Review: Mildliner Fragrance Limited Edition Scented Ink

Popular highlighter series Mildliner has a new limited edition collection!

Fragrance

Featuring Scented Ink

There are 6 in the series.

With the names and flower drawings on the markers themselves.

Like the usual mildliner, they are water based and has both a thick [4mm] nib + thin [1.0-1.4mm] nib.

Here are the swatches

The scents are quite strong but not overly potent. They seem to be quite relaxing and remind me of fancy hotels XD

I feel unless you intend to highlight the entire page of text, you should not feel overwhelmed. The scents last quite well as well. I have opened a journal page a few days later and it brought about a lovely burst of perfume. 

What do you think?

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Review: Soffice Notebooks by LIHIT LAB

Being a left hander, I am always looking for stationery more suited to me. One of the more recent introductions to the stationery market that I like buying is the soft ring binder notebooks.

And recently, LIHIT LAB has released a version of their own; soffice.

As you can see, the notebook is very thin and the ring binder is smaller than most as well.

The notebook is able to lay flat on its own; making it very easy to write on. The soft, thin ring is designed so that you won't feel it even if your hand touches it when writing.

The last page before the back cover is a built in plastic file holder. Perfect for holding all your bits and pieces.

It's not bulky and is convenient to carry around.

Not only that, when you are done with the notebook but want to file the pages with others, you can easily cut through the soft ring binder to remove the pages.

What do you think?

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August 2025 Printable

Its still summer in many parts of the world so we thought we bring on some summer cheer!

Featuring bright summery colors in this month's free printable!

Download here: PDF

For ibon/netprint information, please see our instagram post.

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Review: Nakatoshi Design Roll Rubber Stamp

I am back with more stationery finds from DAISO!

Today, I'm reviewing the design roll rubber stamp! A commonly used item in journaling but at a fraction of its usual high price tag.

I picked up both the patterned version and words version.

Each "roll stamp" has 12 different designs. 

To test them, I also picked up a stamp pad from DAISO.

It features 6 different colors in thin strips. Making it more compact than carrying 6 different ink pads. And since the roll stamp has designs with a thin width as well, it fits perfectly!

As expected, they stamp without any issue. The plastic handle is easy to hold as well. My only gripe would be that it is hard to rotate the cog wheel to change the design. The pointed edges are a bit sharp so please use carefully.

However, since they do not come with a cover of any sort, you must clean it throughly after each use and before storing. Else the leftover ink will stain your other things. 

Overall, I think its cheap and easy to use. And if you were only to buy one, I think the one with words featuring days of the week is more useful. 

What do you think?

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REVIEW: DAISO Log Stamp [Weekly, Calendar and Tag]

DAISO is fast becoming one of my favorite places to buy journaling goods. 

Their current LOG STAMP range is a perfect example of their current lineup.

I picked up 3 of the stamps from the range.

The stamps are nicely sized. Good for use in an array of sizes of notebooks and memo pads.

They also feature a neutral color palette; making it easy to coordinate with your favorite colors.

They are also self inking and do not require you to use an ink pad.
This makes them a lot more portable as well. The ink used is black, which matches with most palettes.

The sharp lines stamp nicely and do not exude too much ink. 

The low mess and versatility makes it a perfect addition to anyone's stationery collection.

What do you think?

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Review: DAISO High End Design Knife

I have always been one that used the conventional mini blade cutters [like a box cutter] for paper crafts. However with my recent interest in making miniatures, I decided it might be time to purchase a pen like version.

Whilst browsing in Daiso, I came across this version.

As the name implies, it is touted as a high end version of the usual design knife. However at just 200yen [USD$1.38~] , I wondered what made it different from the others out there.

Here are a few key points.

1. Uses most replacement blades
2. Embossed for non-slip grip in a easy to hold shape
3. Lightweight , low center of gravity for a stable feel
4. Comes with a magnet at the end for use as a grabber tool

Other obvious perks include the low price, classic design and portability.

What do you think? 

Would you try this out?

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June 2025 Printable

 June is here and it heralds summer in many parts of the world. 

We have designed a printable this month with the ever loved motif of a Japanese wind chime!

Download here: PDF

For ibon/netprint information, please see our instagram post.

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Review: LIHIT LAB Customize Open Ring A6 Notebook

Popular Japanese stationery brand LIHIT LAB has recently released a series of customized open ring notebooks where you can choose the style of covers, color of ring spine and the inserts you would like in it.

We picked up the basic pieces to try it out!

The A6 notebook open ring spine comes in a wide range of colors and will hold inserts with 17holes.

