I'm A Sad, Pathetic Stationery Junkie.

[inkypete]

On 11/27/2021 at 8:39 AM, Runnin_Ute said:

Picked up the following from Goulet last night:

3 Apica A7

1 Apica B5 never tried this size before really. I usually go smaller like the A7 or A5 or A4.

1 Apica A5

 

In the past I have usually just bought the A7 in the Apica notebooks. Thought I would give these others a try.

 

Love Apica. All my notebooks effectively are A5. Great all purpose size, I reckon.

[Misfit]

I recently got the dot grid refills for my Exacompta FAF pad. They seem to have heavier paper vs the blank and grid paper. I do love that FAF pad. 

[inkypete]

The clean up of my paper and notebook cupboard continues. Amazing what you find when you go looking. 10 packets of Muji A5 loose leaf, the really nice one because quality at Muji does vary. Now where are my Muji multi ring binders...........?

[essayfaire]

Gave my son Mnemosyne wire bound horizontal version (A5?) as gift. His initial reaction was that he thought it was a nice journal, he had many nice journals, and thank you.  He didn't quite understand why I thought this notebook was so idiosyncratic.

 

Fast forward two days.  He loves it.  It's great for certain types of creative writing.  The paper doesn't bleed through and is fountain-pen enthusiastic(as opposed to just friendly).  Happy kid.  

 

Parents do know things, after all.

[Misfit]

My first notebook gifts of the season thanks to my dearest friends. 

To the left is a Peter Pauper Press notebook with lined pages. On the right is an Astroreality notebook with both blank and graph pages.

 

[Misfit]

I recently received the final installment of my Field Notes subscription, and they wanted some FPN love. 
 

[Runnin_Ute]

16 hours ago, Misfit said:

I recently received the final installment of my Field Notes subscription, and they wanted some FPN love. 
 

Two questions:

 

Do you find a sub worth it? And will you be renewing?

[Misfit]

I renewed for the 50th anniversary edition.  It’s hard to say if it’s worth it. The 10% off is nice. They used to send a pack of mixed paper Kraft cover Field Notes. That stopped a few years ago. The extras are sometimes cool, and sometimes meh.  Oh, you get free shipping with a subscription. 
 

I’m doubting I’ll renew. It seems like they are making more of each limited edition notebook, so it should be easy to wait until the Spring and Summer editions come out, and buy one of each.  Then do the same thing for the Fall and Winter editions. 

[Runnin_Ute]

The math I did once upon a time I didn't think it was that great of a deal. It seems like it was about a break even proposition. My thought was you better be getting "it's worth it" for just the books - not counting on the extras to make it worth it. If it is only the extras that make it worth it, then is it really? Because like you say, some of the extras are pretty cool, others not so much. So I buy the stuff that interests me. And since I am not a collector per se, and don't go through them as fast as some folks, buying packs works best for me.

 

I also have several in use at any given time.  A kraft book I have I started almost a year ago (January) and I just got to the staple this week. I'll finish it in December 2022 sometime. It gets ONE line/entry per day. Another (Mercury-Atlas cover) is again ONE line per day - both are used to keep track of specific information and that is all they are used for. But it is very different information. But one entry per day is all I have of that information.

 

One is used for addresses. How often does that change? And a fourth is stuff like grocery lists and other general information.  At times, I have used one for an ink journal, but right now is a homemade one with Tomoe River. Cover is 32 lb HP Laserjet premium.

 

My Apica CD5 (a7) gets one item per line, one line per day. BUT because it is in a shirt pocket and I have it with me all the time, it gets other stuff too. Stuff I need somewhat regularly and don't want to have to remember.

[Misfit]

I don’t fill them up quickly either. I’ll have quite a stash of them for years. The good thing is they are easily portable. Field Notes fit in Rickshaw Bags Waldo case, and other of their pen and notebook options like the Diplomat and Coozy, plus the Nock Sinclair. I got covers made of retired parasails on Etsy for mine.  They hold two Field Notes and have two credit card size slots inside. 

[Misfit]

When I got the notebook gifts, one of my friends asked what I used them for. Imagine being on that spot. Uh, well I need notebooks for when um, I decide what the notebook is best for. 
 

