Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with moleskine

Looking for a Moleskine-like book - but with bigger pages and more pages than your average Moleskine.

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 06:52:33 -0800

Looking for a Moleskine-like book - blank pages, but with bigger pages and more pages than your average Moleskine. What type of book should I get? Bonus points if you know a store in downtown Toronto that sells it. I am making a birthday present for a friend of mine (giftee is on MeFi, hence anon), and I want to make him a little journal with written entries, pasted photos, drawings, etc. However, to make it a bit more difficult, I am planning on carving out some pages at the back and inserting a box 2cm+2cm+2cm (a bit less than 1inch+1inch+1inch).

I love Moleskines, and if it was just a bit bigger and with more pages it would be perfect. The regular moleskines with blank pages are too thin, and the diary ones are probably thick enough, but I would rather have blank pages. Can you think of anything else that can handle this project? I can sacrifice on the 'larger pages' aspect, but definitely want to be able to put the tiny box inside.

As well, if you have any clues where in downtown toronto I can find such a book, or even browse books like this, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

Looking for Moleskine notebook accessories.

bamassippi — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:21:01 -0800

Looking for Moleskine notebook accessories. Looking for Moleskine accessories (from the cheap to the luxurious) for my 5" x 8" Moleskine. I write all the time and

- carrying cases
- pens
- pen holders
etc.

Uses for moleskine?

Deflagro — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:44:53 -0800

What are some other uses for my moleskine besides the normal sketching/writing stories? I used it a lot during the school year for notes and other things like that, but now that it's summer, it has just been sitting there gathering dust. So what are some things I could use it for? I'm not really into sketching or writing stories, so what are some other ideas? (semi-covered here)

Seems like there should be one around here somewhere....

Large Marge — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:58:31 -0800

I live in the East Bay, and I'd like to get my new moleskine notebook laser etched with my own design. There has got to be somewhere in the bay I can go get this done for a reasonable price (I'm not paying 40 bucks for a modofly job). I know at the maker faire shopbot had a whole station set up for stuff like this and it was free there. Any ideas?

Engraved moleskines?

Deflagro — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 17:32:11 -0800

So it's almost time for me to get a new moleskine, but I wanted the cover engraved and I see engraveyourbook.com has stopped doing business. Are there any other places I can engraved moleskines? I know modofly.net, but I can't get one single custom moleskine and they apparently will be phasing them out by the end of the year. According to this Modofly blogpost, they were told by the guys at engraveyourbook.com that the covers have PVC and you need a filter (that's why Engrave stopped) so I that rules out for the most part taking it some place to get one engraved.

Are there any other places I can get them? (custom or not) It seems most things I find with Google are just articles about the two previous mentioned ones. If for any reason it matters I'm wanting one of the pocket sketchbooks. Also I want this to be relatively cheap and not some outrageous price. Thanks!

Quality, durable, leather journal?

MrZero — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:23:04 -0800

I am looking for a blank journal, preferably leather-bound, which will survive for many years and many adventures. Suggestions? Two weeks from right now, I'll be in the air on my first real trip, which is also my honeymoon, and I need to get a journal. I want to devote it solely to travelling, and I'd like it to last long enough to refresh my memories when I'm old and gray. I'd like it to be:

leather-bound, or something else classic,

durable,

small enough for travel,

not a Moleskine (I have enough already),

affordable.

I saw these two threads, but all the answers point at really high-end leather goods. I just want a quality journal. Can I find something like this at a Borders or Barnes and Noble? Other than brands, what characteristics should I look for (i.e. sewn binding, acid-free, "archival," etc.)?

Bonus question, what should I use to write in it?

How can paper be bleached of its text?

fjardt — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 20:51:11 -0800

How can paper be bleached of its text? I had a great idea for notebooks, if only i knew how to perform a necessary step.

That is--i found that the paper in many old books i have is quite æsthetically pleasing, but sometimes the meaning of the text is not :)

So then, i thought, why pay for fancy moleskines, if only the text could vanish from these pages!

But traditional paper recycling cannot be done, for that would require unbinding all of the pages, and turning that into pulp.. and so on. Pointless if i wanted to keep the paper and binding as it is.

The only method i came up with (but have yet to try) for doing this is to soak the pages in a photo emulsion and expose it to white light. Would that work? And then if it does, would the process of purchasing the necessary materials exceed that of just buying some moleskines?

