I love Stationery

Ever since I was a little girl and got my first pack of 12 HB pencils with my name printed on them in gold I have been in love with stationery. I remember fondly those trips to Woolies before we went back to school and stocked up on pencil cases, maths sets, and pens galore. I remember my first fountain pen (and winning the prize for best handwriting too) and that developed into the search for lilac ink. At University I discovered I had RSI in my hand and was sent to a physiotherapist who watched me write and said I pressed very hard with my pen. She recommended gel ink because it requires less pressure and I found my beloved Pilot G-1 0.7 in Violet.  Sadly I am down to my last half inch of ink and can’t find a source for them anymore. But I also love an italic pen, or a Pentel Ultra-fine in black for form-filling. Broad nibs are preferrable.

There is almost nothing quite like that frisson of pleasure when you open a new journal and the virgin pages lie before you waiting to be filled with thoughts and dreams. It all began with page-a-day diaries and then developed into notebooks in the best quality I could afford. (Very important that ink doesn’t bleed through to the other side.) My journal writing lasted from when I was about 14 until my Blog took over, but that hasn’t stopped me purchasing gorgeous books to put quotes in, or take to conferences and retreats. Both sons have inherited my love of stationery and have since introduced me to Moleskin notebooks which are classy but not quite purple or unusual enough.

My love of stationery is not restricted to pens and papers however. I can linger in a Stationery cupboard for hours just gazing at post-it notes in every hue, index cards, treasury tags, folders and pocket files.  How did we ever manage before Post-it Index flags to mark our pages? And you can’t hurry me in a Stationery shop for love nor money. I linger over those wonderful art and painting supplies with lust in my heart. Now if only I could paint…

Diaries are another source of pleasure. Over the years there have been desk blotters, page-a-dayers, angels and arty ones spiral bound for ease of writing, filofaxes which I have a love/hate relationship with (too big and heavy for handbags), electronic (too slow), and of course the beloved Parson’s Pocketbook. It is the latter that I am using at the moment in filofax form (lavender in case you were wondering) but I may go back to the burgundy version next year. I do wish they would do a two-page per week version though.

So there you have it. My secret vice shared with you all. And if you ever find some of those Pilot G-1 0.7 pens in Violet please buy them all for me, would you?