I'm sorry for your issue, but I'm glad to see someone talking about this, I wondered the other day if anyone else was complaining. This is my 6th year in a Weeks and A6. I use a Tombow in the weeks to highlight the day and date, and this year it's causing the pages to curl. Very annoying, so I may not do that the whole year. Or I may and just deal with it. I use my A6 for work, and noticed the corners curling as I use to each day, instead of laying flat with use. I don't love it, but do love the layout for what I need, so again, I'll just deal with it. Here's hoping things are better for next year as I will for sure continue with Hobonichi.
I truly love CAL too and am glad to have notebooks in it available in my shop. I wasn’t able to launch planners in it for 2025 sadly but I love my notebooks. Love your ink swatches and pen stickers.
Yes Sanzen recent batches are super inconsistent and some pages are bleeding and feathering. It’s very frustrating as a shop owner because there’s no way to tell whether a planner or notebook has “bad” paper. It can be just a page or several pages or the whole book. And it’s not limited to fountain pens. It’s occurring with gel pens, markers, highlighters etc. And it’s definitely not our fault as shop owners. Most of us have used Sanzen TRP for years since they took over from Tomoegawa and some of us, like myself, tested sample paper and also our sample books before production even after years of positive Sanzen TRP experience. We had no way to know that the new batches produced and provided for our 2025 manufacturing would be bad/inconsistent. I can tell you that I have been in communication with Sanzen about the issue and I’m not the only shop that has been. We’ve provided extensive feedback in photos and videos and narratives and lots of conversations have been had expressing our frustrations and disappointments as well as what we expect from the paper and their QC. We aren’t sitting idly by. But I know for myself, I’ve already started testing and looking into other paper options for future launches.
Oh wow! Thanks for your experience and perspective there. And I absolutely sympathize with businesses like yours that have been using this paper for yearrrs and then I’m sure having to deal with complaints for issues that’s not your fault. No way to know this was going to happen. Wishing you so much success in the upcoming year- and I truly hope an alternative is found 🤞🏽🤞🏽
It’s wild to me that it’s crickets out there from the paper manufacturer. I just hope someone from there is listening so that future batches can be rectified. Both my 2025 Weeks and Cousin are having these inconsistency issues and it sucks because 1) expensive and 2) I live in a country where alternative paper options have to be imported. In fact, I had to import my Hobonichis! So it’s just bleh. But there’s not much we can do! Love your redo!
Thank youuu! You should totally make one and just make it so you don’t have to necessarily “keep up” with it; just on your own terms when you feel like it :)
@@PsychonautJournaling As fun as that would be, don't love the legal/copyright infringement there. Now recreating/drawing some pens as stickers.. maybe in the future!
I feel the same about 2025 TRP as you, heartbroken! I'm two weeks in in my Hobonich A6 and my two Hobonichi Weeks and i wanna cry about that crappy paper. So much money i spend. This is my third year with Hobonichi, and never again. In a desperat mood i order a Kinbor A6 on AlieExpress, and i hope my inspiration to plan and journaling is coming back to me. I'm looking forward to your new pens day and inkswatch videos for 2025 :)
The more I have been using my 2025 TRP planners, the more I am finding the issues myself. It's disappointing for how expensive all these planners are. I wonder what/how Sanzen and the planner companies are going to do to ensure better quality in 2026.
Absolutely- as I go on in my main planner, I’m feeling the same (and at a loss as far as what to do); verrryyyy curious if this will even be addressed. It’s been crickets so far :/
@@julia-here Yes! I was not impressed with the Hobonichi statement when people started bringing it up about the 5yr journals. I did a video at the time and that was well before other companies & planners we also showing problems. It all gives me pause for sure.
@@julia-here some of us have been in active communication with Sanzen. AuraEstelle already did share that on IG and I’ve shared it with folks as well and have a video coming as well as a blog post. Some of us definitely haven’t been sitting idly by.
@@SamisSweetLifeit’s pervasive thru Hobonichis lineup but sadly just like with my planners and every other Sanzen TRP planner on the market for 2025 (because every single one of us has been impacted) it’s hit or miss and inconsistent and there’s no way to know which book or page is impacted.
I've been using the Hobonichi planner for a few years now. And the year I decided to properly get into fountain pens, I get feathering galore :'). Apparently Hobonichi issued new 5-year journals since the TRP issues hit those journals the hardest in their lineup, and the new notebooks are behaving better. Alas, still not as well as the 2024 and earlier TRP. Seeing how different your ink swatches are between the new TRP and the Cosmo Air paper is especially shocking. I totally agree with you, hopefully we get out of this paper drought soon.
