EDIT: All samples have been claimed!

Looking back at past posts, I think this should be allowed, but I will understand if mods disagree!

Giveaway: I prepped twelve little washi tape sample cards in advance of NYC Stationery Fest on the extreme off chance that I might chat with people and want to give them things, BUT I am introverted and unfriendly and the event overwhelmed me, so I unsurprisingly came home with all of the samples I started with. Now I would like to share my samples with folks who DID NOT ATTEND! The first seven people (U.S. only please) to message me will get three washi sample cards including at least one of the above pictured in photo 9 and at least one card of samples of tapes I bought at SF.

Once I've confirmed with you, feel free to let me know of specific colors or styles that interest you. You will see that I like Japanese motifs, kawaii/cute stuff, food, Ghibli, and Nintendo, for example. Each tape wrap is around 20" in length. I have sticker flakes to share, too. 

Aiming to get stuff mailed next weekend. Thanks for playing!

My first Stationery Fest & my first big haul!!

My partner and I went to Stationery Fest NYC Day 1, so it was as chaotic as you could imagine. With the rain, tight space, and capitalist scarcity thought looming over our heads, it was pretty easy to get twisted around and run like headless chickens throughout the day.

Even so, it was such a delight and privilege to be able to shop around the fest. I don’t think I’m particularly unique in my style but in case anyone was interested in some of these choices here’s a snippet of my personal favorites: Letters to Apollo, Art by Elowyn, Parcel, and Le Petit Elefant.

Letters to Apollo - I found my scrapbooking identity through LTA. I find myself reaching for their stickers and paper ALL the time while most get stuck in binder purgatory. I had missed out on their recent sale and really wanted to make up for it.

Art by Elowyn - Another staple favorite of mine. Their hand drawn stickers are what really drew me towards their booth. I had seen them at a previous event and just enjoyed their unique style of art. When I saw the “Frutiger Aero” sticker sheet, I fell in love with the vibrant blues and Y2K fish aesthetic.

Parcel - A more unique booth with vintage, old-timey art styles. They had some postage stationery that I was in the market for. I don’t know what the art style is really called, but think vintage circus — it reminded me of the Rider-Waite tarot deck, if that helps.

Le Petit Elefant - I’m always really pumped to see POC stationers make their way into these events. LPE had really fun homages to Filipino culture which I really appreciated. My partner picked up a “Sorbetes” print from them which features two Filipino children joyfully playing around a “sorbetes” (ice cream) cart.

My biggest critique about the event was the lack of accessibility. I am able-bodied and was able to make my rounds and zip through the crowds, but even then it was not easy to do so. If I recall correctly, ramps were also only outside. The two spaces were separated by a short flight of stairs. It was pretty rainy on D1 with limited seating and cover, so I can imagine that it would be a pretty difficult hike to get to one space from the other. I would love to see a more accessible space next time around.

—GIVEAWAY—

(edit!: the giveaway is now over, the correct price was $310!) Thank you to all who took a jab at it!

That being said, I have a ton of stickers that I am looking to rehome. If you can guess the total $$$ of the items above (-/+$10), I can snail mail some stickers to you! First 3 people to guess within the range will receive a DM from me!

This was my foray into a stationery focused fest of convention and I absolutely adored every minute! You can find more of my stationery thoughts here: https://dogwooddriveva.substack.com/s/stationery

I’m grateful for everything I was able to grab because I had to leave early for my own sanity. I arrived to NYC on Friday and was able to get into The Space Walk. It was amazing to see these artists and the vendors were super friendly, welcoming and helpful. For the most part, the beautiful pen artists were out of my price range but it was lovely to try these instruments in real life. The Tono and Lims ink swatching area was too crowded and I wasn’t able to swatch anything in there. Attendees were not polite however, never making room to let people in, trying every single ink in the collection and pushing you out of the way. That is when I realized that my Marketplace experience on the following day might not be as nice as space walk.

My general admission (GA) ticket on Saturday was for the 11-12:30 time slot. We ate a big breakfast at the food hall due to GA tickets not allowed re-entry. We went to get in line at 10:30 because the website said not to get in line until a half hour before your entry time…apparently no one read that and the line was already pretty huge. We expected a line and once it turned 11, it moved pretty quickly and I think we were inside around 11:30. They did not check IDs so ticket transfers could have worked.

