Rob at Made for Ink has very kindly sent me and the United Inkdom review team samples of his two new notebook ranges. Rob is an artisan in the true meaning, producing limited print runs of inexpensive good quality fun themed hand made notebooks that are ideal for journal keepers of all persuasions.
The Exorcise range is great fun and based on a school exercise book theme. Traditional size notebooks for (im)mature students. These books have 60 x 100gsm smooth bright white pages which are very ink friendly. 176 x 240mm size is perfect for longer form writing and easily fits into a backpack or laptop bag. You don’t have to be going back to school though, each inside front cover has a hidden print with a short explanation about the print on the inside rear cover. I hasten to add that the prints are related to Exorcising! Get it?
There are four kinds of paper fill with plain, lined, lined squares and dot matrix on offer. I went full on with some Diamine Winter Miracle which is a very heavy sheening purple ink with a shimmer which I applied with an automatic pen. Being 100gsm yes there is show through and where the ink puddled, some bleed through was in evidence, but what do expect? The shimmer and sheen both work but if it’s just for handwriting that you want these then they work very well with a fountain pen. I used an Esterbrook with a fine nib and the same heavy ink and had no bleed nor show through issues.
The Chalk Stripe range is a very smart looking notebook. The rounded corner classic blue chalk-stripe cover has a beautiful feel and when duplexed with a contrasting colour inner and partnered to matching fly these really do look the business. Don’t judge them by their cover alone though: 40 x 120gsm natural white pages just beg to be written on. The paper flows so well it is asking for you to keep writing, its’ smoooth surface with subtle structure isn’t as flat as, say, EDC but it handles nibs of all types – and graphite – with ease.
There are three kinds of paper fill with plain, lined and dot matrix on offer. As before, I went full on with some Diamine Winter Miracle applied with an automatic pen. Being 120gsm there is some show through and where the ink puddled but no bleed through. The shimmer and sheen both work well but if it’s just handwriting that you want these for, then they work very well with a fountain pen. I used an Esterbrook with a fine nib and the same heavy ink and had no bleed nor show through issues.
It’s great to have people like Rob around offering something a little different to the usual big brands. All of his products are ideal for fountain pen users and as small print runs are very collectable. The Exorcise notebook is retailing at £6.95 and the Chalk Stripe at £7.95. Both are available from Rob’s website.
The United Inkdom team are also going to be reviewing both of these notebooks so there will be a serious meta review for you to view very soon. Thanks to Rob for sending them over.
HEY! If you’re interested to know more about how to use fountain pen inks in more creative ways – whether it’s simply to observe their chromatic behaviours, or, to recreate one of my swatch cards, or, to learn how to use them in watercolour painting, illustration and calligraphy, why not check out my online course or, even better, sign up for a workshop?
FOUNTAIN PEN INK ART 