When I think of timeless elegance, the first thing that always comes to mind is Cavallini. Excellent quality, sturdy, timeless and classic.  You’ll never forget Cavallini after you see the decorative calendars, stationery, and other paper products adorned with detailed images of vintage prints, maps, and iconic places from around the world. Each is striking and unique. When I want to write a letter to a dear friend, something out of the ordinary, I immediately pick up a Cavallini product.

While Cavallini is known for their gorgeous paper and notecards, they pride themselves on their wide selection of stunning calendars.  Each calendar is a unique collection of striking art prints.  As you flip through each month, you immediately get transported to old-world New York, Paris, and everywhere in between.  You can get sucked into their Garden prints; you can even go Around the World.

I remember a few years back to when I was gifted a Cavallini desk calendar from a friend.  The thickness of the paper between my fingers, the crisp colours and texture, would transport me every month to a different place.  As an added bonus, the prints were so beautiful, it looked like I had hung up professional art prints in my office!  After the year was done, I carefully cut the prints out and saved them. I still have them, tucked away in my art space.

After that gift, I began to seek out Cavallini products – the rounded paperclips that perfectly and elegantly hold your papers, plus many other calendars – they reminded me of times gone by, of old suitcases covered in travel stickers. Recently I gave a friend who loves to travel the Amalfi coast calendar. She was ecstatic, and told me she didn’t want to use it because it was so beautiful!

It is a reminder of the past the way it should be seen – worn and captured perfectly.

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Meet the Writer: Akhila Jagdish is a writer and editor in the process of starting her own editorial services company, The Crafted Word. She loves making lists, collecting journals, reading, drinking wine and cooking. 

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1 –>  We’re still not sure what to think of this, but we had to share and ask your opinion on it. This story appeared on our Twitter feed and just begged to be clicked on: The world’s best pencil sharpener teaches his secrets … is this story for real?

2 –> Tiger Pens piqued our interest with their discovery of this pen/writing-inspired rest stop located in Iowa.

3 –> It is the week of love, so we’d be remiss to not mention several Valentine’s Day posts. The Pen Thief addresses the history of Valentine’s Day; Good Mail Day mentions a story about Valentine, Nebraska,; and Dana at Save Snail Mail reminds us the reality of love letters with her post on Virginia Woolf’s letters.

4 –> Laurie at Plannerisms brings up the conversation again regarding analog versus digital planning. Recording Thoughts also weighs in on analog versus digital for recall purposes.

5 –> The Peaceable Writer posted an incredibly well-done and thorough review of multiple blue inks and finally narrowed down the choices … but you’ll have to check out the post to find out all the details!

6 –> Misty at the Pen Thief is hosting a contest for people who have always wanted to make their own stamp! The deadline is March 1st, so you have some time, but check out her blog for the full details.

7 –>  Sheila at Does This Pen Make Me Look Fat is also hosting a random drawing for a Jinhao X750. Entries close at midnight on Saturday though so you’ll want to hurry!

8 –> The 365 Letters Blog did a great round-up of LOVE stamps, and informed us that on Valentine’s Day “fans of 19th century poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning were given online access to a collection of 573 letters the two exchanged from 1845 to 1846.” Click through to read more.

1 –>  Our Moleskine Haiku Contest winner was announced earlier this week! Check out the winning haiku here, then pop over to our Facebook album to see ALL of the great submissions!

2 –> Paper Crave is offering an adorable free download for mini Valentines! Nervous about Valentine’s Day? Check out Dana’s [Save Snail Mail] tips & resources on how to write love letters.

3 –> This is Colossal captured us once again by sharing the below image from an installation by Saudi Arabian artist Manal Al Dowayan. Click through the image to see more images and read the intention of the installation, but we’ll give you a nugget here: “‘Suspended Together’ is an installation that gives the impression of movement and freedom. However, a closer look at the 200 doves allows the viewer to realize that the doves are actually frozen and suspended with no hope of flight. An even closer look shows that each dove carries on its body a permission document that allows a Saudi woman to travel. …”

4 –> Margana [Inkophile] has a great round-up of when popular ink companies started offering inks.

