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Keetron posted:
In the end I went with the Moleskine as I heard so much rave about it and while I really dislike the 8gsm paged "notebooks" for the thin, see through pages, the 160gsm sketchbook is rather nice, it takes light washes well and can handle fountain pen ok to well. Markers (Faber Castell PITT) and colored pencils work pretty decent. I can see why people rave about this book, it is decent bound and the pages are solid. My biggest gripe I have so far is that it just doesn't stand out in any of these categories. While it might be the best all-rounder I have seen so far, I just love specialized books so I am basically forced into a medium for a while. This book will last me another two or three months but I realized a few days back that I can go for a thin paged book and... only use it one sided!
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May 4, 2022 14:46
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about journal selection
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 Going away from my desk for awhile so I'm retiring this beast with maybe 20 pages left blank. It's just as well, I've used it for almost an entire year and it's pretty heavy now. Pretty wild to hold a whole year of your life, I gotta say.
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May 9, 2022 16:08
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That's an achievement
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May 10, 2022 02:10
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Notebook update: As a keeper of multiple books for multiple purposes, I switch out books regularly where I try to match the purpose to the book. For the most recent filled book, I was looking at a fountain pen friendly book with blank pages so that I have a place to gather up my doodles during meetings. The main contestants were a Rhodia rhodiarama and a Nebula Notebook, I went with the Nebula in the end. Today, after a few pages, I tossed it in the bin. The paper handles fountain pens well, no feathering, but it has a scratchy, textured surface that really grated on me. I can imagine fans of ASMR be all over that, I am not one of those people. So out it went and in came the Rhodia book. And a small piece of QA check paper fell out, from Clairefontaine??? I thought Rhodia was an independent brand.
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May 20, 2022 13:38
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https://www.exacomptaclairefontaine.fr/en/professions-and-brands/ Under the same umbrella.
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May 20, 2022 14:21
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The Electronaut posted:https://www.exacomptaclairefontaine.fr/en/professions-and-brands/ Interesting, they even own Herbin inks. Good to know, I have a soft spot for Clairefontaine and it is very affordable here. edit: Ah, wait, the Rhodia papermills are actually in my tiny country as well. Keetron fucked around with this message at 16:18 on May 20, 2022 |
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May 20, 2022 16:15
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Sometimes I browse Etsy and I see people selling "bullet journal pages" that you print. What are these?
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Jun 18, 2022 02:14
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They're just premade pages formatted for bullet journaling. If you don't know what that is, here's the website for it. It's essentially a hybrid journaling/scheduling/task management system.
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Jun 18, 2022 04:01
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There's a weird thing where bullet journals were intended to offer more flexibility than a planner, but then so many people made big elaborate spreads that they lost all that flexibility and now some folks are selling printable spreads which are. Fundamentally indistinguishable from a planner. Aside from maybe a more artsy aesthetic, or a focus on things that wouldn't necessarily show up in a traditional planner (book and habit trackers, etc). But I say that as someone who uses printable planner pages for work, and a bullet journal for my personal life, because they serve very different functions in my brain.
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Jun 18, 2022 04:40
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Huh. So print them out and put them in a binder?
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Jun 18, 2022 04:50
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Basically yeah. They're made with customizability in mind. It does run totally counter to the "keep it simple, stupid" ethic of bullet journaling but yeah it's basically meaningless at this point anyway
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Jun 18, 2022 05:02
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Common alternatives to binders I've seen are discbound planners (I use one of these) and those little... six ring ones? I feel like they're ripping off a specific planner. Yeah I just looked it up and it's Filofax. There's a ton of A6 six-ring planner covers out there, I experimented with one for a little while but I found a half-letter discbound planner worked best for my printable needs.
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Jun 18, 2022 05:23
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interesting, thanks!
