paperiaarre

heaps of kimono notebooks in helsinki

Kaija Rantakari — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 12:29:01 +0000

It’s been years since I’ve last had my books available offline but from Oct 24th until Nov 23rd you can come and pick your favorites at Galleria Kuvitus in Helsinki. The main attraction is the amazing Echoes of Eden exhibition by My Widenius, and I’m absolutely delighted to have been invited to display my books alongside her lush and detailed work. There are heaps of new journals – some with watercolor paper pages, some more suitable for writing or sketching, all with vintage kimono silk covers. All these books have slightly lower prices at the gallery since no shipping fees are required, so that’s one more reason to stop by!

When I said heaps, I meant it:

If you’s like to say hi in person, or if you have any questions, I’ll be at the gallery Nov 20th and 21st! You can also find me at the opening party tomorrow (23rd) from 17-19.

last day of US orders until further notice

Kaija Rantakari — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 08:46:52 +0000

IMPORTANT INFO for customers in the USA! Unfortunately, today (Thursday, Aug 21st) is the last day I can accept orders from the US. Due to the uncertainty re: upcoming customs fees, and honestly, the upcoming chaos, the Finnish Post will, starting tomorrow, no longer accept packages with US shipping addresses. Hopefully things resolve quickly and shipping is once again possible, but for now, today is your last chance to place an order at the Paperiaarre shop.

I gladly ship anywhere the Finnish Post allows me to (= almost everywhere), and free worldwide shipping is always included in the prices you see. Thanks so much for your understanding and support.

Paperiaarre shop open again

Kaija Rantakari — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 11:46:50 +0000

Hello you! I’ve just returned from the incredibly lush Edinburgh where I had the privilege to enjoy a wonderful month-long residency offered to me by WSOY Literary Foundation. Lots of long walks up the big hills or along the Water of Leith, lots of galleries, lots of vinegary goodness.

The shop is now back in action, but shipping may take a few days longer than usual, as I’m going through some surgery tomorrow (happy day! I hope to leave most of my pain behind). During my recovery I will have friends helping me with everything but as they’re not trained to work with paper, your books may not be quite as perfectly wrapped as usual. Everyone is doing their best and the books are as beautiful as always! I hope to get back to bookbinding in a month or two!

Paperiaarre shop takes a break in May

Kaija Rantakari — Mon, 28 Apr 2025 19:16:43 +0000

Just a quick hello and last minute heads up that I’ll be closing the Paperiaarre shop for May on April 30th. Any orders placed by Wednesday afternoon will be shipped as usual. I’m spending May at a writing residency in Edinburgh, and will hopefully return at the end of the month fully energized and having written heaps.

more & more kimono journals

Kaija Rantakari — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 14:29:59 +0000

New additions to the shop, at last! Four hardcover notebooks with heavier weight paper and ten notebooks bound with the sewn boards binding style that results in semi-flexible covers.

This golden yellow kimono silk with white flowers is one of my all time favorites. The weave playing with light makes this fabric look simply magical.

I guess a majority of the books I added to the shop today have a beautiful pattern woven into the silk in addition to the printed pattern. I love how much time and effort has been put into designing these kimono fabrics – it makes upcycling them into books all the more rewarding.

This one has also some gold print on it!

For those less into colors and bold patterns I’ve made this trio of black notebooks with patterned spines.

At the end of year I moved my workspace to a new location (not open to public, unfortunately), and I’m still getting used to it and searching for things in wrong places. I’m thinking maybe I should make some bullet journals next, haven't made those in ages! What do you think? I have a little too much book cloth and printed papers in stock (=not enough space to store them), and bullet journals would allow for some nice pairings. Spring is fast approaching and I hope the lighter days bring more energy to my studio. And to you and yours, too, of course.

The world is a strange place these days. Most of my customers live in the U.S., so of course I’m a bit concerned what happens if the change in EU tariffs takes place. 25% is quite a bit, so if you’ve dreamed of getting one of my books, maybe now would be a good time to place an order. Delivery via economy mail can take 2-3 weeks. If you’re interested in priority air mail (4-7 business days), you can always contact me and inquire about the cost.

I wish kind days to everyone. Many pages of gentle thoughts.

watercolor journals and tiny notebooks

Kaija Rantakari — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 15:01:00 +0000

Every now and then I get asked if I have any books in stock suitable for watercolors, and every now and then I do! I opted to bind these hardcover watercolor journals in a landscape format and postcard size, making them practical for travel journal use, too. The covers are once again made with vintage kimono silk, and there are 44 pages of 180gsm watercolor paper suitable for writing, drawing and painting.

