Kate’s Paperie, the renowned New York stationery shop, has a lovely online catalogue and plenty of journals, notebooks, and sketchbooks to keep everyone happy during the holidays and beyond.

My favorites:

Beach lined journal: “Like a brightly striped beach chair! This everyday journal is covered in boldly striped canvas from France, making it stylish and durable-especially a la playa! Edges of canvas at top and bottom are slightly fringed, blank pages inside are cream colored.” Each of three patterns comes in two sizes (pictured). The “slim” journals are $30, the “medium” size $25.

Textured stripe journal: “Organize your thoughts and words in our elegant fabric-bound books from a small bindery in Germany. These stylish journals come in sumptuous textured stripes, with lined cream pages and a ribbon to mark your place.” They’re 6″x8″ and available in blue/yellow (shown), olive/rust, and green/lavender, $25 each.

Miquelrius bound journals: “Handy bound notebooks go with you anywhere! With a leather-look cover in red, blue or black, the pages come with either lined or graph paper.” They’re availble as 6″x8″ for $8 or 4″x6″ for $6. I have a small black graph-paged one, and the smooth soft cover is really delightful. Great for technical notes or sketches.

Watercolor journals: “Take along sketchbooks of handmade 100% heavyweight cotton watercolor paper with a deckle on all sides. The sturdy cover makes it perfect for the studio or en plein air.” At 50 pages each, these lovely sketchbooks are a good value for 6″x8.5″ for $23 and 8.5″x11″ for $30. I love the handmade look of the paper. It would probably be delicious to write on with a good fountain pen.

So that’s it for my Kate’s Paperie writeup! Gift wrap’s $5 and shipping’s $10ish, depending on how soon you need your new goodies. Buy something for your sweetheart, coworker, or family papersnob.

“Covered in fabric from the Kate Spade handbag collections, these plain paper journals provide a clean, white medium for recording thoughts, sketching ideas and making plans. Measures approximately 5″ x 8″ high.”

I found these lovely journals at See Jane Work, “The destination for office style and organization.” They’re available for $23. I can’t seem to find them on the Kate Spade website, so they may be new or old. Either way, they look lovely and are sure to be high-quality coming from such a good company.

“At BookFactory we understand the importance of documenting your work, research and inventions.

Through innovation and technology we provide the highest quality books at economical prices without requiring large runs.

We specialize in making custom Laboratory Notebooks, Engineering Notebooks, Journals, and Log Books with custom page designs, company logos, book numbers, and more, for less than you pay today.”

Not only do they produce scientific lab notebooks, but also custom journals, blank books, sketchbooks, and “inventor’s books” (whatever those are). They do have a minimum order of 40, but the prices are very good and they have a variety of sizes and colors.

For non-custom work, prices are between $10 and $20 for most books. They appear to be very high-quality and might be a fun alternative for a tech-savvy journaler.

Cartoleria Pantheon, established 1910, is tucked away on a small street beside the Pantheon in Rome. I stumbled across it while on Easter break in 2003, and what a treasure for someone like me! The walls are lined with blank hand-crafted leather books, photo albums, and sketchbooks in many sizes and styles. They also sell old writing supplies – desks, fountain pens, blotters, and ink.

After spending a half hour looking and deciding, I settled on a 5.5″x7″ leatherbound traveler’s journal (similar to those seen here). The creamy paper and dark brown pebbled calfskin are exquisite. When I paid for it, the owner placed a small golden seal on the inside cover, with the name of the shop in Gothic black writing. This attention to detail and obvious love for the products in the shop was infectious and very romantic. It makes me wish I was a writer!

Unfortunately, I haven’t had many adventures to chronicle since that trip, and as such it’s still safe in the provided drawstring bag.

I highly suggest that if you are in Rome (as we all are from time to time, right?) and if you have a love for fine writing, you check out this gem of a shop.