Hobonichi Techo 2017

In August I began using my Hobonichi again. Life slowed down a bit and I didn't need the agenda/planner layout of the Happy Planner! I also wanted a bit more space to collage, stamp and write more. I like to work on it before bed or first thing in the morning with a hot cup of coffee. I got my first fountain pen, a Lamy Safari in Petrol, then Eric surprised me with a rose gold Lamy LX for our anniversary which I absolutely adore. 

I've really enjoyed journaling so much that I decided to go big in 2018 with the Hobonichi Cousin. I was so excited when it arrived, it feels more like a big squishy notebook! But I think I will miss the compact fat size of the techo a tiny bit. I am looking forward to having all the space, especially to practice my lettering! I've been really obsessing over some of the traveler's notebooks on Instagram and have pinned a lot of inspiration here. I love all the unique stamps, washi and ink options out there. I especially love the very full and layered pages of some journals!

I haven't had any time to sew lately but I picked up fabric to hopefully make a few gifts. And maybe a hoodie for myself! :)

The Happy Planner: Stuff I love, how I use it and more!

We have made it home from CHA/Creativation! Ashleigh & I had such a nice time! We met so many nice peeps and learned a ton about the craft industry. I only have a few photos from the show, both my camera & my phone were having some sort of meltdown which was super bad timing! But I do have a blog post planned with some of the neat products I tried and things I want to try in the future. I came down with pneumonia on Christmas and it has worn me out. I kept losing my voice which was embarrassing! I plan on catching up on a lot of sleep this weekend!

In November I went to Michael's and came across The Happy Planner. I saw them all over Instagram and thought they were pretty cute! But I was using a really nice Kikki.K for personal planning and a Rifle Paper planner for work planning. Michael's had a ton of cute planners, accessories, etc but I wasn't sure about the ring system. I'm notoriously hard on things and thought for sure I'd be losing pages! I ended up holding off until December when I scored a 60% off coupon + 20% off your total purchase. I picked up the Classic Minty Fresh because I really liked the dividers and the page colors. Since purchasing it, I've become totally obsessed! I thought I'd share it with you today along with some of my favorite supplies.

I use my Happy Planner as a combo of a personal daily planner + daily memory keeper. I use a lot of stickers, stamps, pens, scrapbook supplies and washi in my pages. It's a big mishmash of thoughts and journaling is something I really look forward to working on each day. I like to either spread everything out on my living room floor or just grab a few pens and curl up in my chair, writing away. It's cozy and a nice way to spend a little quiet time.

I totally admit that my personal life isn't all that exciting or busy and this is exactly what I struggled with when first using Hobonichi. It's easy to see journals and planners online and think your life doesn't quite compare. I've felt those thoughts. Trust me. But I've learned that for me, embracing the quiet makes me appreciate what I have so much more. I write about what books I'm reading, the weather, coffee with friends, shows Eric & I have watched, birds we've seen, outfit combos that I liked wearing along with practical things like grocery shopping, hair appointments, doctor's visits, etc. It's a collection of a lot of little moments that make up each day! Also: colorful! 

Some of my pages have a ton of stuff on them and some don't have much at all. Blank spots are fine and I don't mind if things run into each other or off the page. I don't stress about it! It seems against the rules to be unhappy while working in a happy planner. ;) The above page was from last weekend, I had so much to share that it's just all over the place! I tested out inks from different manufacturers, stamps and pens at CHA on this page, stamped the Saguaro National Park Passport and printed a photo of Ashleigh's first roadrunner sighting, and more! It's all over the place and I like that. 

The best part of The Happy Planner for me is how fast and easy it is to customize. I've made a bunch of covers by laminating pretty scrapbook paper, I've switched out the rings, I've made folders and dividers. I really like this aspect because I *adore* holiday things. I like that I can use a million Valentine's Day things and totally indulge in all the seasonal goodness!

I like to buy clip art from Creative Market for stickers and printables from Etsy. A few shops I've tried and have gotten really nice sets from are: ElysianPrintsCo, ilove2print and DesignLovelyStudio. I do have a Cricuit Explire Air 2 that I occasionally use for shaped stickers or cutting out folders (I use this cut file!) but mostly I print stickers and kiss cut them by hand with an exact-o knife. I find it relaxing in the evenings. 

I've also purchased some stickers from Etsy that have been super cute! I really love the quality of CleverGirlCraft's foiled stickers, Honeyinked clear stickers, Virgoandpaper kits and Paperandmilk!

