Why I Quitted Journaling… For two Months
Hello my Lovelies, 🙂
I hope you’re safe and sound. Do you have specific goals for this year? Are they related to journaling? And how many journals do you use at the same time?
For this year I really questioned myself and my journaling chaos: How many journals do I really need. So, one way to answer this question, is by analysing last year. Well, there were some dark journaling times. They were so dark, it was nearly pitch black. It was the first time that I was thinking about quitting journaling all together. Spoiler: I continued journaling again – obviously 😉
What Happened?
At the beginning of 2021 I sat down and put all my planners/journals together which I used in 2020. To be honest I was quite shocked and so many months after my journaling break, I can see why I had stopped, why I had lost my passion. It was the huge amount of journals and planners. I had so many journals and planners, each of which I tried to fill in on a daily base. I was just journaling about my journaling.
What Planners/Journals Did I Use For What?
| Usage | Love it? Y/n | |
| Erin Condren | Daily stuff | No |
| Happy Planner | Daily stuff | Yes sometimes |
| Travelers Notebooks | Scrapbooking | Yes |
| 5 year journal | Some lines a day | Yes |
| Hobonichi Avec in A6 | Reviews | Yes sometimes |
| Hobonichi Cusin in A6 | Blog ideas | Yes sometimes |
| Hobonichi Mega | Daily stuff on the go | Yes sometimes |
| Nuuna | Bullet Journaling | Not so much |
| Leuchtturm1917 in A5 | Lists | Yes |
What Have I Learnt?
Well, what can I see? It was a lot. Erin Condren and Happy Planner were planners which I compared and after all the testing my favourite is the Happy Planner. After over one year my Erin Condren is still smelly and it doesn’t smell nice at all. I used a lot of sticker kits or stickers which belonged to the planners.
Travelers Notebook had three inserts: a blank one, the monthly and the weekly one. I liked the blank one because there was this freedom to be creative, messy and have fun with it. The monthly one had a sticker for each day which showed what I did that day. The weekly was scrapbooking. Ok, I tried to scrapbook 😀 A real scrapbook pro would say it was scrapbookish 😀 But that is totally fine for me.
My 5 year journal is the only one which I have used since 2019 and I am really happy about it.
Both Hobonichi in A6 are great but I realised that I like one Hobonichi for my blogging notes, ideas, preparation system.
The Hobonichi Mega was cute and I adore it but my handwriting is too big and the days are too small. I bought a lot of cute sticker kits for the Hobonichi Mega. And yes it was cute but I had the feeling that it was pasted up. It was bulky and it was bulky in a weird way.
My Bullet Journal was always in a Leuchtturm A5 but I wanted to try a different notebook. Well, the Nuuna wasn’t a great choice for me because the dots are 3,5mm. Such a square is tiny and the journal was too heavy, so I didn’t take it with me like my Leuchtturm in the years before.
My Leuchtturm1917 is just a book with all my important lists like my favourite authors and their books, all the series which I would like to watch or journaling spreads I tried and worked for me. I think I used this one once or twice a year.
In total, it was too much on a daily base. It was overwhelming and I didn’t have any fun. Journaling can help you, can guide you, can give you structure in your life, can bring you joy, can help reflecting and I could continue this list even further. But it wasn’t doing all that for me anymore. Even the cute and wonderful stickers which I had didn’t help me at all.
What Have I Changed?
I knew that I had to change something if I wanted to keep going with my journaling. So I checked every journal and planner, and I made a quick pro and con list why I should keep it or why I should leave it.
Yes, I know it sounds like a major expense but my mind wandered through the pages and my decisions came quite easily.
I bought a Hobonichi Avec in A5. A6 was just too small but the Avec was perfect. It is for my blogging. I put my notes and ideas in it, and the review preparations too. I can prepare the post so much better This way because I have enough space for it. I colour the weekly overviews, my tasks and blogging time, so that I have my business in one spot.
I use a Travelers notebook with three inserts. One is a Everyday Journal by GalenLeather. I love the thin paper. It is my monthly calendar. Then there is a dotted one as my weekly planner and for smaller list, trackers and doodles. The third one is my writing journal. I like to write scenes or very short stories. Normally, I had them in my bullet journal everywhere where I had a little bit of space left. 🙂 But this year I would liket to give them more space, so I can evolve them and maybe I will write my first cozy mystery. My husband would love to see it. 😀
My 5 year journal is there and I will do it until it is full. 😀
That’s it. The best part of it is that I can take the journals and my pencil case and take them all with me. At the moment, when I would like to journal in bed, I take all my stuff and go there. It is so amazing. I reduced even my colour codes and fountain pens down to really that minimum which I really need. If I am going to decorate my journal I go to my studio aka my messy lovely cozy place and switch the colours or put some washi on it.
I am really glad that I questioned myself and my method of journaling. If I wanted to try out something crazy, I could use a different journal but it wouldn’t be a daily journal anymore.
Wisdom of the Day: Sometimes it helps to check what you are doing and whether it brings you fun/enjoy. Decluttering can be helpful. 🙂
Love to you all and stay healthy,
Chrissi
The Evil Journalista
Montblanc – the Top of Fountain Pen
Hello my Lovelies, 🙂
Have you ever started to write a letter, a thesis, or an e-mail over and over again because you thought it wasn’t good enough? Well, here we are. Last year I bought the most expensive fountain pen in my life. I am really thrilled to have it and I am so proud to own it. Sometimes it’s like a dream or a fairytale for me. But when I started to write this review about the Montblanc at first, my head was full of ideas, thoughts and other stuff. The post, however, didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to be – no matter what I tried.
So, because of that I decided to share one of my earliest und most precious memories of my childhood. Well, let us dive in. 🙂
Do you remember the first item in your childhood which you were totally fascinated by?
Well I can, it was a fountain pen my grandfather Erich used. I watched him when he wrote a short note for my grandmother. The fountain pen was just black with a golden clip. The pen was slidding smoothly over the paper. I was so excited. After he wrote the note, he asked me if I would like to hold the pen for a moment. I agreed and I was so very careful with it, as if it was made of glass. At that time, I was just five years old and this was one of our special moments. He has a very special place in my heart because of the connection we had. My grandfather Erich wasn’t a really easy person. My mother had a lot of trouble with him as her dad. But for me, he was my best friend for so many years and I am still thinking of him. A lot of my passions I discovered because of him.
Don’t get me wrong, my parents supported my creativity, my love for books and my musical training.
My grandpa supported me and shared his passions with me. When I had to read books for school, he read some of them with me and then we talked about them. When I visited my grandparents during school holidays he asked me which books we would read together or which coins, of which he had a big collection, we would like to check. At my grandparent’s house was huge selection of books, fictional as well as non-fictional. So every time after I said hello to everybody and I cuddled the dog and went straight to the living room – called library – took a book from one of the many shelves and sat on the windowsill which were so wide that an adult could sit there without any problems.
Erich sat in his armchair next to me with a book as well.
