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I first heard about Archer & Olive through an AmandaRachLee video comparing different dot grid journals. The biggest feature that stood out to me was the PAPER. 160 gsm Ultra Thick Paper. Does it get any better? I knew I had to try it so I promptly ordered the night sky dot grid notebook. It was love at first sight! The packaging was almost as pretty as the notebook itself! I played around with the first couple of pages and loved it and then did what I always do, put it in the drawer with my other ~barely used~ journals and notebooks waiting for the perfect project to use them for.
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Fast forward a couple months, my then-fiance and I took a weekend trip to Austin, TX. We popped into a little stationery shop that I had seen on Instagram that stocked Archer & Olive notebooks. So of course I bought another one. This time with blank pages. Well, you know how the story goes. I played around with it and then put it in the drawer to wait for that “perfect” project.
In early October, I really started thinking about what notebook I would use for my new bullet journal. I definitely wanted a change from my Rhodia Webnotebook. I kept thinking about the perfect paper in the Archer & Olive notebooks. I was dreaming of having no ghosting through any of my spreads. But there were two drawbacks. They were slightly smaller than the typical A5 and the covers were linen. While I LOVE the look and feel of the linen covers, I have two cats that produce enough fur to make two more cats. I knew that cover wouldn’t stand a chance against daily use in my house. And then as if answering all my prayers, I see they’ve come out with “Signature Dot Grid Journals”. They’re A5, have 160 pages, and have 3 cover options that are leather! I was SOLD. As soon as my desired style was back in stock I ordered it right away!
So now, onto the actual review. I’ll be focusing mostly on the Signature Dot Grid Notebook-Fall Flowers.
Features:
- 160 gsm Ultra Thick pages
- A5
- 160 pages
- Dot Grid
- Back Pocket
- Two ribbons
- Pen Holder
THE PAPER
The paper is 160gsm ultra thick bright white paper. The paper is as thick as it sounds. There’s no ghosting whatsoever, and I’ve yet to experience any bleed-through. You can see I tried every type of black pen and not even the sharpie showed on the other side. It also holds up pretty well to watercolor. I used a decent amount of water when painting in these macarons, and the paper hardly wrinkled. You can see a bit of a groove down the middle, but after closing my journal overnight it flattened out. The paper is also very smooth. It’s definitely not as buttery smooth as Rhodia paper, but it’s smoother that Leuchtturm1917. Another perk is that it’s bright white, which is a nice change from the off-white shades of Rhoida and Leuchtturm.
SIZE
This picture shows the difference between the original Archer and Olive notebooks and the Signature notebooks. The original notebooks were slightly smaller than A5 and had fewer pages. When I got the signature notebook in the mail I was shocked by how thick it was! But having 160 pages of ultra thick paper of course it was going to be thick. I love the way it looks and feels though. It feels solid a sturdy compared to a Rhodia or Leuchtturm1917.
FINAL OPINION
I LOVE this notebook. The Archer and Olive notebook might be the perfect notebook for bullet journaling. I’ve already started using in for 2019 and it’s awesome. There’s absolutely no ghosting, all of my pens and markers write smoothly, and it’s gorgeous to look at. If you’re in the market for a new bullet journal, I HIGHLY recommend Archer & Olive.
