Birds on a Wire

As a kid, while I was still grappling with my ability to write and artfully sculpt letters, I remember the daunting feeling of flipping through the school notebook which came streaked with dotted lines. I remember how I would try to precariously balance my wavy, uncertain letters on them. And I still remember my mother holding my hands, waltzing the tip of my pencil from the dotted line into the white space of endless possibilities above it, weaving a loop to make the perfect 'l' and gliding it back to the line to end the performance with a celebratory sweep. Back then, I recognized my love for the theatrics of writing letters--of assembling them to make words, and putting the stories that I mad up in my head, onto paper.

I made this picture while driving the other day. {Don't worry, I parked the car on the side}. The birds on the wire somehow took me back to my kindergarten days and reminded me of the letters and the dotted lines. I don't know why I made this picture, but perhaps something is telling me to rewrite the story I set out to write for myself, or alter the plot a bit. It's funny how some things you come across in life, bring back some of the most unintentionally related memories. Thankfully, this was a happy one.

{longing, memories, love, photography, writing, happy incidents, notes to self}

Store Alert: Eye Candy

The thing about stationery is... you get greedy. It's never enough, is it? I am a compulsive hoarder, I confess. I can never have enough of those classic moleskines, those mulit-hued post-its or those gorgeous fountain pens. Le sigh. So, if you are a hoarder like me {I like to use the phrase: a collector of good things}, you must stop here. 

Or, you could just continue reading. 

The other day, I came across an online store, dedicated in all its entirety, to bespoke diaries. I spent {I kid you not} a good 20 minutes surveying the goods. I'm a bit bothered about the name though: the store is called Eye Candy. But I suppose for folks like me who get weak in their knees at the sight of stationery, the products are quite... well, eye candy-esque. The rich, ivory leather journal presented in a neat bow took my heart away {I can almost hear myself saying, "My precioussss..."}

Next up on the Eye Candy shelf is a special family of distressed leather diaries [very classy, I may add} which come with an elegant orange band and a charming brass trinket. What I particularly like about these stationery gems is that their design is subtle; nothing is too over-the-top. These are the perfect companions for a travel-junkie like me. 

While the vintage, hand-crafted journals are absolute stunners, there are also paper-notebooks which carry quirky quotes {When Life Gives You Hands, Make Handmade or It's Time Again for Another Saturday in the Office} written in playful type and graphics. 

There is a bit for everybody, I believe. There are journals in classic black or beige for those important {read: serious} meetings, as well as those easily-fit-in-my-pocket notebooks for Saturday afternoon scribbles while you wait for a friend at a cafe. These are definite keepers.

Here's the way to the candy store or follow them on tumblr. 

{design, stationery, diaries, notemaking, store, Eye Candy, journals, classic, writing}