Stationery | Hobonichi Techo Royal Stewart Zipper Case

I've been waiting patiently for this parcel to arrive, or rather impatiently. As I mentioned in an earlier post I have been using the Japanese planner 'Hobonichi Techo 2016' for daily journaling and although I had made a case for it I felt the need for something to fully protect it if I was to use it everyday wherever I was. Hobonichi offer a wonderful delivery service where everything comes in a big yellow bag with a turquoise box and a leaflet about life journalling. If you buy the journals from the official site you get a free four colour pen and a tissue holder. 

My order was just the zipper case as I had the planner already. I'd been waiting for the Royal Stewart Lochcarron case to come back into stock as I'm a big fan of tartan, it is timeless and goes with just about everything. The brown leather and gold zip with the red tartan remind me of Scotland (being that it is Scottish haha). The inside of the case has several spaces to store cards, post its and all kinds of notes or accessories along with two fabric book marks with leather tips. The net storage section is great for easy access to important notes or cards as you can see everything in there. 

The only downside was being that I live in the United Kingdom there was a hefty customs charge (which is fair enough) but be aware I ended up paying £21 and my case cost £46 so almost half of the original cost just to receive it. Seeing and feeling the quality of the case I'd say it was worth it for sure.

Stationery | LAMY & TOMBOW

When I got my Tombow fountain pen I didn't think it had a cartridge with it so I checked online and found the ones on Amazon had awful reviews but a British website, The Pen Company, had a pack of 6 with very positive feedback. Although the price difference is quite big I wanted to have something which wouldn't mess up my new pen. The postage was free if you spent £10 so I picked a reasonably priced rollerball pen to make it up. 

The LAMY Safari rollerball in Charcoal is slick with the black all over and they even sent the box flat packed so you get to experience the full luxury without it getting crushed. The box seems influenced by architecture with its ribbed cut-outs and as a designer I appreciated this beautiful but non essential aspect. The pen itself is OK but I found it initially was a bit hit and miss when writing, the ink was a tad blotchy but I think this is likely just first time use. Physically it is comfortable to write with and I'm sure I'll get used to it. The ink it came with was blue which isn't ideal for me as I'm fond of consistency, so I will likely refill it with black. 

The service from The Pen Company was exemplary, the items were well packed and arrived swiftly. I'd definitely use them again.

Journalling | Bullet Journals

One of the things I really want to do is create journals/planners which add to my productivity (especially now embarking into freelancing) but also to jot down everyday events which I might look back on in the future. Since I seem to have difficulty keeping up with blogging sometimes I am trying to commit myself to this by having a beautiful planner (The Hobonichi Techo) and searching the net for inspiration and top tips from frequent users of journals.

I found this brilliant explanation of 'Bullet Journals', a great way to utilise a plain notebook.

The layout is very simplistic once you get your head around it and the indexing is neat for future browsing. I like that there is no pressure to write anything as it isn't printed, you write the dates etc. in yourself. I get the feeling this is a little too liberating for me and would take away my commitment to write daily but it seems ideal for planning. I hope some one might find this interesting regardless.

I'm away to read a bit of Michael Palin's memoirs about his journals during his Monty Python years, bring on some inspiration!

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Planning | HOBONICHI TECHO

I have a confession to make. I adore stationery, all sorts of stationery like; pens, stickers, nice feeling paper, notebooks etc. (the list goes on). It always feels like much of this sits in my drawers collecting dust though, so I have invested in a day to day journal/planner. Partly inspired by the amazing Michael Palin, I decided to write every day no matter how uneventful it may be. It feels very natural to write feelings and thoughts on paper, far more so than on a digital blog but I kinda feel that this could be something which inspires my blog too.

The planner I have chosen is the 'Hobonichi Techo Planner 2016' which is an English version of a Japanese planner. I'm very intrigued by Japanese culture and design so this was an easy choice for me. It might sound crazy to research planners but it is important to me to get the right kind of paper, size and feel.

"What you are holding in your hand is a techo - a Japanese daily planner. A techo in Japan is used for more than scheduling an agenda. It is also used as a sketchbook, a diary and for other jottings that together tend to chronicle the owner's daily life." - Leaflet which came with the planner.

I loved the story of this planner, that it is used for all types of people in Japan, from kids to teachers and parents alike. Another wonderful mention is from the note that came with this from the lovely folks at PocketNotebooks.co.uk, saying "Forget the app, there's a pocket notebook for that...", so charming in a crazy tech filled era.

I'm excited to escape a little into this book each day and to get full use of the extra details like tips at the bottom of each page, the marker for food plans and of course the information in the back about Japanese food and the conversion charts.