Starting a New Ink Journal - Trying out Cosmo Air Light

Hey, so awhile back I filmed an unboxing of the Galen Leather Cosmo Air Light notebook in A5. First impressions and tests were done in this video for those interested to see how this paper reacts. I still prefer Tomoe River Paper of course! Have you tried out Cosmo paper and do you like it?
I plan on adding ink swatches, ink drawings, and any other creative notes I want to write with my fountain pens. I still keep my Plotter as my main swatch book (like a directory for each colour) but this notebook won't be as strict. It will be fun to see how it evolves.
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[@Lekhite]

Archive your old notebooks in it, use the nice smaller boxes for storing small items like refills, spare nibs etc.

[@holliesterr]

I use my old galen leather boxes to store stamps in my drawers.

[@toxmot]

That's clever! I have stored art supplies in the boxes that has lids.

[@WhstlblwrBlastingEpsteinsPals]

Lovely box. I used to make my own journals. I would make my own journal and do custom cover & store it in the packaging box.

[@kellylopez6587]

I would keep the box to store my notebook in. Keep the box!!! And Thank you for your videos Kelly 😊

[@toxmot]

Hi Kelly thanks for the suggestion 😀

[@lornam3637]

What a dream! I've never seen a leather blotter before. I'm so intrigued

[@toxmot]

Yeah, I think it's cool of them to reuse the scrap leather as blotters. I'm guessing it's scrap leather. It's definitely a different feel than the leather of their products.

[@MummyBrown]

I love mine. I mostly use mine as something to keep under my hand while writing. I always have lotion on my hands so this helps me protect my pages from lotion transfer.

[@maggie5280]

That magnetic box is nice to keep paperwork in, I just fold paper in half and label the box

[@toxmot]

Nice, I've thought of pencils or pens would be nice too.

[@Aqua_Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli_Sol]

I always save the boxes and use them for other things. The larger ones I use to hold all my Goulet Pen ink samples. The much smaller boxes I use to hold all the different small cases I have of lead for my pencils, another holds small erasers, another holds all of the replacement bands for my Traveler’s Notebooks. 😁 I have a lot of the melting wax hearts for my seals, I use one of the big boxes to keep them all in the same place. They help keep me organized. 😊👍 Your journal is beautiful. ❤

[@toxmot]

I regret not keeping the box because I was trying to get rid of extra things in my space - I will be keeping these useful boxes in the future because I could have made use of it for small paper pads or small things that float around in my drawers. Thanks for the advice!

[@MummyBrown]

Mine hold my ephemera for my journaling.

[@akaErma]

I *LOVE* this notebook. I use it as a fountain pen sketchbook. I got it in January and I'm already about a third of the way through it. The Cosmo Air Snow from Jet Pens is also an amazing paper, but I've only ever seen it in loose leaf. I use it for art so it doesn't bother me that it's not bound. It's described as making inks appear especially bright and I can confirm that it really does. Also I recently got a handwriting workbook from Goulet. It's not calligraphy, just cursive, but it's done a lot to improve the consistency of my script style, so if you're interested in something like that, it's called "The Art of Cursive Penmanship". (Also, I'm pretty sure I did throw out the box the notebook came in.)

[@toxmot]

That's awesome! Glad you have gone thru the notebook so successfully. I still have a ways to go. Glad someone is using it as a sketchbook too 😊 thx for the penmanship book rec.

[@kakukoto5674]

Thanks for sharing Tiffany! I‘m one of those people who get really annoyed with the finger grease spots, which is why I only use the right-hand side of every spread. My Cosmo Air Light notebook gets used for swatching new inks and seeing what the actual colour looks like but since I regularly use TRP for journaling it mostly doesn‘t represent how the ink looks on there (of course). Since this is my seventh year in Hobonichi notebooks I don‘t think I can let go of the TRP that easily, so I might have to scour Amazon JP for some bound books for future use. 🙈 The box with magnetic closure could hold some ephemera maybe? It looks like a box that you could use every day for easily accessible items and too much of a waste to just throw out. On the other hand, if you don‘t find a daily use for it don‘t feel obligated to keep it. Great video as always! 💌

[@toxmot]

Yeah I don't think I would repurchase the Cosmo air light due to the grease aspect. I would also prefer it to have a grid. The plain page with the writing board is a bit of work and I don't like using writing boards. Prefer to feel the paper underneath. I think after all this I prefer the style of stalogy notebooks..but not the stalogy paper for swatches since it bleeds. I kinda want to get an a6 stalogy for random notes haha

[@AxisOAnarchy]

Have you seen Wonderland222? They do TRP notebooks. Softcover similar to the Stalogy but with white TRP. I have one arriving this week and I though I would use it as an ink journal too!

