The Stationery of Spring
a little spring recap
In my few years of experience as a part-time stationery influencer, spring is the high season for gifting and events. Last year, I published a Substack haul of products sent to me in Q1 by various stationery companies, and got real about how much money I make with JournalingDan. This is the Spring 2026 product roundup, plus some fun extras from the season that I feel fit the theme.
A note on Gifting
A huge thank you to my paying subscribers, as Substack is the only stream of income JournalingDan actually has1. While I receive many gifts, none of them are paid partnerships, meaning no payment is attached to any of these items. I’m glad I run JournalingDan while maintaining full-time employment, because my part-time influencer lifestyle allows me to have the freedom to say “no” to collaborations with brands that don’t share my values, without having to worry about having enough money to live. I only share products that are actually interesting to me, and reflective of my tastes! So after saying no to paid deals with Temu, AliExpress, and various AI startups, here are the lovely gifts I received so far this year.
The below contains affiliate links/gifted items.
Sakura Moleskine
While on vacation in Japan in early March, Moleskine reached out to me about their new Sakura Collection, dropping just in time for the irl season! A timely, and very on-theme release for me, I happily accepted. This large size Sakura Moleskine (5x8.5 inches) has a beautiful canvas cover with gold leaf details, two ribbon bookmarks, and extras like this matching blossom bookmark, and stickers.
As seen in my unboxing reel, the pages even have an illustrated Sakura blossom that blooms when the pages are flipped quickly like a flipbook!
A Custom mini Moleskine
I was able to see more of the new collection irl at the brand new Moleskine store in the Upper East Side! To celebrate the opening of their new store, I was invited to customize a Moleskine onsite at the shop Lexington and East 80th Street (just steps from The Met)!
If you choose to emboss your notebook in store, three different metallic colors are available for your customization needs. I choose the warmest gold, so it would match the star charm I chose to adorn the signature Moleskine elastic band! Their new line of personalized pins are so fun. Moleskine is definitely charm-maxxing.
LoTR Moleskine
Moleskine further expanded their IP collections with a Lord of The Rings Collection. I was sent this version with yet another beautiful canvas cover. What I love about these special editions are all of the included extras, which are truly inspired. In the back cover pocket I found a map of Middle Earth, stickers, and a compass that reveals various quotes from the franchise when spun.
Paper Republic x Topdrawer
Last spring, Topdrawer kindly sent me some gifts when I joined their affiliate program, which I am still a part of! You can take 20% off Topdrawer online with code JOURNALINGDANI20OFF.
And this spring, they invited me to the in store launch of the entire collection of Paper Republic journals in the US (in stores in LA, New York, and online at TopDrawer). To celebrate, they hosted a Paper Republic Embassy at the location in Soho, New York, and at the Larchmont Location in LA.
For this special event, I was given the opportunity to create my very own Paper Republic journal in store. While curious about the brand, I had never sought out to try this journal, first because of the cost, second, because I have so many notebooks, and third, because I don’t have any refillable notebooks - so I am not sure they are for me….but a gift is a fabulous way to try something new. Excited by the novelty of the Viennese brand as they expand their presence in the US, I headed to my appointment.
There is simply no replacement for seeing, touching, feeling items in person. While choosing the color of the leather for my journal, I was absorbed by the subtle undertones of each swatch, checking each one carefully. There was a shade of brown with purple undertones I almost went for, but I stuck with a trusty chestnut color in the passport size.
I was so happy to be presented with the full library of elastic bands used for securing the refillable inserts, or securing other items to your journal, such as a leather croissant (pictured below). The staff guided me through the whole process, and threaded my elastic and secured my refills into my notebook. To complete the customization process, I was also able to emboss the notebook with my initials, which I did in gold, of course. I chose a drawing book and a plain paper notebook to fill my passport, and promptly stamped it at the in store customization table. I loved the custom stamp, commemorating Le Grand Tour Coast to Coast at the SoHo location.
As if a free Paper Republic weren’t enough, I was also gifted a weighty Kolo Tino fountain pen, which lends a certain gravitas to anything I write. I like it very much. As far as my plans for the Paper Republic….stay tuned, she’s still settling in.
