Word Notebooks Orange Cover Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

It’s been a couple of years since I last reviewed a notebook from Word Notebooks, but I’ve always kept one of their notebooks close by for different uses. One of the more recent versions I’ve picked up is the standard orange covers. With a cover like that, do I really need to explain why I picked them up? The orange covers are unmistakably orange, but they also aren’t the fluorescent orange that pops out and demands attention. Apart from the simple Word logo branding, the notebooks are just plain, beautiful orange.

Word Notebooks come in a three-pack and all feature Word’s own lined ruling with a signature circle check mark on the left side of the page. I’m a fan of the check mark system because it’s there when you need it, but doesn’t stand out if you just want to use the notebook to jot down unordered ideas or notes. There are 48 pages in each notebook, and they’re staple bound with rounded corners. Standard specs for the pocket notebook realm, but it’s really the ruling (and check mark circles) and wide variety of cover colors and designs that set Word apart.

When you get into the notebook, you find a standard middle-of-the-road paper inside. It performs beautifully with gel pens, pencils, and ballpoints, but shows some feathering and major show-through for wet rollerballs and fountain pens. This is also pretty normal for the pocket notebook category. After all, these notebooks are about convenience and portability over paper quality. The paper can certainly handle most inks, but just remember that the ink will bleed and feather, and you might not be able to use the back of the page. It’s a smooth, white paper that is pleasant to use.

Another thing that we all expect in a new notebook is the area at the front of the notebook to write down our name, contact information, etc. in case we lose the notebook or just for archival purposes. This seems so normal now, but I’m curious if people actually use these pages as intended. Regardless of how you use the front page of your notebooks, Word provides a familiar template with which to start.

Conveniently, the inside of the front cover also includes a quick legend (or suggestions) for using their check mark circles. If you’re familiar with the Bullet Journal system, this will look very familiar.

In all, not much has changed in the past two years in regards to Word notebooks, and that’s a good thing. I always enjoy using these books, and always keep some in stock. If you haven’t tried Word notebooks yet, find a design that speaks to you and give them a try! If orange isn’t your think, there are numerous other delightful options. Word Notebooks come in at around $10 for a three-pack.

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

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Posted on April 18, 2018 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Word, Notebook Reviews.

Tombow Play Color Dot Marker 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.)

The prospect of dotting all my stationery with perfect little bright circles delighted me to no end, so I was excited to try these new Play Color Dot Markers from Tombow. The colors are fantastic and the dots are definitely charming, but ink issues severely limit their usage. Alas, I cannot dot all the things. These markers only work on goldilocks paper--coated enough to prevent massive bleed-though, but not so coated as to prevent drying. The design is brilliant, and with a recipe change I think these would be a staple product for me. But right now, I can't use them the way I want to.

These pens have two ends--a 5 mm round felt-tip marker that works as a fat line, or as a highlighter, or as a circle stamp. The stamping is tricky to get the hang of. You can't just do a vertical drop like you would with a rubber stamp--you have to lightly press, do a little wiggle so that the full circle makes contact, and then peel it away from the page at an angle. This prevents the pigment from pooling at one side of the circle making it uneven and causing it to bleed through. You can see on my test page a variety of circle fails before I got the hang of it. Once I did, however, the circles came out really nicely.

The pigment is bright enough to be seen when used as a line, but pale enough to use as a highlighter as well. Because it is water-based, though, be careful about what you highlight over. And be mindful of the paper you're using, too, because of the bleeding issues.

The other end of the pen is a very fine .3 mm plastic tip. It's nice for writing or coloring in fine spaces, though the water-based ink does give it that over-pigmented area where lines overlap. In contrast to the very wet broad end, I did experience some dry-out of the tip during longer coloring sessions.

The pen body is plastic, and colors are very well indicated all over it. The broad end has the cap with a clip, while the fine point has a small cap. Bothe caps click closed securely, and both caps post on each other, which is a lovely clever thing. The clip is nicely flexible and sturdy. The side of hte marker includes instructions for proper stamping technique both in Japanese text and in a small graphic. If it hadn't been for that graphic, I'd be making blobby circles, still.

The 12-pack includes brown, grey, lilac, blue, sky blue, mint green, apple green, honey yellow, orange, coral, sakura, and cherry red. The colors are all vibrant and fun--I really like the palette chosen. It includes practical staples and a few fun accents.

Now, those bleeding issues. The wide tip causes some ink to pool, and it's in those pooled spots that bad things happen. If used carefully, the pooling can be mostly avoided, but not entirely. On cheaper paper, even the lightest touch soaks right through. And if the ink really concentrates, it can bleed through even Tomoe River paper. And it has some drying issues on heavily-coated papers as well. The two best papers I found for these markers were Kokuyo and Rhodia--and I still had to be careful (and still did get some faint bleeding). It's a shame, because these would be SO useful for planners and bullet journaling, but no one wants to make a confusing mess of their planner. I sincerely hope that this design might be revisited in the future with a revised ink recipe. They're nearly perfect, but the flaw is a fatal one.

I'm still going to use these, though. The colors are too good, the dots are too fun. If I can't dot all the things, at least I can dot some of them. It's better than no dots at all!

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

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Posted on April 12, 2018 by Sarah Read and filed under Tombow, Marker, Pen Reviews.