Holiday Shopping Guide: Flytrap Paper Goods

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by SB Sarah | by SB Sarah | October 04, 2010 | Monday at 6:00 pm | 81 Comments

Yesterday, Hubby and I went shopping for warmer clothes for all of us, and there, on the northernmost wall of the store it was… Christmas. Trees and garlands and sparkly stuff and holiday frames and all kinds of stuff, all on sale.

YOU GUYS. IT IS NOT EVEN HALLOWEEN. (Also: we are not Christian and therefore do not celebrate Christmas but that’s beside the point).

Did that stop me from looking at the items on sale and finding some very excellent gifts for people for the holidays? Of course not. (We celebrate Hanukkah - the most excellent holiday ever because no matter HOW you spell it, it’s probably right. Really. It’s like spellcheck-proof. There’s 36 different ways to spell Hanukkah. Enjoy that. You still have to get your/you’re correct, though.)

So after some pondering I decided, let’s spread the IT IS NOT EVEN HALLOWEEN YET shopping fun around to the hot pink palace of Bitchery! First up: Paper goods.

Are you like me in that, if you go into a store like Papyrus or a bookstore that has lots and lots of paper goods, you get all twitchy and want to fondle the really fuzzy papers and look at all the notebooks, measuring for heft and purse-fit-ability? Do you look at all the cards and pick some out for people who would totally be all, “Wait, real mail? What is that?!” I love paper goods. I have catalogs of stationery that I drool over. It’s kind of sick.

Ergo, when I was contacted a few weeks back by Flytrap papers, who wanted to send me their press kit, I was like, “OH HELL TO THE YES PLEASE.” It’s adorable. The sides say, “Oh, my God, This is so awesome!” and “I can’t wait to see what’s inside!” Design quality, it is high, yo.

Flytrap has really freaking cute stuff, too, from the extremely off-color humor cards to sexy journals and miniature greetings cards for significant others, kids, friends, and family.

I really liked the Laugh guided journal, and the Boink guided journal which encourages couples to have sex every day for 30 days and offers (ahem) suggestions to foster the enthusiasm.

There’s also pre-printed coupon gift sets for different people, and if you’re not shopping for the holidays, they have Halloween cards, too. I totally laughed at the one about 20something girls - have you SEEN some of the costumes for 20somethings—or even worse, young girls? *shudder*

Included in my press kit was some samples - three greeting cards and a pack of 12 “Smart Little Love Notes” - which I am giving away here. Leave me a comment and tell me which paper good you cannot live without: blank notebooks? Greeting cards? Really lush paper? Pens? What’s your favorite paper gift to give or receive? Comments close in 24 hours and I’ll pick one winner at random. Yes, you far far away folks on nice tropical islands outside the US, this is open to you, too.

And if you have a suggestion for a holiday shopping location I should feature, or a product you love to buy for people, email me at sarahATsmartbitchestrashybooksDOTcom with “Holiday Gifts!” in the subject line. I would love to feature small businesses as much as possible, so long as there’s good customer service and fun options. I have a few more gift and shopping locations to share but I would be giddy to expand my options for gifts that would appeal to readers, book lovers, or romance fans in particular!

Standard disclaimer: I’m not being compensated for the giveaway. Best paired with low-calorie, high-fiber diet. Some equipment shown is optional. You can’t read my poker face.

ETA: Behold! A winner! Dine, you win - stay tuned for email from me. Yay!

Filed: General Bitching, Go Ahead, Win Some Shit

Tagged: store, shopping guide, shopping, press, holidays, giveaway, flytrap, bitchery, awesome

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Alison said on 10.04.10 at 06:15 PM • [link]

Blank notebooks! - have too many but never stop collecting them. I once received one each from five different people at - oops, better say the holiday was Hannukah, not the C-word - and I was ecstatic
Karen H said on 10.04.10 at 06:18 PM • [link]

I always have greeting cards around as I have 4 siblings, my parents, 14 nieces and nephews and 8 great-nieces and nephews who all keep having birthdays and anniversaries. I also love great textured writing paper though I admit I don’t actually use it because then I would no longer possess it. I LOVE knowing it’s there to fondle. I also like fat pens that use real ink (much better than ballpoint). I like to receive greeting cards because then I don’t have to feel guilty about not using the lovely writing paper that I’d really much rather have.
morwen said on 10.04.10 at 06:36 PM • [link]

My absolute favorite paper related gift I ever received was a quill set complete with black, red, green, and blue ink wells. It’s awesome, even though I can’t use half of the nubs that came with it. Still I like how nice and pretentious is looks on my desk.

My favorite gift to give, however, is journals. I am a huge journaler and believe, and force the idea on others, that everyone should journal. So when I find journals that make me think of someone I buy it for them, doesn’t even have to be a holiday or special occasion.
Tina C. said on 10.04.10 at 06:47 PM • [link]

I collect greetings cards with the intent of stocking up so that I don’t have to buy them later. In actuality, I’m collecting them so that I can forget about them until I stumble over them a year or so later, when I don’t need them anymore. I’m forever finding birthday cards I didn’t send and Christmas cards I forgot to fill out.

