Dear Everyone ~
I'd like to tell you about Isabel and her Katazome-covered notebook.
Isabel is eight and a half.
Her mother is a wonderful watercolour artist and book illustrator;
her father is an artist and screen printer.
Isabel made her first visit to my shop a couple of years ago,
on the occasion of my annual studio sale.
Her mother described Isabel’s visit as one of “total enchantment.”
Isabel came back to the shop several months ago with her mother,
and the assortment of little Japanese tri-fold notebooks caught her eye.
These are almost always in stock, usually just one each of various patterns.
Recently Isabel and her mother popped in for a visit,
and Isabel had brought her notebook to show me.
I was beyond delighted, and asked her all manner of questions.
Here are a few of her responses.
About choosing her notebook:
I remember choosing it.
I liked that it had cover paper that had a plain
background and shapes in rainbow colors.
About using her notebook:
I thought that I would just draw in it, and I do,
but I also kind of use it as a little newspaper I am creating.
About writing in her notebook:
I like using the tiny pencil,
and I like it more than using a big pencil.
About carrying her notebook and keeping it safe:
I take it places with me, but not all of the time.
When it’s at home, I keep it in an art drawer
that has my other sketchbooks in it.
* * * * *
The notebooks are covered in Katazome paper, which is stencil-dyed.
The notepad measures 2⅜ x 4⅜;
the address book is the same size.
(You would need to have micro-writing to stay neatly within the lines.
It’s fairly hilarious.) The right panel has a handy pocket.
The entire notebook is 9⅛ x 4⅝ when open flat,
and 2⅞ x 4⅝, and half an inch thick,
when closed with its charming bone clasp.
The petite pencil can indeed be sharpened in a regular sharpener.
Its ferrule (the brassy little metal band) has a tiny drilled hole through
which you could in fact attach a length of twine.
Inspired by Isabel, I have made a batch of refill pads,
using Antique Laid writing paper.
Click here to see the array of Katazome covered notebooks
Isabel is swell,
Bari