You can find all the new books in the shop.

I’m not exactly sure which season this blooming landscape represents, but the colors feel very autumnal to me. I love how it’s dark and colorful at the same time.

It’s especially important for the book to open well when one paints. Ease of use and other practical matters have always been at the core of my bookbinding practice. The vintage kimono silk I use is of course fairly delicate, but these books are definitely intended to be loved and used.

This jacquard silk woven with different shades of metallic thread on black makes for a showy piece!

I also made a small batch of tiny kimono notebooks, which are a steady favourite for a small but luxurious handmade gift. In the past customers have ordered them not only themselves, family and friends, but also teachers and colleagues. (By the way, I do absolutely love to hear where my books end up!) These smaller books are also a really big part of my income as a bookbinder, as it’s obvious not everyone can afford my bigger and more complex work, but many people still want to treat themselves something special yet affordable. And these tiny books are also totally adorable! Your orders are always hugely appreciated no matter how big or small!

This shimmery gold silk jacquard is beyond gorgeous. I keep imagining gowns and purses made out of it, alas, I have mere scraps.

Another special case is this white and blue shibori piece, on which you can still see and feel the stitched pleat pattern the dyeing technique is based on.

I’ve just received a big haul of small kimono silk remnants and will be making stacks of totally one-off books in many sizes this autumn. My poetry book due out next September is coming along quite well (knock on wood). One simply doesn’t edit poetry without taking a step back to give the text time to become what it wants to be, so it’s nice to keep my hands busy while my mind is brewing poetry.

a dozen silky hardcover journals

Kaija Rantakari — Mon, 06 May 2024 11:24:25 +0000

Thank you so much for your tremendous interest in these new larger kimono journals! Five out of the dozen have already sold, but the rest you can now find in the Paperiaarre shop.

Just a quick note about the material side of things. All these books are made out of repurposed vintage kimono silk, and they may have some minor signs of wear, as shown below. Making something new out of something old has always been at the core of creating these notebooks, an it’s only natural the old sometimes shows its age. Even though I love all sorts of signs of life in the fabric, I will of course steer clear of any major damage on the fabric, so your book is guaranteed to look lovely even if there are some minor kimono flaws present.

This red chrysanthemum silk is one of my all time favorites, and as the pattern creates entirely different looks depending on where I’ve cut it, I decide to make four books using just that. There are other multiples in this lot as well, but none are identical. Only one of the red droplet books remains at the moment, so do make it yours if it’s what your heart desires. I’m sort of planning to save at least a sliver of the remaining fabric for my personal diary, but maybe there’s still a little left for something else as well.

The dotty burgundy books are both sold, but the gorgeous gray and burgundy Meissen silk journals are still available. They have different gray endpapers, but would definitely work as a pair if so desired. The sheen of the silk is quite delicious!

And after the reds come the blue-greens! The dark blue leafy silk is quite smooth, the others more textured. Again, the two books with the same silk on the covers have different gray endpapers.

I’m enjoying binding lots of books again, but unfortunately I’ll have to take a small break from creating blank pages to actually fill some with my words. Might get round to creating a small batch of wet media sketchbooks when I’m back at my bookbinding desk – would that be something you’d be interested in? With kimono covers? Maybe linen? Both?

large hardcover kimono journals coming soon

Kaija Rantakari — Sat, 04 May 2024 17:33:37 +0000

Just a quick heads up – I’ll be posting a dozen gorgeous kimono journals for sale through my Instagram stories 2pm tomorrow (May 5th, UTC+3). The books not sold in the first 24 hours will then be available in the Paperiaarre shop.

small and tiny hardcover kimono notebooks

Kaija Rantakari — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 11:00:00 +0000

The biggest shop update in a while! I just added a giant stack of new kimono books in two sizes. The larger size is about the size of a postcard, and the smaller is about the half of it. I decided to call them small and tiny, instead of medium and small, as even the larger one is of a highly portable size.

This dusty purple silk is one of my all time favorites. I’m allowed to keep quite a few of those, aren’t I? It’s the same with my linen stash – some colors I’m always itching to use!

I also happen to love bold asymmetrical geometric patterns.

Some of the books shown in the group photos have already been sold, but there’s a wonderful selection still available.

These tiny ones are exceedingly stackable. I never miss snapping a spine shot of these cuties.

I have a few new-to-me vintage kimono pieces waiting to become books, but I also have some gorgeous patterned papers waiting to become endpapers for linen covered books, but I also have a poetry book with a quickly approaching deadline waiting to be written. I’m once again trying to build a functioning pattern of thinking poetry while binding books. The balance is there, I know – I’ve caught a glimpse of it every now and then.

