Archer & Olive Kraft Paper Notebook Review and Inspirations
Archer and Olive is probably my favorite brand to hunt for Bullet Journal supplies, and today, we’ll be looking into something super fun.
Archer and Olive released a whole new amazing product – Kraft Paper notebook! So today, we are going to walk through this journal and share some inspirations to get you started.
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Archer and Olive are probably my favorite company EVER. I’m not kidding! Not only are their products top-notch, they’re also so thoughtful and incredibly supportive.
I’m lucky to be a part of their design team, and the moment they realized I was in trouble with the quarantine, their first question was – how can we help.
And honestly, they’re the ones that helped me to stay sane when all hell broke loose by sending me care packages and some supplies to keep me creating instead of freaking out.
Apart from their amazing business ethics, they also create some of the best notebooks for Bullet Journaling. You can check my reviews of their A5 notebooks, Blackout Book, and the Watercolor notebook.
Today we are talking about another awesome notebook Bonnie released this year – a Kraft Paper Journal.
If you’re thinking of adding it to your collection, here is all you need to know, including a pen test and inspirations of kraft paper journal pages.
Oh, and if you ever decide to get an Archer and Olive notebook, be sure to use code MASHA10 to get 10% off your order!
General Characteristics
First, let’s walk through some general details on what you’ll be getting if you buy yourself the kraft journal.
The journal comes in the cutest branded box, which keeps it safe during transportation. The box is usually covered in a plastic cover with a picture of the notebook inside.
The notebook comes with a little belt that gives you all the basic details in your notebook.
General characteristics:
- 160 GSM paper
- 160 Dot Grid pages
- 2 bookmarks
- Pen loop
- Back pocket
- Ribbon
- Just like with all the other Archer and Olive notebooks, it starts with a little “this notebook belongs to” page, and then it goes straight to dotted pages.
There are no pre-made pages, and the pages aren’t numbered.
Also, note how one of the bookmarks has this cute little Archer and Olive logo. This is a signature to all the new Archer and Olive notebooks, and I find it extremely adorable!
Plus, that way, you always know what ribbon means what; I’d probably use the logo ribbon for the current weekly section.
Pen Test
The first thing I always advise you to do with a new notebook or a new pen is to create a pen test page.
First of all, this will allow you to check if there are any issues with the paper and if your pen is ok to use in the journal.
Secondly – it will be a good reference point to seeing how the color would look on the paper. This is true for normal notebooks since the paper isn’t always pure white.
But it’s double necessary for notebooks with another type of paper, like the Blackout Book or the Kraft Paper notebook we are talking about here since you don’t really know how the paper color will influence your pen colors.
So, of course, while I’m reviewing the Kraft Paper journal I had to do a pen test. These are all the pens I have with me right now; it should give you a good idea of what works on these pages.
First of all – light colors don’t really work that well, they are barely seen. Secondly – everything becomes a little bit brown.
Well, duh, the pages are brown!
That means that green, yellow, and orange look the best on these pages! I think maybe now is also a good time to share with you some of the pens I tried in this journal.
- Water-based pens ideal for coloring, fine art, illustrations, doodling, journaling, hand lettering and more.
- Set of 10 Tombow Dual Brush Pens.
- Flexible brush tip and fine tip in one marker.
- Dual-tip colour marker
- Extra fine tip (0.3mm) for precise writing
- Bullet tip (0.8mm) for bold lines
- Sakura Gelly Roll Pens: These pens don’t bleed through paper and make a lasting mark
- Bright, Opaque Colored Ink: Gel pens have paint-like colored ink that flows creamy smooth onto light and dark paper
- Archival Quality: Non-fluorescent pen ink is waterproof and fade resistant when dry; fluorescent ink glows under blacklight
- This set contains 5 colors: Mild Brown, Mild Vermilion, Mild Gold, Mild Magenta, and Mild Smoke Blue.
- The highlighter is double-sided with a broad and fine tip.
- The Mildliner highlighter features a unique color that shows up softly on paper.
How To Use Kraft Paper Journal
Ok I know I have a problem, and I just can’t walk past a pretty journal. So I have to get creative with what I actually do with all the beauties.
I thought I’d share a few with you, in case you’re looking for a good excuse to get yourself the Kraft Paper journal.
- Use it as your Bullet Journal
Of course, my first idea for a new notebook is to use it as a Bullet Journal. Kraft paper pages can invigorate your love for BuJo since you can get so creative with them and make your pages look very different from your usual journal.
It might be just the splash of inspiration you need to fall in love with Bullet Journaling.
- Use it as a memory journal
I love creating memory pages in my Bullet Journal, and looking back at them is always a lot of fun. So why not use a new journal for memory keeping.
- Use as a creative journal
Kraft paper is not something you’d use every day, so it’s something that can spark your creativity. Try using the journal to create quote pages, doodling pages, or generally express your creative side.
- Use it to be creative in your Bullet Journal
It might not be exactly a reason to buy a whole new journal, but maybe a cool extra thing to do with your journal.
Use the dotted craft paper to decorate your usual Bullet Journal. Use it like a kraft paper sticker or maybe just to divide your page into parts.
Kraft Paper Bullet Journal Inspirations
Of course, I’ve looked into what other amazing artists are doing with their Kraft Paper journals, so here are a few inspirations for you!
I started using my kraft journal for creative things, like quotes and doodles.
This is a spread of a doodling challenge I did.
This is such a beautiful April cover page. I love the extra cozy feel kraft paper creates.
I also love the colors the creator chose; they work so well with the brown paper.
Black is the classic color that’s well-seen on any paper color. And this vertical weekly format provides so much space for planning.
Also, I really love those tiny botanical doodles.
This looks absolutely incredible! The colors are so beautiful, and the brush lettering is stunning.
If you want to learn brush lettering, by the way, check out my post Brush Lettering For Beginners.
How cute are these bubbly letters? The white accents really help to make the letters look more dimensional.
I wonder if those tiny coffee stains are real ones or just added to the quote for the effect.
I don’t know if it’s a vision board or a memory page, but I absolutely love it.
Kraft paper really creates such a cozy feel to any page.
Such a beautiful daily routine spread. I love the extra details like the phone with lo-fi music on it.
And how cool is it that she added the same pen to the spread as the one she used to draw it.
Erin is very creative, especially when it’s about using different colored paper. If you’re looking for kraft paper or black paper inspirations – she is the person to go to.
I also like the quote. It seems to be drawn with such easy concepts, and yet it looks so beautiful.
I love this page so much. It has a very easy design, but everything is so neat and well organized.
I also like that it’s kind of a memory-keeping page with that note when the quarantine started.
Such a cute cover page and the flowers are pretty easy to doodle as well, in case you’ll want to recreate it.
I like that the header is like a little label on the mason jar.
This is a pretty easy concept, but it’s so pretty especially filled out.
It also makes me smile how she mamed the three moods.
I think this is just a page with a huge phone doodle. But it could be a good theme idea and a cover page.
I like the subtle shadow added here; it really makes the doodle pop.
If you’re not ready to commit to a full journal, you can definitely just get a notepad and then add little bits of kraft paper to your journal.
You can check my post Cozy Bullet Journal Inspirations With Kraft Paper to get some ideas.
Are you planning to get this journal, or have you already got it? What’s your idea of how to use it?
Remember to use code MASHA10 on checkout to get 10% off your order if you decide to buy one.
Be sure to share it with us in the comments!
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And remember: Keep Bullet Journaling, and Don’t Be A Blob.
