WATERCOLOURING IN MY HOBONICHI

I've been getting questions from my followers regarding the paper Hobonichi uses in their diaries, how thin they are, how they handle watercolour etc, so I thought I'd give a little review on it. I'm no expert, but these are my experiences with using it so far:

When it comes to the usage of watercolour and a few other 'wet' mediums, I can say that the Hobonichi holds up well. There are two definitions when I mean 'well', and this is what I will go into.

Firstly, the Hobonichi paper is great in terms of the fact that most ink does not bleed through to the other side (However, please do try your own pens out in a spare page in your Hobonichi before using it on your actual page in case it bleeds through). When I mean 'bleed through', I mean being able to see ink marks on the other side of the page. You can forget about using Copic markers and any type of alcohol markers though because those will bleed through without a care in the world. When it comes to watercolour, however, mine (Koi and Daler Rowney paints, wet Gelato) have yet to burn through to the other side. That said, because the pages are super thin, some people may get annoyed with the fact that you can see through markings on the other side of the page. I used to get annoyed with this, and is probably why I stopped using one in 2015, but I tend to just roll with it now.

Secondly, the Hobonichi paper is great in terms of its ability to dry flat. If you've used normal 80gsm printer paper with watercolour, you'll notice that once the paper dries, it crinkles up in places where you've placed the paint down. For the Hobonichi, this happens only to a minimal extent. You could actually say that the page basically dries out flat again, and I think this is the true beauty of the Hobonichi paper. BUT, and this is the greatest but of all, in the first few moments of laying down water and paint on the paper, the Hobonichi will warp up much much much more than any usual paper. Just don't freak out, trust me; be patient, let it dry up, and you will see that you panicked for nothing (but of course, wet your paper within limits!), because for some miraculous reason, the paper manages to dry up so much that it will lay out flat again.

Anyway, here are some examples of spreads I currently have in my Hobonichi. Below is a spread I did using Gelato (some parts wet, some parts dry) and watercolour paint:

While the next spread, I used purely watercolours for the splattered looking background and a stamp with brown Kaisercraft ink.

Here's how the latter page looks like when it's nice and dried:

It does flatten out quite nicely, doesn't it?

So look, don't be afraid to wet your pages. Experiment. Let your creativity flow. I used to be afraid of using my Hobonichi and ruin its pretty clean pages, but once I made the initial marks on it with paint, it has morphed into my art journal, and I love it. I'm able to let myself go on those pages without knowing the actual outcome and learning from the experience at the end. Try not to pressure yourself so much into creating beautiful masterpieces every time. Besides, it's your journal, not anyone else's.

To sum up, here are just some sample pages from my Hobonichi so far:

Hope this proved useful!

2016 PLANNERS: UPDATED

Compared to last year, I think my 2016 stack has needed an update faster than I thought it would be required. Don't get me wrong though, most has stayed, some has replaced others, while others have just changed roles. Hopefully this new list should be the final edit for the rest of the year:

1- Midori Traveler's Notebook - Bullet Journal & Scrapbooking:
I take back what I said in my previous post here about being able to keep up with both a planner and a Bullet Journal for my to-do list. Truth is, there really wasn't any point having the same thing written twice. Not to mention, the writing area was just too small in my Personal Planner to incorporate all of the items I needed to do that has been written in my MTN. So that has in fact been scrapped of the list. My MTN now holds everything I need to do for the day in one booklet.

My MTN holds a separate Kraft notebook as well for my creative outlet. I must admit, I miss putting my photos in my MTN. It's funny, every time I use my MTN, I'm always wishing for more space to work with, but now that I have my A5 Hobonichi, I have no idea what to with all that space! So my MTN now has a booklet for documenting some special moments.

2- A5 Kikki K Planner - Journaling:
Despite the fact that my A5 Hobonichi is now able to document lengthy journal entries, I miss having an outlet for an overall summary that highlights the important points of the day in a few sentences. This used to happen in my weekly Midori booklet and because I was so used to having it around, this has transferred on to my A5 Kikki K planner. And because it's A5 sized, I have that little bit more room to document compared to last year's Midori. Not to mention, I'm thoroughly happy that I've finally found a use for my A5.