He was the one who explained to me how important it is to write with a fountain pen and how important it is to own a good one. My grandfather said: „A fountain pen should slide so perfectly over paper that you just think about the words and the pen will know what you want to write. A ballpoint pen won’t be easy, it will have breaks in your handwriting and it will look as if you won’t know how to write the words. Just use a fountain pen. It is sophisticated.“
Then I came to primary school and as a present I got my very first fountain pen. 🙂 It was a pen for beginners calles Pelikano and my passion for fountain pens and writing started to evolve even further. During my entire school and study years I wrote with fountain pens. I still have my first fountain pen and it still writes. Even when I signed my first employment contract I had a fountain pen with me and my superior called me „old-fashioned“. I took it as a compliment and he was surprised because he wanted to make a joke. I explained him why I used a fountain pen instead of a ballpoint pen and a few weeks later he had a fountain pen as well and could understand the difference. 🙂
Last year my husband asked me where I got my passion for fountain pens from and I told him the story with my grandfather. During my years of experimenting and learning more and more about pens I discovered that the pen which my grandfather so adored was a Montblanc fountain pen. I had thought about it for years and about whether I should buy one. To be honest, Montblanc is a luxurious brand and their designs are as elegant as they are amazing. So my husband encouraged me to get me one.
When it comes to things which are really expensive and they should be only for me then I struggle to buy these things. In a second I can buy expensive things for my husband or Maya or friends, but for me? I struggle 😀 But for moments like these, I have my husband who is then, literally, standing behind me and saying: „And now you click on the payment, it won’t hurt“ 😀 He’s great and he knows how to make me laugh.
Montblanc – Who?
For those who may have never heard of Montblanc, here are some facts about the company. It was founded in 1906 in Hamburg, where their headquarters can still be found, and it is very well known for it luxury goods like fountain pens, watches, leather goods and lots more.
The writing implements are producted in Hamburg. Their leather products are made in Florence and their watches are from Switzerland. Alone from that you know that you buy only the best quality.
Montblanc is famous for their craft. The nibs of the fountains pens are all handmade. On their website they write about their understanding for craft with modern technology, their philosophy and their tradition.
If you scroll through their products you will recognise the elegance in every single item. Their pieces are timeless, not old-fashioned. The items will never need to be hyped because they are always in fashion.
Shopping
Their website is stylish in black and white and you have several options which product line you could choose. The writing section has some subpages where you can decide which kind of pen you would like to look at.
The whole process of buying is really easy to follow and after you will have checked you shopping bag four times, like I did, then you click on „order“ and wait until you hear the lovely sound of your doorbell and your post (wo)man will give you this lovely little package.
What I Ordered
I bought a Meisterstück Rose Gold-Coated Classique Foutain Pen and an Ink Bottle, Mystery Black. In total I paid 529,50 Euros. It is a huge amount of money for me. But to be honest my second choice wouldn’t have been a cheaper one 😀
The package of the fountain pen is a creamy white on which just „Montblanc“ is written with the little star. No other decorations. When you open it up, there will be the box with the fountain pen inside as well as a service guide booklet. You will get a warranty card as well. The fountain pen box is black with the little star at the right side of it. Inside of it lays the pen covered in a creamy white soft material. On the top of the inside you will see the name „Montblanc“ with the star again. No decorations or squiggles/flourishes at all which I really like about it.
The fountain pen is made out of black precious resin with a rose gold-coated clip. On the cap is the Montblanc emblem. The nib is handcrafted Au 585 / 14 K rose gold with rhodium-coated inlay. The seize is F (fine). The fountain pen itself is 140 x 13,7 mm and weights 20,95 g.
The ink bottle is a little bit different from what one would expect from a normal ink bottle. The package is bright white and black. It says „Mystery Black“ on the two larger sides where you can read the name of brand as well. One short side is black with a little tab to pull out the bottle. The opposite side shows the word ink in different languages and how many mililitres are in there – 60 ml in This case. The bottle is well protected with a sponge. The cap is black with just the white star on top of it. There is a label on it which shows the ink name and the brand.
My First Impressions
Oh boy! In German I would say: „Zum Geier nochmal, der ist der Hammer!“ In English I won’t use slang. 😉 The fountain pen is so beautiful. The nib is so wonderful and there are so many details on it. Unbelieveable. The pen is shiny and if I had just one word to explain it, it would be: elegance.
It is really light weighted and it rests comfortably in the hand. Inside of the pen is an ink converter which you can fill quite easily.
After filling the ink converter the pen slides over the paper so smoothly. The nib doesn‘t scratch or hurt the paper in any way. So the black ink comes out gently and constantly. Even for me as a lefty, it is a really great writing experience. I didn‘t have any trouble with inkblots because there weren‘t any. 🙂
It was one of greatest writing experiences in my life. Now I understand why Harry Potter got excited when he got his wand. 😀 (Sorry, but it is the best movie scene to discribe me and the pen)
It was this wow-factor and I still have it every day I use it. I honestly love using my Montblanc and I use it at least once a day.
When we moved house, my husband asked me several times if I knew where my fountain pens were. Of cause I knew it. It was this one little bag which I packed, which only I was allowed to touch and carry around. And no-one else touched or moved it in one or another way. 🙂 Eventually, only I unpacked them as well.
Now – 6 Months Later
I am still writing with it every day. I am still in love with it and the Montblanc is still beautiful and shiny. The ink is beautiful on paper.
But the most wonderful thing about it is that it brings my grandfather a little bit closer to me. Now there are more moments when I journal or write with it and think about the lovely memories of my childhood.
I would like to point out that Montblanc didn’t give me a discount or sent it to me for free. I bought the products by myself and paid for them.
Wisdom of the Day: Let a fountain pen be the wand you need to get a little bit magic into your life. 😉
Love to you all and stay healthy,
Chrissi
The Evil Journalista
Welcome to Evil Journalista
Hello my Lovelies, 🙂
there we are, our first huge adventure or as an adult would call it: Change. 😉
My blog name changes form Stationery-Nerd to Evil Journalista.
Don’t panic! I will explain it to you.
Why the Name Changing?
That it is really complicated and a long story. Sorry, just kidding.
There are three main reasons for it. The first and quickest one is: I want a unique name and brand.
The second reason is that over the years a lot of my friends called me nerd and I am really proud of it, but a lot of people call themselves a nerd, a geek or they have this nickname – and I want to be different; individual.
The third and last reason is that I want to show more explicitly how different I am. So I decided a new name is a great idea.
Why Evil Journalista?
As you may know, I had a very bad relationship with my journal last year. It was this toxic relationship where you don’t want to pick up your pen to fill the pages and you get really frustrated just by looking at it.
At that time, I was in a chat where members are really artistic and pastell coloured. I like to get inspired by such beautiful spreads.
Anyway.
There was a young girl who posted her spread and it didn’t fit in the style which had already been posted there. She got a lot of backlash for it and I was shocked by that. No support, no positive feedback. I spoke up and gave her some positive feedback because she was finding her way and I thought that we should encourage, support and respect every spread someone creates. It is someone’s work and as a community we should be there for each other.
I got feedback as well and I can tell you it was anything but positive.
This situation frustrated me a lot and due to it I started to talk about it with my husband. He said one really interesting thing about me and my way of journaling: „I have known you for a long time and you haven’t been somebody who swims with the masses. You are a different and you show it to the world.“
Well, wise words of a man who has stayed with me for 13 years. 😀
I started a spread with all the things I don’t like, don’t hype or don’t understand why they are hyped. I was journaling for quite a while and my husband said: „Well, you are an enfant terrible“
My comment was simple: „Did you just call me an evil journalista?“ 😀
It was the second time I heard the word „evil“ in context with me because in the aforementioned chat someone asked me how evil I could be to support something like that young girl’s spread.
