xFountainPens.com Coupons and Gifts

I like this seller, xFountainPens.com, and as they have coupons and gift-with-purchase deals through Friday, December 4, I thought I'd pass this along.

GET YOUR LOOT!For this week only we have several active promotions. These promotions will COMPOUND with each other… so you can use them all at the same time to multiply your savings! First check the promotion description, then read the note below to learn how to qualify.

The Loot: Get free shipping on your order!Here’s how: First, add at least $15.00 worth of items to your cart. Then, during checkout select “Free Shipping” that is available for all packages shipped within the United States.

The Loot: FREE bottle of Chesterfield Ink!Here’s how: Add at least $35.00 worth of items to your cart. Any items will do! Then, add the Chesterfield Ink bottle of your choice to your shopping cart. After they have been added, enter CF44 in the coupon code box and click “apply”. Your ink bottle or cartridge tin is now in your cart for FREE! (you should see the savings reflected immediately.)

The Loot: Get the NEW X750 Damestein Fountain Pen (right) FREE!
Here’s how: First, add at least $50.00 worth of items to your cart [cart should have this amount before adding the promotional pen]. Then add the X750 Damestein to your shopping cart. Once the item has been added to your cart, enter DAME in the coupon code box and click “Apply”.


BONUS Loot: The coupons below will also be active* until Friday, Dec. 4! Use one, or use them all at the same time!

Discount code: X450
Loot: $5.00 Off the X450 Collection

Discount Code: SG2400
Loot: $15.00 Off the SG2400 Collection

Discount Code: X750
Loot: $10.00 Off the X750 Collection

Discount Code: SG2500
Loot: $10.00 Off the SG2500 Collection

Discount Code: NEBEL
Loot: $2.00 Off the X450 Nebel Flake Pen

Discount Code: GIFT
Loot: $5.00 Off a set of 5 wooden gift boxes

More Great Giveaways

The Pen Addict, aka Brad, is celebrating his Second Blogiversary with a great JetPens giveaway, three fabulous prizes. Stop by and add your comments.

Nifty at Notebook Stories is also giving away three fantastic Moleskine goodies. Head over and check it out, he's the creator of the popular Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper.

Swisher Blue Black Ink

I have really fallen in love with blue black inks, especially gel inks such as the Pilot Hi-Tec-C refill. It's a color that's not too harsh (black) or too soft (blue) but just in between. I'd read that the Swisher inks were quick-drying and very good, so when I was placing an order recently I decided to give the Swisher Blue Black a try. The 3 oz. bottle is quite reasonably-priced at $8.75, another reason to add this to my checkout cart.

The pen I'm using is a Sailor 1911 Medium with a fine 14K nib with converter. The Blue Black flows nicely and dries almost instantly--no spots or streaks or stains. Written on Clairefontain 90gsm grid paper, you can really see the blue black color even when using a fine point nib.


The Swisher Ink is a dark black with blue, or maybe dark blue with black. The mix is so even that neither color dominates, but I seem to see some green shading (no doubt due to the blue). I like this ink a lot, definitely one I'll keep in the rotation. Now I'll have to look at a few more blue-blacks, such as Noodler's Ellis Island Blue-Black (from Fountain Pen Hospital), Noodler's Starry Night (from Fountain Pen Network, and De Atramentis Sherlock Holmes (which isn't available-yet, I hope-in the States). The only negative is a slightly chemical smell that lasts a moment or two, and is noticeable when your nose is close to the ink. It dissipates quickly and is only a very minor flaw in a beautiful ink.

Gift Guide and Giveaway

Lung Sketching Scrolls has posted a Holiday Gift Guide and JetPens Giveaway. Leave a comment by December 12, and you're entered to win $10 JetPens gift certificate. Check out the gift guide as well, great items being showcased.

And if you come back here on Wednesday, you'll also have a chance to enter Pocket Blonde's first giveaway.

Things I Meant to Post But Forgot, Pt. 1

Taken back in mid-October, an installation in the window of Kate's Paperie on W. 13th Street. A skeleton and other Halloween items (pumpkins, etc.) made from wood and book pages.

Happy Thanksgiving

Brightest Blessings to all on this day.