3- Personal Malden Planner - Work:
I'm hoping and hoping that I'll be getting a job this year... soon, because my personal Malden is getting lonely and it has been allocated the role of work hours. It's probably too big for that but at least it's going to get used for something! It still holds my expenses, and notes about all kinds of things though.

4- A5 Hobonichi - Scrapbook Art Journal:
I was hoping to use this as an every day scrapbook journal like my daily MTN used to be, but because of the abundant space it has, and me being absolutely lost in knowing how to use that space, it has converted itself into an art journal scrapbook. And I'm thrilled by that. I love the paper the Hobonichi has. Despite it being super thin, thinner than the regular 80GSM printer paper, it is much much stronger than it in terms of crinkling. I'm planning to dedicate a whole post to the paper used in the Hobonichi so I'll keep it short here.

5- Standard Memorandum - Sentence A Day:
A tiny book slimmer than a passport Midori, this is going to be my sentence a day highlighting the main event. This was probably (definitely) an impulse buy but this stays in the zippered pocket of my MTN and will be useful for dated planning

6- Kikki K Sentence a Day:
I managed to get my friend into doing one of these (can you tell I'm proud about that?) and even she was impressed that I managed to get one year done with it already. It is now one of the list of things I do daily and its activity is tracked in my Bullet Journal so I don't forget

7- Project Life (6 x 12"):
Not exactly a planner, I know, but this needed to be included in the list due to its weekly demand. I managed to do one spread already and love the format so far. Because it's 6x12", it doesn't require too many pictures (which I know I probably won't have) for a full spread. Not to mention, the minimalist design is making the creation of a spread easier (and much more fun) than I expected. I definitely should have started it sooner!

So this is my updated list that I go through currently. I know some of you may be wondering how I keep up with all these but truth be told, I don't. Not all, at least. However, right now, I am in this weird phase of my life where I've just finished uni and am in search of jobs, making me have ample time to keep up with all of it at once. When I get busy, or when I'm lazy on some days, I tend to do things in batches. For example:
1- My MTN is my every day go to journal because it is basically my to-do list. It is the master of all planners and notebooks. It keeps track of everything, so it's a no brainer when I say that this never gets left behind or not updated for days on end. I write in it whenever, every day. and so takes no effort to keep up with.
2- My Hobonichi gets updated in batches - two days at a time usually, so I can dedicate some time to writing up my entries
3- My A5 Kikki K planner gets updated nightly. It serves as the basis for my Hobonichi if I forget what happens on a particular day. It doesn't take long to write in it, so it's a definite habit for me to write in it every night.
4- The personal Malden planner is currently not in use (until I get a job), so apart from any expenses I need to write down, it's pretty dormant.
5- The Standard Memorandum gets updated whenever I feel like it. There is no set time
6- The Kikki K Sentence a Day is another nightly routine that gets done once I've finished my A5 Kikki K entry. Doesn't take too long, after all
7- As my Project Life gets updated weekly (or whenever I get the photos printed), I am able to do it whenever I want, on whatever day. I just have to make sure I keep up with it because once you fall behind, that's when everything crumbles!

So overall, if you think about it, all these planners don't really take up much time. Put aside half an hour each day and you'll be able to document your life without any problems!

2016 PLANNERS

It's that time of the year again where we try to find the right planner for the new year. For me, I'm trying to limit it and trust me, I've had to get rid of some just so I don't have empty diaries staring at me. And so, here's the narrowed down list and their uses:

1- Malden Personal Planner:
I think I will always use a planner; my Malden planner, especially. I don't carry it around like I used to. It stays at home now, in my drawer. It still houses the diary for every day to-dos and planning ahead; expenses; and little bits of info regarding myself and the bf. It's simple, but it does the job.

2- A5 Hobonichi
Because the 2016 Midori planners are not going to be sold in Australia this year, the A5 Hobonichi will replace the journaling that used to happen in my Midori. I think I'm looking forward to the change as it will allow me to craft and journal in it without the fear of not having enough space. And as I bought the Avec version whereby the yearly planner is split into two, it won't be weighing a tonne from all the pictures by the end of the year.

