Review: Kutsuwa Air Pita Pencil Case

I received this pencil case by Kutsuwa as a gift and thought I would review it for you. 

The Kutsuwa Air Pita pencil case is a silicone pencil case. 
I received one in pink with a cute rabbit illustration. 

The main selling point, the air pita in the name, is here at the base.

It's a suction cup base to keep the pencil case steady when standing. 

When opened, the front flap can be used as a handphone holder whilst keeping the items in the pouch on display. 

And yes, it fits the biggest iphones, if you were wondering. 

 

On the topic of the suction cup base, it's pretty strong. 

It's not impossible to remove, just peel it off or move it to the edge of the table to relieve the suction.

Overall, a pretty a good gift, I'm excited to use it more. 

What do you think? Is this useful? 

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Review: Roller Marker Stamp by Yamahachi Chemical

 

I can't help myself every time I spot a new stamp product. 

I had to buy the Roller marker stamp and review it for you. 

I picked up 2 designs, 'deco' in yellow and 'dot' in grey. 

Both designs have a width of 4mm, however, one is rated for 100m of use, the other 200m.

I'm not quite sure why this is as both look to be the same dimensions. 

It took a few tries to get the hang of using the roller stamp but once I got it going, I thought it looked good. 

The ink is pigmented and the colour stands out, which would make it useful for journalling, school or even work documents. 

Pairing either stamp with writing worked out well. 

The stamp itself is light and easy to use, however, I wouldn't buy more than a few, especially if you were planning to carry these around. That would get bulky very easily. 

I think this is a cute product, what about you? 

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Review: Uniball One P

 

Cute. That's how I'd describe the Uniball One P. 

It's a compact shorter version of the Uniball One, which strangely, I don't seem to own a single one of. 

I purchased one in the colour coffee, and it came in this cute matching box. 

A good gift idea!

The Uniball One P is shorter and fatter than a regular Uniball One, this is so it is more ergonomic to hold and more portable. 

It comes in 0.38mm and 0.5mm. 

I like the sharp ball point and it also equipped with a metallic stabiliser for stable writing comfort. 

I don't know what the P stands for but I'm going to assume pocket or petite. 

Both good descriptions of this cute pen. 

It's nice to hold and writes well, I'm also a big fan of the 0.38mm variant I picked up and the colour is easy on the eyes. 

I think this pen might end up being my daily driver. 

Have you purchased this pen? What are your thoughts? 

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Pilot Frixion Ball 3 Wood Gift Set

 

Japanese stationery brands occasionally release their regular line of products in special packaging. 

These make great gifts. 

This coffee themed Frixion Ball 3 Wood gift set caught my eye, because y'know, coffee. 

The set includes a Frixion Ball 3 Wood, an instruction sheet, a tag to show what's inside the box, a box with a magnetic closure and cute illustration, and a gift tag. 

The gift tag is pretty special too, the flower embellishment is a seed paper.

You can plant it thereby upcycling it! 

Did I mention instructions included? Very cool!

I don't usually use Frixion pens so this is my first 3 in one Frixion. 

It has a wood grip and appears to be made with premium materials. 

I enjoyed the weight and solid feel, this would indeed be a good gift. 

And finally, I have to mention the selling point of the Frixion pen, the ink is erasable. 

Not a great gift for someone who works in a professional setting as you shouldn't use erasable ink on important/official documents, but it would be great for a casual user or a student. 

What do you think? Is this something you would purchase for a gift? 

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Review : DAISO Premium Notebook Series

Recently, Japanese store DAISO has been mentioned a lot on SNS because of their premium notebook series. Needless to say, we simply had to check it out for ourselves as well!

Here is what we got

The series has quite a big lineup.

There is 5mm grid, 5mm dot and 5mm lined and plain versions in 2 sizes A6 and B6.

This series is MADE IN JAPAN with a cover reminiscent of the expensive Japanese notebook brand NOBLE. The paper used is smooth to touch and slightly yellow.

We did a ink test on the paper using several different pens.

