
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Lately I&#8217;ve found myself recalling all the fantastic paper brands — and of course the fantastic maker friends behind them — that I&#8217;ve had the pleasure of knowing over the years. Many have moved on to other projects — but fortunately, many have stayed in our wonderful world, with their ranges accordingly flourishing.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/ten-year-rebound-38-dreams-887x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10021444"/></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Take <a href="https://dappernotes.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dapper Notes</a>. I can hardly believe <a href="https://thepapernerd.com/meet-dapper-notes-elevating-the-pocket-notebook-to-new-heights/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">it has been an entire decade since I first profiled Enon Avital and his fabulous pocket notebooks</a>. In a world where even the imagery on our screens is computer generated, every last notebook is still carefully crafted from scratch one at a time with fabric covers and hand-sewn bindings of waxed linen thread.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In addition to crafting all those notebooks and collaborating with artists, bringing their work to new eyes and new formats, Enon has been quite busy growing his brand these past 10 years.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/10year-notebook-pocket-inside-1-887x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10021439"/></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">SS: Congratulations on Dapper Notes turning 10! Personally I think you are legitimately an analog maverick with your vision of making a simple object by hand and elevating every detail. Looking back on these 10 years and your early days of getting established, what were your biggest challenges? How did you overcome them?</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">EA: Thank you, that&#8217;s so kind of you. I really appreciate it. Everything I&#8217;ve done with Dapper Notes from the start has absolutely been about making everyday things a little more special, and that&#8217;s what has been most exciting for me from the very start. I’m always trying to figure out how to make a notebook that feels really nice to use. And then seeing people&#8217;s feedback when they do feel and see the detail, the love, and the extra special care to the materials that comes out of the product that I create — that is the greatest reward.</p>


<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DqYG0x_zGLo?si=OBDjYE9us26YrFjD" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Process is the hardest thing to translate, especially when you&#8217;re selling pretty much only online. How do you showcase this effort? How do you showcase the materials? How do you showcase the details that go into making such a product? This is why I started making my videos that have since become quite popular, showing step-by-step how I put a pocket notebook together. Filming my process has undoubtedly been a turning point, allowing people to understand why it costs as much as it costs. I used to charge $15 for a notebook — currently it’s $17 — and that&#8217;s for one pocket notebook. You can get multiple notebooks from competing brands for less than what I charge for one notebook. So getting over the hump of explaining why it costs what it costs through just showing the work (literally doing a show-and-tell) has helped me explain to people who are potential customers what&#8217;s so special about Dapper Notes.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">That has ultimately garnered a ton of attention, because people love seeing the process videos. I have become an unintentional ASMR artist, and I find that there are more people who are interested in watching the process than in buying the product. So something that I did for the sake of overcoming explaining the why of my work has become a pretty important part of the community and social aspect of my business.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/adanj25-1-887x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10021454"/></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">SS: Let’s talk about those covers! On your site, you write, “It took years of tinkering to perfect pocket notebooks that have a two-layer cover with fabric on one side and bookcloth on the other, resulting in a strong material that feels super nice and is unlike any other. Each Dapper Notes notebook is entirely hand-made by me, and the tinkering continues with each new edition as I explore variations on materials, designs, and colors.” To your mind, what is your personal favorite cover from your decade in biz, and why?</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">EA: No, that&#8217;s a classic &#8220;you&#8217;re making me pick a favorite child&#8221; sort of question, and the truth is I really don&#8217;t have a favorite. It is impossible for me to really pick one.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/adanj25-5-887x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10021455"/></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">I will answer it a little differently: whenever I&#8217;m creating a new edition, the details of which are mostly kept secret, I collaborate with different artists each time. There&#8217;s a lengthy planning and manufacturing phase where the general public and those who subscribe to my notebooks have no idea what&#8217;s coming next. My favorite part is the excitement around the secrecy, and hoping that it&#8217;ll hit well and be received well by subscribers. It’s something I uniquely experience during the creation phase, and is quite the rush. Which in turn always makes the notebook that I&#8217;m working on right now my favorite, and that&#8217;s what really keeps me going.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">If I wasn’t excited by the process of producing something like this, which requires a very high level of effort, then I would have stopped a very long time ago. Those two things really go hand-in-hand and are my favorite.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/bookhead-club-notebook-box-subscription-1-887x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10021453"/></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">SS: Let’s talk <a href="https://dappernotes.com/products/bookhead-club" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bookhead Club</a>, your subscription where users receive a fabric notebook every month, created in collaboration with other artists. It’s $99 a year, and it’s currently sold out. How many subscriptions can you accommodate, and do you see it opening up again anytime soon?