It’s heartbreaking that you had to redo, but so cool to see how you adapted to the dot grid journal. You have made me want to start a pen and ink journal! 😍
I’m glad you found joy in your replacement ink journal, it looks great! Obsessed with your pen stickers, you should list some in your shop they are so cool! I thought I was free of the TRP woes but a week into my sterling ink I’m finding inconsistencies in the paper. Lots of feathering on my weekly view this week. Like you I am hoping it was my own hand oils but I fear it is a bad omen. I’m sticking with my planner no matter what but I will have to look into some other options for journals. I love TRP in general so I hope they fix their issues for the future. I’ll have to look for cosmo air light. I’ve also heard good things about bank paper, which I am on the hunt for- have you tried it? How do you feel about MD paper for ink swatching?
Thank you!! And super sorry about your issues as well. I’m having similar issues in my main planner but like you- I think I’m just going to stick it out.. it’s not terrrrible and I’m not making huge swatches in there like I am in the ink journal. Hoping for the best though… I have heard of Bank paper (it’s getting discontinued as well believe it or not); I’ve tried just a sample of it before and thought it was solid. ☺️
This happened to me too - I just received my first ever TRP notebook earlier this week and it was a disaster on the first page - feathering, ghosting and monumental bleed through, irrespective of which pen/nib/ink I used. Swatches bled through and onto the next page entirely. I got a refund from the vendor and to be honest I felt sorry for them - not their fault and they're the ones who are going to be in the firing line unless the quality issues are fixed at source. Worst thing? I've more TRP notebooks already on the way.😟 The only saving grace was that when I was ordering the other TRP notebooks I somehow also ordered a couple of Odyssey notebooks with the cosmo air light paper... 🙂 So every cloud, eh? By the way, your new ink journal swatches really do look WAY better on the cosmo air paper!!
I was so glad to see this video pop up on my list. I am so disappointed in Hobonichi's new paper. I've been using different Hobonichi planners for some five years and loved the fact that it was so fountain pen friendly. Not this year. I complained to JetPens, which reached out to Hobonichi. Both claimed that there was nothing wrong with the paper and that it met Hobonichi's high standards. I sent them both photos of a page from last year and this year with the same pen and ink, and what a difference there was in the paper. JetPens offered me a refund, but I haven't found another planner that has the same type of spreads as the Hobonichi Cousin does, s I have to change my pens and ink. BTW, LAMY and LAMY inks work well on the 2025 paper, but I prefer different fountain pens and inks.
Oh! That’s good info about LAMY inks; will definitely just give that a test just for fun but yeah, it’s crazy that it’s just a wash this year. Hoping things change 🙏🏽
I sooo want to make stickers of my pens now! I've debated trying to draw them in my ink journal, but that is not likely to end well haha. I wish Midori made white paper; I like the cream but not for everything. I am hopeful they can work out the issue with TRP. 🤞
Totally a good point about the stickers being a good alternative to drawing them! You’ve made me feel better about that for sure lol- I am hopeful as well.. I just hope more people are vocal about it.
I’m so glad you had a notebook you like, and grab up all those Cosmo Air Light notebooks you can while they’re still around! Find a paper/vinyl/cardstock that you do like and cover up the front of the notebook (I agree with you, not my favorite, but easily fixed.) The paper looks beautiful. I’ll have to pick some up while it’s still around. I’m doing so far so good with my TRP in my 2025 A6 and A5 Sterling Ink Common Planners. It is the 52gsm not the 47 of the Hobonichi (according to Sterling Ink.) It feels better than my 2024 Hobonichi Cousin and ghosts a little bit less. However, as batches have been inconsistent through the planners and I’ve just started in mine (with full pen tests in the back…zero issues) but the pages I have used have been great with fountain pens and my usual Energels .04 and .05, Mildliners, Zigg Dot Markers (surprisingly the richer and juicier metallic ones do better than the pastels,) Pentel and Tombow Fudesenoke brush/sign pens, Uni Signo 1.0 metallics (the ones that still work, grrr. I’ve had them for 6 months and half of them have dried up, same with my Gelly Rolls.) Paper Mate Flairs are fine. No drying time problems, no bleed through (I haven’t done ink swatches in it, just writing, but I wasn’t going to use either for that anyway.) No issues with Faber Castell or Uni fine liners. Didn’t try a Sharpie…cause…it’s a Sharpie! (But, apparently, Iroful notebooks will not let Sharpies bleed through…some kind of dark magic, but very cool cause I love that paper!!!) Anyway, unlike a lot of YT Planner channels, I’m not freaking out about how my 8 different planners just don’t work