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Apica Paris Motif Notebook

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I’ve never been to Paris. I have, however, been a fan of Apica notebooks for several years now. Apica is a Japanese manufacturer of high-quality paper products. One of my favorite products of theirs is the CD15 notebook . I get them for a few dollars each at my local Japanese entertainment and stationery shop. A good chunk of my lecture notes from community college were written in these. They held up wonderfully. I let them jostle around in my backpack several days a week, and the covers didn’t get torn up. I also like knowing my notes will be safe for years to come due to the archival quality of the acid-free paper. My notes from high school are already ruined because I used the cheapest paper available. Bummer. During my last shopping trip on Jetpens.com , I noticed these cheaper Paris-themed Apica notebooks . They had good reviews, so I picked one up. I chose the beige airmail theme. Check out the cute airmail-themed details on the front cover. I noticed a few differenc

Staples Sustainable Earth Sugarcane-based 20 lb. Copy Paper Review and Fountain Pen Ink Test

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  Sugarcane paper? How sweet is that? I caught wind of this product last year when I saw it mentioned on The Fountain Pen Network forums. At $9.79, a 500-sheet ream is priced similarly to the revered 80-sheet Rhodia Dot Pad, so I had to check it out. I took a trip to my local Staples and found out they don’t carry this item, so I placed an order online. It did not disappoint me. This paper has become my go-to for taking lecture notes. The surface is pleasantly smooth to write on. The sheets are thin, but not too thin. I typically experience no feathering and little to no bleed-through, even with my wettest pens. Check out this sample of my notes, which were written with a TWSBI Eco 1.1mm stub nib and Waterman Harmonious Green ink: Looks pretty good, right? No, I’m not talking about my sloppy handwriting. Here’s some information about this paper: Sheet count 500 Paper weight 20 lb. Paper color Cool white Ruling Blan

Costco Moleskine Cahier Journal Review and Fountain Pen Ink Test

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Ah, Costco: the members-only warehouse that sells bulk merchandise at a discounted price… I remember my first trip there as if it was yesterday. Well, that’s not that surprising, considering that I actually went there for the first time just last month. I tagged along with a friend for a back-to-school shopping adventure. My friend and I are pen and stationery junkies, so naturally we made a bee-line for that aisle. I’m pretty sure I let my mouth hang open for several moments as my eyes soaked in the sheer volume of stuff . A 72-pack of multicolor gel pens?! Heck. Yes. I reluctantly decided that I definitely didn’t need that many gel pens, even if several of them did have glitter. Meanwhile, my friend found something interesting: a 6-pack of large Moleskine cahier journals packaged specially for Costco on sale for $20. Cheap? Not exactly, but I’m willing to spend that much per notebook if they’re going to be good quality. Plus, these were a steal, because a 3-pack of the same n