5 –> Alex [Economy Pens] shows off his impressive notebook collection.

6 –> The Hike Guy laid out all of his journals filled up during his time hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. If you’re a Moleskine fan, journal lover, or outdoorsy person, you have got to check this out!

7 –>  Karen [Quo Vadis Blog] asks your opinion regarding paper vs. digital journals.

8 –> Azizah [Gourmet Pens] gives suggestions for pens used for guest books, and Kate [In Too Deep] chronicles the saga of her interest in pens and ink … at length.

1 –>  Our Moleskine Haiku Contest ended yesterday and it’s been a BLAST going through the 100+ submissions! Thanks to everyone who participated! We are psyched to announce the winner Tuesday, February 7th and to share all the haiku love!

2 –> Troy [Penpalling-Dad] received a neat “Peek-a-boo” letter recently from Becky [Leaving a Paper Trail] – and while the envelope is interesting (and Becky shows you how to make it here), it’s even better to see bloggers connecting this way so we can sometimes see the path a letter takes!

3 –> The Celebrations at Home blog muses about the 12 paper trends they think we’ll see in 2012.

4 –> Demilked shared this beautiful Cut-Away Leaf Art by Lorenzo Duran. (It was made for an ad campaign by Legas Delaney for Plant for the Planet. The aim of the campaign was to show leaf’s ability to absorb CO2.)

Art by Lorenzo Duran. Click the image to see more of his work on Demilked.

5 –> The Telegraph (UK) introduced a series of art masterpieces created solely with marker pen on a whiteboard. See the artist, Bill Taylor of Durham, North Carolina, and his art in their slideshow here.

6 –> Read all about the rebirth of handwriting in J. Richard Gentry’s report in Psychology Today aptly titled “Handwriting—the Most Elegant Form of Communication.” Here’s just a taste: “E-mailers, text messengers, and skeptics be damned. Handwriting–American style–is born again. So say about one hundred and fifty teachers, administrators, psychologists, master penmen, and researchers from across the country who occupied the Newseum in Washington, DC for the 275th anniversary of John Hancock’s birth.”

7 –>  Rhodia Drive set up a Superbowl bet for this Sunday. “Anybody who guesses the final score will get a new Webnotepad (flip top reporter style with dot grid) when they arrive from France!” (Enter your guess on Rhodia Drive’s blog post here.)

8 –> Demilked also shared an adorable set of pictures by Laurent Laveder called Moon Games (and while it has nothing to do with paper, it’s an incredibly fun set of art).

Created by Laurent Laveder. Click the image to see more of Moon Games on Demilked.

1 –>  Julie [The-Gadgeteer] asks what format you use when starting a new journal – analog or digital – and she provides some great digital options for those not familiar with them

2 –> Reena Jana [on SmartPlanet] published a Q&A with Moleskine America President, Marco Beghin, and delves into the paper world and beyond.

3 –> How many journals/notebooks do you have actively going at once? Nifty [Notebook Stories] sums up Steve’s [Recording Thoughts] blog posts on the topic here.

4 –> Penned House has a great notebook hack post on how he turned a Moleskine into an iPhone case. Check it out here.

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 … This is completely random, but it’s cute, has a cat in it, and a ballpoint pen. … We got a little distracted.

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5 –>  Here are a couple neat posts on journaling this week. The first is from Journal Addict asking what your journal style is, which was discovered via a quick quiz on Journal Tips. Both great sites to follow for more on journaling.

6 –> David [Because I Really Felt It] posted a really cool Russian Doll Letter Version #2 that has us inspired to play with the idea. You can check out his Version #1 here.