</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/La-Percha-packaging-front-with-inside-887x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10021432"/></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">EA: Part of the excitement for subscribers is the artist that they get introduced to, and having a story behind that and some interesting personal connection. That&#8217;s become just as fun to some people as the actual notebook itself.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/La-Percha-knolling-3-887x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10021433"/></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">I intend to continue collaborating for as long as I possibly can, but practically speaking because I am one person physically making the notebooks, there&#8217;s a limit to how many I can make. I work on a two-month cycle, meaning every other month there&#8217;s a new edition that comes out, and there&#8217;s only so many I can make in that timeframe, especially because I&#8217;m also making a variety of every-day, always-stocked products that are not limited editions for the subscription.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/La-Percha-inside-ensheet-3-887x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10021434"/></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">I have had to change the sign-up process to meet how many more I can take on, typically revolving around turnover. Spots inevitably open up, plus I also always try to push myself a little bit more and try to do a slightly higher volume than the last time, but I&#8217;ve pretty much already hit my ceiling. So I&#8217;m only able to open more spots when I finish an edition and I&#8217;m ready to launch, and I know how many will be available, so I can actually promise subscribers they&#8217;ll get what they bought. Then as soon as the edition is live and those slots sell out, that&#8217;s it until two months later.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/La-Percha-stats-card-front-887x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10021436"/></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">There&#8217;s really not much more I can do to open up more spots. I hope I can expand the business down the line, but for now I enjoy the creation part of the process too much to want to become a logistics person, so it remains limited for my own sanity and joy.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Enons-stationery-craftshop-887x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10021451"/></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">SS: I see you have greatly expanded your product range, now offering stickers, totes, patches, notepads, sticker sheets, keychains. Some seem to be generated by you, some purchased from other makers, is that correct?</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><br>EA: Yes, some products are made by other people, but for everything that I carry, whether it&#8217;s a pencil made by Musgrave in Tennessee or my favorite pencil sharpeners made by NJK in Japan, I always create the packaging and put my personal touch on how they&#8217;re presented. Of course I also only stock items made by other people that are my absolute favorites, my top recommendations. My customers know that if they&#8217;re buying anything from me, it&#8217;s because I really put my all behind it.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Note-cards-dapper-notes-dot-grid-paper-887x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10021445"/></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Other items, like the note cards and notepads, are stationery that I make on my own start to finish. Interestingly enough, the note cards came out of a conversation I had with a customer. Every order that I send out has a little personal note that goes out with it, written on a little card. One customer asked me if they could buy a bunch of them because they thought they would be quite useful for their own business, and I said to myself, you know what, that is an excellent product idea. I experimented, created a functional box that allows you to have it on your desk and for storing the ones you&#8217;ve already used. It has become my best-selling non-notebook item to date, which is incredible.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">I&#8217;ve continued to follow this pattern where if I&#8217;m seeing something that I&#8217;m using a lot in the stationery space, or something that people are literally asking for, I evaluate it and put it onto the market. So far these experiments have been quite successful.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/bookmark-2025-Hoa-Nguyen-forward-bound-887x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10021447"/></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">SS: You have really expanded dramatically. How has your daily life changed since you first started stitching notebooks? Have you brought on staffers?</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">EA: I still do much of everything on my own, but have expanded now with help from my family, who will put boxes together and assist with other parts of the work.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/10year-notebooks-knolling-2-887x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10021438"/></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">SS: You are clearly going strong, can you share any upcoming plans for Dapper Notes?