Last week I shared a photo of a book that I had just received. At the time it
got to me I didn't have time for a proper post. Since then I've had time to look
(and drool) over my Flow Book for Paper Lovers and I've decided that
the time has come to share in a little more detail.
Flow is a Dutch magazine which is printed quarterly. I've never actually
gotten my hands on the magazine, but from what I understand it focuses on
creativity, mindfulness and papery goodness. They have so much papery goodness
that a few years ago, to celebrate an anniversary, they released their first
Flow Book for Paper Lovers. It was such a hit that it soon sold out and
they have made two more versions of it.
The one which Mr Click ordered for me a couple of weeks ago is the third
iteration (the one decorated with a pattern of oranges). And it is exactly what
it says on the cover; a book for paper lovers.
I'd seen someone showing off their copy on Facebook and immediately fell in
love with the idea. It's not got a whole lot of writing in it, but what it does
have are a variety of different sorts of paper and paper crafting bits and
pieces. It appealed to me because of the writing paper, envelopes and stickers
that come with it; since looking through it I've falling in love with some of
the other things in it too.
The book boasts over 300 pages of goodies and they're not lying. When Mr
Click handed me the package I wasn't expecting the size and the sheer weight of
it. It's a big, bulky book and I am still amazed at the quality of it. This
isn't some cheap collection of writing paper and stickers; this is good
stuff.
Just inside the front cover is a little vellum pocket with a set of five
little cards; they're like trading cards with pictures and text on them. I think
that some will be used in my Bullet Journal and others (like the 'Thank You'
one) will be used for my pen pals.
The book is then divided into three; A Little Snail Mail, A Little Happiness,
and A Little Crafting. I suspect that the first section will be used up first. A
whole host of artists have contributed patterns, sketches, drawings and prints
which have been used in a variety of ways throughout the book. I won't go into
everything that you'll find here because part of the joy of unwrapping this book
was the discovery of all the little treats and surprises within the covers.
The Snail Mail section includes a lot of pretty writing paper (plain with a
picture on one side, patterned on the other), there's also tags, postcards, a
dress up postman doll and lots of funky stickers. I'm going to have a lot of fun
with this stuff. At the moment I'm using up a fairly boring lined pad for my
letters, but as that comes to an end I'm going to start using this paper for my
pen pals.
The Happiness section is a little more random and has a mix of patterned
paper (I suppose you could use this for scrapbooking or writing, it's plain on
the other side), pictures with quotes, wrapping paper, tags, pictures, and
posters (including one with a dial you can spin to decide what sort of day
you're having). Many of these are designed to be framed or pinned up but there's
no instructions for what you're supposed to do so really there's no limit to
what you can do with them.
The final section is Crafting supplies (though as you can see, there's an
awful lot of overlap between the different areas). This one has the things that
actually need to be made and don't have the same flexibility in their use
(though just because something's meant to be used in one way, there's nothing
stopping you from using it in whatever way you want). It begins with a lot of
bunting (I have plans to use some of this for my birthday, I've been missing the
paper chains we put up for Christmas so maybe some garlands and bunting will
fill the gap), then there's a French street scene with stick on characters, a
collection of houses to put together, more stickers and colouring pages.
There's even a little pocket (with another garland tucked into it) where you
can stash the stuff you are working on, pages you've pulled out of the book and
odds and ends which you don't want to use.
This was a gift so I don't know exactly how much Mr Click paid for it, but it
came all the way from the Netherlands in under a week! This would make a
brilliant gift to anyone who enjoys cutting, sticking, writing, or pretty much
any other hobby involving paper. The only thing I have to get over is tearing
out the pages (which are helpfully perforated to make that task easier); luckily
I've had plenty of practice at treating books in ways they should be treated
with my Wreck This Journal, otherwise I might not be up to the job!
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