7 –>  We’ve been seeing Sharpie projects pop up everywhere lately. For example: 6 Ways To Create DIY Sharpie Wallpaper on Babble.com; DIY Sharpie Tote on Sharpie’s Blog; Sharpie Snow Leopard Ottoman by LittlePinkMonster. And of course, you can always do a quick Sharpie search on Skineart.com for some inspiration.

8 –> We’ve also got a couple of contests going on right now – not to be missed! First up is our Moleskine Love Haiku Contest where you could win a Moleskine prize pack, and secondly, our Love Letters & Leuchtturm Planners Contest where you could be 1 of 4 winners to receive a Leuchtturm Weekly Planner!

1 –>  Laurie [Plannerisms] has a few lovely tips on how to use a monthly or weekly planner AND a daily planner at the same time.

2 –> Quo Vadis gives us a friendly reminder on New Year’s Resolutions and asks what yours are.

3 –> Misty [The Pen Thief] shared some great tidbits about Benjamin Franklin on his would-be birthday (which was Tuesday, Jan 17) that we had no clue about! Such as the fact that “he served as our nation’s first postmaster general in 1775!” Read her post for more neat information on Franklin. She also shared a neat post on the release of the Glacier National Park Stamp. If you are at all interested in stamps, you need to follow her blog for all the latest updates.

4 –> Andrea Joseph shared a lovely commissioned drawing of hers for a production of James and the Giant Peach that we are absolutely in love with! We remember that story from so many years ago .. and if you’ve never heard of Andrea before, you must check out her site for more incredible drawings & zines.

5 –> This is Colossal never fails in impressing us with their finds. First check out their post showcasing Molly Rausch‘s Beyond the Border postage stamp paintings; then see their Edible Gelatin Typography post by m-inspira; and last, but certainly not least, check out the beautiful post of Envelope Drawings by Mark Powell (one which is shown below).

Art by Mark Powell. Click the image to see more of his work on his website.

6 –> Troy [Penpalling Dad] wrote a very sincere post about why he penpals. Great inspiration to get started on penpalling, plus links to many penpal bloggers as well.

7 –>  We received a letter from Lucas [Lucas Writes] in response to our National Letter Writing Week shout-out, which was exciting! Thanks Lucas – you’ll get a response soon! Lucas also had a nice recap of his Letter Writing Week here.

8 –> We just had to include Margana [Inkophile] in today’s linky love, just for her headline: What Do Daleks, Goldfish And Rain Have In Common?

9 –> Millie [Ms. Logica] did a round-up of her 2012 Winter Pen Choices, which was curious as we had never considered different pens for different seasons. Do you swap out pens each season? If so, what do you base your decisions on? We’d love to hear about it in the comment section!

1 –>  Daisy Yellow had a nice post about “Taking Stock” of 2011 with her post showing off every single journal, sketchbook, and scrap notebook pulled out. Check it out here. Also, Laurie over at Plannerisms did a Planner Tally, which we have to admit is impressive! Have you ever done something similar to taking stock of all your planners, notebooks, or journals? If we pulled out every finished and in-use notebook around the office here, it’d get pretty crowded around here!

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2 –> Leigh Reyes has a couple interesting post this week: One with a nod to her art sensei, and another showcasing the Caran d’Ache Grafcube.

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3 –> Colossal has become one of our new favorite art and design blogs. Check out this wonderful fictional landscape creation from Kyle Kirkpatrick we first saw on This is Colossal.

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4 –> Matt  [A Guy's Moleskine Notebook] had a great post outlining the World Book Night 2012 that’s coming up on 4/23/12. It’s an annual celebration “designed to spread a love of reading and books.” If you’re interested in participating, check out his post for the full list of books.

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5 –> For all you ultralights out there (ultralight backpackers, we mean) we came across a neat Rite in the Rain Notebook Hack post by Stick. Which then led us to an even cooler Fisher Space Pen Refill Hack on Brian’s Backpacking Blog. Even if you’re not an outdoorsy type, these hacks are neat to check out to get a sense of the incredibly broad range of what people do with pens, paper, and notebooks.

