Tag: 文具

My Hobonichi Adventure in Seattle

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In Late August, I embarked on a week long trip to Seattle to visit some friends. Of course I have to bring my Hobonichi along with me to journal and record the things I see and the places I’ve been. Although I’ve already built up a system or a habit of journaling in my Hobonichi, the hard part about doing it while you’re traveling is that your day schedule is so full, you’re usually exhausted at the end of the day. Fortunately, many of my plans in Seattle actually are stationery and planner meet ups with fellow journaling addicts, so we spent a lot of time in cafes writing in our Hobo or Traveler’s Notebook!

My simply set up consisted of a pen case with my favorite pens: Uni Pin fine line waterproof pigment ink pens for drawing, Uni Style fit for journaling, my TWSBI Eco fountain pen, washi samples, some sticker sheets, a small sticker book, and a portable watercolor palette! (For a more comprehensive read about how to keep a travel scrapbook, or you can check out a post about my traveler’s notebook!)

img_5700(This was taken at Sea-Tac airport while waiting for my flight back to Boston.)

I’m just going to jump right into it and show you my first fabulous meet up with three amazing girls in Seattle: Phyllis, Leah, and Sandra. They were kind enough to make time for me to meet and we all gawked and geeked over our Hobonichis. Of course we brought multiple journals, and there’s always the inevitable Planner Tower: Continue reading →

Hobonichi July News Teaser

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Oh Hobonichi, you drive us crazy.

Hasn’t it only been a few month since the last announcement from Hobonichi, which was the 2016 July-December Avec? How evil of the company to be feeding us tidbits and getting us all excited about next year’s planner when it’s still summer!

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(Photo credit from 1101.com)

However, being an avid fan of the Hobonichi Techo, I’ll happily take whatever they hand out to us. In fact, I had just penciled in that burst of excitement on the day of the news onto my Cousin Avec (July 19th, when Hobonichi made me scream in my bedroom and scared the hell out of my roommate).

Here are a few highlights of the news release and how I feel about them:

1. 79 Covers will be announced on August 19th! 

Ladies and gentlemen, mark your calendars! I’m positive Hobonichi will be sneaking a few peeks here and there of the new covers through various social media outlets. Continue reading →

How to Journal Everyday – Build a Hobonichi Habit

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I can’t believe it’s been over a year since I’ve embarked on this journaling adventure with my Hobonichi. Every single page of my A6 English Planner was filled to the brim with doodles and writing. I couldn’t be happier.

How does she do it? 

Many of you might wonder how much time I spend each day journaling? How do I go about writing in each page and fitting in illustrations? In this post I’ll be breaking down my journaling process for you, and hopefuly it’ll be a motivation for you to start writing in your Hobonichi today!

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The size of the Hobonichi Techo may seem small (A6), but on days when you don’t have the time or motivation to write, that gridded space could be pretty daunting. This realization is more apparent this year since I’ve switched to the A5 Cousin size Hobonichi. Moreover, I’ve challenged myself to make time and journal in those pages EVERY SINGLE DAY, because I know how lazy impulses can turn into two days or even weeks very fast. With the larger space of the Cousin, I would feel more guilty if I have to flip through blank pages. Then again, I don’t want to turn this into an assignment. Journaling is fun! This is definitely a time I look forward each day to play with my ‘toys’ (stationery, art supplies). The most important thing is to enjoy the journaling process and eventually it’ll become a habit.

Journaling is a time of reflection and enjoyment. It’s not a timed task where you’re rushing toward the deadline. 

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Step 1: Setting up your journaling space

There’s a Chinese proverb that says: A workman must first sharpen his tools if he wishes to do his work well. I guess this speaks dearly to all of us stationery addicts’ heart (turns to look at my hoard of stationery items). You’ve bought all those stickers and pens and decorative washi tapes over the holiday, now put them to use!

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Puppy drawings for Inktober

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Yes! thanks to my friend Smita’s suggestion, I’ve discovered the fun project of Inktober! What a great opportunity to pick up my fountain pen and start using up all those bottles of inks (Remind me again why I brought over 4 bottles of ink to the States…)

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(Inktober day 9)

Inktober is definitely a great practice to draw something each day. The short time period of the month of October is also fun and stress-free. I decided on a theme, which is to draw all the cute puppies I’ve been following on various service dog organisation in the States, such as Warrior Canine Connection, Service Dog Project, and ECAD, Educated Canine assisting with Disabilities. (You can observe the cute puppies 24/7 here!)

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DIY portable watercolor palette

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七月去了東京與網友一起有了小小的文具聚，收穫除了認識更多文具品牌而且充分shopping之外，也向她學了一些彩繪方面的文具DIY! 這次最喜歡的就是她教我自製輕巧便利的攜帶式水彩盤!

In my Japanese stationery expedition in July, I visited my artistic friend Esther in Tokyo! We went shopping, stationery hunting, and sketching all over the city. She also showed me a few tips on how to make your own DIY portable palette! I thought I’d share it here with you guys~

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不久前介紹了自己使用的溫沙牛頓攜帶式水彩盤，搭配水筆就能夠很輕鬆的沾取並隨地作畫，尤其是我的Hobonichi裡充滿了一些隨性的手繪，攜帶型水彩盤勢我的文具必備之一！(歡迎到我的IG觀賞: @penguinscreative)

Before I made my own palette, I always used Winsor and Newton’s pocket palette as my go-to water-colour pan. If you use it with a water brush, it is easy to mix color and use when you take it on an outing! I use it excessively in my Hobonichi as my daily entries include random doodles and watercoloring! (Instagram: @penguinscreative)

今天要不藏私的和大家介紹自製水彩盤的方式，相信一定會捲起一陣大創或金興發掃購風…

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Stationery in Taipei – Vision Stationery

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Taipei is a pretty small city, and yet so many interesting stores are crammed in its limited space! What I love about weekends is that I’m able to hop into a bus and go on an adventure of exploring new cafe and stores. A friend’s recommendation brought me to Vision Stationery 明進文房具.

Vision Stationery is tucked in a small alley near MRT Liuzhangli Station 捷運六張犛站. The brassy sign is next to the brightly lit glass wall of the shop itself. The warm yellow light is very inviting to stationery addicts like us.

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The owner, Mr. Chen, is a stationery addict himself. He is very selective about his products, and he took the effort to try out all the items he sells before putting it on the shelf. He is very particular about paper items and notebooks, because he believe that good quality paper and system can help people achieve great things. Behind the small cashier is a small stack of recent notebooks that he is test writing before he starts selling them.

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