Coffee Date: The Notebook Dilemma
If you've been following along on Instagram and Facebook, by now you probably have noticed three things. First, that I am obsessed with notebooks (I'm an old-fashion list maker); second, that I'm running low on my notebook stash and cannot find a new notebook I love; and three, that I've been tossing around the idea of creating my own, Sincerely, Jackie notebooks. You might have also noticed that I'm one of those people that gets and idea in my head, and then have a heck of a time getting it back OUT of my head.
So if we were having coffee together today, I'd chew your ear off about notebooks, and I would tell you why, after squashing the idea of creating them myself, I'm now back to revisiting the idea. The story is a little sappy, and I promise it ends up being about much more than a simple notebook. Grab yourself a cup of coffee, tea, or water, and let me share my notebook dilemma.
Alright, so two years ago I worked with an awesome client-turned-friend (you may know her, and if you don't, you should) where I designed and printed workbooks for her. I found an awesome notebook manufacturer who, in addition to producing the workbooks I designed, sent me lots of sample notebooks, all of which I've been using and LOVE. When I used up all of the samples they sent me, I kind of began to panic. I'm SO particular about notebooks - they need to be the ideal size (for me, around 6x10), have perfectly lined paper, have metal spiral rings, have a thick cover, and just be all around perfection. These samples were perfection, so I began to think about designing some primarily for myself, and then putting a few in the Sincerely, Jackie shop.
This, I determined, was a bad idea. It was just bad business to spend several hundred dollars on notebooks, mostly for myself, with no promise of being able to recoup the investment.
Decision made: Sincerely, Jackie won't make notebooks.
BUT WAIT! There's a twist to this story....
A few days ago I found a box in my basement that I hadn't unpacked from our move. I huffed and I puffed and I finally got the box upstairs. Ok, I lied, my husband carried the box upstairs for me. Anyway, the box turned out to be filled with all of my diaries from elementary, middle, and high-school, as well as several shoe boxes filled with notes & letters. For four nights I sat in the corner of my bedroom, laughing, crying, and sometimes flinching, as I took in the stories of my own life. I stopped keeping a diary when I went to college, but continued to write letters to my boyfriend (now husband) and friends. Once I came home from college, it all stopped. No more letters, no more diaries, no more stories to fill in the little holes of my memory. In the moment that I folded up and put away that last letter from college, I decided I wanted to start keeping a journal again. If anything, just to be able to revisit it in another 10+ years.
Except that I didn't have any notebooks to write in.
So here I am, again, thinking about creating notebooks. But now I've got this added sense of nostalgia that's impacting what I already deemed a poor business decision. Sigh. Knowing me, I'll probably let my emotions win and I'll end up investing in beautifully perfect notebooks, that I'll add to my Etsy shop at an affordable price, so that you can all share in my nostalgia and list-writing obsession.
Would any of you be interested in a simple, lovely little notebook? No fancy planner pages, no inspirational quotes, no suggestions for how to organize your day - just a beautiful book filled with blank pages for you to do with whatever your heart desires. Because there's a good chance I may end up with a bunch of extra notebooks on my hands in the next few months.
Come back every Thursday for a coffee (or tea!) date. During our coffee dates, I let my hair down and chat a bit more personally about whatever's on my mind, as if we were old friends catching up over a cup of java at the local coffee house. See you next week!
Sincerely,