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6 –> Misty [The Pen Thief] found these adorable Animails, which look eerily similar to one she posted to Limner not too long ago actually. Read all about the flying pig here.

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7 –>  From Dana [Save Snail Mail] we found out about LWA’s Mail Art contest to celebrate their 2,000th member! See Dana’s post on it here, and LWA’s deets about it here.

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8 –> Margana [Inkophile] did a poll last month asking what your favorite ink brand was and not surprisingly Noodler’s came in first! It was pretty heavily weighted toward Noodler, but check out her post to see who came in #2-9.

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9 –> And, of course, we have to do a call-out to Rhodia Drive’s Official 2012 Journal Swap. Long story short, Rhodia Drive will choose 12 people to each receive a large dotgrid webnotebook that the participants will then create art or write on a specified number of pages; then it’s on to another person for another set of pages. This repeats until the book is complete and it’s sent back to the original author. It sounds like a ton of fun so be sure to head over to their blog and sign up!

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10 –> And we’ll leave you for the weekend with a lovely ink&paper video, as first seen on Felt & Wire’s blog.

A sampling of pages from Rudberg's art journal.

One day I received an envelope from the Art House Co-op, which owns and manages The Brooklyn Art Library gallery in New York. I had applied to participate in their annual Sketchbook Project, which allows people from all over the world to create their writing and art in “sketchbooks.” Expecting an artist’s book with thick pages, I was surprised to find a small blank Moleskine journal in the envelope.

Since I had never completed a full artist’s book before, I needed inspiration—some creative spark—to get started. Created in the 1990s, Moleskine was based on the iconic black hardcover journals used by famous artists and writers, such as van Gogh, Picasso, and Hemingway, in their travels. Like these artists, I could showcase my work in a journal, but unlike them, my travels would take place in my imagination.

I stared at the journal and thought about how I was going to create my art in about half the size I was used to working with (this Moleskine was 5 x 8.25 inches). I could use any medium as long as the journal maintained the same dimensions when closed. (Some people in the past got around this restriction by creating poster-size pages that worked like fold-out maps.) I was determined to honor the tradition of using the Moleskine as a journal and not as an altered book.

The journal itself—a large plain Cahier—was simply a cardboard cover with stitching down the spine, and 40 blank sheets (80 pages) inside. On the front inside cover was an “Art House Library” pocket, with an inserted card. The card said “Shh… this is a library.” My name, location, a theme that I selected from a list (“Outside of myself”), barcode, and online location for my journal were printed on the inside back cover.

The inside cover of Rudberg's art journal.

I named the journal “Beside Myself” with the subtitle “modern life, nature, and everything else in between.” I wanted to review and provide commentary on what I had learned so far about art and life. I would pretend to be my doppelgänger looking over my shoulder while I worked.

I created a series of drawings and gave them playful names such as: my brain on art; unisex head and Warhol sketch; my favorite soap and emoto phone; one continuous puzzle and protection against the evil eye; heart is where the home is and heart coral; life is a maze and play the game of life; and odd couple Norma Desmond and Bozo the Clown.

In this journal, I included a range of media: prints, etchings, screenprints, and mixed-media art, using ink, colored pencils, paint, digital media, glue, tape, and acrylic medium. I then applied a fixative spray to each page so that the pages would not stick together. The pages remained intact and sturdy no matter what I did with them.

As I worked with my journal, I noticed that it was developing into a living thing – a personification of my creativity and an expression of my inner spirit. It was a sad day when I had to mail back my Moleskine journal, but I knew that it would continue to live on in my heart and in the “cloud.”

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Meet the Writer: Amy A. Rudberg is a freelance writer/blogger and artist who lives and works in Chicago. Her interests include papermaking, printmaking, mixed media, and digital art.

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