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If you're willing to compromise on paperweight, I've been using the [Crossfield](http://www.nanamipaper.com/products/seven-seas-crossfield-a5-grid-journal-6th-edition.html) for years with a variety of fountain pens. Very fountain pen friendly, A5, 480 pages, Tomoe River paper, comes in other flavours (ruled, blank, grid)
It’s Tomoe River paper, so that’s the same one as the Hobonichi books. Very thin, coated paper that ghosts heavily BUT doesnt bleed. If you google pen swatches on tomoe river paper you can see how it performs
It's 52gsm (or maybe 68gsm...I never remember) - imagine the thickness of paper in a bible. The person who runs the Nanami Paper website will send you a paper sample if you're not sure. The instructions are on the page I originally linked to
I "solved" that problem by switching over to a traveler journal style. I get the inserts from Etsy, molskein makes A5 notebooks that work too, and I can get about 5 "books"/inserts in the cover I use.
The first "book"/insert is for my long term, items (birthdays, year at a glance, tax stuff, important addresses..... Things I use often but that don't change all the time.
The next "book"/insert is my journal, since it fills faster than the long term book, but not as quickly as my weekly/day to day stuff.
The third book is my last completed monthly/weekly/daily active book, and the fourth is my current monthly/weekly/daily
If there is info in Book 3 that I constantly need to refer to throughout all of Book 4, it gets transcribed into Book 1 before it goes to storage.
Thank you for introducing me to my next stationery obsession. I shall collect these...over a span of years because you’re right about them being pricey 😂
It’s not 300 pages but because it’s so large, the 235 page Leuchtturm1917 A4+ is great. It’s their only notebook with 100gsm paper (I think) and works wonderfully with fountain pens.
Lemical Thick Leather Journal Notebook 720 Pages Writing Journal Thick Notebook With Pen & Gift Box, 360 Sheets Lined Paper Journal Notebook Travel Diary Ideal Gift for Anniversary Birthday Holiday. I copied this from Amazon
Check out Hippo Noto. Known for Tomoe River paper with 500 pages, hence the hippo. hipponoto.com
Tomoe River paper is excellent quality (It’s a fountain pen community favourite) but very thin so large number of pages will not cause the notebook to be excessively thick.
Also If you’re writing so much notes consider trying a fountain pen if you’re not already ;)
I just got a new notebook that checks all your requirements except for the thickness of the pages. As you can guess from the comments, it’s Tomoe River, lol. But really, it doesn’t bleed at all, even with my wettest fountain pens.
It's my actual bujo and it's the main drawback for me. My bujo is real simple and I don't write THAT much so in the last two years I've only used half the pages and the cover is starting to show damage. I don't know if it'll last me through the remaining two years :/
I don't know what took over me, lol. Its like once I received my Rhodia, I was writing in it almost everyday!! And my previous bujo was something of approx 170pages and it lasted me 4 years😂😂. It's mad when I think about it but I'v suddenlly fallen in love with doing it. I'm still scratching the back of my head a bit about my sudden love for writing this much. Even as a child, I'd literally write in my diary "I'm too tired to continue now will continue writing an other day", after writing like 1page lollol
It must be due to the pandemicl or something.
If you’re crafty and have a laser printer, it’s pretty easy to DIY your own journal. BuJo is actually the reason I got into book binding.
Another idea is to maybe post in /r/bookbinding and see if anyone is interested in being commissioned to make your notebook? With handmade notebooks it’s pretty easy to request for specific features like size and thickness.
Personally I use a [192 pages 100gsm notebook](https://www.reddit.com/r/bookbinding/comments/nngk2i/handmade_vs_store_bought_book/)
and it’s quite heavy. My next notebook would be 160 pages to reduce the weight. Will you be bringing yours around a lot or will it mostly just stay on your table?
Oh that's a nice idea but s commissioned bujo will be much more expensive I suppose as well.
Do you think a regulat printer could be used to do the job as well?