3- Midori Traveler's Notebook
Just because my Midori won't be used for journaling, doesn't mean it won't be used! I'm currently looking into the Bullet Journal system and it seems like my Midori will be excellent for it. And if you're wondering why I would need a Bullet Journal when I already have my Malden for to-dos, it's because I love the flexibility of the Bullet Journal system. More often than not, I admit, I still write my to-dos on sticky notes because the list is just too damn long to fit in the little boxes of my personal planner. I need something that I can actually store my to-dos in. And since this baby comes with me everywhere, it'll be handy for shopping lists and mindless doodling as well.

4- Kikki K Sentence a Day
Yep, I'm still using this! I can't wait to start the year over again and compare my answers to the year before.

And that's it really. A far cry from the list I had at the beginning of this year. I think I'll be able to keep on top of things this year. Simplicity is the way to go.

MY PLANNERS FOR 2015: UPDATE

So now that we're almost half way through the year (I can't believe it either), I decided to write a little update post on what has changed (a lot), and what I still use from the initial list I posted here:

What I'm Using Currently:
1- Ochre Malden Personal Planner:
As autumn has arrived in Australia and the days are getting colder, I decided to swap from my Kikki K Dark Mint (which served me well), to my old love. And honestly, I've found myself staring at it during periods of studying, just admiring its simple beauty. And smelling it too, because I'm weird that way. It currently only holds the necessities so the smaller rings (compared to the 30mm Kikki K rings) don't explode. This includes my monthly & weekly diary, personal notes, bf notes and expenses. I'm currently using the plain cardboard 5 tabbed divider I got from Muji in Singapore and I love the minimal setup

2- Midori Traveler's Notebook: Brown & Blue:
This is currently my notebook - which I swap between the blue and brown Midori because I can't decide which to use (they're both just so lovely in their own way!). This can hold anything from shopping lists to doodles to ... anything that jumps to mind, really.

3- Midori Traveler's Notebook: Black:
This is my journal, of sort. I use the Midori 2015 week on a page refill to quickly document my day, as let's be honest, my life's too dull for a full page diary. Hah.

4- Kikki K Sentence a Day:
Yes, I still use this! It's simple to keep up with as it only requires a sentence a day (thus the name), so I'm loving it and is still up to date! Yay!

5- Kikki K Large Cute 215 Diary
I bought this in Singapore when I went back in February and instead of leaving it empty (as it's just so darn pretty!), I decided to use it to document my BF. The Aldi daily diary was great, but as it was plain, needed daily decorations, and I wasn't really writing much, I decided to give the Kikki K diary a chance, and so far, I'm loving it. I have just enough space to write what I need, and the weekly decorations keep it cute as ever with no extra work. Hurrah!

6- Moleskine Extra Large Plain Softcover Notebook
My drawing book, for now. As I intend to use regular pencil mostly and as I'm going for a 'messy' approach, the thin pages and the fact that it can bend 360 degrees, works for me.

7- Hobonichi A5 Diary:
I was using this studiously in the beginning of the year as a planner for uni but slacked off halfway through and ended up with a tonne of blank pages *cringe*. So I decided to utilise it again once I started writing notes to study for my upcoming exams and has thus been revived!

What Has Been Discarded:
1- Hobonichi A6 Diary:
Yup, it unfortunately has been set back to my shelf and no longer loved. I might bring it out in the future to take part in listing challenges such as the #listersgottalist challenge I currently am taking part in, but it has taken the backseat for now.

2- Aldi Daily Diary:
As mentioned before, this has been put aside to make way for the Kikki K Large Weekly diary

3- Pinetti Pocket Notebook:
Been long discarded for my regular sized blue / brown Midori. As much as I liked the portability, it was too small for my needs, and I somehow tend to always go back to my Midori...

So there you go! I thought I discarded more than that, but I'm glad I didn't!

My Planners for 2015

As the year draws to a close, new resolutions are made and a whole list of ambitions are drawn up, ready to conquer the new year. For me, well, from one planner in 2014, the new year brings about for me a whole (let me count...) 7 new set of books to go through each day. Yes, I am definitely going to regret it. But here's the list of them and how I'm (hopefully) going to use each of them:

1- Filofax Malden Ochre

This will forever be my planner. It holds 7 dividers currently (I'll give a whole new post on it separately), holding monthly views, weekly views, personal notes on myself and bf, expenses, and two sections still yet to be decided. I use my Malden for listing things I need to do every day in my weekly view, and uni deadlines. I keep track of my spending (because we all know I do too much of that these days), and I keep a list of things I want / need to buy in my personal sections. I basically will need to use this in my life every day and is my main planner.

