Fabriano EcoQua Pocket Notebook (Pack of 4): 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.)

Fabriano is an Italian company that has been making paper since 1264. Yes, you read that correctly: 1264! Greats like Michelangelo, Beethoven, and Francis Bacon used Fabriano paper--but, no worries. You needn't paint the Sistine Chapel or write a symphony or become a philosopher in order to enjoy this paper. It'll work for bullet journaling and shopping lists.

EcoQua Pocket Notebook covers are made with 290gsm Sirio Tela ecological paper. This paper is thick like card stock, but has a textured surface that resists scratching. The corners of the notebook are rounded off, giving them a clean, sophisticated look. Each notebook is staple bound with two staples and measures 3 by 5.5 inches.

The paper inside is Bioprima Book paper in ivory. This paper is 85gsm (i.e. much thicker than Tomoe River Paper, for example). In addition, it is eco-friendly. The pulp comes from forests that are managed in accordance with specifications established by the Forest Stewardship Council. The paper is also chlorine free.

My set of notebooks are dot grid patterned (4mm), but blank versions are available. The notebook has 32 pages, and the last 16 are perforated. Be aware that the perforation is 10mm from the inside margin, so if you aren't careful some of your writing might remain in the notebook.

I tested the paper with eight fountain pens and inks. The paper handled all of them quite well. I observed no bleeding even with the wettest nibs. There was no bleed through onto the back of the page either, although there was show through. Writing on this paper is enjoyable. It is smooth but offers just enough feedback that your nibs feel steady.

Next, I tested the paper with other writing instruments (pens and pencils), and, again, the paper worked well. Colors are bright and readable. I noticed that the Palomino Blackwing lead smudged when I ran my finger over it. Both Sharpies bled through to the other side, but no other bleed through occurred.

I swabbed eight inks on the paper. All the colors are brilliant, none bled through, and some exhibited a tiny bit of sheen. Had this been a sunny day, sheen may have been much more visible. I apologize for not knowing the name of the first ink. I'm pretty sure I reviewed it long ago for Pen Addict, but neither the box nor the bottle give the name in English.

I copied a Mary Oliver poem into the notebook using my Platinum fountain pen with a soft nib and Iroshizuku Yama Budo. The ink went down smoothly and dried quickly. I wasn't worried about smudging nor did I feel like the nib was skating over the surface.

I have no complaints whatsoever with the Fabriano EcoQua notebooks. They are well made and the paper is exquisite. You can purchase four-packs from JetPens for $11.00 in cool colors (Black, Grey, Plum, and Turquoise) or warm colors (Red, Orange, Yellow, and Green).

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

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Musubi Cosmo Air Light 83 Notebook Review

In the conversation surrounding Tomoe River paper replacements, one name has stood out among the contenders: Cosmo Air Light. And thankfully, one of the premier notebook makers in the world has added it as an option to their popular paper notebook lineup.

The Musubi Cosmo Air Light 83 Notebook features 208 pages of this highly fountain pen friendly paper. The A5 sized, semi-rigid cover gives the notebook great protection, and you can choose from three different paper styles - blank, 7 mm lined, or 5 mm cross grid. The lined and cross grid rulings each have subtle added markings on the page to help you setup your page for planning, bullet journaling, note taking, meetings, and more. To top it off, these notebooks will only cost you around $25, making them one of Musubi’s lowest-priced offerings.

With all that said, the real question is this: How does the paper perform? I’ll let Daryl from Musubi start this section off:

“Originally designed as a lightly-coated paper for book printing, Cosmo Air Light's most unique quality is its surface texture, which feels a little like a velvety dry-erase board, and spreads ink out slightly instead of pooling it in a single spot. As a result, inks sheen vividly and shade vibrantly, bringing out elements of colour and contrast in ways often unrivaled even by papers like Tomoe River.”

Cosmo Air Light is great for fountain pens. The ink colors are bright on the page, and the dry time is moderate - giving the ink a chance to shade and sheen well. There is a softness to the page as the nib glides across it, with little to no feedback. It’s almost glossy, but not slick. It’s hard to explain, but it feels great with fountain pens.

One thing I definitely noticed, and Daryl mentioned above, is that my lines seemed wider on this paper than with other papers. For example, my fine nibs left more of a medium-width line. The finer I went, the more I noticed it. My fine cursive italic Nakaya nib was not as fine I am used to, nor was my Platinum 3776 UEF.

For standard pens and pencils, I found the Cosmo Air Light paper too glossy for enjoyable regular use. If you grab a ballpoint pen and go write on a thick magazine page, that is the feel you get. Glassy smooth, with no feedback. Same with pencils, which needs a page with texture to be enjoyable in my book. Rollerball and gel pens were passable, leaving rich-colored lines which would look great as sketches, but I’m not sure I would want to write page after page with either of those inks.

Fountain pens are the way to go with Cosmo Air Light. And may be the only way. That kind of sounds like Tomoe River paper, doesn’t it? This is a fountain pen only paper for the most part, and fortunately it does that part well. If you like big colors, big nibs, big ink, and big lines, then you are going to love Cosmo Air Light.

You are also going to love the construction, quality, and story of Musubi notebooks. They are the best in my book, and at around $25 for the Cosmo Air Light version, it is a great value.

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

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Leuchtturm1917 Reporter 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!)

For someone who loves notebooks so much, I sure do write a lot on scratch paper. The back of a receipt? In the margins of an unrelated document? On a tiny square of paper saved from the recycling bin? Post-it notes? That's where I write the most important things. What could possibly go wrong? Everything, that's what. And I'm forever looking for solutions to save me from myself.

Leuchtturm1917 are well established as quality notebooks, and I love using their standard A5 model, so I was pleased to see that the Reporter Notepad has all the same features. A smooth leather hardcover with an elastic band closure keeps everything secure. Inside, there's a name page, followed by a few pages for an index. I was surprised to see the index for a small notepad--but these pages are numbered, just like in their larger notebooks. This is extra useful, as the things that get written in this sort of book tend to be random and disorganized. The index will save me from having to flip through the book looking for random notes.

This notepad has grid lines in faint grey on 94 sheets of cream paper. That's 188 pages if you use both sides--which is trickier to do with a notepad, but I'll do it. There's a small margin at the top of each page for a header, and a narrow margin around the bottom and sides, giving the edges a clean look.

Inside the back cover is their usual pocket for bits of paper--just in case you still write on scraps. You'll be less likely to, though, because this notepad offers an excellent writing experience. The paper is fantastic, standing up to nearly any ink. Even the Sharpie only showed through where the pen tip paused. The rest has almost no show-through. The binding on this is also sturdy enough that it can be folded back around on itself, if you want to hold it compactly.

Overall, this may be one of the best reporter-style notepads I've used. Most that I've tried are spiral-bound, which works for the flip-over, but they don't hold onto papers as well, tend to get warped, and snag in pockets. They also lack the fancy features that Leuchtturm adds, like the pocket and index. I'm hoping this book will help me cut down on scrap writing, especially at work, where I scribble a note every few minutes. Maybe someday I'll find the three separate scraps of paper that all have the same chiropractor recommendation on them, but in the meantime, I'll just have to ask for that rec one more time, and write it safely in this book.

(JetPens 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!