for me (this is not a shot at you…you had bad paper, these people are just being too Goldilocks and need to take a deep breath and calm themselves, I won’t name names, lol.) Your set up looks beautiful, and I’m also a BuJo person at heart and doing it as each month comes along isn’t overwhelming and doesn’t limit the pages. If you need two notebooks for one year…not a big deal, imo…I almost bought the split year version of the A5 in order to have all the room I wanted…but I have 7 or 8 other notebooks, so I’m good and didn’t spend the extra $20 or so. This new journal is beautiful and has given me a lot of ideas of how to set up mine. I’m going to use the Iroful A5 I have and just have fun with it as it will be my first ink journal!! (I just really got into fountain pens and ink late last year…and I’m developing a ridiculous collection as it is…although I’ve gotten mostly Jinhao’s with a Kaweco Sport and Pilot Prera…as well as a bunch of #5 and #6 italic stub nibs to switch out and play around with. I do have a goal of getting an Edison pen for my birthday…and I’m trying to decide between the cool Comet ☄️ or the really cool new Elysian!!! I’ve warned my husband already to set that money aside! Oh! I noticed your dotted pen shows and I’ll definitely be at one of them, maybe 2, so if I see you, I’ll say Hi! Looking forward to all your swatching and enjoyment of your ink journal!
Wow! So much great info here. Yeah, I'm pretty much staying with all of my other journals/planners and just going to stick it out (my main planner has TRP in it; is showing issues, but this one is specifically for fountain pen and ink stuff so I absolutely needed it to function for that purpose); thanks for the advice on the cover as well - really appreciated! Do not envy you for the Comet vs. Elysian decision - yikes!! haha. Hoping to see you out on the pen show circuit this year! Thanks for the kind words :)
My go to answer for this is TWSBI Ecos but most modern pens can take on shimmer just fine (I would just suggest using medium and broader nibs to start)
I ended up going with Cosmo Air Light for my ink journal this year (it’s my faveeee) but I do have an Iroful on the way as well to play with, thank you! 🙏🏽
@@julia-here I'll be interested to hear your review of Iroful when it arrives! I've been using it recently as my backup and I find it's quite similar to CAL (not as good but the best we're gonna get, maybe?)
I haven't had a problem with my TRP notebooks or the Hobonichi brand so far. I used my Cosmo Air Light nb last year for ink swatches. Since I had a lot of blank pages left in it, I began my 2025 ink swatching in it..Pics to come on IG. 😊 That paper is a dream, but I wish that the pages weren't blank. I would prefer a wide grid like the 10mm sheet that comes with it.
You got a good batch it sounds like; I’m glad!! 🙏🏽 excited to see your 2025 ink swatch notebook for sure anddd yeah, blank would be a little tough for me too I think. 💕
I'm a quality paper hoarder so I was fortunate enough to buy a few of the first round of Sterling Ink's undated B6 planners and then an extra 2024 N1 planner so I haven't (and won't) experience the 2025 tomoe river paper. My 2024 planner will be my reading journal for this year and if I feel like I NEED a planner for work that isn't digital, I'll use one of the undated ones I have in stash. Going forward, I think I'll go through the notebooks I've been stashing for the last few years that have the long since discontinued tomoe river paper and once that's exhausted (It'll likely take me years, lol), I'll probably go back to a ring system since I have quite a few (10+) packs of A4 Cosmo Air Snow, a few packs of OG TRP, and some Midori paper. I also have a couple of packs of View Corona and b7 paper that I really like to use with my fountain pens.
View Corona, I feel, is perfect for people who loved OG 52GSM tomoe river paper so it may be an option for the small business planner shops going forward.
I haven’t even heard of View Corona (down a rabbit hole I go I’m sure!)- so good that you have a stash built up that’ll last at least long enough until something is figured out. Is Cosmo Air Snow still available in sheets? (I half heartedly looked not too long ago but didn’t come up with anything)
The ink matching library is BEAUTIFUL. I don't think it's nerdy at all to print stickers of your pens - it's quite genius actually. Still so disappointing what's happening with TRP paper. The fact that it's inconsistent just makes it tough to decide what to move to
Thanks so much! 🥰- and yes, right there with you; it’s so odd to even try to figure out what to do. For my main planner (which is TRP), I’m just gonna try to stick it out. :/
I don't think it's necessarily fair to compare ghosting/bleeding on TRP vs CAL given that the latter is 50% heavier than the former and it's significantly more opaque -- but that said, that doesn't excuse the TRP for how bad its performance is compared to what we know 52gsm paper can do when it's consistent. I'm glad you've been able to come up with a 2025 solution that you're happy with, and I can't wait to see how gorgeous all the inks look on the Cosmo Air paper.