As you can see below, other than the copic pen and oil marker, the rest do not seep through the paper at all!

What do you think?

Have you tried this series?

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Review: Notebooks from Standard Products by Daiso

 

Standard Products is a spin off brand from Daiso. 

 The brand's philosophy is "A little nice, goes the extra mile" 

Items are well designed, minimalist and clean looking but still affordable. 

I picked these notebooks up during my first visit to a Standard Products store. 

On the left is the ash notepad, it's A7 sized, 80 sheets of white paper in a 5mm grid layout

The other is a gray notebook, A6 sized, 64 sheets of cream paper in a 7mm ruled layout. 

The ash notepad is a great size for casual notetaking.

I was surprised by the paper quality, it feels coated and it's very smooth. 

The cream paper in the notebook feels reminiscent of Midori's cream paper but of course, Midori's paper can't be beat. 

Both the grid and ruled layouts are very functional, the printing is light but visible. 

Design wise, I think they are very pretty, they would look great even as table decoration. 

My only gripe is that the cover design on the notebook is a slipcover and I would've liked it if it was printed on instead. 

In conclusion, these notebooks are very affordable. So if you're looking for an aesthetic simple notebook/notepad, I recommend going to Standard Products and picking these up! 

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Review: Hobonichi Techo X Deco Rush

Here at TN5C we love the DECO Rush range so when we found out Hobonichi Techo had launched a collaboration with them, we had to check them out!

Here's the one we picked up

There are 7 in the collection [all limited edition]

Like the usual Deco Rush, they feature a sleek neutral tone cardboard packaging 

Here are the swatches

And they will fit right in with the usual Deco Rush, making it easy to store.

What do you think of them?

Have you checked them out?

 

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Review: Yamato Clip Memo Tape + Magnet

It’s fusen time again. 

Feels like it’s been awhile since we’ve done a fusen review! 

This time, I would like to introduce the Clip Memo Tape + Magnet by Yamato. 

The Clip Memo Tape + Magnet is an improved version of the Fuse’n’Tape. 

It adds a clip and magnet and now comes in pastel colours. 

I purchased this fusen in yellow, it reminds me of the classic post it notes. 

The roll is 15mm wide and 10m long and fully self adhesive, like other fusen, it is movable. 

The dispenser has a clip on one side, a magnet on the other side and a paper cutter on the end. 

The clip is unfortunately a bit thicker than the usual paperclip, most likely to hold up the weight of the fusen roll but it does clip on nicely onto a notebook cover.

But again, the weight does not make it very practical. 

The paper material used is nice and thick and the paper cutter cuts the paper roll easily.

I really like the jagged edges, it looks like washi tape. 

I decorated some strips of fusen that I cut. 

I used highlighter pens here and I think it looks pretty good. 

And because the material is paper, not film, most general pens will work. 

The yellow really stands out on white notebook paper, great for marking stuff and other important uses.

Also, did I mention it won the Good Design award for 2020? 

What do you think? Is this something you would find useful? 

 

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Review : AMIFA Masking Sheets - Watercolor

Today, we will be reviewing the new masking sheets sets from AMIFA.

Each set contains 8 sheets of masking tape texture sticker sheets (2 sheets of 4 designs) and they measure 150mm x 100mm.

There are 2 types available.

First type 

2nd type

The sheets are designed for "Free cut" aka you can cut them any way you want before peeling off the backing paper and sticking them somewhere.

If you prefer to not cut by hand, you can also use a paper punch 

Or an electronic cutter for an even more precise cut (settings : masking tape)

The possibilities are endless!

What would you do with these?

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Review: Okazaki Plate for masking tape

 Here at TN5C, we have both been traveling quite a bit~ Its always exciting to do journaling on holiday...but not easy to bring all the supplies we want to use. So when I chanced upon this, I decided it was worth a try!

Plate for Masking Tape by Okazaki

Each package contains 

• one black front cover
• 3 plates in white
• one gold ring to hold them together

The plates are made of ABS resin and are very sturdy/tough.

