June 2021 Printable

Wow its June! How are your 2021 resolutions going?

Not quite where you want to be? Do not worry, there is still plenty of time!

And in the midst of it all, always remember to rest!

Here is this month's date printable : 

Featuring my ever favorite color palette...

Download HERE.
Netprint (Japan) and IBON (Taiwan) details can be found on our instagram.

Do tag us in your creations! We would love to see them!

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Review : DAISO Air Kaku bulldog clips

 Do you use bulldog clips? It is always useful to have around but the lever can be a little painful to use at times. To alleviate this issue, DAISO has collaborated with Japanese stationery brand PLUS to produce AIR KAKU; clips that open painlessly. 

This product is amongst the BEST 100 : 2018 Good Design award!

The clips can be found in 3 sizes (small, medium and large) and I purchased it in the above configuration: 2 Small and 1 large clip.

As you can tell from the photos, it is indeed a little different from the usual clip. The tip of the lever is straight and not rounded. This increases the contact with the fingers so you can get a better grip. 

The length of the lever is also longer than usual and they have included a groove on the main black body to help shift the fulcrum. All these changes are supposed to help reduce the amount of strength needed to open the clip and hence reduce the amount of pain associated.

So is it really painless?

Yes it is! It is not as obvious with the smaller clips but when you use the big clip you can definitely sense the lower resistance. As a matter of fact, I was able to clip together well over 100 pages of paper effortlessly. 

I highly recommend these clips!

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Review: Tintone Seal/Tape/Fusen

I picked these up a while ago. They are cut masking tape, film fusen and planner stickers by Tintone. 

I was really drawn to them by the attractive packaging and pretty colours. 

I like that the CMYK code is written for the cut masking tape and film fusen. 

 

On the back of each item is a useful illustration for recommended usage and other tips. 

For example, the cut masking tape can be used as labels too!

The cut masking tape colour palette is very sunset-y. Each strip is a pretty gradient.

Each set is 4 colours with 10 sheets each. 

The stickers come in 2 sheets, 10 each of 9 colours. 

The colours come through really nicely with 100% transparency.

The film fusen is my favourite of the 3, I have to say. 

I bought it in 2 shapes, square and heart and they both fit perfectly in the monthly page of my Midori professional planner. Each set has 4 colours of 20 sheets each.

The surface of this fusen is matte and takes normal pen ink. 
Although some waiting is required or the writing will smudge. 

In conclusion, if the colours are something that will fit your colour scheme, this is definitely worth picking up. 

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Review : Kokuyo RAKU HARI double sided tape dispenser

Everyone has probably heard of glue tape dispensers but have you tried a double sided tape dispenser?

Today, I'll tell you about Kokuyo's RAKU HARI double sided tape dispenser!

The principle is pretty basic and similar to the conventional glue tape dispenser. However since it is double sided tape, can you use it with more than just plain paper! Got problems attaching heavy cardstock? Or plastic? How about metal or glass surfaces? This is the tape for you.

And if you are dealing with a large volume of items, this makes it so much easier. There is no need to remove any release paper [as with a conventional roll of double sided tape]. Not only does that mean you can get through your work a lot faster, it will also save your nails from hurting during the process of trying to peel the release paper off. No release paper would also mean there is nothing that needs to be cleared or disposed of.

The dispenser is also refillable (making it cost effective in the long run).

A good addition to anyone's stationery stash.

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May 2021 Printable

 

It's May! We hope you enjoy our new printable. 

Download here: Link

See instagram for Netprint and ibon information! 

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Review : Pentel FITLINE for Clena Highlighters

 

If you are like me, you probably use up a lot of highlighters on a regular basis. So like me, you must be curious about new highlighters out there too. Today I'm going to review Pentel FITLINE for Clena Highlights. 

Clena pens by Pentel feature an otona [Japanese for adult or grown up] design targeted at fashionable young ladies. Needless to say, the highlighter line is the same and has a very feminine classy look.

The highlighter is double ended with the usual wide highlighter tip on one end and a pen like nib on the other for writing. 