Thanks!! 🥰 very excited for this new notebook. And yeah, Not fair comparison-wise at all (which is why I mentioned it CAL is heavier) but I still wanted to show the difference for those who don’t know anything about different paper types and why someone would choose one over another.. and I’m with you- there is zeroooo excuse for this type of performance. People pay too much money for these notebooks and planners for this type of result.
I have had to make a few changes but I am dealing with it! For example, Platinum Carbon Black is a REAL no go, it bleeds like crazy, but the Platinum Chou Kuro is an EXCELLENT replacement. I’m having to pen and ink test everything, but I’m finding things that work. It’s definitely annoying though!
That’s great information! Same here for my main planner; some inks are behaving, others are not. The ghosting is a little more distracting than usual - but yeah, it seems like we are just gonna have to push through and hope something changes for the next go around.
@ I think if they (Hobonichi, whoever) just opt for the slightly thicker paper next year it should help. I heard that Hobonichi went with a fewer-GSM paper this year and I think it shows 🙈
I ran into the same inconsistency in both my Hobo cousin and my A5 Sterling Ink daily planner. Super disappointing. Some pages are ok, others bleed and feather terribly. I compared it to some OG TRP paper I have and it’s a staggering difference 😢
I was going to say the same. I bought 2 A5 notebooks and got one free. It has already shipped. I had ordered 3 a couple of months ago so I’ll have plenty of notebooks for a while.
So when I did my inititial Hobonichi weeks mega I did a test in the back and it wasnt great but it wasnt terrible ... then I did a pen test in the back of the Hobonichi Cousin A5 and I thought OMG this is the worst I dont know how I will ever recover from this betrayel .... but I told myself that I'm going to use this bloody book that the company who sold it to me prolly wouldnt take it back or send me a new one. I did write hobonichi and sent them pictures of the test that I did with all my pens that I had at my desk at the time... I havnt heard back from them ... BUT I have been using it with a pensive pens serendipity with a jowo broad nib and I am doing the colorvent calendar I dont know if the inks are super well behaved but I havnt had any problems ... Yet I havnt tried any other pens in it yet and I'm a flexy person I love to flex so we will see how other pens do with this later in the year... I did buy a GLP CREATIONS THE AUTHOR 68gsm tomoe river just in case... but I think with the hobonichi a5 and the weeks mega I think I will be ok... We will see ; /
Ughhh, so frustrating! I’ve done a little bit of flex writing in my main planner (it’s a Faded Chronicle TN with TRP) and it’s been ok so far.. it’s just so weird what works and what looks terrible. I know Hobonichi was doing some sort of return program for a little bit but that’s just wild that they haven’t responded to you at all. That’s good news though that your broads seem to be working ok for you. It just sucks all around though not having confidence in a paper that’s used in so many things :/
@julia-here yeah some in the original tomoe River hobonichi 2022 bled through which was very disappointing and I went to a modular system and then I went back to the hobonichi so I'm destined to be tortured forever
Although Hobonichi is a larger company and should have quality checked their product, the fault is with the paper maker of Tomoe River and not necessarily Hobonichi. But still.. I get ya. I’m very hesitant to buy any TRP product right now.
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I'm sorry for your issue, but I'm glad to see someone talking about this, I wondered the other day if anyone else was complaining. This is my 6th year in a Weeks and A6. I use a Tombow in the weeks to highlight the day and date, and this year it's causing the pages to curl. Very annoying, so I may not do that the whole year. Or I may and just deal with it.
I use my A6 for work, and noticed the corners curling as I use to each day, instead of laying flat with use. I don't love it, but do love the layout for what I need, so again, I'll just deal with it.
Here's hoping things are better for next year as I will for sure continue with Hobonichi.
🙏🏽 staying hopeful at least! Crazy that the tombow even is causing issues.
I truly love CAL too and am glad to have notebooks in it available in my shop. I wasn’t able to launch planners in it for 2025 sadly but I love my notebooks.
Love your ink swatches and pen stickers.