I saw this single rose yesterday in one of the neighborhood gardens, all brown and winter bare, and admired its courage and nonchalance. :)

Twist Ring Note

On a recent trip to Kinokuniya I spotted an unusual notebook, the Lihit Lab Twist Ring Note in B5 size. I'd seen OfficeSupplyGeek's review, and was curious to try this. The concept is to gently pull open the opposite ends of paper at the top left and bottom right of the rings. This opens up the binders, to add or remove pages. It's a great concept, and the packet from Kinokuniya included refill pages. (Unfortunately my pictures didn't turn out too well, but OSG's review has lots of snaps to enjoy.)

I was a bit nervous the first time I pulled on the paper, as I thought I'd need to apply more pressure than what turned out to be necessary and that would rip out the pages. No such thing, the rings opened up right away and snapped shut with a very satisfying click. The square holes remind me of Doane Paper's journals, but unfortunately the Lihit Lab's paper is punched with many more holes in it than Doane's. The paper has a soft feel to it, like Clairefontaine, and probably plays well with many pens (I'll try it out later). All in all it's a lot of fun and relatively inexpensive (about $7.50 if I recall correctly).

Pilot Hi-Tec 0.5m (not the Hi-Tec-C)

A few weeks ago I tried out some needle point Zebra Sarasa Stick Pens. While I liked the point, I didn't like the tiny 0.3m line. Looking through my pens the other day I found what I thought was a Pilot Hi-Tec-C 0.5m that I had bought but never taken out of the cellophane wrapper, a violet to go with the blue black one I really like. I unwrapped it and absently started to write a note, only to stop short and take a really good look at the pen. That's when I discovered it's a Pilot Hi-Tec, not a Hi-Tec-C; it has a needle point and a 0.5m tip and writes like a dream!

I bought the pen at Kinokuniya a few months back, but figured the violet was just like the blue black so I didn't use it right away. This is everything I wanted in the Zebra Sarasa 0.3m but didn't find--a wider line and smoother writing. I like the way the needle point looks when it's scrolling across the Doane Paper; the grip is comfortable but not padded in any way. I'm definitely going to purchase a few more of these in different colors, starting with my favorite blue black color.

Namiki Black Celluloid Fountain Pen

This is my black Namiki celluloid fountain pen with the beautiful rose-pink and blue shimmer. I think I fell in love with the colors first, although I was definitely looking to buy a Namiki pen when I browsed the Swisher Pens booth at the 2009 NYC Pen Show. I definitely love this pen, and it was not as expensive as I thought it would be, although it was not in the Lamy Safari category either (Chuck Swisher gave a very good price on this, btw). The gold clip and ring are beautiful highlights against the black, and it's a very lightweight pen that moves smoothly over paper. As I'm partial to fine nibs, that's what this one is sporting.

What makes this really interesting is the converter, the CON-70, a vacuumatic filling system that sucks in the ink one pump at a time. And that's where I have my one problem, as I'm not a big fan of this system (yet, I suppose). I don't like sticking the nib and feed into a bottle of ink as it is, as I have a tendency to move the pen, which moves the bottle, which in one memorable case led to a nearly new bottle of J. Herbin Poussiere de Lune all over my kitchen floor. I also don't like filling this way because ink gets all over the inside of the nib, and then comes gushing out when I'm writing. What I have started to do is to remove the nib and feed, take an eyedropper full of ink and put some in the converter, then pump--the ink drops down into the converter. Three or so times will fill the converter, and I'm not pumping away worried I'll damage the nib or spill the bottle.

I love writing with this pen as well, and haven't had any problems such as skipping or "dry writing" where the ink won't flow when you put nib to paper. The fine point has just the right width of line,; I have noticed that when I begin writing, the line is much wider and more ink is flowing, then when I'm a paragraph in I get a drier, finer line--as if I need to write a bit to get the pen in the mood for writing just the way I want.

The pen is about 5 1/4 inches capped, 4 1/2 inches uncapped, and about 5 3/4 inches posted. While it's slender, that's relative--it's chunkier than my Pelikan M205, but not as wide as my rOtring Surf pens. And I have noticed ink settling on the nib, seeming to come out of the tines. That may be my fault for taking the nib and feed off to fill it and not replacing them correctly, or the pen itself allows it and is just a wet pen in more ways than one. A minor point, over all, as I wouldn't trade this pen for anything--unless it was for another Namiki!

