The Superior Labor

Have you experienced love at first sight? That is what happend to me when I discover The Superior Labor, a brand of handmade in Japan leather and canvas goods.

The simplicity of their design, the high quality of their products and the love with which they are made speaks straight to your heart.

I will talk some more about this company soon, but for now, let me show you some photos I took in their special exhibition event in Tokyo, at the Design Festa Gallery in Harajuku, from April 3rd to 5th.

I love leather products because the warm feeling they give me and the long durability they have. TSL has a big selection of wallets and coin purses that can be customizable.
I am looking for a wallet from few months ago, as mine is broken and I need a new one. I love this one in natural color…
The quality of their stitching is amazing. If you are a lover of well done goods, this exhibition was a paradise…
They also make several stationery products, as card cases, pencases, schedule books covers, notebook covers…
Some of my friends have these gorgeous pen rolls. This product became popular in many countries, not just in Japan. The leather they used to make them it feels very special, sturdy but soft. Those penrolls hold lots of items and look amazing both rolled and open.
I saw this product for the first time in this exhibition… Oh my… I TRULY fell in in love with it… It offers a huge world of use posibilities. I will probably keep a Traveler’s Notebook insert inside and use it as a notebook-wallet. It has a L zipper pocket, a loop for a pen and several pockets for cards, passport, tickets, bills… How cool it will be to travel with this!!!
NEW BAG DESIGN!!! It is the vertical version of their super popular Paint Small Shoulder Bag. It also includes a front pocket. Really well done, guys!!!
Lunch boxes bags on the left and big canvas and leather bags on the right. The canvas fabric they use is really strong and beautiful, I love how smart it looks combined with leather…
They just made new pencases. They will be released in September. I love how simple and well done they are. They are customizables and you can choose the color of the paint. I order one in dark green (^____^) It will look amazing with my Traveler’s Notebook!!!
Those bags on the front are made of canvas and are perfect to be use as a bag in bag. Recently they made a special collaboration with Traveler’s Notebook and I got one in blue to carry my ipad. The bags on the back are made of suede!!! They have an amazing touch…
They make lots of camping goods too! I didn’t know! Lots of specific bags and utensils that makes your camping organization easy and tidy.
This bear just has born! It has a zipper on the back to keep all together the bags of your tent’s clips, nails, etc. Isn’t it adorable?
So many special edition bags using some William Morris fabrics. So precious!!!
The exhibition atmosphere was very cool… I wish I could had stay longer, but I had to go to work, so I just spend there a little time. Hope to see you again soon!

If you had missed their exhibition in Harajuku, you can still be able to go to their event at Kitamura Photo shop Daikanyama Tsutaya during this week. They have several camera bags and straps, plus other goods that you can buy on the spot. Also, don’t miss their film photo exhibition “All you need is love”, with the collaboration of the members of the Hachigahana Photograph Club. Enjoy!!!

Those camera bags are so gorgeous, many different sizes and designs, I love them!!!
Lens bags, sooo pretty!!!
Gorgeous camera straps with William Morris fabrics.
They also had simple and thin straps for small cameras. I love the burgundy one!

 

These strong leather straps are so beautiful! And I also love the brass clip board!
Strong and thick bags for your camera accesories (or any other thing you want to carry there).

 

Totally in love with this brass ruler… In the past I accidentally destroyed some plastic rulers while using a cutter, so, I learned the lesson and now I only use metalic rulers with cutters…..
They have so many available leather stationery items that you can buy on the spot. Usually, this company products are order made, so, now there is no waiting time if you want some of these tools!!!

 

A regular pencil will look so gorgeous in these leather pen cover…
Those pouches are so cool you can’t miss them. I couldn’t resist and I got one on the small size to use as purse when traveling light.

I hope you liked this post, I will keep talking about this company soon again, as it became one of my favourites. Don’t miss their exhibition if you are in Tokyo until April 15th!

Have a nice day!

