Many many months ago, my absolute favorite journal makers, the Rag & Bone Bindery in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, stopped making those favorite journals of mine. For a time I just didn’t know what to do. I had one blank journal on back-up when I learned they had stopped manufacturing them, but still, I was so nervous. What would I write in? I have been using these journals for the last six years - exclusively! - to do my journaling in. Sure I have bought lots of other notebooks and journals since that time, because I have just had this little obsession, but these books were my heart and soul, and I was crushed when I wrote to the company and asked why they stopped manufacturing them and was told, pretty much: “They cost too much money.”

Just look at their perfect binding, their thick, pristine, hand-cut white paper, those edges, those fabric covers!! How could you put a price on something like that? Currently they are only making the 6″x9″ journal, and selling them for $29.00. Am I imagining things or is that price lower than it was before? Maybe I am just so excited about having these back that I just don’t care.

I  still have about thirty pages or so left in the last one I bought, but by the end of June I will certainly have to get another one of these. Have to? Ha! I can’t wait to get my hands on another one! The only problem now is choosing which cover…

Pomegranate, Brown Garden, or Apricot!

VintagePaperWorks is worth perusing in its entirety.

Here we see a journal that was spiral bound with recycled Go Dog Go covers. These are the kinds of things that make me wish I was more hands on creative. How cool would it be for both of us if I took Elise’s old books and repurposed them to make journals she can write in when she is older? I am sure my daughter will think these are as cool as I do when she grows up..

This girl uses lots of old, vintage books and uses their covers to bind together new notebooks. She also uses creepy old black and white photographs, parts of board games, like Scrabble, Life, and Chutes and Ladders, and even uses some coasters from the Outback Steakhouse to craft mini-journals.

Custom orders are okay, and wholesale orders seem like they may be an option. This is totally the kind of thing I would love to sell in my dream store…

The Elephant Greeting Card set is awesome. I love the fancy, swirly, girly look about them.

These cards are blank, each one in the set is a different color with a different design, and the design continues on to the back, which you can’t see in this picture.

Check out these cards on Etsy, and take a moment to look at Laura’s, the designer’s, other works. She makes some amazing purses as well as great digital art.

And, if you aren’t as fond of elephants as I am, she makes giraffe greeting cards as well.

This pen is also from Botanical Paperworks, and I can’t believe that I didn’t buy it the moment I laid eyes on it, but I have been trying to exercise some self control when it comes to shopping online.

This pen is entirely made of glass and it is designed to pull ink up into its chamber and evenly write on any kind of paper. It’s awesome! It’s a real old school pen that you actually dip into ink!! It’s glass! It’s green! (Or blue, black, red, or amber)! It’s only $31.95!!!!

Check out these pens here.

Okay. I know this is just the beginning of Pretty Perfect Paper, but this paper is pretty perfect - no pun, no pun.

BotanicalPaperworks.com - Paper that blooms into flowers, notebooks that bloom into flowers, stationary, notecards, and invitations that bloom into effing flowers.

I am trying to hold myself back from buying everything, but a purchase is in order for at least these two things: the Think, Write, and Grow Plantable Journal, and the Plantable Mother’s Day cards. 

I can think of at least one great mom who would probably just freak out over these cards, and the journal? Well, yeah. That’d be for me.

I found so many great things to show today, I am probably going to save some for later, but this one can’t be missed!

First of all, why have I never heard of Uncommon Goods before? These are the kinds of things that convince me that the internet is a box of wonders and well worth exploring into its depths. ANYWAY!

This journal. This elephant journal, made out of recycled cotton. Made out of recycled cotton and stitched together with bright colors and bright papers inside. Except this isn’t actually made out of paper. It’s made out of cotton, remember? It’s a tree-free book, and only $22!!

I feel like I am not going to be using the best sentences today, because this journal really excites me. It’s excited me so much, in fact, I am starting a whole new category on Pretty Perfect Paper: I Heart Elephants. Mmm.

Found these by way of Dooce’s post about an adorable Angela Adams purse. It makes me happy that designers of textiles take the time to design paper goods as well. That’s how we get so many of the pretty things in the world.

These Angela Adams mini-journals come in a boxed set of four for only $14.99 - and yes, I ordered them.

What am I going to do with these???

I came upon the Port2Port Press Card Society after stumbling upon this amazing photography blog called “3191 - A Year of Evenings” which is a collaboration between two women who take a picture in the evening of each day - 3191 miles apart from each other.

One of the women who blog at 3191, Maria, also runs Port2Port Press, the home of the Card Society, whose members receive two one of a kind handcrafted cards each month. The club is pricey for people like me, who just don’t have people to write many nice cards to ($140/year) but then again, the same pictures of cards are gorgeous and very creative.

Maybe an investment like this is the kind of thing that actually would get me to write more letters - such a beautiful lost art.

Matches. Matches are not paper. They can be lit, and then set fire to paper! The box is somewhat made out of paper!

Oh, well I love ‘em! I found these on Sugar Paper , a shop based in California that does custom designs for stationary, invitations, letterpress, and a lot more.

Just looking at Sugar Paper’s website makes me want to fly to Los Angeles, just so I can go into their store and rub my hands over everything they have made. I am sure they wouldn’t not appreciate that, but hey. It’s my dream, and I will continue to have it.

The funny thing is that I hate matches - I just love little paper boxes. There ya go! Paper boxes!

Readymech.com offers a bunch of cool, free paper toys. All of them can be downloaded in .pdf form onto 8.5″x11″ paper, and then folded and put together with some double-sided tape.

Many different artists and designers have contributed to making these paper toys available for free, so please check out their websites when downloading!

This particular toy, which looks to me like a zombie (does anyone else see zombie here?), was designed by Chris M. Collenberger. His illustrations for kids - especially the ones for kid’s nutrition - are well worth a look.

Thanks go to Johnny for the link.