JetPens Kanso Noto Notebook A5 Dot Grid: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

The JetPens exclusive Kanso Noto Notebook comes in four colors: black, dark green, navy blue, and deep purple. It's an A5-size notebook with 52gsm Tomoe River Paper in a dot grid format.

The notebook is simple with cardstock covers, a sewn binding, and a taped spine. There are no extras, such as page numbers, an index, or ribbon bookmarks.

It has 320 pages (front and back) of dot grid paper. The dots are a light grey color--so light they are a little difficult to see except in bright light.

The cardstock covers are easily bent. In fact, my notebook already had creases when I opened it. If you don't want this notebook to get beat up in your book bag, you might want to put it in an A5 cover.

Tomoe River Paper is best known for being smooth, thin, and fountain-pen friendly. Inks are displayed at their very best on this paper, which brings out shading and sheening properties.

I tested ten fountain pens in this notebook. As expected, all the inks worked well with the paper. There was no bleeding and no bleed through; however, because of the thinness of the paper, show through is quite visible.

I used Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo in my Nakaya with a medium flex stub nib to write out a longer passage. You can see good shading properties in the writing sample. Again, show through is obvious, so you may not want to write on both sides of the paper.

I love doing ink swatches on Tomoe River Paper. There's just nothing quite like it to bring out the qualities in various inks. I tested ten inks from different manufacturers in the notebook. All the swatches are vivid (though the cream color of the paper may mute them slightly), and pooling, sheen, and shading are dramatic. I did my swatches with a paintbrush, so they were quite wet and some did bleed through to the other side.

Tomoe River Paper is now ubiquitous, being used in notebooks from many manufacturers. It's good to have options. If you want a simple notebook at a decent price ($19.00) the Kanso Noto is a good choice. Although JetPens is currently out of stock, you can sign up to be emailed when the notebook is back in stock.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Off Lines Zettelwirt Notepad Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

At first glance, the Off Lines Zettelwirt Notepad appears to be just another cardstock memo pad. But don't be deceived. I fell for it, too, but then within minutes of using it, I was smitten. And I'm not alone. Off Lines was the European Product Design and German Design Award winner in 2017. That's a lot of hype for a notepad, and it didn't make sense to me until I held it.

For starters, this isn't normal cardstock. It's denim tag, which is extra sturdy and waterproof. The brand even claims the cover will survive a turn in the washing machine, though I love it too much to test this theory for you. Sorry. It has a great texture to it, too, and will take on the characteristics of its use as it ages.

The cover is refillable and the loose-leaf pages are held in place by an elastic band that circles the top of the paper. An indent helps to keep them from moving around too much. When the cover is closed, they stay firmly put. I do find them a bit loose when I'm writing, making this better suited to a desk memo pad than an on-the-go pad, but ultimately I really like this filling system. It's not one I've seen anywhere else. To remove a page, you just lift the elastic and the page slides free. Using both sides of the page is easy--just slip it back under the elastic.

The cover closes with a cloth-covered elastic band to keep your papers safe. It is very slim, and doesn't hold a lot of sheets, but the refill packages come with a generous 100 sheets, so more pages are always at hand.

The paper itself is 90 gsm, chlorine-free, cream-colored, sustainable, and best of all, fountain pen friendly. It has some tooth to it, but doesn't bleed or feather. Even my BB Kaweco worked well on it. I even tried the brush paint pens from last week's review, just to see what would happen. I didn't expect good results, but this paper handles paint like a champ. The only thing that bled at all was the Sharpie--and even that only dotted where the pen paused. There is a little bit of show-through with darker inks, but it's not enough to be distracting.

The Off Lines company is located in Bavaria, and emphasizes writing free from the distractions of tech. That's a philosophy I can get behind. The back copy of this notepad mentions an app, but I can't find one in my app store, or on their website, so that may not be available at this time. I prefer not to mix my paper with apps, anyway.

I've really enjoyed using this notepad. They have several varieties available, and the most expensive of them is only around $35 including shipping (which is 1/3 of that cost) from Germany. That's not bad, considering the quality. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.

(This item was purchased at Mostwanted-pens at full retail.)

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

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The Moo Hardcover Notebook: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

Back in 2017, I reviewed my first Moo Notebook (here). They sent us another one to review in 2020. To be honest, nothing much has changed, except this time the paper is dot grid instead of lined (and it doesn't come with a pencil). That said, this is such a well-made notebook, it's worth reviewing again, especially if some readers have never heard of it.

The notebook comes encased in a slip cover. This protects the edges and bottom of the notebook and makes for easy archiving later.

The cover is made of soft, lightly-textured cloth. Since I've begun bookbinding, I really appreciate a nicely-bound book.

A couple of extras are included. There's a bookmark ribbon and a business card holder you can tape inside.

A distinctive feature of the Moo Notebook is that the book is not glued in at the spine. Not only does this show off the beautiful Swiss binding, but it also allows the pages to lay flat when the book is opened. I think it looks cool and is a neat little piece of craftsmanship.

The front page is made of textured card stock that protects the pages beneath it.

Inside are 160 pages of white Swedish Munken Kristall 100 gsm paper with soft grey dots. In the lower corner is a circle for page numbers (or any other symbols you'd like to insert).

The paper is smooth and thick, handling fountain pens with ease. None of the ink bled, even when using broader nibs. I did notice some show through and a tiny bit of bleed through on the other side of the paper.

I used my Nakaya Dorsal Fin with a flex nib and Iroshizuku Tsukushi ink to write a longer writing sample. The paper is excellent for writing--smooth but not too slick.

Ink swabs look bright and true-to-color on the paper. However, there's not much sheen. Some of the ink bled through to the other side, and the paper buckled from the moisture.

In the middle of the book you'll find sixteen pages of G. F. Smith's Colorplan 135 gsm paper.

This paper is meant for drawing, presumably, although I tested it with pens, swabs, and painting. The paper has texture to it, so finer tines can get caught. There was no show or bleed through, but I did notice a bit of bleeding because this paper is more absorbent.

The green paper (it looks white in the photos) affected the colors of the swabbed inks, dulling them slightly. A bit more sheen was displayed, and there was no show or bleed through at all.

I also tried a watercolor with a tiny bit of bleach in the wash and the inks used in my swabs. Although the paper buckled, it handled the bleach wash, inks, and multiple layers of brushstrokes without any bleed through.

The Moo Hardcover Notebook is simply a gorgeous piece of craftsmanship. I love how it feels in my hands. The paper is top-notch, and the binding is unique and functional. At $19.99, I think it is a terrific value. You can purchase the Moo Hardcover Notebook directly from the Moo website. The notebook comes in the following color combinations (the color of the cover is followed by the color of the Colorplan pages): Jet Black/Duck Egg (the notebook reviewed here); Sky Blue/Pastel Pink; Berry Red/Turquoise; Lime Green/Steel Blue; Wine Red/Lavender; Midnight Blue/Tan; and Charcoal Grey/Mint. You can choose either lined or dot grid paper.

(Moo provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!