Thanks so much!! I will have to definitely check out your shop 🫶🏽
Yes Sanzen recent batches are super inconsistent and some pages are bleeding and feathering. It’s very frustrating as a shop owner because there’s no way to tell whether a planner or notebook has “bad” paper. It can be just a page or several pages or the whole book. And it’s not limited to fountain pens. It’s occurring with gel pens, markers, highlighters etc. And it’s definitely not our fault as shop owners. Most of us have used Sanzen TRP for years since they took over from Tomoegawa and some of us, like myself, tested sample paper and also our sample books before production even after years of positive Sanzen TRP experience. We had no way to know that the new batches produced and provided for our 2025 manufacturing would be bad/inconsistent.
I can tell you that I have been in communication with Sanzen about the issue and I’m not the only shop that has been. We’ve provided extensive feedback in photos and videos and narratives and lots of conversations have been had expressing our frustrations and disappointments as well as what we expect from the paper and their QC. We aren’t sitting idly by. But I know for myself, I’ve already started testing and looking into other paper options for future launches.
Oh wow! Thanks for your experience and perspective there. And I absolutely sympathize with businesses like yours that have been using this paper for yearrrs and then I’m sure having to deal with complaints for issues that’s not your fault. No way to know this was going to happen.
Wishing you so much success in the upcoming year- and I truly hope an alternative is found 🤞🏽🤞🏽
It’s wild to me that it’s crickets out there from the paper manufacturer. I just hope someone from there is listening so that future batches can be rectified. Both my 2025 Weeks and Cousin are having these inconsistency issues and it sucks because 1) expensive and 2) I live in a country where alternative paper options have to be imported. In fact, I had to import my Hobonichis! So it’s just bleh. But there’s not much we can do! Love your redo!
Thanks! And thanks for sharing your experience- ugh, just sucks all around- sorry!
I love your fountain pen stickers!! You're making me want to keep a Pen & Ink journal so bad but I know i wouldn't keep up with it.
Thank youuu! You should totally make one and just make it so you don’t have to necessarily “keep up” with it; just on your own terms when you feel like it :)
@@julia-here You need to start selling some of those pen stickers :D
@@PsychonautJournaling As fun as that would be, don't love the legal/copyright infringement there. Now recreating/drawing some pens as stickers.. maybe in the future!
I feel the same about 2025 TRP as you, heartbroken! I'm two weeks in in my Hobonich A6 and my two Hobonichi Weeks and i wanna cry about that crappy paper. So much money i spend. This is my third year with Hobonichi, and never again. In a desperat mood i order a Kinbor A6 on AlieExpress, and i hope my inspiration to plan and journaling is coming back to me. I'm looking forward to your new pens day and inkswatch videos for 2025 :)
I’m so sorry!! 😞 ugh, I feel you.. the amount of money that people spend for this type of mishap is just unacceptable.
The more I have been using my 2025 TRP planners, the more I am finding the issues myself. It's disappointing for how expensive all these planners are. I wonder what/how Sanzen and the planner companies are going to do to ensure better quality in 2026.
Absolutely- as I go on in my main planner, I’m feeling the same (and at a loss as far as what to do); verrryyyy curious if this will even be addressed. It’s been crickets so far :/
@@julia-here Yes! I was not impressed with the Hobonichi statement when people started bringing it up about the 5yr journals. I did a video at the time and that was well before other companies & planners we also showing problems. It all gives me pause for sure.
I agree 😢
@@julia-here some of us have been in active communication with Sanzen. AuraEstelle already did share that on IG and I’ve shared it with folks as well and have a video coming as well as a blog post. Some of us definitely haven’t been sitting idly by.
@@SamisSweetLifeit’s pervasive thru Hobonichis lineup but sadly just like with my planners and every other Sanzen TRP planner on the market for 2025 (because every single one of us has been impacted) it’s hit or miss and inconsistent and there’s no way to know which book or page is impacted.
I've been using the Hobonichi planner for a few years now. And the year I decided to properly get into fountain pens, I get feathering galore :'). Apparently Hobonichi issued new 5-year journals since the TRP issues hit those journals the hardest in their lineup, and the new notebooks are behaving better. Alas, still not as well as the 2024 and earlier TRP. Seeing how different your ink swatches are between the new TRP and the Cosmo Air paper is especially shocking. I totally agree with you, hopefully we get out of this paper drought soon.
🤞🏽🤞🏽 so sorry this happened to you! Especially after getting into fountain pens!
It’s heartbreaking that you had to redo, but so cool to see how you adapted to the dot grid journal. You have made me want to start a pen and ink journal! 😍
🫶🏽 you totally should! Would love to see it!
