Thursday Drops: Journaling with Midori MD Multi-Year Diaries

Inspired by the recent release of this book publishing excerpts from nearly 25 years of short, daily journal entries, I picked back up my Midori MD 5-year Diary and started writing in it again. Even though the prior entries on several days went all the way back to 2019, it’s amazing how a few lines prompt fairly vivid recollections. In addition to the 5-Year Diary, Midori makes 10 and 3-year versions as well, all of which are now available.

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The Midori MD Five-Year Diary features five sections per calendar day, for five years of entries.

We have also restocked on Midori MD Paper, standard and cotton, as well as most other Midori stationery products. As featured below, we also offer the latest arrivals from TWSBI plus the 2022 Caran d’Ache limited editions.

A note on holiday shipping. In order to ensure the highest likelihood of delivery by Christmas, please try to get any gift orders in by Monday, December 19 at the absolute latest. This is still not guaranteed, and would strongly recommend that you place orders earlier if at all possible. The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all brands sold.

1. Midori Multi-Year Diaries. Available in five-year, ten-year, and three-year versions, these clothbound hardcover diaries feature five, ten, or three sections per calendar day, allowing you to review prior years’ entries as you journal.

2. Midori MD Cotton Notebooks. We have all three sizes of Midori MD Cotton Notebooks available once again, ranging from F0 to F2.

3. Midori MD A4 Notebooks and Covers. The largest of the Midori MD Notebooks offers a massive canvas for writing and/or drawing. We also have covers in stock, including the natural undyed leather version.

4. Midori MD Graphite Pencil Set. The team over at the Well-Appointed Desk recently reviewed the Midori MD Graphite Pencils! While the standard set contains six “B”-grade pencils, we also offer a gift set with different grades of graphite, pencil caps, and a sharpener.

5. Midori MD Colored Pencil Set. Following yet another Well-Appointed Desk review, the Colored Pencil Sets sold out in hours. We received a shipment yesterday and they are restocked.

6. Midori MD Fountain Pens and Limited Edition Fountain Pen Sets. The ever-popular Midori MD Fountain Pen is back, and we still have two remaining limited edition “70th Anniversary” pens with the Midori color-scheme ink.

7. TWSBI Swipe in Ice Blue. The latest TWSBI Swipe is available for sale, with retailers now allowed to accept orders. The pens will ship Friday or Monday, as deliveries have been somewhat delayed, presumably due to holiday craziness.

8. Caran d’Ache “Colour Treasure” 849 Ballpoints. This year’s holiday release features two different versions of a design inspired by Caran d’Ache’s iconic colored pencils: a “warm” tone finish containing orange, pink, and yellow; and a “cool” tone emphasizing blues and greens.

9. Caran d’Ache “Crayons de la Maison Caran d’Ache” Pencil Sets. Paired with a woodsy, patchouli fragrance from Swiss Parfumier Mizansir, this year’s luxury pencil set from Caran d’Ache features two beautiful natural finishes on these poplar-wood pencils, in addition to the typical greens and blues.

10. Caran d’Ache Swisswood Pencil Sets. Looking for the perfect gift for a luxury pencil enthusiast? Try one of these sets, featuring three different Swiss Wood pencils, plus a high-quality sharpener and eraser.

Check out the Holiday Gift Guide, “Gently Used” Page, and Our Sales!

If you’re shopping for gift ideas, be sure to check out the 2022 version of our annual Holiday Gift Guide. You might also find some excellent deals in our “Gently Used” section (due to be refreshed soon, with listed items cycled out), as well as our Sales section of the store that features recent markdowns on items from brands such as Nahvalur and Caran d’Ache.

New Arrivals: The TWSBI Swipe Fountain Pen in "Ice Blue"

TWSBI has just released a seasonal “Ice Blue” version of its Swipe fountain pen just in time for Winter. The translucent, frosty blue color adds a nice pop of brightness to the Swipe lineup, along with the current Prussian Blue, Smoke, Salmon, and Pear options. Available for purchase now, and will ship this week!

Priced at only $26.99, the TWSBI Swipe is an excellent option for those looking for a versatile fountain pen in an “all-in-one” package. The pen accepts cartridges and converters, and ships with one of each, including two different types of converters: a classic twist/piston converter, as well as a pump-style converter that makes it very easy to change inks and clean the pen. Read more on the TWSBI Swipe here.

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of TWSBI products. Be sure to check out our full range of TWSBI fountain pens and inks.

New in the Shop: Caran d'Ache Colour Treasure Collection

Just in time for the holiday rush, we received our initial allotment of Caran d’Ache’s new 849 Ballpoint and Maxi HB Pencil Set from the limited edition “Colour Treasure” Collection. Designed as an homage to the rainbow of Caran d’Ache’s classic colored pencils, the Colour Treasure ballpoint is available in two gradients: “warm” (yellow, red, and orange) and “cool” (blue, green). The Maxi Pencil set features five of Caran d’Ache’s coveted “jumbo” size pencils that are always extremely popular, and typically sell very quickly. Finally, we have this year’s “Crayons de la Maison Caran d’Ache” (Edition No. 10), an ultra-luxury set of scented woodcase pencils produced in collaboration with Swiss Parfumier Mizensir. This year’s scent is “Patchouli’s Woods,” featuring a combination of patchouli, cedar, and burnt caramel. Check out these and more in our “New Arrivals” section, as well as those products highlighted in the 2022 Holiday Gift Guide.

