Archer and Olive Review: Perfect BUJO or art journal

It’s time for an Archer and Olive review! I bought my first Archer and Olive because I love art journaling. One of my favorite art journal spreads: create a watercolor background, write over it with dry watercolor pencils, and then ink over everything when I’m happy with the results. I also do a lot of sketching and ink and watercolor drawings in my notebooks.

However, it’s been increasingly difficult to find books with high-quality paper for mixed media. Watercolor sketchbooks are ok, but sometimes I don’t want textured paper. I also don’t like spiral-bound notebooks (just a personal preference). So I thought I’d give Archer and Olive a shot. I bought the A5 vintage bee blank paper notebook.

My Archer and Olive Review

All I can say is. . . I’m so impressed! They are a bit pricier than some other options, but they are completely worth it.

The paper doesn’t bleed at all, and it’s super smooth. It’s also bright white, which I love- most of the other good sketchbooks I’ve found are cream colored. It’s nice to have the extra vibrancy from the white paper.

And. . .The journals even open flat.

Add the cute covers, ribbon book marks, and multiple sizes. . . yeah, I’m hooked. I bought one to try and I’ve already made plans for buying several more. There’s an 8″x 8″ size that I can’t wait to play with, and they just introduced a traveler’s notebook.

The perfect bullet journal

If you are an art journal/ BuJo hybrid fan, you will love Archer and Olive. In addition to blank paper pages, they offer dot grid, kraft paper, and black paper (which is fun if you love gel pens!). I typically use Leuchtterm 1917 books for my bullet journals, but. . . my bullet journals are unabashedly ugly. I use pencils. And scribble. I make a mess. Even. . . tear pages out.

Things I don’t worry about in my bullet journals: making lovely title pages, calligraphic headings, artful weekly spreads, or beautiful anything else. It’s pure Ryder Carol style get-that-stuff-down-on-paper-and-keep-going bullet journaling. (#affilliate)

Leuchtterm paper is thin, which is fine if you are using pencils or regular ballpoint and not going for anything legacy. For the real world, they are perfect.

However, if you want a NICE bullet journal. . . Leuchtterm doesn’t really cut it. Honestly, it’s probably one of the reasons my bullet journals end up such a wreck. As an artist, my first thought is: this paper is for whatever. Not for art. Scribbles, yes. Jotted notes, yes. Coffee stains: acceptable. Not for nice things.

Archer and Olive notebooks, on the other hand, are perfect if you want high-quality paper for a BuJo Collections edition or if you are kind and loving to your bullet journal in general and don’t end up with something that looks like it could be titled “Da Vinci had a bad day.”

For now, I’m looking forward to art journaling with my Archer and Olive.