Thursday Drops: Midori Paper Restock, Life x Kleid Notebooks, and TWSBI Saffron!

While the big news this week was the expansion of our selection of bottled fountain pen inks and refills to include three new brands and a separate page in the shop, we still have boxes of new arrivals and restocks showing up on our proverbial doorstep daily! Notably, we now have the Saffron TWSBI ECO-T fountain pens in-stock and ready to ship, as well as a refresh on other ECO models and the TWSBI Swipe. Don’t forget - since we still have 10ml Anderillium sample bottles available, our Nahvalur promotion continues. All purchases of Nahvalur and Opus 88 fountain pens receive a complimentary bottle of Anderillium Ink, and purchases above $120 receive two! Happy Shopping!

The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized retailer of all brands sold.

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TWSBI Tuxedo, anyone?

1. TWSBI ECO-T Saffron. Of all the various colors that TWSBI has released over the years, the ones that have stuck in my collection - the pens that I simply can’t bear to part with - have been their yellow pens. This Saffron model in the subtly triangular ECO-T already has a spot in my pen case.

2. TWSBI ECO Black and White. Even the “basic” ECO lineup looks sharp. In addition to a restock of the classic clear TWSBI ECOs, we’ve added the standard black and white pens. Sort of a late oversight on our part!

3. TWSBI Swipe Restock. Most colors of the TWSBI Swipe are now back in stock, including this winter’s popular “Ice Blue” edition.

4. Nahvalur Nautilus Bronze Corydoras and Black Cephalopod Fountain Pens. While our stock of the Nautilus “Pen of the Year” has sold out and is gone, I’m still stuck on the classic black Nautilus, and can’t pick a trim. Bronze or Black? Bronze won our Instagram poll from a while back. (Note: Your purchase of an ebonite Nautilus will complimentary 10ml sample bottles of Anderillium Ink.)

5. Life x Kleid “Noble Note” Notebooks. In this Japanese stationery collaboration, Japanese stationery Life has paired with Kleid to incorporate the latter’s 2mm grid ruling into the “Noble Note” notebook series. these notebooks are available in both standard A5 and B6 formats, in four different cover and paper combinations.

6. Midori Soft Color A5 Notebooks. Looking for something different to refill your A5 notebook cover, or merely a new paper to give you that vintage “examination book” feel without losing fountain pen friendliness? These Midori notebooks are available in blue, grey, green, or purple.

7. Midori Multi-Year Diaries. It’s not too late to start journaling, even in February, and especially where you can use an undated multi-year journal that lets you pick up wherever! We stock three, five, and even ten-year versions!

8. Penco Pocket Drafting Pens and Pencils. Love the look of classic technical drafting pens and pencils but wish you could take them with you in a portable format? These pocket-sized versions come in either black or silver, in both a ballpoint pen and .5mm mechanical pencil version.

9. Midori MD Cotton Writing Pads. Our top-selling everyday writing pad is now the Midori MD Cotton pad, which features soft, ink-friendly paper that works well with pretty much every writing instrument. Now if only Midori would resume making the entire standard MD Notebook lineup in a cotton paper alternative! (Blank notebooks ARE available!)

10. Write Notepads Memo Pads. Baltimore-based Write Notepads makes some of the best everyday writing paper on the market - these memo pads are sold in packs of two and come in three different rulings: lined, dot grid, and “meeting.”

Personal Obsessions: My Quest for the Perfect Blue Writing Paper

Despite having access to about as wide a range of stationery products as humanly possible, there are still certain things I’ve been looking for over the years that remain elusive. Chief among these is a reliably fountain-pen-friendly blue writing paper. Smythson of Bond Street seems to be the gold standard for many, and their notebooks are indeed gorgeous, but I’ve had trouble locating reviews of their paper from the perspective of a fountain pen user, and in any event the price point makes the paper hard to justify for everyday writing outside of formal correspondence.

G. Lalo Paper comes in 50-sheet tablets. As shown from the picture at the top of the page, shading won’t look the same, but the blue doesn’t distort the ink color as much as I expected. In fact, it gives it a nice vintage look. G. Lalo paper has a laid texture (meaning that it’s not smooth), so if you prefer super-smooth paper you should be aware of this.

Since the past few years saw a steep drop off in my work travel, depriving me of regular opportunities to loot hotel rooms of “low cost” light blue stationery, I’ve been on the lookout for a replacement and have found two options that I enjoy. The first, G. Lalo Vergé de France writing paper, is typically recommended for written correspondence, but I’ve also enjoyed using it as a standard writing tablet, similar to the Midori MD Cotton Paper. While a touch darker than what I originally expected, I’ve been enjoying this as a solid general purpose writing paper, especially since the price point ($14 for a 50-sheet A5 tablet) is fairly reasonable for paper of this quality and the paper is easy to get a hold of, especially now that we stock G. Lalo Paper in our own shop.

The Midori Soft Color A5 Notebooks come in four shades (grey + three pastels) that aren’t so loud they overwhelm your writing. Some people match the notebook to their ink color, but I prefer a bit of contrast.

