The Well-Appointed Desk

Midori Pen Holder

AnaSeptember 24, 20122 Comments

Several weeks ago I purchased the Midori pen/cardholder from Notemaker ($8.30US). Its a blue-grey plastic vinyl with a clear plastic sleeve to hold a standard ID or business card. It has an adhesive back to attach to your Midori (or in my case, my Pelle) notebook which will keep a pen secure as well as providing a place to put contact information in case your notebook should ever go astray.

The instructions on the back suggest putting it on the cover or on the inside of the front cover but I decided to stick mine on the inside of the back cover. It actually made the back of the notebook a bit stiffer so that its a little easier to write notes while standing but if you tend to tuck your Midori or Pelle in a pocket, it doesn’t bend as easily with the pen holder attached.

At first, I tried a LePen in the pen loop but it is too skinny and pretty much just slides right out.

My Muji mechanical pencil which is about the same width stayed in place because of the clip and the elastic certainly helps. Look how banged up the cover of my book is getting! I just love how its weathering!

(Note: Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto Multipen from JetPens, MT washi tape from City’Super in Hong Kong, Kaweco ink cartridge holder from Notemaker, By Pigeon Stamp from Letter Writers Alliance)

I put a Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto multipen into the pen loop which was a bit of a snug fit but it worked. Its a nice little add-on for my notebook as I am not quite ready to do anything to the cover of my notebook and the cool little camera charm that I bought at City’Super in Hong Kong snapped off somewhere in mainland China.

Do you accessorize your Midori or Pelle? Or modify any of your notebooks? Share you tips and recommendations in the comments please!

There are other colors available and a smaller size available as well.

In quote

Einstein Quote of the Day

AnaSeptember 23, 2012

“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”

— Albert Einstein

It’s been published ceaselessly but as I am looking over my own cluttered desk and debating whether to tidy, I thought it fitting. Happy cluttered desk day!

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Rhodia Webnotebook Winner!

AnaSeptember 22, 2012

Running a bit late today so I thought I might make the winner announcement extra special and use my favorite typewriter to type out today’s winner (so its sort of a typocast)….

Random number generator picked:

So, here is the winner (which I had to print out the comments and number manually as I had replied to some posts and my comments don’t count and there was a couple comments that posted twice by accident):

I will be sending an email to the winner to get your mailing address so check your mail!

Thanks to everyone for participating and stay tuned for more giveaways soon!

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Ciak Planners for 2013

AnaSeptember 21, 2012

I hate to harp on it but its never too early to start picking out your planner for 2013. I noticed the shelves at Barnes & Noble already teeming with planners and calendars for the coming year and many of the most popular brands sell out before December rolls around and you might be forced to settle for second best.

That said, the Italian brand Fiorentina has just recently released its Ciak 2013 planner line. Each planner features a flexible, bonded leather cover with a horizontal elastic closure. Inside each book is 70gms archival paper. Planners are available in either daily format or weekly in three sizes (Large: 6″x8″, Medium: 5″ x 6.5″, and small: 3.75″ x 5.5″). Each size and style is available in a variety of colors. Jenni Bick stocks them in red, white, blue, black and orange.

Other Ciak notebooks and journals are also available at Jenni Bick in a wider variety of colors.

I’ll have more planner recommendations in the coming weeks so stay tuned!

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Journaling 101

AnaSeptember 21, 2012

I talk a lot about finding the perfect notebook or agenda but sometimes figuring out how to use your book that is as important as whether the paper is 90gms, unlined, hardcover, A5-sized or pocket-sized, grid, reporter-style. Rookie provided this get “get started” guide if you are feeling a bit stuck. The great advantage to using a paper notebook is that it can be anything or everything. You can put all your notes, drawings and plans in one book or have a different book for each purpose.

Do you keep more than one notebook at a time? Please leave a note in the comments about the best way you’ve found to keep all your brilliant thoughts and ideas on paper.

(via Rookie all images from Rookie contributor Emma Dajska)

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OliveBox

AnaSeptember 20, 2012

A new stationery subscription service launched today called OliveBox. Each month, subscribers receive a parcel filled with paper goods. Some of the items that could be included in an Olive Box are stationery, greeting cards, art, books, magazines and home decor and lifestyle products. Each offering is curated by former Bllomingdale’s buyer, Grace Kang who is also the founder of the Pink Olive Gift Boutique in New York.

Subscriptions start at $25 per month plus shipping charges but pre-purchased subscriptions for six months or a year will receive free shipping (I suspect that applies to US customers only but you may want to contact them directly to verify).

(via OliveBox)