We have two beautiful notebooks to giveaway today from Galen Leather. They have created the new 1870 Marbled A5 Notebooks ($45 each) in two colors — Ocean Waves and Molten Lava — which feature fountain pen-friendly 52gsm Tomoe River paper. The notebooks have 200 sheets between their hand-bound covers and include grid and lined guide sheets and a leather blotter/writing mat.
GIVEAWAY DETAILS: We are giving away TWO (2) Galen Leather Tomoe River 1870 Notebooks — one of each of the color– one in Molten Lava and one in Ocean Waves cover designs. We will randomly select two winners and hopefully, you’ll get the color of choice.
TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell us which color you like best. Play along and type in something. It makes reading through entries more interesting for us, okay? One entry per person.
If you have never entered a giveaway or commented on the site before, your comment must be manually approved by our highly-trained staff of monkeys before it will appear on the site. Our monkeys are underpaid and under-caffeinated so don’t stress if your comment does not appear right away. Give the monkeys some time.
FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Tuesday, Nov. 12. 2024. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Wednesday. Winner(s) will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your actual email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. If winner does not respond within 5 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. Shipping via USPS first class is covered. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money. US and APO/AFO only, sorry.
DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
While I would be happy with either one, my preference would be the Molten Lava version. Would really like to try a nice notebook with TR52 paper in it.
While I was able to get a small supply of loose sheets a couple of years ago, getting something bound with TR52 would be awesome!
Just love the way that the paper shows off my fountain pen inks – even if my handwriting remains illegible chicken scratching.
By any chance is there a notebook that would improve my handwriting?
Oooo…thanks for the opportunity! I have to choose the Molton Lava colorway. Lava always makes me think of magma, which makes me think of a college dormmate who sang a song about magma. Always makes me smile.
I love both colors! These might be the most beautiful notebooks I’ve ever seen.
The ocean waves colorway is gorgeous. Galen Leather makes such attractive stationery.
I prefer the molten lava colors, but I bet my wife would choose ocean waves; she has a thing for greens and blues. Galen makes high quality stuff! Their “everyday pads” are used every day in these parts.
I LOVE the ocean. I don’t know why I don’t live at the ocean. Of course, mountains are nice too.
The view from Montana.
Both of these colorways are spectacular, but I think I really like the Molten Lava the best. Hope you are having a nice day.
Ocean Waves for sure! Both are beautiful, but the ocean+brown really resonates with me.
Looks like a fantastic notebook. I’d love to have the blue one.
Both look great, but I think I’d lean toward Ocean Waves. Thank you for the giveaway!
Ocean Waves would be my choice – although they both look really good. I didn’t know Galen did notebooks – sounds like time to visit their site. Thanks for the giveaway opportunity!
It’s a hard choice, but I think I lean more towards Ocean Waves.
My favorite color is tomoe river.
And then the sound of TR crinkling, and the sheen of ink pooling on the page.
But if you push, I would prefer the blue cover on TR.
I love these hardcover books. Keeping the tomoe river paper in a sturdy bound book, makes it easy to use on the go. Reminds me of being back in school. I want one!
They both look great but I’d go with the Molten Lava. It’s always interesting to see what the people at Galen will bring out next.
I don’t know what APO means (presumably it’s an acronym for All Pen Operations or Average Percentage Of), but I’m pretty sure I don’t qualify to win. I live in Toronto. Canada is kind of like the US, in that we also have people who love to complain about everything but we’re more polite about our anger and our gun usage. Many a time I would hear “May I please shoot you in the face? Thank you.” It’s the Canadian Way. Anywho, I dig both types but if I had a choice, I would love to spend the rest of my life contemplating the mystery of how the Ocean Waves appeared on a book.
I do have questioms, though: I primarily am a pen and ink artist and my tools of persuasion are technical pens of varying sizes. I’ve never used Tomoe River paper, how much tooth does it have? I’m thinking about loose fibers. Also, what size is the book? It looks like an A4, but for all I know this photo was taken inside a dollhouse.
