MATRIKAS Cube Works - Ring Book

The Cube Works Ring Book is a spiral bound notebook available in two sizes of A4, A5 and A7 and offering a variety of 8 colours -black, blue, orange, green, yellow, white, pink and red.






The pink, red and blue ones are probably more suited for use by younger age-groups where the splash of colour makes these notebooks stand out. The other colours are perfect for office use - sober yet attractive. And for those who want to use these at home, use whatever matches your mood and personality!!





The notebooks have the special cover like the other Cube Works books - a very attractive design. However these spiral notebooks do not have slip covers but the water-proof covers are fixed.











The paper quality is good as usual, but the layout of the pages is better in the Cube Works Flexi as compared to these. The Cube Works Ring Book (A4 and A5) has margins (the spiral binding eats into the margin of the right side pages) and double upper lines . In my view, the top line could have been dispensed with and the regular lines could have started higher up. The pages have a section for Date and No. The top and bottom lines have small dots to make drawing of vertical lines perfectly symmetrical and easy.  Each notebook has 160 pages.


I would give these A4 and A5 Ring Books 3.5 stars out of 5.

The A7 Ring Books are a delight. Perfect for a pocket or a purse, esp. if you want to have some paper handy.   These too have 160 pages and have the spiral binding at the top, just like other little pocket diaries.

Their layout is just fine for their size and use.

I give these A7 Ring Books 5 stars on 5.



Update: Avoid using ink pens on these books. The paper is not thick enough to prevent ink from showing on the other side.

MATRIKAS Cube Works Flexi

Cube Works Flexi by MATRIKAS are good notebooks in vibrant colours.  Attractive plastic sleeves over a soft cover give them just the right amount of flexibility and protection.

They come in two sizes - A4 and A5.

The A4 sized ones are good for college and office use for making notes or keeping records.
The A5 sized ones are perfect for school use or casual use.

A5 and A4 together

They have 160 pages and are available in eight colours.

They are centre pinned and lined with a section on the top right of each page for the date. 

The paper quality is smooth and allows for writing with ink on both sides without smudging.  I particularly like the fact that the top line is darker but not double. I also like the non-margined look.

I am known to be finicky about my stationery but I must say that these notebooks pass my quality test with high grades. The only negative from my point of view is the date column. I would have liked to have the notebooks without it since I'm not a college student anymore!


All in all, these Flexi notebooks would get  4.5 stars out of 5!! A pleasure to use!

For more information on their products keep watching this blog!
You can also drool over their products at http://www.matrikas.co.in

Notebooks, journals and more!

Aren't these great? I received these wonderful looking stationery products yesterday from Matrikas. There are notebooks, journals, ring books, little notepads and more.

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to review each product on this blog so keep visiting!

Yes, the creators at Matrikas sent them to me. But rest assured that my reviews will in no way be biased. And if there is enough interest generated, maybe we'll organise a contest and have a give-away!

These Were My Grandfather's

Some old pencils that belonged to my grandfather..

Cretacolor Pencil Extender

So here's my new Cretacolor Pencil Extender that arrived today from Snapdeal.com.  Priced at Rs.165/= officially, snapdeal.com offered a bit of a discount. So now I can enjoy using my favourite pencils all the way!!  It's got a nice design and it's not heavy. I'm going to enjoy using it.

NavNeet Fun Fun Full Marks Pencils

Some years ago, NavNeet, known for its study-aid books, joined the bandwagon for stationery. They're doing a good job and their Fun Fun Full Marks pencils are really good. Light in weight, multiple colours in the pack, they help in encouraging young children to write. A decent dark lead, smooth writing and easy sharpening make it a good buy.
They also have a version of Fun Fun Stripes. Each box comes with 10 pencils and a free eraser and sharpener.

Drawing Pencils - Camlin and Apsara

In India, I don't know if other pencil companies make drawing pencils - pencils of different grades, but Camlin and Apsara are two born-in-India companies that do. Apsara has been making them for as long as I can remember; I don't recall when Camlin joined in.

Camlin has the advantage of packaging - 6 different grades HB, 2B, 3B, 4B, 6B and 8B - in a cute cardboard box. Now that Camlin has merged with Japan's Kokuyo, the combined name is visible, but that's about all the difference. Good quality remains.

Apsara drawing pencils have always been fabulous; we used them in school for art work 30 years ago too. I don't think the pattern or colour of the lacquer has changed in all these years. I've not seen different grades available in a box; we have to buy them loose or buy a box of the same grade. That's a slight negative.  I love writing with the 4B - smooth and dark.