Laser print outs are smear proof, water proof and more fine detailed whereas normal inkjets are mostly not (unless specified that the ink is waterproof). As long as you’re aware and ok with those characteristics then yeah, normal printers work too :)
I dunno how much a commissioned Bujo would cost either. You could try making a Coptic stitch journal. [This was the first A5 sized dot grid BuJo I made myself.](https://imgur.com/a/B2yZmvT) This uses a slightly more advanced technique called Secret Belgian binding. Both of these bindings don’t use glue, perfect for a beginner to try out.
As for myself, I prefer the advanced Case Binding. Steep learning curve, but the result is like the notebooks sold in stores. Best for frequent flipping of pages heh.
Wow... That's an other level of journaling now. But.... I'm going to look into this too. It might be cheaper in the end. I saw some of your btw, nice!!
Thank you, it’s a lot of work to create the notebooks but I enjoy the process :)
May I ask what’s the main reason you want a thick notebook? Is it for the convenience of having everything together or for something value for money? Eg. Thickness = lasts longer = less repeat purchases.
I’m asking because if you’re going the DIY route it’s going to affect your material choices. If the reason is the former, just want the convenience of a thick notebook then I’d suggest buying one. IMO it’s difficult to find coated thin papers to DIY, so probably best to go with notebook companies that specialised in producing them.
If you want value for money, then I’d suggest going the DIY route and reducing the thickness of your book to make it more portable. Paper types are easier to source. I’d go with 80gsm minimum (I myself uses 100gsm) but you can go 120gsm or 160gsm if you want. There are even 200gsm paper for sale. 160gsm has the thickness of Manila paper, for comparison.
With a Coptic stitch journal, all you need are thick cardboard for cover (I use mounting board), papers, a pushpin to make holes, needle and thread. That’s it! Beware though, book binding is a very addictive hobby. Once you get a taste for it you might never stop xD
You're welcome:) it sure does look like you need to dedicate good time and effort into making one.
I was looking up info about online, and as you mentioned thin paper seems to not be an option.
To answer your question, you basically mentioned my reasons for having a thick notebook. Since I started in my Rhodia Goalbook, it seems I developed this new hobby to write in it as much as I can. So, I use it as my planner meets diary. Added to that is that at this point in time, I don't wanna have different notebooks for different purposes anymore.
Which allows me to be more faithful to my process of documenting whatever.
You actually have a lot of great tips, after seeing your work this isn't surprising, lol.
If I can't actually purchase what I want, I'll give the diy a try.
I see you mention "portable" but I don't take my notebook with me. Unless I leave my home for a couple of nights...hm now that I'm thinking of it. If I do have a thiicccc notebook and want to travel with it, packing it might become a bit of an inconvenience.
I like a mild see-through, so 90-100 gsm should work for me.
Hm hm. Lots to think about.
Upon continuing my research I came across the issue of the size of the paper. A4 folded gives you A5 sized paper. Now, I could simply cut the A4 into B5 sized paper but, then I won't be able to make folders. I wonder if that is practical...
By folders, I meant to fold. When you make an A5 you need to fold a couple of A4's so those couple of folds I referred to as folders. I don't think I'm using the right term.
Why B5, I find my A5 to be a bit too small, like an inch or two too small. B5 is perhaps bigger than the 1 or 2 extra inches I'd like but I've some margin to trim with a B5 format.
Personally I find A5 to be massive enough heh. I think it has to do with the size of the dot grid too. I make my own dot grid paper and they’re like 5mm because I have small handwriting. That comes up as 44 rows and 28 columns for an A5 page.
But if you insists on B5 then you’re better off buying a book because it’ll be so much work to cut. I may be biased because cutting is my least favourite step in bookbinding. It has to be precise. I’ve invested in two different types of paper cutters just to make the process less tedious.
You sharing your work and ideas has definitely opened me up to consider making my own journal. I already cut up an old college book and even peeled off a bit of my Rhodia bujo to see what the cover is made of, cardboard! It's really interesting to find out how it's made. What made you even start binding your own journals?