Noodler's Henry Hudson Blue for FPH

Noodler's other new ink for the Fountain Pen Hospital is Henry Hudson Blue (HHB), which from the picture I posted the other day I took to be a dark, cold, intense blue. So I was really surprised when I decided to swatch the color next to Noodler's Manhattan Blue, an Art Brown exclusive. HHB has a lot more purple in it than I originally thought, it's definitely not a pure, cool blue as it seemed from the liquid in the cap and bottle. Next to each other, I find I really like the Manhattan Blue color a lot.

Writing with it, the ink is quite nice although my Pelikan M205 fine point was definitely in a bad mood and really resisted the Rhodia notebook. I don't think it was the Noodler's ink, as the one I flushed was Noodler's Widowmaker, which the pen really liked (as do I). And the HHB takes so long to dry, something that I hadn't noticed with the Old Dutch Colony Sepia because the Moleskine Reporter Notebook was absorbing the ink like crazy. On better quality paper, I couldn't believe how long the HHB stayed wet. Not a great option for lefties, I'd say.

I do like the picture on the bottle, early New York before the European invasion. And I do see now that this snapshot does show how intense and bright the HHB is, although not the purple shading. But I am wondering how this particular blue was chosen to represent Henry Hudson--is there something particularly Dutch about it?

Noodler's Ink Old Dutch Colony Sepia

On a recent trip to the Fountain Pen Hospital I was looking at the inks and spotted several new Noodler's Inks only available at FPH: Henry Hudson Blue and Old Dutch Colony Sepia. 2009 marks the 400th Anniversary of Henry Hudson's discovery and navigation of the river that bears his name, the Hudson. The gentleman who took my order mentioned that I'd honed in on the new inks, seems they'd only just arrived a few days before (which would make that early November). As I don't have any brown inks I was looking forward to purchasing the Old Dutch Colony Sepia, and also thought the swatch of Henry Hudson Blue seemed like a great dark, cold blue so I took both inks.

This is the Old Dutch Colony Sepia, a deep brown warmed by quite a bit of red. The ink bottle has a drawing of a group of New Amsterdam colonists on a beach looking at something, with a flag in the background and what seems to be a fort. It's a cute label, and there's no doubt the ink is a Fountain Pen Hospital special as FPH appears prominently at the top of the label.

I'm not good at descriptions, but it seems a bit like J. Herbin Terre de Feu or perhaps a slightly warmer version of Noodler's Kiowa Pecan (I'm looking at swatches online, so there could be a huge discrepancy). The color dries lighter and more brown than the liquid ink, which is redder and darker. Maybe Brazil nut is the color I have in mind, although not as cool. The ink looks like it has a touch of shading to it, but again I'm not the best one to describe colors. Let's say it's not chocolate or brown bear or earthen. Finally, the ink is not bulletproof--just a regular fountain pen ink from Noodler's for FPH.

Noodler's Inks for FPH

Noodler's Inks for FPH
Originally uploaded by Pocket Blonde

Two new inks from Noodler's found only at the Fountain Pen Hospital: Old Dutch Colony Sepia and Henry Hudson Blue. I'll post a review of these soon, but I have to say both colors are fantastic. The sepia is a true sepia, brown with quite a nice red undertone to it. And the Henry Hudson Blue is a dark, cold-water river blue. Definitely worth checking out.

Gelpoint 0.7m Rollerball

A few weeks ago I noticed a colleague sitting next to me using a really nice looking rollerball. I saw the name on the clip and went back to my office to scour the Corporate Express catalog to see if I could find it. And there it was, the Gelpoint Rollerball Gel Pen with a 0.7m point. The office placed an order, and a few days later a box of 1 dozen blue Gelpoints landed on my desk. I have to say, this is a very nice writing pen. The ink doesn't skip or spurt, so it's not too little or too much. Just a constant glide over the paper. The blue ink is very dark, with a touch of black to it that I like a lot. The pen has a hexagonal barrel so it won't go rolling off the desk, and the barrel near the point is slightly bigger to make for a better grip. Unfortunately this is a Corporate Express product, not available in stores. However, the company now owns Staples, so it's possible these pens will be available through that outlet.

New Addition To The Collection: An Esterbrook SJ

I've really been interested in acquiring an Esterbrook fountain pen, especially after reading the amazing guest post by Bruce at Brassing Adds Character. I read through a lot of the pages at Esterbrook.net and Richard Binder's great information, then went to eBay.com to look for an Estie. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, as I really didn't know if it mattered whether I had a J, SJ, or LJ pen, or what year it came from. The prices varied from strangely low to extremely high, but I found a seller with an interesting story: his father collected pens, and he was selling them for his mother, who worked at one of the auto companies and had seen her pension go south. The description was simply along the lines of "in good condition" so I decided to take my chances. And about 10 days later I opened the package and studied my first vintage fountain pen.