2- Midori Traveler's Notebook (MTN)

My sentence a day diary - more often than not, my days are boring, so I don't need a whole lot of space to write my thoughts. My Midori basically jots down the more important things in my day to remember. It's laid out as a week to view with a grid page on the opposite. The grid page will act like a little scrapbook to document the week etc.

3- A6 Hobonichi Planner

My drawing book. I plan to hopefully draw something every day to improve my drawing / sketching / painting skills.

4- A5 Hobonichi Planner

I totally destroyed this book by pulling off a section I wasn't happy with, so this is going to be my uni book where my notes will live

5- Kikki k Sentence A Day

I purchased a Christmas gift pack which comes with this, and since this book comes with prompts, it will not be like my MTN. I look forward to starting this and seeing what I've written in 3 years.

6- A5 Aldi 2015 Diary

This A5 diary came as a day-to-a-page with just ruled lines under each day - it's basically a regular notebook with a date at the top. I'm planning on using this as my bf notebook. I always seem to lack documenting our time together, and I hope this will change this year.

7- Pinetti Pocket Notebook

I got this from Notemaker when they were having their Boxing Day sale, and it houses two cahier Moleskine notebooks. As I'm very picky with which notebook I do my brain dumping in (as you can see, I have a very set order of what I like to do with each notebook, and they all seem very non-brain dumping worthy), this will serve as that.

Although not all of them are used as the conventional 'planner', you can see how all of them somewhat revolves around a diary-style specific day... thing. I'm not sure how long I will last with these many diaries, but we'll just have to see how it goes!

Hobonichi Planner Book Review

As the A6 Hobonichi Planner Book (English version) only started on the 24th of December (beginning to regret getting the English rather than the Japanese version), I was only able to try out its beautiful paper recently. Then I got hooked on it and couldn't stop...

Here's a look at some of the watercolour and pen tests I did in it:

Test Pages in my A6 Hobonichi

Pen Testing

Watercolour Testing - Akashiya Sai and Daler Rowney

I should have probably done my pen tests at the back of the book where there were extra dot grid papers but I was too darn excited!

Pen Test:
All the pens I tested on the page had no bleed through, however, had different shades of show through. There is of course, a major difference between the two:

• Show through = shadowing at the back of the page from mediums used on the page
• Bleed through = what you get when you use Copics / permanent markers on paper - ink bleeds through the paper and might even stain the next page.

With a paper as thin as Hobonichi's, I wasn't surprised that there were some form of show through. I was surprised, however, that there was practically no bleed through no matter what medium I used. So here's how it looked like on the back of the pen test page:

Back of the Pen Testing Page

As you can see, there are show throughs. It seems like the only really bad show through was from the unbranded Purple gel pen and the Pilot G2-05, both of which weren't exactly on the top of my pens-to-use-in-my-Hobonichi list, so I didn't quite mind. Microns, Copic Multiliners, Sharpie Pens, Lamy Safari with Noodler Ink pens had no problems whatsoever. But do bear in mind that the more you go over a single area with a micron, multiliner etc, the more show through will happen, which makes sense. The paper can only handle so much. But use in moderation and you won't have any problems

Watercolour Test:
For the watercolour test, the back of the page was unfortunately coloured over before I could take a picture, but here's another example in my Hobonichi page using watercolours:

Watercolour doodles in my Hobonichi! 

NYE Doodle

At the back of the watercolour test page

Remember how I said I got too excited? Yeh, now I can't use my Hobo till the 1st of January..

This is the back of the NYE page to show just how much the watercolour shows through:

Majority of the colours I used for the picture was using Akashiya Sai brush watercolour markers. The show through isn't too bad and for me, quite acceptable to live with and use the back page on. I used to think that the show through would cause me to dislike Hobonichi, but it's actually not that bad. Highly surprised and highly impressed!

