journalsandplanners | Planner Snowflake, Day Seven: Wishlist

finch posting in

Morning, y'all! It's a bank holiday for me but I'm still here to bring you today's post. (Thank you lunabee34 for posting over the weekend!) Here or in your own space, today's question is:

What's your journal wishlist? What's a planner, notebook, setup or app you'd like to try but haven't yet?

Remember to track comments if you're interested - we've had a lot of people coming in late, which is awesome!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

finch

So I have two different answers to this...

The first is that I got into planning ages ago and I started by following Filofax users/collectors, and there's a part of me that still wants a For Real Filofax. They were way out of my budget at the time so I settled for Franklin Covey (Which were great! And also turned up at the thrift store!) but I low-key still want one and if one ever turned up at the thrift I don't think I could resist it.

The second is that I've got bookbinding on my list of crafts I'd like to be more into, and I'd love to be able to print and hand-bind my own planner. I've thought about doing it ahead of time, and I've thought about using a traveler's notebook style for the signatures and then binding them at the end of the year, but either way I've yet to actually do it. I'm thinking if I start working on learning more advanced bookbinding now, though, I might be ready to try it for my 2023 planner...

From:

ysabetwordsmith

I recommend that you start simple with bookbinding.

* Learning to stitch decks of paper is one skill; with that, you can make pamphlets or chapbooks. These are fun family mementos or gifts.

https://www.wikihow.com/Do-Saddle-Stitch-Bookbinding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWHkY5jOoqM

* Learning to make covers is one skill. Typically this means decorative paper or cloth over a cardboard core, but some use leather wrapping and/or wooden boards. With this skill, you can make "books that don't exist" covers to sell or display as an art project. I used to write for a magazine that specialized in this genre and some of the titles were hilarious.

https://www.ehow.com/how_6099995_make-cardboard-book-cover.html

https://www.ehow.com/how_8277136_bind-book-leather.html

https://www.creatopy.com/blog/designing-book-covers/

* I've seen friends make mini-books, with real covers and sewn-in pages, that are just a couple inches square. These make great stocking stuffers or keepsakes. They're sometimes called charm books. It's a good step before you try to make full-sized books.

https://thepostmansknock.com/mini-diy-book-tutorial/

https://essyjae.com/2018/08/30/mini-hardback-book-making-tutorial/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-eC2AMQolg

https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Homemade-Book

* Full-scale bookbinding requires a book press, which is kind of a screw-thing with press plates, so you might be able to use some other kind of craft press (e.g. a cheese press) or woodworking press that may be cheaper than a book press.

https://www.talasonline.com/tools-and-equipment/bookbinding

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-make-a-hardcover-book

https://www.wikihow.com/Leather-Bind-a-Book

* Not a required skill, but a good idea if you want to make historic-looking books, is paper marbling. It's a whole craft unto itself but has beautiful results. Plus it's another endangered craft so supporting it is valuable.

https://www.creativelive.com/class/introduction-paper-marbling-robert-mahar/lessons/building-and-using-an-ink-comb

https://ohsobeautifulpaper.com/2016/03/how-to-make-marbled-paper/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQjTk-hynFY

https://www.rookiemag.com/2013/01/diy-paper-marbling/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Chsods1HUpc

https://www.sevimsurucu.com/marbling-materials

From:

sporky_rat

Try Coptic stitch book binding? I do that for stuff and it works pretty well.

From:

lunabee34

Bookbinding is so cool. I will be very interested to see the results if you decide to DIY it for your 2023 planner.

From:

obstinatecondolement

I would like to get back to a dot grid notebook at some point. Either at the end of March or the end of June (I am hung up on starting on a new quarter for some reason) I probably will switch over.

Like

finch I have also been flirting with bookbinding and would love to bind my own journal at some point. I have thought about making a traveller's notebook style journal so that I can switch out signatures as I fill out months, but I haven't gotten it together to actually do it yet.

From:

lunabee34

As I said upthread, bookbinding is so cool. I hope if you do start binding your own journal, you post about it here!

From:

octahedrite

I want to restock my collection of fountain pen ink. I just moved, and I left my inks behind because I didn't want to dye the rest of my stuff; and where I live now, ink is pretty expensive, so I haven't taken the plunge yet. Maybe one day as a treat for myself, or as a birthday present or something.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

Some of my friends are into fountain pens. There are some truly gorgeous inks nowadays. You should treat yourself! Aside from special occasions, consider it as a high-value reward for doing some bothersome task.

From:

lunabee34

What's your favorite ink brand?

I love the Pilot Iroshizuku inks. They are so lovely and so well behaved in all my pens. I haven't tried all the colors, but of the ones I've tried, I love shin-kai so much.

From:

octahedrite

I used to use Bril when I lived in Asia -- cheap and great and so many colours. The ink here costs 10x more.