Comparing the pen to pictures at both sites, it's an SJ double jeweled model in brown, made in the early '50s. Taking a look inside the barrel I found pieces of black stuff, and realized that was all that was left of the original sac. Quite thoughtfully, someone had removed all the debris around the nipple so all I had to do was get a new sac and glue it on (a trip to the Fountain Pen Hospital took care of that, along with a quick lesson from the FPH guys). That was a success, although now I think I should have cut the sac just a little bit more; there is some debris at the bottom of the barrel that I can't get out that's interfering with the sac just a bit. I've tamped it down, and the sac now fits much better.

The only other thing I noticed is that the tines on the nib were very slightly apart; this nib is listed as a "firm medium" so I'm thinking the nib might be slightly mangled due to use. It's a very wet nib, and looks slightly italic; the 9668 nib is for general writing, and it has a wider line than my other medium fountain pens. Cleaned up, I rather like the brown color, but it is definitely a shortie! I think that's taken me more getting used to than the wetness of the nib or the wideness of the line. I like using this pen and can see how the Estie is the workhorse of fountain pens.

One final note: a colleague at work, hearing me talk about winning the bid on the Esterbrook, mentioned that she has a whole drawer of these pens. Hearing my choking noises, she invited me over sometime to take a look and perhaps pick out a pen or two to keep the brown SJ company.

November 11, 2009 stats

I had to capture this image of the number of visitors to the blog since I started keeping track about a week ago. I like the font, whatever it is, and the bright, tomato red of the numbers.

Giveaway over at Julie (Okami)'s Place

Julie (Okami) of Whatever is having a giveaway that ends tomorrow night (Saturday, November 14). She converted Hero FPS-006 into an eyedropper, and is inviting readers to leave a message for a chance to win one of the Hero pens. Very nice pen, and the pics are great.

Faber-Castell Ambition Fountain Pen

Faber-Castell has a long history in the writing instrument business, founded 240 years ago in Germany to manufacture pencils. The Art & Graphic line of colored pencils, watercolors, pastels, graphite, charcoal, and more are renowned for their high quality. Which makes their various fine pen lines (Design, Graf von Faber-Castell, and Porsche) quite intriguing.

My first expensive fountain pen was the Faber-Castell Ambition, a soft matte black resin from the Design line that I fell for at last May's International Pen Fair at Art Brown's Shop. I purchased the Ambition with a medium stainless steel nib, which is very wet and takes quite a few seconds for the ink to dry on the paper. I love writing with this, however--it has great "hand feel" and is lightweight and elegant. The only drawback is that the fountain pen is only made to use cartridges; finding a converter that fit took some doing (a Monteverde did the job), but eventually I just got out my silicone grease and made an eyedropper out of this. The ink flows smoothly and evenly, although I did have a few skips at the beginning while I got used to applying pressure (I always start with too light a pressure on the pen, as if I'm afraid I'll break the nib). The ink is De Atramentis Bordeaux Red (not Noodler's Widowmaker, as I thought), on a Rhodia 19 yellow-lined pad. Certainly this isn't he most expensive fountain pen available, but if you're looking for something upscale but less than $100, the Ambition is worth checking out.

The Reds

When the De Atramentis inks arrived at Art Brown International Pen Shop in early October I saw a few of their regular inks at the 2009 NYC Pen Show but decided to wait until the fair at Art Brown's to pick up a few of the wine-based inks. Big mistake, when I got there they had only 5 or 6 bottles left; the sales clerk seemed a bit dazed telling me how fast these inks went. In the scented inks, the coffee, vanilla, and chocolate were also gone as was the whiskey-based brown ink. I didn't really feel like almond or peach so I decided to pass on the scented inks until they restocked.

I did purchase two of the wine-based inks, Barolo and Dornfelder; this color comparison of De Atramentis Barolo, Dornfelder, Bordeaux Red, and Noodler's Widowmaker shows them swabbed on a sheet of Rhodia unlined paper. The colors surprised me a bit, to see how similar the Dornfelder and Noodler's Widowmaker are on a test swab. The Widowmaker is slightly more red, while the Dornfelder has a touch more pink in it. And the Barolo doesn't have as much purple in it as the Bordeaux Red, which is not a wine-based ink but a regular De Atramentis ink in a wine color. I'm looking forward to getting a few more when they arrive from Germany, I'd like to see more of the range of reds. Certainly the De Atramentis has some stunning red shades, and using a wine base is, if nothing else, a great marketing idea.

