I spotted these at my favorite local stationery store (NYC’s Paper Presentation, on 18th St.) and immediately fell in love with them. I was thrilled when the nice folks at OrangeArt agreed to send me some samples to review.

The format of these notebooks is hardly unique, but the letterpress tattersall design on the covers really caught my eye. Each two-pack has slightly different colors, one notebook in cool blue or green, and one in warm orange or red. The tattersall pattern is very crisp and looks just like some button-down shirts I remember my father wearing decades ago!

The notebooks are neatly trimmed and staple-bound. On the inside cover, there’s a place to write your name and contact info above the company’s branding info, which appears nowhere else on the notebook.

The paper inside was an unexpected treat– I thought it was cool having the tattersall pattern on the outside, but had no idea it would appear inside as well! The large squares might not work for everyone, though– they might distract from drawings, and they’re not close enough together to write text on every line unless you like to write in really big letters.

The paper is recycled, with a bright white color and a slightly toothier rougher feel. It works well with all my pens though to me the paper is a bit too textured for the finer rollerballs. Show-through and bleed-through were about average.

These would make a fun gift for anyone who loves notebooks, or is a fan of letterpress printing. The company even offers a broader line of tattersall pattern stationery and a desk blotter. At $9.50 for a 2-pack of 3.5×5.5″ notebooks, these aren’t the cheapest out there, but I think it’s a good value for these quality letterpress notebooks made in the USA.

And of course, I’m giving away my extra samples to 3 lucky winners, who will be randomly selected from entries received in any of these ways:

On Twitter, tweet something containing “OrangeArt Tattersall” and “@NotebookStories, and follow “@NotebookStories.”

On Facebook, “like” the Notebook Stories page, and post something containing the words “OrangeArt Tattersall” on the Notebook Stories wall.

On your blog, post something containing the words “OrangeArt Tattersall” and “Notebook Stories” and link back to this blog.

The deadline for entry is Friday Dec. 7 at 11:59PM, EST. Good luck everyone!
And please remember to check my posts on Facebook and Twitter for an announcement of the winner.