When I see a cool notebook cover, it’s hard to pass it up. Unfortunately I tend to buy and put away. I have hopes to do better. I’m trying the calendar type books with memo writing space. If I can use those consistently, then there is hope for the other notebooks. 
 

I told them how some people wake up, and write morning notes. What I need to do is get over how to start a new notebook, and just start.  Maybe I can find a favorite quote to start each, and after that write about the day, or something I’m thinking about getting or doing and write that down. 

[inkypete]

My addiction means that when I find something I like, a notebook or a cover for example, then I have to buy a few in case when I go to get more I can't get them.

[AmandaW]

For a long time I have been buying some very cheap unlined office pads from Officeworks. A hundred sheets in them. The paper is thin, but they have been remarkably fountain pen friendly.

 

There's always an A5 floating around my desk for doodling, pen testing etc. When they put them on clearance a few years ago. I bought a lot. A full carton, plus some loose ones, plus what I already had. I'm still good for a while.

 

I began using the a4 size fir calligraphy practice, absolutely perfect for the task, thin paper allows the guidelines to show wonderfully. And lots of pages so I don't feel so bad about wasting paper on my inept efforts.

 

Bought six more yesterday. And you guessed it: they've changed the paper. It bleeds straight through now.

[A Smug Dill]

13 minutes ago, AmandaW said:

Bought six more yesterday. And you guessed it: they've changed the paper. It bleeds straight through now.

 

Should've bought more of those $2 Clairefontaine Age Bag A4 books…

[AmandaW]

2 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

Should've bought more of those $2 Clairefontaine Age Bag A4 books…

They are lined paper. To use my own guidelines requires plain unlined and very thin. And a pad glued at the head works better for the purpose than a notebook stitched or stapled at the side because the guidesheet doesn't move.

 

The choice now is going from $1.45 that worked very well to the only other unlined pads at Officeworks is Rhodia at $18.

[A Smug Dill]

1 hour ago, AmandaW said:

To use my own guidelines requires plain unlined and very thin. …‹snip›… The choice now is going from $1.45 that worked very well to the only other unlined pads at Officeworks is Rhodia at $18.

 

If you say so. I'm pretty sure the 50-sheet A4 Planning Pads from Daiso, notwithstanding having pale blue gridlines 5mm apart, is sufficiently thin for the lines of your guide sheet to show through. Those pads are available in both landscape and portrait orientation, assuming the binding for the pad is at the top of the page, for $3.10 a pad (although I'm not sure what Daiso's prices are in Western Australia these days; I always thought the chain's pricing is consistent nationwide).

 

 

(I only have the landscape version.)

(Hmmm, I have no idea why the JPG compression seems to have such issues with the typed text in cyan.)

[AmandaW]

Daiso prices start at $3.30 at the only store in Western Australia. I still prefer plain white paper.

 

My best solution seems to be sourcing the appropriate paper from a paper merchant and having it cut and padded. Having family in the print industry is helpful, though it will mean ordering a lot.

 

I am still p'd off that Officeworks has switched the contents of their product without notice on the packet. And I am stuck with 6 pads of rubbish which is not worth an hour of driving to return.

 

If I were not a sad pathetic stationery junkie it wouldn't matter. I am, so it does.

[A Smug Dill]

1 minute ago, AmandaW said:

I am still p'd off that Officeworks has switched the contents of their product without notice on the packet.

 

I'm afraid just about every brand would do that, unless they want to market it as a different product, and the change from the previous release as a positive selling point.

 

Rhodia has done it with the DotPad (change the paper without altering the product packaging, name or code). Leuchtturm1917 has done it with the hardcover A5 journals.

[ParramattaPaul]

3 hours ago, inkypete said:

My addiction means that when I find something I like, a notebook or a cover for example, then I have to buy a few in case when I go to get more I can't get them.

I did that.  Then I discovered the 'spares' sit in a drawer for (ahem, years) waiting to be used.

[AmandaW]

3 hours ago, inkypete said:

My addiction means that when I find something I like, a notebook or a cover for example, then I have to buy a few in case when I go to get more I can't get them.

 

I found padded paper I liked. I am now wishing I had bought more. A lot more.

 

Edit to ask: Has anyone tried Quill 60gsm plain pads? Do they bleed through?