Notes on Notebooks

Post-Script: About the Hipster PDA, I realize now that starting with 5" x 7" lined index cards and cutting them in half to make 3-1/2" x 5" cards would make for the perfect hip-pocket sized PDA, with the lines oriented correctly for writing. Perhaps I'll try this at some future date.

When I was using a Hipster PDA more faithfully, I made one with a front and back cover made from thin aluminum sheets, bound with a closeable binder ring via holes punched in the upper left corner, and the corners rounded to make them less sharp. I subsequently archived these old index cards in a file box arranged by date.

Regarding the linoleum-stamped notepads I made yesterday, the ink used is water soluble, and in order to prevent fading or running of the ink (which can happen in one's back pocket due to perspiration) I covered each logo with a square of clear, 2"-wide packing tape, the poor man's lamination machine.

As for the size of the strips of paper used in making the notepads, dividing the 11" side into three equal portions came out to each being 93mm in width; I made a typographic error and subsequently hand-scrawled a virtually illegible correction.

 I should also get one of those quarter circle punches for making neat, radiused corners in the pages, rather than the crudely cut method I did here. I can see another trip to Hobby Lobby in my near future. I also realize that if I get any more serious in block printing I'd need to consider a hand-operated press, especially for wood block prints. Perhaps a makeshift press made from an automotive jack? Sounds like another DIY project.

Additionally, here's a nice article on notebooks from Rand at Rand in Repose.