Posts filed under Journal

12 Parsecs Designs Yggdrasil World Tree Leather Journal Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

This Yggdrasil World Tree Leather Journal from 12 Parsecs Designs is one of those items that falls into a special category I like to call "things I have to review before my teenager steals them for Dungeons and Dragons." If you're in the market for a book in which to record magical journeys, occult recipes, treasure maps, or any other flights of fancy, you should probably check out the Notebooks page over at 12 Parsecs Designs.

This thicc journal has a sturdy leather cover that's interfaced with canvas. Its back cover tucks into the front to conceal the fore-edge, and it closes with two brass buckles on the front. The cover of this particular one is embossed with an image of Yggdrasil, the Norse World Tree, with gorgeous Viking-inspired designs surrounding it. The leather is painted walnut brown with an almost woodgrain effect to the brushstrokes. Y'all, it's really pretty.

Inside this stunning cover are five signatures of 20 sheets of cushy watercolor paper, for a total of 100 sheets or 200 pages. The paper is very thick, soft, and pillowy. You could take a nap on this paper. I usually associate this fibrous paper with bleeding and feathering, but this is very well made sketchbook paper, and I did not have any issues. It is too soft, however, for sharp-pointed tools, so mechanical pencils, EF pen nibs, and ultra fine pen points are not going to be your friend here. And the paper is thirsty. While I was able to write with a medium point fountain pen just fine, it does drink the ink, and the pen's feed eventually struggled to keep up with the necessary flow. The best instrument I found for this paper was either a wood case pencil that's not sharpened too much, or a standard ballpoint pen. Of course, watercolors would be the specific ideal use for this paper, but I shan't disgrace it with my poor art.

The paper also has dried flowers scattered throughout its pages, which adds to the whimsical, fairytale effect. I know soft, flowery paper is going to send some of you running in the opposite direction, but that just leaves more fae paper for the rest of us, so bye.

This notebook is about as opposite as you can get from the streamlined, minimal, purely utilitarian notebooks that make up the bulk of my notebook stash. I love those, too. And I love this. This isn't a notebook that makes me think "perfect for meetings" or "I'll use this for class" or "so efficient and productive." No, this notebook says "time to play and dream" and I am so here for it.

12 Parsecs Designs suggests that this notebook is great for gamers, painters, scrapbookers, journalers, or even folks who want a cool photo album. I agree, and I'm impressed. For all this loveliness and versatility, they're only charging $31 (and they're actually on sale for less as I write this). That's much less than I expected after using the notebook. I can already tell I'll be back for more of these. Probably very soon, when my little Dungeon Master steals mine.

(12 Parsecs Designs provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on June 29, 2023 by Sarah Read and filed under 12 Parsecs, Journal, Notebook Reviews.

Half Year Check-in for 2023 Intentions

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

I don’t know how, but we are already at the start of summer! I decided it would be a good time to check in on my intentions for 2023 and see if I’ve made progress, if I need to spend some more time/energy or if I need to shift my attention elsewhere. I wanted 2023 to be a year of FOCUS, so let’s see how I’ve done so far.

-- FOCUS in my purchases: As you’ve seen in my pen show recaps, I have definitely bought things at all of those shows and also at pen meetups and of course, online as well. But in general, I have definitely bought fewer pens so far this year than I have in the past. It has allowed me to justify getting some hard-to-find pens (dare I say “grail”?) because I hadn’t spent as much on pens. And in some cases, I did eventually buy something I was eyeing, but I spent more time eyeing it instead of jumping on it immediately (the Leonardo Momento Zero Aloha Blue comes to mind). I still ask myself WHY I am interested in something and whether it’s because of FOMO or “squirrel syndrome”, where it’s just the latest new thing that grabs my attention. I feel like I’ve been doing a much better job of that so far this year, and plan to keep this up for the remainder of the year, which will be difficult as DC and SF shows are coming up, as well as my birthday, planner season and the holidays.