[@jennieeveleighlamond]

How lovely! Thank you for sharing! I love your drawing of your pen 😊 I haven't tried this paper yet, it's good to hear your opinion on it. I have two vintage stub nibs, both are from some time in the 1920's, and both have soft, bouncy gold nibs that are a dream to write with. I tried modern stubs, and was disappointed that they didn't feel at all like the vintage ones so I ended up giving them away and sticking with my vintage ones.

[@toxmot]

Interesting, I assume there is some flex involved in the stub nib which would result in vintage nibs having an advantage. I'm curious about oblique nibs (the nibs that are slanted but rounded, unsure if I'm correctly describing them). I still have to learn about types of nibs 😅

[@jennieeveleighlamond]

@@toxmot A friend of mine who is a lefty loves the oblique nibs for lefties, and says that they are a much more comfortable writing experience for her, but I don't have any personal experience with ones for right-handed people (I'm right-handed). The vintage stub are bouncier and softer but I wouldn't push them to really flex since I don't think that they could handle it. They both have ebonite feeds and gold nibs, and the stub is a little thinner in width than a modern 1.1mm stub. If you prefer a stiffer nib you might not mind the modern stub nibs. I also have a vintage architect nib, but I've never tried a modern one. I adore the vintage waverly nibs, and I wish that they still made those. I've been debating getting a fude nib to see if it's like a waverly at all.

[@toxmot]

@@jennieeveleighlamond ah ok, I think I may mean fude then. Also not a lefty (was one when I was a little kid). I found a stub nib before and I'm not a fan. It was a modern one and pretty stiff. I should look into trying more nibs 🙂

[@InsideKimmysMind]

I've been wanting to try out this paper. And I've also been curious about stub nibs. 😁

[@toxmot]

You should try it out! 🙂

[@tanjablume6343]

I have tried both Cosmo papers, and the Air Light is my favourite.( loose sheets only so far.) I like the 1.5 Lamy stub nib (not 1.1 it's very dry & scratchy) The Twsbi Diamond 580 1.1 stub is also lovely. I would definitely keep the box!!! I am sure I could find a use for it. Maybe 🤔letters that I have received, that I have received that I need to answer or pre cut swatch cards, the possibilities are endless🙂

[@toxmot]

Thanks for the ideas! I like the idea of scrap paper or letters. I would love to try a twsbi stub. I'm hoping they come out with a new pen I would like. Lamy has been hit or miss for me although I'd kinda like to buy the cream Safari this year. Thx for watching!

[@ciannacoleman5125]

I have an A5 CAL I use as a journal and the need to be careful touching the page to prevent oil transfer is super annoying. I think it would be the near perfect replacement for TRP 68gsm if they could fix the issue. I’ve never had any paper so sensitive to skin oils, even art papers where oils can effect your mediums. I do love writing in this paper though.

[@toxmot]

Yeah it's unfortunate for this paper. I heard it's being discontinued too. Thx for watching!

[@homocannibals309]

1) your voice is so nice oh man oh man 😍 2) when i have Really Nice boxes, i reuse them! if i cant think of anything to store in it myself then i use them as gift boxes (^: (i also do this with nice paper bags lol) if you're one to penpal i think that specific box would be really nice to save correspondences 💌

[@toxmot]

I didn't end up keeping it. I should have though, because I love the correspondence and gift box idea. I've learned my lesson to just keep these things in case! Thanks for your kind words 😊

[@stephanie1076]

What is the use for the leather blotter?

[@toxmot]

It's good to put in between written pages if you don't have time for the ink to dry.

[@nutmeg8399]

Very nice! The journal reminds me a bit of a moleskin. Also, your penmanship is lovely.

[@toxmot]

Thanks so much! 💕

[@hizzins4575]

😍😍😍😍😍👏👏👏👏👏

[@toxmot]

😊💕