I do love, and use, lined post-it type notes, though. Bookmarks, grocery lists, telephone numbers—they have a million and one uses!

As for Christmas/Hanukkah shopping ideas, I covet these so very very much!! (I wonder if we can convince them to do a free give-away! *sigh*
BillieB said on 10.04.10 at 06:49 PM • [link]

I love stationery sets. Not just paper and envelopes, but the sets that include blank cards and postcards and little seals and maybe some of those foldy letter things. I always promise myself that I’ll actually use them and start writing letters to people and that lasts for about a month until no one writes back and then it’s back to e-mail. Sigh.
LibrarianLizy said on 10.04.10 at 06:56 PM • [link]

The librarian before me was a notebook/notepad hoarder. No joke. I’ve never seen so many unused paper items in my life. Me, I love blank notecards. Being southern, I feel guilty if I don’t send a thank you note within 20 seconds of receiving the gift, so I stay really stocked up on notecards of all sorts.
Debbie said on 10.04.10 at 06:57 PM • [link]

Hi my name is Debbie and I’m addicted to Post-Its. It’s actually become a problem because anything that can be written is written on a post-it (and those little suckers are not cheap!) At any given time, I have about 37 1/2 Post-Its telling me what to do and when to do it. Some people listen to the voices or to the Rice Krispies, I do what my Post-Its tell me to.
Sarah said on 10.04.10 at 07:06 PM • [link]

Cards. I LOVE me some good greeting cards! I can spend hours shopping for one birthday card and end up buying and mailing 5 because I love them all! I buy cards for all occasions. Boss’s day?? I don’t have a boss but I have a friend who is a boss! Check! Grandparents day? My girls have 10 great grandparents and 7 grandparents, check, check check!!! Healthcare appreciation day? Well, I only see my gyno once a year, but she did delivery my two kids. Check! Oh.. and my dentist! Check!!

My husband HATES and I mean HATES shopping for cards with me. I think he plans our shopping trips so that I don’t get to even see the card aisle and get twitchy fingers.

I have a card that is going out today to a friend of mine that says: “Mommy’s going to the grocery store for drinks, I mean groceries.” LOL and on it inside it says “Look forward to ‘grocery shopping’ with you sometime soon.”
Ealasaid Haas said on 10.04.10 at 07:10 PM • [link]

I’m a blank book addict, me. I’ve kept a journal since high school, volume after volume of blank books filled up with my handwriting. I also have a weird almost-fetish for awesome blank books—I can spend ages in the blank book/notebook section of any book/paper store, examining the covers, feeling the pages, seeing if I like the way the lines are spaced and how thick they are. I pretty much always have a bunch of spare blank books of varied sorts, some I’ve been saving for years until I feel just right about using them for a particular project or for the next volume of my journal. Ahhhh, blank books. So full of possibility.
joanne said on 10.04.10 at 07:11 PM • [link]

Real mail! I love real mail.

First there is the mystery.

Is it another invitation to a shower for someone I haven’t seen in 10 years? No?
Is it an announcement that makes me have to send a gift to someone I haven’t seen in 10 years? No?

Okay then, it’s mail! A card, a note!
I’m Happy & Surprised.

I Love real mail, both sending and receiving.
Jessica said on 10.04.10 at 07:15 PM • [link]

I love lined blank books that I can use as a book journal. I start a new book journal every year on Jan 1 and usually spend the preceeding week shopping through all the paper goods sections to find just the right one - long enough, right size, with the ribbon book mark, interesting looking but different from last years, etc. I never let alone come with me on these trips as I want to be able to really take my find and find just the right one.
Ana said on 10.04.10 at 07:16 PM • [link]

My absolute absolute favorite is my Moleskine agenda, you can see the entire week on the left, and has space for notes on the right side. On the first page there is a space (like in all the Moleskines) to put your name, adress and reward so people will return it to you if lost (mine says 30 bucks, so if you ever find it, you know…). Plus it came with a tiny pen that fits on the middle of the cover : ___ . ___ (view when flat on the table). And it has an amazing elastic band to keep it closed. It has an A5 size so it fits in all my handbags, plus on the back cover there is a folder to keep stuff. Finally, it has a travel planning, a global time zones map, worldwide dialing codes and holydays (USA: 11 national bank holidays, same as Spain, but HK’s got 17!), measures and conversions tables (also for clothes!)... and it’s not heavy at all.
And before you ask, no, I do not work for Moleskine (Tm), I just really love my agenda (too bad I bought it in Belgium and can’t find the same one for 2011-2012).
And that’s all I have to say about my favourite paper gift (though I love to spend time at paper shops, picking out pens, and clips, and tiny notebooks that I don’t ever get to use)
Anyway… Feliz Navidad!
Daisy said on 10.04.10 at 07:28 PM • [link]

Blank notecards. All of my family live far away and I love blank notecards to put into the boxes I send to them.

