Category Archives: Diary

Review: Design.Y Notebooks

I can’t believe it’s taken me over 2 years to review these notebooks. I first heard of Design-Y in early 2012, when they were receiving quite a bit of buzz on fountain pen blogs. If you’re not familiar with this brand, here’s the background: they are handmade in Japan by a Mr. Yoshino. He uses … Continue reading Review: Design.Y Notebooks

Notebook Addict of the Week: A Four Year Old!

Jes from Australia writes to say that her 4 year old son is a budding notebook addict! “About 18 months ago he asked for a notebook from my own (extensive collection, who said addiction doesn’t run in families? ). Since then he has filled a few. I love watching him create and record himself in … Continue reading Notebook Addict of the Week: A Four Year Old!

What I’m Using Now (and Recently)

A reader asked for more details about the notebooks in my “What I’m Using Now” photo. I haven’t been updating that photo as often as I should, though for the most part, it’s still accurate most of the time. The red and blue notebooks are HandBook Artist Journals that I have been slowly filling with … Continue reading What I’m Using Now (and Recently)

Facsimile of John Wilkes Booth’s Diary

Wow, this is really cool– an amazingly detailed reproduction of the diary of John Wilkes Booth, reproducing all the interior pages, and housed in a painstakingly crafted leather exterior. I love how it’s a wallet and notebook all in one, with lots of handy pockets.   Lots more photos at I have a Booth diary! … Continue reading Facsimile of John Wilkes Booth’s Diary

Review and Giveaway: Castelli Notebooks

Castelli is an Italian company offering customizable journals, notebooks and diaries. They not only sent me samples, they personalized them with the name of this site! The samples I received are of a variety of sizes and colors and formats, and from the catalogs they also sent, even these are just a fraction of their … Continue reading Review and Giveaway: Castelli Notebooks

From Readers

Paul sent photos of this fascinating eBay find: a one-month diary from 1887. I’ve never seen this kind of promotional diary covering only one month!   Anastasija from Macedonia invites you to visit her Etsy shop called Eleusa, where she sells handmade journals and other items:   Marush from Guatemala has a line of notebooks … Continue reading From Readers

Notebook Addict of the Week: Tatiyana

This week’s addict emailed me lots of great photos and thoughts about her notebook obsession. I very much identified with what she says about enjoying the act of writing itself sometimes regardless of what words are being written! Tatiyana says: “I have always enjoyed writing for as long as I can remember. Back when I … Continue reading Notebook Addict of the Week: Tatiyana

Notebook Addict of the Week: Lee Ann Spillane

This week’s addict is another one found via the excellent Sharing Our Notebooks blog. Lee Ann Spillane is a teacher who has been keeping notebooks since she was very young. She says: “I love to learn and think and draw and write. As I child I wanted to remember things. I used to sit on … Continue reading Notebook Addict of the Week: Lee Ann Spillane