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The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all products sold, including the full range of Caran d’Ache offerings.

New In the Shop: Field Notes Return!

Just in time for the holidays, we’ve restocked on pocket notebooks from Field Notes, both in the 2022 Limited Editions as well as favorite standard editions such as the spiral bound “Front Page” and “Heavy Duty” editions. The “Front Page” is the standard release version of the “Byline” limited edition, which made its way into the standard lineup because so many people enjoyed using a classic reporter-style notebook. The “Heavy Duty” edition isn’t necessarily reporter-style - it’s more the size of a standard three-staple notebook - but the thick chipboard cover allows for easy writing on the go.

The favorite “Front Page” and “Heavy Duty” editions are back!

You can check out our full selection of Field Notes pocket notebooks here, which now includes the full lineup of recent collaborations and limited editions such as the “Underland” edition (which might be my favorite cover); the Great Lakes six pack, the debossed “Signs of Spring”, and the planner-focused “Ignition”.

Finally, I wanted to give a special shout to the Hatch Show Print collaboration, which I of course had to stock given that Hatch Show Print is a classic Nashville business. Each pack of Field Notes contains different letterpress covers by the team at Hatch - a nice complement to “United States of Letterpress”!

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of Field Notes and all other brands sold.

Thursday Drops: It's 2023 Planner Time! Planner Refills, Planner Pens, Meeting Notebooks and More!

I’m sticking with the Traveler’s Notebook system for my own 2023 work planner, but I believe I’ll be going back to the Week + Memo Planner refill, as opposed to my cut-down Stalogy. I miss this particular format, and also want to dive back in to some of the other Traveler’s refills. We currently have dated (2023) and undated Traveler’s Notebook planner/diary refills stocked in the shop, in both Standard and Passport sizes.

We still have some limited Fountain Pen Day swag! All orders ship with a bookmark until they run out.

We’ve also recently added a limited number of the 2023 limited edition Traveler’s Notebook pencil boards in the Passport size, as well as Rhodia Meeting Notebooks for more efficient note taking. I enjoy using meeting layout paper, not just for meetings per se but also for any sort of research where I want space to summarize or analyze notes. Happy Shopping!

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all brands sold.

1. Traveler’s Company 2023 Diary Refills in Standard and Passport Sizes. Whether you prefer the Weekly + Memo, Weekly Vertical, or Monthly layouts, we have you covered. If you’re looking to start an entirely new planner setup in the coming year, we also have the full array of Traveler’s Notebook covers, refills, and accessories!

2. Traveler’s Company 2023 Limited Edition Passport Pencil Boards. Use these cool pencil boards as a writing surface, bookmark, stencil, or even a ruler. Featuring a “Traveler’s Café motif”, these are an inexpensive addition to make your Passport-size Traveler’s Notebook even more functional.

3. Midori MD Journal “Codex” 1 Day 1 Page. Fans of the Midori MD system looking for an undated “planner” notebook - or simply a daily journal - will want to consider the “Codex”. It features 360+ pages of versatile, fountain pen friendly Midori MD paper in both blank and dot grid layouts. You can easily add calendar functionality using the Midori MD Diary Stickers.

4. Big Midori Notebooks in F3 (MD Cotton) and A4 (MD). I’ve been asked to keep the larger bound notebooks in stock, and I plan to because they keep selling! The Midori Cotton paper is one of my favorite for fountain pens, as it’s soft, absorbent, and ink friendly. Both the cotton and standard papers only come in blank layouts, though most people who want a notebook this big love the versatility of blank paper.

5. Write Notepads “Meeting Notebooks”. A riff on the “Cornell-style” of note-taking, I‘ve been using a lot of meeting-style paper lately, for both actual meetings and research notes where I copy down passages on the right-hand side, and then summarize my notes and analysis in the left-hand column.

6. Rhodia Meeting Notebooks. We recently added Rhodia’s giant A4 meeting notebook, which is a great platform for taking and processing meeting notes, especially if you want to use a fountain pen. Big bonus point: the pages are perforated, allowing you to tear out sheets for filing and/or scanning.

7. Lochby Field Journals. Looking for a high-quality, durable journal cover that’s not made of leather? The Lochby Field Journal holds up to six Lochby A5 refills, or a multitude of other A5 notebooks depending on size. I still have a healthy stock of the Lochby 68gsm Tomoe River refills, so if you’re a fan of that paper, stock up as I don’t know how long the current stock will last….

8. Hightide Attaché Fountain Pen. Looking for a compact fountain pen for your planner or journal? These small fountain pens in Japanese stationer Hightide’s signature marbled acrylic are beautiful, practical, and a good value. Four colors available: Black, Navy, Green, and White.

9. TWSBI Swipe Fountain Pen. The versatile TWSBI Swipe is a slimmer cartridge-converter fountain pen from TWSBI that ships with two different converters (pump-style and twist), as well as an ink cartridge. TWSBI has begun releasing the Swipe in different colors, for a total of four in the current lineup. This slim pen makes a regular appearance in my pen loops attached to my journals and notebook covers.

10. Platinum Plaisir Aura Special Edition 2022. Many thanks to Ana over at the Well-Appointed Desk for reviewing the Plaisir Aura in “Merry Pink”! I’ve enjoyed seeing Platinum bring the limited/special edition game to its more price-accessible fountain pens like the Plaisir and even the Preppy!