Tada A5 notebook corner

TADA Handcrafted Letterpress Notebook review

Iannotebook / Paper review72 Comments

Tada A5 notebook corner

TADA notebooks are handmade by Elisa and Fabio, a husband and wife team based in London. They are clearly made with a lot of care and with much love. That attention to detail and passion reveals itself from the moment the package arrives.

Tada A5 notebook envelope

The joy only increases upon opening the envelope. These cards are just wonderful.

Tada A5 notebook packaging

The notebooks are available in a wide range of colours and in A5 and A6 sizes. This is a review of the A5 Striped Yellow.

Tada A5 notebook stitching outside

The cover is made from stiff card and holds up quite well. I’ve been carrying mine around in my bag for a few weeks and the cover is still stiff and undamaged. I am careful when putting it into my bag, though.

Tada A5 notebook

The cover designs are handprinted using vegetable-based inks. Each notebook has a message embossed on the back cover. This message varies from batch to batch and this one makes me smile every time I see it.

Tada A5 notebook back cover message

There’s also a cardboard pocket inside the back cover. This is glued on and I managed to pull a corner away almost as soon as I looked at it.

Tada A5 notebook back cover pocket

There are 96 pages (80 in the A6 version) and they’re hand stitched in the centre. This is a good strong binding but means the notebook is reluctant to stay opened flat.

Tada A5 notebook stitching inside

The paper is lovely. It’s recycled, thick (90gsm) and white with tiny little flecks in it. I love the flecks, it gives the paper so much character, but I guess it might put some people off.

Tada A5 notebook sketch

The paper shows off inks beautifully. For almost all of my pens, it’s wonderful. It does seem to suck the ink from some though, which means that for a couple of my broader-nibbed pens the feeds struggle to keep up and after half a page or so they start to dry out. It only affects some pens. It’s a shame but I think with every kind of paper I’ve used, there have been one or two pens that it hasn’t suited. For me, the vibrancy of inks on this paper more than compensates for not being able to use a couple of my pens.

Tada A5 notebook ink tests front

There is virtually no feathering, hardly any show through and no bleeding (other than the Sharpie, as always).

Tada A5 notebook ink tests back

This is a beautiful notebook. It won’t suit everyone – what notebook can – but it is one of those products that fills you with joy every time you pick it up. This is why we spend so much time on pens and paper, isn’t it?

Made in Clerkenwell

If you happen to be in London between 15 and 18 May then you have the chance to meet Elisa and Fabio and see TADA notebooks in person. There are also rumours of possible new products! Admission to Made in Clerkenwell is £3 and there will be 100 designers there. Details here.

Giveaway

There’s more! You have a chance to win one of these gorgeous notebooks. TADA are very kindly offering one up for one lucky person to win.

What you need to do is visit the TADA website, have a look through all the beautiful cover designs and then come back here to tell me, in the comments, which one you like the best. You can only pick one, which makes this quite a difficult competition.

The giveaway closes at 9am GMT on Saturday 24 May and the winner will be picked randomly. It’s open worldwide but I won’t be held responsible for any loss, damage or customs charges during shipping.

Good luck!!

Tada A5 notebook handwritten review

72 thoughts on “TADA Handcrafted Letterpress Notebook review”

  1. Fantastic giveaway, thank you!

    I had difficulty viewing their site on mobile, but from what so could see, the pink semicolon cover is just up my alley! I would love to win that one! I am all for the poor misunderstood semicolon, and more colour! These are really great looking notebooks.

    Are any of them available lined, do you know? Thank you again!

    1. They’re lovely aren’t they. They’re only available with plain paper at the moment.

  2. I have to agree with subgirl, these look great notebooks and the semicolon rocks. However, I think I would prefer mine in the yellow, with the semicolon hiding shyly and demurely.

    Great giveaway and definitely a notebook I’ll have to check out.

    Cheers

    1. I love the Tada Three on blue card. That combination of red blue and yellow reminds me of a Mondrian painting.

  3. Thanks for the review and the giveaway. I like the TADA One – brown in the A6 size. Each appear to be a work of art. Lets hope for great success and they come out with ruled paper.

  4. I have a serious weakness for letterpress, so this is huge! The A6 TADA striped-brown is calling to me. Thanks!

  5. Thanks for the review I didnt knew them and really like the designs, and also thanks for for the giveaway. Best of luck and success in their enterprise.
    Regards

    1. sorry i forgot to pick one… the tada one – brown is the one for me. thanks

  6. Well, I am not a fan of printed covers. Tada Grey is my favourite. Thanks for the giveaway.

  7. My favorite is the TADA Semicolon in the A5 size. I bet that paper is heavy enough to take a very light wash with fountain pen ink sketches! 🙂

  9. Thanks for the review and giveaway!
    The Tada Striped – brown is my favourite.

  12. My fav is the Tada Semicolon Pink because I could live happily knowing it was with me in my bag, at the ready, for making notes at any time! The fun semicolon is a nice touch and the pink colour is just a lovely gentle shade – not at all screamy! Tee ;0)

  17. I like the TADA THREE – PINK the best. It’s really hard choosing between all these simple geometric designs though. A good runner up would be the TADA ONE – GREY. But if I had to choose one it would still be the TADA THREE – PINK.

    Thanks for this awesome giveaway! 🙂

  18. The notebook looks gorgeous! I love the name, TADA. I think my favorite is the Tada Three – Blue

  22. I love the look of the one you reviewed so I’d go for the striped yellow. Thanks for the giveaway!

  24. I really love the design of the TADA STRIPED – GREY and A5 is my favorite size. Thanks for the great review & giveaway.

  25. The striped grey is my favorite of the cover designs. Understated but still distinctive!

  26. I like the Tada Brown, size A5. It’s very simple but beautiful.

  28. Thanks for the give away! I like the TADA striped grey; size A5. I would love to try this paper out.

  31. Thanks for the giveaway! I like the TADA ONE in brown in A5.

  38. You’re right: It is a hard pick. If I had to pick one, it’d be the Semicolon Green. Gotta love semicolons!

  43. Great giveaway; thanks. The TADA One Grey is just right: sober, with just a dash of color. A5 size would be so portable.

  50. I am surprised by other’s selection but to each their own. I would love the TADA Striped–Grey. Too cool. Thanks.

  51. I like the TADA Striped Grey. A5 is preferred. Thanks for offering the giveaway!

  52. Tad a yellow semi-colon, A6! Would love the looks in the coffeshop, and yellow is my favorite color:)

  58. Pingback: Tuesday Links to Tangles, Tutorials and Giveaways #zentangle #Giveaways #ArtJournal | lifeimitatesdoodles

  59. OMG, you were right about the level of difficulty in making a decision, but eventually I chose, uh, the Tada striped yellow. no – grey, no, yellow.

  61. I love the taxa 3 in brown e-6…looks wonderful for a pocket! Thanks!

  63. Definitely the semicolon in yellow. Partly because so few people know how to use semicolons correctly; I’m rather a fan of them myself. And also because the yellow is so vibrant.

  67. Thank you for the beautiful review here – I’d love to win one. I adore them all, but the pink one is for me.

  69. Thank you for this lovely giveaway!
    My favourite design is the Taga Free Pink!
    I cross my fingers!

Comments are closed.

Close