If you’re looking for some great gifts, here are some I’d highly recommend (some of whom I shared floorspace with at DWR’s ModernMart), and most of which I (or Shawn) proudly have one or a few items from:

- Sleepyheads: Get one or a whole family of silkscreened sleepyhead pillows to give the sofa some major personality. It all started from a little book that designer Christopher David Ryan drew. We have the one with the long-haired moutasched fellow.

- Sovereign Beck: you don’t have to go to Paul Smith to get cool, funky ties (only to realize that everyone else has them too). Sovereign Becks’ designs are amazing, and because they’re created in limited quanities, really unique. All made from highest quality fabrics, with designs that are sure to draw a round of compliments for the wearer.

- Maxx and Unicorn: a single piece of leather, refined, polished and folded into a sleek sturdy wallet, and then embossed with an oh-so-sophisticated logo with a vintage press, all made by the designer out of his apartment. Amazing stuff. If I were a guy, I’d get one of these as my wallet.

- 20×200: you might find the perfect (and affordable) print for yourself or your friends here. We’ve already bought quite a few and boy do they look good on the wall.

- Greenjeans: You’ll find so many gift-perfect things here. I’ll mention a few of my favorites: Bill Summers’ jewelery boxes, which come in several shapes and sizes, and for the kids, child-safe wooden toys by Frank Ridley.

- Refinery 29: for those of you who want to do some boutique shopping online, the clothes that are sold here are really worth saving up for. And if you don’t mind venturing out to Fort Greene, Brooklyn, you can try on an amazing selection of them (both men’s and women’s apparel) in person at Stuart and Wright.

 - Lovely Design: These, in my opinion, are the most incredible journals out there. Anyone who remotely likes stationery really really should get themselves one of these.

And if you’re not sure exactly what you want to buy yet, take a spin around Supermarket and you’ll most likely fill up your wishlist really quickly.

This winter, remember to support independent design! Enjoy!

For those of you who are in New York City, here’s something to get you started on your holiday gift-shopping: ModernMart 3, an evening sponsored by Design Within Reach and curated by the all-new Supermarket. It’ll be a night of gift bags, chocolate, music and champagne, a stellar selection of independently designed goods, and you’ll get to meet the guest designers (including us, Judy and Shawn, of Five and a Half) in person. So if you’re in Soho that evening, do swing by and say hi!

Because we keep getting e-mails asking for a few extra things to pick up in the store along with the journals: “monochrome flats,” a set of two notecards with handmade matching envelopes. Each 4″x 6″ card features original black and white photography printed in fade-proof inks on cold-pressed heavyweight Fabriano stock. Enjoy!

“We stopped by the hilly town of Ossining for a quick snack, when we saw this mural off of Main Street.  Murals are fun and beautiful, and I wonder why there aren’t more in New York City, where most walls are either covered with advertising or childish spray-paint scribbles.”

We took a few photographs of the Ossining mural, came home, and as I was looking through the pictures, I thought of making a panorama-style journal, the perfect size and shape for drawing and writing a little longer before the page ends. So here it is, my new favorite journal because it’s brought about a big change in perspective.

I spend an enormous amount of time combing through our photographs and making test prints. Sometimes a picture will seem like a good cover design, but when I actually fold it into the form of a journal, it doesn’t look right. It might be an image I like intially, but grow tired of looking at really quickly. Or it may stand alone perfectly but look odd next to other journals in the series (I have to think about how they’ll look as a group sitting on a shelf at one of my lovely retailers’). It’s during the long afternoons of test printing that some less-noticed pictures find their way to the top of the pile, to become cover designs that work perfectly for the journals.

I still have many favorites amongst the test prints that don’t make it into the final Five and a Half collection, and what good is a cover without pages to write and draw in, so I’ve made a bunch of saddle-stitched booklets using the test print covers and of course, sugarcane and recycled paper. The booklets (measuring a easily-pocketed size of 3 1/2 by 5 inches) come in a set of three, with 1 black and white and 2 full-color covers, and they’re now available in the store.

As cold weather days arrive, there’s something really alluring about black and white photographs. Maybe it’s the way the contrasts and tones stand out against the muted colors of everything around, maybe it’s because the chilly air carries with it a nostalgia for quieter, older scenes. Maybe it’s simply a change from the bright vivid colors of the summertime. So it is that the winter collection of Five and a Half begins with a series of new journals with black and white photographs, some taken recently and nearby, some taken years ago and faraway.

Before I made my first journal, I’d actually attempted to launch a line of cut-paper cards for weddings and baby announcements. Of course, I had no idea what I was doing, I made zero sales on my etsy store, and then the journal-making came along so all remnants of my cards were ushered into a shoebox and put away. Hopefully I’ll have enough know-how to get those rolled out someday. In the meantime, I’m perfectly content looking at the amazing work that others have done, and here are some of my favorites:

a gallery of beautiful custom work at Full Circle Press, Elum’s twist on the classics, simple and elegant invitations by moontree letterpress, old school elegance at Bella Figura and Black Pearl Press, and some fun and quirk from both ess & jae and Cheree Berry (who is flying solo after designing for Kate Spade). And when in the mood for really embellished ornate designs, Dauphine Press. For the little ones (well, the parents of) fun custom invites from Bumble Ink, and children’s stationery that looks even nicer than the ones grown-ups have, from Felix Doolittle.

Like my gocco purchase last year, I made another impulse buy a couple of months ago ~ a set of calligraphy nibs which I planned to use to conjure up amazing (so I thought) pieces of lettering with. I’m reminded of the calligraphy set (sitting in the corner gathering dust) because a friend of mine who is getting married  plans on lettering her own invitations and envelopes has enlisted my help. Considering how I’m still bumbling along with my calligraphy pens, the most I can offer her is moral support and some links to look at:

a modern twist at Bluebird Studios, playful lettering by Tracy Joe Calligraphy, traditional writing by Grace Connell Designs, and some more technical stuff like  flourishes and symbols and what to write on the invitations.

Drum roll please. I’d like to debut my collaboration with Photojojo: a video tutorial and two limited-edition, exclusively-for-Photojojo handmade journals.

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves: click here to see the photo journal video tutorial (scroll to the middle of the page and click “play”), and here to see the exclusive edition handmade journals (if you like them, get your hands on them fast before they’re all gone!).

It’s been a long time in the making, with lots of hard work and preparation from everyone involved (i.e. they had to watch my video over and over to edit it nicely ~ while I can’t even bear to watch the final version once because seeing myself talking on screen feels weird) and they put so much time and energy into taking gorgeous product shots and writing up great specs. A a big round of applause and thank you to everyone at Photojojo!