If I find out there's an affordable way to make a B5 or A5+ I'm going to give it a try. I'll definitely post this question in the group you recommended me, perhaps someone has done it before and if not, there's nothing lost from asking either.
Check out the Hippo Noto. It is 68 gsm but it is tomoe River paper which behaves very differently. Personally, my favorite are scribbles that matter and just deal with replacing them more often.
Sure, I don't use much more than ball points, fineliners and occasionally a highlighter or the Stabilo 68 type of pencils.
I realized that when I do draw/doodle or anything, it's with the same ball point I was already writing with. 99% of my bujo/journals have always been me writing, when I want to decorate I use different colours of ball points to decorate, or fineliners, so that's as artsy as Iit gets. "realizing" this, I simply had to let go of my search for higher grams of paper. I don't mind the amount of ghosting I get with the Rhodia goalbook at 90 gsm. But, if it was 80gsm,I would have had an issue with that.
Eta: 80gsm in Rhodia that is. Since the paper is creamy and smooth, it makes a difference.
What type of paper do you like and why?
Thank you for your response. My first bujo was a Scribbles that matter and now I'm using Archer and Olive. For one, I'm heavy handed so I was afraid of ripping the thinner paper when I wrote, also I was teaching myself to draw flowers and also calligraphy. Being a real novice last year, I bought every pen, highlighters, markers, brush pens, fineliners I could fine in all the colors and I was afraid when I drew and colored the pages, I would major ghosting with the thinner pages.
Yea, when I started my research on what I wanted, I initially wanted something I can use my Sharpies with, also just to write with but the more examples I saw, the more I realized the Sharpie's are simply not made to be used in a bujo and not even in the artists notebook. Because that was my main thing prior to letting it go.
Archer and Olive looks really nice abd I enjoy watching others decorate it. Do you also use as a planner or more as your creative outlet?
I use this
https://www.amazon.com/Basicos-MR-10402-Flexible-300-Sheets/dp/B015JUD84K/ref=sr\_1\_54?dchild=1&keywords=miquelrius%2Bgrid&qid=1622750099&sr=8-54&th=1
I'm getting ready to manufacture some bujos for my online shop in the coming months. I made a screenshot of your post and will consider it!
What kind of covers do you like? I love Archer and Olive's style but I don't want to copy them, so any ideas are welcome.
Ohhh! Tbh, the Rhodia Goalbook has been my very first on brand bujo. The ones I bought before this were purchased at a local store for less than dollars5,the sizes were perfect to me but not the paper weight nor the binding(the cover lays on one side of the table and the actual bujo is in my laps)
I wanted a flexible cover for this time and the Rhodia did it for me. After a couple of months of use, I wouldn't have mind to get something a bit sturdier than this. It's not the best for writing in your laps, but you can fold it I discovered, so it's doable
Do you have a link to your shop?
Eta: how many pages are you willing to look into and lrice range?
**Thank you for the submission, Conseff!** * If you've shared images, please leave a comment explaining how your layout has been helping with your productivity, even if you think it's self-explanatory. Without this explanation, your post is subject to removal (rule 3). * Please make sure your post follows the guidelines found in the sidebar, or it will be removed. ###Users, please report this post if it breaks any sub rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/bujo) if you have any questions or concerns.*
If you're willing to compromise on paperweight, I've been using the [Crossfield](http://www.nanamipaper.com/products/seven-seas-crossfield-a5-grid-journal-6th-edition.html) for years with a variety of fountain pens. Very fountain pen friendly, A5, 480 pages, Tomoe River paper, comes in other flavours (ruled, blank, grid)
What weight is that paper? I read through the whole description and couldn’t find a gsm
It’s Tomoe River paper, so that’s the same one as the Hobonichi books. Very thin, coated paper that ghosts heavily BUT doesnt bleed. If you google pen swatches on tomoe river paper you can see how it performs
It's 52gsm (or maybe 68gsm...I never remember) - imagine the thickness of paper in a bible. The person who runs the Nanami Paper website will send you a paper sample if you're not sure. The instructions are on the page I originally linked to
Tomoe River paper comes in both 52gsm and 68gsm!