This was the birth moment of Evil Journalista.
Yes, I like to different, to be a little rebel and yes sometimes it seems to be wicked, but that is just who I am.
What Changes for You?
Nothing except the name.
Ok and the design of the blog, too. 😉
I am still the nerdy one who will write about everything around stationery. I will review products and I will give you some glimpses of my life and my adventures.
Wisdom of the day: Trust the rebel inside you!
Love to you all,
Chrissi
The Evil Journalista
Getting Exited for 2021
Hello my lovelies, 🙂
Happy New Year!
I hope you all had a great time even when the time isn’t the easiest one.
Series
I have a lot of stationery on my shelves, in my cupboards and boxes which we haven’t talked about yet. I have many products which I would like to discuss with you and test them together with you.
In the next months I will open up my cupboard and we will check out my fountain pen collections, colouring pencils and pens, and the wonderful travelling moments across Japan.
After the lockdown, I will do some daily trips and I will write about those too.
Changes
Changes is a huge word and I know that changes can be scary. Don’t worry! I will continue writing about everything around stationery, writing and travelling. The blog won’t get trashy or gossipy 😀 That isn’t my style.
This year I will start some adventures and I think adventure is a better word than change because I would like to take you on a journey with me. We will explore new worlds and… oh wait that sounds a little bit like Star Trek 😀 (Oh gosh did I reveal myself as a Star Trek fan? … in case I did, than yes I am one 🙂 )
Nevertheless, the point is that as a child we all love to go on an exciting journey and our creativity wandering though our brains. We created stories, settings and it felt real.
As we grow up, the word „change“ has something negative about it. I know a lot of adults/grown ups who are struggling with changes in their personal or working life. They can’t raise the energy for such adjustments and some people give up even before they started.
I would like share my spirit/motivation, or whatever you would like to call it, with you. I think that we grown ups have still our inner child with us and we just forget to listen to this little creative voice in ourselves. If you think you couldn’t be brave/fit/energetic or even you wouldn’t have the time for some changes, I think we can do it. I think we can face changes. My inner child loves a good adventure. My adult me is sceptical about changes but I do them.
There was one moment in my life where I had to cope with a change which hit me really hard. I sat down with my cup of tea and I asked myself what the 5 year old girl would do. I thought about it a very long time and I asked myself what could happen? Is it the end of the world? Can I change it in a specific way so that it is positive for me? Yes, I did it. I accepted the change and then I went out on my adventure.
So after all these words, I will take you on this adventure and I can tell you, I will have a lot of highlights and there will be moments where I will make mistakes. The question will be if I learn from them.
Even something like a new design of my blog can be an adventure. 🙂
Personal
We are still on vacation this week. I am still enjoying my free time. I take Maya out for long walks and I am thinking about the books which I would like to read. I love the time outside even if it is stormy, rainy or both together.
My journal for this year is finally ready. It took me quite a while to get it completed. Normally, I have a Leuchtturm1917 in A5 seize but this year I decided to take a Travelers Notebook. We will see how it works for me. I will give you an update. 🙂
Wisdom of the day: Let’s go out for some adventures! Have fun in 2021!
Love to you all and stay healthy,
Chrissi
What Goes and What Comes – a Look Back and a Look Ahead
Hello my lovelies, 🙂
2020 is nearly over and what a year it was! Well, it had some highlights and some lowlights as well. Possibly more low moments than we would like it to have had.
I thought a bit about 2020 and which high expectations we all had for the year in early January. We all had goals which we wanted to acheive and it should have been our Glorious 20s.
COVID in Out Lives
Well, I think we learnt fast that we could cancel a few goals for this year. Disappointments, frustration and shocking moments were emotions which we felt more often than in the years before. Ironically, we learnt to face an enemy which is invisible. It’s also so sneaky that we didn’t know how to handle the situation. It was hard and we wouldn’t get it under control in the next 24 hours like we thought we could.
But we learnt as well that we can help each other in different ways. We found new ways to work and live together; we learnt that we are strong when we fight as a community and follow the rules. We learnt that we can smile and be kind to each other even when we are wearing a mask and keep distance. We learnt to take care for each other in a new way and during Christmas time we recognised how precious our families and friends are.
I am so thankful for all the hard work of medicial staff, people who work in the retail trade and in systemically relevant jobs. THANK YOU! Because of you and your work our countries could function during these difficult times. I can’t tell you how thankful I am and I appreciate your/their engagement. All these people are our heroes of 2020.
Low Points
If I put COVID aside, this year was a challenging one for me. Three of my beloved ones needed an operation and had a lot of troubles with their operations or during the healing process. I am thankful and happy that everything turned out positive in the end.
We also got the diagnosis that our little pug girl Maya is going to be blind one day. Now she is our brave pug girl and she gets eye ointment every day so we can slow down the blinding.
Also, our workload was much higher than last year. We worked more and a quick pause at the coffee machine wasn’t possible because when working from home, many people made appointments right after the next. In the office, you could go and spend a penny while walking from one room to the next. With all meeting being virtual, you had to plan that in your schedule.
Christmas wasn’t the same either. We didn’t celebrate with the whole family and my grandparents stayed at home alone because they were too afraid of COVID.
Highlights
But we had some highlights this year as well.
We moved from our flat in the city to a house in the countryside. Due to that, I can now go for a long walk with Maya, every day for 1 1/2 up to 2 hours. It is so relaxing and we are in great company with our friend Andrea and her dog.
We had some great road trips like the one to Quedlinburg. I hope that we will do more road trips next year (as far as it will be possible).
I played Animal Crossing and loved it (and still love it) 😀
I learnt that even a virtual cup of coffee with friends can be fun.
I learnt that 6-8 journals/planners for one year were too many even just to compare them. 🙂
Expectations for 2021
Well, after 2020 my expactations for next year are quiet low. I hope that the vaccinations are helping and we will get COVID under control.
I hope that no one of my friends or family will get seriously ill and can live his/her life happily.
I hope that we all as a community will grow more together and enjoy our friendships more.
Goals for 2021
If you know me or read a little bit about me, I am not the woman who has goals for a year. A goal is a moment and when you achieve it what will be after it? Do you set yourself a new goal? No, not my style 😀
I’d like to walk a new path together with you. Let’s explore new things, different ways of journaling and stay true to ourselves. Life is a process where we all learn from failure and success, and we shouldn’t stop doing something because we fail or someone told us to do so.
No, we decide what we want to do, what we want to explore and what we define as success in our lives. I won’t have any goals but I can promise you that my journey will be interesting and exciting without any goals. 😀
My Way in the Next Year
What I want to promise you, is that I will blog more about stationery, travels and my personal little chaotic world. There will be some changes and big adventures ahead. Don’t be afraid or worried, it will be fun 😀 or at last I make you smile.
So stay tuned, tell your friends about the blog and let’s all enjoy it together. Get in touch with me through the blog or my social media, like Instagram.
Wisdom of the Day: Enjoy your life and appreciate the people around you!
Stay healthy!
Love to you all and a happy New Year,
Chrissi
Welcome to our new home
Hello my lovelies, 🙂
Long time no see, but I was thinking a lot about writing a blog post. November and December were so busy and I was happy that I managed the 80 % of my plans.
