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Oh, hey, a thread relative to my interests. I kept a diary for about a year and a half in high school, but fell off it around the time I graduated. I started another one around the summer of 2020 and I've been writing an entry daily ever since. I just hit entry number 600! I also started a Leuchtterm branded "Some Lines a Day" daily diary at the beginning of 2021 where I record a basic What did I do today entry and a few headlines that catch my eye. My journaling style is a scrapbook/collage kind of system where I tape in anything that catches my interest: Photos I've taken, art that I liked and printed off, memes, cards and mementos from friends, stickers I like, all kinds of stuff. I went on a 3 week trip at the end of last year and kept my entries in a separate book, cut out the pages, then taped them in because I was afraid of losing my big diary. I switch up materials and tools to keep it interesting. I used a Uni Jetstream 3-in-1 for a long stretch to easily cycle through colors, but I've got some Pilot Metros with different Noodler inks when I'm bored of that. I just went back to using one with Noodler's black ink and my entries have gotten pretty short as I've been really fatigued lately. I've used the big Moleskine cahier XL books in the past because Costco had a good price on a multi pack, but my current one is an A5 Tomoe river paper notebook from Nanami Paper. Nearing the end of it, though, and I'm not sure if I want to stick with this size or go back to bigger. I've got some postcards and things that don't fit in an A5 and I don't want a separate book for it all. Supplies (mostly US based, I'm afraid)! For notebooks I like to shop Nanami Paper or Taroko on Etsy / Taroko Standalone. Both shops have good customer service and package up my orders pretty promptly. For Washi I like Amanda Mischell Standalone and Amanda Mischell Etsy because she also packs up and ships my stuff pretty speedily. Jet Pens has me covered for general supplies like ink, pens, that kind of stuff. I'll take some photos of my stuff later, my current diary's a beast.
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Mar 7, 2022 12:00
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 22:21 |
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Here's my current monster with a salt shaker for scale. My previous ones didn't get so big because they were way fewer pages, haha. I've taped in instant photos, laminated things I've printed out, I've made little tip-in envelopes and pockets for stuff friends have sent me. I'm pretty impressed with how the book itself has held up, it's a Nanami Crossfield and the binding is all sewn.
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Mar 8, 2022 22:30
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The only Leuchhterm I have is my 5 year diary and it doesn't lay flat very well. Also some of the December pages got glued together too far out from the spine, but I got it on discount so whatever. Paper's real nice though. I've given up on buying loads of pens and markers and settled on the few I like and use. I still buy too many notebooks. I'm about to get a few more, lol. But I started a bullet journal again, and I decided to use a spare XL moleskine as a scrapbook for big cards after all. So, take a penny, leave a penny I guess.
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Mar 16, 2022 17:47
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I liked the look of the little sticker printers, but since most of the things I wanted to print out were bigger and colorful, we got a Brother color laser printer. It's probably an 80-20 split between memes and fanart I liked. I've also got an Instax mini photo printer for pictures I've taken myself. This is why my diary is so heavy.  
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Mar 24, 2022 10:58
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   I just got some more because I thought I might like to use one for a new project (I won't, I never do). I've read nice things about the Archer & Olive ones, but I don't want the thicker paper because I don't use markers or things like that.
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Mar 26, 2022 18:27
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Only about a month's worth of pages left in my current behemoth, thinking I might downsize again from an A5 to a B6. This one's taken almost an entire year to complete and I'll never get through my stack of empties at that rate (because I keep buying more).
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Apr 15, 2022 14:24
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The books that don't take washes too well would be good for ink sketching. I like to sketch and doodle in ink rather than pencil so I don't get too stiff when going over drawings in ink. My blank notebook pile is all mostly the same, just duplicates of what I already like. I did get a couple Midori MD to try out this time, though. Mostly Tomoe River Paper in 52 and 68 gsm of varying sizes because all I do in them is write or make little ink sketches. I've got a few I'm using at the moment: - A6 Tomoe River Paper 52 gsm catch-all notebook for recipes, story ideas, whatever else comes to mind. I hesitate to call it a commonplace book and I haven't touched it in a few months. - A5 TRP 52 gsm diary - A5 Some Lines a Day Leuchtturm 5 year diary (might switch to a Midori when it's done) - A5 TRP 68 gsm language learning notebook - A5 TRP 52 gsm sketch diary I've hardly touched - B6 TRP 52 gsm reading diary, I'm a slow reader so this also hardly gets touched There's a few solo RPGs I want to try out, I'll use a notebook for that whenever I get around to it.
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Apr 16, 2022 16:50
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That kind actually has a sharpener in the cap, that's what the little hole is. Maybe you know and just don't like it, it is a pain to get the dust out of it sometimes.
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Apr 16, 2022 23:19
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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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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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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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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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Yeah, my style at the time tended towards a lot of scrapbook inspired pages of taping in big pictures and cut outs of news articles. If you're just doing writing it would be a bit more daunting, I'd imagine.
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Jan 3, 2023 21:20
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 22:21 |
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I just started year 4 on my 5 year Leuchtturm "Some Lines A Day" and I'm going to upgrade to a Midori or Hobonichi for my next one. A few of the pages in December got sloppy with the glue and stick together near the spine, it's a pain. The book itself looks nice though, and it's been holding up pretty well otherwise.
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Jan 20, 2024 15:13
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