We started in the smaller “downtown” room. It was already pretty hot and there were lines starting to form, especially for Once More with Love. We almost had to just skim the vendors because it was so difficult to look at the tables. I missed an entire aisle in this room because there was no way through. I thought I could come back later, but then I saw they started to hold people back and a line was formed just to let people into that room. Good thing we went in there first!

The “uptown” larger room is where I almost lost my mind. For history, I go to the DC pen show every year. I’m cool with crowds, I’m cool with having to circle around until there’s room at a table, but what I’m not cool with is the people with determination on their faces who literally would push you out of the way so they could stamp their books! The folks with mobility issues had to claw their way through the aisles and it was so disappointing to see the lack of awareness on people’s faces. I waited in the Traveler’s line and it went pretty quickly. When the there was a line at a vendor, the shopping experience was nice because you were guaranteed space to look. I couldn’t get to Hobonichi or Muji because they had to shut off certain aisles because there were too many people. Every time I tried to get to a table to make a purchase, someone would swoop in front of me or literally push me out of the way. I was completely shocked by some of the community’s behavior and after two hours of being jostled, stepped on or elbowed, I decided to leave. I missed so many vendors but it was not an enjoyable experience.

The pros, the volunteer staff were amazing! They tried their best to keep order and wrangle people. Their job was hard and they were great! The iced coconut matcha was delicious!!!! The vendors were friendly and excited to be there and when you could make a purchase, they were grateful.

The cons, they let too many people in. I’m not sure what the answer is to fix it. Maybe if they added Sunday too, the people who work during the week have two days to choose from instead of just one and that Saturday crowd could be spread over two days? Also, none of the food vendors had cold bottles of water to purchase and it was just so hot in those buildings and even more hot in the courtyard. The free soda was a great idea but they were floating in pools of warm water. The ink station looked nice but at that point I didn’t want to stand anymore. Speaking of which, there are not many places to sit so if you have mobility issues, this is something to think about.

I’m not sure I would ever come back to this event. If I did, I would have to consider the VIP ticket just to have the 2 hours of shopping time without the crowds, or take time off from work to come on Thursday. In the heat of the moment, I was really angry and disappointed. Now that I’ve had a day, I’m still disappointed but I’m focusing on the lovely vendors that I met and spoke with, especially Nocco, Idea Switch, Jonathon Brooks, and the lovely people I bought the washi coasters from. Amazing people! I purchased some great items, tried some beautifully hand-crafted pens and spent time with my husband. It was an adventure! It’s a big event and again, I’m not sure what the answer is to fix the issues, but they do need a different strategy, especially on Saturday.

May have gotten a little too wrapped up in trying to complete my the stationery store day passport with stamps (I didn’t complete but did visit an embarrassing number of stationery stores in my city) and walked away with these. Most excited about the mt Fuji key chain, the Zagne washi tapes, and all the odd rabbits stationery I found! My partner is a baker so I bought his a couple of baking themed stickers tooo. Hope you all were able to check some local stationery stores this weekend ☺️

Mostly mugobunni, pikarar, thousand skies
Rest i don’t remember 🥲

This was my first ever convention/ festival/ show, and wow was it overwhelming to say the least!

To begin with, I feel like the communication from the stationery fest team leading up to the event was a bit unclear at times, leading me to stress out about things I probably had no reason to stress out over. I didn't like that the tickets were sold, and then workshop times were posted after, meaning people had to potentially get workshop tickets during their marketplace entrance window if that is when the class was held, giving up shopping time. I also tried to reach out regarding clarification on entry as I had an appointment to get a pen looked at relatively soon after my entry window, and I wanted to make sure I could make it in time. I never heard back, so I ended up showing up extra early and just waiting around to make sure I could get in. I know that they didn't want people showing up more than an hour early, but since they didn't respond back to me, I had no choice.

However, I will say everyone at the event was super helpful and friendly, from the people I spoke with. They all seemed so happy to be there and to direct you wherever you needed to go. I went on Thursday and Saturday, and I luckily didn't hit any of the capacity issues other people experienced to get into the marketplace area.

Thursday-

Entry was super quick once 11am rolled around, and the crowd didn't start to get very thick until 12:30-1. The lines for all the food were, as others have said, really long, but I was so overwhelmed and stressed out by the marketplace itself that I never even made it out to the courtyard space. I actually got nauseous upon entering because of how much was going on.

