The pilot G2 metallics and white work great in a black out journal. I do one blackout each year. The juice 04 metallics are also great. No transfer and a quick dry time. :). Thanks for the unboxing
What works for me on dark paper is ... coloured leads. like Eno mechanical pencils or Uni Nano Dia colour lead (mechanical pencil). I OFTEN USE JUST A REALLY HARD LEADED PENCIL, THEY USUALLY SHOW UP. Might not work for everyone. Also coloured pencils, especially watercolour pencils-does mean you have to be a bit more careful not to get anything wet, but they work great.
I’d be a lot less mad about getting little A6 notebooks in sub boxes if they were softcover - much more likely to get thrown in my bag and actually used. So hopefully the softcover book is a sign of things to come
@markyourpages unfortunately i just saw them comment on one of their videos a few days ago last week, that they wont be doing numbered pages in the foreseeable future sadly. :( Apparently they feel its not "universal" enough for all journalers. Im not sure why tbh. I paint in mine sometimes and use it in unconventional ways and yet numbers really dont bother me especially if they're light like the dot gride. Worst case scenario you just cover it up if its that bothersome? Lol idk just my two cents on their reply. It doesnt make much sense to me.
I really like the page number stickers! I often use Dutch doors so I don’t mind adding my own numbers and not feeling like I’m “losing” pages. But the A&O journals definitely have more pros than cons!
You are so very excited in this video that I found myself smiling through the whole of it. I felt your disappointment when you unboxed the advent calendar set. So, it's really nice to see you giddy over products!
Love the stencil! About the only stencils I use are water drops (water tracker) and weather icons along with a ruler. So.. if they could do a ruler type, with just those - I'd be set!
im so stoked for the box. ive never bought a subscription box before but when i saw the release of this i literally grabbed my wallet so fast. celestial themes are so timeless and lovely. im stoked for the soft cover notebook. im a game designer and it looks perfect for work. the stencil looks extremely useful. i guess you can track how much water you drink, the weather, or even use the weather symbols for mood tracking. and the radial stencils look incredibly useful. i guess we'll be seeing more radial spreads in the future. i dont really care for a navy blue journal and im not sure what ill use it for. but i admit the navy blue paper is lovely, and the cover of the notebook is so cute.
it just arrived in the mail and i feel giddy with joy!!! its even more magical and sparkly and lovely than the pictures/video. im totally stealing and reusing these envelopes and packaging for other things. i hope archer and olive does more celestial themed things! i would give them all my money. and it seems like moon/star/sun themes in general are extremely popular. @@markyourpages
A trick for some white gel pens (works for .7 acrylographs too) is to kind of float the pen over the paper instead of pressing down, you barely touch! Will help with that roller ball line. I hate that line!
I definitely had to resub this month. (I'm bummed I couldn't get the library box!) What I like a lot about this box is that it's all stationery stuff. I'm generally uninterested in getting extra coffee cups and water bottles and stuff like that--I still haven't used that compartment tote bag from several boxes ago. This color scheme is absolutely up my alley, and also, I remember asking for softcover notebooks a long time ago, so I'm glad there is one! Can't wait to get my box.
Thank you for your unboxing! I cancelled my subscription after the library box which I really liked. The different sized notebooks aren't my thing, and the really oddball things I've gotten in the past like the glass!! water glass, the flower press, the teacup etc just haven't been a match. I love the design of this box though, I hope everyone loves theirs!
First time commenter. I've been getting subscription boxes for a year and have loved almost everything that came in them. The September box was over the top! This one left me wanting, however. I will probably never find a use for the journal with the navy pages. (And my main reason for getting the subscription boxes is for the journals.) I'm not a fan of white gel pens because they typically don't flow well and clog up so easily. Thus, I had low expectations when I realized the pen in this box was a white gel pen. And... it didn't work well. Multiple pen tests revealed it to be fickle and sometimes not writing at all. I will find good use for the A5 journal cover, though! I'm an author and I use my A5 journals for all my notes and details when I'm writing, so having a cover to protect that important journal will be wonderful! I'll also use the square notebook and the notepad. I don't use Washi tape too much, so this will sit in my drawer for a long, long time before it's used up. Finally, the Acrylograph pens. I haven't had much luck with these in the past. They seemed to dry up quickly. But I do like using metallic gel pens in my journaling, so maybe these will be useful. All in all, I didn't think the box was worth the price for my purposes. In the past there have been some items which I thought were cute but not really useful to me. (The little basket in the summer box, for example. Cute! But... meh.) So for me, I think it's more economical just to buy directly when I need new journals.
I always think that if you are looking for something specific then it’s always best to buy what you need vs expecting it to be with a surprise. I’m coming to the realization of this with one of my other hobbies. I can buy the card I need for $10 or get mad when I spend $15 for a chance and don’t get what I need. But I so love the excitement of these boxes. They are just fun and I love “seeing the future” of what A&O might be doing.