November
Well, what a busy month. We had a lot of things to do at work and we packed boxes for our house move after 8-10-hour shifts. My husband tried to help, so we decided that he would pack boxes and I would stack them in our spare room. To be honest, I was sometimes afraid that the packing cases would be too heavy for the moving company. So I scaled the boxes and the heaviest box was 22 kilograms (about 45 pounds). I started googling as well to make sure that the packing cases wouldn’t be to heavy for somebody. Now I know that according to work safety a person shouldn’t lift more than 30 kilograms (60 pounds).
Well, I was really happy that our boxes weren’t too heavy.
There were moments I was asking myself why two people lived in a five bedroom apartment. I can explain it easily 😀 We are book lovers, I love my plants, my stationery and before I started journaling really intensely, I loved to bake. And three years ago my husband started his second passion: board games. Because of all of that we lived in a five bedroom apartment:
- Kitchen
- Living room
- Bath
- Bedroom
- Office
- Guest room
- Storage room
I loved this flat. It was flooded with light and on the 5th floor. No one lived above us. The view from the balcony was incredibly beautiful because we could see our city forest nearby. We had a lot of wonderful and funny moments there.
While the days flew away, my nerves were on edge. Normally I am a relaxed person but during this time I was really stressed. I couldn’t sleep well, my concentration wasn’t really existing and my body was hurting.
Finally, on 23rd of November we had vacation. I thought that we wouldn’t have so much stress because we didn’t go to work but honestly the stress level was even higher then. One positive highlight was that our good friend Christoph helped us. My husband and Christoph brought the board games and plants to our new home while I was packing more boxes in the flat. We brought Maya to our friend Ute because our little pug shouldn’t notice all the stress.
November 30th came and the moving company did so too, very early. It was four men and a van. They managed to clear the flat in 3 1/2 hours, which was so impressive. They stacked everything in our new home in 2 1/2 hours. What a day! The men were so kind and brought a lot of furniture to the rooms, so we didn’t need to bring the furniture up- or downstairs ourselves.
December
The first night in our new home was horrible and short. We just slept on the mattress because we were too exhausted to build our bed together again. So be built the bed and cupboard for the bedroom the next day. And we missed our little pug girl so badly that we picked her up three days earlier than we had planned. It was so cute to watch her while she walked excitedly through the house.
We built up our new office first because we needed to get ready for work. After that was finished, we were back at work.
Our kitchen is still quite experimental:-D We knew that we would need a new kitchen and unfortunately IKEA has some delivery problems so we have to live with this „kitchen“ a few months. We haven’t got any cupboards in the kitchen but the cooker, sink, dishwasher and refrigerator are working perfectly.
For me something positive changed next to movement: Maya and I have friends with whom we can go out for a walk every day. It is really great and Maya has a lot of new fury friends. It is so adorable.
Today it is the 20th of December I finished baking cookies for Christmas and we found a way to lighten up the hall and staircase.
Christmas and COVID
In Germany the numbers of infections has been raising and since 16th of December we have a strict lockdown. Only shops for everyday needs like grocery stores are open but shops like hairdressers or construction markets are closed.
For Christmas there will be special rules too. It will be allowed to meet with four people even when it would mean that more than two households met. Unfortunately every federal state can have some deviations. Anyway, it will definitely be a different Christmas this year but honestly I think we will all learn from this experience and we will cherish the time with our beloved ones more than any time before.
My parents will visit us on 25th of December for coffee and cookies. My mother in law and my father in law won‘t visit us, which will be the first time since my husband and I are a couple.
Journaling during moving
Well, did I journal? No, not in the usual way. Normally I journal every day or at least every two days but it was difficult to find time to sit down and write some lines. I sat down every week and sometimes it was hard to recapitulate what happened.
My hope was that I could write my first blog post on 6th of December but it didn’t happened. No space, no time and a lot of stress.
I am happy to tell you, that I can finally make it happen that I have time to post on a regularly period again. I‘m so much looking forward to writing more for you again from now on.
Wisdom of the days: Sometimes it is better to step back and lower your ambitions than getting too much stress!
Love to you all and stay safe,
Chrissi
sign of life
Hello my lovelies 🙂
I hope you are alright, safe and healthy. 😉 COVID is still a serious situation and in Germany we have to face the fact that our infection numbers are still growing once again.
I know I was absent for quite a long time and to be honest it was hard as well as good at the same time. It was difficult for me because I love my habit of writing a little post for and to get some comments from you. So, I would like to say thank you to you all for being so patient with me.
It was good to take a break because I had to take care of my husband. He had a surgery and stayed at the hospital one night . The next day, when I picked him up to bring him home, he couldn’t really move. He was in a lot of pain and due to that I was so worried.
After the surgery, he wasn’t allowed to lift anything up or carry things which are heavy. Because of his pain I decided to sleep with our little pug girl on the couch. Oh gosh, that really made me feel getting old 😀 I tried to sleep there for three nights and couldn’t really get much of it; but it did give me something: a lot of back pain which isn’t normal for me. I swear I felt every vertebra 🙂 But it was ok because my husband needed some rest. I brought him everything he needed and Maya was in one of her little beds next to him and she was watching him too. She was a cute little nursing pug.
After the weekend it didn’t get better so we had to see our doctor and she said that he needed to get back to the hospital. I was shocked. The hardest part was leaving him alone. Due to COVID, the hospital didn’t allow any accompanying person. So I waited at home. Normally I am a really patiently person, I can wait for hours. But this time impatience was my new friend. I can tell you impatience is a really good companion. Luckily I picked him up at the same day and he got new medicine.
After another week we saw a bit of progress. He moved slowly and he came with me and Maya outside for a walk. I was relieved and my husband was so impatient during that time he couldn’t move or take anything. When he got „adventurous“ he tried to make coffee, which he did, but he couldn’t bring it to me. 😀 Really sweet of him.
Now he is doing fine and next week he is back at work with me. 🙂
During this time I was working my normal 40 hours a week. It was quite stressful because I had a lot appointments and deadlines to deal with.
My husband and I had a great deal who does what at housekeeping. He couldn’t do his part, so I did them as well. So my day started 7 am and ended 11 pm. During this time I started packing and sorting things out which we wouldn’t need at the house where we move. My friends and family thought that I was insane because my to do list was huge for every single day. To be honest a five bedroom flat doesn’t pack by itself nor can one pack it within a week.
Well you know I can’t let things down or ignore them, so I put all my energy together and started packing. Since last week my husband has started to pack boxes but he didn’t move them which was quite good. The whole floor had boxes over boxes and between all that we started to take book shelves apart.
We have to take apart four huge IKEA book shelves and our selfmade shelf. Oh my god! I wasn’t really aware of the huge amount of books we have. I remember that we counted 3000 books before our last house moving and I can tell you that we bought more books in the last couple of years. 😀 I love books. We have fiction and non-fiction books from our study days. I discovered a few books which I will read again after moving into the new house.
And last but not least our little pug girl has a serious eye disease and we have to give her three different ointments. She doesn’t like it but it helps. Two weeks ago we had some positive news because the disease formed a little bit back. I am so happy about it and it shows me that we are on the right track.
I think this gives you a little glimpse of my life in the last four weeks. 🙂 I will start posting regularly again now and I will keep you informed about stationery, my life and all the little happy moments.
Wisdom of the day: You can develop lots of energy in the moment when your beloved ones need you the most.
