It looked so beautiful and yet so cool. Diamine Royal Blue appeared so bright that I instantly filled two more pens after seeing it again. And then there's Caran d'Ache Saffron which will always be the perfect orange ink for me.

I tried Private Reserve, Waterman, Pelikan, Noodler's, and Mont Blanc inks on the other page. This time, I saw some feathering in Private Reserve and Noodler's inks, but that's okay as I already expected that. PR Black Magic Blue is a gift from fellow fountain pen collector Karlo Tatad and it surprised me because of its close resemblance to one of my favorite blue inks, Diamine Majestic Blue. Pelikan Blue-Black is another surprise for me because I did not see any feathering even though it's on a BB nib. I also tried two of my Zebra Sarasas here and they looked good on this cream-colored paper.

Below is the back of the first page with ink tests. Note that there is only minimal bleed which is seen only as tiny blue dots. Again, that's okay. This is still way, way better than the first Daycraft notebook I reviewed last year.

The second page revealed more bleed. Private Reserve Avacado on my no-name Maki-e pen is the one bleeding here (on top), as is Noodler's Midnight Blue (lower part of the page).

Here are some macro shots of the inks on the Juicy notebook paper. I was surprised to see under a 10x loupe that the 1670 ink feathered. But Vert Pré did not, and even showed some shading. 

I love the shading that Saffron produced, as well the Blue Sky; and both CdA inks behaved properly: no feathering, no bleed!

After all is said about this excellent little notebook from Daycraft, I realized I forgot to mention that this Watermelon notebook comes with a felt bookmark instead of the usual ribbon pagemarker - cool! It is shaped as a curled stem of the watermelon fruit. Other notebooks in the Daycraft Juicy line have their own respective bookmarks according to their fruit designs.

And what else is good about this notebook? It is sold here in the Philippines at Scribe Writing Essentials! Daycraft notebooks have been available at Scribe's flagship store in Eastwood Mall since last year, and in several PowerBooks outlets this year.

Daycraft products are also widely available now. Aside from Daycraft's distributors, their products can also be bought in stores from these countries: (click on country name to see retail stores) Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea, Macau, Poland, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Thailand.

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