*Fewer purchases means I can go for it when a grail pen like this Pilot Vanishing Point Twilight crosses my path!*

-- FOCUS on more ink swatching: Back in December, I was up to 61.38% swatched and I’m now up to a whopping 62.52%. I know that a 1% increase doesn’t sound like much but I tend to add A LOT of inks to my collection at pen shows, and I also get some in for review as well, not to mention I’m a bit of an inkophile so an increase of over 1 percent is actually a lot of swatching! But I have also not bought a lot of inks too! Related to what I mentioned above, I have asked myself “do I need the ink right now” (sometimes yes, because it’s a limited release, but usually no), “have I been swatching”, etc. Any incoming inks automatically get set aside for swatching so if the new ink pile gets too full, I have to get swatching! I often swatch inks while watching TV with the family so I plan to do more “swatching and watching” before I get tempted to add more to the ink stash.

-- FOCUS on Journaling, even if I can’t keep up: My plan for 2023 was to do my short form journaling in my Travelers Notebook with the Weekly insert for the short jots and an A5 Hobonichi for long form. I have done pretty well with the TN, with entries for almost all dates except for a few pages and weekly summaries as well. Unfortunately, the undated A5 Hobonichi never really got off the ground. I kept getting stuck over when to start, and how many pages I should skip since I kept missing days. I have decided to use it for non-date-related journaling, commonplace book or something along those lines, but using it as a long-form journal didn’t work for me. At the Chicago show, I bought an A5 Plotter so that I didn’t have to worry about skipping pages because I could start anywhere I wanted and move the pages around. So far, I have added a couple of postcards that I got from friends and wrote in it a few times but I already feel more relieved that I can start whenever/wherever I want. Let’s see if I can keep this up!

*I’m actually caught up through yesterday but last week’s spread looks better completed!*

-- FOCUS on Selling or Rehoming items that I’m not using: Earlier this year, I shared a table with Inkdependence Mike at the Philly Pen Show. It was easier to pick some of the pens to sell because they were impulse buys or my tastes/focus had changed. In other cases, it was really tough because I was so sentimental about the pen (usually because it took me a long time to find or because it’s sad to realize I’m not as into it as I once was). I need to use those kinds of pens again or put them in the sell binder. I’m still not making bank on these sales but it’s been nice to have money to put towards other things (like non-stationery items, for a change, lol) and it feels good knowing that someone else is going to enjoy it. Even though selling a single pen or bottle of ink or even a sheet of stickers isn’t going to noticeably reduce the amount of stuff I own, there is still a sense of release and relief knowing that it’s no longer sitting idle and unused. And that feeling makes it easier to keep the momentum going.

*Some of the pens that I’ve added to the sale binder (come find me at the STL show!)*

-- FOCUS on Rediscovery of currently owned but not currently used items: There have been some amazing pens and inks released this year, which makes this so difficult! But setting aside pens-to-be-inked in a tray helps curb the desire to immediately ink up the new pens and forget about others. If I’m inking up a new pen, I try to use an older ink and vice versa. Continuing to keep track of pen usage (via Fountain Pen Companion) motivates me to write more pens dry so I can ink up more pens. And if I keep seeing pens in my collection that I just don’t feel like inking up, it’s a sign that I need to ink them up or put them in the sell binder.

I also decided to make a concerted effort to use some of the things that I love to buy (and hoard) but am afraid to use, like stickers, rubber stamps and washi tape. It’s hard not to think of some of these things as precious, especially difficult or impossible to replace items. But it has been fun to peel that first sticker off of a sheet and use them to decorate journals or envelopes. It’s even more satisfying to get to the end of a roll of washi tape or sticker sheet. Besides, using stuff up means you can buy more stuff, right? :-)

*Some of the sticker sheets that I started using in the past few months. Feels strangely good to see the empty spaces!*

-- FOCUS on Stick-to-it-iveness for seeing my projects through to the finish: I continue to make progress on transcribing Meditations (44%) and The Little Prince (59%) but I haven’t touched Hamilton lyrics at all. Oops. Will try to spend a little more time on Hamilton because I am not letting myself start another project until I’ve finished something! Wish me luck!

