October Sponsor Spotlight

Sponsor support is very important to me here at The Pen Addict. My sidebar advertisers put their faith in me to deliver good value for them month in and month out, and I want to shine the light on the best of the best for you. If you are shopping for pens, paper, inks, and more, please check out these great companies and see what they have to offer. Some recent highlights:

Goldspot has the full lineup of the new Pelikan Souveran 400 Brown Tortoise Series, featuring one of the most classic materials Pelikan has created.

Anderson Pens has received all of the new Sailor Inks, featuring wonderful shades of purple like Chu-Shu and Fuji-Musume, and of course the amazing orange of Kin-Mokusei.

JetPens has the latest pens from Karas Kustoms, including a rainbow of the Fountain K Aluminum Fountain Pen. You will be hard pressed not to find a barrel color that suits your style from this bunch.

Midori Spiral Ring Notebook B7 Elephant 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.)

Midori always rocks the vintage minimal elegance. Those of us who like our analog tools to give us a sense of timeless utility are going to dig the Midori aesthetic. That being said, I think this little beauty is misnamed as a notebook. The Midori B7 Elephant is more of a sketchbook, I've found.

When I first opened this up and started playing with it, I really disliked it. The paper is very thick, like a hearty index card, but it doesn't take ink that well. There's quite a lot of feathering with fountain pens, and the paper is fibrous enough that fine-pointed gel and rollerballs feel snaggy. There are also only 20 sheets of paper. For me, that's a single-serving notebook. And when it comes to notebooks, I want the whole pie. Also true for actual pie.

What does work well in this wee book? Ballpoint pens were okay. Paint soaked into the paper fibers too much--even with paint liner pens. Pencils, colored pencils, and pastels worked the best. Suddenly, the 20 cardstock pages made much more sense--this is a sketchbook. And so the ugly duckling realized he was really a beautiful swan.

As a pocket sketchbook, it's pretty great. The cardboard cover is sturdy and folds over neatly or lays flat. The brass spiral coil is the most durable I've encountered and promises to hold up to some rough carry without getting smooshed and distorting the whole book. I do wish the sheets were perforated--the heavy paper and thick wire make page removal difficult and messy.

This particular model is the Elephant and has grey paper. A wee elephant is stamped into the corner of the cover. The Polar Bear has white paper and the Camel has brown. The books come in other sizes as well--B6, A5, and A6 in both horizontal and vertical binding orientations. This B7 is perfect for a back pocket or to slip into a day pack for an afternoon of sketching adventures.

I'm glad I kept playing beyond my initial impression of this book. But it does serve to illustrate how important a product's name is when it comes to customer expectations. I maintain that it's a dreadful notebook! A person who is new to the Midori brand who is looking for a notebook and who purchases this based on the Midori reputation may find themselves disappointed. I suspect wandering sketchers will find it to be a pocketful of joy.

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

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The Pen Addict Podcast: Episode 228 - Hashtag Snail Mail

We asked and you delivered - the first ever handwritten #asktpa episode! The USPS were actually the ones who delivered I guess, but my mailbox was stuffed with awesomeness from our listeners. Myke and I only got to about half of it today, but rest assured we will get through it all very soon. Thanks for sending your questions our way!

Show Notes & Download Links

This episode of The Pen Addict is sponsored by:

Harry's: Use code PENADDICT at checkout to claim your free trial set and bonus post-shave balm.

Pen Chalet: Click the ‘podcast’ link at the top of the website and enter the password ‘penaddict’ for this week’s special offer, and to get your code for 10% off.