This is an honest review of the Scribbles That Matter Iconic Version Journal. This Scribbles That Matter journal review shares my opinions of the journal and is not paid for or sponsored by the company.
Today I want to share my experience using the Scribbles That Matter Iconic Journal. I will say right up front here I am pretty happy with the journal itself. It’s well manufactured and satisfies my bullet journal needs.
From time to time the Scribbles that Matter Journal is sold out on Amazon. When this happens third party sellers will try to sell the journal for an insane amount of money. DO NOT BUY THAT! Scribbles that Matter should be back in stock soon. My second favorite journal is the Essentials Dot Matrix, though I warn you the pages on this one are thinner and bleeding and shadows show up on opposite sides. However, it's a decent cheap journal if you are in a pinch and just want to get started.
There are some things to be aware of about this journal and I will cover all of them in this review. Before we get into that though let’s take a look at Scribbles That Matter as a company.
Why Scribbles That Matter
Scribbles That Matter is a UK based company that sells journals and planners. Their products are designed and prototyped in the UK but made in China with good business practices.
As a company they know the importance of journaling for mental health and Scribbles That Matter wanted to make a product that was affordable and beautiful at the same time. Their hope is that at some point carrying a journal will be as important as carrying a smartphone.
The appeal for using Scribbles That Matter products is that they are completely vegan. There is no animal product used to make any of their products. For a lot of people who live a vegan lifestyle this is a huge selling point.
One thing that people love about Scribbles That Matter as a company is the way they listen to their fans. It wasn’t too long ago that they had a skull doodle on the cover of their Iconic Journal. After customers complained about this doodle they replaced it with a cute little hedgehog.
They are one of the few companies that really listens to their customers. This is still an important factor in running a business, especially one that caters to people who take part in an active and devoted craft like bullet journaling.
Scribbles That Matter Journal Review
Now that you know a bit about the company I’ll go over the features of the Iconic Version Journal. This journal is the one with all of the different doodles on the cover.
They have two other journals. Their bullet planner which has prompts and graphs to fill in already and the pro version that doesn’t have doodles on the front.
Iconic Version Cover
One of the appealing parts of the Iconic journal is the cover. They come in many different color combination options and have loads of cute doodles on them.
The cover has a great feel to it, it’s heavy and does not bend easily. The faux leather cover is soft to the touch and looks beautifully made. I have not read of any binding issues with the journal or experienced any myself. Of course as I use the journal more if I do experience binding issues I will update this post.
The Key and Index Pages
One of the biggest questions I see are if the key and index pages actually exist or if it is sample pictures? I can confirm that they actually exist. There is one key page that includes bullet codes and color codes. After that there are three pages for your index.
The fact that they included three pages for the index alone is a huge plus for me. I like to keep track of almost every page so it’s important for me to have a place to easily track this. The space for the key is a must have and while I don’t often color code my journal I know a lot of bullet journalers do.
Dotted Pages
There are 201 dotted pages in this journal – with 27 dots across and 38 dots down on the each page. The pages are numbered so you don’t have to worry about that task. Additionally – in the journal I received – the dots lined up across the pages so you can easily create page designs across two pages.
The paper weight is 100 gsm. I have a heavy hand so when I test paper I REALLY test paper. There was ghosting with my heavy hand. Ghosting does not bother me but if it bothers you this is something to be aware of.
Ghosting is when you can see the design on the previous page. Ghosting can happen because of a heavy hand – like me – or with certain pens. Usually a heavier weight paper will prevent ghosting or minimize it. Be aware, if you have a heavy hand you will have ghosting on the heaviest cardstock you can get too.
Additionally, in regards to those perfect spreads and collections you see on Instagram, a lot of those pictures have been highly edited to get rid of ghosting and bleeding in order to showcase the actual spread.
Pen Test Page
There is a pen test page at the back of the journal. This comes in handy when you are trying out new pens. Because I tested my pens first on the pen test page, I knew right away that I would experience some ghosting with the pages of this journal. Like I said though, ghosting doesn’t bother me because I know I have a heavy hand.
Extra Features
There are quite a few extra features on this journal that are handy to have.
The very first page is a belong to page with a journal start date line. This is great because later – when you look to reflect on old journals – you will have an easy start date. To compliment this page, at the back of the book there is a mindfulness page. This page allows you to write down your journey over the course of a few months and put an end date for the journal.
There is a handy pocket in the back cover of this journal. I find these pockets are fantastic to hold stencils. I don’t usually utilize the pockets but you might find it useful.
I personally really enjoy that I have two ribbons to help bookmark my journal. I use gratitude logs and habit trackers every month, I also use a weekly agenda spread and daily journals. It’s nice to have two ribbons to help bookmark the most important pages in your bullet journal.
Finally, there is a handy pen holder for the journaler on the go. I never leave my house or when I do I don’t need my journal with me. However it’s sturdy enough and who knows the future may change and I might find that pen holder to be extremely useful.
Iconic Version Journal Review
Overall I am extremely happy with the Scribbles That Matter journal. Even though there is ghosting I know that I will most likely have a ghosting issue no matter what journal I use. I’ve accepted that and am willing to look past it.
The journal has a nice feel and works well. If you want to see the journal in action check out my post for my November Harry Potter theme. Some images were edited slightly so make sure you look at the daily spreads to see the ghosting I talk about. Also understand that is a heavy hand with a dark color. If you have a light hand and use pastel colors you will probably never have an issue.
Do you think you will give the Scribbles That Matter Iconic Version journal a try? Let me know in the comments below. Follow me on Pinterest for more like this and pin this to your Bullet Journal boards.
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