Also, just a little tip for those who plan to use watercolours in their Hobonichi book: the blending of the Akashiya Sai markers on these papers are just wonderful! Compared to actual watercolour papers such as those found in Moleskine where the paper is just so absorbent, due to the sleek nature of Hobonichi's Tomoe River paper, it gives the watercolours time to soak in, which means, blending colours are just a complete ease to work with. Not to mention, the easy blend-ability also means less water required, which means your Hobonichi paper doesn't get soaked in. And I've noticed that with the Tomoe River paper, even though you have used watercolour on it, and even if you have used too much water / layering of colours, the paper does crumple up at first, but, put a stack of books over it overnight and the paper doesn't crinkle up so much anymore. Hooray!

So yes, so far, all I have for the Hobonichi paper are praises, praises and more praises! The only little 'problem' I've had with the paper is that little crinkle you see on the top right of the last image. I'm a pencil person and I tend to draw my pictures out with pencil first, outline it with my multiliner / Micron then rub the pencil lines off. Because the paper is so thin, rubbing it means the possibility of it crumpling up if you don't hold your paper down. It hasn't torn on me (yet), but because I didn't hold the paper down properly, it crumpled my beautiful paper up (and I cried inside). But nevertheless, it is smoothing out, and the crinkle is now not as bad as it first happened.

So all I have to say is: the paper is great, but be careful with it. It is quite delicate in it's own little ways, and although seems strong for 'normal' use, I have yet to test its abilities to the maximum. I guess you just have to try it out on your own to know its limit!

Hobonichi Techo 2015 (Sashiko Weave) Review

It's been a whirlwind past few days what with me going to Sydney, job interviews etc, but here's a little different planner review for you guys: the Hobonichi Techo

I've always wanted one, though I've always somehow managed to resist getting it. And trust me, it worked for a couple of months. Till I decided I had to try out the Hobonichi (Tomoe River) paper. I've heard great reviews on the paper, and so, I decided to break my resistance and try it for myself.

But before I get into the review of the paper, I'm going to review the cover. I've yet to write in my Hobonichi planner itself, (fear is getting to me) but when I do eventually, I'll make sure to review that too.

My first ever Hobonichi was the A6 Sashiko Weave. It was around 4000+ yen, and together with the planner, it amounted to around AUS$80+. I admit though, my cost would've been cheaper if I were patient and got myself the plain colours. But because I was going to Sydney and wanted it to be delivered to my bf's place, I had to choose something that was going to be delivered fast. And it was. I ordered my Hobonichi on a Sunday and it arrived in Sydney on the Thursday. Pretty quick if you ask me.

So here are the pictures of the Sashiko cover:

Two pen loops which keeps your Hobonichi closed if you slide the pen through both holes

All Hobonichi (that aren't zipped) comes with two pen loops for two functions:

1. To act as a pen loop (or two) - duh
2. To keep the Hobonichi shut if you slide the one pen through both holes

Also, the two things I've noticed about the Hobonichi that I wanted to bring up was:

1. When it first arrived, it was in a plastic wrapping and the actual Sashiko cover was laid flat. Initially, when I tried folding it over, it was quite stiff, but put some books over it and it'll close shut without any problems.
2. I was scared about putting the book into the cover. You had to bend the cover quite substantially in order for it to go into the sleeves. It took a whole lot of confidence for me to just stuff it in, because I know that if you didn't, you won't ever be getting it in. Maybe it's just the cover I purchased, however. I have bought another Hobonichi though (the cousin / A5) so once that arrives, I'll be able to compare.

On the inside of the Sashiko cover is a beige synthetic leather material which was actually a good contrast to the outside cover. There are numerous pockets back and front so I don't think you'll ever be short on one:

Inside of the cover

Pages in the planner

The back of the cover:

It has two page markers with different shapes which, I think, is quite handy as you'll then be able to differentiate between the two:

And finally, on the back of the cover, there is an extra pocket for you to slide in any other loose items you may have:

Overall, it seems like a very durable cover. I'm a little bit scared of the weave being caught on something and spoiling the pattern overall though, so I may very well leave this one at home. The A5 / Cousin version I've purchased is the plain Cosmos colour, which I think would be more durable. I'll post another review of it once it arrives!