I just wanted to say Hello and let you know there are other countries besides America that read your blog. I know I can’t win these sweepstakes and I hope you can live with that guilt. The kind of guilt that festers, knowing that you denied someone very deserving who may actually have cancer, diabetes, leprosy, kidney disease on his one remaining kidney, lupus, some horrible flesh-eating disease named Fred, shingles, irritable bowel syndrome creeping towards his brain, all 19 of the covids, harbouring lice for tax purposes, and is suffering from an overuse of the Oxford Comma…..or not.
I think I am more afraid of being alone in the middle of the ocean than I am of lava. So I will happily take the lava. I am also willing to conquer my fear of the ocean for this notebook.
I’d choose the Ocean Waves version. I’m normally into warm colours but there’s something about that blue and tan combo…
Oops, I just noticed the part about US and APO/AFO only – I’m disqualified. 🙁
Ohhhhh, both journals are absolutely gorgeous! I tend to gravitate to blues and greens, but I’m feeling drawn to the red one. The name Molten Lava makes me think of Dr. Evil from Austin Powers…”You know, Scott, I’ve been a frickin’ evil doctor for 30 frickin’ years, okay? Cut me some frickin’ slack. You forget, Scott, we’re in a volcano. We’re surrounded by liquid hot magma.”
Marbled notebooks are always the best.
Blue marbled whispers,
Secrets penned in quiet hues,
Dreams dance upon pages.
Molten Lava, of course. This would be an excellent opportunity to try TR paper. I really don’t know what the fuss is about.
I would be happy with either, but if given the choice, I would love the Ocean Waves one.
I love both colorways for different reasons; Ocean Waves seems like a very calming colorway, just perfect for my evening journaling and Molten Lava is so bright and energetic that I want to fill it with ideas and sketches!
Ocean Waves, I def have more blue ink to go with that. Berlin Notebook Blue #1 for saturation, Monteverde Horizon Blue for true blue, but my Waterman South Seas Blue (my bottle is labeled in French) might be the best match.
Of course, Lava would go with Red Dragon (loaded in a 1920s Waterman right now) or Blood Orange.
I love the ocean wave! The blue pattern goes really well with the brown leather on the spine!
They’re both gorgeous. I’d choose the Ocean Waves as I’m partial to blue. And I have the perfect ink I’d use in it!
Thank you!
These covers are stunning. I’ve wanted to scrap my current reading journal and start fresh so these notebooks would be great for that.
I am always partial to blues, but they both look stunning!
Both are striking but I understand I need to pick one. Blues greens and teal are my favorites so I’ll go outside my normal and say Molten one. My husband likes those colors so it might be a stocking stuffer for Christmas.
Thanks
I like both colors, but have to give molten lava the edge! I’m very into reds/oranges right now and that cover POPS. Gorgeous paper and accessories too…a blotter pad included? That’s a touch of class.
I love the ocean waves colorway! I’ve only ever used the original 52gsm tomoe river paper, so i’m curious what the new stuff is like. I’d probably use this notebook as a journal, but I’d have to get back in the habit of journaling every day!
The Ocean waves one is so pretty
Wow, what a nice giveaway! They are both lovely, but I like the extra color variation in the Molten Lava.
I am already trying to match inks to the Ocean Waves. I have about 97 blue-blacks so I could find one of those, but this might necessitate a sepia ink purchase. Yay enabling!
I love the ocean waves! It looks like a fountain or pool reflecting the light.
I would like the blue one please. Thank you!
Those are gorgeous! I think I prefer the ocean waves color way because it fits my mood and I tend to use a lot of blue inks.
I like the lava!
I really like the Molten Lava one! I love the combo of blue/purple with reds — I frequently use variations on that combo with inks in my journal. Right now I’m using Sailor Seki for headings, and Robert Oster Sydney Lavender for my journal entries
I would love to try out the Molten Lava notebook. A whole notebook of unlined Tomoe River paper would be fun to experiment with.
Really like the Ocean Waves
Never tried Tomoe River paper yet- looking forward to trying
Thanks!
Ocean Waves looks amazing!
