The store is decorated as an homage to typewriters, filing cabinets, and yesteryear’s offices. It also has a small press/zine reading room that Strikethru described. TRAT is quite an amazing place for anyone who likes letterpress, and it is filled with high quality interesting (and sometimes quirky) paper and stationery items.

I picked up a few library and ledger journal inspired items.

Also worth noting – they give pencils as treats to customers!

Paper-Ya is located on Granville Island, a vibrant arts district in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The island is easily (and probably best) traversed on foot. Notable landmarks include the Emily Carr University of Art + Design.

Paper-Ya is immediately discernible as a labour of love. They stock an immense array of paper items that seems well beyond commercial viability. And I do mean immense – if one could extract the product names mentioned in the last five years from every stationery blog – a good number of them are at Paper-Ya, representing twenty or more countries of manufacture.

My suitcase only had room for some very limited purchases, including handmade paper from Papetrie Saint-Armand.

The David Hayward Design 5mm Brushed Nickel Scribbler is a very well made leadholder/clutch pencil with an incredible heft. At 66 grams, it is heavy and dense, and by far the heaviest handheld writing implement that I own.

The aesthetic is one of simplicity, with clean lines and surfaces. It is a design for designers – it dares you to not pick it up and start drawing.

8 + 10” Double Pencil Sharpener, for some special-diameter triangular pencils, with 8mm and 10mm holes, container has pencil hole cover, assorted red and black.

The idea of a specialty sharpener just for large triangular pencils is appealing, but it is hard to imagine the engineering behind such a sharpener. Note the octagonal pencils in the graphic:

The sharpener appears to be the usual fare:

And the sharpening result (not bad, in fairness) doesn’t convince me that this product is a specialty item:

A local campus bookstore now stocks an unusual item – the Sun-Star Crosno stick eraser.

The eraser has features that include a cross shaped eraser stick, a rubberized grip, a window to see how much eraser remains, and a clip.

The cap even has – another eraser!

Overall, I find it a bit over-designed, but it is amusing. The eraser is a harder vinyl style that I would say is okay to good.

I’ve heard good and bad things about these sharpeners for years. I also don’t seem to ever have read a review or heard a personal account from an owner. An online retailer recently had a very good sale, and I decided to purchase one.

The sharpener is handmade in Spain by a former gun manufacturer. One complaint is that the handmade parts can be finicky, and must be sent back to the manufacturer if a repair is needed. I’ll say some context is needed here. Who else even guarantees sharpener parts or offers repair? I suspect El Casco is the last desktop sharpener manufacturer in the entire world outside of China.

Another reason for the purchase – they are made to unusually high standards, compared to almost anything one might find in the entire commercial stationery realm.

The price is also cited as prohibitive. The story here is that Deskstore had a May 30% off sale, and refunds VAT to foreigners (they are a Swedish company), so the $US319.00 M-430 was $US178.64. I know, most of us don’t spend $178 on our pencil sharpeners. Some of us even balk at $175. But if you’ve bought a fancy handheld sharpener which easily could be $50 to $250, you’ll see that this peak of craftsmanship at this price is a true bargain.

In the box:

It turns out that the giant polishing cloth is not excessive:

There is a lot of very nice chrome to be maintained:

The surfaces are like a mirror, so it was hard to make sure I was photographing the sharpener, and not reflections:

The camera lens inspired opening for the pencil:

The viewing portal, which is mesmerizing in use:

What pencil would you sharpen first? Which pencil did you think I would select?

Not sure if I need more practice, as a ring of graphite is noticeable. The point is remarkable:

The blunt surface at the end of the point makes the pencil even more usable and break resistant, in comparison with needle points.

Some further points, especially about aspects of the sharpener that can’t be inferred from photos:

The base has a suction clamp and lever. This is essential, and seems to work better with kitchen counter tops and very smooth surfaces. My pine desk does not get the greatest grip.

