Stories and notes

Journal

Yellow Happy Birthday letterpress card with rounded corners by Le Typographe, beside its cornflower blue envelope
A letterpress birthday card from Brussels, made to be kept
How a letterpress birthday card is made in Brussels, one colour at a time on presses sixty to eighty years old, with a few lines worth writing inside and how... Read more...
Red Kanmi Japanese leather kiss lock purse with brass clasp and long strap, hanging from a brown leather bag against olive green clothing.
Gamaguchi: choosing a Japanese kiss lock purse from Kanmi of Asakusa
A guide to the gamaguchi, Japan's kiss lock purse: what the name means, where it came from, how the clasp works, and how to choose between Kanmi's leather coin purse... Read more...
RO-BIKI: what wax does to paper
RO-BIKI: what wax does to paper
What wax does to a notebook cover, the three RO-BIKI designs from Yamamoto Paper in Osaka, and what the dot grid paper inside is like to write on. Read more...
What to write in a card when you do not know what to write
What to write in a card when you do not know what to write
A three sentence method for writing a card, with lines to borrow for birthdays, Christmas, thank yous, sympathy, a new home and leaving, and three things to leave out. Read more...
Christmas gift ideas 2026: a slow list from small makers
Christmas gift ideas 2026: a slow list from small makers
A short Christmas list from small makers in Japan, France and Belgium, from a £7 pocket notebook to a £68 leather wallet, with last order dates for the UK. Read more...
Corner of an ochre waxed RO-BIKI pocket notebook, showing the mottled surface, pale printed shapes and rounded corner.
Gifts under £40 from small makers, and how to spend it well
What forty pounds reaches from small studios, piece by piece: Japanese pocket notebooks, letterpress cards, pressed leaves, a hand-bound notebook, Kanmi leather purses and a hand-painted key clip, with pairings... Read more...
Teal oil-shrink leather clasp wallet with wildflowers pressed into the front and a bright brass coin frame.
A wallet that opens twice: Zucchero's wildflower kiss lock wallet
Why Zucchero's wildflower wallet opens twice, what oil-shrink leather is and how it ages, with the size, what it holds, the colours and how to look after it. Read more...
Mula cat A5 grid notebook standing open, showing the white cat on a rust and orange cover and the pale pages inside.
Japanese stationery in the UK: a short buyer's guide
What is actually different about Japanese stationery, what wax, embossing and foil are doing, what to check before buying, and where to start, from £7. Read more...
Deep red Japanese leather necklace purse hanging from its undyed leather cord in a field, with a brass clasp at the top.
Gifts for someone who has everything
Nobody has everything, only everything obvious. Three kinds of gift that work for a hard-to-buy-for person, from a £7 pocket notebook to Japanese leather, and what to avoid. Read more...
Yuzen leather key clip with a hand-coloured owl among flowers, in a brass frame with three detachable hooks, held outdoors.
Yuzen leather key clips: kimono painting on a small piece of cowhide
How a kimono maker in Tokyo carried Yuzen painting across to leather, with the three key clip designs, how the clip and hooks work, and how to look after the... Read more...
The opposite of a high street gift
The opposite of a high street gift
Why so many gifts in Britain look alike, four questions that filter out the obvious, and how to tell an object from a small workshop from a wholesale one. Read more...
How an Ourooh parcel is packed
How an Ourooh parcel is packed
How every Ourooh order is packed in Edinburgh: tissue against the object, paper protection, a cream kraft wrap with a plum seal, no plastic, no prices inside, and a note... Read more...
Hand-coloured Yuzen leather key clip with a sleeping calico cat among flowers, held up in a brass frame with three hanging hooks.
Handmade, hand-finished or small batch: what the words actually mean
Handmade, hand-painted, hand-finished and small batch are not the same thing. What each term describes, what none of them guarantee, and how they apply to real objects. Read more...
Close view of the mula cat notebook cover in rust and orange, curved open to show the pages inside.
Embroidered first, printed after: Yoko Fujiki's Japanese stationery
How RYU-RYU in Ashiya turn the Osaka illustrator Yoko Fujiki's embroidery into to-do pads and mini cards, with sizes and prices, and mula's White Cat notebook alongside. Read more...
Pressed botanicals on paper: what makes a herbarium different
Pressed botanicals on paper: what makes a herbarium different
How real ginkgo, Japanese maple and hydrangea are gathered, pressed and mounted by hand in south-west France, with sizes, what frame to use, and how the colour changes. Read more...
Japanese-bound notebook with a blue cypress pattern and dark thread fanning across the top edge, outdoors.
Japanese stab binding: the hand-bound notebooks of 23janvier
What Japanese stab binding is, how 23janvier bind their A5 notebooks by hand in south-west France, the two covers, and how to choose and care for one. Read more...
Three Yuzen leather key clips held in a hand outdoors, with cat, owl and floral designs in brass frames.
Why handmade objects often make better gifts
Why things made by hand often make better gifts, how to tell when the word is earned, and an honest list of which pieces in the shop are made by... Read more...
Three Japanese leather clasp pouches in brown, red and olive, fanned out with their adjustable straps.
How to choose a gift that feels properly chosen
A practical way to choose a gift that feels properly chosen: start with the person, choose something with a use, check how it was made, and a table of ideas,... Read more...