📖The Legacy Behind the Kedori Notebooks
✈️ From Japan to My Studio Table
If you’ve ever held a Traveler’s Notebook or written in an MD Paper Journal, you know the feeling: it’s more than paper.
It’s presence. It’s satisfying. It’s an invitation to slow down and see your own life more beautifully. I love them so much!
I’ve always admired what the Japanese brands (in general) but this two “Traveler’s Company” and “Midori” have built:
Traveler’s Notebooks, created in 2006, became globally loved for their refillable leather covers, simple designs, and the idea that every journey — whether overseas or inside your own mind — deserves a space to be captured.
Midori, on the other hand, started way back in 1950 and became known for paper so smooth, it makes you want to write again. Their philosophy? That writing by hand is a sensory, emotional, human act. They believe in materials that let your thoughts flow freely. And I do too.
🌏 These are not just products. They’re experiences.
They reflect the Japanese reverence for simplicity, utility, and beauty — something I hold close in everything I make. If you want to know more about these wonderful companies, here is a post about it.
✂️ Why I Created the Kedori
My handmade notebooks — lovingly named Kedori — are inspired by these giants, but created with a very different heart. I just changed the “Mi”dori to “Ke”dori 😂
Because not everyone can afford a leather-bound Traveler’s Notebook.
Not everyone wants to wait for international shipping.
And not everyone wants something mass-produced, even if famous.
I wanted to create something more personal, accessible, and still beautifully made.
So I use cardstock, layered tissue, elastic bindings, and refillable inserts — all handmade from scratch, with optional pockets and themes. It’s durable, customizable, and soft to the touch. Every part reflects intention, not imitation.
You get the soul of the original concept — and the warmth of a handcrafted, one-of-a-kind version (you can just choose it!).
📓 What my Kedoris Offers
Two sizes: Regular (9x5") and Passport (5x3.5")
Theme customization: floral, vintage, faith-based, minimalist, you name it!
Blank, lined, squared, junky inserts (or even just the cover, without inserts!)
Optional pockets (plastic or paper)
Refillable for lifelong use
Whether you use it as a travel journal, a daily sketchbook, a faith diary, or a planning space, your Kedori will hold your life’s little and big moments — with beauty and ease.
I use them on trips (to hold documents and passports, of course), I use as diary entries, also for planners, for junk journaling, for memory keeping, for collage books, storytelling, I’ve got so many Kedoris around!
💛 A Note from Me to You
If you’ve been dreaming of having a beautiful place to write, reflect, or create — this is for you.
Your story is worth keeping.
And your tools should reflect the soul of your journey.
So here it is: a traveler-style notebook, handmade with intention.
Affordable. Refillable. Emotional.
Created not to impress — but to express and last.
Because what we carry should carry us, too.
You can reach out anytime for custom orders: contact@kellengondo.com
With gratitude, love and paper,
Kellen
