notebook review: ten thousand villages

Today I have the pleasure of reviewing a journal for Ten Thousand Villages. Ten Thousand Villages is a fair-trade company that has been in business since 1946. From their website:

"Ten Thousand Villages' mission is to create opportunities for artisans in developing countries to earn income by bringing their products and stories to our markets through long-term fair trading relationships."

Michele from Ten Thousand Villages allowed me to pick a journal to review, and I chose the Kancu Leaf and Bamboo Journal, which is handmade in Indonesia. 

I am very pleased with this journal. It is incredibly lovely and very unique. 

 I really like the idea that someone from another country actually made it by hand, paper and all.

 The binding is actually quite simplistic, and allows the book to lie flat no matter what page it's opened to, as you can see below.

The paper is a light brown color and very smooth in texture.

 I tested all of my regular pens (except the Uni-Ball Vision, since I'm out of them at the moment.)

 There is no bleed through, except with the Sharpie permanent marker (which really is to be expected with just about all papers.)

 A close up of the leaves covering the journal. 

All in all, I must give this journal an A+ rating. The quality is very high, from the binding to the paper. I also appreciate it's uniqueness--you can't find a journal like this in a store. The only complaint I have is that when I got it out of the box it smelled quite "chemically". I'm assuming that it's the sealant they used on the leaves or something, or perhaps the paper. But a few hours airing out on the front porch took care of it nicely.

Check out Ten Thousand Villages:

Ten Thousand Villages offers way more than just journals and notebooks. They have all sorts of cool stuff like jewelry, purses, stuff for your house like lamps, rugs, and furniture, wall decor, and even kitchen items (and I haven't even included all they offer in this list.) You can buy all of their stuff online, or find a Ten Thousand Villages store near you. I was really surprised to find that they have a store in my city! 

I would like to extend a big thank you to Ten Thousand Villages and to Michele for providing me this journal to review!  

Disclosure: I received this journal from Ten Thousand Villages in return for my honest review of the product, and the opinions expressed in this post are my own. I was not compensated in any other way.