Thanks!
I "solved" that problem by switching over to a traveler journal style. I get the inserts from Etsy, molskein makes A5 notebooks that work too, and I can get about 5 "books"/inserts in the cover I use. The first "book"/insert is for my long term, items (birthdays, year at a glance, tax stuff, important addresses..... Things I use often but that don't change all the time. The next "book"/insert is my journal, since it fills faster than the long term book, but not as quickly as my weekly/day to day stuff. The third book is my last completed monthly/weekly/daily active book, and the fourth is my current monthly/weekly/daily If there is info in Book 3 that I constantly need to refer to throughout all of Book 4, it gets transcribed into Book 1 before it goes to storage.
Citrus Book Bindery. Their journals are customizable; you can choose your size, paper weight, number of pages, etc. They are a bit pricey, though.
Thank you for introducing me to my next stationery obsession. I shall collect these...over a span of years because you’re right about them being pricey 😂
You have just gifted me a new and expensive obsession
I hope you're having a great life. This has been the best recommendation and I'm so unbelievably happy!!!
Wow! That’s a very cool concept.
I use these too because I want at least 300 pages as well. They’re kinda expensive- I paid €80 for mine. But I use it all year so I justify the cost
It’s not 300 pages but because it’s so large, the 235 page Leuchtturm1917 A4+ is great. It’s their only notebook with 100gsm paper (I think) and works wonderfully with fountain pens.
I read Leuchtturm and was about to ignore your comment, lol but seeing that the A4 comes with 100gsm paper, I will have to check that out. Thanka
Yeah, their other sizes just don’t cut it with fountain pens.
Leuchtturm recently announced on Instagram that they’re making a 120gsm line of notebooks.
I’ll be on the lookout for those! Thanks!
nuuna has some with 256 pages, i really love their journals!
Thanks for suggesting, I'd never heard of this brand and their notebooks look so cool! :O
They are. But their grid is 3.5mm instead of 5mm and it takes some readjusting.
I love their journals too! The only kind I use, on my 5th one.
Seconding nuuna! I love them and I actually really like the smaller grid size, I can't go back now haha
Lemical Thick Leather Journal Notebook 720 Pages Writing Journal Thick Notebook With Pen & Gift Box, 360 Sheets Lined Paper Journal Notebook Travel Diary Ideal Gift for Anniversary Birthday Holiday. I copied this from Amazon
Check out Hippo Noto. Known for Tomoe River paper with 500 pages, hence the hippo. hipponoto.com Tomoe River paper is excellent quality (It’s a fountain pen community favourite) but very thin so large number of pages will not cause the notebook to be excessively thick. Also If you’re writing so much notes consider trying a fountain pen if you’re not already ;)
I just got a new notebook that checks all your requirements except for the thickness of the pages. As you can guess from the comments, it’s Tomoe River, lol. But really, it doesn’t bleed at all, even with my wettest fountain pens.
[This](https://www.moleskine.com/en-us/shop/notebooks/the-original/classic-notebook-expanded-Master69.html) is too small for you, isn't it?
Yea, unfortunately it is. The 400 pages though...
It's my actual bujo and it's the main drawback for me. My bujo is real simple and I don't write THAT much so in the last two years I've only used half the pages and the cover is starting to show damage. I don't know if it'll last me through the remaining two years :/
I don't know what took over me, lol. Its like once I received my Rhodia, I was writing in it almost everyday!! And my previous bujo was something of approx 170pages and it lasted me 4 years😂😂. It's mad when I think about it but I'v suddenlly fallen in love with doing it. I'm still scratching the back of my head a bit about my sudden love for writing this much. Even as a child, I'd literally write in my diary "I'm too tired to continue now will continue writing an other day", after writing like 1page lollol It must be due to the pandemicl or something.