I’d love to be more active online again, especially on Paperiaarre Instagram. I think I need to take this all more lightly, make this a little bit more personal again, so as to not entirely lose touch with you guys whenever I need to take some time off from bookbinding to work on my own books. I know the vast majority of you are not fluent in Finnish, so it makes little sense to share what I’m writing, but maybe I can go back to how things were in the early days of blogging, and share a bit more of the things I see and like and feel inspired by, at least in the IG stories if not elsewhere.

20 years of linen covered books!

Kaija Rantakari — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 12:00:00 +0000

I think this year is the 20th year I’ve been actively binding books. After some earlier random craft projects I taught myself to make proper books around 2002, but 2003 was the year I started selling them. In just a few years (in 2026) I’ll be celebrating my 20th years as a master bookbinder! The time has truly flown by.

Linen has been at the top of my list of cover materials right from the start! First it was simply more accessible to me than actual book cloth, but I quickly started to prefer it as it has so much more character and it significantly nicer to touch. In 20 years one also accumulates quite a collection of fabric and paper: picking just the right colours and endpapers to go with them is both slightly tedious and great fun. (Scroll down for evidence.) The majority of this stack can now be found in the Paperiaarre shop.

This time I wanted to create a lot of books that highlight a variety of patterned endpapers. The pages are size A6 and each book measures 11,1x15,4x1,4cm / 4.4"x6"x0.6". There are 96 pages of smooth white 140gsm drawing paper suitable for writing and sketching in any dry media. The top edge of each page has been torn with a paper knife resulting in a lovely rough finish.

A little spy of a friend caught my linen sorting mess! I have hardly any photos of myself at work, so it’s fun to share this little peek with you all.

after a slow year in the studio a big burst of activity

Kaija Rantakari — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 12:44:45 +0000

The Paperiaarre studio has been rather quiet for much too long, but after my fourth book of poetry was published in early September, there was finally space for bookbinding! I've made a huge lot of tiny pocket size kimono notebooks, the remaining handful of which are now available in the shop, as well as a fairly big lot of small linen covered notebooks, dozen of which will be available on Friday 2pm (UTC+2).

These little ones are so cute I want to eat them or at least never ever separate them for one another, but both would be professionally and personally become somewhat of an issue.

Hardly ever do I work in such big lots, but with the books being so small (A7) it was a pleasure to put together 33 little books! And after finishing these, I was still pain free and in the mood to fold a big stack of paper, so a lot of 14 linen covered notebooks with patterned endpapers also came into being. These are also on the smaller side, A6, which translates as about the size of a postcard.

Hope to see you on Friday when I show you what’s hidden inside these beautifully colourful covers! It’s also worth noting that shipping takes a while, so, if you want a book to arrive on time for some event or another, now might be a good time to take a look if something in my shop looks like just the thing for some very important person in your life.

Much love,

Kaija

a small summer break

Kaija Rantakari — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 12:33:45 +0000

Thank you all so very much for your orders and kind messages! I will be taking a brief break from shipping soon, but any orders placed by Wednesday will be promptly shipped. The next shipping date is July 24th.

Today I'm folding a big stack of paper for some tiny little notebooks. I often try to make sure there's something nice to get back to after a break, so once back at work, I don't end up procrastinating for too long. A little procrastination is always allowed, detours can be quite inspiring at times.

kimono journals - why you deserve one and why I keep making them

Kaija Rantakari — Wed, 31 May 2023 14:00:00 +0000

And here it is, my biggest shop update in a very long time! Working quite slowly and in very limited lots has always been my thing. Not only is it a meditative and physically and mentally sustainable way of working for me, I also feel there’s a connection between a thoughtful creative process and value. And by value I don’t simply mean the price I ask for my work, but the value I wish people put on their own thoughts and surroundings. I genuinely think we feel better when the items we surround ourselves with are beautiful items, functional items, items we form a meaningful connection with. A notebook or a journal is after all a tool, so why should we settle for something that’ll do, instead of having something that’ll also feel good and bring joy every time you see it.

When you gift someone a gorgeous book, you’re also telling them you value their thoughts and think they’re not only worth putting down on paper but worth containing in this beautiful book. Which is a lovely sentiment, I think. For some reason it’s easy to think someone else deserves a lovely book, but what about yourself? Have terrible handwriting? Your thoughts are stupid? I don’t care, nor should you. You too deserve a beautiful book that feels great when you use it. I’m about to publish my fourth book and all my notes are still awful, but having a nice notebook to write in just makes me happier than a plain one would. So maybe just skip that stupid self criticism and treat yourself? Add a little kindness to your days, a little reminder that practical things are allowed to bring you pleasure, too.