They also come in handy to send a note to a teacher, a friend who needs a lift, sympathy cards that do not include all that gooey mush that card companies insist on putting in and anytime I just want to drop a note to someone.
Patrice said on 10.04.10 at 07:42 PM • [link]

Pens. We lubs dem. I cannot go in the pen aisle yet wind up with many, many pens. But aside from that, I love notepads. And post its. Which now come in labels, and you can get free samples at their site. But because I try to reuse/recycle I wind up using junkmail envelopes or the ends of printer paper, since all the freekin coupons print on two pages even if the coupon is a quarter page at most! and that’s after I click the printer friendly button. annoying. I feel guilty not reusing all that “junk” paper so I never buy myself notepads. But I love to get them as gifts! I received a notepad in a lovely floral holder with a PEN. Score! My preciousssss I horde that papers yesss. My kitah loves de pens to play, good toys, skittery to catch! :)
Lauren said on 10.04.10 at 07:53 PM • [link]

years ago when i was about 12 my grandpa constructed and my grandma painted a little lap desk for me. i think it was intended as a place for me to do my homework, but instead it immediately became a place to house my stationary. that sweet little desk still holds my stationary and calligraphy set, but it isn’t quite large enough to hold all my paper products anymore.
i love a good pen - ballpoint, felt-tipped, nib - if it feels good to write with, i’m going to hold onto that sucker for dear life!
i also love cute and quirky stationary and invitation cards. i throw a holiday party each year, and i’m always on the lookout for fun invites.
i’m with you, sarah: sending (or receiving) snail mail for no particular reason is lovely and delightful.
Sarah said on 10.04.10 at 07:55 PM • [link]

I can’t live without blank notebooks. So much so that my house is full of them. Some are full of writing. Some are full of possibilities. All of them fill me with delight.
AndieG said on 10.04.10 at 07:55 PM • [link]

I have a dual addiction to blank notebooks/journals and any nice, smooth-writing, gel ink pens. I have far too many of both but can never resist a trip down the pen/stationary aisle at any department or office supply store. I have given a few really nice pens as gifts in the past, but usually buy those for myself more than anyone else.
Sue K said on 10.04.10 at 08:15 PM • [link]

Blank notebooks… all sizes…. from the moleskins to the B&W composition notebooks to spirals & wirefree notebooks.

Paper to give as gifts? origami!! My favorite origami to give to my friends outside the US is paper dollar rings! folding a dollar bill into a ring for the average or small sized finger.

and, yes, I have stacks of paper stationery… different sizes & colors & styles & graphics… plus I’ll design my own & print them up!!
Lisa J said on 10.04.10 at 08:40 PM • [link]

Greeting cards. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE greeting cards. If a card seems perfect to me, I buy it and refuse to send it to anyone. I have a box of favorites I show people, but never give to anyone.
Seadanes said on 10.04.10 at 08:41 PM • [link]

I’m obsessed with notebooks - usually Composition books and pens, especially Sharpies. I can’t get enough. Stationery is a problem, too.
Jerusha said on 10.04.10 at 08:45 PM • [link]

Ooooh yes to the notebooks and journals, especially those with gorgeous covers, my current journal is fabric covered - turquoise with different coloured butterflies. It’s very strokable. I think it’s the potential that an empty journal has that makes it so exciting, and then there’s the fun of looking through them years later, and remembering. I have mine stashed in a shoebox in my wardrobe.

And the code is own79 - I’m afraid I own considerably more than that!
KTG said on 10.04.10 at 09:03 PM • [link]

I can’t leave home without a little notepad! In case I wrote a list, or need a number or address, or to scrawl the name of a song I hear on the radio and don’t want to forget. My favorite are the ones you can get in Barnes and Noble that have an initial printed on them. Mine are purple K’s!
Mama Nice said on 10.04.10 at 09:42 PM • [link]

I love little notebooks / journals. From the elegant and classy to the funky and sassy - you can never go wrong if you buy me something I can take with me to write in.

And thanks…for some reason Adam Sandler’s Chanukah song is in my head (I just made THAT spelling up - does it work?)
Galadriel said on 10.04.10 at 09:43 PM • [link]

I have tried very hard to curtail it, but I can only stave off the impulse to buy them for so long: I’m addicted to blank, spiral-bound lined journals. I’m a sucker for the pretty ones, the cute ones, the geeky and funny ones, but I try very hard to only buy them on sale now, because I have far too many in my house that I simply haven’t used yet. *sigh*

For a long time it was simply that I didn’t want to muss them up with scrawled, messy writing, but it kind of defeats the purpose of having notebooks at all if you won’t use them. But a number of years ago I found myself realizing, in the midst of a layover on the way to a conference, that I’d forgotten to pack any paper for note-taking purposes at all. Well, the airport stores only had notebooks, not pads, so I bought a pretty journal, and steeled myself for writing in it. Necessity won out. Who knew all those fantastic pretty notebooks were actually for writing in?

