Spring 2018 - Sakura Limited Edition

Springtime means a lot to us here after the drab winters on the east coast. It's the time for rebirth and renewal, when the muddy snows finally give way to bulbs bursting from dormant gardens and barren trees erupt with fresh buds. You can feel everyone start to come alive again, shedding off winter coats and tentatively venturing out into a world of brunches, walks along newly sprouted lawns, and, well, obsessing over the Orioles new season if you're anything like the WNP team.

Cherry blossoms in particular hold special significance to us along the Atlantic. For a brief, brilliant window in time people come from all over the US to view the spectacle that is the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC, where thousands of trees burst with tiny pink and white flowers. The DC tradition began in 1912, when over 3,000 cherry - specifically sakura - trees were donated to the city by the mayor of Tokyo. However, the significance of sakura watching goes back even further, and it's with the ancient tradition hanami in mind that our latest limited edition was created.

The Japanese tradition hanami - literally meaning "flower viewing" - is a centuries-old custom celebrating the ephemeral nature of life. Because blossoms on sakura trees only last for a very short period of time (about a week), they are a perfect representation of this concept, inviting viewers to reflect on the beauty and transience of mortality.

Sakura blossoms have inspired us to embrace new beginnings, which is why we're introducing something totally different for us with this release: saddle stitching! We've weighed comments and product reviews for months, and decided it was finally time to give a different binding style a try for this edition (and of course, we would love to hear your thoughts on this venture!). Sakura is bound with rose gold staples, just to make it a little extra special.

The Sakura Limited Edition notebooks are printed letterpress in black and pink with tiny red details, showcasing the simple elegance of a cherry tree in bloom. We printed the internal pages with a 4mm graph, which we find to be totally versatile for note taking, practicing penmanship, or plotting out illustrations.

Whatever your purpose may be, we hope that this edition inspires you to embrace the ephemeral things in life, whether it be a cherry tree in bloom, or a fresh notebook to fill with ideas.

January 17, 2023 Jon-Michael Moses

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