The Blues

I have two new inks in my collection, great additions to The Blues lineup: Noodler's Manhattan Blue and Pilot Iroshizuku's Kon-Peki. They are both amazing colors.

According to the helpful sales clerk at Art Brown International Pen Shop, Manhattan Blue is a replica of the Carters Blue ink from 1931 and was used quite a lot in official NYC circles (I think she also mentioned it's the same blue as the New York Yankees, but that's not a selling point for me). Manhattan Blue, like Legal Blue, is made by Noodler's exclusively for Art Brown. It's an intense, pure dark blue that really does look like the color of ink you would find in ink wells in New York City public schools circa 1902.

The Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-Peki is a bright blue that looks a bit like J. Herbin Eclat de Saphir. It's definitely striking, and there's something about the color that makes me think it is highly pigmented and saturates evenly and well. It's become a favorited of mine, possiby because of the beautiful color or because of the pen I'm using it in--or both. Either way, it gets attention.

Blue Uni-ball Vision and Orange Zebra Sarasa

I was looking at pens at the stationery store and decided to try a Uni-ball Vision and a Zebra Sarasa. There were some standard blacks, blues, and red, and then I found the wild colors section and picked up one in neon blue and another in orange. The Uni-ball Vision fine point is a smooth gliding pen, I loved the way it felt in my hand--great balance and very light. The neon blue color is lovely, reminds me a bit of a J. Herbin's Bleu Pervenche in a rollerball. The line is a bit wide for a fine point, but that's a minor point. It's a great pen, and is added to the line up.

Then there's the orange Zebra Sarasa retractable 0.7mm medium point gel ink pen. The pen has a soft rubber grip, stylish design, and orange ink is edgy but not too far out. But for some reason I just couldn't bond with this pen. The Sarasa just didn't feel like writing on this Doane paper, and after awhile I felt like I had a death grip on the barrel I was holding it so tight. The color is refreshing, but the pen is going back into the box to wait for a second chance and a change of paper.

xFountainPens.com

A few months ago I was surfing the Internet looking for fountain pens and came upon this interesting site, xFountainPens.com headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA. The prices were definitely low, and free shipping with a $15 order so I decided to purchase a cream colored Bulow X750 Legislatur Fountain Pen with a medium nib and some converters.

This is a substantial pen, heavy and big like a cigar and nicely weighted once the cap is on. The silver nib, barrel, and cap appointments make a nice counterpoint to the cream color, and the detailing is amazing (such as the engraving on the silver band around the cap). While I prefer a fine nib, the line from this medium nib is not too wide. The nib itself has a tiny bit of flex to it, so the ink line can be slightly thicker or thinner depending upon the pressure exerted. The only problem I have with the pen is that it skips ink, which is annoying. Once I'm writing, there is no skip, so it may simply be I'm not putting enough pressure on the pen when I start (or there's a problem with the flow of ink to the nib).

I'm definitely interested in trying other pens from this site, as well as some of the inks. The prices are very good and the shipping is fast (I ordered on a Tuesday and got the pen on Friday). But I'm going to look for a fine nib next time, just for a little difference.

The USS New York

The USS New York, an amphibious transport with about 8 tons of steel from the World Trade Center in its hull, coming up the Hudson on Monday, November 2, 2009, around 8:30 am. The ship came upriver towards the George Washington Bridge, then made its turn (around 135th street or so) aided by tugs for its trip back downriver. From my office window, a definite treat for us all.

Coming Attractions

Will review this soon, but a preview of something I purchased at the Art Brown International Pen Fair last Wednesday, the Pilot Namiki 823 Clear Demonstrator with Iroshizuku ink in Kon-Peki. Many thanks to Chthulhu at StyloForum for helping me understand the ink flow.