In 2015 Ashleigh & I fell down the rabbit hole of stamps. We spent so much time sending flurries of texts back and forth with wish lists of stamps. There are SO many cute stamps out there! Obviously I'm going to mention Waffle Flower Crafts first because Ashleigh designed stamps for them and they are super cute! ;) I'm not the best stamper but on my pages they are the cross stitch cactus and unicorn! I bought an ink set from them last weekend and I've really enjoyed stamping with it! It comes in a cute box which I like, I don't have a ton of room left in my craft cart so I appreciate self contained things. ;) I also really like Pinkfresh, Mama Elephant, and Lawn Fawn! This moon phase stamp is super high on my wishlist right now along with this Bear and Bird stamp set!

And I love fine pens! On JetPens website you can search gel pens and then tip size. I prefer .38 if possible. I have very messy handwriting and fine tip pens make it so I can fit more of it in a small space. ;) One thing I've recently become obsessed with are pens that have tinted black inks! Like Bordeaux Black! It's black but also super deep and rich wine color. They are based in California and I usually get my order within a day or two. I've also had great experiences with The Goulet Pen Company. 

I found this cute little clear envelope at Staples! It's from the Martha Stewart discbound collection and I think it was around $4. I kept business cards and our business license in it last weekend and it was SUPER handy. 

I am forever forgetting to use promo codes and coupons. I made this little folder and tucked all the things that expire next month right with the February divider so if I decide to buy something, I have everything all in one place! 

And finally, a bit of happy mail. I've had my eye on this set of Field Notes for ages and finally bit the bullet! I have no idea what I'll write in them but sheesh, they are so beautiful! 

This post contains affiliate links to amazon.com. That means if you click the link and purchase something, I earn a tiny percentage of your purchase without any additional cost to you. All items I talk about are things I've purchased myself with my own money. :) 

Tombow Irojiten & Hobonichi Techo

It is a seriously gloomy day here! Our power has been flickering, it's pouring out and super windy. The perfect day to journal, read and nest! ;)

Yesterday I received some happy mail- Tombow Irojiten colored pencils in the Woodland set. Last night I swatched them in my hobonichi techo and today I'm playing around with them, I thought I'd share my initial thoughts! 

I want to try colored pencils more this year as opposed to brush pens, markers and ink because while I love my hobonichi, I really get frustrated with ghosting. Ghosting is when the image shows through onto the back side of the paper. It's not physically bleeding through the paper, it's just a hint of the previous image. Tomoe River paper is truly wonderful. It's smooth, feels so nice to draw and write on. But it's incredibly thin so ghosting can happen. 

I had a set of prismacolor pencils that I played with a tiny bit towards the end last year and I enjoyed them. My set was from college and has lived a full life, including many drops and sharpening issues so the lead isn't in the best shape. ;)

I was drawn to this set of colored pencils because the packaging is beautiful, the colors are really unique and the swatches from other artists looked interesting. 

You can see the ghosting from January 7th on January 8th- I had used some rain cloud stamps because: rain. I'm never quite sure what to do when ghosting happens. Do I cover the images? Do I just ignore them? Add washi? It's something so small, I don't know why it throws me off! :D 

I ended up tracing the clouds and filling them in with one of the pencils and swatching all the colors. The pale and light grayish tone sets are so, so, so subtle. I didn't really press down, I just started a little firm and gradually lightened the pressure to create a gradient. I'm not sure if the pencils aren't super pigmented, if I need to use more pressure or if i should layer them more!? 

I have a feeling I'm going to like using them but will have to build up layers. It'll be fun to experiment through out the year with these! I found this review which is really comprehensive about these pencils in case you'd also like to know about them. Mostly I'm looking to do some sketches and filling in stamped images. Previously I used Kuretake ZIG Clean Color brushes and they are SO GOOD. They do take forever to dry and sometimes I smudge things or over mix the colors. Also they can wrinkle the pages which doesn't bother me but towards the end of last year my hobonichi was so fat and hard to close!

The right hand side under the paper cut was done with the brush pens and it was really fun! I like watching people on youtube do galaxy paintings so it was my inspiration. 

In case you'd like to know my favorite comfort food from my entry and poor penmanship. ;) Cranberry Mustard Chicken Tenderloins! My mom made this when I was a kid, I found the recipe last night after thinking about it all the time lately! It turns out it's super fast and easy to make. My mods were tapioca starch instead of flour and I halved the butter/oil because I cooked the chicken in one batch. I like that the first comment says they've been making it since 1998! :D

This post contains affiliate links to amazon.com. That means if you click the link and purchase something, I earn a tiny percentage of your purchase without any additional cost to you. All items I talk about are things I've purchased myself with my own money. :)