I discovered the second blue paper option when I was in New York City last week and found myself browsing the back wall at Kinokuniya bookstore off Bryant Park. (For those of you who haven’t visited Kinokuniya, it’s the NYC outpost of the Japanese bookstore that has a massive stationery section in the basement, and the back wall contains nothing but notebooks.) I noticed that they had a couple piles of Midori A5 “Soft Color” notebooks in blue, grey, green, and yellow, priced at $4 each. Seeing that they contained dot grid paper, I figured that was a no-brainer purchase at that price and grabbed one in blue and one in grey. I spent ten minutes jotting in these notebooks in a coffee shop, realized the paper lost none of the excellent qualities of the standard Midori MD Paper, and promptly contacted my distributor to stock all four colors for the shop.

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Midori Soft Color Notebook in blue, with dot grid paper. Testing inks are three of my favorite colors from the Laban Greek Mythology series.

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Midori Soft Color Notebook in Grey (shown with the blue notebook for contrast). These notebooks are standard A5 so they fit covers like the Lochby Field Journal.

Many people have requested recommendations for colored paper options in the past, but it’s a tricky thing to get right. Often, companies will apply a coating to give the paper its color, which works fine as long as you’re not trying to write with a fountain pen, rollerball, or other liquid ink, since most coated paper isn’t particularly absorbent and the ink tends to never dry. That’s not an issue with either of the two papers shown here. Both G. Lalo and Midori Soft Color dry fairly quickly, and behave essentially like standard white or ivory writing papers. There is a third option - Original Crown Mill - that makes a light blue laid paper I want to try, and yes, I probably will eventually splurge on some Smythson. (“For science.”)

For the time being, however, these two will work fine, and I no longer have to worry about exhausting my dwindling stash of blue notepads. If you’re interested in trying out some of this stationery for yourself, we currently have G. Lalo writing paper and envelopes available for sale in the shop in white, ivory and blue, along with the Midori Soft Color A5 notebooks in blue, grey, green, and yellow.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program.

You CAN Take It With You: XS Stationery Kits from Midori

Let’s face it, all of us sometimes wish we could carry our entire desk with us wherever we go, keeping handy a pair of scissors, some glue, a stapler, and maybe even some white-out tape. If you’re someone who is actually carrying one or more of these things with you daily, the Midori XS Stationery Kit may be of interest! Available in both black and white, the small zippered clamshell case includes six different desk accessories (shown above clockwise from top left): (1) tape measure; (2) correction tape; (3) glue tape, or double-sided sticky adhesive; (4) pocket scissors; (5) a craft knife; and (6) a stapler. Each fits into its own slot in the included case, pictured below.

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Honestly, between shipping packages and home renovation, the thing I find myself reaching for the most is a tape measure, and if you like to work in centimeters, this tiny pocket-sized role of measuring tape can be a lifesaver. The Midori XS Stationery kit sells for $44 and is currently available in the T.G.S. Curated Shop. In addition to these and other desk accessories, we carry the full range of Midori pens and pencils, as well as Midori MD Paper. Refills for the correction and glue tape will be available in the near future, along with individual items from the kit.

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of Midori and all other brands sold.

My 2019 Journaling Setup: Nanami Paper Cafe Note and Midori 5-Years Journal

I was on the Hobonichi Techo bandwagon for a while, using everyone’s favorite A6 Japanese planner as a one-page-a-day journal. I actually have three of them filled up from 2016-2018. Although I liked the Hobonichi, I wanted something slightly less structured, that offered me the flexibility to write more than a page on one day, and sometimes skip a day with less “journaling guilt.” Some days absolutely nothing of note happens, right, much less nothing that justifies wasting a full page of precious Tomoe River!

Enter the Nanami Paper Cafe Note B6. I’ve long enjoyed the Nanami Paper Seven Seas series, both the original “Writer” and the “Crossfield,” but a couple years back they released the “Cafe Note,” which is a smaller Tomoe River notebook measuring roughly 4 x 7 inches in what is referred to as the Japanese “Shinsho” size. You can read more about the background of the notebook on the Nanami Paper website, but what’s notable is that this size book was “created for rail commuters that spend a lot of time standing in trains and hanging out in cafes between trains or after work.” In other words, if you’re looking for a highly portable notebook that’s easy to slip into a bag and write with in a coffee shop, on a train or airplane, or anywhere else space is at a premium, consider the Cafe Note.

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Small grid ruling with lots of boxes for organizing/summarizing notes? Count me in.

This layout works much better for me than the A6 Hobonichi. For starters, I appreciate that the Cafe Note is rather long and narrow, like these hardback Kunisawa “Find” notebooks, since I do much of my writing and note-taking in list or bullet format. Some people dislike the boxes at the top and bottom, but I find it convenient for organizing my notebook entries by date and topic. Finally, the grid/graph ruling is pretty small, but I have small handwriting so it works for me. Nanami Paper makes a lined version if grid isn’t your thing.