Love to you all and stay safe,
Chrissi
Shop review: Kiroku
Hello my lovelies, 🙂
today I would like to introduce you to one of my favourite stationery shops. In the area where I live you can’t find a lot stationery shops, which is why I order my goodies online most of the time. For this reason, discovering this shop was like finding a treasure chest full of stationery. 😀 Well, ok I have to pay for it, but still a treasure chest.
Last year I discovered a stationery haul on Instagram by pure coincidence. The young woman showed her order of Kiroku. So I went to the website and saw all this lovely stationery. And then I saw which I could hardly believe: it is a shop not just online, no a real shop too and just in the city next to the place I live. I got really excited. So my husband and I decided to go there for some shopping.
The moment when you enter the shop is great. You feel welcome. The shop is quite small; there is a small table and two chairs and the shelves aren’t packed. Everything is placed in a lovely way. You just take a few steps, climb short stairs to something like a platform and there are even more shelves with stationery.
Everything is bright and open. You don’t feel overwhelmed and it is really impressive how many goodies you can find in this small place.
You can shop there:
- stickers
- washi tapes
- print on stickers
- clear stamps
- wooden stamps
- notebooks
- bag
- products of TRAVELER’S COMPANY
- cards/tags
- and a lot of more stationery products
The owner, whom I met there, is such a nice and lovely woman. We chatted a little about the shop and the products. She is amazing and I am so glad that she opened up Kiroku which brings so much joy to enthusiasts like myself. You can see on her Instagram that it is really important to her to share love and kindness. She shows how important it is in our world to be kind and look after each other. That is very inspiring.
I don’t always go there for my shopping. Sometimes I order online because I am busy or because of the lockdown when it was best to stay at home.
What I can tell you about the part ordering online is, that she puts the same love into the packaging as she puts into her shop. Your order will arrive safely and well packed. There are some goodies inside like post cards and stickers. I personally adore the little cards with people on them.
Wisdom of the day: Look out for the small businesses in your area and help them to survive in these hard times.
Love to you all,
Chrissi
Jiyucho Tokyo
Hello my lovelies, 🙂
do you sometimes check your older photo on your phone? I love to do this because it brings up good memories. Which happened in this case too.
Last year, my husband and I visited Tokyo again and he organized a little special appointment for me. I had the chance to create my own ink at Kakimori’s Ink Stand (I will talk about it in a different blog post.). On our way to their shop, we walked past another little shop and in the front window sat a young woman who was smiling. We thought she was just being friendly and curious because there might not be many Westerners walking through this street away from the main sights.
On our way back we walked past the shop again and the young woman smiled again and asked if we would like to come in. So we decided to accept her invitation and entered her shop. It was a small place with only a few tables and some chairs. There were some bookshelves and you could see a lot of wood work. The whole room was really cozy. The young woman explained to us (in lovely English with an even more lovely Japanese accent) what one does there. It was a simple and yet amazing concept. You write a letter to yourself. But you will receive the letter one year later.
So we decided to do this. I got a lovely green tea, paper and a pen. At first I wasn’t really sure what I would like to write. What would you write to yourself? Send some wishes? Give yourself some good advice?
Well, I actually can’t remember what I wrote. What I remember it though is that it is one of my favourite memories of this trip to Tokyo. I relaxed and I did what I always love doibg: write some lovely lines.
We weren’t alone there. I saw a young man who was sitting on his own at a table and he looked so very serious. I had the feeling that he laboured so much about the things he wanted to write. It was really interesting to see. It is faszinating how much feelings and thought one person can put into one letter. It touches my heart every time.
Memories are great and I think that I found my first goal for the rest of this year and the next year: Being grateful for all the lovely memories and talking more about them.
Wisdom of the day: Enjoy the good moments and keep them as great memories.
And in two months time, I will receive my letter – and then I’ll find out what I wrote.
Love to you all,
Chrissi
Review: Simply Gilded Subscription Box
Hello my lovelies, 🙂
I hope your week was way better than mine. Since the pandemic I am working from home but this week our internet provider had some huge problems and because of that I had to go to the office. It was quite a change. Oh boy, I got really used to the working from home. 😀 The provider couldn’t fix the problem in 24 hours and so it took nearly 3 days.
Then our door bell is broken. It was one of the postal delivery and unfortunately you can fix by changing the battery. So I tried to get someone of our property management on the phone but no.
There were a few other things which went wrong, but you know what, that’s life. I am happy that today is Sunday and tomorrow will start a fresh week and hopefully without troubles. 🙂
Because of that I thought I write about a subsription box which totally surprised me. Let’s us talk about the Simply Gilded Box. This box is a pricy one. I thought for a really long time about it, because the box costs 30 Dollars and for me as Europaen I have to have shipping which costs 18 Dollars. I saw a lot of people who were really excited about it but I thought that it could be might be a hype. My dear friend Clare posted one day the box and she was falling in love with it. She has a really taste, so I thought that I should give it a try.
At that time I saw this gorgeous Aloha box and I tried my best to get one. I got really soon a notification that my first box is on its way. Well that was fast. It was just a few days between the subscription and the mail. I got a tracking number with it, so I could checked where the box was. The shipping needed three weeks and I got the Aloha box. I was really blown away. Since that I got regularly my boxes.
The Aloha box includes:
- a foiled journaling card
- washi tapes
- a sticker kit with seals
- planning note pad
- a stitched notebook in B6
- a black gel ink pen
- vegan leather padfolio
- drawstring pouch
- double sided pencil board
- a mystery item
Here are some pictures. There is the Aloha box, the Lullaby box and the Painted Garden box:
The items are packed beautifully. The package gives you the right impression what colours will have items inside.
There are things which are in every box the same like the gel pen, a notebook, the sticker kit and the washi tapes. But the appearance is always different so that it matches the theme. The pouch can be missing and instead you can get a vegan leather cover for your journals which fits with the notebooks in B6.
The material of the pouch and the journal cover is really and the workmanship has a high quality. It feels great. I love products which a good quality and then I am willing to pay more for it.
The pen writes really smooth and I enjoy writing with it. The pen isn’t too heavy but it has a little bit of weight, so it lies good in the hand.
The washi tape has great quality like all the washi tapes I bought before. Simply Gilded has a high recognition with the bow washi tape. To be honest, I am not such a fan of bow washi but I am quite happy that in the box is a mix of different washi tapes. In the Aloha box were three bow washi and three other washis. That was ok. I was happy that in the next box were more other washi without the bow.
Well, I think that I will keep that subscription for a while.
Wisdom of the day: Surprises can bring you joy! 🙂
Love to you all,
Chrissi
Happie Scrappie Subscription Box
Hello my lovelies, 🙂
I hope your week started pleasant and that it will continue like that. If it hasn’t, the best is yet to come, you’ll see.
Well to be honest with you I was really struggling with this post because of COVID-19 and all the delays with shipping in and to most parts of the world. Due to that, it is quite hard to express my mixed feelings. But I will try.
At the beginning of the year I discovered the Happie Scrappie Subscription box. You got a box which is really cutely designed:
- Sticker sheets (10 and more sheets at least with full boxes, labels, dates etc.)