My Hobonichi planner

I remember the day I learnt to read… I was at home, enjoying a super cute children’s book called “El Patito Dinki”. Suddently, that non-sense symbols became clear, adopting the shapes of letters I recognized, making words I could understand and letting me to read a sentence… I was astonished… “It is impossible, I don’t know how to read yet, but I am reading…” My eyes got full of tears of happiness, but I wasn’t so sure if it was just a trick of my wild imagination, so I went to ask my mum if that letters meant what I thought… My mum said yes, and, after few seconds, she called me: “Come here again! You can read!”, “No mum, I can not read yet!!!”, “Yes, you can! Sit here and read that book from the beginning”.

It took me a lot of effort, but I read that whole story while my mum was washing the dishes… I felt sooooo happy that I didn’t want to stop reading. But guess what… I didn’t run to read another book, I run to get my notebooks and try to read what I wrote before. The thing is that I learn to write before I learn to read. I knew the alphabet and I could copy the letters. So, if my mum spelled a word to me, I could write it. That way I wrote lots of notes to myself, knowing I will be able to read them in the future. It was so fun to read my own messages from the past, things like “Someday I will grow up and do anything I want” or “I want to go to Japan” or “I wish to have a brazalete with water, glitter and plastic fishes inside”. My point is, that was the time, when I was only 4 years old, when I discover the magic of journaling.

I am keeping a diary (even I did not wrote everyday) since I was 6 years old. The first diary I had was so cute, made in Taiwan, with a really beautiful illustration of a girl with a hat and a pretty dress, talking on the phone in a red telephone box. When I moved to Japan 12 years ago I destroyed all my diaries, as I was too afraid they get lost and everybody discovers my secrets XD but I kept journaling a little bit on my schedule books. Many times it was just a sentence, sometimes I also draw something. Other times I glued there some tickets, photos or labels as a memento…

But as life sometimes is not that easy and you have days you really could use some selfconfidence, I decided to do the same as I used to do when I was little: write messages to myself to read in the future. I also wanted to improve drawing and wanted to draw something everyday. So, I started to look for a planner that could help me to do all of that, with enought space to write all my work and ToDo list. This is how I decided to start using the amazing planner called Hobonichi Techo.

I am a Hobonichi Techo user since 2015. It is an amazing Japanese planner. It is made with Tomoe River paper, one of my 2 favourite types of paper, that is very thin and light, but perfect for fountain pens and even watercolours!!! To write on that paper feels so good you don’t want to stop.

Hobonichi has several sizes and planner types. So far I used the original size (A6) and the Cousin (A5). I am currently using again A6. It also has a crazy amount of covers. There is always a cover perfect for everyone.

My Hobonichi original size

My Hobonichi cousin size

What I like the best about Hobonichi, besides the type of paper, is that the paper has a grid (yeaaaah!!!) and also you have a page for everyday. You have a year view, a monthly view, a weekly view and a page for everyday!!! That way you have plenty of space for your ToDo list, plans, work ideas, remembers, journaling and drawing. It is perfect for everything related to my work and personal appointments. My work doesn’t follow a regular schedule and I work in many different locations every week, so I am extremly careful about not making mistakes. I need to have everything very tied and organized. My Hobonichi helps me with that. I don’t know a better planner that this one for my personal needs.

And, thanks to Hobonichi, I met my best friend, April Wu. It is a crazy story of trust and true friendship that started on the internet. We had met in person first time 2 years ago, and since then so many other times, in Japan and Taiwan. April is an amazing and responsible person, so talented artist and very, very warm. If you check her blog or her Instagram account @penguinscreative you will fall in love with her journaling style and her gorgeous watercolours paintings.

One of April’s Hobonichi master pieces…

Our friendship story was something Hobonichi company didn’t want to miss, and they interview us last January, while April was visiting Japan. Hobonichi headquarters in Tokyo are AMAZING. The office has a very warm atmosphere that really invites you to work with a very good attitude. We both liked it very much, like we didn’t want to leave the place, ha, ha, ha!!!