Mnemosyne Notepads

On a recent trip to Kinokuniya I was browsing through the Mnemosyne ringed journals when I spotted some familiar-looking stapled notepads in the back of some Campus notebooks. But they weren't black Rhodias at all, but Mnemosynes. Specifically, the Maruman Mnemosyne Project Notepads #187 size A5 (similar to a Rhodia 16) and #188 size A4 (similar to a Rhodia 18). JetPens carries the 188, but I have to think that price of $25.50 is off, as it is the same price as the Project Holder and Notepad. At Kinokuniya these are selling for a lot more than their Rhodia counterparts (the smaller Mnemosyne 187 cost over $10 with tax, while the Rhodia 16 is about $6 total) so I was curious to see how they compared.

The Rhodia and Mnemosyne are stapled at the top and are 5mm squared. When you turn the cover over, both have the brand name on the inside so it is visible at the top of the pad. The Rhodia has 80 pages, the Mnemosyne has 70 pages, and both are perforated for easy removal. But its the way the paper handles ink that's important: it's not very good with fountain pens. I can't find anything on the paper's gsm, but it's definitely in the "feels smooth and silky" category and very similar to my Rhodia pads. But then I tried out my Pelikan 205 Demonstator fine point on the smaller 187, using Noodler's Manhattan Blue ink. There was definite bleed through on the paper and a very heavy shadow. Granted the Pelikan 205's fine point is wider than other fine points, so I then tried a second test with my Namiki fine point and Iroshizuku ink in Syo-Ro. This time, there was no bleed through, and the shadow was less although still distinct. So I'd say that any fountain pen with a nib approaching medium would have ink problems with this paper. Sharpies bled through the paper, while gel ink and rollerballs left heavy shadows but no ink on the other side.

Tombow Object Rollerball

Tombow is an interesting brand--like Itoya, the company lineup includes pens and certain office supplies. I saw this Object Rollerball online and immediately fell in love with the contemporary design and the 8 metallic colors. The Object Rollerball has a metal body and a wonderful satin finish, while the entire pen is very lightweight. There is a slightly rounded grip for greater comfort in holding the pen.

I definitely like writing with this rollerball. It really does glide over the paper and the ink is extremely quick drying so it would be a good option for lefties. The 0.5m refill tip looks more pointed for some reason, perhaps because the design of the pen itself is so sleek. This has jumped up to a top position in my pen lineup; the Object Rollerball retails for $24, but there are some available at Amazon.com and Goldspot Pens for less.

There are two drawbacks: first, the ink definitely bleeds through the paper, at least it does on this Doane notepad; second, the cap is difficult to remove, I almost feel I'm going to crush it I'm exerting so much pressure. Which makes the pen a 9.8 our of a 10, something to consider but not necessarily a dealbreaker.

4th Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper

Another Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper has come around, the 4th one in the series which is being hosted by Black Belt Productivity. The first Editor's Choice post is the StyloForum, founded by Bradley Haase at Miscellany and Cacophony. The second Editor's Choice is a fantastic interview with one of the founders of JetPens. Lots of great pen, pencil, and notebook reviews, including my own review of the RevolveR Bound Journal. Many thanks to Nifty at Notebook Stories for originating the Carnival. The 5th one in December will be hosted at the GoldSpot Pens Blog.

Equology Textagenda with Notepad

You have a planner you love but you want to switch to another that's more environmentally friendly. Unfortunately, the latter doesn't have something you really need (extra space for notes), so you decide to make your own with a great-looking canvas bag. But what if you already carry a canvas bag filled with pens and notebooks and other stuff, and don't want to have to fumble around on the subway? And what if you're not the best DIY-er around, so the solution has to be really simple?

Hmmmm.

1. Take an Equology Textagenda planner, one Quattro notepad with perforated sheets(can use a Rhodia, of course, just didn't have the right size at my desk at work), and one industrial-strength stapler (regular will also work, but you can't use as much notepad paper).

2. Disassemble the Quattro/Rhodia, taking apart as many sheets as you want. Cut the cover off (leave the back alone) and place over the notepad sheets to make a new journal.

3. Take the Textagenda out of the planner cover, align the notepad so the paper is outside of the right-hand side planner pocket, and staple the pad to the back inside paper cover.

4. Replace the Textagenda in the planner. Now you have an Equology Textagenda Planner that has a notebook with perforated paper, great for jotting notes and making lists.

Any problems with this? Basically you'll have to carry some tape with you if you want to place the notes on the page where you need them, or a small stapler if you don't want to use tape. And I'm planning on making some kind of closure for the planner cover, maybe black velcro, because now it looks to "open" because of the paper. Otherwise, this works for me and may also for you.