Of course, I have (temporarily) moved far away from my home in pursuit of an upper-level degree, and while I brought a notebook along with me, that hasn’t stopped me from going out and buying five more in the past three weeks. Um. In my defence, the first 3 were on deep discount and I needed one or two anyway, and the other 2 are just plain *pretty.* I am attempting to curtail the desire to go out and look at some more today.

I do love pretty journals—especially the fact that the covers on spiral bound ones can be tucked completely away for ease of writing for a Southpaw like me, and that the spiral itself is a great place to clip a pen or mechanical pencil—and quirky postcards, which I’ve been collecting at an increasing rate and then failing to send out, but one of my favourite paper gifts to give/receive is origami. Sets or already-made shapes, it doesn’t matter. I love those little jars filled with tiny origami stars, and I’ve made origami ornaments to send to far-flung friends before, and a full-blown origami mobile for a birthday present. I only wish I could reliably remember how to fold more than just cranes. *G*

(“provide86”—I could probably provide 86 friends with enough journals and postcards to keep them well-stocked for years.)
kimsmith said on 10.04.10 at 09:53 PM • [link]

Office supplies are hot!

Post Its, rubber erasers, staplers that go “click-click-click” when you tap on them, little dishes or boxes from stationairy sets to put Starlight Mints in, the tall, slender cups that hold ink pens—and pens! OMG, PENS! The clicky kind, the kinds with clips on the side, red pens, blue pens, black pens—uniballs are the best, wtih their smooth flow of ink, but pens with business names on the sides—just rolling them together between the palms of my hands while I’m thinking is a delicious, satisfying sound.

When I was little, I was excited by school supplies, the blank spiral bound notebooks with their crisp, white pages and straight blue lines just waiting for me to write something in them. I don’t use notebooks to write in any more (word processors hold so much more so conveniently), but I still get a little tingle of excitement when I see a clean notebook.
Pam said on 10.04.10 at 10:00 PM • [link]

I love blank notebooks with lush paper and interesting covers, but I can resist them. What I am really a sucker for are cards—both greeting and note—that have Asian motifs. Japanese and Chinese art is my favorite—particularly subjects from nature and some of my best beloved Christmas cards have featured totally holiday-unrelated Asian art. Who doesn’t need a little touch of beauty for the holidays
Carin said on 10.04.10 at 10:20 PM • [link]

It’s post it notes for me. Bright colors preferred to pastels. Funny sayings optional but appreciated. I would have a hard time remembering ANYTHING without post it notes!
LisaJo said on 10.04.10 at 10:24 PM • [link]

I love me some gorgeous pens, although I don’t get the opportunity to hand-write much anymore. And yes, I bulk-buy my gift cards in advance, finding special cards for specific people and I generally end up buying “no reason” cards for other people too. I miss hand-writing!
Steph said on 10.04.10 at 10:29 PM • [link]

Post-Its. Love them, need them, have to have them. Note pad of any sort. Post-Its, make notes to myself while sitting down, stick them to my pants so I notice them and remember whatever it was when I stand up (or at least hopefully remember, otherwise I walk around with them on my pants or until they fall off). Any type of note pad (Steno Pads are a fave) beccause I make endless lists. I probably spend more time making list than I do time finishing the things on my list, doesn’t matter, MUST MAKE LISTS *maniacal laughter*
And must use fine tip ball-point pens so I can actually read said lists later (horrible handwriting and gel pens smear…eww)
Diatryma said on 10.04.10 at 10:39 PM • [link]

The single biggest stationery-related thing I want is someone who will write back regularly.

Other than that, a good fountain pen and paper that stands up to it.
SB Sarah said on 10.04.10 at 10:43 PM • [link]

I am so glad I am not alone in my blank-book/journal fetish.

AND YES TINA C. OMG OBERON COVERS. I fondled one at a conference recently and it was truly the most luscious thing ever.
ninjapenguin said on 10.04.10 at 10:44 PM • [link]

Pretty papers! For making artsy craftsy projects or doing origami. And pens. Man, I had this huge bag of all different colored gel ink pens back in college, and I would draw these really elaborate designs on the back of my hand during class. Once, one of my professors actually stopped me after lecture to say that she couldn’t believe that I was actually paying attention since I was always drawing, but that since I always participated in discussions it must work for me. Then she complimented my design!
Gwynnyd said on 10.04.10 at 10:52 PM • [link]

As much as I love writing paper (no! don’t make me use the last sheet of psychedelic paper I bought in 1968 - anything but that! and yes, I owe you a note, but not on the last piece of of the set I bought in England in 1979!), and I have a drawer full of cards, but the one paper good I cannot live without is, er, books. Words on a screen are all well and good but there is something about the heft and smell and touch of words on real paper that I am addicted to.
Ella D. said on 10.04.10 at 11:12 PM • [link]

I have a friend who made me a personalized greeting card with her art.

