I've heard so many great things about Apica paper I had to try some. I don't remember who, but someone pointed readers here on FPN/Paper to EBay. All you have to do is search on APICA on EBay, I saw only one seller, Taylorsintherockies. I bought the 12 15CDs package for $31.48, they arrived today. That is an outstanding paper -- smooth and creamy. I took my wettest pen, a P51 and there is no hint of bleed through. Great Find! Good service.

Cheers,

Bill J

Yay for Apica!

I use a CD15 at work and it lifts my day

Best value FPN friendly notebooks by a mile. Molly said she was adding a few more Apica notepads to her range. Anyone know when they are due?

These really are the best value out there. I do wish that the covers were a bit more plain....

Another taker of the tip to order from Molly! I am hooked on these little gems, I love the CD-11 for its size, slim and easy to carry. The paper is way better to me than some of the Euro favorites, it's consistent on front and back of the sheet, and less than half the cost. The rules are a gentle brown-gray as opposed to those high school-ish blue lines with red margins.

I like the cool covers, they're a little wimpy but that doesn't concern me too much.

As an added bonus, it fits perfectly in my leather cover. I'm sold!

who's Molly?

Molly is taylorsintherockies! It's an eBay store and she does a tidy little business with Apicas and other good stuff. She's very good and ships quickly, I recommend her highly.

Thankyou. I've now ordered some notebooks and I'll let you know what I think when they arrive. I hope they give Inky Pete and yourself a spotters fee!

I like the Apica books, but some inks do bleed through. The paper is smooth and not too bright. I got some samples from Molly and I particularly like the hard back spiral Exist book. Spiral books aren't my favorite, but when the paper quality is better than the Moleskine....

This is a link to the samples I received from her: http://www.flickr.com/photos/biffybeans/2396816533/

I ordered a couple CD-15's recently. I love the look and feel, and I'm getting ready to use one as my work notebook and one as my journal/personal notebook. What leather cover did you find? I'd love to have something like that to make these more durable.

Apicas are nice- but it's a shame they don't have blank or graph-paper rule. I did buy one CD-10 (pocket - 4x6?), with a nice Wobbly Red cover. I basically use it as my ink test book. The lack of graph keeps me from actually using them. Great price though! They lie flatter, with an almost totally humpless twixt-page area. Pretty durable too.

Funny how paper performance isn't just a matter of rough/smooth, porousness and thickness- the Apica is a bit of an oddball for me. When I tried out the Parker Vector on it, it felt nice but Quink looked even greyer than usual, with very inconsistent ink flow. It looked kind of cool, but not in a way I want my writing to look. Dried really slowly too. Some inks that can be a bit slow in drying seemed to dry a lot quicker than in Rhodia, Clairfontaine, Cambridge or Mead- up is down and down is up and all that.

Aaron

These seem like they might me a good writing solution for me. I am using Rhodia tablets right now, and I love them... but they are nearly twice as much for fewer sheets.

Hmmm..

It's kind of funny, I was looking at a few different ones online and glanced at my daybook that I've had for 20+ years. It has a wonderful patina from years of use. Just for kicks, I tried it and the fit is like magic! My planner will just have to find itself a new home.

Art at Renaissance Art does some amazing more rustic covers:
RenArt

Gfeller is another one that does custom covers:
GFeller

Pledesigns is another one:
Pledesigns

There have been a few great reviews from those who have had them made. Check out Cmenice's with pics here:
Cmenice's review of RenArt cover

I hope you can find one (or many!) that you like.

Saw this thread and had to stock up. Excellent service. Ordered Thursday I think. Maybe Friday. Came in the mail today (Tuesday).

I positively LOVE these pads, and Taylorsintherockies is the place to get them. I bought the big sample pack a few months ago. I almost used up the 6A10 with every type of nib and ink combo imaginable and no feathering, bleeding, etc,.

Good stuff.

Dave

I think I see my Christmas present.

Thanks for the ideas!