The reason this grip is needed is that two hands are required to operate the sharpener. One hand must feed the pencil – the entry hole is not a vise grip as in the Carl sharpeners. It is just a guided entry point. For a right-handed person, the right hand must rotate the handle while the left hand feeds the pencil in.

Larger diameter pencils can be accommodated. I am not sure of the limits, but I just sharpened a LAMY plus and a large diameter Ito-Ya, and wow, wow, wow – the results are amazing – they are the finest looking points I’ve personally seen with large diameter pencils.

The tray has an edge with a file for further shaping a pencil point. One of those little details that confirms the thought put into the product.

I’m really looking forward to using the El Casco. The beauty is not just on the surface!

The lack of art and craft in the packaging of modern stationery is regularly lamented at this blog. A manufacturer who is bucking the trend is Viarco, who have launched a new carbon pencil that is beautifully housed.

A set of six pencils are wrapped with paper and tightly bound with string at both ends. This is historically accurate, but with a new design and product.

The cores constitute a large proportion of the pencil, with the wood slats being unusually hollowed out:

Sharpened:

“Carbon” can signify a range of ingredients. This pencil is very waxy – the core can be indented with a fingernail. If you think of the brittle characteristics of vine or willow charcoal, it is the opposite, while being in the same broad family. On Strathmore Charcoal paper:

I salute Viarco for paying attention to the little details that many of us treasure.

Poppin was kind enough to send a few samples this way.

Their pencils and erasers form a nice duo. (They also sent some ballpoints, but we won’t speak of those.)

The pencil is round and has black dyed wood and black finish with an integrated (black) eraser without metal ferrule. The lettering and trim are silver, and they list for $3 a dozen. The erasers are three for $2. Rather remarkable for the price. I know this pencil will appeal to a lot of people because black dyed pencils are a regular topic in the blog inbox.

The lead is dark and rich, yet scratchy and gritty. Almost right, yet problematic.

The block eraser is reasonable:

The black eraser mainly smears:

Poppin uses custom packaging. Air pockets:

Cardboard box:

Internal box divider:

At first, I couldn’t tell how they sold (or intended to sell) their product. My reading of their website suggests they love corporate accounts, but also sell directly.

I used one pencil and one eraser – I’ll send the other eleven pencils and two erasers via Canada Post to the first commenter who mentions that they would like to receive them.

It seems to have been a while since this blog has been so excited about a new stationery product. The notebooks shown here are from Design.Y, the brand of Mr. Hiroshi Yoshino-san, a bookbinder from Sendai, Japan.

The products are amazing because every aspect of the notebook is of exceptional quality – the cover, the binding, and the paper. I learned of these notebooks at the Fountain Pen Network, where many fountain pen users are claiming it is the finest paper they’ve ever used.

The two notebooks shown are the Record 216 and Record 336 models. These numerals refer to the page counts.

The covers are in brown goatskin. Black is also available. At first, I found the look stern, and perhaps conservative. But I’ve warmed up to the look, especially after starting to use the smaller notebook. The goatskin is luxurious and very pleasant to the touch. I am not aware of ever having seen anything nicer as a notebook or journal cover.

Ruled and plain paper are available, and depending on the model, elastic closures, bookmark ribbons, and dyed edges are available as options. The Record 336 shown here has dyed edges and two bookmark ribbons.

The notebooks do not lie perfectly flat, but there is no difficulty using the whole page.

There is a small notch exposing the ribbon:

The back has a small maker’s mark:

The goatskin covers and hand binding are beautiful, but the paper is what seems to have received the most online English language recognition. (The notebooks have been featured in several Japanese stationery magazines, but I’m not able to read those reports.) Of course, this praise is in the context of the fountain pen community, which finds most modern paper unsuitable for water based fountain pen inks.

The paper is exceptionally lightweight. It is called Tomoe River, and comes from the Tomoegawa Paper Company. This allows thin notebooks with 336 pages, for example. Yet the paper doesn’t bleed or feather. Being thin, it does show through to the other side. A Bruichladdich list taken with a medium 14K Lamy nib and Lamy blue ink:

An HB Mitsubishi Hi-uni pencil also works:

These notebooks are on their way to becoming cherished items, and I’ll join the chorus of those praising their quality. If the look is to your taste, you may want to try one.

