We sell a lot of Moleskines. Like, actually… heaps.

So many, that sometimes it’s hard to wonder what people actually use all their 15 different notebooks for.

Anytime I’ve ever had one, I’ve written on about one or two pages and then been so overwhelmed by the prospect of scrawling my insignificant thoughts on such nice paper, wrapped in such a beautiful binding that I just sort of savour looking at it for a while. I want to stroke the leather, rub it up against my cheek, spend an hour or two sniffing it… and by the time I have written a few notes in it, I’m about ready to buy my next one.

Browsing Merlin Mann’s ‘productivity blog’ 43Folders today, I came across this great post on ‘Moleskine Hacks‘. From keeping a spare $20 in the pocket for emergencies to using your Moleskine as a dream journal, there’s plenty of great ideas here at how you can get the very best out of these fantastic notebooks.

And as to whether Van Gogh actually had one of these, well, the jury’s still out on that…

A controversial change overnight in our Elizabeth Street store as the ‘love seat’ alcove next to the counter (long a favourite of amorous, magazine loving couples) has been removed to make way for what seems set to become known as… ‘The Stationery Nook’. (Although I still refer to this area as the “old alcove” or the “old love booth”!)

As we stock more and more amazing stationery (Rhodia, Moleskine, O-Check, Night Owl, etc.) it’s become necessary for us to use all the space available to us to showcase our wares.

And if that means canoodling couples have to find more public parts of our store, then we’re just gonna have to wear that. The Nook (now that is a better short version) will be surrounded by stationery once the sophisticated masking tape holding the walls in place is removed, and also makes use of artificial grass which is a current infatuation of mine. I put it in the T-shirt changing room and by the windows on The Third Floor, but people seem to prefer comfy armchairs than little patches of fake grass. Go figure. Anyway…

Rest in peace dear love booth. We hope you are happy in whatever place iconic features of cool retail stores end up going when the are replaced by new iconic features of said retail stores.

We’ve just landed the most gorgeous range of new stationery from Night Owl Paper Goods and their collection of “modern yet folksy eco-friendly wood & letterpress stationery”. Run by a duo out of Birmingham, Alabama in the United States, Night Owl make a sumptuous range of ultra-cute gift cards, produced on a hand-operated 1920s  letter press (for a bit of an insight into this awesome piece of vintage machinery, check out this video of one in action.)

To top things off, Night Owl also do a wide range of tote bags and a collection of wood covered notebooks using eco-friendly sustainably harvested yellow birch containing 75 blank pages of 100% recycled paper. Buy online, or in store!

Regular visitors to our stores may have noticed that we’ve slowly begun stocking a larger range of stationery, as our customers ask for it more and more. We’re selling the French brand Rhodia (allegedly a favourite of Francis Ford Coppola), an ever increasing swathe of Moleskines and a cute Korean brand called O-Check that we’ve been remiss to not mention here before now.

According to our suppliers:

The name ‘O-Check’ is derived from the Korean word ‘gongcheck’ which translated literally means ‘a book with nothing inside’. Substituting a zero for the word ‘gong’ O-Check captured the essence of its notebooks which upon creation are empty, but come alive when filled with words, thoughts, feelings and drawings.

Which, um, pretty much says it all really!

We’ve got a huge range of their notebooks (both softcover and hardcover), decorative sticky tape, travel diaries, pencil and eraser sets, a beautiful leather pencil case and lots more!