In feature, Paper Review

Paper Review: Lennon Toolbar Egret Paper

Author Jessica ColesPosted on Leave a comment
Paper Review: Lennon Toolbar Egret Paper

Today I have another new paper to show – Egret 65gsm paper from Lennon Toolbar.

I purchased a pack of Egret paper (A5, 80 sheets for $10) from Alex at Shigure Inks several weeks ago and have only now been able to post a review. Shigure is sold out of this paper at the moment, but make sure to sign up for a restock notification so you can grab a pack!

Lennon Toolbar is only known to me as an ink company so far, and I was very curious to test their paper. Any company that loves ink should make paper that is great for that ink. Egret paper comes in two sizes – A5 and A4. The 80 sheets of loose-leaf paper are packaged in a cardstock-weight envelope.

The packaging is minimal – perfect for protecting the pages though.

Egret paper is the same tone as the Tomoe River paper from Sakae (the top notebook in the pile below) and slightly whiter than Cosmo Air Light paper (the notebook on the bottom is CAL from Musubi).

The paper itself has a very interesting texture. Egret paper is toothy – it slows down the pen stroke when writing. I would compare it to how a microfiber cleaning cloth seems to grip your hand if you brush it.

Egret paper also feels rather soft – somewhat like an old cotton t-shirt.

Here’s the reverse side of the same page:

Due to the toothy feel when writing, shading is amazing on this paper and dry times are faster than usual.

The paper also shows off sparkly ink beautifully.

The toothy texture does have one downside – when writing too quickly, some nibs may not keep up.

Strangely, with each of these tests, I didn’t specifically test for sheen!  I did go back and add a sheen test at the bottom of the page, using Bungubox Sweet Love Pink. This ink sheens on most paper but not all. I added 5 drops of ink to the paper, spread it out a bit, and allowed it to dry. So, Will It Sheen?

The only sheen was a thin halo around the ink blob.

As a side note, the ink can be seen on the reverse side of the page, but absolutely no ink bled through.

Lennon Tool Bar Egret 65g – A5 Blank 80 Sheets

DISCLAIMER: I purchased this item with my own money. Please see the About page for more details.

In Link Love

Link Love: Lego My Typewriter

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments
Link Love: Lego My Typewriter

The weeks surrounding the Independence Day holiday are usually pretty quiet in the pen community. Bloggers take a much-deserved week off and all our fine compatriots are busy tending to mosquitos bites and making copious quantities of iced tea and lemonade to stay cool. This will all change in a couple weeks when August can be seen on the horizon and plans to get kids back-to-school and adults start focusing on the fourth quarter which is when we see a surge of new supplies, inks, planners and preparations for the holiday season.

I don’t mean to sound jaded and I’m not. Back-to-school is my favorite holiday. I’m sure you’ll agree there is nothing more full of potential and optimism than a new notebook or brand new package of pencils or crayons.

Last week, we posted about the Clutterbug organizational system and how it might be applied to planning. So, if you too, are raring to get “back-to-school” this is a great time to consider which planner or planning style might work best for you so that when new 2021/2022 planners are released, you know what to look for.

Love Ana

In other news, Tina appeared on an episode of Art Supply Posse this month. Robert Oster is celebrating FIVE YEARS of making awesome inks (he is THE man for blues!). The USPS is celebrating 50 years as an independent agency. The Pen Addict reviewed the Platinum Procyon and came to similar conclusions that I did. The Typewriter Revolution reviewed the Lego Typewriter. And we’d like to introduce you to a new pen-related blog: A Stationery Voyage. (Never fear, the requisite cat and Star Wars posts are included. Hope you love them!)

Have a great (short) week!

Pens:

Robert Oster Bondi Blue Ink Review by Fountain Pen Pharmacist

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

Oh, one more thing… the Independence Day weekend was also our Ollie-versary. It’s been one year since this giant ginger cat showed up on our porch and stole our hearts.

Ollie on the Eames

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In photo

Yarn + Ink Palette: Refreshingly cool summer shades.

Author Laura CameronPosted on 1 Comment

Wow those Tuesdays-after-Monday-holidays hit hard don’t they? I was out of town this weekend and got home yesterday afternoon and in a flurry of all those chores (grocery shopping, laundry, and all the rest) I just didn’t get to play with pens and ink.

So I’ll leave you with a little cool and refreshing ink palette inspired by my latest spin (dyed by Apothefaery Luxury Fibers):

The inks:

In Planners & Organizers

Meshelle: The Cricket Planner

Author AnaPosted on 4 Comments

(Crickets) love visual simplicity and organizational abundance (micro solutions). You prefer your everyday used items hidden out of sight, but you do tend to pile items until you can put them away properly. You are a classic organizer in every way.

As a classic organizer, Crickets are the people for which planners were often designed for.

Our resident Cricket Meshelle (the manager of Skylab Letterpress — she keeps the wheels on that particular bus oiled and on-time!) is the quintessential Cricket. She utilizes spreadsheets like a pro but is also creative (it’s possible to do  both).

