Review: Karst Stone Paper Dot Grid

Holy f*cking guacamole. Stone Paper. Who would have thought! And a Stone Paper Dot Journal!? So I had heard mixed reviews on this journal, I had heard that nothing dries, fountain pens stay wet after 24 hours and the only thing you can use to write on it, is markers. So off I went and got myself a Karst Stone Paper Journal from the Milligram store. The cost was AUD 33.59 with AUD 19.90 shipping to NZ. So A total $58NZD so a little steep. So by the end of this we can decide together if the cost is worth it!

Let’s get started! Karst Prides itself of the sustainability of its journals by stating on their website.

We could kill trees too. But why should we have to? It’s possible to make paper without timber and water, without chlorine or acids, without waste, using only a third of the carbon footprint. So we did. Our paper is made of stone. It’s smoother, brighter, and more durable than traditional paper. We don’t compromise. Neither should you.

Stone paper is future-friendly, made from one of the most abundant substances on earth: calcium carbonate. What you’re looking at is recycled — we repurpose waste stone produced by the mining industry and construction industry, crush it into a powder, and combine it with a non-toxic, recyclable binding agent to make stone paper. Not one drop of water and not one tree was harmed in the making of these notebooks.

Karst Stone Paper is a superior alternative to traditional pulp paper that uses no trees, water, wastes, acids or bleaches to produce. Our paper is the whitest and smoothest paper available. Not only is Karst Stone Paper a better alternative, it’s also waterproof and tear resistant. Our manufacturing process is powered in part by solar energy and leaves a 60% smaller carbon footprint than traditional paper.

When you open the packaging, I was somewhat surprised at how the cover felt. It has very smooth feel but very different to our usual friends over at Lemome and STM. The journal claims to be waterproof and Tear-resistant. When I put I put it in my bag to bring home, I found it got grubby quite quickly and it dented easily too. I would have more likely gotten myself a darker colour but they were out of stock. When you open up the journal, it has a bit of a different smell to paper, (and smells a little like ground up rocks at a quarry, I kinda like it) you have a gorgeous sticker – unsure of where I would put it, and on the first page a space for your name and contact details. There is no elastic closure loop and one ribbon for finding your page.

The paper is around 100gsm equivalent to normal paper. The paper has a strange smooth feel to it, the paper is really white. There are only 144 pages which is pretty low for the normal dot journals.

On the second page there is a little story about Karst then straight into the dotted pages.

The pages not numbered and the dots are the standard dot distance apart of 0.5cm/0.5 cm. There 27 dots across the top and 40 dots down the page and is an A5 Journal.

It has a small stone paper back pocket. The journal also has flat lay binding

From here I went for the pen test and watercolor test.

For the pen test I tried markers, brushpens, Fountain Pens, Roller Balls, Gel Pens and the only ones that smudged were the Gel Pens. The Tombows looked amazing on the paper. There was minimal ghosting and Zero bleeding.

I then moved to Watercolor and this was a bit of an interesting experiment! So I started with Watercolor pencils, and then a variety of water colour options. It tool ages to dry so pulled out my trusty drier and MELTED THE PAPER! Ummmmm. Right! I forgot there was plastic in there! Shock face!

So – I tried again and let the colours dry over night. The ONLY reason there is buckling on the paper is because it was the paper underneath the paper I over heated. Other than taking the whole night to dry, I absolutely loved how the Watercolor dried on the paper. It is bright and vibrant. Totally opposite of the Watercolor absorbing papers of the other journals I tried.

Tearing the paper. I tried, I succeeded. But it was harder than expected and has a very plastic stretch feel to the paper when trying to tear it. I also put it through the washing machine, and it came out the other side in tact and the same. Haha.

Ok So lets leap into the pros and cons

Pros: I love how bright and white the paper is. The zero bleeding, no ghosting, and the amazing way the Watercolor dries on the a paper. Big wins for me all round.

Cons: the smudgy hard over, no closure loop, or pen loop, no page numbers or contents.

The fact that I LOVE the paper so much is sad because this would quickly become my favourite journal, but it would get bashed around my bag, and everything would fall out. I also think the cost is a bit high in compariison to some other journals with more Bullet Journalist focused options. So I think it would have to be a home journal and not a practical journal so for that reason alone I give it a 4/5.