(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)
Pen addicts have a gift for sniffing out stationery wherever we go. From airports to farmers markets, and even the Renaissance Faire, we can find our pens and paper. In fact, the stationery at the Bristol Renaissance Faire near Kenosha, Wisconsin was particularly fantastic. Here are a few highlights.
Right when you enter the faire, almost the first shop you see is this one, Arte of the Booke. And it's my favorite store there. Just a few yards in, and already temptation overwhelms. The shop owners are Nancy and Matt Hulan, and they have a lovely stall full of gorgeous handmade journals, hand-turned wooden dip pens, wax seals, bottles of ink, and calligraphy references. They have lots of other books and maps, but we're here for the stationery! The journals are some of the coolest I've ever seen. Nancy makes them herself, from the leather stitching to the inset gemstones. They probably had to wipe down the glass case after all of my drooling, and I think I'll be saving up for one of those next year.
The next stationery spotting was Grinchels - A Wrinkle in Reality. This is by far the most ... expressive leatherwork one can find. And they make everything you can think of, from bags to toys to masks--but of course, we're here for their journals. Each one of these clearly has its own personality, and I very much enjoyed browsing all their sweet little faces. It would be nice to have a friendly face to ask questions of when I'm writing. Or even a grumpy face. Or a downright scary one. Frankly, I like those ones the best.
Deeper into the faire was another stall, Crows Crossing. It was primarily dedicated to woodworking, but the vibes were right, and sure enough--more stationery. In this stall there were yet more leather journals, all handmade, some large, some extremely tiny, and one particularly tempting journal with a soft leather cover that rolled up like a scroll to be carried in a leather tube. If my youngest hadn't spent all my money on giant pickles by this late in the faire, that tube journal would be in my house right now. Alas, Crows Crossing is not online, so I'll have to wait for next year to correct this.
There were plenty of other side quests, apart from stationery hunting, and it was overall an amazing day. I grew up going to ren faires every summer and it’s great to be carrying on that tradition with my kids. Even if they spend all my notebook money on pickles.
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