I still keep it safe and cherish it. <3
Camilla said on 10.04.10 at 11:23 PM • [link]

Pens. Take the kids, but leave the pens. I once walked out of Tiffany’s b/e I spotted an office supply store I had never seen before. My brother makes them out of wood now, and they are very very cool. But I am a pen slut, one kind will never be enough. I have bought box lots of drug rep pens from ebay b/c I LOVE PENS.
What else did you need to know??
Readinginak said on 10.04.10 at 11:25 PM • [link]

Stationery.

I’ve been known to write cards to people that I really had nothing to communicate to because I need to plow through my notecard collection. I miss the real sheets of stationery that you used to be able to buy. Now it almost always has to be computer sheets or personalized sheets or Crane. Where goeth Lisa Frank?

And pens. Today I needed to sign a form and the guy handing it to me said he didn’t have a pen. I dipped a hand in my purse and pulled out 5 totally unique pens- all different inks, brands, point thicknesses.

And I need references to new stationery products like a hole in the head. :)

Captcha: quality84 (I probably have 84 quality pens close at hand.)
Elise Logan said on 10.04.10 at 11:40 PM • [link]

I’m sick, too. This year when we bought school supplies for Munchkin? Yeah, I bought 20 of those marble composition notebooks. I already had about 30. I love them. I have about 15 currently in use. I definitely need therapy for that.

I also love any kind of bound journal/notebook.

Maybe there’s a 12 step program?
avrelia said on 10.04.10 at 11:47 PM • [link]

I have a huge lust for pretty notebooks. I don’t even care that much about quality and the look of paper, but I can’t pass a beautiful, fanciful cover. I don’t even use all of them, but hey are hard not to buy. I own a couple of notebooks with high-quality, lush paper, but simple black covers - and I cannot write anything there. No spark

I also have a special place in my heart for regular daily organizers - I used to write everything there, and even use it well, like Twitter, writing tiniest entries about my life that day. :)
Laura (in PA) said on 10.04.10 at 11:57 PM • [link]

Blank notecards - Love to write notes to people on them, or my own birthday greetings. And little notebooks for my purse. If only I had enough inspiring things to jot in them.

For gifts, I discovered Susan Nicole handbags. Love them.
http://susannichole.com/
Keri Ford said on 10.05.10 at 12:01 AM • [link]

Leave me a comment and tell me which paper good you cannot live without

Am I the only one who read that and immediately thought toilet??

Yes? Well, it’s true.

But in the stationary world, my absolute favorite is anything with my name on it. “Keri” is not a common way to spell. I never had the cool notepads/pens/pencil with my name on it for school like the other kids. *sniff*
Hydecat said on 10.05.10 at 12:06 AM • [link]

I used to love buying blank journals, but I haven’t journaled in a while so they are piling up. I always had a problem, too, where I felt like I had to write something really momentous in the prettiest ones, and then nothing would get written. My current stationary love are notecards. Cards and letters are how my grandmother and I keep in touch, and I love having new cards to send her.
Kim said on 10.05.10 at 12:21 AM • [link]

I love cute little purse-sized notebooks. I snagged some Liberty print ones at Target when they were closing our their Liberty line.
Nancy Bristow said on 10.05.10 at 12:31 AM • [link]

For years I’m a paper slut (blank and special cards for occasions, all types and textures of colored paper, designed tissue paper, post-its, doilies, foil, tracing, miniature wallpaper, boxes of sample papers (BONANZA! - think borders, scrapbooking, stamping and on and on) but the one thing I can’t live without is col-erase red pencils. I use daily to make notes to myself and get nervous if my supply is under a dozen or so. I think it all started when my Dad brought me a couple home from where he worked maybe 60 years ago.

I also have an unbelievable number of pens I’ve collected over the years and think that really, I would like to send them to people who don’t have any. I could do this easily since I only have a few real favorites that I use all the time. The most recent favorite is a fine point (extra fine point not made yet) NON-BLEED THROUGH Sharpie. One stays in my purse along with the small, pretty notebook that has my initial on it along with an attached band to keep it closed:)

If I was sent a “special” card (no matter the occasion) 40-35-25 years ago or since, I still have it. Some of the very special ones, I scan so they will never be lost.
Breia B said on 10.05.10 at 12:55 AM • [link]

Blank notebooks and good pens are what I can’t live without.
Bridget said on 10.05.10 at 01:03 AM • [link]

I have lots of beautiful blank notebooks lying around (people keep giving them to me) but I have no diea what to use them for. I’m not really a journal-keeper, but I would love to use them for SOMETHING. And not just grocery lists, because the books are so darn pretty.
alia g said on 10.05.10 at 01:04 AM • [link]

I love my paperblank address book. It is just beautiful; I love their covers.

Could not survive without my drawer full of spare greeting cards.

My favorite pen is the Precise V5 extra fine from Pilot. My first was found on the ground at college—I had a fantastic collection of Found Pens—and I was so very sad when it finally ran dry. Now my husband buys them for me in packs of five for my stocking at a certain winter holiday, and I feel rich.