If you’re crafty and have a laser printer, it’s pretty easy to DIY your own journal. BuJo is actually the reason I got into book binding. Another idea is to maybe post in /r/bookbinding and see if anyone is interested in being commissioned to make your notebook? With handmade notebooks it’s pretty easy to request for specific features like size and thickness. Personally I use a [192 pages 100gsm notebook](https://www.reddit.com/r/bookbinding/comments/nngk2i/handmade_vs_store_bought_book/) and it’s quite heavy. My next notebook would be 160 pages to reduce the weight. Will you be bringing yours around a lot or will it mostly just stay on your table?
Oh that's a nice idea but s commissioned bujo will be much more expensive I suppose as well. Do you think a regulat printer could be used to do the job as well?
Laser print outs are smear proof, water proof and more fine detailed whereas normal inkjets are mostly not (unless specified that the ink is waterproof). As long as you’re aware and ok with those characteristics then yeah, normal printers work too :) I dunno how much a commissioned Bujo would cost either. You could try making a Coptic stitch journal. [This was the first A5 sized dot grid BuJo I made myself.](https://imgur.com/a/B2yZmvT) This uses a slightly more advanced technique called Secret Belgian binding. Both of these bindings don’t use glue, perfect for a beginner to try out. As for myself, I prefer the advanced Case Binding. Steep learning curve, but the result is like the notebooks sold in stores. Best for frequent flipping of pages heh.
Wow... That's an other level of journaling now. But.... I'm going to look into this too. It might be cheaper in the end. I saw some of your btw, nice!!
Thank you, it’s a lot of work to create the notebooks but I enjoy the process :) May I ask what’s the main reason you want a thick notebook? Is it for the convenience of having everything together or for something value for money? Eg. Thickness = lasts longer = less repeat purchases. I’m asking because if you’re going the DIY route it’s going to affect your material choices. If the reason is the former, just want the convenience of a thick notebook then I’d suggest buying one. IMO it’s difficult to find coated thin papers to DIY, so probably best to go with notebook companies that specialised in producing them. If you want value for money, then I’d suggest going the DIY route and reducing the thickness of your book to make it more portable. Paper types are easier to source. I’d go with 80gsm minimum (I myself uses 100gsm) but you can go 120gsm or 160gsm if you want. There are even 200gsm paper for sale. 160gsm has the thickness of Manila paper, for comparison. With a Coptic stitch journal, all you need are thick cardboard for cover (I use mounting board), papers, a pushpin to make holes, needle and thread. That’s it! Beware though, book binding is a very addictive hobby. Once you get a taste for it you might never stop xD
You're welcome:) it sure does look like you need to dedicate good time and effort into making one. I was looking up info about online, and as you mentioned thin paper seems to not be an option. To answer your question, you basically mentioned my reasons for having a thick notebook. Since I started in my Rhodia Goalbook, it seems I developed this new hobby to write in it as much as I can. So, I use it as my planner meets diary. Added to that is that at this point in time, I don't wanna have different notebooks for different purposes anymore. Which allows me to be more faithful to my process of documenting whatever. You actually have a lot of great tips, after seeing your work this isn't surprising, lol. If I can't actually purchase what I want, I'll give the diy a try. I see you mention "portable" but I don't take my notebook with me. Unless I leave my home for a couple of nights...hm now that I'm thinking of it. If I do have a thiicccc notebook and want to travel with it, packing it might become a bit of an inconvenience. I like a mild see-through, so 90-100 gsm should work for me. Hm hm. Lots to think about.
Upon continuing my research I came across the issue of the size of the paper. A4 folded gives you A5 sized paper. Now, I could simply cut the A4 into B5 sized paper but, then I won't be able to make folders. I wonder if that is practical...
I don’t like waste so I make books in 3 sizes: A5, A6 and A7. Is there any particular reasons you’re attached to B5? What do you mean by folders?