What's a good handheld electronic device to replace my Moleskine notebook?

Slack-a-gogo — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 07:35:26 -0800

What is a good handheld electronic device to replace keeping all of my notes split between my Moleskine notebook and a word doc on my desktop? I need something that I can enter notes into directly and also import information into from my computer (and export a backup copy back to the computer). I'm an avid note taker and have my Moleskine with me at all times, but I just filled up a notebook and am starting a new one. It dawned on me that I'll no longer have portable access to all of the old info unless I decide to carry TWO notebooks with me. Which isn’t going to happen. I love my Moleskine, but I think I’ve outgrown it.

I write lots of info almost every day into the notebook (restaurants I want to remember, albums and books I want to check out, phone numbers, a few lines of an article I want to remember, websites I want to check out, cool words and phrases, best-of lists, and other assorted nerdery). I also keep a similar list in a word doc on my computer that I cut and paste into as I see things online that interest me. I end up writing a lot of that info from the computer into the notebook, which is starting to get old.

So I’m looking for a portable device (pocket sized) that I can type info into as well as import information into. When I research these devices online most of the reviews and comments are targeted towards the wireless, phone, and internet features – none of which I’ll use since I won’t be paying the monthly fees. I’m pretty sure I’ll have to pay for a a device with lots of features I don’t need or use, but I want to make sure it’s actually good at what I need it for. I just need to find a reliable electronic handheld notebook. Bonus points if the entires can be tagged and searched by tags. I'm not sure if what I'm asking is just for an electronic device, or for an electronic device and a corresponding software. I'm a pen and paper guy, so this is new to me. Is there one that you’d recommend or any warnings before I shell out the money to buy one?

Help me be more creative!

daninnj — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 19:41:05 -0800

I bought my first Moleskine notebook, specifically the the pocket weekly planner and notebook 2007 which has the week planner on one page and a full page for notes. What creative things can I do with the note page? I'm in college and I've been looking for an organizer and found the Moleskine (I keep on forgetting the last "e" and keep on pronouncing it wrong in my head) described above is what I need, since it's small (I bought a more expensive planner in high school but find it too big) and simple. I bought the weekly planner with the note pages because I thought I would try to be creative every week and use the page to explore my creativity.

At first I thought I would write a little story every week, adding new sentences every day, but I would probably run out of ideas. Then, I thought I would write one big story for the year, but I'm not that good at writing stories. I've just thought of writing a haiku every day describing how that day went, which I think is my best suggestion. Does anyone have any other creative ideas? I am not a drawer, I would prefer to write.

The page is 3 1/2x5 1/2 inches, which is a little bit bigger than a notecard, and has 27 lines.

Notebooks for the guy that thinks Moleskines are too expensive?

frogan — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 18:16:22 -0800

Notebooks for the guy that thinks Moleskines are too expensive? I love notebooks. But I go through them very quickly in my own little sorta-kinda-GTD system where I rip used pages out (i.e. clearing my Inbox).

I'd like to do the whole Moleskine thing ... but come on. They're small. They're expensive. You don't want to rip these pages ever. And I'm not an artist or poet that hangs on every thought that flitters into my head, so I don't need to hang onto a notebook forever that's filled with things like "bread, milk, call your wife."

What I need is something in-between a Moleskine and a Mead college student notebook. Inexpensive notebooks with good quality paper and good bindings (rings, traditional bindings, etc) but where I don't mind throwing it away when it's all used up. I have tried the Moleskine Cahier brand, but the cover itself is paper and is easily torn.

How do you carry your notebook?

Iridic — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 08:29:45 -0800

Writers, artists, and general note-dashers: how do you carry your notebook? As a sometime writer and student, I like to carry a notebook on me so I have a place to jot down quotes and ideas. The only problem is that keeping the notebook with me at all times is often a tricky proposition. Most notebooks are too large to ride comfortably in a pants pocket; placing them in an inside jacket pocket is better, but you can't wear a jacket 24/7. I'm not even going to get into the problem of safely carrying a pen.

So, Mefites, how do you carry your notebook? Do you wear a palm pilot on a belt clip? A stack of index cards and a pencil stub in your back jeans pocket? A moleskine in a shoulder holster? And what can I do to carry my notes safely, comfortably, and conveniently?