All the furtinure is made of wood, giving the office a very warm feeling
There are lots of inspirational books and items. Everything they need to keep creative and work running.
We even met the fugu!!! (blowfish) You can follow his adventures on the Live Cam

We both felt so honored to be interviewed for such an important company, with fans all around the world. The staff that works there are very nice and awesome people. It was, for sure, an experience we both will remember our whole life…

Don’t miss our interview titled “We made friends all around the world thanks to the Hobonichi Techo”, where we talk about our passion for Hobonichi and how we met each other…

Traveler’s Factory Station

Since I am blogging again I am only writing about Traveler’s Notebook, but they had a lot of very special events lately I can not miss!!!

Next April 27th Traveler’s Company will open their 3rd shop in Japan. Yeaaah!!! This one it will be at Tokyo station and the name of the shop is “Traveler’s Factory Station“.

Shop name : TRAVELER’S FACTORY STATION
Place : GRANSTA MARUNOUCHI in Tokyo Station
JR TOKYO STATION underground first floor, 1-9-1 Marunouchi Chiyoda-ku Tokyo
From Monday to Saturday: 10:00~20:00h
Sundays and Public days: 10:00~21:00h

Besides the Traveler’s Factory regular products, you can find some exclusive products for this shop, including a brown/camel (can we call it caramel?) leather cover with the golden image of the Traveler’s train. The refills inserts have a gorgeous illustration of the Tokyo Station building. Other stationery goods are a set of letterpress stickers, washi tape, charms, cottong bags…

The beautiful leather covers in regular size with the logo of the Traveler’s train. Includes that beautiful insert too.
Cotton bags, Tokyo station charm and coffee candies… lovely!!!
These letterpress stickers are amazing… So detailed and retro… perfect to decorate the covers of your inserts.
These roll stickers have the logo of antic Japanese trains. Some of these trains are retired but others still running! For sure, it is a very retro and adorable design that will bring lots of memories to many people and inspire new adventures to many others…
Adorable washi tape explaining in English parts of Japanese culture like sumo or soba… so funny!!!

 

I am extremely happy as I had being invited to the pre-opening party today. The shop is very cool. So beautiful, full of small details in every corner. It has a very special charming atmosphere, like other Traveler’s Company shops. But this one has a very special personality…

Don’t miss the tour I had filmed showing products and details from the shop:

Posted by Esther Molina on Tuesday, April 25, 2017

One of the most amazing parts: the wagon containers!!!

This was a real cargo wagon! It was adapted to become part of the store… so cool!
I love this shadow box with many Traveler’s Factory items…
The stamp corner is amazing… you can stamp them on your Traveler’s Notebook!!!
The shop have these exclusive stamps with the names of Japan prefectures. Each name has been design including some famous local things. I love Oita with the onsen mark!!!

 

Traveler's Factory Station

Posted by Esther Molina on Tuesday, April 25, 2017

 

TN Staaaamps!!!

Posted by Esther Molina on Tuesday, April 25, 2017

 

Again, thank you so much to Traveler’s Company team for all your work making us very, very happy!!! Thank you very much for letting me share this super special moment with all your team and bring it to all TN fans (^________^)

I hope you enjoy this post and stay tuned for more videos on the opening day on April 27th!!! ^________^

Traveler’s Notebook Olive edition (limited)

Hi, everyone!

This post is about the Traveler’s Notebook Olive Edition. It is a limited edition and it is sold out at the moment, but Traveler’s Company said some more and on their way ^_________^

(photo from Traveler’s Notebook website)

Green is my favourite colour, and olive green is the colour of adventure… I have been wishing (and asking XD) so long that Traveler’s Notebook makes some green covers. Here you are!!! It can not be more perfect!

Some people was expecting something more green, others expected something more dark… but the truth is that the shade of olive changes completely depending on the light. As my best friend April says, it has “50 shades of green”. She made a perfect review of the olive edition, so there is no point for me to write anything else. Please, check out her amazing review and photos on her blog here.

Personally, I am totally in love with this edition. I really enjoy all the different shades of the cover and the touch of the leather. I plan to use it when I go hiking, while my Blue edition will be more for city use. There is nothing more pleasant for me than sit down on the mountains (or in a mountain hut if it’s raining) and write or draw on a notebook… forget about your phone for a while and get lost on the pages… feel the kiss of the pen on the paper and transform your heart into words…

In case you missed my live videos on Facebook, I want to share them with all of you. I hope you enjoy them!

