Tag: stationery

Little Notebook

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"No..." Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/70 sec, ISO3200
 “No…” Cedar Park, 2018

こんばんは。How’s it going today?

So I’ve been using my Passport-size Traveler’s Notebook for almost a year now, and I still enjoy it, but I realize that it’s a little limiting. Basically, it’s great for taking notes, but it’s a bit small for sketching. I think it’s difficult because the pages don’t lie as flat as I’d like.

However, I don’t like big, thick sketchbooks either. My preferred size is A5, with spiral binding, and no more than a centimeter thick. The Muji notebooks I bought a few years ago are perfect. I use the dot-grid version for general note-taking both for personal stuff and for work stuff (I have one notebook for each). The paper is smooth and fountain pen ink looks great on it. It’s also nice for sketching!

I’m pretty excited because we’re going to the Muji store in NYC this summer so I can stock up!

I’ve been looking at that Roterfaden A5 notebook and it seems like a perfect solution, but I can’t justify spending that much money on it. I’m sure there’s a cheaper A5 alternative out there that I can use. I just need to do some research! In the meantime, I’ll use my Muji notebooks.

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Today’s photo is a sketch I did in my Traveler’s Notebook. I just drew on an old page that I had written on before. Can you guess what those words mean?

To see all the sketches I’ve been working on, you can check out the Flickr album “My Sketching Journey”, or my Instagram account barron.sketches which I created just for posting sketches, watercolors, and stationery items.

I hope you had a great day!

またね～

Buying Ink

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"Iroshizuku Chiku-rin and Ama-iro" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/80 sec, ISO3200
 “Iroshizuku Chiku-rin and Ama-iro” Cedar Park, 2018

こんばんは。Today’s photo is of my two Iroshizuku inks that I am using. The one on the left, Chiku-rin, just arrived today and I love using it! It’s a nice complement to my favorite ink, Ama-iro. As you can see, the Iroshizuku 50ml bottles are beautiful and so cool! They are quite pricey, however, at around $18-$28. If you don’t want to spend so much, you can find 15ml bottles, but those are about $10, so the 50ml is a better value. On the other hand, it will take a while to use up all that ink unless you write a lot or use larger-nib fountain pens.

When I first started getting into fountain pens and inks, a friend of mine told me about buying ink samples from Goulet Pen Company. It’s a smart way to try out a wide variety of inks for not a lot of money. This is how I decided that I really liked Ama-iro and Chiku-rin. Plus it’s fun to experiment with colors that you’d probably never buy otherwise.

Of course, if you have a lot of different kinds of ink, you might want to get a bunch of fountain pens! I’ve lately purchased a bunch of Jinhao pens on Ebay. I don’t know how these companies can make money because the pens only cost ~$1-$4 with free shipping. The quality of the Jinhaos I have received is pretty good (I think I’ve gotten lucky), but for that price, if I ever get a dud, then it won’t be the end of the world.

I’m really having fun with my fountain pens and notebooks. I highly recommend getting into it. And, if you live nearby, I’d love to swap inks sometime!

またね～

BookPeople

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"Travel Books" Austin, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/125 sec, ISO4000
 “Travel Books” Austin, 2017

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Today I dropped off my son and his friend downtown (Austin) so they could post some concert photos. And of course I had to stop by my favorite book store, BookPeople! It’s my favorite place to buy greeting cards and I needed to stock up on a few. But before that, I checked out my favorite section, which is Travel Memoirs. I love traveling so looking at all the cool destinations gets me excited! Where to go next?

What I love about BookPeople is that as an independent book store, they have the freedom to make staff recommendations (which are awesome) and also create their own displays. For instance, this incredible display:

"Display" Austin, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/125 sec, ISO5000
 “Display” Austin, 2017

Love it!

And then I had to browse the notebook section. I almost bought a Rhodia notebook, but then found these really nice (and affordable) Japanese notebooks. The staff recommendation said they are perfect for fountain pens, so I picked up these two notebooks:

"Notebook Haul" Austin, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/125 sec, ISO1600
 “Notebook Haul” Austin, 2017

The paper is nice and writing on the pages with a fountain pen is smooth and the ink looks great on it. I kind of regret starting my daily journal in the current notebook now… it’s too big! Will take me years to fill it up. I should use smaller notebooks so that I can try different ones. I guess I just need to bite the bullet and switch over, leaving all those pages in the old book blank. 😭 But life’s too short to worry about those things, right?

I hope you had a nice Sunday!

おやすみ

Pens with My Traveler’s Notebook

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"Kakuno and Traveler's Notebook" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/40 sec, ISO3200
 “Kakuno and Traveler’s Notebook” Cedar Park, 2017

Hi all! Here’s a quick post about how I carry my two preferred pens on my passport-size Traveler’s Notebook. There are actually loop attachments for sale to which you can attach a pen, but I read that most of those mark up the cover of the notebook, so I decided to see if there was another option. Plus I’m cheap and didn’t want to spend money! 😅

"Kakuno and Clips" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/50 sec, ISO3200
 “Kakuno and Clips” Cedar Park, 2017

I already had a bunch of these cool little binder clips on my notebook, and I positioned them so that the handles form little guides for the pen. This combined with the elastic band keep the Pilot Kakuno snug and secure. I also positioned a third clip (the pink one) so that the pen cap rests on it, and it centers the pen so that the top or bottom don’t stick out.

"Notebook and Pens" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO2000
 “Notebook and Pens” Cedar Park, 2017

I think the Pilot Kakuno is a good choice to use with the passport-sized Traveler’s Notebook because it has a cap (no accidental pushes on a push-button pen) and it’s just a couple millimeters shorter than the notebook. The perfect size!

"Pens and Traveler's Notebook" Cedar Park, 2017
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/75 sec, ISO3200
 “Pens and Traveler’s Notebook” Cedar Park, 2017

If I want to, there’s also room to put my other favorite pen, the LAMY Safari, right on the front. It’s a pretty simple system, but I like it, and it’s free!

I really like this set-up and think I’ll be using it for a long, long time. 😌