I’m especially pleased with this latest lot of books – they’re all so unique and special, created with upcycled silk and wool blend fabric from vintage kimonos that for one reason or another were no longer suitable for wear. I only make one book in each design as the fabric comes to me in small pieces and I want to pick unique size, spine and cover combinations for each book I bind. When it’s so easy to make something really one of a kind instead of “well it’s handmade so they’re all a little different from one another”, of course I’m going to put in that little extra effort and make you something no one else will ever have.

Sustainability is also an important factor in these books. I don’t want to simply make more stuff for sale, this world has too much of it already. The gorgeous kimono fabric I use has already had one life as garments, now it’s time for a second one. I also think putting your pen on paper is a good thing for the wellbeing of this planet and yourself. At the very least it keeps you from doing damage elsewhere.

While writing this post I realized, I’ve actually dedicated most of my life to bookbinding. I’ve been binding books for over 20 years now, and I’m only 39. I got my degree of master bookbinder in 2006 and I’ve never stopped wanting to make better books, more beautiful books, more lovable books. And this is where we are now. Pretty amazing books, right? Still, I can’t wait to keep improving things!

big shop update on Wednesday May 31st

Kaija Rantakari — Mon, 29 May 2023 19:18:10 +0000

At last, a huge shop update! I’m in the process of listing a big lot of both large and small vintage kimono notebooks, and they can all be found at the Paperiaarre shop this Wednesday.

These 24 beautiful new vintage kimono journals will be available on Wednesday (May 31st) at 17:00/5:00 PM Helsinki time UTC+3, which translates as:

3:00 PM UTC+1

10:00 AM EDT

9:00 AM CDT

8:00 AM MDT

7:00 AM PDT

for other time zones please use time zone converter.

This spring has been a real pain health-wise, so, my plan of having a steady flow of new work coming out went out the window. I keep reminding myself how I still managed to finish all the books I had planned for this spring, and that’s a lovely achievement in itself. So, let’s celebrate all these finished books and get to filling their pages with brilliant thoughts or beauty found in the mundanest of things!

At the beginning of the year I treated myself to a huge lot of new to me vintage kimono silk & wool blend fabric, and it was really inspiring to have all these new patterns, colors and textures to play with while taking a break from poetry. I’m now so pleased with how these books turned out! I hope I’m once again sliding back towards writing poems, but until that happens I’m happy to hang out with these books and ship them out to you guys!

I hope to see you here on Wednesday!

large kimono journals in the shop

Kaija Rantakari — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 13:00:00 +0000

While I procrastinate officially starting to write my next book, I make one blank book after another. We’ve had some sunny days and my studio feels especially nice when spring sort of seeps in in the form of bright daylight. A bunch of the small notebooks I added to my shop last week has already sold, but today I’m adding a small lot of larger books to the shop inventory and you once again have plenty of options to choose from.

These books measure 14,2x20x1,2cm / 5.6”x7.9”x0.5” - around size A5 and they have 72 pages of 90gsm drawing paper with a smooth surface suitable for dry media.

It’s always a joy to wrap your orders for shipping! Thanks so much for your ongoing support!

small kimono notebooks & spring plans

Kaija Rantakari — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 13:36:08 +0000

This week I finally finished-finished my next poetry book (out in September) as well as a stack of pretty little notebooks. You can find them in the shop now. While working on these I realized I’ve really missed bookbinding! Shouldn’t come to me as a surprise anymore how much I enjoy it, but it was still somehow better than I remembered.

I ordered a huge pile of new-to-me vintage kimono fabric and it was such an inspiring yet meditative process to pick prints and colors that go together. I’ve prepared a larger lot of books to finish this spring and in this first set I included several beautiful purples, just because it’s one of my favourite colors (I wear black but I do enjoy colors, too, just see how my nails matched this gradient pink!).

As I begin my work on what’s to become my fifth poetry book (which might see the light of day in 2025) my writing process requires a lot of time spent just thinking. And I guess nobody’s surprised when I say I think best when my hands are busy. There'll be plenty more notebooks coming this spring, but all will be unique, as always. Many of the new kimono fabrics are just tiny scraps, enough for a book or two, max, so most of these books will be extra rare designs. If you have color requests, I’ll happily hear you out and prioritize accordingly!

