What does it take to push away the world?

Well, you could start with the Hearth... I confess, I have a bit of a procrastination problem with YouTube. It's terribly easy to justify another minute and twenty-eight seconds of a movie preview, for example, instead of getting up and going to write the invitation to tomorrow&

Feeling Stressed Between Appointments? You Need a Liminal Ticket

A more graceful way to move through your day — with a free downloadable template. Full disclosure: This is going to seem obvious. It’s going to seem tedious. The Liminal Ticket is going to seem like something you shouldn’t need to do as a functioning adult. And yet. This

How Papermancy Helped Me Handle My Girlfriend's Scary Request

There is something to be said for changing your mindset... Last night was great. It was date night, some time my girlfriend and I set aside to spend quality time with each other, and the Wisconsin Fall weather was cooperating enough that we could enjoy sitting out in her backyard

Using Craft as an Antidote to Hubris

Bookbinding is slowly reducing my overconfidence of being a maker with ADHD It's a common pattern in my life: 1. I see a need for something to be done or made – especially something with a high-stakes deadline. 2. I think to myself "Oh, I could do

papermancy

How the Papermancy Hearth Creates an Oasis for Your Brain

The hearth is a low-pressure inclusive hangout where papermancers and their associates talk, share, explore, laugh, and connect under the very-loosely-held theme of "paper-based thinking, book arts, and tactile cognition." Come if you like, leave when you wish.

When You’re Overwhelmed, This Blank Piece of Paper Will Center You

Anytime, anywhere, no sign in required. Let’s do a little thought experiment here, ok? I’ll describe three simple steps for you to do, and you just make sure you do each one before you read (or do) the next. I know that seems inefficient; I’m going to

analog

“It’s Not About Analog or Digital, It’s About…”

If you answered “time” like me, let me tell you why we’re wrong.

You Need a FAFO Notebook

In an outcome-obsessed world, fooling around gets forgotten. There’s a lot of niche topics in the notebook-o-sphere online. How to pick the right notebook, How many notebooks are too many?, How my notebook changed my life, etc., etc. One of the common types of articles is

papermancy Featured

Do You Know the Difference Between a Rock and a Stone?

“ The hard part to understand — and even harder to internalize — is to recognize that these talismans, regardless of their significance, are simply representations of the experience.”

The Easiest Habit to Start (Again)

Journaling doesn't replace exercise or meditation – but it's a lot more friendly. This Sunday, 11am CST, is another Papermancy Guild Hearth event! We get together online and share our interests, challenges, and projects. Click the link below to learn more, or email me to get an

Where Did the Word “Papermancy” Come From?

How I accidentally adopted the right suffix for what we do here. Paper is — well, come on, you know what paper is. -mancy, though, is a happy accident. I am a fan and friend of author Ferrett Steinmetz, especially his “FLEX” trilogy. One of the conceits of that book is

analog

Peter MacKinnon Yucks My Yum

"Peter MacKinnon is a gearhead, much like the rest of us; we do it for notebooks and paper and ink and pencil in the way he does it for camera gear and typewriters. And there's nothing wrong with that!"

Too Many Ideas Keeping You Awake at Night? Build an Idearium.

Creating a place for ideas to live until you’re ready for them. I never run out of ideas. For those scholars of antiquity, I would be Πολύμητις γκρι , Polymetis Gray, the Gray of many methods. But like the other guy who had that epithet, Odysseus, it often feels more

organization

How My Girlfriend Solved My Biggest Problem with a Hybrid Calendar

If they are able to thrive using only a paper calendar, they probably also have a good innate sense of time...That ain't me.

notebooks Featured

What is Behind the Fear of Not Having Enough Notebooks?

"...making sure I have enough books/notebooks/movies/podcasts/playlists/drawing supplies/internet access when I travel is less of a weird quirk as simply a coping mechanism, the same as packing enough clothing to stay warm or cool enough, depending on the weather."

Check out the Tour of Hiromi Paper Inc.-- and come to the Hearth Sunday!

One of my favorite places on earth is Hiromi Paper Inc. I became aware of the store while visiting my long-distance partner Jennifer Moon in L.A., who conveniently lives about five minutes away (which in L.A. is a miracle). Since that discovery I've indulged in

adhd

A Free Downloadable ADHD Self-Care Bingo Zine

Fold it up, put it in your pocket, and every once in a while during the day you can mark off things as you do them. Use a red pen, or get some little stickers, or maybe even an actual bingo stamp to mark things off as you do them. The prize for getting five-in-a-row? You’re that much healthier. WIN!

Polyamorous With My Notebooks

Why I refuse to commit to just one — and how I finally made it work. Hi. My name is Gray. I’m a compulsive notebooker. My problem isn’t money. I don’t purchase notebooks indiscriminately, especially since I’ve taken up the side-hobby of bookbinding. It means that

papermancy

Stop Optimizing Your Notebook. Start Flirting With It.

Why tactile rituals create better thinking than perfect systems Ever been sorry when you reach the last page of a notebook? Or dropped it in a puddle, picked it up and waited for the pages to dry and then decided “$#@& it, crispy pages are a delight” and kept on

What would you ask a fine paper store? Also: comments enabled!

I have some exciting news! I'm in LA visiting my long-distance partner, and every time I do this I make a pilgrimage to this beautiful little shop nearby called Hiromi Paper. It's like a candy store for papermancers; weird paper, cool paper, beautiful paper, complex

papermancy

You Should Put a Codex in Your Pocket Instead of Your Phone

Right now, most of us have a particular, very familiar gesture that happens in liminal spaces... a checkout, at a stoplight, the daycare pickup line…we reach for our phone. What if, every time you instinctively reached for a moment of phone distraction -- you reached for your codex instead?

No Hearth Today!

The Papermancy Guild Hearth will be going to a bi-weekly schedule starting today – no, wait, actually starting last week, making this the week that we will stay offline. To be honest, "bi-weekly" has always been a confusing term. Does it mean twice a week? Or twice

papermancy

Quick Poll: Which Font Looks Most Papermantical?

Part of me really wants to hand-letter/calligraph the papermancy logo. Part of me also wants to have the name be the logo, and let multiple fonts and expressions of the word reflect the many different ways paper can be mancied. But I also want to hear what other

Some Notes from the "Guild": Let's Gather at the "Hearth."

"Guild"? "Hearth"? What? Part of papermancy is playing with language, and adopting and repurposing language in the same way we fold and stick together paper. We talked a bit in the last discord event (now on Sundays from 11am-1:30pm CST (UTC-6) about what

notebooks

Three Ways to Use That New Notebook to Get Your Life Together

None of which require a lot of setup, an online course, or color-coded markers. It’s that beautiful time at the beginning of the year when even the most jaded of us has that little flame of hope deep inside saying this time. This is the year I’m