It was a thrill to meet Mr. Draplin, a successful (by both conventional and unconventional measures) graphic designer, the creator of Field Notes, and a notable pencil collector. There was a brief chance to chat with him about pencils, and he said some kind things about this blog.

The talk was ostensibly about graphic design, but what came through for me were the themes of pursuing one’s dreams, being true to oneself, and the deep rewards that can come from doing work you believe in for people you like. I was quite surprised to hear prices mentioned. If you’re a rural clover farmer, you can probably afford him, and I bet he’d love to work for you. The talk was erudite, witty, and inspirational.

Some Field Notes news: – if I understood correctly, there is a strong “labour of love” element to many of the special editions, and they don’t break even. And Aaron is fine with this, happy to fund interesting projects via more commercial offerings.

There was what appeared to be a (not advertised online) limited edition numbered Field Notes edition for sale at Aaron’s “merch table”. Some (other) guy bought all of them!

Those of us north of the border have probably looked fondly at the County Fair Field Notes edition, a set of fifty featuring each US state. The Canadian provinces version is coming! I hope that a Canadian printer and/or designer will be involved.

It was a great evening, and I recommend attending the tour if it comes near you.

The company has introduced a “Blackwing 602″ pencil that takes the name of the Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602 pencil. The new pencil has been marketed with claims of association with Frank Lloyd Wright, Duke Ellington, and John Lennon. Each of these claims has been demolished, in succession, at Orange Crate Art and Blackwing Pages.

There are many historical figures who used the Eberhard Faber Blackwing – Sean has painstakingly researched and documented this over at Blackwing Pages for years now. Claiming the usage by these people as an endorsement of the replica pencil is somewhere between questionable and outrageous (and others would find that statement mild). But fabricating stories about Frank Lloyd Wright, Duke Ellington and John Lennon using (or even favoring) the Blackwing pencil is unbelievable, and I don’t follow or understand.

And that’s just the beginning. Each of these marketing deceits (except for Lennon, as I write this) was withdrawn after being revealed and challenged. It is a sort of “Liar Whac-A-Mole”. New nonsense sprouts up when the old nonsense is debunked.

Even further, this global company seems to have taken their marketing lessons from the Steve Martin/Eddie Murphy movie Bowfinger. To quote the IMDb synopsis, “When a desperate movie producer fails to get a major star for his bargain basement film, he decides to shoot the film secretly around him.” Many of the claims about famous writers, musicians, and artists using the Blackwing are clearly lifted without credit from the Blackwing Pages.

So, California Cedar, what’s going on?

Further reading:

Blackwing Pages

Blackwing posts at Orange Crate Art

One item that caught my eye was the Field Notes Brand steno book. To me, Field Notes is one of those “internet sensations” that is known to stationery aficionados, but which I don’t expect to see in “real life”. So, it was a nice surprise to see a small Field Notes display in a local store. I picked up a steno pad, and thought it might be fun to compare it with a “real life” item – a steno book that I’d find back at the office.

The office supply cabinet steno book was Staples brand.

A few notes: The Field Notes steno book is 80 pages, and the Staples steno book 350 pages. The Field Notes was $9.99, and the Staples book lists for $3.73. This makes the Field Notes approximately 12 cents/page, and the Staples 1/cent page. Twelve times more expensive per page is a significant difference. Is it worth it?

The two steno books in profile:

Both books are made in the US. The Field Notes has very strong cardboard covers front and back, and the Staples has a medium strength back. The Field Notes has brown lines which nicely match the covers. The Staples has green and red lines.

Green vs. brown:

With some steno pencils:

The Field Notes paper is thicker, and one gets a sense of sturdiness. The results with graphite are similar:

The Field Notes gets style points, but I wonder if it would really be the choice of anyone who just needs a steno book?