Getting to know Jenny Mason

by Tony Short
Jenny and I first collaborated back in Spring this year when she very kindly reviewed a pack of original Kraft Field Notes. Since then I have been fixated with the quality of reviews that Jenny generates over at her blog The Finer Point with the great review coupled with wonderfully crafted examples and clean and elegant images. 

1) Describe yourself in three objects

This is tough for me and I presume I can extend this beyond the purely analogue world. My three objects would probably be a pocket notebook, a fountain pen and my iPhone. I think without these items I would be pretty lost.

2) Wood or Mechanical Pencil?

Wooden pencil definitely.

3) Ballpoint, Gel or Fountain Pens?

Fountain pen no question.

4) Sketchbook or screen?

Sketchbook. I think the sketchbook is more versatile and gives me more possibilities. With a screen I would be more worried about the way I was doing something and frustrated that it wasn’t doing exactly what I needed it to. With a sketchbook these unimportant elements go away.

5) Tell us about a couple of your favourite materials to work with?
I would say my favourite things to work with are the Field Notes pocket notebooks, fountain pens and ink but not all together. Field Notes were the gateway for me becoming re-interested in stationery. They opened up the world of pen and pencil podcasts, blogs, and eventually to me blogging myself. They aren’t the best pocket notebook out there but they are the brand I use the most and I get the most enjoyment from. 
 
At the opposite end of a stationery spectrum I love using fountain pens and ink. There are an endless world of possibilities that are constantly customisable to your preferences. For me fountain pens make writing more fun and the bonus is I think my handwriting looks much better when I use them. 

6) Which country or continent is your favourite for Stationery?

I think this would have to be Asia. It seems that stationery is really integrated into everyday life and the products they have on offer look amazing. I would love to visit somewhere like Japan but I would need a big budget and a lot of time. There are a few stationery items from Asia I have enjoyed using but there are a lot of things on my wish list that come from that region.

7) Apart from your own blog, which other stationery blogs would you recommend following?

At the moment I am really enjoying Wonder Pens, All Things Stationery, A Fool with a Pen and Three Staples. The posts always interest me and I love their photography.

8) Do you practice any productivity techniques or hacks?

Not really. The only thing I have adopted in the past 6 months is adding a contents page to my pocket notebook and numbering its pages. I just find this useful if I ever need to look back in an old notebooks - its much easier to scan a contents page rather than flick through the entire notebook. I used to be interested in productivity hacks but now I find them rather distracting. I think you could spend more time finding out about these things, and becoming unproductive, rather than just tackling what you need to head on.

9) And… we’ve got to ask. What’s in your pencil case?

I don’t own a traditional pencil case of sorts however the items that come with me at the moment are a Nock Co Lookout which includes the Karas Kustoms Ink, the TWSBI 580 RB and a Pilot Coleto. Alongside this I use a Mitsubishi Hi Uni H pencil, a Caran d’Ache mechanical pencil, a Palomino long point sharpener and a Magic Koh-I-Noor eraser. And then I have a Field Notes memo book and my Hobonichi Techo. When I’m on the move that gets thrown in a Hershel Supply Company pouch.


 

Thanks to Jenny for responding to our questions. We really like her responses, extremely insightful and love to learn more about her stationery likes. Jenny is very active on Social Media and can be found on her blog at http://www.thefinerpoint.net along with Twitter and Instagram.

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