Moleskine artwork

And continuing with the stationery, although less on stationery products and more on what people do with stationery, Fuck Yeah Moleskines is a tumblr site I came across that showcases artwork in Moleskine notebooks and sketchbooks.  Quality varies, but it's just cool to see what's inside people's sketchpads.  The artwork shown above is by Scottish illustrator Wil Freeborn, who shows drawings in his Moleskine notebooks on his site.

Handmade Tibetan sketchbooks

A few days ago I mentioned Shopsins five year diary and how I am addicted to stationery.  Continuing with that theme, here are a couple small sketchbooks I picked up at the Rubin Museum of Art store.  They are handmade in Tibet.  The one with the flower print has a cloth cover; the other one seems to have a linoleum cover or something similar.  What drew me to them are the really nice cover prints.  Why not have your sketchbooks look nice on the outside as well as the inside?

Shopsins' Five Year Diary, and my addiction to stationery

I saw this five year diary at the MoMA Design Store in Soho.  It's designed by Tamara Shopsin (of Shopsins General Store, and daughter of the owner of the famed Shopsins food joint in the Essex Street Market) in collaboration with The Ice Plant.  I have a weird addiction to stationery; I browse stationery stores like people browse clothing or shoe stores.  I can even be a little elitist with stationery.  If I see someone with a Moleskine I think, What a rookie.  (That's not to say I don't own more Moleskine notebooks, in various colors and sizes, than I know what to do with). 

Perhaps my addiction to stationery has to do with the potential symbolized by an empty notebook and a blank page.  Buying a new notebook is like embarking on a new adventure, filling the pages with your own content, until you end up with a little microcosm of yourself in book form.

Anyways, when I saw this diary at the MoMA store, I forced myself to walk away from the display.  I told myself I didn't need to buy any more notebooks, and besides, I had already gotten a 2010 planner, what was the point in getting this.  But in the end I couldn't resist.  My rationalization: my planner is for things I will do, and this will be for recording my concrete accomplishments on a day to day basis; plus I won't need to buy another one for five years.  The real reasons: I couldn't get over the soft feel of the cloth cover, and the handsome look of the red and white lines.  The diaries also come in blue and black, and I wanted to buy copies in all three colors, but there are limits to my rationalizing...