Blogmas: Citrus Book Bindery

Who doesn’t like pretty notebooks? No one, right? Well, have I got a treat for you. Citrus Book Bindery makes gorgeous notebooks by hand and they feature incredible stitching on the cover. Who knew that you could make it look this beautiful?

Citrus Book Bindery is run by wife-and-husband team, Fran and Ian McKay. Fran started this business after they got married and dreamed about their future during the honeymoon roadtrip through America. At the end of 2017, Ian quit his day job to join her. The most wonderful thing about these small businesses is the passion they have. Fran dreamed of having her own line of stationery (which stationery lover doesn’t?) and Ian allowed her to chase that dream.

Their tagline is “No Wifi Required” (see top banner) and with their notebooks, you know what they’re talking about. These notebooks make you fall in love with them and they invite you to use them more often. And! No wifi required. Sit down in your local coffee shop to write. Use it as bullet journal for your creative outlet. Disconnect from the internet just for a moment. You won’t miss it. Seriously. This time is for yourself.

CitriDori

Traveller’s notebooks are well known in the notebook world, and Citrus Book Bindery has made their own version: the CitriDori. It consists of a cover with elastic bands that hold the inserts. Since all notebooks and CitriDori are handmade, they’re all customizable. Pick your favourite size and width. They normally have four elastic bands, but you can pick 2, 6 or 8 as well. If you’re unsure on which size you want, Fran has made a comparison of all the options.

For the inserts, you can pick your options as well. From the paper quality to the pattern. There’s a special set of weekly/monthly planners for every size available to turn your CitriDori into a daily companion. The cover designs for the inserts are excellent as well. Versatile, elegant, quirky, vibrant or classic. There’s something for everyone.

Gorgeous designs

The first thing that caught my eye was the beautiful stitching. They have turned it into an art and aren’t afraid of showing it. The Avalon Rainbow selection even utilises it with a rainbow stitching.

For the holidays, they created a beautiful set of classic designs in red, brown and tan. You can get these designs as notebooks, CitriDori and inserts (single or sets of four).

Fran is in charge of the designs, Ian can shoot them down if he thinks they’re too much. I think both are doing a great job because every design is absolutely beautiful. New designs are added regularly and old seasonals are still available as well. So if you still want something spooky, the Halloween themed designs are still there!

Paper fountain pens will love

Fran is also a fountain pen lover and she values good quality paper. They currently have three types of regular paper, all of them excellent for fountain pen use, and watercolour paper. The regular paper has many patterns to pick from. This is another feature that they could only offer because they’re all custom made.

Fran has tested the paper with various pens and wetness. Read more about it here. As long as you don’t use Sharpie markers in your notebook, any weight is good enough and it’s all about personal preference. The 120 gsm smooth paper would be my pick since I love smooth paper. If you want quantity over quality since you don’t use a fountain pen, the standard 100 gsm is good enough and you get significantly more paper for your money.

They recently started carrying the Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen line as well as the Parallel calligraphy pens. I have two Metros and the slimmest Parallel pen and love them. I bought a Metro specifically to use at my day job since it was cheap, funky (I love colours) and it could take a hit. The metal body is perfect for carrying around and the nib performs well during long hours of taking notes. Another plus is that this one uses the international standard cartridges. These cartridges are widely available and quick to replace without getting your hands dirty.

Add a pen to your notebook order for the perfect gift set.

Collaboration with the Scottish Wildlife Trust

They’re working together with the Scottish Wildlife Trust and created four designs to support them: squirrel, otter, puffin and seal. 20% of the purchase price goes toward the Wildlife Trust.

I love these designs! They’re realistic and cute. The notebooks and CitriDori covers all have their own accent colours to match the illustrations. They’ve done a wonderful job to give this collection its own personality. My charity donations usually go towards animal-focused organisations so I’m really happy with this collaboration.

Order your notebook early since they’re all made to order. Should you be on the late side, there’s also the ‘Ready to Ship‘ category with notebooks with a faster delivery time.

They recently added the ideal payment option as well. This might not be a big deal for most of you, but it is for the people from the Netherlands since this the primary payment option used.

I hope you love these notebooks as much as I do. Happy Planning!

All pictures are from the Citrus Book Bindery website.