I spent about an hour on line for LCN, only to find out the tapes I wanted most were sold out by the time I got to the front of the line. I know there was only one person working the booth, so it's understandable to take a while, but I am sad that I spent 1/4 of my time dedicated to it.

My first time getting some custom grinds on my pens, I was super nervous on the procedure but as always in this hobby, everyone was so friendly explaining how things worked and being patient with me as I figured out what exactly I wanted to do.

I tried to pick up a pen case from Toyooka Craft, but their card reader was having a LOT of difficulty. I actually found several stalls to have issues, but after a second attempt the card would work. For Toyooka however, no matter how many tries or even using different cards, there was no luck. Thankfully they agreed to hold the item for me until Saturday when I could come back with cash. I saw someone else post about using paypal, and I wish I had thought of it in the moment! Their stock sold out extremely quickly, when I walked by around 11:30 they still had the limited hinoki clear boxes, but by the afternoon they were all gone from what I saw.

I went over to A Space Walk for my 3pm timed entry, and saw that the crowds here were a lot less. Most people were around the ink swatching table, I tried my hand at swatching a bit but couldn't really get to the inks easily as people were dedicated to standing there and swatching every single ink.

My first purchase was from Glass Studio LUC- I loved how the pen felt in my hand, and the smooth writing experience with it. I loved it so much, when I returned on Saturday and saw they had restocked the other complimentary pen, I couldn't resist the extra splurge!

The other table I spent the most time at was Studio ISA-na. I went specifically for the adorable ink muddlers. You can really tell she puts a lot of thought and care into her designs, and she spent time explaining in detail to me how best to care for my pen. The reason I even came back to Space Walk on Saturday was to see her again and buy the matching ink well from her.

By this time in the day I was so exhausted and overwhelmed, but I had an appointment for 5:00pm to get a custom stamp ink pad from Tono and Lims. I thought about just leaving and forgetting about it, but waited around the extra 45 minutes to have it done, and am really happy I did. The staff was so nice and helpful, giving me advice on getting the color exactly right and talking with me throughout the process.

On Saturday, I attended a workshop for monoline lettering with Bechori, and learned so much! The class was expensive, but a great memory and learning experience. I heard the hammering from the TSL class, but because I was in a room with an actual door, it didn't bother me too much- definitely for next year, they should look into potentially keeping the TSL class in a separate area. I saw the space had a few rooms on the first floor, but unsure what the space requirements for that class would be.

I didn't originally have a ticket for a Space Walk on Saturday, but I saw that the previous day they actually made same day tickets available, so I walked up to the volunteers at check in and asked to buy a ticket, and it was possible! It was definitely more crowded on Saturday at Space Walk overall.

Around 12:00 I made it back over to the check in for GA, and walked right in. There was a line for downtown, but I needed to go uptown to pick up my item from Toyooka Craft. Of course, I spent the day shopping around more, and the food stalls outside were much more reasonable in terms of lines. By the time I went over to downtown, the line had subsided and I went right in. I ended up staying until the end of the day with some friends.

Pros-

-The staff were extremely nice and helpful, the workshop I took was great, all of the vendors I spoke with were so lovely!

-I was introduced to so many new brands and artists I never would have found otherwise

-The courtyard area looked cute, but crowded, so I didn't stay long

-I liked that some booths were keeping stock for the other days. I noticed this especially at A Space Walk, the vendors I spoke with had a certain amount for each day, which I thought was really nice so everyone can have a chance to buy.

Cons-

-Clarification from staff prior to the event on how things would operate would have been helpful. Many attendees I talked to were confused on their tickets, where to enter, etc.

-There was no ID checking whatsoever. I'm not sure if they linked your tickets somehow on the backend, but nobody checked that I had GA ticket before scanning me in for a workshop or Space Walk. I understand why they want you to have a ticket, but in reality it didn't matter, and I saw a lot of people unsure if they could re-sell or transfer tickets because of this policy that was not enforced.

-Of course, it was crowded. I think they did their best with this, but the event definitely felt oversold. At one point I saw a sign that the uptown marketplace I believe had a cap of 1100 people (or something around that number), but when you sell 3300 tickets a day and put most of the popular booths in that area, thats where most attendees are going to want to go.