They measure 85mm by 35mm each.

Each plate can hold up to 4 different rolls of masking tape [15mm width]

After you have added the masking tape, the front plate looks extremely cute too! 

But it is not just for looks, the black front plate has jagged edges on both sides to make tearing the masking tape a total breeze. Being left handed, I totally appreciated the fact I could tear from either side.

And thanks to its compact size, it fits in the smallest of pencil cases; making it very easy to bring the masking tape you want on a trip without having to over carry!

What do you think? Will you try this out?

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Review: Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen 10 Color set

 I loveeeeeeee brush sign pens. But it is usually only available in just black ink [or red at most]. So when I found out Tombow Fudenosuke pens were available in a 10 color pack, I snapped it up immediately!

Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen 10 Color Set

Each pen is single ended with a hard elastomer tip.

The pens feature everything the standard Fudenosuke pen is famous for ; 

• long lasting pen nib that is good for lettering and drawing
• water resistant ink [after drying]
• water based ink
• fade resistant

Here are the swatches!

Identical looking when compared to the usual fudenosuke brush pen [the pen caps are colored to reflect the ink color]

If you are a fan of the standard brush pen, you definitely need to check out the other colors!

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Midori Double Schedule 2023

 

It's time for the 2023 diary/journal releases.  

I used the same one from Midori for the last 2 years but I’ve changed my workflow recently so I decided it would be time to try something new. 

 I wanted something smaller, lighter and I didn't need a weekly layout anymore. 

The Midori double schedule seemed to fit those needs and it had an October start so I picked it up. 

The double schedule refers to a Monthly appointments layout and a Monthly To Do layout. 

The notebook is B6 sized, comes with a plastic cover (which is always appreciated) and has it's title in simple gold printing on the front.

I should mention that the title is on the plastic cover and not the notebook itself. 

Inside is a page explaining the suggested use for the to-do layout, which is the unique selling point of this notebook. 

Also, there is a ribbon bookmark, I like that this is a standard item in all planners/diaries. 

First up, we have the monthly appointments page layout. 

This has the month set out on 2 pages, it's meant to be an overview for your month, a quick way to see what's going on. Other than a title, it's a bit difficult to write descriptions or even time but I definitely appreciate being able to see everything happening in the month. 

After the monthly layout is the to do layout. 

It is also monthly set out in 2 pages but the month is set out on the top in a linear view. 

Above that are 2 lines with check boxes, these are your goals for the month. 

The linear month view is more suited to the Japanese language or similar languages where vertical writing can be used. It's a bit awkward to write english vertically but if you use abbreviations, it's definitely usable. 

Under each week is a column for to do items, this is my favourite part. 

I write constant lists, I use so many list apps and I need them to function. 

Separating the to do lists into weeks makes it easier for me to make sure things get done, planned, or scheduled.

The check boxes can be used in a bullet journal type situation, using symbols to mark items as in progress, done or to be moved to the following week. As a former bullet journal user, I took to this really quickly. 

My one gripe is that the spaces are a bit small which has meant I have had to write smaller and learn to use less information.  

Finally, there are 16 blank lined pages at the back for random note-taking, I've started using this feature more and more over the years because I don't like carrying too many notebooks. 

Midori even thought about how to separate the 2 layouts and there are notches in the pages so it's easier to flip between the monthly appointments and monthly to do pages.  

I really appreciate this feature although it might take me some time to get used to. 

As this is a notebook without a weekly layout, it is pretty thin, which makes carrying around in my bag pretty easy. 

I added a Leuchtturm1917 adhesive pen holder and it perfectly holds my pen. 

Together with my pen, the notebook weighs 137grams. Nice and light. 

Overall, I am extremely happy with this purchase, if you like bullet journalling but don't have time to set up the layouts every month or just need a basic monthly and to do list layout. This is a great notebook. 

Also, this uses Midori's classic creamy paper, which means less bleed and easy writing, the yellow paper is also easy on the eyes. 

If you're looking for a new journal/diary for 2023, definitely check this out! 

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