If I hadn't been inside for our first rainy day of the season I may have not followed thru on this idea.  During good weather I found my way to Tandy Leather in Sacramento (California for those of you who are geographically impaired) and bought a scrap piece of black Kodiak oil tanned cowhide for about $10 and some sewing supplies.  After a quick paper template to decide if it would fit I cut and stitched (using nylon marine grade thread) and made this rugged/handsome holder for my trusty Bullet Space Pen.  

A quick set of stitches on either side of the pen holder, then at the top and bottom to attach front and back (leather should be thin enough for the book to close without incident).  This will work on either the front or back of your book, and easily slips off to transfer to a new shiny book.  I then cut a small slit on the back-top long enough to slide some cut up (also Moleskine) grid paper into. These can be used to add labeled bookmarks to pages if you fill your pages with scribble like I do.  Another idea was to add a few thin post-it notes/page markers to this area to serve as the same purpose.

I have seen several designs similar to this made out of velcro or thick cardboard but unless you are a charter member of PETA leather is the ultimate lifetime accessory.  I may buy a nice sewing machine someday soon and mass produce if someone else don't beat me to it.

Since I enjoyed this one so much I immediately made another to fit my small Reporter Moleskine as well, now I am prepared for all of my "next great ideas…"

-vince