(captcha: him72 ...he hasn’t bought me 72… yet…)
Kate said on 10.05.10 at 01:06 AM • [link]

Little bound notebooks are like crack to me, especially if they close with an elastic. Apart from that, I love matching notepaper and envelopes, just a plain linen paper with a big old watermark. Lovely.
Dine said on 10.05.10 at 01:28 AM • [link]

greeting cards! I have over 100 friends/acquaintances around the world and love being able to send something to people in the mail randomly.

cards for most occasions, or even better, humorous orblank cards, are just up my alley, because there’s bound to be someone who needs random mail.
Ariana said on 10.05.10 at 01:57 AM • [link]

I absolutely love blank books - I have a bunch I still haven’t used and I’m always tempted to get more. I also do some bookbinding and used to do more and I have all kinds of gorgeous paper and some more blank books made by moi. (Also unused.) Sketchbooks are great too. And I love tiny books.

When I was in school, I looked forward to getting my school supplies for the year, too. :)
Stacey P. said on 10.05.10 at 02:23 AM • [link]

For years I would’ve said blank journals, hands down—but recently I’ve gotten mildly obsessed with blank note cards, especially since one of my closest friends went far away for grad school and I have someone to write to now who will appreciate it, heh. I keep finding cute cards and hoarding them, and need to get over that and actually USE them, hehehe.
library addict said on 10.05.10 at 02:23 AM • [link]

I love blank notebooks and tablets. I often joke that I have enough to open my own stationary store, but with all the sizes and colors one is never enough.

I also love post it notes.
EliG said on 10.05.10 at 02:28 AM • [link]

Blank college rule notebooks because I transcribe handwritten 19th century legal documents, and the occasional diary, for fun. I really need to just buy a case of them. For some reason I just can’t got straight from the document to a typed version.
Maria.Maria said on 10.05.10 at 02:55 AM • [link]

PENS. PENS. PENS!!!!!!!!!!!! I love pens which is odd because I hate actually writing. That is beside the point I love pens I use them to doodle. Or to write haikus and give them to random people. I find it odd and just plain wrong that my Mother was constantly stealing my pens and leaving them uncapped. I thought I had escaped form that life when I married my hubby but he’s even worse he takes my pens APART and then loses the parts! It drives me nuts and they’re all “calm down, it’s just a pen” but it’s not just a pen dammit. especially when it has pretty ink. So now I keep regular bics for them and hide and/or closely monitor every thing else pen related. This includes markers, highlighters and those cool white out pen-things.

New34- I wish I had 34 new pens.
Michelle said on 10.05.10 at 03:00 AM • [link]

Tough choice. Love notebooks/journals. My current love Volant from Moleskine. The purple ones. There is just something about those blank books that will not leave me alone. They talk to me, ‘fill me with words, doodles ideas, write on me. Use me.’ Which brings me to my other paper goods love: Pens. Literally, I need never buy another pen (or notebook) and yet I do. Colors, please. A rainbow of colors in all point sizes and styles of ink. I get stuck on that imaginary desert isle and I’m in big trouble because I’ll wish for notebooks, pens and books and forget about food and water.
Michelle said on 10.05.10 at 03:03 AM • [link]

Blank all occasion cards
cool, colorful, fine tip pens
post it notes (love the ones with funny sayings!)
note pads with magnets
Aimee said on 10.05.10 at 03:04 AM • [link]

I love blank notebooks, but I never write in them. The prettier, the more decorative, especially in whatever “thing” I’m into, the better. I dream of writing in them, of starting on page one and reaching the perfect novel by the last page, and saving it as a historical monument, which is inspiring on it’s own.

Then I hunt down college-ruled (BOO TO WIDE RULED) composition notebooks, the black/white marbled kind, and scribble chaotically across the pages. I’m too schizo in my writing style to use a pretty notebook properly, but I love to dream a story for each cover!
ashley said on 10.05.10 at 03:19 AM • [link]

pretty journals that look like old bound books
HeatherK said on 10.05.10 at 03:22 AM • [link]

I cannot live without my index (note) cards. I love those things, and use them for everything. Grocery list? No problem, I whip out a handy, dandy card. Bookmark? Again, not a problem. I just grab another of those handy, dandy cards. I have them everywhere, and in multiple sizes and colors. *grin* I use them as medication and allergy lists in my purse, too.

I’m also addicted to ink pens (gel or liquid ink) and the more colors I have, the happier I get about it. Same with paperclips. Spiral notebooks of all sizes and design. And folders. And… Maybe I should stop there. LOL I think my obsession is quite obvious by this point, huh?

My husband claims we live in an office supply store at times. *looks innocent* I love[/b] office supplies and if it’s on sale, I am so there, regardless of what he says. :p And we won’t talk about my crafting supplies, which is a whole other story.

In fact, I just got home with a brand new journal with KISS (the Rock Band) all over it and the pages. Of course, it goes in my collection and will never be used, but that’s so not the point. I just happened to get two obsessions in one with that one. LOL

come96 - I am SO not going there.

