Glukel's Thotbook - Space for your Mind

A surprise package arrived at my clinic address the other day. With curiosity, I opened it up and found 5 little notebooks, like memo-pads! There was an accompanying letter, which very politely, said that Glukel hoped I would find their Thotbooks useful!

Five little different coloured notebooks! They were the perfect size for a handbag or purse!  In times, when most people I know make their notes on their smartphones, I continue to use little notepads and good old pens! So this was the perfect unexpected gift!

Since I have a blog solely for stationery products and it's a known fact that I'm mad about stationery, I thought here would be the perfect space to review these little Thotbooks from Glukel!

So here goes!

   Individually packaged!

Five colours - A bright yellow, cheerful red, deep blue, sharp green and a good brown.

 The paper quality is good and decently smooth for ease of writing. The covers are nice and thick, made from recycled paper. Size is perfect for a back pocket, jacket or handbag. 

 The notebooks measure 3.5" x 5.5", with a scale on the flap which can be used as a bookmark. There are 64 graph pages inside.





The brown one is in my clinic drawer already, and one is in my handbag and the other three in a drawer at home, for later use.

The price is INR 110/= each.

Thank you, Glukel! Is there a catalog for your products?  

In continuation -

Currently, ThotBook is available through some bookstores only in Hyderabad 

(Walden, The Deccan Pen Store and Q-mart). However, one can go online and 

have Thotbook shipped right to your doorstep through Amazon.in 

http://www.amazon.in/THOTBOOK-MeMoPad-PACK-graph-pages/dp/B01MTR9ZLE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498054575&sr=8-1&keywords=thotbook

Matrikas' The Creative Woman's Journal

As we go about the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, we often pen down notes on little Post-Its or little chit-blocks. Every room of my home has little notepads and pens in some corner or other, to be used, whenever the need arises.

However, there are moments when the little stack of note paper is not enough. Our feelings and thoughts demand to be put down on paper; paper that will be saved carefully and reviewed with love over the years.

Over the last year, I discovered the beauty of Rhonda Byrne's books - 'The Secret' and 'Daily Teachings'.  I've been wanting to pen down significant lovely positivity upholding thoughts in a journal. But which? .... Being a stationery-mad woman, the journal itself had to be 'special'. Just the sight and feel of the journal ad to be uplifting, in itself.

And then, along came Matrikas, like an answered prayer, with their bloggers' contest for their Creative Woman's Journal. 

                                                                      
                                                                     

 

Since I was in that particular frame of mind, I chose the pink butterfly journal, with it's message 'To dream'. It fit perfectly in my mind-space, inspiring me to dream of greater heights, to soar beyond one's perceived limits, because that is exactly what a butterfly does. From its stages of caterpillar, to pupa, to butterfly, it embodies the faith one has to have in the Universe, to be in the moment and do one's best, struggling against what seems to be adversity but eventually emerging; due to that very adversity, as a glorious, beautiful life-form, soaring into the sky, making the world more beautiful.

Starting to plan writing this blog post, a little poem formed in my mind last night; I thought it would be a good idea to focus on it this morning. Here it is, in its final form, on the first page inside the cover. 

I realised that the best use of this Matrika's Creative Woman's Journal for me, would be to use it for inspiration. Once it's complete, I will be using it to open to random pages to read out a couple of inspiring passages to my children, because the first thing we do on rising in the morning, is to go out on our verandah and say thanks to the Universe for all that we have been blessed with.

This beautifully designed journal has it all - lined pages, blank sheets, nature-inspired colouring pages, since adult colouring books are all the rage now, helping to de-stress our modern lives.

Colour your heart out!

 There is lots of doodle-space!

    There are pages of stickers, encompassing our moods and desires.  It's got space for almost everything one could wish for!  There is a well-thought-out envelope inside the back cover - I'm going to put in sheets of stickers for them to be handy to use! 

The journal comes with an elastic band around it, which is a great idea because I might put in little cuttings as well. I probably won't be using the elastic pen holder, because I love using different pens and inks, making the entries more colourful.  

In terms of technical matters, the Journal is very well made, has good paper, probably 80 or 90 gsm., which allows the use of even a broad-nibbed fountain pen and does not bleed ink on the reverse. The  printing is excellent, that is the hallmark of all Matrikas products.  The rounded corners are specially pleasing to me. The pricing initially seemed a bit steep to me, at INR 450, however, with all the possibilities in this journal and considering how truly lovely it is, well-designed and thought out, made with love, it's worth it!

The thought of starting my day with this Journal, allowing my mind to be free and to fly higher is an invigorating one.  It is made to encourage creativity! And all creativity is actually dependent on imagination!

These journals will also make the perfect gift for a lot of women I know!  
Thank you, Matrikas!

Smart Block Flexi notebooks

Here's another notebook I bought recently, from the new Smart Block Flexi range from Matrikas.


Looks good
Smooth paper
Lined, A4 sized, 29.2 x 21 cms
180 pages
Rounded corners!! :)
The cover is green/pink/blue/purple, with interesting designs.

I looked them up on the Net and found that there are variants in size, page count, ruled/unruled,  available.

The one I bought, 180 pages, A4 sized, cost INR 73.

  Matrikas, you continue to impress!

Notebooks, more and more!

Now Kokuyo Camlin has entered the Notebook market with a range of colourful notebooks, in two different sizes. 29.7 x 21 cms and 24 x 18 cms. The paper is 70 gsm, single lined. The bigger notebook has 164 pages while the smaller sized one has 124 pages.  The pages have margins and space for page numbers and dates.

The paper is decently smooth for writing.  Using fountain pens would probably make the ink bleed on the reverse though.

They are priced at INR 90 and INR 60 respectively, slightly steeper than other notebooks.

What I specially liked, are the rounded corners!!

My daughter will get to use the smaller version and I get to use the bigger ones!

Camlin Kokuyo, well done!