This week’s addict must have recently moved into a new home when this photo was taken, as she has just unpacked her journals and sketchbooks onto these shelves:
it’s starting to feel more like home
I look forward to having this same happy feeling someday, as I’ve just packed up most of my notebooks to go into a storage unit for a year or so while we move and renovate a new home. I’m going to miss my babies!
Source: Tuscan Rose: unpacking journals and sketchbooks
If you happen to be in New York in the next few days, you might want to check out the “Volez, Voguez, Voyagez” exhibition about the history of Louis Vuitton, especially since it’s free! Some of it is just advertising for the brand, but what makes it interesting is that it looks back at the history of travel through various types of luggage made by Louis Vuitton since the mid-1800s, some of which was used by famous people.
Of particular interest to me were various trunks and cases made for writers, as well as some small leather agendas. There were also some sketchbooks showing the development of Vuitton’s designs. I even spotted a notebook being used by someone who was demonstrating some of their hand crafting techniques, and a few leather notebooks that are current items they sell (which are of course incredibly expensive).
Here’s a few photos I snapped:
The exhibition closes on January 7, 2018, so get there quick!
Here’s the most recent update to my “using now” photo:
My main daily notebook is still the squared pocket Moleskine. A pocket Moleskine sketchbook is also a daily carry. And I have added the Nolty 2018 diary to my daily carry as well– I was originally thinking I would keep it by my bedside to record things at the end of the day but I enjoy it so much I’ve been keeping it with me. I am noting appointments in it, as well as tracking food, exercise, weather and other daily details. I’ve only been using fountain pens in this notebook.
Also in the photo:
–my old Hobonichi Techo that I’m using for handwriting practice
–the white Conceptum notebook which has notes about moving and home renovations as well as some other “new life” goals and plans
Not pictured but also in current usage on at least a semi-regular basis:
Pentalic Watercolor Sketchbook for painting
Moleskine Volant for French class notes
Squared Decomposition Book used for sketching floor plans and renovation ideas
In addition to my notebooks, the pens below are currently in heavy usage, with most of them being carried around in this adorable Delfonics pouch, which I just got as a holiday gift:
TWSBI Eco EF nib fountain pen, (this was also a holiday gift and I LOVE it!) currently inked with Diamine Oxblood
2 Pilot Metropolitan F nib fountain pens, currently inked with Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-Jaku and Sailor Seaweed Indigo
Lamy Safari F nib fountain pen, currently inked with Noodler’s Apache Sunset (though this will change as this ink looks nicer with a wider nib)
Uniball Signo RT 0.38 gel ink pen
Kaweco SketchUp clutch pencil (another holiday gift!)
Uniball Style Fit with 4 0.38 gel ink pen inserts and a mechanical pencil insert.
A very interesting article about the history of the iconic Tsubame notebook, created by Watanabe Hatsusaburō.
In the heady days of the early postwar era, Watanabe Hatsusaburō, founder of the Tokyo-based stationery maker Tsubame, had one thing in mind: to make a high quality, inexpensive notebook. In 1947 he launched the Tsubame nōto, a simply designed, multipurpose notebook. Its straightforward look—speckled gray cover, black-taped spine, gold-embossed product number—and high-grade paper have remained hallmarks over its seven decades, helping make it one of the longest selling and most recognized stationery items in Japan.
According to Watanabe Seiji, second-generation director of the firm, the product was born out of necessity. “Just after the war Japan was awash in cheaply made stationery,” he explains. “Hatsusaburō felt that the country needed affordable, well-made notebooks to sustain its long, rich writing culture. He joined forces with a local paper manufacturer to develop high-quality, inexpensive sheets based on foolscap writing paper imported from Britain, binding these together into a sturdy product. The notebook was a little more expensive than competing products, but people liked the feel when they wrote and it quickly became a hit.”
You can buy them on Amazon.
Read more at: A Longtime Writing Companion: Japan’s Tsubame Notebook | Nippon.com
This is from a couple of months ago, a notebook that belonged to Agatha Christie was being auctioned:
Crime novelist Agatha Christie’s handwritten notebook in which she plotted ideas for one of her detective novels is up for auction.
The 1948, “regular, off-the-shelf†bound notebook, which features a hand-drawn ink sketch Christie made to illustrate the layout for a murder, is expected to fetch almost €52,000.
Experts described the cloth spine notebook, the only one in existence outside of the Christie estate, as “brimming with ideas†and “fascinating and insightfulâ€.
Most of the jottings and plans contained within it are for the novel A Murder Is Announced, and the 1954 play Spider’s Web.
The auction was held November 17-19, but I can’t find any news about the final price…
More about Agatha Christie’s notebooks in this post.