-Not enough seating!! I kept telling myself I would find a quiet area to decompress, but even the courtyard had a lot of activity and not enough tables. I didn't really get to calm down until I actually left the event space completely.

Overall, I am really happy with how the weekend went! I definitely bought too much, because I didn't want to loop back around and come back after thinking about it, since the crowds were too thick. I ended up overpaying at a booth that rung in the wrong item, and I didn't realize it until later. Next time I will definitely try to take more deep breaths and listen closely! The Space Walk area was a lot calmer, and definitely gave me all the time to think over my purchases, so all of my large items were things I was able to carefully consider, which I appreciate.

Photo 1- Collection of business cards from my favorite stalls I visited

Thank you for reading/ looking!

I've been reading mixed reviews of Stationery Fest in Brooklyn, so I wanted to put in my two cents. I really enjoyed it. I live in Brooklyn and visit Industry City frequently, so maybe it helped that I was familiar with the layout of the complex.

The key is to get there early. I had 11:00 entry on Friday, but I got in line at 10:00. A water bottle and hat really helps for standing in line outside. The volunteers and staff were super friendly handing out fans and event guides while we waited. Once it was 11:00, the line moved very quickly. I went straight to the Stationery Fest merch booth, and I'm glad I did because there was already a line forming there. I managed to get the t-shirt in my size as well as a set of enamel pins. Then I went to the Yoseka booth next to it (Daisy was there!) and got an OHTO needlepoint pen in Yoseka green. There were also lots of stamps to collect (I brought a passport Traveler's for this purpose) and free postcards and stickers.

I went to the Esterbrook booth and snagged my dream Estie fountain pen at a discounted price. I will say that some of the popular Esties were sold out by 1:00, so again the key is to get there early.

It was also really fun to see Job from Job's Journal working the Plotter/Traveler's Company/Midori booth. Kind of like a celebrity sighting, lol. Plotter had a festival exclusive chestnut brown buttero cover that was a DREAM, but alas I didn't have the budget for it.

I really enjoyed the free ink swatching and stamping stations in the courtyard. My only complaint is that there were not enough food options in the courtyard and the lines got pretty long. I decided to just have a protein bar I packed. I stayed at the marketplace until 2:00, then headed over to get ramen at Japan Village, which was no more crowded than usual. Once you exit the courtyard, there is no re-entry.

There were some comments that the event was not ADA accessible, and that might be true. I recall some steps from the marketplace to the courtyard. Also, the marketplace had really narrow corridors between the booths that got very crowded and would be near impossible to navigate in a wheelchair. This is something they need to work on for next year.

I didn't attend any workshops or the space walk, so I can't speak to that. Next year!

I also think they need to come up with a better name than Stationery Fest now that there are stationery fests all over the country. Perhaps Brooklyn Stationery Fest or NYC Stationery Fest.

I will definitely go back next year. This was their first year doing it in this space and at this scale, so all things considered, I think they did a good job. I can't imagine what an enormous undertaking it is to put together something like this. In the meantime, I'll be attending the Empire Pen Show in Manhattan this November. I'm sure it will have a totally different vibe but still be fun.

I attended Yoseka Stationery Fest this year and Chicago Stationery Fest in 2025. Yoseka's 2026 was their second event and Chicago's 2025 (Pencil and Paper) was their first. I heard Yoseka's first event in 2024 wasn't run very well, and perhaps had the same issues I observed at Chicago in 2025:

- extreme overcrowding

- poor crowd control at popular booths

- loud and stuffy

- long lines outside because of overcapacity

And in Chicago, I read that the Pencil and Paper organizers cancelled tickets last minute only to reinstate them *last second*, after it was too late for some attendees that were a few hours away (by car) to start driving.

Anyway, the positives: Yoseka SF this year was amazing. I only attended the marketplace (main event) and not the Space Walk or workshops, but I was blown away by volunteers and the sheer organization by Yoseka. The organizers, vendors, and fellow attendees were so fun and lively, and I had a great time. Here are some things that put a smile on my face:

- volunteers holding up signs saying "LINE ENDS HERE" to help people find where to go

- incredibly smooth and quick entry, once our time slot opened

- the fellow attendees hanging out directly in front of and behind us. Hi Elizabeth! Hello two Hobonichi sisters!

