Recently Inked: 24th July 2024

I’ve been quite happy with my stationery usage recently, so let’s share some photos.

Bullet journal update

My personal bujo has evolved a lot since the start of the year, especially since I started my job. It’s much more relaxed now, and hardly counts as a bullet journal anymore - any serious task management lives in the work bujo.

As you can see, I do one week per two page spread, with a small space for goals each day and a larger space for recording what I did, as well as a tiny to-do list/habit tracker at the bottom right. It’s all been helpful for staying consistent with my hobbies (how else do you think this blog has gotten updated so often?)

I switch up which pens I use to draw the layout every week, but this was my favourite ink combination recently:

• Diamine Blood Orange, Sailor Profit Fude - Diamine Blood Orange has quickly made it high in my favourite inks list. It’s a dark red-orange which pools to a deeper red with dark grey halo. A very unique and ambiguous colour, my favourite kind.
• J. Herbin Ambre de Birmanie, Lamy CP1 - In terms of appearance alone, this is my favourite ink (fun fact: the colour of the Ink Sync website logo is supposed to mimic it). The wet B nib shows off that warm, muted colour which fits well with Blood Orange.
• Diamine Aqua Lagoon, SKB Noti - This is a pretty little Taiwanese pen with a German EF nib. It writes slightly dry with a lot of friction, which is great if you want to write small and controlled. Not really my thing, but it’s working to add an accent colour here.
• TWSBI Blue-Black, Sailor Pro Gear Slim - Yep, Twsbi BB is still as good as when I reviewed it. And I still love the nib on my Sailor as much as I did when I bought it. The perfect body text colour.

Journaling

My journal is where I can really build up a collage of different inks and enjoy the combinations. But as usual it’s hard to show it off because it’s full of very personal topics. Anyway, recently the palette has been warm and muted, for example:

• Diamine Grey, Pilot Custom 74 - This is a combination that says “I’m not in a hurry and I’m not anxious to stand out”. It’s nice to write slowly and precisely in a peaceful colour.
• Lennon Tool Bar Wenshan Pouchong, Pilot Prera - Just broad enough of a nib to show off the quirky green-brown, and stiff enough for quicker entries.
• J. Herbin Ambre de Birmanie, Lamy CP1 - The gold accent ties the grey and green-brown together perfectly.

My latest journal is a Kokuyo 7mm ruled and dotted A5 notebook with the soft rings. The smaller pages make it easier to keep the ink colours coordinated within each spread.

Note taking

I’m getting closer than ever to doing actual Cornell note taking. Topics in the margin, alternating colours to keep my eyes fresh, then overall thoughts in an accent colour. It makes studying extra fun. I’m also fond of my Muji A5 notebook for the purpose.

These are just the pens I had to hand while I was staying away from home, and two out of three were actually from my art supplies case, but they look all right together, don’t they?

• TWSBI Blue-Black, Sailor Pro Gear Slim - You can really see that lovely matte sheen it has in this photo.
• Platinum Carbon Black, Pilot Kakuno - I got this ink exclusively for drawing. It’s okay, not the darkest black ever, but probably the best you could do with a pigment ink unless you are willing to use Platinum’s Chou Kuro. Sometimes it needs to be wetted with a drop of water before it starts writing, which is never a problem I had with LTB Atmospheric Twilight (another pigment ink I think) in the same pen.
• Sailor Shikiori Sakuramori, Sailor Fude de Mannen 40° - I’ve moved Sakuramori from my pens drawer to my art supplies cupboard; I am not fond of writing with this bland pink, but I am giving it a chance for drawing. I think I’ll load up a waterbrush with some next.