- Die Cut Stickers
- a pen
- a notebook
- a little charm or a little metal clip
- sticky notes
- folder in A6 seize
- washi cards
The price was 29,99 Euros including shipping. It was totally worth it. So I subscripted and I waited very patiently for my first box. I knew that during COVID-19 the postal services would be very slow. I waited for two months after I got my tracking details. After those two months, I contacted the customer service and they refunded me my first box. That was rather uncomplicated but I was still quite disappointed. Well, that is life and such things happens, right?
During that time the March box was announced and I was very excited again because I loved the „Sakura“ theme so much and waited patiently again. I received my tracking details again and nothing happened. The shipping of the March box had a delay. I could totally understand it.
Then came the next announcement that the April box will produced and would ship by the end of May. Well, it was shipped mid-June in my case.
May came and the huge announcement was that for May there wouldn’t be a box. The designer Sam explained her decision very well. There were too many troubles with the shipping, production and her health wasn’t quite the best. She needed a time out and it was totally fine. Mid/End of May Sam sent a newsletter that for June there wouldn’t be a subscription box as well. She still had the same problems. Yes, I felt with her and it must be horrible that so many customers were unhappy.
It was mid-June when my March box arrived and my April box arrived in mid-July. I was quite happy. The themes were really cute and well designed. During May and June she created cute stuff with watercolour or pencils. The next newsletter arrived, there would be a July box again. I was happy and thought that it would be better. But wait! She announced that this would be the last subscription box. Her staff cancelled all the subscriptions for the customers. Sam explaint it with all the trouble of the last months.
And there it was, my head was shaking. I rolled with my eyes and I couldn’t find the right words. My feelings were really mixed. On one side I could totally understand all the problems and troubles which caused all this mess. On the other side I was angry, frustrated. It didn’t give me a good feeling. In the Facebook group all the members sent lots of love and understanding to her and no one expressed critic or a negative feeling. It was a strange situation, I thought that I would be the only one with such thoughts. Well, maybe I am.
Now it is September and unfortunately my July box still hasn’t been shipped so far and actually I don’t know if and when it will happen. To be honest, if the subscription had not been cancelled, I would have cancelled it now. Unfortunately a not so happie ending for me.
Wisdom of day: It is ok to have mixed feelings about something even when your environment hasn’t the same feeling as you have.
Love to you all,
Chrissi
Update: Bad relation with my journals
Hello my lovelies, 🙂
as you know my journals and I had a very hard time. I think that my experiment to use many journals this years wasn’t one of my greatest decisions. However, I learnt from it.
I thought about what should I do for quite some tome; how should I do my journaling. Well, I decided to go back to the roots. I tried so many different styles and I love them all. I won’t like to stay with one style. So I took my first journal and just flipped through it. There was so much creativity, chaos and improvisation. I would say I was braver than now and I want that back. 😀 So, I am back with my little chaotic journal.
For that I am not using my Nuuna as a journal any more. There are still 87 pages blank which is really strange because I can’t leave pages blank.
I took a standard travelers notebook which is blank and I started journaling like I had when I first tried the hobby. I had so much fun! It was great not to stay with one theme for a month. It was great to use bright, rich colours, lots of washi tape and have lots of wonky lines. It was so refreshing not to stick with a theme.
I am a really organized person. Everything has its place and if it isn’t there, I feel a little uncomfortable. 😀 But there is one place which is messy, wonky and chaotic: And that is my journal.
Because I bought the travelers company insert weekly and monthly, and I really want to use it, so I started to use them and I will compare it with my wonky journal. Maybe I like it; maybe I won’t, but if I wouldn’t try I never knew. 🙂
Wisdom of the day: Don’t be shy to go back to the roots, you might be surprised what you find there 😉
Love to you all,
Chrissi
On the road to Quedlinburg
Hello my lovelies, 🙂
it has been a long time since I wrote about travelling. During COVID-19 travelling isn’t the same as last year. Oh gosh that sounds like a very long time.
Last year we had the idea that we would go to Okinawa and again to Tokyo, and for November we would visit our favourite little vacation cottage in Denmark. Because of COVID-19, we had to change our plans and for a few weeks it has been save that we are going to move into house by the end of this year. We are very excited and so we changed our plans for the rest of the year. We decided to go just for day trips to different places.
When travelling will be possible again and you have the opporunity to come to Germany, then don’t visit only Berlin, Cologne or Munich.
Quedlinburg is worth a visit. It is a great little, very medieval town near the Harz mountains. You can visit the castle, church or the old town. There are a lot of cobblestone streets and the old town is full with timber-framed houses. One house is more beautiful than the next house to it.
There is a little „train“ which one you can take for sightseeing tours and they explan everything really well. Apart from the little „train“ you can take a real (steam) train: the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways (Harzer Schmalspurbahnen – HSB) for a ride. With that, you can go up right to the top of the Brocken, the highest mountain in northern Germany. Unfortunately, we haven’t had the time for it so far but I know that it is a musthave as an experience. Especially in the winter months when there is a lot of snow such a ride is breath taking like in a real winter wonder land.
We had started visiting Quedlinburg years ago and two years ago we found another good reason to go there at least once a year: Cheesecake. There are two cheesecake bakeries next to each other and both bakeries mantain that they are the oldest cheesecake bakery each. They are real competitors. Today we bought our cheesecake from Café St. Vincent (the other bakery, Café Am Finkenherd, was closed, unfortunately). The slices of the cake are huge and you need to be really hungry. 😀 The variety of cheesecakes is huge (193 different types). They change the selection every day. You can choose from at least 10 cheesecakes. It is sooo delicious. 🙂
This is chocolate cheesecake with pistachio nuts. So delicious.
Wisdom of the day: Get out and discover a little city and get overwhelmed by its charme – especially in your region.
Love to you all and stay safe,
Chrissi
Journal Journey: Paper Poetry notebook
Hello my lovelies 🙂
today is a really windy day in my home town. Dark clouds in the sky and they are moving quite fast. I personally like such weather because it gives me a cosy feeling. So I sat down with a good cup of coffee and started writing this post for you.
Today I would like to talk to you about notebooks by Paper Poetry. I got a set of two notebooks at a hobby and creative shop called „Idee-creativmarkt“ in Germany. Unfortunately, they are working on their website, so I can’t give you the right link for that. I tried to find them on Amazon but there are just a few other products by them but not the notebook set I bought. Because of that, I can’t tell you the exact same amount of money I paid for it. I guess it was something around 15 Euros.
The two notebooks are A5 seize and they have the theme Japan. One of them is black with a golden circle pattern and the second one is soft pink with a star pattern in gold as well. The first thing I noticed was that the black golden one is easier in the eye. You can see the pattern very well and it isn’t too overdone. The soft pink isn’t pleasant on the eye for me. The golden pattern seems uneasy for me and it is a little too much of the soft colour. The front and back covers are really smooth and you can feel the pattern which I quite like. It seems to be a very thin cardstock material. The notebook is stitched which looks quite cool even though it is a simple stitching.
When you open the notebooks there isn’t any cover page for your name or an index either. You can start with journaling right away. The pages have dots on it and they are the standard ones (0,5 X 0,5 cm). The paper of the pages seems really thin. Unfortunately there isn’t any clue how thick the paper really is. I would guess it is something around 80gsm.
The paper hasn’t got any problems with fountain pens, highlighters and I can doodle with my Faber-Castell PITT artist pens too. The colour of the paper is white but it isn’t a really bright white. You can see the dots really well on the paper. I tested my Tombow brush pens as too and there isn’t any bleeding.