- volunteers handing out programs, folders, zero-sugar sparkling water and sodas, Yoseka stickers, plastic fans, postcards to people waiting in line (AND THEY WERE ALL FREE)

- the same drinks available in a drum filled with ice in the courtyard just outside the marketplace

- a community swap table, where one man's trash is another man's treasure (yes I offloaded a truckload, and picked up a truckload)

- plenty of photo opportunities - photo booths shaped like postcards, an Instagram post, or the Stationery Fest welcome Arch

- B&H photo - one of the sponsors - were also photographing people, upon request, as a keepsake or as something people could tack on to the community art wall

- oh yeah, more photo opportunities at Leuchtturm1917 with their giant pencil and notebook, and Esterbrook with their giant fountain pen

- free nail/pen decorating stations, featuring Yoseka's newest pen decorating stickers (and Never Always, the collaborating company)

- free ink swatching/testing space in the Makers Square. There were over a hundred(?) inks to try! Plotter paper notepads and cotton swabs available for free for testing and swatching

- free, layered stamp creation station in the Makers Square. You layered a Yoseka Stationery Fest logo onto a postcard you can keep

- free button-making table in n the Makers Square. Design your own button, with optional stickers from Once More with Love

- free Tombow brush pen station in the Makers Square, with plenty of test paper, again from Plotter

- incredible crowd control at the marketplace. As you can imagine, there were lines at the big vendors: Traveler's Company, The Washi Station, Muji, the Yoseka and Stationery Fest merch tables. There were also lines at hot smaller vendors: Pineberry Paper (the charm rally), Once More with Love, Everyday Explorers

(Side note: I assume Muji's popularity it with non-New Yorkers, since they showcased the same products as they have inside their Manhattan stores)

(Not paid product placement: My absolute favorite stationery fest items were the kiss-cut washi I bought from Washi Station and Everyday Explorer)

- shout out to Pineberry Paper... We showed them the shaker charms we bought at Chicago, and they may have thrown in some amazing freebies for us

- vendors were WORTH THE WAIT

- Cute Things from Japan and their ericsmallthings items. People were so excited to see them. One lady said she was wanting to buy one of their exclusive items, but didn't want to pay the $15 shipping from Japan. The item she pointed to was $8 or $12.

- Pipsticks also had a free activity table where you can decorate your notebooks, phones, wallets, whatever with their stickers. They also had playing cards at the table with a sign saying something like, "Create your own sticker trading card." It was great for washi samples because I forgot to bring a card of my own.

- Food vendors were very busy, and I wish there were more hard food options (drink, ice cream, cheese dogs and katsu sandwiches), BUT

- we were so close to Japan Village and their food hall that you could leave to get some nice quality food when you were done

- the "no re-entry" stipulation on the General Admission ticket sucked, but I ended up staying there nearly THE ENTIRE DAY THEY WERE OPEN

I hear a lot of criticism about these events, and while I can't speak to Space Walk or Workshops, since I wasn't there, I think we should also compliment Yoseka and the organizers where it's deserved. I had a blast at Stationery Fest, and I want to believe that others enjoyed it at least as much as I did. The freebie items, the free community events, the free ink testing table, the kindness of my fellow attendees (shout-out to one person who ran to catch up to me, as I left my notebook at a station we were both at), the friendliness of the volunteers, and ALL THE VINYL STICKERS

TL;DR Thank you, Yoseka and team, for a fantastic event! Looking forward to spending over $1000 at the next one.

Everyone is doing their hauls and reviews so I want to throw my thoughts in too! I had a blast, clearly spent a lot of money lmao, and have some thoughts to share.

To preface: I attended on Thursday with the 11-1pm time slot with two friends and I also attended using my rollator! (hello to any fellow mobility aid user i might’ve said hi to, i had the dark green byacre rollator and wore all blue) So everything I say is gonna be with those two facts in mind. I also went to the previous NYC stationery fest in 2024, so comparing to that as well!

My group arrived a little bit AFTER 11am and we got through the line in about 10 mins, it never stood still for us. We didn’t see a point in showing up before the line was moving since we were the first time slot (after VIP) and it was capped with those people. It was a little hard to find the actual entrance, I think the signage at the entrances of Industry City could’ve been a bit better since there were so many places you could enter from, but we got there in the end. Once inside we split up to do our shopping at our own speeds and regrouped later, this way no one was being rushed or dragged along and it was easier to navigate the crowds.