*Still working on The Little Prince (left) and Meditations!*

-- FOCUS on Health and wellness: I would like to say that I prioritized Health and Wellness this year but the reality is I haven’t done as much as I would have liked. Sure, I can blame the weather (seriously, 3 atmospheric rivers? And an unusually cold and wet spring?) or the travel or just about anything else, but there really isn’t a good reason other than inertia. I have resumed my habit tracker this month, and have been trying to do more stretching and yoga when the weather isn’t amenable as well as doing anything to get outside, even if it’s walking the dog around the block. I’ve also been working on getting more sleep and have added an earlier bedtime to my habit tracker. And I’m repeating this reminder for me and for all of you: there is only one YOU so please take care of yourself. Reach out if you’re struggling, get help from friends, family, professionals. Take that hike, pamper yourself, meditate, stretch, hydrate, etc.

-- FOCUS on Learning/Practicing/Reading: So far, I have made zero progress on the video courses that I had bought in 2021/22, but I have been reading more, both for knowledge, self-improvement and for fun. I’ve also resumed studying Italian grammar where I am using an A5 notebook to take notes and write down exercises. I’ve added “Italian Grammar” as well as “Reading” to my habit tracker, though I also enjoy seeing progress on the GoodReads and Kindle apps. Now to figure out how to fit video courses into the plan.

-- FOCUS on Planning the day ahead of time: The Bullet Journal (BuJo) continues to be the best tool for me to be productive and track items that need to be worked on or completed. I have spent some effort planning the night before but I don’t give myself a hard time if that doesn’t happen. As long as I get a plan going, I end up getting a lot more done. For the second half of the year, I’m going to track whether I plan the night before or the morning of, so I can see which one ends up helping my productivity more.

Now that the first half of 2023 has flown by, it was good to see that I did make some progress on my focus and intentions this year. I do have some more work ahead of me but I am still hopeful that the rest of the year will result in continued productivity, mindfulness, health, happiness and continued enjoyment of this hobby and of life in general.

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Posted on June 23, 2023 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Journal, Writing.

Thoughts Heading into 2023

Hard to believe but 2022 is coming to an end. Is it just me or did this year fly by? At least compared to 2020 and even 2021, 2022 just felt like one (mostly good) whirlwind after another. The end/beginning of the year is as good a time as any to step back and take a moment to think about the past year and have decided that 2023 is going to be a year of FOCUS.

FOCUS in my purchases - Did I buy a lot of stuff in 2022? Oh yeah. Do I plan to buy stuff in 2023? Duh. But what I tried to do in 2022, which I will continue to work on in 2023, is to be a little pickier about what I’m spending my money on. I’m asking myself if I really need/want it, if I’m just in a buying mood, forcing myself to not buy it immediately to see if it is something I still want later, do I have a physical place to store/use it, is there room in my routine for it, am I buying to collect or to use, how much of this is FOMO, etc.? Asking these questions doesn’t mean I won’t be buying things in 2023, but hopefully it will mean that I am buying things that I really want and will actually use.

FOCUS on more ink swatching - Last December I said I was going to try and swatch more inks since I had less than 60% of my inks swatched. I’m up to a whopping 61.38%, which doesn’t sound like much but I’ve also added a LOT of inks this year - both in sample and bottle form. And while it’s still not my favorite thing to do, I need to swatch more before I buy more because I feel bad getting more ink when I’m not making progress on my swatches. So 2023 is going to see a renewed effort to do more ink swatching! But don’t worry, I’m sure there will still be some ink acquisitions too, lol

FOCUS on Journaling, even if I can’t keep up - It only took until August of this year to FINALLY try journaling. So far, I haven’t been able to keep up very well, especially for long-form journaling, but I am really proud of myself for pushing myself to start. I have been jotting down quick notes in my Hobonichi Weeks and then doing longer journaling sessions in a Traveler’s Notebook for the days that were more memorable. I was and still am very intimidated by the beautiful journaling spreads on Instagram, but I’m trying to use those posts as inspiration to find and develop my own style (if any). Some things that have helped me include (1) pre-decorating pages and not trying to match decorations with what I plan to write, (2) using undated notebooks for long form so I can write to my heart’s content and so I don’t feel pressured to journal every day, (3) using my bullet journal to help jog my memory for short-form jots which, in turn, helps me for long-form journaling later. For 2023, I’m moving to the slightly larger TN Weekly for the short jots and an A5 Hobonichi for long form and am nervously excited to try this new format and hope that the habit sticks.