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At the end of the day, I did miss having a classic diary or “daily journal” to record the mundane happenings of life. For Christmas my family gave me a Vanness gift card, which I cashed in on a Midori 5-Years Diary. To me, the beauty of this particular journal is how easy it is to use consistently. There’s a page for each day of the month (including February 29 for those years), with each page broken down into five sections containing five lines each. I don’t care how boring the day was, you can always find one thing to record, and I recall that after I had used my old Levenger 5-Year Journal for a few years it was quite enjoyable to write each day’s entry and see exactly what I was doing and/or thinking one or two years earlier. I don’t have a perfect record of daily entries, but I’ve been pretty good so far.

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Noticing a trend here, size-wise?

Takeaways and Where to Buy

This particular setup has worked well for me in 2019, and in all likelihood I will continue it next year. The great thing about the Midori 5-Years Diary is - wait for it - that you only have to purchase it every five years, and the Nanami Paper Cafe Note has so many pages that it will also last you a long time. I do use an annual paper planner, the Jibun Techo 3-in-1 A5 Slim, for tracking tasks and logging things, but I plan to hold the review on that particular tool until the 2020 versions are released in the Fall.

I purchased my Midori 5-Year Diary from Vanness Pens, and it comes with either a red or black cover. At first glance, it’s not inexpensive at $42, but then again you’re only purchasing the Diary once every five years, so that’s $8 annually. The Nanami Paper Cafe Note “Slim B6” can be purchased directly from Nanami Paper, priced at $18, which to me represents an exceptional bargain given that you’re getting 384 pages of Tomoe River Paper. A ruled version is also available. If you’d like to add the Gfeller natural leather cover shown in my pictures, you can purchase it separately for $68.

Disclaimer: This post contains links to paid sponsors and affiliates.

Monday Bag Dump!

I spent some time yesterday afternoon pulling together my stationery carry for the week.  I'm traveling for at least two days (flying), so this is on the "light side."  Clockwise from bottom left:

1. Nock Co. Lookout three pen holster with Franklin-Christoph Pocket 66 (Masuyama broad Cursive Italic, inked with Diamine Regency Blue); Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Black Edition (F nib, inked with Callifolio Bourgogne); Waterman Hemisphere (F nib, inked with Sailor Grenade).  I'm really liking the color combination on the Lookout (Mandarin/Blue Jay), which I won in the raffle at the Sassafras Spring Fling following Day One of the Atlanta Pen Show.  The Blue Jay really pops. 
2. Nock Co. Black Dot-Dash 48-page pocket notebook, with Nock's new fountain pen friendly paper.  This paper absolutely kills it, especially where pocket notebooks are concerned.  Not only are feathering and bleed-through minimized (you should only have problems with extremely wet stubs or flex nibs), but the dry time on this paper is unreal.  I'm also finding that a top-bound, reporter-style notebook is very useful to me at work for to-do lists, daily capture, etc.  
3. Midori Traveler's Notebook (large size).  I'm working very hard to incorporate this into my EDC, as I love the form factor, the materials, and the paper.  It's getting more use, especially when I'm on the road.  This notebook contains my long-term task lists, trip planning, plane tickets, etc.  I've also added some card slots to hold business cards, insurance cards, and anything else I hopefully won't need on the road but don't want to regret not having in case I do. 
4. Levenger Circa Notebook.  This one's a bit of a throwback, as I purchased this many years ago and have gone through sporadic periods of heavy use, as well as other times when I'm not using this product at all.  After purchasing the Staples Arc paper punch (which at the time was much cheaper than the Circa punch and fully compatible with Levenger products), I've been using the Circa notebook to hold notes that I've taken on sheets from my Doane paper Writing Pad.  
5. Doane Paper Writing Pad, which is one of my favorite papers for everyday use, because the grid+lines layout allows me to write large or very small, and the paper itself works well with pencils, gel pens, ballpoints, and even some fountain pens unless they are very wet writers. The Doane Writing Pad is only ruled on one side of the page, so bleed-through doesn't matter.
6. Baron Fig Confidant.  My personal everyday journal.  I love this paper.  
7. Nock Co. Fodderstack XL.  Another excellent Nock Co. product that I'm looking forward to taking with me on the road.  The case is a sheath that holds up to two pocket notebooks (or one pocket notebook, plus some index cards, a checkbook, etc.)  It also has a pen slot that holds one large or two smallish-size pens.  I currently have my Sailor Pro Gear Sky (F nib, inked with Bung Box Sapphire) and a Lamy 2000 ballpoint (blue fine refill) stuck in the front.  This color combination is the Steel/Mandarin.     

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Nock shot! 

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Another shot of the pens I'm carrying this week.  From left: (1) Franklin-Christoph Pocket 66; (2) Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Black; (3) Waterman Hemisphere; (4) Sailor Pro Gear Sky; and (5) Lamy 2000 Ballpoint.  

None of these links are affiliate links, and all of these products were purchased with my own funds (or won fair and square in the Sassafling Raffle).