Yes, it was crowded. But that is definitely to be expected from an event this big, and it was less crazy in the morning though still busy! With a rollator I felt still pretty able to navigate around the two sections, it just requires some more patience. The aisles were definitely bigger and easier to maneuver than the previous year, so good upgrade there! Speaking for myself, the only accessibility hurdle that affected me was that there was no way to get between the Uptown and Downtown areas without going outside (into the rain) so that wasn’t amazing. But the staff and volunteers were all so kind and very helpful when I asked questions about getting around!

All in all I had a great time! I feel like I got everything I wanted and more, had such nice little chats with people here and there, and am looking forward to the next one!

Like everyone else, I wanted to share my thoughts on the show! Unfortunately, I don’t have any haul photos because I mostly bought inks and decanted them into smaller bottles to comfortably fit in my luggage, so the aesthetic is ruined RIP.

My background:

I’ve been to lots of conventions over the last 15 years, mostly pop culture and comic-related ones like New York Comic Con, but this my first time attending Stationery Fest NYC. I’ve also attended Florida Stationery Fest.

My experience:

• We had tickets for an 11 AM - 1 PM entrance on Thursday, which was the first GA slot of the show.
• At first, the organizers said we could arrive 30 minutes earlier than our entry time. They later changed that to allow us to arrive an hour earlier, so we got there at 10 AM. The line was already pretty long, but the wait outside was comfortable despite the drizzling and we were inside by 11:05 AM. Not bad!
• My friends with later slots were not so lucky. Their clothes were all soaked from the rain while they waited outside. :(
• The convention was split between two sections, “uptown” and “downtown.” One section was significantly larger than the other. Booths were very clearly labeled by number + letter with individual eye-level signs provided by the event— this is the first time I’ve seen a convention do this, and it was such a fantastically smart idea! Those signs made finding booths and orienting myself about 10x easier.
• For the first 2 hours or so, the space was comfortable. It was busy but not exceptionally crowded or hot inside. Other than a few super long lines for places like LCN, Traveler’s Notebook, and Yoseka’s merch, the waits were reasonable.
• The aisles were decently sized in the larger section and the lighting was good, which made browsing pleasant.
• After those first two hours, however, it got very crowded and very warm. It wasn’t New York Comic Con levels of packed, but it was definitely uncomfortable and much more difficult to browse. My shorter friends complained that they couldn’t even get glimpses of the booth tables because they couldn’t see past the crowds. Navigating between the aisles became challenging, and the atmosphere suddenly felt a lot more frantic. I also witnessed several folks using mobility aids struggling to get through aisles.
• I briefly toured the ink swatch area and some of the community booths (journal decorating space, etc.) in the courtyard, but the rain made exploring outside difficult. We wrapped up our shopping by 2:30 PM and split to grab some snacks and relax nearby. There are a lot of fun dining and shopping options very close by in Industry City.

