fountain pen

by Tony Thomas Ray Blake is well known as champion of personal organizers, notebooks and journaling.  His You Tube video on making your own travelers notebook has received over a quarter of a million views. When I saw that he wrote a new book on pocket notebooks, I was intrigued. I bought it in Kindle format and began to read.  While it is a short book, it covers a lot of ground.   He begins by discussing how to buy and set up your notebook.  I would have liked to see some reviews of different notebooks rather than generic descriptions, but I still found his information helpful.  He continues by providing different applications for pocket notebooks. This is the real "meat" of the book and the reason you should buy it. This is a great book for fountain pen users looking for more ways to use their pens.  Users of rollerballs, gel pens, pencils, etc. will also resonate with its contents.  If you have a pocket notebook or plan to get one, I think this boo...

by Tony Thomas I have a problem with regular notebooks.  Unless they are dedicated to a singular purpose, I usually fill them up with information that has no long-term significance.  My initial solution was to use disc-bound Circa and Arc notebooks for everyday use but found them to be both bulky and heavy to carry around. I decided that a better solution would be to create a notebook that would allow me to carry loose papers that could be easily rearranged and discarded when no longer needed.  These days, most of my important archival information is in Evernote and I either transfer the information from my written notes manually or take a quick photo of the written page with my tablet or phone and store it electronically in Evernote. I ordered a nice piece of tooling leather from eBay, cut it down to 8.5" x 11" and dyed it.  I added an elastic band to hold everything together.  It is similar to a traveler's notebook and very quick and easy to make -- less than ...

by Tony Thomas I recently received a Quo Vadis Compact Habana notebook from Exaclair and decided to a quick review.   First of all, it brings back memories of the Moleskine notebooks that I have used in the past but the paper quality is much, much better.  It uses 85 gram Clairefontaine paper which is the paper of choice for many fountain pen users.  I found the ivory paper color to be very pleasing and it looks good with most inks.   The notebook has a faux leather cover, a bookmark ribbon, an elastic cover closure and a rear pocket. The Quo Vadis logo is embossed on the front cover, and on the back, the Quo Vadis name and logo appear at the bottom.  It is made in the USA with Clairefontaine paper from France.  The binding quality is excellent and the notebook has a very impressive fit and feel.   As expected, there was no feathering or bleed thru when using the notebook with fountain pens, and it provided a smooth and enjoyable writing experience. ...

by Tony Thomas I decided that it was time for a new everyday carry notebook and picked up a junior-sized Levenger Circa Bomber Jacket.   I love the look and smell of genuine leather and it does not disappoint. I settled on a disc-based notebook because they are so flexible and I have used them for years. As I have a paper cutter and a punch, I can use all kinds of paper, including sketching and drawing paper, copier paper, cheap notebook paper and really nice paper like Rhodia. In addition, the disc-based notebook is really a part of a larger system because I can move things around easily and pull out pages that I am no longer using and archive them in other notebooks.  Very useful! I spruced  up  the Bomber Jacket with some copper-colored aluminum discs (1") to replace the smaller plastic ones that it came with.   The end result looks great and is the perfect size and weight for my needs.  Even though it wasn't cheap, I expect to get a lot of use out of it...

by Tony Thomas I ordered a pack of "pitch black" Field Notes brand notebooks to try out recently.  Although I have been familiar with the brand for quite some time, this was the first time I have had a chance to use them. A Bit of Background If you are not familiar with Field Notes, they are a company that makes a line of pocket-sized (3.5" x 5.5") notebooks in various colors and styles.  They are sold in 3 packs of plain, ruled, grid or assorted pages.  They are well-known for their limited-edition notebooks which are very collectible.  When I saw their new "pitch black" edition in dot grid, I thought it was time to try some. First Impressions Upon opening the pack, I was instantly impressed with the quality and attention to detail of the notebook.  It is staple-bound, has rounded corners and feels good in the hand.  According to the specifications, the cover is French Construction 100#C "Blackstop".  The ink is a soy-based  Saphira ink...