Obsession, Thy Name is Moleskine!

Okay so perhaps I am late to the party, but I have a new obsession: Moleskine pocket journals. I have been trying for some time now to get caught up in art journalling and just could not get inspired. I don't know what it was, except perhaps for the simple reason that if I am going to write, I prefer to blog about things. I find that my thoughts come so quickly that the only way to keep up with them comfortably is to type them out. I am so much a computer girl that my husband even bought me a laptop for when I can't be home on my computer. (Entirely HIS idea, god bless him!)

Anyway, that said, I drove into Vancouver yesterday to pick up a Moleskine for a project I am doing with a small group of friends. Something about the size and the lovely paper, the pocket in the back, the elastic closure and the smell of the leather must have gotten to me, because suddenly I am obsessed! I want more of these little gems! I want one for in my bag to jot down the flotsam and jetsam of day to day life-phone numbers, appointments, websites I want to check out, ideas for art, etc., etc.

In the course of preparing for this project, I Googled Moleskine and let me tell you there are tons of links! There is a blog dedicated to the journals called Moleskinerie. On UTube there are videos of people flipping through their journals so you can see their art work. There is a "Wandering Molskine" project, much like the 1000 Journal Project, though I don't know how active or successful it is. And then there is something I find highly amusing: "Molskine hacks". This term refers to anything involving altering a Molskine to suit your purpose. You could be adding tabs, categorizing lists, decorating the cover, making some sort of pen holder, etc. There are endless 'how-to" links for every kind of hack imaginable. It's interesting to see how people are using their journals.

So...Forgive me if I get a tad obsessive, but this is my current obsession. I am just in love with the idea of filling a pocket journal with all kinds of stuff from my every day life. As you ca see from the pic I posted, I have started my journal for the project I am doing. It was hard choosing which journal to buy. There are some that have story boards in them which would have been interesting to work in. Another has an accordion set up inside it. One is one with a series of 6 pockets. They even have journals with lines for composing music. Too cool!
If it weren't storming horribly here today, I would drive back into the city for another one. I have to have more!! They have some brand new ones out now called City Journals. They feature a specific city and contain maps, etc. plus blank pages to journal about your trip. I am coveting the one on NYC!! Santa, if you are reading my blog, I need that one!!

Okay, back to working on my journal! If anyone out there uses the Molskine, I would live to see what YOU have done!