Journal Review: SassyPigeonHQ
We’re spoiled for choice for bullet journals these days - so how do you know which one to buy?! Let’s go in-depth on the SassyPigeonHQ bullet journal, available on Etsy from a home-grown Aussie stationery brand based out of South Australia. I have the Wand Crimson Dotted Journal, but the details are the same across the rest of the range.
Journal Specifications
The SassyPigeonHQ journals are A5 sized - they currently don’t have any other sizes available, but I love an A5 notebook so that suits me just fine! The pages are dotted with a subtle 5mm dot grid, giving you 38 spaces vertically and 26 spaces horizontally. There are 160 pages of 160GSM paper, meaning it will hold up to bleeding and ghosting at the same level as those big name brands you see all over Instagram. It sports two ribbon bookmarks and a pocket between the end sheet and the back cover, and an elastic closure to match the cover.
The book lies flat when open, though it needs a little encouragement when you first start using it - like most notebooks, in my experience! The pages are a bright true white. I actually prefer an off-white page but I know bright white is the preference of many others! I’ve committed to this journal for the first half of 2023, so follow my journey on Youtube or Instagram if you’d like to see how it performs over time!
Aesthetic
The folks at SassyPigeonHQ very kindly gifted my Wand Crimson journal to me, and when they asked which one I’d like I genuinely couldn’t choose! They surprised me with the crimson colour way and I’m very happy with it - the colour is rich and bold, the linen feels lovely (though it does pick up cat hair) and the wand emblem is super pretty. The page edges are a classic white, which I kind of love - while a metallic page edge looks amazing when the notebook is new, it can look a bit messy once I’ve got in there with paper and washi tapes for six months!
I’d love to know the story behind the colour and embellishment options available - the seller’s Etsy store doesn’t go into their motivations, but there seems to be something for everyone - linen and faux leather covers both pastel and bright, metallic embossing of classic florals and celestial images as well as younger-feeling options like the kiddie fruit theme of the strawberry fields journal. I only have one journal, but from what I can tell from the product listing photos, the embossing size seems to vary across the range. While I think they’re all lovely, to me there doesn’t seem to be a consistent brand story or theme behind them.
The notebook comes with a paper collar with the SassyPigeonHQ branding (which is adorable) but doesn’t have any other branding, either inside on the end sheets or embossed on the outside of the journal. That makes it a great choice for anyone who prefers to go incognito with their notebook brands, but I’d love to see SassyPigeon showing off a little with a back cover emboss or a little printing on the inside!
Performance
If you’ve used an Archer and Olive or a Notebook Therapy journal, you have a very good idea of how the SassyPigeonHQ journal will handle. It’s robust and high quality, meaning it will work well for however you like to journal - with sticker and papers, markers and finalisers or even paint. I personally haven’t seen any bleeding or ghosting yet with my usual arsenal of Pigma Micron and Tombow dual brush pens. It even handled watercolour quite well when I used it on my 2023 cover page, with just a bit of buckling as the paper dried out - much the same as other (more expensive) journals I’ve used in the past. Alcohol markers will bleed through the pages, but that’s the fault of the markers - not the book!
Who Are They Good For?
While I think anyone who’s discerning about their journals would enjoy the SassyPigeonHQ notebooks, I think my fellow Aussies would benefit from them the most. At only AU$30 before shipping (it’s $11.50 for shipping to me in Brisbane), they undercut the price of their international competitors significantly. A comparable A5 journal from Notebook Therapy costs $46.30, still more expensive even with their free shipping offer, and to buy a similar notebook from Archer & Olive via online store PaperKooka will set you back $52.60 - BEFORE shipping. SassyPigeonHQ are offering a quality journal at a lower price point, plus it won’t take weeks to reach us here down under the way some of the international brands do. Sometimes it’s hard being so far away from the rest of the world, so it’s wonderful having a local option!
Would I Use One Again?
From a practicality standpoint - sure! The SassyPigeonHQ journals tick all the boxes for what I look for in my journals - 160GSM pages, a subtle dot grid and a nice user experience.
What it lacks, for me, is the emotional connection - the brand story that helps me understand why these journals are, not just what they are. For starters… why “Sassy Pigeon”? It’s such a great name - I must know more! Why are there strawberry covers and rainbow covers, but also whale covers? The more I know about a brand the more I feel connected to it, and I hope to see more of that from SassyPigeon in the coming months. Australia really needs this brand! But I can’t promise my eye won’t wander…