I took a Drawing Class with Caran d’Ache:
I went to a drawing class hosted by Caran d’Ache (my favorite colored pencils) taught by Laura Supnik. 1, 5, 10 minute drawing exercises are a great reminder that you don’t need a ton of time to draw something. I’m a perfectionist about my drawing/writing environment, meaning, if I don’t deem “perfect conditions,” including time constraints, I simply won’t do the thing that I want to do. This class was another reminder that you can draw/write for 15 minutes a day, and make a lot more progress than the 3 hour perfect block of time I rarely, if ever, get to actually schedule. I also met some lovely fellow artists in the city!
My Japanese Stationery is Thriving at my desk:
Yes there is even more Japan content incoming!! For now, I’ve been enjoying all of my new stationery at my desk. A few favorites have been my die-cut washis, all featured in this reel, and writable sticky note stickers (not sure about the name here), which I’ve been using in my planner to section off to-do lists (a pink grid writable sticker is pictured above).
A stamp for stamps!
Another favorite has been this stamp, meant for framing postage stamps on letters, by molt design jp, and purchased at Itoya/Angers (more on these later)! They come in various designs, but my absolute favorite is this artist with her easel, upon which you can then place your postage stamp. In order to ensure the stamp is not mixed up with a cancellation stamp (which indicates the postage has already been used), the clerk ensured I knew that you must stamp the stamp before placing the stamp. (You know what I mean?)
Haul incoming:
I know I’m behind in my Japan reportage, but the Kyoto and Tokyo shopping diaries are comin very soon!! In the meantime, here is a photo from when I was unpacking all of my goodies.
I was influenced by everyone’s bag charms in Japan:
Another cutie from Japan. These are also sold in the US, but soon after landing in Tokyo, I was so influenced by the expressions of individuality on everyone’s bags in the form of jumbles of charms. I never realized how naked my bag was until I went to Japan. One of the accessories I purchased is this keychain sized Rollbahn spiral bound notebook (next to a Pigma Micron for scale). Thanks to its extreme portability, I was also able to use it as an emergency surface for small eki stamps (pictured).
As the trip progressed, I found more and more accessories to attach to my Sandy Liang x Baggu (2023). A ryokan slipper to commemorate my first stay in such a hotel, a love charm, and a transparent pouch from Loft that I used for everything from hand sanitizer, to lipgloss, to my hotel keycards — I’m not sure how I ever lived without it!
Some recent pages from the Junk Journal:
In April and May, I was able to take some time off of work to recombobulate. I went to museums, read a few books, went to Washington DC for the first time (more on that later), and caught up in my travel journal! I created some pages using some ephemera from September 2025’s trip to Paris (I was so behind omg). But it was lovely to revisit those memories!
I rediscovered a souvenir I brought back from Paris:
I was surprised to find this sticker sheet from Paris among my ephemera from 2025, which I had buried and then completely forgotten about, but no longer! This sticker sheet/ puzzle (completely assembled in the photo above) was a blast to put together with my coffee one sunny morning.
I relived my visit to the Merci boutique in the 11th while layering the adorable illustrations of the Parisian shop’s wares. The collaboration with sticker designer Good Vibes summer is just perfect, and comes in a few other iterations via Merci Shop. You can build your sticker world in accordance with the guide, or go rogue and arrange the stickers any way you’d like. I filmed the process of putting together the sticker arrangement and shared here.
Documenting my day trip to Storm King:
I visited Storm King Art Center, an outdoor sculpture garden in upstate New York. I frolicked in the fields, enjoyed the illustrated museum guide by a local artist, (saved in my journal), and painted some pages at home.
I enjoyed the Tulips at the Conservatory Gardens of Central Park:
The Conservatory Garden is a tiny gated slice of Central Park, and at the end of every April, is in full bloom with about 20,000 tulips—my favorite flower!
I went for my annual allergy aggravation in exchange for the sight of these beautiful flower beds. Here are last year’s tulips. 🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷
💬 Check the chat:
If you’re thinking wow, you get a lot of free stationery, more than one could possibly use in a lifetime! You are correct. Last year around this time I hosted a spring-cleaning giveaway for subscribers. Be sure to check the subscriber chat for this year’s giveaway, coming soon! 👁️
My affiliate links make me like ~$40 a year
Oh my goodness the sticker puzzle 😍😍😍