Read more at: Agatha Christie notebook to go under the hammer | BreakingNews.ie
This week’s addict is Aurélia, who you can find on Instagram at @aureliabphotos. She is a photographer and sculptor/ceramicist, and also makes “letterbooks” so contact her if you are interested in exchanging snail mail! She is French but just moved to Portugal and doesn’t have all her notebooks with her, but there are quite a few in the photos below!
This is the notebook I use more.
Description
-purple : clay courses notes
– leurchturm : agenda
– my dream house, with all my ideas
– atelier/shop, ideas
– passwords book
– book, citation inspirations
– mark’s camera notebook, all my weddings
– fabriano, ideas couture and scrapbooking
– fabriano, ceramic sketchs
– rhodia, ceramic sketchs
– journaling
– ideas, to do list
pens : mildliner, prismacolor, irojiten
fountain pen : mont blanc, twsbi, parker
nighstand
-q&a 5 years
– 5 years journaling
books and notebook
Thank you for sharing your addiction, Aurélia!
I love these sketches by Javier de Blas, from Urban Sketchers:
See more at: One month in Florence with a pocket sketchbook (5) | Urban Sketchers
This is an antique notebook I found on eBay. These kinds of diaries seem to have been issued to soldiers during World War I & II, to encourage the recording of memories of the battles fought in, places seen, friendships made, etc. It also includes some handy French phrases.
This notebook is completely blank– I wish I knew what the soldier who owned it experienced over a hundred years ago…
This week’s addict has a detailed plan for how she’ll be using at least 7 planners and journals for various purposes– one for work projects, one for fitness and meal planning, others for daily journaling, art journaling, travel journaling and miscellaneous notes. There must be some other stuff going on too because I count 10 notebooks in the photo below! I love how Michelle uses a wide variety of notebooks, including Moleskine, Hobonichi, Filofax, Traveler’s Notebook, Leuchtturm and more!
Read all about them at: Planner & Journal Lineup for 2017 / Seaweed Kisses
I thought I’d give you all a change of pace– a post without a single notebook in it! Instead, I’ll talk a little bit about the pens I use with my notebooks, for the tests I do in reviews, and for day to day use.
My most frequently used pens tend to be Uniball Signo RT 0.38s, in black and blue-black. I find these comfortable to hold, and they provide a super-smooth, sharp fine line on pretty much any paper. I write notes and journal entries with them, and often use them for sketching too (though they aren’t waterproof [UPDATE: these ARE claimed to be waterproof by the manufacturer.]). They almost never bleed or show through much on Moleskine paper. And they’re cheap!
I also have a thing for multi-pens. I’ve tried a few from Uniball (including the MF-3 below), Pilot, and Zebra but my favorite is the Uniball Style Fit Meister 5-color. I have it filled with a pencil insert, and black, red, brown, and blue-black 0.38 pen inserts. I love the convenience and the smooth fine line, but find the fatter body a little less comfortable to hold while writing.
I’ve gotten a lot more into fountain pens and ink in the past year, and my favorites are my Lamy Safari (fine nib, currently inked with Sailor Seaweed Indigo), and two Pilot Metropolitans with Fine nibs (holding Diamine Oxblood and Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-Jaku). I can use the Metropolitans in Moleskines without much bleed-through, but otherwise I use my fountain pens mostly for some doodling, sketching, and handwriting practice in a Hobonichi Techo and for notes in my Nolty 2018 planner. I really love the way the Metropolitans write, but my hand gets a little cramped on the grip. The Lamy has a wonderfully comfortable grip, but the F nib is a little too wide for my usual handwriting size. I want to try an extra-fine Lamy nib to see if that’s a better fit for me. (Santa? Are you listening?) The other pens pictured are Platinum Preppies in M, F, and EF nibs. The finer nibs are a bit scratchy but the M nib, paired with Noodler’s Apache Sunset, is quite fun!
And here’s all the pens I use for tests in reviews, some of which I’ve had for many years. Some of my favorites are the Marvy Technical Drawing pen, the Platinum Carbon Pen, and the Pilot Varsity fountain pen, which is shockingly good given its extremely low price:
In addition, I tend to use Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens for sketching, and I’ve been playing around with Pilot Parallel pens for some attempted calligraphy doodles. I also use Pigma Microns and a few other assorted pens for drawing.
And of course I also use pencils for drawing, only a tiny fraction of which are pictured here! You can see how various pencils (regular ones, colored pencils, water-soluble graphite, charcoal, etc.) have made some of my pens rather dirty from being stored in the same case along with a sharpener and eraser! I have tons of drawing pencils, many that I’ve had since college and rarely use.
All in all, I really have no excuse for ever buying any new supplies for writing or art… but I probably will anyway! What are your favorite pens?
