Its brand story is an inspired conception; a narrative crafted to knead and unknot that part of the consumer’s brain responsible for decision-making.

So as someone who once studied that kind of thing to pass a few exams, I know that Hemingway and Picasso didn’t actually soak up their genius-vomit with the same oilskin-bound acid-free papers I see in Exclusive Books and hear with angel-song accompaniment.

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As far as business ventures go, I wish the blood of Charou ran thicker in my veins. 

My first chug of entrepreneurial spirit was some time in Std4 (Grade 6 to you young ‘uns) with a little start-up called “Cupid Aint Stupid”. 

I dealt primarily in matters-of-the-heart and would write custom love-letters and poems for a very reasonable R2 each. I was also the purveyor of fine hand-made twinsaver tissue flowers .

I made enough to buy a few chip rolls at break-time, but the business wasn’t sustainable.

The type of people who didn’t write their own love-letters were also the types who promised to pay up tomorrow. And the market for tissue flowers was soon overtraded after I gave tissue-flower making lessons for R3.

I never sold much else after that, apart from a few sticker sheets in Std5 and my old Archie comics much later on (a transaction I now regret).

But now I’ve hit on this idea of customising notebooks.

I’m a huge notebook phan-girl. I’m moleskine-verskrik, and the one I’m currently desecrating is a gorgeous leather-bound volume from Florence with the giglio embossed on the cover.

But I don’t quite know where to start. Sites like cafepress.com offer exactly the type of arrangement I think would work for me, but after exchange rates, the final product is too expensive for the average blog reader to consider [Would you pay something like $12 for a notebook just because it had something clever on the cover?].

Are there any South African based print-on-demand set-ups?

Here are a few of the notebook cover ideas, taken from some of my more obscure blog-moments over the years:

Is this the kind of thing you’d willingly hand your credit card details over for?

Duritz and the boys will be hitting our atmosphere on June 06 in Jozi!!!
Yayness!!!
I heart the Counting Crows!!!
I’m so there!!!

I’m over-doing the exclamation marks.
Anyhoo, they’re an awesome band and you should go see them if you can.