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Jun 18, 2022 05:23
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I like the style of some of the preprinted pages but I'm too picky about how things are laid out. I started using a bullet journal for utility and then got too artsy with it to the point of it being distracting. After a lot of trial and error I got a 6-ring refillable journal. For the daily/weekly spread I use plain dot grid paper and calendar washi tapes. I made some tabs for other sections where I can mess around with junk journal, habit trackers, or whatever else. It's really helped me get my poo poo together but took a while to get the right balance.
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Jun 18, 2022 05:54
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The moleskine I mentioned earlier is filled and I started using a Dingbats Bee Book and it is pretty amazing in every way. If you ever come across one, grab it.
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Jun 30, 2022 12:07
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Keetron posted:The moleskine I mentioned earlier is filled and I started using a Dingbats Bee Book and it is pretty amazing in every way. If you ever come across one, grab it. It's really pretty but that's quite a price tag! Do you mind elaborating on what's so good about it? I love the little bee logo.
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Jul 2, 2022 18:20
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HopperUK posted:It's really pretty but that's quite a price tag! Do you mind elaborating on what's so good about it? I love the little bee logo. As you said, it is pretty and well made, it is B5 which is between A5 and A4 basically giving you a lot of room for art. The 160gsm paper is a good to perfect texture for both pen, pencil and the PITT brush markers I use. The paper feels sturdy as well. Rounded corners, so it can take a beating without looking beat up right away. Everything about it says: Take me with you where you go. I think the hefty price tag is part size, part quality and part Eco-promise. Also I like it because I spend €25 on it and that makes be biased as hell.
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Jul 3, 2022 12:15
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B5 is the perfect size for notebooks.
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Jul 3, 2022 14:00
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For Americans, B5 is more or less the same size as your basic composition notebook. I started doing my diaries in the Moleskine XL cahiers which are also roughly the same dimensions and yeah, it's a great size. Lots of room for writing and photos, doodles, or cut-outs. The size also makes it pricier, but you might find it's worth it. I honestly only picked them up because Costco had a big pack for cheap. I've downsized to a B6 slim right now, though, and I like the little compact feel of it. Not so good for longer entries, but I've been too exhausted to write more than a few sentences lately anyway. It's a good portable size, though, and not as restrictive as an A6.
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Jul 3, 2022 14:25
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Keetron posted:As you said, it is pretty and well made, it is B5 which is between A5 and A4 basically giving you a lot of room for art. The 160gsm paper is a good to perfect texture for both pen, pencil and the PITT brush markers I use. The paper feels sturdy as well. Rounded corners, so it can take a beating without looking beat up right away. Everything about it says: Take me with you where you go. Oooh I might be sold. I love the Pitt markers, they feel really nice to use. Excellent, thank you.
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Jul 3, 2022 15:51
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Update on the Dingbats Bee book, I took it with me on my summer holiday campsite trip to France. For reasons beyond my control (I am loving lazy), I never really left the campsite for more than groceries so all drawings are of the same place. It is a beautiful little campground including a lake and with a bunch of rental trailers and spots for people to put up a tent or their caravan / mobile home. Drawings are straight to pen (TWSBI 580 F with Platinum Carbon Black ink) filled in using the soft brush set from Faber Castell PITT and some assorted PITT brush pens I had lying around. The markers and this book are a really good combination, if you are fast you can do some blending which also means there is no real streaks when filling an area. But when it is dry you can do some solid layering / glazing with various colors on top of each other. The Carbon Black takes it's sweet time to dry, up to a minute or more but when dry is rock solid and marker proof. I have been experimenting a bit with watercolors and very light washes as I want to try some shading with diluted india ink, it seems to handle that okeeish, more tests are needed. Recently I discovered the work of Steven Reddy, I am totally in love with the style and would like to emulate it / be inspired by it. In his book Everyday Sketching and Drawing he talks about shading using dilated India ink in brush pens so I ordered some brush pens and will try it.               