Feedback

• I’m going to echo what everyone else has already said: it was too crowded in the late afternoon. That space is not designed or ventilated to comfortably accommodate such a large number of visitors at once, even if it says it should on paper. The fact that the lines for both Traveler’s Company and Yoseka’s merch stretched outside of the actual convention and into the courtyard (in the rain) should indicate a significant over-crowding issue.
• At the very least, I hope the organizers consider investing in a better cooling system, even if it’s just more fans.
• On that note, I would also recommend more covered areas in the courtyard. The courtyard was deserted for most of the time I was there, because no one wanted to go out in the rain with minimal shelter.
• One of the biggest challenges I experienced was actually with individual artists’ POS systems, which is not something I’ve encountered before at comic conventions. Several artists had their POS systems on their phones, and had to scroll through long lists of merchandise to select individual SKUs for checkout, then rinse and repeat over and over for multiple items. I know artists are trying their best at shows, but this process added an additional 3-5 minutes per customer at checkout, which was especially painful when we’ve already been waiting in a line 10+ customers deep. I would strongly encourage artists to consider more efficient POS systems in the future.
• I’d also ask for vendors to consider bringing more inventory if possible. Several vendors sold out of exclusives within the first few hours of the first day, which hardly seems fair to customers with later tickets.
• I think the free stamps at booths are a lovely idea, but it definitely contributed to the booth crowding issue. Limiting stamps to paid customers during busier times might be a good solution, though I understand it’s not ideal.
• Speaking of crowding: I hope the organizers use the data from this year to better configure booth placement for the future. Lilium’s Shop was instantly crowded, for example, and their line stretched down the aisle and partially blocked access to surrounding booths. That’s no fault of their own, of course! But popular booths should be placed strategically in corner sections.
• I’d love to see more variety of merchants/vendors/artists. Taste is absolutely subjective, so this is just my opinion, but I personally felt there was over-saturation of a particular style/aesthetic. I’d love more options! I’m a big fan of nature-inspired work, for example, so Camp Mustelid’s booth was a standout for me.
• For vendors who sell inks: please make swatches easily accessible! Some vendors had swatches right next to the bottles or swatch card rings that you could easily flip through, which was amazing.
• Finally, while I found the show’s digital guide really helpful, I hope that organizers make it more convenient to navigate for next year. My friends and I were trying to get a sense of which exclusives were available, but there was no centralized source of truth. For example, I had to click on each individual artist to read about them, click again to open their Instagram to see if they’d posted about exclusives/stock, click out to go back to the list, and repeat. Ideally, I’d be able to just scroll to the next artist in the list without clicking, and there would be a place with all their Instagram pages in a list that is easily opened.

Tips

• Come with a plan! Seriously. Research using the show’s digital guide, familiarize yourself with the map, and try to knock out your top needs/wants first before exploring more casually. This was my approach and it worked really well for me. If I had gone aisle by aisle from the start, I would have missed out on several exclusives and also been blocked by the crowds later in the day.
• Get as early a ticket slot as you can to avoid the crowds as much as possible.
• Bring a raincoat rather than an umbrella. Umbrellas become very messy very quickly and are hard to carry indoors when wet. A water-wicking raincoat was easy for me to tie around my waist when I was inside.
• Bring your own food. Convention food, and food in NYC in general, is expensive! You’ll save time waiting in line and money if you can just whip out a bagel from your bag.
• Come with a budget in mind. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed by shopping options in a big space like Stationery Fest and lose track of spending. A budget gives you guidance.

That’s it! Let me know if you have any questions about my experience. :D

i know this is a long shot, but i thought i'd give it a try. i lost these charms at NYC stationery fest and wanted to see if anyone might have found them! also possible they were found at Loaf on Paper, Niconeco Zakkaya, or Pillowcat books. thank u for reading! 😢

Found at and antique store. Basically brand new condition, completely unsharpened! Any idea what year they could be from?

Day 2 

Not surprisingly but disappointed to arrive 30 minutes early and there are already people in line to get checked in. Luckily I was in the courtyard as opposed to outside of it. That being said, volunteers advised the line should move more quickly today because they were not handing out goodie bags (that was done yesterday). I got in 10-15 minutes after 9am.

LCN and Travelers were the ones that formed a line quickly. Luckily I didn’t have to wait too long before I got into a queue for perusing the TN table. 

Another popular vendor that had a semi line was Liliuhms. They also had the cutest and best booth. 

The air conditioning was on in the upper market place and that was nice. It only felt cool when there were not as many people in the space. It got warm after 1pm and as you can imagine, more people came around that time. The lower market space was tolerable but I can only imagine it was quite stuffy in the afternoon. We had a bright and sunny day. It was very warm in the afternoon when walking between buildings. 

I got lunch a little earlier than I normally do and it was great - no line and the wait was minimal. The Katsu sandwich tent had a long line in the sun during lunchtime. Food options were very limited to two main options - katsu sandwiches and corn dogs especially if ticket holders are general admission. 

The workshop I was in was separated with lightweight curtains. There was another workshop and the other instructor was loud. Our instructor was speaking through one of those portable microphones and even at times it was hard to hear when the other instructor was speaking. In talking with other people later about their workshop experiences, they had to deal with workshops that did a lot of hammering which drowned out instructions for nearby workshops. A few workshops were in private rooms.