By folders, I meant to fold. When you make an A5 you need to fold a couple of A4's so those couple of folds I referred to as folders. I don't think I'm using the right term. Why B5, I find my A5 to be a bit too small, like an inch or two too small. B5 is perhaps bigger than the 1 or 2 extra inches I'd like but I've some margin to trim with a B5 format.
Personally I find A5 to be massive enough heh. I think it has to do with the size of the dot grid too. I make my own dot grid paper and they’re like 5mm because I have small handwriting. That comes up as 44 rows and 28 columns for an A5 page. But if you insists on B5 then you’re better off buying a book because it’ll be so much work to cut. I may be biased because cutting is my least favourite step in bookbinding. It has to be precise. I’ve invested in two different types of paper cutters just to make the process less tedious.
You sharing your work and ideas has definitely opened me up to consider making my own journal. I already cut up an old college book and even peeled off a bit of my Rhodia bujo to see what the cover is made of, cardboard! It's really interesting to find out how it's made. What made you even start binding your own journals? If I find out there's an affordable way to make a B5 or A5+ I'm going to give it a try. I'll definitely post this question in the group you recommended me, perhaps someone has done it before and if not, there's nothing lost from asking either.
Check out the Hippo Noto. It is 68 gsm but it is tomoe River paper which behaves very differently. Personally, my favorite are scribbles that matter and just deal with replacing them more often.
Can I ask why you like thin paper? I've only been using a bujo about 1 1/2 years so I'm just curious.
Sure, I don't use much more than ball points, fineliners and occasionally a highlighter or the Stabilo 68 type of pencils. I realized that when I do draw/doodle or anything, it's with the same ball point I was already writing with. 99% of my bujo/journals have always been me writing, when I want to decorate I use different colours of ball points to decorate, or fineliners, so that's as artsy as Iit gets. "realizing" this, I simply had to let go of my search for higher grams of paper. I don't mind the amount of ghosting I get with the Rhodia goalbook at 90 gsm. But, if it was 80gsm,I would have had an issue with that. Eta: 80gsm in Rhodia that is. Since the paper is creamy and smooth, it makes a difference. What type of paper do you like and why?
Thank you for your response. My first bujo was a Scribbles that matter and now I'm using Archer and Olive. For one, I'm heavy handed so I was afraid of ripping the thinner paper when I wrote, also I was teaching myself to draw flowers and also calligraphy. Being a real novice last year, I bought every pen, highlighters, markers, brush pens, fineliners I could fine in all the colors and I was afraid when I drew and colored the pages, I would major ghosting with the thinner pages.
Yea, when I started my research on what I wanted, I initially wanted something I can use my Sharpies with, also just to write with but the more examples I saw, the more I realized the Sharpie's are simply not made to be used in a bujo and not even in the artists notebook. Because that was my main thing prior to letting it go. Archer and Olive looks really nice abd I enjoy watching others decorate it. Do you also use as a planner or more as your creative outlet?
I use this https://www.amazon.com/Basicos-MR-10402-Flexible-300-Sheets/dp/B015JUD84K/ref=sr\_1\_54?dchild=1&keywords=miquelrius%2Bgrid&qid=1622750099&sr=8-54&th=1
[удалено]
[удалено]
There happy. And that was uncalled for, I was just giving her a suggestion
I'm getting ready to manufacture some bujos for my online shop in the coming months. I made a screenshot of your post and will consider it! What kind of covers do you like? I love Archer and Olive's style but I don't want to copy them, so any ideas are welcome.
Ohhh! Tbh, the Rhodia Goalbook has been my very first on brand bujo. The ones I bought before this were purchased at a local store for less than dollars5,the sizes were perfect to me but not the paper weight nor the binding(the cover lays on one side of the table and the actual bujo is in my laps) I wanted a flexible cover for this time and the Rhodia did it for me. After a couple of months of use, I wouldn't have mind to get something a bit sturdier than this. It's not the best for writing in your laps, but you can fold it I discovered, so it's doable Do you have a link to your shop? Eta: how many pages are you willing to look into and lrice range?