1. Arriving at Traveler’s Factory in Nakameguro

2. Waiting for the store to open

3. 20 minuts to open!!!

4. Buying the first Olive Edition sold at TFA

5. Shop atmosphere

6. And, finally, unboxing!!! (Sorry for the wrong position of the video, I have no idea how to fix it…)

Traveler's Notebook olive edition unboxing

Posted by Esther Molina on Friday, March 24, 2017

Traveler’s Notebook

Since 2015 I became a passionate user of Traveler’s Notebook. Probably you already know about these amazing notebooks. But, please, allow me to explain a little bit about them, as they don’t only have an awesome design, they also have solved all my problems about travel journaling.

Traveler’s Company makes the Traveler’s Notebook and other stationery items like brass products, kraft envelopes, spiral ring notebooks… it is a brand from the Japanese company Designphil.

The Traveler’s Notebook consists in two parts: the leather cover and the refill inserts. The leather cover is made in Thailand. It is available in black, brown and camel as a regular product. There were/are some limited editions in blue and olive green.

(photo link from Traveler’s Notebook website)
(Not available, out of stock as it was released in 2015. Photo link from Traveler’s Notebook website)
(Released in March 2017. Photo link from Traveler’s Notebook website)

You can find the notebooks in 2 sizes: regular (H220×W120×D10mm) and passport (H134×W98×D10mm)

(Photo link from Traveler’s Notebook website)

The regular size is my favourite, as it is 1/3 of an A4 and it is perfect for traveling pamphlets, airplane tickets, etc… It is a size that really invites you to write without intimidating. With that unsual shape you can archieve really interesting and practical layouts. Also, it is very comfortable to carry it with you everywhere.

The inserts are made in Japan with one of the two best papers in the whole world (well, at least, that is what I feel XD). It is a paper called MD, made by Midori company (also another brand from Designphil). Why do I assure it is one of the best papers in the world? Because its performance. You can write VERY smoothly with a fountain pen and the ink doesn’t bleed through. You can event paint sketches with watercolours and the paint doesn’t bleed through either!!!. The paper is strong and light at the same time. When you hear and touch the paper it feels like heaven.

And, wait to know about this: the inserts are replaceable. You can keep reusing the covers. They will become your sidekick and share many trips and memories with you. Forever!!! They will age beautifuly because of the high quality leather, while the inserts can be replaced any time you want. It is the simplest and quickest system in the world: using an elastic. That way you can carry several inserts with you all the time, replace them, remove them, add them and do anything you want.

As a stationery lover (I belong to a stationeryholics group XD) I had always the problem of finding notebooks with lovely covers but I didn’t like the inner pages. I am not just talking about the quality of the paper, it was also about blank paper, ruled paper (that I don’t use because I don’t like it, it cuts all my creativity flow), grid paper (my favourite)… everybody has different preferences. And it is very difficult to find a notebook that has a cover you love with the right type of paper inside. It never happend to me, as, for example, Moleskine has a very cool design but the regular editions have a poor performance with watercolours. Then, researching and researching, I started to use Traveler’s Notebook and all my problems were solved. I can do my journaling with a fountain pen in grid paper, allowing me to use watercolours without bleeding. FANTASTIC!

There are many, many, many types of inserts. There is also a blank insert with the other best paper in the whole world: Tomoe River. It is extremely thin paper, know also as Bible paper. It performs majestically with fountain pens and watercolours. Wonderful, thin and strong. There are inserts in several colour papers, kraft brown paper, black paper, sketch paper (be carefull, this one is not good for watercolours but perfect for pencil, colour pencils, markers, copics…), wax paper…

There are also available several types of diary inserts. With dates, free dates, montly, weekly…

Can a notebook be more awesome?

The design of the notebook can be customize. You can add charms, stickers, stamps, masking tapefolders… it is a non ending list of items from Traveler’s Notebooks. All of them with the traveling theme and a retro design that had touch the heart of many of us around the world in these 10 years that the company is making us to fly high and dream.

Thank you so much for your amazing work, Traveler’s Company…