I’m glad you found joy in your replacement ink journal, it looks great! Obsessed with your pen stickers, you should list some in your shop they are so cool! I thought I was free of the TRP woes but a week into my sterling ink I’m finding inconsistencies in the paper. Lots of feathering on my weekly view this week. Like you I am hoping it was my own hand oils but I fear it is a bad omen. I’m sticking with my planner no matter what but I will have to look into some other options for journals. I love TRP in general so I hope they fix their issues for the future. I’ll have to look for cosmo air light. I’ve also heard good things about bank paper, which I am on the hunt for- have you tried it? How do you feel about MD paper for ink swatching?
Thank you!! And super sorry about your issues as well. I’m having similar issues in my main planner but like you- I think I’m just going to stick it out.. it’s not terrrrible and I’m not making huge swatches in there like I am in the ink journal. Hoping for the best though… I have heard of Bank paper (it’s getting discontinued as well believe it or not); I’ve tried just a sample of it before and thought it was solid. ☺️
This happened to me too - I just received my first ever TRP notebook earlier this week and it was a disaster on the first page - feathering, ghosting and monumental bleed through, irrespective of which pen/nib/ink I used. Swatches bled through and onto the next page entirely. I got a refund from the vendor and to be honest I felt sorry for them - not their fault and they're the ones who are going to be in the firing line unless the quality issues are fixed at source. Worst thing? I've more TRP notebooks already on the way.😟 The only saving grace was that when I was ordering the other TRP notebooks I somehow also ordered a couple of Odyssey notebooks with the cosmo air light paper... 🙂 So every cloud, eh? By the way, your new ink journal swatches really do look WAY better on the cosmo air paper!!
Ahhh!! Sorry!! (Hope you enjoy the Cosmo Air Light paper though!) - what a mess.
I was so glad to see this video pop up on my list. I am so disappointed in Hobonichi's new paper. I've been using different Hobonichi planners for some five years and loved the fact that it was so fountain pen friendly. Not this year. I complained to JetPens, which reached out to Hobonichi. Both claimed that there was nothing wrong with the paper and that it met Hobonichi's high standards. I sent them both photos of a page from last year and this year with the same pen and ink, and what a difference there was in the paper. JetPens offered me a refund, but I haven't found another planner that has the same type of spreads as the Hobonichi Cousin does, s I have to change my pens and ink. BTW, LAMY and LAMY inks work well on the 2025 paper, but I prefer different fountain pens and inks.
Oh! That’s good info about LAMY inks; will definitely just give that a test just for fun but yeah, it’s crazy that it’s just a wash this year. Hoping things change 🙏🏽
I sooo want to make stickers of my pens now! I've debated trying to draw them in my ink journal, but that is not likely to end well haha. I wish Midori made white paper; I like the cream but not for everything. I am hopeful they can work out the issue with TRP. 🤞
Totally a good point about the stickers being a good alternative to drawing them! You’ve made me feel better about that for sure lol- I am hopeful as well.. I just hope more people are vocal about it.
Love your ink/pen journal 2.0! And those pen/ink matches are stunning!! ❤❤❤
Thank you so much! 🙏🏽🥰 - really excited about how the new one turned out.
