July Discussion Post

[lunabee34]

Recommend a favorite notebook or pen. Tell us about a cool electronic gadget or app that helps you journal or plan. In other words, help us all add to our wishlists by telling us about your favorite supplies. :)

Comments

[musyc]

I'm not yet willing to spend a lot of money on this new-ish habit, so I started slow with this Eccolo journal, in the smallest size. They have a pocket in the back for my protractor and a pen loop (that comes off pretty easily, whoops. >.> ) It comes in ruled and graph; I got graph. The graph lines are a little dark for doing any sort of drawing or doodling, but for a beginning, it works well.

Pen-wise, I'm pretty loyal to Bic Cristals, so in addition to my black and blue ones for writing, I was much pleased to get colored ones too.

I'm simple! But learning and experimenting is a process. XD

[lunabee34]

That is a fantastic price!

And, hey, simpler is often times better. I think the simpler something is, the more likely people are to actually use it and use it effectively.

[omnipotent]

I really like lined Moleskines. I do a lot of math, and they're very nice for doing my problems in--sometimes a problem takes me two to three pages.

When I am at home, I do math in different colors of gel pens (I'll write each step in a different color). Although they bleed through thinner papers, my favorite is the Sakura Silver Shadow gel pen.

[lunabee34]

That's a great idea. I love that you demarcate the steps with different colors.

Gel pens are so pretty. My daughter has an extensive collection, and I swipe them sometimes. LOL

[annofowlshire]

I'd a huge ridiculous fan of the Midori Traveler's Notebook (and Passport) and its many knock-offs, because the multi-notebook format lets me try new things and do ongoing customization based on what I need at that stage of things. My preferred refill is the dot grids.

Pen-wise, I'm a fan of the Lamy Al-Star and Safari fountain pens, but mostly the Al-Stars. They're stylish, affordable, and most importantly, the grip is comfortable in my hand for the long haul ^_^

[lunabee34]

What's the difference between the traveler's and the passport? I know the traveler's is where you have a leather cover basically and several notebooks kind of tied inside? Is that right?

[annofowlshire]

The Passport is identical in form and functionality, it's just about half the size ^_^

I used to carry my TN everywhere, but after a recent hiking holiday I found it a bit bulky and decided to get a Passport for shorter jaunts in which I didn't want to haul and/or risk my whole life journals to the elements. As it turns out, most of the time I now tend to end up just carrying both :P Who needs efficiency? XD

(I'm currently using the Passport for "short form thoughts" like daily to-do lists, story ideas, and other things I want to jot a quick note on, especially while out and about, and my Travelers Notebook tends to have my journal, writing journal, Bujo style collections journal... etc. for when I have time for longer reflection or need to reference on a topic. XD)

/planner dorkiness

[lunabee34]

As it turns out, most of the time I now tend to end up just carrying both :P Who needs efficiency? XD

*g*

I think you have to the right comm. :)

[illariy]

My favourite notebook of all time is definitely the Leuchtturm 1917 in A5, lined. Loving the light lines, the numbered pages, the slightly creamy but not too yellow colour and the fountain pen friendly paper (some ghosting but no bleed through). I think I will never use anything else as my personal journal ever again. And I am so happy to see the growing popularity of these in the bullet journal community.

Favourite pen is the Lamy logo in F. The Logo is metal rather than plastic and so easy to write with. For a non-fountain pen choice, I adore the Muji gel pens. They last longer than the Pilot juice I am now using and the colour selection is better - they have less colours actually but all 12 in the set are very usable while in the Pilot Juice set at least 2 colours are very light and hard to read.

I also really loved to read everyone else answers. Glad to see some action in this community! :D

[annofowlshire]

I love the Leuchtturm 1917 (A5, dotted). I don't use them for life planning/organizing, but I tend to use them as my primary place for planning/early writing novels and series. It's a situation where I better appreciate having everything in one spacious and portable place ^_^

[illariy]

Happy to meet another Leuchtturm 1917 fan! :D

And that sounds like an awesome use for them!

[lunabee34]

How do you write straight on the dot grid? I have a really hard time writing in a straight line without a guide line.

[annofowlshire]

The dotted line is my guide line.

[lunabee34]

Ah, okay. :)

To me, it's so faint and the dots are far enough apart that my lines of text always go lilting up. LOL

[annofowlshire]

I mean, if I look really, really closely, my writing isn't perfectly straight. But... that doesn't bother me very much and it's not perfectly straight on a line, either XD

But, if you have use for dotted for layouts and such, and are worried otherwise about your handwriting going all over, what I used to do with blank sheets is put a piece of lined paper underneath as a guide.

[lunabee34]

That is a great idea! Thank you!

[gamera]

Agreed on the Leuchtturm 1917! It's such a nice middle ground between paper designed for ballpoints/pencil and thicker paper like Rhodia that sometimes feels more like writing on cardstock.

[illariy]

Oh, I am fine with Rhodia (though I've only tried the pads, not the notebooks), just don't like their rules/lines as much plus they're not as readily available here. Happy to meet a second Leuchtturm 1917 fan on here, though! :D

[lunabee34]

I want to try a Rhodia next. I've never tried that one before.

[lunabee34]

Sorry for the late reply. I made this post and promptly went out of town. LOL

I love my Leuchtturm, too! I got the dot grid because I wanted to be all artistic, but I think the next I get will be ruled. I find it's much harder than I thought it would be to write in a straight line with the dot grid.

[illariy]

Hope the out of town trip was fun.

I love the ruled version because it is just a little wider than the dot grid spacing but the lines are still comparatively faint so they don't dominate the look of the finished page. I was rabidly pro-blank notebook before I found the Leuchtturms, hehe.

[lunabee34]

It was! I had a great time.


I think I will definitely be switching to the ruled for the next notebook. I've never seen one in the wild, though, only online, so I'm glad to hear that the ruling is faint.

[illariy]

If you want me to mail you a sheet from one of the ruled notebooks to try out before buying, just shoot me a pm with your address. I am in Germany but can send worldwide. Sheet would probably be folded once, though!

[lunabee34]

You are so sweet!

*hugs*

I hate for you to pay postage for one sheet of paper. I like the dot grid well enough; I'm sure I'll like the ruled.

:)

[illariy]

Oh, postage is not that much, I wouldn't mind at all. ;-) But if you're sure, you're sure.

[lunabee34]

<3