As promised, here's a closer look at the notebook beauties from Paper Republic. They come in A5 and pocket size. Mine are all A5 as I don't really use smaller notebooks. They all have 96 pages and though the paper is nice and thick the notebook is pretty slim.
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| Paper Republic Noto notebooks |
There are no colored end papers or ribbon book marks, the books are all about their delightful covers for which Japanese Chiyogami or Katazome papers are used. Each one of those covers is slightly different, some feel smooth to the touch, others feel like cloth or felt and you can see tiny fibers protruding from the surface. Some of them are stencil dyed by hand.
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| Paper Republic Noto notebooks - gorgeous covers |
It was hard for me to pick a design when browsing their online shop so I ended up picking a few different ones. This one below with the colorful flowers and lots of orange speaks to me most - small wonder since I love red and orange -, the colors are strong yet not too loud. I like to lose myself in the colors and details, especially the places where one color fades into another. They have a depth to them much like Urushi surfaces which are more than pure color too. But maybe that's just an idea in my mind. ;)
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| Paper Republic Noto - my favorite design, at least for the moment. |
Inside there's white, plain Munken paper. It has a nice texture with a bit of tooth to it but I'm still not a fan because lines will appear much wider than on any other paper - that Montblanc BB nib below makes such a bold line on this paper it's hardly usable. Also there will be a small amount of feathering with very wet nibs as can also be seen at the Montblanc sample. Else it's not bad, there is no bleedthrough and only moderate showthrough - if you look closely you can see some slight showthrough from the back side of the test page.
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| Paper Republic notebook - ink test. Not too bad! |
Here's all of mine in a row. Beautiful, aren't they?
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| Paper Republic Noto notebooks. |
Which pattern do you like most?
Beautiful designs indeed, but perhaps a little too much for me. I've used Moleskine (black) and Quo Vadis Habana (blue; will soon start a taupe one) notebooks for my journaling.
ReplyDeleteOf the Paper Republic notebooks, I like the #1 design best. Probably the calm blue colours that off-set the busy design.
Yes, the #1 is one of my favorites aswell. I hadn't heard of Chiyogami/Katazome before I got their notebooks, now that I know those names all hope is lost ever to recover from my beautiful notebook addiction! (well, to be honest hope was lost even before - but as I don't intend to recover, really...)
DeleteI'm looking forward to getting some Chiyogami/Katazome notebooks with a larger pagecount, a nice cloth bound spine and more fountain pen friendly sheets some time next week from a bookbinder here in Germany.
I understand that they can be VERY colorful if you are into single tone notebooks and such. I haven't shown them to world's best boyfriend yet because I can imagine the reaction vividly enough. ;)
Have you seen TMLee's work on Fountain Pen Network? I consider asking him to craft a journal for me, although I do not know how much that might cost.
ReplyDeleteSee his home made journal thread here: http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/28367-homemade-journal/page-43
Yes, I've admired those many times. Amazing work. Still I'm pretty resolved at the moment not to order any notebooks from overseas anymore, it's just too much hassle with customs and having to pick the parcels up in the middle of nowhere etc. Pens are different. ;)
DeleteThe only exception is that probably one day I'll order some Tomoe River and have a local bookbinder work it into notebooks.