I’m so glad you had a notebook you like, and grab up all those Cosmo Air Light notebooks you can while they’re still around! Find a paper/vinyl/cardstock that you do like and cover up the front of the notebook (I agree with you, not my favorite, but easily fixed.) The paper looks beautiful. I’ll have to pick some up while it’s still around. I’m doing so far so good with my TRP in my 2025 A6 and A5 Sterling Ink Common Planners. It is the 52gsm not the 47 of the Hobonichi (according to Sterling Ink.) It feels better than my 2024 Hobonichi Cousin and ghosts a little bit less. However, as batches have been inconsistent through the planners and I’ve just started in mine (with full pen tests in the back…zero issues) but the pages I have used have been great with fountain pens and my usual Energels .04 and .05, Mildliners, Zigg Dot Markers (surprisingly the richer and juicier metallic ones do better than the pastels,) Pentel and Tombow Fudesenoke brush/sign pens, Uni Signo 1.0 metallics (the ones that still work, grrr. I’ve had them for 6 months and half of them have dried up, same with my Gelly Rolls.) Paper Mate Flairs are fine. No drying time problems, no bleed through (I haven’t done ink swatches in it, just writing, but I wasn’t going to use either for that anyway.) No issues with Faber Castell or Uni fine liners. Didn’t try a Sharpie…cause…it’s a Sharpie! (But, apparently, Iroful notebooks will not let Sharpies bleed through…some kind of dark magic, but very cool cause I love that paper!!!) Anyway, unlike a lot of YT Planner channels, I’m not freaking out about how my 8 different planners just don’t work for me (this is not a shot at you…you had bad paper, these people are just being too Goldilocks and need to take a deep breath and calm themselves, I won’t name names, lol.) Your set up looks beautiful, and I’m also a BuJo person at heart and doing it as each month comes along isn’t overwhelming and doesn’t limit the pages. If you need two notebooks for one year…not a big deal, imo…I almost bought the split year version of the A5 in order to have all the room I wanted…but I have 7 or 8 other notebooks, so I’m good and didn’t spend the extra $20 or so. This new journal is beautiful and has given me a lot of ideas of how to set up mine. I’m going to use the Iroful A5 I have and just have fun with it as it will be my first ink journal!! (I just really got into fountain pens and ink late last year…and I’m developing a ridiculous collection as it is…although I’ve gotten mostly Jinhao’s with a Kaweco Sport and Pilot Prera…as well as a bunch of #5 and #6 italic stub nibs to switch out and play around with. I do have a goal of getting an Edison pen for my birthday…and I’m trying to decide between the cool Comet ☄️ or the really cool new Elysian!!! I’ve warned my husband already to set that money aside! Oh! I noticed your dotted pen shows and I’ll definitely be at one of them, maybe 2, so if I see you, I’ll say Hi! Looking forward to all your swatching and enjoyment of your ink journal!
Wow! So much great info here. Yeah, I'm pretty much staying with all of my other journals/planners and just going to stick it out (my main planner has TRP in it; is showing issues, but this one is specifically for fountain pen and ink stuff so I absolutely needed it to function for that purpose); thanks for the advice on the cover as well - really appreciated! Do not envy you for the Comet vs. Elysian decision - yikes!! haha. Hoping to see you out on the pen show circuit this year! Thanks for the kind words :)
What is the best pen for shimmer inks?
My go to answer for this is TWSBI Ecos but most modern pens can take on shimmer just fine (I would just suggest using medium and broader nibs to start)
Please try the Iroful notebook! if you're looking for. a good ink journal. It's amazing and better than TRP!
I ended up going with Cosmo Air Light for my ink journal this year (it’s my faveeee) but I do have an Iroful on the way as well to play with, thank you! 🙏🏽
@@julia-here I'll be interested to hear your review of Iroful when it arrives! I've been using it recently as my backup and I find it's quite similar to CAL (not as good but the best we're gonna get, maybe?)
I haven't had a problem with my TRP notebooks or the Hobonichi brand so far. I used my Cosmo Air Light nb last year for ink swatches. Since I had a lot of blank pages left in it, I began my 2025 ink swatching in it..Pics to come on IG. 😊
That paper is a dream, but I wish that the pages weren't blank. I would prefer a wide grid like the 10mm sheet that comes with it.
You got a good batch it sounds like; I’m glad!! 🙏🏽 excited to see your 2025 ink swatch notebook for sure anddd yeah, blank would be a little tough for me too I think. 💕
I'm a quality paper hoarder so I was fortunate enough to buy a few of the first round of Sterling Ink's undated B6 planners and then an extra 2024 N1 planner so I haven't (and won't) experience the 2025 tomoe river paper. My 2024 planner will be my reading journal for this year and if I feel like I NEED a planner for work that isn't digital, I'll use one of the undated ones I have in stash.
Going forward, I think I'll go through the notebooks I've been stashing for the last few years that have the long since discontinued tomoe river paper and once that's exhausted (It'll likely take me years, lol), I'll probably go back to a ring system since I have quite a few (10+) packs of A4 Cosmo Air Snow, a few packs of OG TRP, and some Midori paper. I also have a couple of packs of View Corona and b7 paper that I really like to use with my fountain pens.
View Corona, I feel, is perfect for people who loved OG 52GSM tomoe river paper so it may be an option for the small business planner shops going forward.
I haven’t even heard of View Corona (down a rabbit hole I go I’m sure!)- so good that you have a stash built up that’ll last at least long enough until something is figured out. Is Cosmo Air Snow still available in sheets? (I half heartedly looked not too long ago but didn’t come up with anything)
@@julia-here Jet Pens still has the cosmo air snow, but in A5 sheets instead of A4.