The pages aren’t numbered and on the packaging wasn’t any clue how many pages the notebooks have. I don’t want to be fussy, but I like such information on the packaging. There isn’t any bookmark or elastic band.
For me the notebooks are good quality for the price you pay. Personally I wouldn’t use them as daily journals where I write, into which I draw or stamp. The feeling isn’t right. I would use them just for project planning or for quick notes from time to time.
Wisdom of the day: If the notebook doesn’t give you good vibes, don’t be afraid to search a little bit longer. 😉
Love to you all,
Chrissi
In a bad relationship with my journals
Hello my lovelies, 🙂
I hope you all are safe and sound. Are you enjoying your Sunday?
A few weeks ago I wasn‘ t in the mood to bring my journals up to date. It was too much. I discovered that I hadn’t touched my Bullet Journal for weeks. My Hobonichi Weeks Mega was quite filled. My ‚Some lines a day‘ wasn’t touched for two weeks or so as well. And I don’t want to mention my project planners. My hubby and I debatted about this journal relationships and I said: „I don’t want to have to fill all these journals. I have enough. It’s not fun at all anymore. It does feel like an obligation instead.“ To be honest I was quite shocked. It is my fourth year and I don’t have a style let alone an own style. I don’t and won’t put a label on my style or whatever I should call it.
On Instagram and Youtube you find so many talented people who have a certain style (minimalistic, artistic, kawaii, junk journaling etc.) and I love them all. I love the variety; that journaling can bring out the best of us all. It is an amanzing hobby. You can use all the materials you like; you can start simple and try out new things on the way. However, nothing seems to work for me at the moment. There are people out there who create a whole perfect world in their journal or planner. It is amanzing, don’t get me wrong, but have you ever seen some of them messed up? Have you ever seen a messy, wonky journal? Because every page is planned and they work really hard to create for us/ inspire us. Unfortunately, it didn’t help me. I don’t feel inspired.
In my head is a huge wall, so I see the inspirational spreads. But in the end I can neither feel the inspiration nor derive anything for me. Because of all this chaos in my head, Mr Stationery-Nerd took all my journals and gave me just one. One single notebook. He called it „back to the roots“. He said that the best part of my journaling is that I’ve never had one particular style which I followed all the years. In my first journal my months didn’t have a theme, my weeklies didn’t have theme. It was one week to another week. I know there are so many journalista and planneraddicts who love having a theme for a whole year and they are very straight with it which is impressive. But that wouldn’t be me.
One of my friends would love to see my spreads and to be honest I am too scared to show them. My friends have their styles and they are amazing. I don’t even know how I can explain what I am doing.
At the moment I am not sure whether I can fix this relationship. Maybe I need a fresh start, maybe I need a completely new hobby. Maybe I will find my way back on track and I will do my things as usual. But for the moment I need a journaling break.
I will keep on writing my blog and show you my new shopping goodies. I will keep you informed about my break from journaling. 🙂 And I promiss that the next post will have photos inside again. 😉
Wisdom of the day: If you need a break, take break.
Love to you all,
Chrissi
Journal Journey: Citrus Book Bindery
Hello lovelies, 🙂
sometimes I am really surprised how many different notebooks I own and use. 😀
So, today we will have a look at my Citrus Book Bindery notebook. I think that I bought this notebook one or two years ago. I found it by chance and I was blown away by the beautiful covers.
Before we have a look at the notebook you should know that you can create your very own notebook there. You choose between nearly everything you can have in a notebook. The selection out of notebooks is huge and I needed a couple of days to decide which notebook I would like to have. If you like you can have an open spine or not, even that is your choice. The Citrus Book Bindery distinguishes their notebook into open spine, bullet journals, travelers notebooks, and refill & inserts. It is a huge selection. If you fall in love with one piece, the next big choices are waiting for you. You select:
- the seize (there are eight different seizes)
- the paper (standard or coloured paper, the weight/thickness, page count and pattern)
- preferences (bookmarks, page numbers, index and rounded corner pages)
- extra options (decorative stitching, back cover pockt, corner protectors, pen loop, waterproof drawstring bag)
That were tough decisions to make 😀 I fell in love with the variety of the covers, the only thing that I was sure of was that I would like to have an open spine because they are so beautiful.
So I ordered the following: a Nebula open spine book in B6. It is a lay-flat journal and it weighs 390 grams. The paper is quite thick, 140 gms. The notebook has 192 pages with dots. The corner of the front and the back are protected with silver-tone corner protectors. The pages are numbered and there is an index as well. There are 3 bookmarks in different colours which are matching with the cover. The journal has two elastic bands to hold everything together. My nickname is on the front cover in brush lettering style in silver glitter.
The price was 51,56 Euros for the journal and with shipping and tax the costs were 75,24 Euros. Well, to be honest it is really expensive. I had thought more than twice about the order before I said „Yes“ to the notebook. But one of the main reasons why I ordered it was because it is handmade. The company is run by a couple and on the website you have pictures of them. They needed just a few lines to make me understand why they do it and how much they love it. So my doubts were washed away and that made the price reasonable.
Now we are going to have a closer look at the notebook. The front and back covers are beautiful. It is a hard cover and the corner protectors are placed well so that you cannot hurt yourself. The spine matches the colours of the cover perfectly. When you open the notebook you will have a dotted page for decorations. After that two pages as index are there, like I had ordered it. Then you can start journaling, drawing or whatever you would like to do with it. 🙂 The paper surface is soft and with a pen you can write really well on it. At the moment I am writing with just one pen in it and I haven’t got any bleeding or ghosting problemes so far. But if you know in advance what you want to do in the journal you can buy a thicker paper. It is so lovely to see how the bookmarks fit with the cover.
This Nebula journal is quite special for me and I am not using it on a daily base. It is for ideas/projects which I could do in future.
Wisdom of the day: Handmade has its price, but it captivates by its quality and beauty.
Love to you all and stay safe,
Chrissi
Shopping at „ClareBearAndHerShop“
Hello my lovelies 🙂
do/did you enjoy your weekend? In Germany it is Sunday and the weather is stupidly hot and mostly very humid. At the moment, I am enjoying a light breeze while I am writing. I am not a fan of summer although my birthday is in summer. I love autumn and winter more and because of that I am looking forward for those seasons. 😉
Well, today I write about this cute little Etsy shop. As you know, I like to support little businesses and so I will do that again. This time it is a very special review for me because the owner, Clare, is a very dear friend of mine. She is a great soul! She is always supportive and motivative for me. #alwaysaplaceinmyheart
Ok, what can you shop there? If you like cute paper or washi, then you will find some little treasures. If your interests are kawaii style, then you will find some lovely stationery too 😉 Here are some examples: In Clare‘s shop you will find brands like Rilakkuma, Sumikko Gurashi or Simply Gilded washi tape. You can get eight sheets of paper plus four envelopes for 5,06 Euros (since I buy in Euros, I can only state this but US Dollars are not that much different). That would be a letter set sampler, so it is not random. Or if you would like to have different memo sheet samples then you can buy that as well. For 50 memo sheets you just pay 7,59 Euros. The Simpy Gilded washi tape is a set of samples which have a length of 60 cm (which is approximately 2 ft) each. The set can have 5 up to 10 washi samplers and so the price changes accordingly.
