I’m sure you’ve all heard of Amanda Rach Lee. Her Youtube channel is full of creative bullet journal spreads and pen reviews. Her style is very different to mine but I enjoy watching her videos, even if I don’t end up incorporating her ideas in my spreads. She has a tendency to use brush pens for calligraphy which are notorious for bleeding through the thin paper, so when she came out with a dotted notebook with 160 GSM paper (that’s really thick paper), of course I wanted a copy!

Quick facts

• Size: 5.75″ wide x 8.25″ high (A5)
• Vegan leather cover with foil doodles on the front and back cover
• Sewn binding
• Multiple cover colors to choose from (black, grey, pink, teal and camel)
• Thick 160 GSM bright white paper
• 160 pages
• 5mm dot grid
• Numbered pages
• Pocket folder
• 2 Ribbon bookmarks
• Pen holder

Price: $26 USD + shipping (cheap international shipping rates)

Let’s take a closer look!

To enlarge the screen of the video, click the square icon in the bottom right hand corner of the video (it will say ‘full screen’ when you hover your mouse over the icon).

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My review of the Amanda Rach Lee Doodle Planner is in this post.

The Cover

Finally – a pretty notebook cover! The doodle images are very clear and flecks of the the gold foil haven’t fallen off either. The doodles are printed on the front and back cover.

I’ll be doing a review of the Amanda Rach Lee Doodle Planner soon!

Between 0.75 and 1″ thick (2.4cm)

The dot grid is 5mm x 5mm (most common dot grid size in bullet journal notebooks).

None of the dots are printed close to the edge or spine

2 ribbon bookmarks – but unfortunately they’re the same color

Pages lay flat (or close to flat) no matter where you open the notebook.

There’s a roomy pocket folder at the back and 1 pen holder (which is fat enough to hold the Frixion erasable pen).

Pen Testing

Given that Amanda Rach Lee’s spreads usually involve brush markers which are notorious for the ink bleeding through the page, I was expecting very good paper…

… And was not disappointed! No ghosting or bleed through for highlighters and pens (even the thick maker pens). There is a tiny bit of ghosting from the Happy Planner stamp (not very obvious and wouldn’t stop me from using the back side of the page).

Pros of the Notebook

• Portable size
• Pretty cover with a design I haven’t seen on another sewn bound notebook
• Multiple cover colors to choose from
• Cheap international shipping
• All pages are numbered
• Pocket folder
• 2 Ribbon bookmarks
• Very thick paper (160 GSM with no ghosting or bleed through)
• Pen holder (fat enough to fit a Frixion pen too)
• Bright white paper
• Bookmark colors coordinate with the cover color

Cons of the Notebook

• Elastic band leaves an indent in the cover material (at the top and bottom)
• Bookmarks are the same color

Would I use this notebook?

Yes! The notebook has a pretty cover and it’s paper is bright white, numbered and basically no ghosting or bleed through. This notebook has everything I look for in a bullet journal!

More dot grid notebook reviews:

• Archer and Olive Dot Grid Notebook (Is the 160 GSM Paper Worth the Hype?)
• Vivid Scribbles Dot Grid Notebook (bleedproof 140GSM paper!)
• Clever Fox Dotted Journal Notebook
• Jumping Fox Designs Dot Grid Notebook

Bullet Journal Tips:

• Trying out my custom Agendio bullet journal (is a 0.25″ grid too big?)
• Bullet journaling in the Scribbles that Matter Notebook (is it worth the hype?)
• Weekly spread with the Helix Circle Maker in the Dingbats* Notebook

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