I’m drooling over this sub box collection. So many beautiful and fun items! Two questions: first, what is your favorite white gel pen (brand and size)? Yours looks amazing and what I’ve been trying to find in a white gel pen forever! And second, how is the experience of writing on the notepad? It looks amazing, but I’m curious about writing on sparkly paper since I know that can sometimes be a pain, especially with certain types of pens and markers (gel or water-based).
Thanks for your thoughtful and energetic unboxing. I love the cover the navy but would have preferred white. No worries. I will gift it with the white gel pen :) love everything else
I love this box. I love that everything is for journaling and there wasn't any of that filler stuff like key chains, flags, water bottles, tea cups, that sort of thing. If the square journal was 192 pages I would definitely give it a try for a everyday journal. I agree that the dark page journals aren't super useful, but I love it anyway. I agree with others, Vintage Library and Celestial Wonders are what I was looking for in a sub box and worth the money. I hope they keep it up :)
I think I squealed with delight as I opened up each piece of this box. I avoided spoilers because I wanted to be surprised, and I'm so happy I did! My favorite piece is the square, soft cover journal. It's unique to Archer & Olive, and I really do hope we see more of those. Second is the shimmery notepad. I love that so much.
I got mine yesterday, and between the Vintage Library box and this one, they are knocking it out of the park lately. I loved your obvious and genuine enthusiasm for the square soft notebook, it's caused me to look at it differently and get inspired. Thank you for the stencil demo, because I have to confess I wasn't 100% sure how to use the curved and sunburst lines, haha. I never would have clocked that as a tool to create trackers. Finally, like you, I *gasped* when I saw the acrylograph labels, LOL. But yes, everything in this box was a winner.
I'm so obsessed with this box that I have subscribed for the quarterly boxes for the first time. It's also a reward to myself for finally finding some work after my PhD. I'm most excited about the two journals and the square one especially. It's so handy. My 2024 journal is already set up in a Scribbles That Matter -Starry Night blackout journal. This is going to be my creative bullet journal for a new career path. It came with a Uniball Signo which writes really well.
Wow it's like you're writing on the night sky with lights what an ethereal consept I'm impressed of how well they brought it to life I wish I could buy all of these 😢
Anxious to get my box in as well. I would love to know which white pen you used that wasn't the A & O pen? I think the Zebra Sarasa Decoshine 0.5 pens will look nice in the Midnight Blue papered A5.
Love love love!! I cannot wait to get mine. Which white gel do you like? Pentel or Gelly Roll?? I am interested in the notepad and the new navy a5 paper.
Hi Mark I'm delurking to say I love your rebrand and I so love this box. I'm not a person who loves surprises so I have been buying the overstock sub boxes I like as individual purchases. I missed out on the awesome September library box so when I saw the sneak peak, I knew this was right up my alley. I signed up on the waitlist and subbed when they opened it up. This is a great Birthday\Christmas gift to myself.
Thanks so much for the compliment on the name. It’s been pretty smooth. I feel you on wanting to know that you are getting. I guess I’ve been spoiled on getting some early to see it all. But I’m a regular subscriber too, so I’m a sucker for spoilers. Haha
This box is truly heavenly, in all senses of the word. I love everything in it! I was never interested in the sub boxes until the September Vintage Library theme, which caused me to sign up. I'm so glad I did because the quality is incredible this time too! And I'm so happy they finally listened to you about the acrylograph labels 😅. I'm 100% with you re the page numbers! Let's keep hoping...
I was disappointed when the journal that came in the box didn’t fit in the cover (too thick) but found another A5 notebook that would. I also was a little sad that the square notebook was dotted and not blank paper. Its cover and size just screams sketchbook to me 😅 I do love the washi tape, metal stencil, and the notepad being crooked doesn’t bother me. But I think my favorite is the navy blue paper. That is going to be a sketchbook for sure (even with those pesky dots) 😍
I think it would be cool to get a sketchbook in the future with a softcover - but I love the dot grid personally. Fingers crossed for more options if we get this out of the sub box
I received my subscription box yesterday. I managed to avoid ALL the sneak peeks beforehand and I'm glad I did. It was so much fun to open it and be amazed. It's a great box and I was so happy to find that square journal in there! I'm setting it up as my main journal today. The only disappointment is that my pen does not actually work at all. Not even poorly. I am hoping I can find some other pen refill that will work with it, because I think the pen itself is so nice! I'll see what I can do with it.
Thank you for the unboxing!! This box is really perfect for my style and needs. Love the pearlescent dot grid sheets for additions to my blackout bujo. Drop the white gel pen you love, please!