The shop has existed since 2020, so it is very young. The products change and so you should not wait for too long if you would like to order paper sheets or washi tape. 😉
Clare told me about her shop and I could not hold back and had to have a look at the products. I absolutely adore kawaii stationery. It is cute, it brings joy and it is fun. Unfortunately, here in Germany are just a few spots where you can buy these items and then the prices are extremly high, so because of that I order a lot online. I scrolled through the shop items and I decided to place an order. And I remember that it did not take long that Clare wrote to me that she was surprised by my order because we swap our stationery goodies on a friends basis.
Which kawaii stationery did I order?
- letter set sample by SanX Sumikkogurashi „ocean theme“
- Washi tape samples by Sumikkogurashi, Rilakkuma, Jinbesan, Melody and Little Twin Star
- memo samples 16 sheets by Rilakkuma “ honey forest theme“
- memo samples 16 sheets by Sumikkogurashi „travel theme“
Everything is packed in little clear bags and has its own labels. Even some freebies are included as well and I got a little personel note too. 🙂 The envelope is beautifully decorated. The products look exactly like in the pictures on Etsy which is really important for me. I love these cute little sheets and the washi tape is adorable.
Please be aware that because of COVID-19 the postal services need more time than usual, so please be patient. I waited three months but it was worth it.
Since we are friends and we swap our stationery, I like checking Clare‘s shop quite often just to see whether there is something which I would like to have and I pay for it. Because business is business and friendship is friendship.
Clare always sends me some lines of the bible and I would like to share this one with you because this one matches so perfectly.
It will be my wisdom of the day for you: „Let us think of ways to motivate on another to acts of love and good works.“ (Hebrews 10:24)
Love to you all and stay safe,
Chrissi
Journal Journey: The Everyday Book by Galen Leather
Hello my lovelies,
I am excited, my holiday is so near. 😀 Will we go on vacation to a different place? Not really. I think that we will do some daily tours to a few places in the region. Maybe one of the days we‘ll go to a lake for a walk with our little pug girl.
Today we take the road straight to our next address: The Everyday Book by Galen Leather. As you know, I can highly recommend their products so far. So the question for now is whether it will be the same here 😉 Let’s have a look.
The notebook has the seize of 210 x 110 mm and it weighs 93 grams. The price is 24 Euros for a set of three notebooks. The cover is made of very thick paper and the front is printed in an old school way. The letters of The Everyday Book are golden while the other words and drawings are black. It feels soft and it is flexible, the colour is something like dark yellow (ochre). At the moment I can’t really name the colour correctly; actually it looks like my coffee :-D. There are 128 pages in white and it is TomoeRiver paper with 52 gms. The notebook is hand bound and the stitching is really beautiful.
When you open the notebook you can start your journaling right away. There isn’t any index and the pages aren’t numbered. The paper is really soft and thin. I love to write with fountain pens and the pen slides over the paper so smoothly. If you like to use brush pens, stamps or alcohol based markers then you should be aware that ghosting and bleeding could happen.
The notebook hasn’t any bookmark or elastic band, therefore it has something really unique: You get two sheets of paper, one is with lines and the other is with squares. They are put unter the page you want to write on and due to the thin paper, the lines/squares shine through well enough so that you can write straight. Additionally, it also has a leather sheet which you can use as a writing pad during your journaling.
The notebook has the perfect seize for your travelers Company cover. Actually I use the Everyday notebook as an insert with one of my Travelers Company notebooks and I love it.
Wisdom of the day: If you don’t mind trying a thinner paper, then give this one a try.
Love to you all and stay safe,
Chrissi
Journal Journey: Travelers Company Notebook
Hello my lovelies, 🙂
How is your new week so far? I hope you started with positive vibes. In case you didn’t or couldn’t , let me send you lots of positivity, strength and happiness.
It is really interesting how many notebooks we have already discovered together and our journey hasn’t come to its end so far. Our stop for today is the Travelers Company Notebook.
The first time I saw this notebook was on YouTube. I watched a young woman who set up her journal. I loved the leather, the little notebook and a cute charm. I googled the company and unfortunately they don’t ship to Germany. But there are several shops where you can buy the products. I decided to buy it at a store … but in Japan. Well, I did! I shopped it at the airport in Narita right after landing 😀 I am not kidding.
I use different notebooks of Travelers Company. In our case here, I give you an overview of the 026 Dot Grid. The cover is made of paper, so it is a flexible with a smooth surface. The colour is light grey and the Midori paper is bright white inside. The seize is 210 x 110 x 4mm. There are 64 pages and it weights 70 grams.
When you open the pages there is a decorative page and after that you can start journaling. There isn’t something like an index and the pages aren’t numbered. The dots are 5 x 5 mm and they are really lightly visible. The surface of the paper is smooth. Unfortunately, I didn’t find the grams per square metre, but if I should guess, I would say that it is thicker than 60 gms and thinner than 100 gms. There is a little bit of shining through when you are using pens which I personally don’t mind. If you like to use stamps it could happened then ghosting up to light bleeding is possible. I love my highlighters and colour pencils and I haven’t had any problem with it.
The pages aren’t corner rounded and there isn’t an elastic band or bookmark. However, you have the beautiful leather cover which you wrap around.
I use the calendar in this seize as well and I adore the products of Travelers Company as such. The products are of wonderful, unique Japanese quality.
Wisdom of the day: If you like to travel with a notebook then the Travelers Company Notebook is a great companion.
Love to you all,
Chrissi
Journal journey: Nuuna
Hello my lovelies 🙂
after the chaos in my head, let’s get focused to the next stop on our paper journey.
This time we will checkout the Nuuna notebook in its Glowing Pixels edition. The cover is a smooth leather in white with light blue dots. On their website Nuuna quote: „…and remind us of nights in New York or, even more beautiful, of the Frankfurt Skyline.“ Well, it looks pretty cool but I can’t see a skyline in there. 😅 It is a softcover and the notebook is a little bit bigger than a standard A5 notebook. What I really like about the cover is that you can feel every single dot.
The price was 17,99 Euros in a local artist shop and it was on sale there. The regular price is 25,25 Euros when you order it online through the Nuuna website. I think that the price is ok, it isn’t the cheapest one though.
The notebook weights 0,62kg which makes it the heaviest notebook in our journey so far. I am using it as my bullet journal at the moment and to be honest, I don’t take it with me all the time because of the weight.
The paper is bright white with light gray dots on it. Normally the dot grid is 5.0 mm, in the Nuuna the dots are 3.5 mm. I never thought that I could say that but seize can matter. 😉 The squares are really tiny. My hand writing looks so huge between the small dots. The notebook has 256 pages and they are numbered but there isn’t any index. The corners are rounded as well and the paper thickness is 120gms. The pages are soft and I haven’t got any problems with pens, fountain pens, pencils, or highlighters on it. However, so far I haven’t tested so alcohol based markers and watercolour.
What I really like about this notebook is that it is a lay-flat. So you don’t have any problems that it couldn’t lay good on a flat surface like your desk. Another huge plus, for me, is the design. It is really something special. If you have a look at the Nuuna website you will find lots of different and unusal designs.
Unfortunately there isn’t any bookmark in or any elastic band on it. In the first week it was a little bit smelly; It smelled like clue, but it was really slight smell.
Wisdom of the day: If you are looking for a notebook with an outstanding cover, give the Nuuna a chance.
Love to you all and stay safe,
Chrissi
Evil Journalista 