FOCUS on Selling or Rehoming items that I’m not using - I started 2022 with a bang by filling a pen binder with a bunch of pens I was not using and shared a table with Inkdependence Mike at the Philly Pen Show. It was tough picking pens to sell but the key is to just get started. It could be some pens that you’ve “outgrown” or maybe your tastes and preferences have changed since you bought it, but if you’re not using something and you don’t have a good reason for not using it, it might be time to let it go by selling it at a show, meetup, online (eBay, Virtual Pen Show on Instagram, or Reddit Pen Swap, etc.). For the most part, I “lost” money with my sales but I look at it as (1) incoming funds to put towards other things, (2) I’ve gotten use out of it while I had it, even if that “use” is discovering that it doesn’t work for me, and (3) sitting unused isn’t doing anyone any favors. I’m going to be sharing a table again with Mike at Philly in a couple of weeks so stop by, say hi, and buy some stuff! :-)

FOCUS on Rediscovery of currently owned but not currently used items - This year I really tried to balance using the latest purchases as well as the things I haven’t touched in a while. I discovered a few things that helped me curb the urge to instantly use all the new things. New pens don’t get inked unless I’m also inking up a pen that I haven’t used in a long time. I set aside the old and new pens-to-be-inked in a tray, which motivates me to write more pens dry so I can ink up more pens. If I’m picking between two similar inks, I will try to reach for one that I haven’t used in a long time instead of the brand new one I just got. It’s a nice feeling to use something I already have, instead of continuing to buy more stuff. Will definitely do more of that in 2023. Using something you haven’t used in a while can also help you decide whether an item is a keeper or if it needs a new home.

Fountain Pens — *Recently inked up these pens that I haven’t used in a while and am loving them all, especially the broad nib in the Pilot Custom Impressions.*

FOCUS on Stick-to-it-iveness for seeing my projects through to the finish - Yup, I’m copying this one from last year. I’m further along with transcribing Meditations and The Little Prince but I’ve completely stalled on Hamilton lyrics. I’m determined to keep working on them as I do enjoy them and because it is so satisfying when projects get completed. FOCUS on Health and wellness - Another keeper from last year, health and wellness are no longer taking a back seat. Aside from gaining some pandemic pounds, this year I wasn’t able to do my usual cardio due to plantar fasciitis, which has resulted in weight gain and also affected my mood and mental well-being. A reminder for me and for all of you, remember that there is only one YOU so please take care of yourself. Reach out if you’re struggling, get help from friends, family, professionals. Take that hike, pamper yourself, meditate, stretch, hydrate, etc.

FOCUS on Learning/Practicing/Reading - I had the grandest of plans to take all these courses in 2022 and all I managed was watching about 20 minutes worth of videos. I’m tired of wanting to read more, learn more, and practice more, so I will be doubling my efforts in 2023 by adding some more structure to my Italian learning plan, using notebooks to take notes and write down exercises, and figuring out the right habits and trackers to measure my progress.

FOCUS on Planning the day ahead of time - I have used Bullet Journaling for almost 6 years now and I have really noticed my productivity rise and fall as my BuJo usage rises and falls. And if I don’t plan the day the night before or first thing in the morning, I end up not using my BuJo, and then I’m easily distracted and extremely unproductive. I’ve got a lot of stuff I want to work on in 2023 so I will spend the next few weeks figuring out which timing is more effective for me.

So as 2022 comes to a close, I feel good about some of the changes I’ve started in 2022 and am hopeful that 2023 brings added productivity, mindfulness, health, happiness and continued enjoyment of this hobby.