A old friend of mine lives in South Korea. Whenever she visits the US, she brings me some little gift, usually cute Korean stationery! This little notebook set was from her last visit. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen notebooks clipped into a carabiner before! The notebooks are all blank inside, and each has a … Continue reading Korean Notebook Set→
Hi all! A reader recently pointed out to me that my email notifications for new blog posts were no longer working. I had to do some behind the scenes work and delete various WordPress plugins and lost that functionality. But I think I’ve now added it back! In the menu below the header, there is … Continue reading Email Subscription→
Fans of writing tools seem to fall into two groups: the pen/pencil people and the paper people. But for most of us, both are important, as the combination of pen and paper is sometimes more important then each thing on its own. My focus has always been on paper, in the form of notebooks, but … Continue reading My Pen Collection, 2022→
The first question about this watercolor notebook is what its brand name actually is. The Amazon listing and the label on the shrinkwrap list the brand as “Chris W.” But the paper band and the stamp on the notebook itself say “Mairtini.” I guess I’ll call it the Mairtini Watercolor notebook, since that’s what’s on … Continue reading Chris W. / Mairtini Watercolor Notebook Review→
It looks like Joan Didion would qualify as a Notebook Addict of the Week— she left behind at least 38 blank notebooks when she died. Joan Didion’s notebooks are being sold as part of an auction of many of her belongings, including books, artwork, furniture, sunglasses and more. I’ve written about Joan Didion before– her … Continue reading Joan Didion’s Notebooks→
This looseleaf notebook was a recent eBay purchase. I bought it because it was a pocket size looseleaf from the 1950s, described as being 3×5″, and the brand name was unfamiliar. That was interesting enough to me, and the notebook wasn’t expensive, so I thought it would be nice to have it in my collection … Continue reading Vintage Looseleaf Notebook Made by Wilson Jones→
I’m continuing to make my way through my backlog of notebooks to review! I ordered this Talens Art Creation Sketchbook from Blick in January 2021 after seeing a few mentions of them online. The prices at Blick start at $7.25 for this pocket sized sketchbook, less than half what many competing brands are charging these … Continue reading Talens Art Creation Sketchbook Review→
I can’t believe I bought this Herisa notebook on Amazon in July 2020 and am only now getting around to reviewing it! Such is life these days… but let’s take a long overdue look at this notebook. I would guess that the Herisa notebook is kind of a generic item, perhaps marketed under a variety … Continue reading Herisa Notebook Review→
Several years ago, I linked to an article about the history of an iconic Japanese notebook: The Tsubame Fools Notebook. It’s taken me a while, but I’ve finally managed to buy and review one! I don’t know what took me so long. They’re not that hard to find, and they certainly aren’t expensive. This notebook … Continue reading Tsubame Fools Notebook Review→
Notebooks, journals, sketchbooks, diaries: in search of the perfect page…