Her personal aesthetic is polished and minimal. Her organizational systems are equal to this. Meshelle loves Halloween and she often goes all out decorating for the holiday so being a Cricket doesn’t mean that you have to go full minimalist. But Crickets are considerably more likely to keep their possessions pared down to what is important to them and then organize and compartmentalize all the detritus.

Field Notes 56-Week Planner

Meshelle’s favorite planner at the moment is the Field Notes 56-Week Planner. It is minimal but somewhat compartmentalized with lots of lines to keep text neat. Most of the planning she does is for work so the Field Notes Planner has the right minimal aesthetic for  her while providing her with plenty of space to keep all her to-do’s — and no fussy pre-printed designs to get in the way of getting down to business.

Some Crickets may prefer greater micro-organizational options like a Bullet Journal or Theme System Journal. Other options might be an Erin Condren Life Planner (or better yet, her new Focused Planners) or other similar options. A Jibun Techo might be good for a Cricket who wants to use time blocking in their planning. If your focus is on goal setting, the MiGoals or Purpose planner might be good options.

Theme System Journal interior spread
Theme System Journal interior spread

Crickets will be most likely to seek out “the perfect planner” but remember that the key is to find a planner that fits your needs or can be easily tweaked to fulfill your needs. Crickets may often pile or postpone organizing until they have time to “do it right” which can lead to piles and inevitable chaos which can create stress. So, the best advice for Crickets (and really, anyone) is to be okay with “good enough”.

Theme System Journal interior spread
Theme System Journal interior spread

If you have not found “the perfect planner”, Crickets might want to consider purchasing a fully customizable planner like the Golden Coil or Agendio. With some pre-planning, Crickets can custom build a planner that meets their needs exactly the way they want.

Some Crickets may benefit from having more than one planner in order to micro-organize information — a larger, specific planner for work and then maybe smaller, portable planner like the Hobonichi Weeks for personal info and even a separate journal to keep as a diary. If multiple planners seem “too much”, Crickets might skip a work paper planner and rely on a digital system for business and use their paper planner for personal project tracking, notes and lists to keep down the clutter.

Crickets might wish they could use a super embellished Traveler’s Notebook (or employ the multi-notebook system utilized by our resident Bee) but a planning system with more structure may be better suited to the personal organizational temperament of a Cricket.

If the planning system requires too much time or effort, Crickets are inclined to postpone planning until it can be done “perfectly”. I advise Crickets avoid the Bullet Journal Instagram rabbit hole– that way lies madness and planning indecision while you ruminate on the perfect layout, lettering and color scheme. Remember to embrace simplicity and “good enough” so that you can utilize your planning or notebook to stay on task without getting distracted trying to find “the perfect system.” (Really, I think that’s good advice for all of us, don’t you?)

In feature

Jesi: The Bee Planner

Author Jessica ColesPosted on 3 Comments
Jesi: The Bee Planner

Ana spoke in her post about a lightbulb coming on for her once she saw her results from the clutter bug quiz. When I took the quiz, I felt like my past organizational efforts and failures made sense. 

The result of my quiz was, unsurprisingly, a bee.

BEE:

You love visual abundance along with organizational abundance (micro solutions). You prefer to see your everyday used items and you need really functional storage or you tend to pile items until you can put them away “properly”. Bees are very visual and tend to be perfectionists. Learn more here

Learning about this organizational type, I was able to see why past efforts into creating a tidy office had failed – I need to see all items that I use on a daily (or weekly) basis, or I tend to forget about the task or lose the item. Also, as a perfectionist, I often wait until I have the chance to organize it perfectly. Of course, that chance never comes and things end up in piles everywhere.

I love micro-organization. Unlike Laura’s Butterfly organization, once things are stored in that clear container, I tend to organize further inside it.

But this is also my downfall. I can organize any kind of collection, drawer, closet… but I often get overwhelmed. I learned through the clutter bug quiz that I needed to take a two-step approach to organizing. The first step is macro organization – putting items in general categories; the second step is micro-organizing each category.

I also learned that I need to see items. The switch to storing stuff in open shelves, clear containers and clear drawers was amazingly helpful – I finally felt like items were organized rather than stuffed in a box to be forgotten.

Applying this to planner style, it makes sense that I’ve found the Hobonichi Cousin to be most helpful – I can lay out information in several ways in this planner while keeping with my macro- and micro-orginizing routine.

As a note, I’m using a mostly blank planner. 2020 and 2021 have been bad years for filling in planners…

Near the front of the planner is a spread with 6 months to two pages. At the beginning of the year, I fill this up with holidays, birthdays, pen shows – any event that takes place over one full day or longer. This helps to give an overview of large chunks of time and I use it heavily when trying to see when we have time for trips or vacations.

The planner has plenty of space on the 2 page monthly spread to keep track of the schedules of my family of 6 – I use a multi-color pen to give each person a separate color. The monthly page is where I keep things as neat as possible so it remains easy to read.

The weekly spread in the Hobonichi Cousin is one item that I have found lacking in most other planners. During the school year, seeing activities over a full week allows us to plan carpools, work schedules, meal lists and other acts of juggling.