I like the Ocean Waves one 🙂
But they’re all beautiful. Last year i completely filled my first cheap journal, this year I’m maybe 25% through my first, mid-tier journal. Its a simple dot journal but the paper absorbs my fountain pen ink so much i have to write upside down or with Japanese EF’s only. This top tier journal would be a nice level up for me ^^
Well as a onetime resident of Hawaii and with loving memories of the Big Island, the molten Lava has nostalgic appeal. On the other hand, as a sailor, the Ocean Waves cannot be ignored. Consequently, my heart is breaking. I guess I will just have to hope for the right number to realize a favorite.
The ocean waves, rhythmic and unyielding, roll toward the shore like deep breaths of the earth, whispering ancient secrets as they curl and crash, scattering shimmering droplets into the salty air, while their endless dance carves the sands with a timeless grace.
In other words, the blue one!
Love the blue
Both are beautiful, both the Ocean Waves made me want to dive right in and try a few strokes. Thanks for always great content!
I like the Molten Lava. I’ve never used a Galen Leather product and would love to try this one.
The ocean waves cover is unreal. I’m new to the world of fountain pens and analog writing so I would love the chance to try the legendary Tomoe River paper. Thanks for all the awesome content!
I love the ocean waves! I’m currently learning to bookbind and hope to make books that look this good
I think my choice would be Ocean Waves..even though Molten Lava is a way cooler name. Huge fan of Galen Leather. In fact, they are what brought me to the site today in a round about way. I was looking to download a new line guide because the one that came with my G.L. notebook was getting pretty marked up. Glad I stopped in!
I like the Ocean waves because it reminds me of the tropical beaches on Tokonoshima Japan we went to this summer. The waves gently ripping over the golden sands. It also has some butterfly vibes in there, the wings flapping over ther water almost blending in.
Wow. Simply gorgeous. Forza Azzurri! (I like blue. Almost as much as I like wonderful paper…)
Ocean waves, so lovely! It’s not only that the book is blue, but that the pattern is rhythmic, broken slightly by what might be a creature clinging to the sea floor. See it? Usually using whatever paper is around, like the backs of announcements, ads for products and services I don’t want, bills that yes, I will pay, but not right this second, as I am reading about pens and ink and this terrific notebook.
They’re both pretty cute, but maybe I like the red one a little better?
I love the covers and TR paper is always fun to use.
The blue and gold is delightful. thank you for running this!
Ocean Waves-a perfect choice as I live near one of America’s inland seas, the largest located fully within a single country. It is a sometimes a placid blue, yet its power is something to behold. Good place to recall the 49th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, and the 29 sailors lost:
“The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee…”
These are gorgeous! I’d be thrilled to receive either. But even though I’m a teal ink fanatic I like the Lava just a tiny bit more – the swirling colors are mesmerizing.
Ocean waves is beautiful!
They are both lovely, but I think the ocean waves color is my favorite.
Ocean Waves, if I must choose. Both seem like winners though.
The blue looks like waves! But they’re both fabulous.
I love the Ocean Waves one so much.
I love the blue notebook with the rippling water. It reminds me of visiting a cabin on a lake up north where I could see clearly to the bottom of the lake. There was a sense of calm and peace all around.
Love Galen’s work—I carry my Take A Note planner in one of their cases with me everywhere. I’m on Team Molten Lava if I have to pick!
Wow. I simply love notebooks… and Galen Leather.
If I feel overworked, under appreciated etc… then obviously only the Molten lava notebook would do to express my feelings . On the other hand, would the blue ocean waves make me cope better with whatever is thrown at me during the day.
It is better to let fate decide if I am/ were the lucky chosen one…
If not, I will have to buy one of each… or better guide my friends and family to give them to me for Christmas!!!
The Ocean Waves could offer a little calm and solace to writing in these troubled times. We folks who scribble for sanity will continue to scribble (even if we’re a little less sane) but a great notebook always makes it a little more fun. I think just looking at either of those notebooks just begs for time with a pen, a cup of tea, and thoughts to chronicled. Ok, there may be a shot of something in the tea but it will still be lovely.