HeatherK said on 10.05.10 at 03:24 AM • [link]

ACK! That’s what I get for trying to make my post look as spiffy with bold and stuff. It went Bold Crazy. *sigh* Some days, it just doesn’t pay to try, does it?

Eve S. said on 10.05.10 at 04:15 AM • [link]

OMG. Where to begin??

I love me some legal pads with thee-holes already punched in them. I use them all the time for notes, doodles, lists (I’m an obsessive list maker!).

Pens. Pens! PENS! All colours, but dark green is one of the best, fine to medium points please. I have a collection and probably never need to buy another pen in my life, but just can’t help myself. My latest fave are the sharpie pens! If you catch the tip just right, it looks like you’re writing in calligraphy.

When the kids get school supplies - I do too! I have stacks of notebooks (pretty covers, cool covers, whatever covers). I use them for story ideas, plotting, writing long hand when I don’t feel like typing. I have ones I’ve never used and still get more. It’s a sickness.

My word: Just34 - know I have way more than 34…

Eve S. said on 10.05.10 at 04:16 AM • [link]

Ack. Sorry about the bold. I should have listened to HeatherK.

Raine said on 10.05.10 at 04:29 AM • [link]

I have 2 favs. One is my recycled elephant poo paper. I get it at the zoo and it is made from real elephant poo! I’m real stingy with it. I give my germaphobic hubby love notes on it and last year, because I’m passive aggressive, I used it to write a letter to the pricipal of my son’s school when I was upset. My second is naughty christmas cards (like the kind you get at Spencers). My aunt and I try to out-due eachother every year.

meardaba said on 10.05.10 at 04:46 AM • [link]

I absolutely ADORE blank cards. Funky awesome fun blank cards that I can use for any occasion!

DreadPirateRachel said on 10.05.10 at 04:53 AM • [link]

Composition books. I buy them obsessively. I will be walking through a store and stop to examine a display of composition books. They are the ultimate journal: sturdy, non-threatening, capacious.

At last count, I have SIX composition books that I’ve just begun to write in, not counting the ones that are already full. I even have a tiny one that goes with me in my purse. Anywhere I roam, where I lay my journal is home.

These books get everything from random musings to words that intrigue me, from catchy titles to outlines of stories that spring full-grown from my head. Could I live without my composition books? I don’t know, but I wouldn’t want to try!

JamiSings said on 10.05.10 at 05:09 AM • [link]

Notepads with dogs on them.

I have horrible handwriting and prefer to do everything with a computer. But I love notepads with dogs. Especially ones with cocker spaniels or beagles. But I pretty much love all dogs.

Someday I want to own a really huge dog and a really small dog and name them Mutt & Jeff after that old comic strip about the really tall man and the really short man.

I love to have notepads with dogs on them by the phone. I’m almost out of my beagle ones. I don’t know what I’ll do once it’s gone.

Angie G said on 10.05.10 at 05:48 AM • [link]

What’s not to love? I love all paper goods. :) I’ve been out of school for a long time, but I’m such a geek that I love “back to school” sales. Fancy pens, cool notebooks, funky paperclips, etc. I have to make myself not buy stuff.

I also love greeting cards and stationery. There is still nothing like getting a handwritten note from someone who is thinking of you, thanking you, or wishing you well. I also love bookmarks. I collect them for myself and give them as gifts. Everyone can use a bookmark!

Maria said on 10.05.10 at 05:55 AM • [link]

Blank notebooks, sometimes cheap ones, but the cool leather bound ones with nice thick paper really make me happy too. It’s like I see a journal, and even though I have like 25 at home I want to buy it. Hmmm, I have the same problem with shoes too. For a really long time I would only write in the cheap ones, and save the nice ones. I’ve gotten over that particular hang up and will now write in which ever journal happens to be handy when the urge to write strikes.

meganhwa said on 10.05.10 at 06:31 AM • [link]

my fave would be pretty covered blank books to be turned into journals/diaries - i have journal diaries, every day diaries, travel diaries, dream diaries and art diaries.

but stationery in general is just oh so wonderful. I love browsing through stationery stores

Hannahbeth said on 10.05.10 at 08:16 AM • [link]

I have moved house 13 times in the last ten years, and every single time, one of the friends or family members who has been roped into helping me move will pick up one particularly huge box and say, “good GOD, woman. What the hell is in this box, concrete?” Um, no. That would be my box of stationery, and it is precious, so if you know what is good for you, you will handle it with care. (Don’t worry about the person lifting the box. They might end up with a hernia but they’ll have a beautiful thank you card to make up for it.) Blank cards are my true love - I have thousands of them. Whenever I buy a set, I spend a few minutes thinking about the things that I might write in them, the friends who might receive them, the reasons I might have to put pen to card. Will one be written as a thank you card? Will one be sent just to say, “I’m thinking of you and smiling”? Will one be written to one of my overseas friends to say “I miss you, I love you, I wish the world was smaller”? I love the idea that these little bundles of card and ink have the possibility of brightening someone’s day or making someone smile.

