kissy smooth

as anyone who knows me can attest, i am a buyer. i am all sorts of materialistic and acquisitive, and combine that with a near obsessive-compulsive perversity towards anything stationery-related…well, you’ve got yourself a right sucker. also? i am not a bargain-hunter, which is why i say “buyer” instead of “shopper.” big distinction. if i want something, and its price is within reason, i will not hesitate (frequently, anyway) to buy.

my wallet, she cries in pain, but she knows.

i am a buyer.

but i buy mostly online, because i am an introvert and cavorting with people exhausts me. that and customer service can be atrocious, and that just pisses me off.

having said that, however, here are a few of my favorite places for things stationery- and art-related.

stationery
i am a frequent jetpens customer. no, i really don’t need as many pens as i have, and no, i don’t really have room anymore to keep them in either, but you know…i can’t help it. fine points, gel pens, fountain pens, inks…that shit is my boner, folks. nothing makes me giddier than a roomful of writing and drawing implements and paper. rue the day jetpens began to carry a stock of excellent japanese and french notebooks? hell nah, bitches…bring it on. again, at least once or twice a month i order from jetpens. it’s scheduled on my calendar, replete with email reminders.

oh, and they’re really, really nice people. prompt customer service and replies help build a strong community (check their helpful forums) and an even stronger consumer base.

i also visit the daily planner. luckily for me, they’re just a few subway stops away from work, so i can pick up my orders during lunch. (turnarounds for pick-ups are usually a half-day to one day, and they send you an email when your order’s ready.) i am always astonished at how nice and friendly the staffers are at the daily planner, and they take the time to check your order even though they have it ready for you, just to make sure. fantastic store and good staff. (if you want to pick up your order, just a few notes on the elevator: push the button, watch the little porthole to see if it lights up to indicate that the car has descended, and then pull the doorknob to open and enter the elevator car. i wish they had some sign around that provided you with instructions. i mean, i’m used to automatic doors, for cryin’ out loud. sigh. that elevator, which i’m sure is some kind of landmark, made me feel like a dumbass. meh.)

i used to go to the retail stores of chains papyrus and kate’s paperie, but thought they were more suited to the wedding/event planning/scrapbooking/martha stewart crowd than us rougher sort. there’s also a.i. friedman and sam flax, both of which hover between a kate’s paperie-type environment and an art supply store. sam flax also tends to be more kitschy, with a bit of a slightly higher-end staples thrown in for flavor.

art supply stores
i have several i visit on a regular basis. my favorite, by far, is dick blick. they’re speedy, informative (they tell you when something’s not in stock and when they expect to restock), and staffed by lovely people who are not as preciously and studiously fragile as those at abercrumbs & shits (just comparing customer service here).

even the bond street dick blick store is nice and roomy: you walk in and there’s a large decompression area where you can take in the first floor before roaming the wide (enough room for both your butt and someone else’s) aisles for well-stocked supplies.

then there’s new york central art supply. it smells truly vintage, from the creaking floorboards to the cramped space and display racks that looked like they were upgraded only recently — recently being 1960s. visit during a specific time of day and you may be unfortunate enough to get the snobby, hipster art students. they’re not all like that, but in my experience, a lot of them were, and i try not to visit too often when i know they’ll be around (this changes according to the school year, by the way). if you’re lucky and the universe likes you, some days you get the older staff, who are always cheerful, unbelievably helpful, and usually only bossy and rude to the snobby, hipster art students they work with. it gives me great joy to witness this last bit, especially.

and let’s not start on their second-floor paper department. you’ll just have to go see it for yourself. suffice to say, i could stand there just looking at the samples for hours and be happy.

daniel smith. i didn’t know about them until a few helpful folks at flickr told me about them, and now it’s one of my favorite stores to visit online. i love their watercolors (mmm! buttery!) and i love their folding palettes. and now that their website has been redesigned (faster, easier to use, so much better), i may just make a stop and check off some more colors i’ve wanted on my list. yes, i have a list. don’t you?

for my supply of thick, buttery maimeriblu watercolors, i go to utrecht, which is near work and on the way to the bus stop. and while it’s a lot smaller than many of the other stores i mention above (save new york central art supply), they’re not nearly as great in maintaining their stock. they do have a good selection of canvases and easels (i got my half julian from them at a good price and much cheaper than on their own website), and helpful, if somewhat frazzled, staff.

and if you like to make your own books, talas is the place for bookmaking and bookbinding supplies. it’s a small store that’s a strange amalgam of victorian merchant shop and modern office space. take my word for it, it’s strange, lovely, and one of the best places to get bookbinding supplies.

i am not including pearl paint on this list, as their site is frustrating to use and so is their store. i mean, five floors of art supplies, you’d think it’d be paradise, right? i fucking hate it. it’s not only crowded, but there’s rarely anyone you can find to help you even get something off the shelves. (i’m short. i’d use a ladder if there was one nearby, but i’m also very clumsy.) but if those things don’t annoy you, you’ll get your money’s worth and more just on the big discounts they offer. and we all know those count best when you’re on a budget.

their website is pretty much the same, and while i like simple, pearl’s simply-designed site manages to feel cluttered and crazy to me. your website doesn’t need to look as crazy as your catalog. fix that shit, please, and you’d get more of my business. online or mail-order, anyway. i’ve lost all hope regarding the actual store.

other places i plan on visiting, and have heard good to mixed reviews on, are Jerry’s Artarama and Cheap Joe’s. i am constantly on the lookout for good supply websites (i am a buyer!), so if anyone has recommendations, i’d love to hear them.