@taccora purchased!! Thank you much! ☺️
@@julia-here you're very welcome! I'm glad you could snag you some :D
The ink matching library is BEAUTIFUL. I don't think it's nerdy at all to print stickers of your pens - it's quite genius actually. Still so disappointing what's happening with TRP paper. The fact that it's inconsistent just makes it tough to decide what to move to
Thanks so much! 🥰- and yes, right there with you; it’s so odd to even try to figure out what to do. For my main planner (which is TRP), I’m just gonna try to stick it out. :/
I don't think it's necessarily fair to compare ghosting/bleeding on TRP vs CAL given that the latter is 50% heavier than the former and it's significantly more opaque -- but that said, that doesn't excuse the TRP for how bad its performance is compared to what we know 52gsm paper can do when it's consistent. I'm glad you've been able to come up with a 2025 solution that you're happy with, and I can't wait to see how gorgeous all the inks look on the Cosmo Air paper.
Thanks!! 🥰 very excited for this new notebook. And yeah, Not fair comparison-wise at all (which is why I mentioned it CAL is heavier) but I still wanted to show the difference for those who don’t know anything about different paper types and why someone would choose one over another.. and I’m with you- there is zeroooo excuse for this type of performance. People pay too much money for these notebooks and planners for this type of result.
Just a heads up that your ink journal link takes me to aura estelle instead of odyssey notebooks.
Thanks!! Gonna change that out nowwww :))
I have had to make a few changes but I am dealing with it! For example, Platinum Carbon Black is a REAL no go, it bleeds like crazy, but the Platinum Chou Kuro is an EXCELLENT replacement. I’m having to pen and ink test everything, but I’m finding things that work. It’s definitely annoying though!
That’s great information! Same here for my main planner; some inks are behaving, others are not. The ghosting is a little more distracting than usual - but yeah, it seems like we are just gonna have to push through and hope something changes for the next go around.
@ I think if they (Hobonichi, whoever) just opt for the slightly thicker paper next year it should help. I heard that Hobonichi went with a fewer-GSM paper this year and I think it shows 🙈
I ran into the same inconsistency in both my Hobo cousin and my A5 Sterling Ink daily planner. Super disappointing. Some pages are ok, others bleed and feather terribly. I compared it to some OG TRP paper I have and it’s a staggering difference 😢
Oh man.. yeah, my previous ink journal was the OG TRP and the difference is crazy. So sorry both your planners were affected 😔
Wonderland has 20222 and 2023 notebooks with 52GSM Tomoe River Paper (original) buy 2 notebooks get 1 free right now
Sweet! Thanks for sharing this!
I was going to say the same. I bought 2 A5 notebooks and got one free. It has already shipped. I had ordered 3 a couple of months ago so I’ll have plenty of notebooks for a while.
So when I did my inititial Hobonichi weeks mega I did a test in the back and it wasnt great but it wasnt terrible ... then I did a pen test in the back of the Hobonichi Cousin A5 and I thought OMG this is the worst I dont know how I will ever recover from this betrayel .... but I told myself that I'm going to use this bloody book that the company who sold it to me prolly wouldnt take it back or send me a new one. I did write hobonichi and sent them pictures of the test that I did with all my pens that I had at my desk at the time... I havnt heard back from them ... BUT I have been using it with a pensive pens serendipity with a jowo broad nib and I am doing the colorvent calendar I dont know if the inks are super well behaved but I havnt had any problems ... Yet I havnt tried any other pens in it yet and I'm a flexy person I love to flex so we will see how other pens do with this later in the year... I did buy a GLP CREATIONS THE AUTHOR 68gsm tomoe river just in case... but I think with the hobonichi a5 and the weeks mega I think I will be ok... We will see ; /
Ughhh, so frustrating! I’ve done a little bit of flex writing in my main planner (it’s a Faded Chronicle TN with TRP) and it’s been ok so far.. it’s just so weird what works and what looks terrible. I know Hobonichi was doing some sort of return program for a little bit but that’s just wild that they haven’t responded to you at all. That’s good news though that your broads seem to be working ok for you.
It just sucks all around though not having confidence in a paper that’s used in so many things :/
@julia-here yeah some in the original tomoe River hobonichi 2022 bled through which was very disappointing and I went to a modular system and then I went back to the hobonichi so I'm destined to be tortured forever
Wowwww! Tragic.
Hobonichi should be ashamed of themselves. Company are taking absolutely no responsibility. I’m a first and last customer
Although Hobonichi is a larger company and should have quality checked their product, the fault is with the paper maker of Tomoe River and not necessarily Hobonichi. But still.. I get ya. I’m very hesitant to buy any TRP product right now.