</p><div class="inline-post clearfix"><div class="see-also byline">See also</div><div id="block-wrap-23620" class="block-wrap-native block-wrap block-wrap-23 block-css-23620 block-wrap-classic columns__m--1 elements-design-3 block-ani block-skin-0 tipi-box block-wrap-thumbnail ppl-m-1 clearfix" data-id="23620" data-base="0"><div class="tipi-row-inner-style clearfix"><div class="tipi-row-inner-box contents sticky--wrap"><div class="block block-23 clearfix"><article class="tipi-xs-12 clearfix with-fi ani-base tipi-xs-typo split-1 split-design-1 loop-0 preview-thumbnail preview-23 elements-design-3 post-8338 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-favorites tag-art-prints tag-calligraphy tag-greeting-cards tag-hand-lettered tag-hand-painted tag-national-stationery-show tag-notebooks tag-our-heiday tag-sarah-schwartz tag-stationery tag-thank-you-stationery tag-the-paper-chronicles tag-wrapping-paper" style="--animation-order:0"><div class="preview-mini-wrap clearfix"><div class="mask"><a href="https://thepapernerd.com/our-heiday/" class="mask-img"><img width="100" height="100" src="https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Our-Heiday-IV1-e1422364570140.jpg?resize=100%2C100&;ssl=1" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Our-Heiday-IV1-e1422364570140.jpg?resize=150%2C150&;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Our-Heiday-IV1-e1422364570140.jpg?resize=200%2C200&;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Our-Heiday-IV1-e1422364570140.jpg?resize=293%2C293&;ssl=1 293w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Our-Heiday-IV1-e1422364570140.jpg?resize=75%2C75&;ssl=1 75w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Our-Heiday-IV1-e1422364570140.jpg?resize=390%2C390&;ssl=1 390w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Our-Heiday-IV1-e1422364570140.jpg?resize=585%2C585&;ssl=1 585w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Our-Heiday-IV1-e1422364570140.jpg?resize=24%2C24&;ssl=1 24w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Our-Heiday-IV1-e1422364570140.jpg?resize=48%2C48&;ssl=1 48w, https://i0.wp.com/thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Our-Heiday-IV1-e1422364570140.jpg?resize=96%2C96&;ssl=1 96w" sizes="(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px" /></a></div><div class="meta"><div class="byline byline-2 byline-cats-design-4"><div class="byline-part cats"><a href="https://thepapernerd.com/category/favorites/" style="color:#b79b0d" class="cat">Favorites</a></div></div><div class="title-wrap"><h3 class="title"><a href="https://thepapernerd.com/our-heiday/">Our Heiday!</a></h3></div><div class="byline byline-3"><span class="byline-part date"><i class="tipi-i-calendar" aria-hidden="true"></i> <time class="entry-date published dateCreated flipboard-date" datetime="2015-01-27T13:38:58+00:00">January 27, 2015</time></span><span class="byline-part likes-count"><a href="#" class="tipi-like-count " data-pid="8338"><span class="likes-heart"><i class="tipi-i-heart-o" aria-hidden="true"></i><i class="tipi-i-heart" aria-hidden="true"></i></span><span class="tipi-value">0</span></a></span></div></div></div></article></div></div></div></div></div></tipimidc>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">EA: My plan is always to continue enjoying what I&#8217;m creating. I started because I enjoy the process and I enjoy being a part of it. No matter what happens in the future, which I don&#8217;t have super specific plans for, I want to still be creating. That means that certain items that don&#8217;t necessarily need me to be proactively creating them, like the note cards, I might get some extra help on so I can accommodate larger wholesale distribution. That&#8217;s one area of growth. But really when it comes to the core book club subscription and artist collaborations, I don&#8217;t foresee any changes, because I&#8217;m enjoying the way that it is, and I know that people who are part of it are enjoying it as it is.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Some things that are good don&#8217;t have to change. Sometimes it&#8217;s really nice to allow things to stay the same and just stay wonderful as they are.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/com-brushing-through-monster-lucy-887x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10021449"/></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">SS: What is your favorite thing about the community you have built, stitch by stitch?</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">EA: I&#8217;m really grateful that a lot of people have created a direct connection with me, and with one another, around our love of stationery. It&#8217;s something that I&#8217;m working on fostering a little bit more in the near future. I have plans for growing this community, people who are really interested in the process and making notebooks, and turning it into something meaningful.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">I recently ran my first workshop where I taught how to make Dapper Notes-style pocket notebooks. I want to do more of that, and I want to open up a space where people can converse around this more easily. Not just with my lead but with one another. It&#8217;s something that&#8217;s currently in the planning stage. A true community around stationery love and stationery creation. I have nothing specific to announce now, but there will be a lot more soon that I&#8217;ll share on all my newsletters and socials.<br></p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/HMR-inside-closeup-887x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10021440"/></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">SS: Is there anything else you would like to share with Paper Nerd readers?</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">EA: Yes! I get a lot of comments on my videos, and there is one that comes up quite a bit where people say something along the lines of, &#8220;This notebook is so beautiful I could never write in it, I&#8217;m just going to ruin it.&#8221; And I answer the same way every single time, because I deeply believe this: Any object, any notebook, any piece of stationery that you have may be a beautiful thing. But it becomes truly beautiful once you put yourself into it. The most meaningful thing you can do is put yourself into something. You will find that when you use that notebook you were saving for something special, perhaps for an everyday thing, you&#8217;re making the everyday special.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/HMR-cover-closeup-887x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10021442"/></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Thank you so much Enon, and I could not agree more. As precious as it is, stationery should never be too precious to use. There is clearly so much to discover in this very Dapper world — ;start your shop <a href="https://dappernotes.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>!</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://thepapernerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/10-year-stationerdy-patch-pile-front-887x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10021446"/></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"></p>


A Decade of Dapper Notes