I googled it and Iroshizuku inks are gorgeous! -- but I think human blood might be cheaper. xD

From:

lunabee34

That is quite possible. LOL

From:

seleneheart

Oh yes, treat yourself. I use Goulet Pens for my fountain pen inks.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

Mine is here. I don't have a long wishlist, mostly a couple printables that I'd like better versions of, and supplies I need to find for current memorial projects.

From:

lunabee34

That's so disappointing and surprising that the tri-folds don't color the back. That seems like a no-brainer to me. I'm sorry you're having such trouble finding what you want.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

Yeah, it's frustrating. People have no pride.

There are boards with a colored or white front and plain brown back, which is bad enough.

Then there are the ones with the company logo all over the back, which is crass and really makes it look like you cut up a box but couldn't be arsed to cover all the text.

It doesn't help that most listings are for multipacks, anywhere from 2 to 100. That only makes sense if a boss or teacher is buying things for a group to use. People wanting them for a single project probably need only one at a time. And then half the stuff is out of stock, but nobody could be arsed to disable the listing, so it still shows up in searches. >_<

Eventually I found this, which might be usable, though it doesn't show the back. At least this one says acid-free.

From:

lunabee34

You would think there would be a market for smaller packets.

I hope the back of that last one proves acceptable.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

I did eventually find one that is black on one side and white on the other, sold singly.

I've spent today uploading yesterday's scanned photos to a cropping website.

From:

lunabee34

I'm glad! Success!

From:

olivermoss

This is less what I want, and more what I am looking for:

* Marker sets good for planners that aren't pastel or organized around the pink colors

* Plaid washi tape that isn't part of a Christmas multi-pack

* One of those 'me in 3 years' or dream planners that I actually vibe with

There are so many companies catering to the bujo crowd putting out the same color palettes and vibes. I bought some washi from a local artist recently, but that's about it for washi. I also use a lot of metallics because they tend to have darker base colors for the metallics to work.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

>> * Marker sets good for planners that aren't pastel or organized around the pink colors <<

Try searching "jewel tone markers" for that. I found a few variations. Searching "cool colors" turned up a couple different cool gray sets if you like monochromes.

>> * Plaid washi tape that isn't part of a Christmas multi-pack <<

Search "plaid washi tape" on Amazon and you'll get lots of results, I did. Some are packs in a color theme, others ones or twos. I saw a fall themed set with a couple of plaids among other patterns.

From:

lunabee34

I'm not into the pastels much either, but that seems to be all the rage right now.

From:

catness

I don't have any specific wishlist, but seeing that my setup is all digital, I wouldn't mind trying out a paper-based planner, whatever comes my way, especially after seeing all the cool stuff you people do with them ;)

From:

lunabee34

I hope you see something here that piques your interest enough to try!

From:

ysabetwordsmith

Think about what you might like, and whether you care about cover, pages, or both. I've seen some truly splendid covers in leather or cloth, and many different styles of interior layout. You might visit a stationery shop or bookstore and browse some different options.

From:

lunabee34

I got such a Christmas bounty of stationery that I am well and truly set for the forseeable future. I have so many notebooks right now that it's going to take years to get through them all even at the rapid pace with which I go through notebooks. LOL

I would like some more Pilot Varsity Disposable Fountain Pens. My fountain pens generally stay at the house, but those are good for taking to the office and knocking about with.

From:

octahedrite

> Pilot Varsity Disposable Fountain Pens

These look cool. Can you refill them?

From:

lunabee34

They are not intended to be refilled, but I think there are DIY hacks floating around out there for how to do refill them.

From:

octahedrite

I see!

From:

lunabee34

You're welcome! <3

From:

seleneheart

My wishlist:

Other than a time turner, here's what I can think of: some sort of pen organizer thing.

I currently have all my pens and markers in 1) old jars; 2) pottery failures; and 3) coffee mugs.

Aside from that, I wish I knew a way to get rid of the washi tape I don't use, other than just throwing it away obviously. When I was teaching, I could have donated it to the planner clubs at school.

From:

severina

I was going to say that I don't have a wishlist, but this is probably mine as well. I have pens in two coffee mugs and a souvenir small I heart NYC mug. Then I have pencil crayons in a case and in a box. It would be nice to have everything organized in one spot.

From:

lunabee34

What if you offered it to your friends list? I bet some people you know would be happy to have some new washi tape.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

Etsy has many pen organizers:
https://www.etsy.com/market/pen_organizer

This one includes a tape rack, in case you want to keep a few rolls:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1015635285/1pcmultifunctional-4-grid-desk-top

Check around to see if there is a makerspace, community center, teen center, library craft club, etc. in your area. Those are possible places to donate washi tape. Thrift stores often accept craft materials too.