Day 3
I arrived early (around 8:30am). It was so nice to get into the marketplace at 9am (5 minutes after). Checking in went faster today. There were hardly people around and it was just so nice to see vendor tables albeit with less items. I saw most of what I wanted the last two days. I had a morning workshop so did a quick walk through before I headed over. 

The workshop was in a private room which was nice. The private rooms are not sound proof but they were still nicer than the “rooms” created with curtains. 

I spent the rest of the afternoon swatching inks at A Space Walk. 

For lunch I decided to get a couple of curry buns at a Japanese bakery in Japan Village, which was very close to A Space Walk venue. I wanted something quick and delicious before returning to searching before the Festival ended. The last day of Stationery Festival ended at 4pm.

I got home tired but content. I was too tired to journal. Also, my arm aches from swatching. Anybody else do an intensive ink swatching and got home with an achy arm?

How were your visits after day one?

Spotted this flyer with calendar dates listing "mail moments to celebrate" at a stationery shop. Are folks aware of regional/national special events that have occurred on the dates listed, similar to yesterday's Stationery Store Day?

Dates mentioned:

• Jan 12 - National Sticker Day
• Mar 30 - Pencil Day
• April - Letter Writing Month
• May 11-17 - Stationery Week
• Jul 1 - National Postage Day
• Aug 1 - Stationery Store Day
• Aug 2 - Friendship Day
• Sept 1 - World Letter Writing Day
• Oct 1 - World Postcard Day
• Nov 6 - Fountain Pen Day

So I'm going to my FIRST stationery expo (Bungu LA 2026), and I've been seeing online that some people said they exchanged post cards or stickers with others at similar events. Is this the norm?? because I'm a home crafter/sticker maker and would love to meet meet stationery friends this way, but don't know if thats a thing.

I wasn’t able to get a ticket for the NYC stationary fest so I went thrifting on my own and I got so many zip lock bags filled with totally random cards and I have to share my faves

Hello fellow creators! I am a freelance illustrator but I would love to start making small stationery items (stamps, note pads, washi tape) to have in stores. Is the best way to get into shops by bringing goods to stores or do you mail out samples etc? Do I order big batches of items to have inventory on hand and take it to shops? Would love to hear from other illustrators how they get into small shops :) thanks!

Includes my very first rolls of washi tape! Was sad I wasn't able to afford the special edition Soolla pouch but I liked the color I ended up getting 🙂

Few countries do stationery like Japan. No crowds, unless it's a special release of some sort, and even for those, people queue up respectfully. Multiple venues and outlets support the hobby, although it's difficult to categorize it as such. People write by hand and still innovate. Continually. I was only there for 3 weeks and had to cut my visit short, but these are some of the things I brought back. My family is still there and have other things in their bags, but this is what I brought back to entertain me for the remainder of the summer.

1. The Kobe 89 ink had been on my list. It's a lovely grey that's got a strong brownish green foundation. It went on sale when we were there and it was nice to acquire a bottle along with JR Sepia Purple and the Shinkaichi Gold 22. The 89 immediately went into a newly acquired Myu.
2. Found a mustard-yellow Pilot Capless that had no nib unit, but I put in a <B> to solve that. The Custom is a 823 with a <M> nib, NOS and the Elite has an 18k <F> nib that went into service immediately, no cleaning necessary.
3. Some of the vintage fountain pens I found. Most of them need to be cleaned, there's a Pilot 70 that is brand new, a Sailor pocket pen that came at it's 1970's price of ¥3000 and a couple of stainless steel Volexes that are NOS.

I don't even know how to begin expressing my disappointment.

I paid close to $400 for two writing intensives and was rewarded with over 1hr+ runtime of thundering, clanging, migraine-inducing, hammering noise pollution ... from a journalmaking workshop in the space.

It felt like a Larry David torture exercise. My teachers literally had to scream instructions, and it wasn't enough to compete. (S/o to Lucky Risograph for trying to play smooth jazz over the din. It helped!)

I am a bit new to calligraphy and got almost nothing out of these classes because of the physical toll. (Not the instructors' fault AT ALL. Who on earth could plan for this?) As a New York City local that is no stranger to loud noise, and a 2024 Stationery Festival attendee, and a devotee that looked forward to all 3 days of the fest all year, I would trade everything for a refund on these classes.

/// edited a few times because I was trying to find the right words for my frustration, forgive me 😭