There are also lots of different color covers to choose from. Since they sold piece by piece, you can choose different colors for the front and back covers. I bought the one below to be the back cover.

For the cover, I chose something that was a little different.

The pocket type cover

The pocket cover is made up of two sheets of clear plastic that stick together with sticky dots on the inside of it. This allows you to insert whatever you like inside, making it truly customizable. It is also useful as a spare pocket!

There are many other inserts available other than the usual array of papers. Such a clear pockets, sticky notes sheet, hard plastic for writing on etc etc

I'm currently using mine as a travel notebook.

What do you think? Would you get one?

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Review: Benwuyou Five Hole Punch

 In Japan, its more common to find 20 ring files than the usual 6 ring files. However its hard to find the right type of hole punch. Usually its made of metal fully making it very expensive or you have to resort to buying a one hole punch and punching out all the holes by yourself. Even then, those are usually quite bulky and hard to store. Not to mention quite tedious to use.

Recently, I chanced upon this 

5 Hole Punch

To use simply line your paper against the guide on the long part of the punch.

After pushing down on the top part, you will have 5 holes punched out.

To punch more holes like 20 holes for your file, simply feed the paper back in and line it up as belows.

To empty the punched out paper, simply pop the bottom lid open. 

At first I was certainly dubious as to how well this could work but it does the job perfectly!

Its also lighter and more compact than most other options whilst being easier to use as well.

What do you think?

Would you try it? 

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Review: King Jim Tepra RH24 Half Cutter

 Have you ever bought something vaguely useful but turns out to be..well..extremely useful?

I have been organizing my things recently and printing tons of labels on my label maker. And for anyone who uses one, you must know how troublesome it is to peel the labels off the release paper when its so small. 

As it turns out, there is a tool sold specifically for helping with that!

King Jim Tepra RH24 Half Cutter

Here is how it looks like out of the box

As the name suggests, what the cutter does is cut the labels halfway aka only cutting the release paper, making it easier to peel the label off. 

All you need to do is insert the label and "cut" it by snipping it once.

As you can see, the yellow release paper has been cut and its a lot easier to peel it off. 

And yes, that is actually a sticker [flake seal] in the picture. In other words, it totally works for those troublesome flake stickers too.

But since the cutter is designed for thin labels, what about big flake stickers that do not fit in it?

All you have to do is clip the corner!

The clipped corner is all you need to peel the sticker easily!!

Once I unlocked this hidden usage, I found myself using this cutter almost daily!

As a matter of fact, I have deemed it part of my journaling must haves!

What do you think?

Will you try it?

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Review: Fabric sticky notes "NUUN" by Kanmido

Do you use sticky notes as tabs in your journals or books?

Since I use the monthly calendar + free pages diary from MD, I often need to flip between the two areas monthly. To make it easier, I started placing sticky notes for fast access like index tabs. However the conventional ones made of paper or film get wrinkled or crushed easily during transport. In the pursuit of something more durable, I found these.

NUUN

Fabric like sticky notes

Available in two types: "Mark" and "Tab".

"Mark" is easy to use as a bookmark on the pages of your planner or notebook, while "Tab" is the perfect size to use as an index.

You can choose the type that best suits your usage scene and where you want to stick it.

Each pack comes with 3 different colors in 3 sets.

They can be separated for easy transport.

The fabric material of NUUN feels very high quality and matches perfectly with leather or fabric-covered diaries and notebooks.

Though a bit pricey than usual sticky notes, these are much more durable and can be used repeatedly for a long time. They use adhesive that doesn't lose its adhesive power even after repeated sticking and peeling, so you can use them for longer than regular sticky notes.

What do you think?

Would you try them?

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Review: SERIA 100yen shop "Portable Double Sided Tape"

Do you journal on the go? 

Then you must have also encountered times when the standard stick glue or glue tape didn't quite work with things you want to attach to your journal. So do you then have to carry a whole roll of double sided tape? Well now you don't have to!

At SERIA a Japanese 100yen shop, I found "portable" double sided tape!

A simple and fairly fetching design. The case is made out of sturdy card stock.

Since the cover is plain, you can also customize it with stickers etc

There are 10 sheets inside each case.

If you prefer, you can always just carry one sheet instead of the whole case.

Each sheet has 26 precut pieces of double sided tape.

A compact easy to store/carry item.

This has become a must have in my travel bag. 

Not just for journaling or scrapbooking either! 

It has been useful for things like resealing open packets or patch fixing something on the go.

Highly recommended!

Would you try it?

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