I recently visited my best friend, who lives in Dallas, 4700 miles away from where I live, and one of the happiest days of my trip was the day we went shopping and spent nearly 2 hours in a paper shop. The power of stationery, man. It’s like a drug.

SusanL said on 10.05.10 at 08:31 AM • [link]

I love tablets, note books, note pads, note paper, blank note cards, blank books, post-it notes, gift wrap, tissue paper ...

I also have a weakness for office supplies; pens, pencils, sharpies, staplers, paper clips, file folders, labels ......

Browsing paper and office supplies makes me a happier person. It’s really very relaxing for me. My aunt gave me a gift card for Office Depot for Christmas. One of my best gifts ever. Right up there with the jar of green olives my grandfather gave me for Christmas when I was 10. Really.

I wonder if there is a support group. Does this “problem” have a name?

Drive62 I might drive 62 miles for a great office supply/paper sale.

TheDuchess said on 10.05.10 at 10:35 AM • [link]

I just LOVE buying teeny tiny square sticky notepads. I use them for everything from making lists to taking notes to using them for reminders around the house. I have them in numerous colors, sizes, etc… just love them.

Sabine said on 10.05.10 at 10:44 AM • [link]

I mostly manage to stay strong when it comes to notebooks because I already have so many and never use them.

But when it comes to pens I’m hopeless. In Japan I found pens that are 0.28mm fine and in all colours available. That is very awesome for me because I write tiny letters and when reading a Japanese text it’s just so much easier to write between the lines and on the margins. Oh and I also found highlighter pens with a “window”!
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/47/124953859_f03e59636f.jpg?v=0

And after my little picture research I see that you can get them in America too. Life is unfair;)

Nadia said on 10.05.10 at 01:34 PM • [link]

I have a love for mini legal pads. If found at the dollar store, even better! they are the perfect size for sitting next to my keyboard for to-do lists, shopping lists, packing lists, and taking down notes.

This house, though, has a ridiculous number of half-used notebooks and blank journals in it. My girls carry them wherever we go, so they always have something to do. They are currently obsessed with writing their own comics about Mario characters. Maybe there’s a market….

Sarah said on 10.05.10 at 02:23 PM • [link]

I freely admit to shoving my nose and face against a warm, freshly copied stack of proofreading marks made for my middle school classes. Yes, it was this morning. No, I am not ashamed.
*snerfs more warm paper*
It’s better than warm socks out of the drier, yo.

Literary Slut Kilian said on 10.05.10 at 02:25 PM • [link]

@ Tina C.

OMG, those Oberon covers are to die for! If this is how some women feel about shoes, I’m beginning to understand Jimmie Choo.

I do not allow myself to go anywhere near an office supply store or stationery store. They are to me what bars are to alcoholics. 1000 blank books/journals are not enough, and one is too many.

Must resist lure of paper goods . . .

CupK8 said on 10.05.10 at 02:48 PM • [link]

I can’t live without letter-writing stationery of various sorts. I swear I must have had a tiny orgasm seeing the stationery shops in the UK. It’s difficult to find anything decent around here - it tends to be expensive, or more like fancy printer paper. I have a good stock anyway, though.

And now that I have somewhere else to go for stationery, I’m probably going to have more. xD
Darlene Marshall said on 10.05.10 at 03:33 PM • [link]

Fountain pens (I esp. like Cross, Lamy and Pilot retractable) , Crane’s stationary for notes and letters, Moleskine notebooks for travel journals. I’ve never written on Clairfontaine or Rhodia paper, but I know people who are addicted to it.

For my notetaking when researching I use Levenger’s Circa notebooks. Love them! I just expanded my big leather one with new, larger rings to hold more notes.
Emma said on 10.05.10 at 04:29 PM • [link]

I have two paper loves (besides novels, of course).

I LOVE black journals with leather covers, which makes no sense because I definitely don’t have the funds to back up this habit. But the call of the journal is so seductive haha.

Also, I love blank cards with pictures of places on the front. I’ll even take postcards. For some reason I think its hilarious to send people cards with random, little known places on the front of it. Who on earth cares about the town hall of Athens, TN? And why did I send it to my sister? What can I say—I’ve got a weird sense of humor :)
Emma said on 10.05.10 at 04:36 PM • [link]

I LOVE blank journals with leather covers, which is unfortunate because I definitely don’t have the funds to support this habit. But the call of the leather journal is too seductive!
KC said on 10.05.10 at 05:13 PM • [link]

I love pens & paper goods of all kinds, but I use blank note cards & greeting cards the most. I get that southern-girl guilt thing if I don’t write a thank-you note immediately, too….
SB Sarah said on 10.12.10 at 04:34 PM • [link]

Contest is over - @Dine, you win! I’ll be emailing you to get your address for this cute little packet of papergood awesome.

Also, you are all making me want to buy more post its. Stop that. Right now. No, really. Stop. (PLEASE!)