Pen me!

lonefrontranger — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 12:43:17 -0800

MoleskineFilter: Can anyone recommend a non-gel ink, commercially available pen to use with my pocket Moleskine? before you snark, I did run a search. Previous answers mostly involved artsy-indie fountain type pens, gel pens, or specialty items I'd have to order on Ebay/Amazon then wait a week or so to receive.

I really just want to go to Target or the local art supply tonight and buy something affordable that works, plus I'd like to buy a couple to keep backups around for if when I lose the original.

Black ink, medium to medium fine point works best. Nothing fancy, just a smooth writing pen with non-smudgy, non-gloopy ink that doesn't skip. Does such a thing exist?

I'm mostly writing in my Moleskine but I also do some pen sketches from time to time. I dislike the way gel ink 'feels'. Slender metal barrels or 'micro' pens won't work as I can't grip them properly. I tend to destroy felt tips within about a week.

thanks everyone.

Dont let me ruin my Moleskine on the first day

kevin_2864212 — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 14:59:30 -0800

How do you setup/organize your Moleskine? After reading posts on Metafilter, and other places, I fell for the hype, or whatever. I just had my 3.5" X 5.5" ruled notebook arrive yesterday. I love lists, goal setting and just writing my life minutia on pieces of loose paper, but they were always getting destroyed and lost, so the molekine seemed perfect for me. Now my only problem is partitioning it in a practical and useful way. Or should I just leave it totally free of partitions in an open mind-dump?
How do you setup your moleskins.
If this question was posed, I apologize, but I couldnt find it.

Good pen for a pocket notebook?

MrZero — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 20:43:40 -0800

Not to be a total "hipster doofus" (are we still using that one?), but I got a pocket-sized Moleskine for Christmas, and I'd like to get a pen that would be forever with it. Like, hooked onto the cover or something, so that I always have a pen with my notebook. Suggestions?

Hunting for the perfect notebook

Brittanie — Sat, 07 Jan 2006 03:50:56 -0800

In the market for a new paper notebook (one for everything). Help me find what I'm looking for. For years I've had this 8x6 or so black leather portfolio with a magnet closure and pen holder, just the right size to hold a half-sized spiral notebook (by which I mean half the size of standard letter paper). It also has a few pockets inside in which I can stash biz cards and notes.

Lately, I've become obsessed with Moleskines. However, I had a pocket ruled one a few years ago and remember not liking it so much. The cost was a bit prohibitive, but I also thought the lines were way too narrow and it was kind of a pain to write in. (No offense to the MeFite regulars who are apparently die-hard fans).

What I'd like is something along the lines of what I currently have —
1) a nice portfolio or something with a tough outer cover that will last a while but that
2) allows me to interchange the paper inside, preferably in notebook form as opposed to loose-leaf or 3-ring,
3) that also has a few random pockets, a pen holder and some sort of closure so the pages don't get destroyed when it's in my purse, and
4) which lays flat and which is
5) about half the size of the book I currently have. Maybe a bit bigger that the pocket Moleskine or at least the same size with bigger lines.

I remember seeing some Italin line with leather covers and simple, paper notebooks inside that can be interchanged. Ring any bells? Other suggestions also welcome.

A quick-drying pen for Moleskines?

aebaxter — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 09:34:33 -0800

What are your favorite (preferably gel) pens for writing in a Moleskine that dry quickly and won't smudge or bleed? I am currently using Pilot G2 (.07 mm) gel pens with my pocket Moleskine notebook. I love the flow of the ink and the deep colors, but the ink dries so slowly that jotting down a note and snapping the book shut is nearly impossible if I want to avoid smudges in the writing and dots on the adjacent page.

I'm sure there's a great pen out there, but I don't want to spend tons of money buying up new ones to test out. Bonus points if it's a gel pen and/or can be bought in a regular store like OfficeMax, OfficeDepot, etc, but I'm open to all suggestions.

Where to get cheap Moleskine notebooks

Prospero — Sun, 15 May 2005 07:57:49 -0800

I purchased a Moleskine notebook yesterday (previously discussed at length in this MeFi thread), and I have a feeling that it will be the first of many--overblown marketing aside, the design of these things really is excellent. But $11 for a pocket-size notebook is pretty expensive. Where's the cheapest place online to find them? Bulk purchasing is a possibility.

What's the hype around Moleskine

Rash — Wed, 16 Feb 2005 21:44:32 -0800

Moleskine -- why the fuss?

It's just a notebook. The heritage? (Hemingway & etc.)
The accessories?