Handful of kimono journals

Kaija Rantakari — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 15:00:00 +0000

Some new books, at last! These kimono journals have been in the making since July and I’ve finished a step or two while waiting for my editor to read my poetry manuscript or while trying to figure out how to write a particularly tricky line where I was clearly missing one. I hope to finish writing my book in the next couple of months (it’s not due to be published until September, though), so maybe I’ll start my new year with blank pages instead of ones full of my own scribbles. I’ll still be a full time poet, but starting a new book requires a lot of time just pondering stuff and I ponder best with busy hands.

As always, these books are one of a kind - there won’t be more of the exact same design and size available, ever. They’re covered with gorgeous repurposed vintage kimono silks and they measure 14,5x19,7x1,2cm / 5.7”x7.8”x0.5” and have 72 pages of off-white 90gsm drawing paper.

Due to this busy poet life, these books will probably be the last new books available this year. I’ve already sold half of the stack, but there’s still plenty of gorgeous older work available in my shop. Overseas shipping from Finland is kind of slow (could easily take 2–3 weeks), so please think of the holiday season in time.

Much love to you.

To new beginnings and continuity

Kaija Rantakari — Tue, 19 Apr 2022 16:00:00 +0000

Wow. Opening my own shop here is a huge milestone for me. I had my Paperiaarre shop on Etsy since 2007 (bye bye, Etsy!), but it’s very different to have it right here, on my very on site. And now it’s live! And I don’t know if anyone’s coming! (I tried to invite absolutely everyone!) This change is honestly quite terrifying, even though it feels more right than I could’ve imagined. I want to thank everyone who has ever supported me and Paperiaarre – I love receiving your orders, messages, comments and likes, from faraway places and from across the hallway. This job is something I’m so passionate about – it means the world to me that you also want to take part in that joy. Thank you my dear friends, old and new!

Relocating my shop here made me want to spruce things up a bit, and while I’m currently unable to do miracles, I was able to do some little fixes and update my possibly six-year-old photos. Hello – long time no see! This is me in my little studio where I mostly write poetry but also bind books. My hair is now much longer and it’s turned curly. It hasn’t turned gray yet, even though I’ve already been binding books for 21 years now and it’s not always easy. I’ve been doing this over half my life. Time well spent, I must say. I’d love to keep doing this for another 21 years, at least. And I’m sure with your support it’s exactly what I’ll do. Word of mouth is now more important to me than ever before, so if you’ve enjoyed using my books, reading my posts, looking at my photos, do let your friends know about it!

My work here is done, at least for a little while. The shop is packed full of beautiful books and other treasures. There are thousands of blank pages waiting to be filled by you (or someone you know). I’m now going to rest a little, recover from this big change and weeks of furiously (but lovingly) binding books, and simply enjoy my hard work and your reaction to what I put together this spring. I’ll be shipping your orders beaming with pride, and planning what sort of books to bind the next time I take a little break from a poet’s work.

Hardcover journals & tiny notebooks

Kaija Rantakari — Mon, 18 Apr 2022 13:23:24 +0000

When I think of books the image that comes to my mind is always of case bound hardcover notebooks. Definitely not printed books, definitely not softcovers. As a bookbinder it’s important to me that all the basics are as affectionately made as the more elaborate structures. Simplicity works. I love it.

In my new shop there’ll be medium size hardcover journals with linen covers (56€ incl. worldwide shipping) and tiny hardcover notebooks with book cloth covers (23€ incl. worldwide shipping).

These linen journals measure 12,9x18x1,7cm / 5.1"x7.1"x0.7" and they have 128 pages of smooth off-white 100gsm drawing paper.

The tiny notebooks are 7,9x11,1x0,9cm / 3.1"x4.4"x0.4" and they have 60 pages of off-white 90gsm drawing paper.

Repurposed vintage kimono notebooks

Kaija Rantakari — Sun, 17 Apr 2022 14:52:36 +0000

Earlier in the winter I quickly sold out my last lot of kimono books, so I knew I needed to make a bunch more for the shop opening. Now there’ll be 15 new repurposed vintage kimono notebooks available on Tuesday when I open my new shop. They come in two sizes, large (82€, incl. worldwide shipping) and small (72€, incl. worldwide shipping). The large ones measure 14,9×20,5×1,2cm / 5.9″x8″x0.5″ (around size A5) and the small ones 10,7×14,6×1,2cm / 4.2″x5.7″x0.5″ (postcard-ish). Both sizes have 72 pages of off-white 90gsm drawing paper.

This first lot of photos is of the large ones:

And here are the ever so lovely little ones:

With my kimono notebooks I battle an entirely new level of “ooh, I want to keep that one for myself” as I know I usually won’t have enough fabric to make another one (I usually use the last scraps for spines). This time it’s especially the dark green books with woven pattern that make my heart beat a little faster. Do you have a favourite?