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Aug 2, 2022 13:55
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It's almost September, so I thought I'd post a bit from my bullet journal. It is VERY messy mind you. I use a hybrid one that has a bullet journal page on one side and a week tracker on the other. Generally my first step is to pick a colour and then slap some organisational stickers on it.  By the end of the week it looks messy and plastered with stickers (please ignore the obvious where I forgot which day of the week it was and then covered my mistake with washi).   I buy sampler sets so I have 50-ish washi patterns and lots and lots of stickers, but they only come out to about $2 here or there.
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Aug 30, 2022 08:50
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coolusername posted:I buy sampler sets so I have 50-ish washi patterns and lots and lots of stickers, but they only come out to about $2 here or there. two things that stand out to me, aside from the thrill of peeking in ones notebook / journal: 1. Sorry to see even your Saturday raids cancelled 2. Where do you get those stickers for that price?
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Aug 31, 2022 06:44
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Keetron posted:two things that stand out to me, aside from the thrill of peeking in ones notebook / journal: Such is life in FFXIV Oh, as for the stickers and stuff, Etsy my beloved. Obviously you'll need to find your own region to save on shipping, but for example https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/1160549209/washi-tape-sample-luck-dip-grab-bag-15cm?ref=yr_purchases&variation0=2414317402 10 washi tape samplers for $4 USD or https://www.etsy.com/au/listing/1119283175/kawaii-sticker-flake-grab-bag?ref=yr_purchases 20 grab bag stickers (actually ended up with 30, they tossed in a bunch of freebies) for $2 USD. Look for mystery bag, grab bag, washi tape sampler and OOPs for the keywords and you'll easily find on etsy tonnes of people who'll send you a crazy amount of stationery for very cheap.
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Aug 31, 2022 12:18
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coolusername posted:Such is life in FFXIV Thanks for this hint! Just ordered a couple of oops packs from someone who does *adorable Animal Crossing sticker sets. I'm such a sucker for mystery bags. I have to limit myself sharply or I get in the ADHD gambling haze.
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Aug 31, 2022 12:48
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HopperUK posted:Thanks for this hint! Just ordered a couple of oops packs from someone who does *adorable Animal Crossing sticker sets. You can't say that and then not say what the AC sticker shop is! I also crave the animal crossing.
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Aug 31, 2022 12:58
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Heh, sounds similar to the ali express sticker bundles I ordered in the past, that was 50% trash tho, some were really nice.
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Aug 31, 2022 19:47
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coolusername posted:You can't say that and then not say what the AC sticker shop is! I also crave the animal crossing. Starwood Bay! UK based so can't promise anything about shipping.
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Aug 31, 2022 19:55
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HopperUK posted:Starwood Bay! UK based so can't promise anything about shipping.  Pretty cheap, actually. I have their Celeste bookmark and it is gorgeous (ignore blurry 5am pic) so good choice!!
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Aug 31, 2022 20:15
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Hi, I haven't shown you my pages for nearly half a year. Here is my december. Within the next weeks I'm going to show you a few of the other months.             
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Dec 4, 2022 22:58
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Nice! This remains the single biggest draw for me to learn how to draw or doodle so that I can fill up my notebooks.
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Dec 5, 2022 00:02
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sb hermit posted:Nice! This remains the single biggest draw for me to learn how to draw or doodle so that I can fill up my notebooks. Have you considered drawing in your notebook to learn? Drawing is very much a learned skill that improves with practice so the only way to get good enough to draw in your notebook is do the work of drawing in your notebook. Daily 15 mins is enough.