The colors in the range are :

• soft red
• soft blue
• mint green
• gray

Here are the swatches : 

So how does it compare to the ever favorite mildliner range which costs the same? Well, the colors are rather pigmented compared to those offered by mildliner. Function wise, both are about the same. However the cream packaging makes it look more expensive than the white which mildliner comes in. 

Won't you give these a try next time?

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Review: &Studium, stationery for studying

In 2021, I decided to start taking Korean lessons. 

Preparing for when travel starts up again. 

Which also means buying new stationery! 

I picked up a B5 cover, divider refill, loose leaf refill and vocabulary refill from the &Studium line of study specific stationery. 

 

The dividers are a nice bright colour, cute designs and come in a set of 4 with matching labels. 

The vocabulary refill has 30 sheets and have the same colour scheme as the dividers. 

Lastly, the loose leaf refill has 40 sheets and the paper is pink. 

Bringing all this colour to studying really helps morale. 

Here's what it looks like with everything set up. 
I love the semi opaque folder and the colours of the dividers. 

The labels work really well and they provided extras for future uses. 

The dividers came with a pretty useful bookmark/ruler too.

The vocabulary refill layout was great, spacious and easy on the eyes. 

I highly recommend it for language study or anything where a reference is needed. 

All in all, &Studium is a stylish way to study, no boring stationery, I'm excited to use it every day. 

The layouts are carefully thought thru and it's really useful. 

Do you use &Studium? what's your favourite item? 

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Review : DAISO Sticky Note Pad Ver.2

 Another amazing value for money item from DAISO!

The sticky note pad ver.2 [comes in several color tones and prints]

It includes the ever handy TO DO List sticky notes. (20 pieces)

Circles and small sticky notes (20 pieces each design)

And a lovely color collection of removable sticky strips (5 colors, 20 pieces each)

It folds up into a handy mini ring bound hardcover book.

That's a total of 180 pieces of sticky notes for the low price of a DAISO item [price varies country to country]. Highly reccomended!

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Review: Hightide Vertical Utility Pouch

 

Today, I am here to convince you to buy a hightide vertical utility pouch. 

If you're like me, you probably already own a horizontal pouch. 

The vertical pouch is quite similar to the horizontal in the following ways: 

It has many internal pockets. 

Your slim A5 notebook will fit in it! 

Many useful external pockets. 

Unfortunately, an A5 slim folder will not fit. 

but your TN will fit!

There's a nice pocket at the back, perfect for your phone or easy access to your notebook. 

loops for keychains or a bag strap. 

Loops on both sides for keychains or a strap

If you compare the size, it does look smaller and it looks like it has less pockets.

Length wise, the horizontal pouch will fit your longer notebooks/notebooks with covers and full A5 size notebooks. 

But my favourite thing about the vertical utility pouch, is that it will fit in my vertical bag. 

The horizontal pouch doesn't always fit, so that can make changing bags difficult. 

Also, I love the yellow of the vertical pouch. It looks so vibrant. 

Do you own a hightide pouch? What's your favourite colour? 

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April 2021 Printable

April is upon us! And we love the sakura season so much, we decided to do another month's printable based on it. This time round, we thought we would showcase sakura at night [known as yozakura in Japan] !

Download HERE.
Netprint (Japan) and IBON (Taiwan) details can be found on our instagram.

Do tag us in your creations! We would love to see them!

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Review : Kokuyo GLOO series (glue stick)

Functional and beautiful. 

That is the mission statement of the GLOO range by KOKUYO. Amongst the many items produced, the glue stick is the most popular. 

It has won many stationery awards including the grand prize at 2019's The Best of Stationery.

At first glance, it is quite obvious how it is different from the usual glue stick. The square shape helps one apply it easily right up to the edges/corners of paper. Not only that, the quadrangular shape ensures a good grip and will not roll off the desk easily when not in use. 

The cap has a larger edge making it easier to open with just one hand and you can also close it easily by simply pressing the main part against the cap. 

The overall design looks extremely sleek as well and will look good on anyone's desk.

Functional and beautiful indeed. 

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