I use the A5 sized daily page to jot down notes, make lists or doodle. One of my favorite tricks is to keep Post-It notes nearby and stick them on the correct date when I can.

When I’ve used planners that only include a monthly spread, I haven’t had room for all the details needed. Planners without a weekly spread get too cluttered when planning out meals and those without a yearly spread have me planning a family trip too close to a pen show! Chaos. This planner lets me put everything in daily pages, organize it neatly for the monthly pages, keep track of the big picture with a yearly spread, and juggle the flow of life with the weekly spread. I can see everything and keep it all in one place and by placing paper clips on each layout, I can quickly flip back and forth between the spreads.

I hope this helps any fellow Bees out there!

In Link Love

Link Love: Stay on Target

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Link Love: Stay on Target

It seems fitting that during our “What’s Your Planning Style?” week, there are lots of reviews on paper, notebooks and planners. August (which is just around the corner) is the start of back-to-school and the announcements of a lot of planners so it makes sense that this is the week we, of the stationery community, would start to get serious about reviewing paper and notebooks.

Hopefully, these links will help you find the right notebook or planner for your style — whether you are a super organizer (there’s new Chronodex pages available this week!) or a looser, big picture organizer (there’s a post about Making the Bullet Journal system work for you). And it’s not Link Love without at least one Star Wars and one cat link — but these are a little different!

So grab a cool beverage and start clicking those links!

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

We need each other. Please support our sponsors and affiliates. Your patronage will let them know you appreciate their support of the pen community. Without them, and without you, we could not continue to do what we do. Thank you!

In Planners & Organizers

Ana: The Ladybug Planner

Author AnaPosted on 4 Comments

(Ladybugs) Love visual simplicity and organizational simplicity. You prefer to have all your items hidden out-of-sight. You also need fast and easy solutions, like bins and baskets without lids.

After taking the clutterbug quiz, I feel like a light bulb went on for me. I also immediately realized that my spouse is a very different clutterbug (he’s a butterfly).

Cas (at Clutterbug) described ladybugs as looking all clean and polished on the outside but if you look underneath, it’s a bit of a horror show. That’s me. To a tee. Like Butterflies, Ladybugs do best with easy, fast storage solutions and this applies to our planners as well as our yarn stash. I use the same plastic bin storage for my yarn that Laura does but mine is hidden in a closet behind a door. I don’t want to SEE my clutter!

Once I realized I will never have a super compartmentalized, super tidy, Instagram-worthy organizational system, I felt like I could breath a sigh of relief. It’s okay to be a little scattered but also want some visual simplicity. This explains why I’m okay with my pens touching. I just toss them all into one bin.

Inside of the undated Traveler’s Notebook 019 Weekly + Memo

This applies to my planning style too. Complex planning systems haven’t worked for me. If a planner has too many boxes, compartments or sub-divided sections, I end up not using it. Like a butterfly, I do better with big buckets. I think this is why I tend to prefer a week-on-one-page with the facing page just an open section for notes, lists, things I want to remember, etc.  Too many sub-sections or boxes can be too involved for a Ladybug. We need just enough structure so that we can find information, schedule or lists but not so much that we get overwhelmed and feel that we didn’t use the system efficiently.

From Erin Condren, this style of planner is TOO MANY categories for most Ladybugs

Modular systems built around a polished cover is a ladybug’s best friend. This could be a Filofax, a disc bound system like a William Hannah or a travelers notebook. They all provide some flexibility and a discreet exterior to contain “the horror show”. Ladybugs need the clean, simple exterior of a pretty notebook or binder and they also need to be okay with the insides of their notebook to be a little freeform and chaotic. 

On top, a standard Traveler’s Notebook. In the middle, a William Hannah ringbound notebook and on thee bottom an A5-sized Filofax.

For me, a travelers notebook (or other flexible system) works best. If I need additional space or feel the urge to be more organized, I can add another blank notebook to the calendar insert and hide it all away behind a clean cover.

Ladybugs would also do well with a commonplace book for notes, ideas and lists. For events, activities or meetings, combine a commonplace book with digital calendars. 

Adding tabs to a notebook or bullet journal to create large “buckets” for information might be a good solution. The tabs can be as loose as “to do lists”, “ideas” and “maybe someday” rather than a more complicated sub-system. “Today”, “Someday” and “Stuff to Remember”? 

Side view of Traveler’s Notebook, William Hannah and Filofax. Each utilizes a flexible system for adding or removing pages (or notebooks in the case of the Traveler’s Notebook) so a Ladybug can have as much or as little in each cover.

For Ladybugs, thee key is to find a planner that is simple to use with less granular storage of data. Like our shoes, we want to dump and go. So thinking of your planning system as large buckets rather than detailed organization. We can envy the Bee and Cricket planners for their compartmentalized data but for us, we are best served with something we actually use rather than a more involved planner that sits empty most of the year.

Really, what I hope this week will reveal that there is not one perfect planner or planning system that works for everyone.