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Dec 5, 2022 07:33
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Keetron posted:Have you considered drawing in your notebook to learn? Drawing is very much a learned skill that improves with practice so the only way to get good enough to draw in your notebook is do the work of drawing in your notebook. Daily 15 mins is enough. yes, it's something I've considered and then dropped the idea completely because I'm too embarrassed but really, it's one of the pandemic things I've meant to try to learn so I have a bunch of books but I turned out to not have any time I just gotta read the books and practice
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Dec 5, 2022 07:53
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and if you ask me if I was able to complete any of my other new year's resolutions, I'm going to pretend I didn't see it except for the one about getting more ink
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Dec 5, 2022 07:54
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Good luck on the drawing practice. If you keep a diary-style journal you can try including a little doodle about your day. It doesn't have to be every day or anything complex. Also if you're just looking to practice or warm up, try using pen instead of a pencil you can erase, it helps me commit to my idea and also move on if it's not looking the way I want. This is advice coming from someone who's been drawing forever though. It's harder to pick up creative hobbies as an adult, you have to push through that self-conscious feeling. I prematurely ended the diary I started in May because I wasn't as in love with the smaller size as I'd thought I'd be, my handwriting felt too cramped. So I've gone from a B6 back up to an A5 for my new one and I'm happier. Mostly the kinds of things I like to keep in my diary (cards I've received) stuck out the sides of a B6.  
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Dec 5, 2022 11:51
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My journal for next year arrived!   I went with the split journal where one side is a weekly schedule and the other side is blank again, since I like the added structure.
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Dec 7, 2022 06:29
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When did the Leuchterm 120g came out? I ran into it last month in Switzerland, not having seen it locally before and now I see it all over the place even in my local postoffice / stationary store. Also, does anyone has experience with the Midori MD books for journaling? I have a few pages left in the letterwish journal and am very much in doubt if I should got for the Midori MD or the Leuchterm 120.
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Jan 2, 2023 20:25
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Keetron posted:When did the Leuchterm 120g came out? I ran into it last month in Switzerland, not having seen it locally before and now I see it all over the place even in my local postoffice / stationary store. From what I've seen, it's only a recent thing (as in, within the last... 6-12ish months or so?). This may depend on where you are, I remember hearing about them early last year, yet I've only seen them stocked at bricks and mortar stores here in Australia in the last 6 months. Chaosqueen posted:Hi, A bit late, but these are adorable!  Mercury Hat posted:Good luck on the drawing practice. If you keep a diary-style journal you can try including a little doodle about your day. It doesn't have to be every day or anything complex. Also if you're just looking to practice or warm up, try using pen instead of a pencil you can erase, it helps me commit to my idea and also move on if it's not looking the way I want. This is advice coming from someone who's been drawing forever though. It's harder to pick up creative hobbies as an adult, you have to push through that self-conscious feeling. Congrats on the new journal! It's good to try something different then went back when it didn't work for you. I kinda want to go from A5 to B5 to give my sinister goblin writing hand (I'm a lefty) more space Speaking of new journals... I started a new journal recently, I could share the stuff I've drawn in it soon. Though I'm no accomplished artist like many here, it's still fun to do! 
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Jan 3, 2023 06:31
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froglet posted:I kinda want to go from A5 to B5 to give my sinister goblin writing hand (I'm a lefty) more space Do you use fountain pens? If so, what kind of ink do you use? I'm trying to find an alternative to Noodler's bernanke blue. quote:Speaking of new journals... I started a new journal recently, I could share the stuff I've drawn in it soon. Though I'm no accomplished artist like many here, it's still fun to do! I'm gonna see if I can start doodling this year to improve my artistry. Hopefully it goes somewhere...
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Jan 3, 2023 06:42
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Yeah I loved the size of the Moleskine XL Cahiers which were basically B5 / composition notebook sized, but the paper wasn't to my liking. It was easier to carry around, though, because of the slim size. I'm enjoying the new Sanzen tomoe river paper notebook I got, but I haven't used anything but Uni Jetstream ballpoints in it. I also started year 3 on my 5 year diary  .E: I've also started trying to use a planner again. Really pared down Bullet Journal 1.0 style where it's basically a rolling to-do list. Multiple alarms on my phone to remind me to check it this time and not let it gather dust somewhere.
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Jan 3, 2023 12:48
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