Susan did an amazing job detailing the full Bookbinders ink lineup last week, and in conjunction, I have a bottle of my favorite color - Emerald Boa - to give away courtesy of Anderson Pens.
This one is a quick turnaround, ending tomorrow at noon, so I can get it shipped before I leave for Chicago. Read the details below and enter now!
I’m always excited when two of my favorite brands collaborate on a product, and this one is right up there with the best I’ve seen. We are talking peanut butter and chocolate levels of goodness here.
Field Notes, one of the premier notebook makers on the planet collaborated with Bellroy, the Australian leather goods and accessory maker, to release the Everyday Inspiration, a compact leather memo book cover.
Field Notes launched a now-discontinued leather cover of their own in 2013 called the Gentlemans Memo Book Cover. I’m not sure what sales were like, but the product was pulled in early 2016. Anecdotally, I don’t recall ever seeing one in the wild, and I never owned one myself.
Bellroy launched their own Notebook Cover Mini in late 2016 and it was met with great feedback. In fact, it is currently available at Bellroy in five different leather colors. On top of that, it is the exact same cover as the Everyday Inspiration, minus a few special Field Notes Brand tweaks.
From the outside, the Everyday Inspiration is pure Bellroy. It is is clean with minimal stitching, with only a small stamped Bellroy owl logo on the entirety of the exterior. The interior is equally as clean, with the added Bellroy/Field Notes name stamping inside the front cover.
The inside also features an orange backing on the grey leather, which I wholeheartedly approve of. The large interior flaps (or pockets) where the notebook cover slides in are easily accessible with rounded corners and stitching only on two-thirds of the edge for easy in and out access.
Credit and ID cards have two sneaky interior pockets under the inside front flap as well, allowing the Everyday Inspiration to be used as an all-in-one wallet as well. Business cards stick out a bit, but the edge lands before the middle fold to keep them from getting damaged.
As with nearly every pocket notebook cover I have tried, space for a pen is at a premium, or non-existent. I’m completely ok with this because I’d rather carry a pen I want to use elsewhere on my person than sacrifice the pen quality just because it fits the cover. The Everyday Inspiration is no exception. You can fit a pen inside the fold, but I don’t plan on ever doing that.
Also included with the cover are three Bellroy-branded Field Notes memo books that looks fantastic. Plus, a single notebook in the case is able to be secured with thin magnets inside the front and back cover. They are so stealth I had no idea they were there when I first opened the package and was loading up the cover.
$85 is an excellent price point for a cover of this quality. Every detail is thoughtfully considered and executed perfectly. I’m a fan of what Field Notes and Bellroy have collaborated on with the Everyday Inspiration and I hope they can find a way to work together again in the future.
(Bellroy provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)
Bookbinders Snake Ink is made by the Australian Stationery company, Bookbinders. The eight inks mimic the colors of actual snakes, and you can read about each snake on the Bookbinder’s site. The bottle design was inspired “by the wily snake oil salesmen of the early 1900’s.” In homage to those salesmen, the ink promises to “cure writer’s block,” but don’t expect any miracles.
Until recently, you had to purchase Snake Ink from the Australian store, but now Anderson Pens carries all eight shades in 30ml bottles ($12.50) and 3ml samples ($1.25). The glass bottles come in draw string bags made out of hessian jute.
Image via Bookbinders
What follows is an introduction to all eight colors. Each ink is PH-neutral, non-pigmented, and water soluble. None are waterproof.
Bookbinders Blue Racer
Bookbinders Blue Racer is a deep blue with good shading in wide nibs. As a blue ink afficionado, I’m impressed with this color. It’s a good standard blue.
Bookbinders Blue Coral
Blue Coral is a nicely saturated turquoise color. It also exhibits good shading.
Bookbinders Red Belly Black
Red Belly Black is a soft black that seems a bit too unsaturated for my tastes. I like my black inks to be really black. This one is more like a dark gray.
Bookbinders Ground Rattler
Ground Rattler is a light gray ink that is so unsaturated you probably should reserve it for wide nibs and brush pens. In wide nibs it does have some gentle shading.
Bookbinders Red Spitting Cobra
This ink is an interesting shade of coral-red. It is definitely not an intense red, but it shades well with wide nibs. I really like the unique color.
Bookbinders Eastern Brown
Eastern Brown is a gorgeous deep brown ink with excellent shading. This is my second favorite ink in the collection.
Bookbinders Everglades Ratsnake
Everglades Ratsnake is a vibrant, happy orange ink. Like the other saturated colors, it exhibits excellent shading.
Bookbinders Emerald Boa
My favorite ink in the Bookbinders collection is Emerald Boa. It is a gorgeous, saturated lime green with amazing shading.
As this is only an introduction to the Bookbinders line of inks, I will make some general observations:
If you’ve been wanting to try Bookbinders Snake Inks but were put off by shipping costs from Australia, now you can get them from Anderson Pens. Each full bottle of ink is reasonably priced, and at $1.25 for 3ml samples, you can certainly afford to try all eight. You might not be able to trust snake oil salesmen, but you can definitely trust Bookbinder’s Snake Ink—it’s excellent stuff. And who knows? Maybe it really does cure writer’s block!
(Anderson Pens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