❤❤❤❤ I absolutely love this box! That Pet Tape looks awesome, I thought it was just a holo washi but I like this better! I haven’t really thought of the 7x7 for a size nor the soft cover but it seriously looks amazing! The stencil, pen and acrylographs are awesome too but for me it’s the A5 journal. That purple is gorgeous!! And with Navy paper!!! Eeeeeee!!! Sooo excited!!! Not sure what I’ll use it for yet but I love it already. It might be my 5 year journal I’ve been thinking about starting. And last but not least the shimmer paper. OMG. I can’t wait to get my inky fingers on it!! I can think of so many uses! So excited!!
I’m actually so excited for the labels too! I just got a bunch of acrylographs from the Black Friday sale and I immediately noticed that I won’t be able to tell some pens apart lol
This box had me at celestial!! I’m new to A&O and just received the Camping box from the Black Friday sale and OMG I found a new love for journaling! My fave in this box is the same as you…square 7x7 soft notebook. So sad it’s sold out now. Maybe they’ll restock. 🙏 Thanks for sharing this video. ❤
I want to see how the soft cover does before screaming for more of them. I'm concerned about wear and tear - emphasis on the tear lol its very pretty, I think I would prefer 8x8 though. The acrylograph labels are fantastic! The pens themselves are nice too. I'm not big on the blue pages. I had the same issue with the green page one, but it had a monstera leaf on the front so I still have it. That one had perforated pages...ugh.
I’ve seen a few comments about wear and tear of the softcover. I’ve never seen any issues with my other branded ones, but since this is new, I can see the interest in quality before having more.
I love this. That notepad is amazing. I was sold with the square notebook. I'm subscribing for sure. I've always loved their paper quality even though I'm a Hobonichi fan and usually prefer thinner paper.
In love with the A5 notebook with blue paper 🤩 it would be perfect for my galaxy-themed journal for next year, but it's too expensive to ship from US to the Netherlands nowadays 😢
I am so excited for the cover! I am using a cousin this year for one of my planners and have been searching for a cover , so finders crossed that one fits! Also very excited for the soft cover notebook!!!
Are the items available individually? Some of those items are stunning but like to be careful to buy just stuff that works for me. Also, what was the pen you called your favorite white gel pen? It wrote so well!
No these aren’t available individually…. Yet. Sometimes we will see similar items available individually if they are popular. I have a feeling we will see soft covers and this new Deskpad size in the future.
What an amazing collection of products! When I saw the theme, I’d decided it would be a perfect Christmas gift for my daughter-in-law. I KNOW she’ll love it, but now I wish I could order a second one! BTW, Mark - love your unboxing videos!
I love the labels too. I put labels on some but I didn’t have the right kind of stickers so they peel off. I liked when they printed the names on also but I understand there was a manufacturing glitch of some sort with doing that. I thought at the time that this was the perfect solution and it’s looks great. I really like the white gel pen but the obvious question(in my opinion) is ‘will it be refillable?’ Loved your video. ❤ I’m excited for mine to arrive. 🎉
I love this box and can't wait for it. The notepad and the notebooks are perfection. Also I feel like I need to make a cleric d&d character and use the purple journal for notes; it just feels right. I have problem with streakiness from my Signo to. The Signo will be great one minute and then streaky the next. I wonder if I got a dud because my gold Signo is perfect.
I am happy I decided to skip this one, but definitely has some fun things in it! Thanks for this video! Im okay without the page numbers in my journal but to each their own haha
The theme of this box is absolutely PERFECT for me but I don't like coloured pages or soft cover so I'd have been absolutely gutted upon opening this to realise neither of the journals were really "usable" for me 😢
@markyourpages when I write, I use the cover of the journal as a kind of board if that makes sense! I know I could find a way to solidify the cover but it's just a barrier to use that I probably wouldn't find a solution to that I was happy with 😂
I think this is BEAUTIFUL, though a lot of it seems very much catered to die-hard A&O bujo fans, and less to people who use notebooks a little bit more functionally. There's nothing wrong with that, and I hope that everyone LOVES their box. But for me, I'm glad I canceled my subscription because I would've had stuff that I thought was beautiful but wouldn't have used. (And also, I hope A&O makes more of this sort of box and the one from September going forward. This is great quality.)
If I won the lottery, I would buy Archer and Olive. I love this brand so much! I ordered an A5 cover and a multicolor pastel notepad (b5) to add to my growing collection. I typically use Moleskine soft cover a5 expanded for my bullet journal because it's more flexible. I can't wait for A&O to implement soft covers into their designs. I think I would become a true brand whore after that for A&O. LOL
But that notepad looks very poorly made. Look at the angle difference between the perforation and the branded dark lip cover at the top. Not even close to aligned. So crooked. I'd make them send me another because that looks like a QC reject. Except no one caught it and they sent it to an ambassador who then filmed the sloppy construction for all to see. I'm glad you like it so much, but wow. If you paid for this box, you deserve a notepad that doesn't look like a quality control fail.
