The world of washi tape
hello, 🙂
today I want to talk about washi tape. If you are interested into journaling then you will find the colourful masking tapes.
What is washi?
It is an invention of the Japanese. Washi literally means „Japanese paper“ (from „wa“ = Japan/Japanese and „shi“ = paper). It is sometimes also called masking tape alternatively.
It is a colourful tape which can removed from the paper without any remains and you can tape to another place, again and again (if it is of good quality). It is amazing and it helps to personalise your journal, card or whatever you would like to decorate with it. Washi tape comes in huge varieties. The shape, the size, and the colours can be very different. You can find tape with a golden touch, with dogs, cats, otters (as you can see in the picture), houses, planets, stars, mountains, and many things more. You won’t believe it, you can even find it in plain colours 😉
I am a little washi messy. Honestly, I love it. The sheer variety of motives and styles of a tapes can be so different and every tape is pretty. As of today, I have got 260 different tapes. I know it is a huge collection but I am in love with these little rolls. 🙂 For example, I have tapes which have a single colour or tapes with prints like flowers, cactus, animals or landscapes. And I am sure, there will be many more to come.
Drawer number 2
How do I use my washi tape?
Most of the time I use it for my bullet journal. I like to tape it on birthday cards or seasonal greetings. Sometimes I use it for presents. It is a lovely and personal touch. 🙂
Wisdom of the day: Try it and you will love it. 🙂
Love to you all,
Christiane
My favourite stationery online shop
Hello, 🙂
long time no read. Ok, I am sorry, that I have not written a new post for such a long time. We were on holiday to Barcelona with some very dear friends of ours and after that I was on the road for work a lot.
However, today I thought, that it would be nice to give you some information about one of my favourite stationery shops. To be honest, there are a lot of stationery online shops and websites like Etsy or Wish which make it easy for stationery addicts (like me) to buy some wonderful things.
But my absolute favourite and I think my first stationery shop was London Gifties. You know, you will never forget your first love. 😉
The shop owner is Kristine. She offers a lovely variety of stickers, washi tape, water colour sets or paper journals and many more. She does a great job with her small business. The products change from time to time. That is great, so you can check every two months or so and find new things every time.
Why I am telling you that about little shop?
First, I love to support little shops and I think it is important to be supportive in our journaling/stationery community.
Second, in little shops you can aleays find stuff which is unique and the quality is high.
Third, the package is incredibly beautiful. Each of them is decorated individually and differently, and the name is done in beautiful hand lettering style.
Today I got a new package from London Gifties. It was a so-called treasure box. So it was a surprise for me to see what is inside. I was so excited and I was just happy to open my box. 🙂
Which stationery things were inside? There were eight different rolls of washi tape, a paper bundle, tea, chocolate, and a mix of classicy goods from Japan.
My wisdom of the day: If you want to shop for stationery, try a little shop and you will definitely find a little treasure yourself.
Love to you all,
Christiane
PS: In the future, I will blog about more shops or artists I love. 🙂
Planning our trip to Barcelona
Hello 🙂
I hope you had/have a good Friday. Today it is the last planning day for our trip to Barcelona. We are going to travel with some good friends.
To be honest with you, Barcelona isn’t the city of my dreams but I think it is a trip worth because of the wonderful culture and amazing architecture. So, I am a little bit excited. 😀
We will stay there for 3 whole days and one half day. The best thing is that our flight is going to take only 2 hours.
I planned intensely last weekend. I bought some guide books and I was overwhelmed by all the wonderful places which you should or could visited in Barcelona. So, I started putting a post it on my favourite spots. After that I realized that the book was marked on nearly every third page. Ok, that was way too much for 3 days. Because of that, I was looking for the most important highlights of Barcelona like Sagrada Familia, the port, Parc Güell or Montjüic.
The planning was quite exhausting because my husband and our friends gave me the freedom to plan the trip. Ok, I love planning but sometimes it is nice when you have some help with it.
During my planning I was a little bit shocked about the entrance fees of the highlights. After the shock was gone, I started my research for something like day passes to save money. You have the choice between Turbopass and Barcelona pass. Both passes have advantages and disadvantages. We decided for the Turbopass because the Sagrada Familia is free and we can use the hop on hop off bus for one day.
I planned our visits according to the locations. I tried to put all highlights of the same area at one day, so we can enjoy a walk through the different districts. I am excited to see if we can walk to those sights or whether we will have to use the metro and the bus system a lot.
I think I will show you whether plan and reality will have found each other after we will have returned back home next week. I’d like to do these kind of checks of reality. 😉
Love to you all,
Christiane
My perfect time to journal
Hello 🙂
today I was thinking about how I find my journal time or what I do when I take time for journaling.
To be honest, I don’t have time for journaling every day although I would like to have. I work 40 hours per week and the flat cleaning doesn’t do it on itself. 😉 And I have to admit that I have a few other hobbies too. 😉
At some days, I just check the things which I have to do for the next days and I write only my moods and fill in my trackers. Maybe I write just a few notes or a plan for the next day but it takes only 10-20 minutes a day.
On the other side, there are days when I have spare time and I can be as creative as I would like to be. At this time, I draw new weekly or monthly spreads, try to doodle, or write some lines, maybe a short story. When I am doing that, I listen to a radio play or to relaxing music. I enjoy a good cup of coffee or tea and sit at my desk. Next to me is my little pug girl Maya who is usually sleeping (it is really relaxing to hear her snoring 🙂 ) Ok, sometimes her big brown eyes look at me and she can sit on my lap. She loves to cuddle, you know.
In the spring and summer time I like to sit on our balcony and enjoy journaling outside. We have a nice view over the houses up to a forest. You can see a lot of trees and it is calling for inspiration. I can do this for 2-4 hours.
These moments are great and very special for me. I can relax and enjoy this time.
My wisdom for today: When you start journaling, take some time, sit at cosy place and have your stationery tools near you. Don’t stress yourself, if you don’t have much time every day.
So, what is your perfect moment for journaling? What is relaxing for you when you are journaling? I would be happy if you shared your experiences in the comments.
Love to you all,
Christiane
Paper and its quality
Hello 🙂
everybody is searching for the perfect notebook. Everyone has his or her own standards and ideas what the notebook should look like and how the paper should be.
To be honest with you, I am not going to tell you which notebook or paper is the best for you. But I can help you to find the best for you.
When you start a journal, ask yourself what you want to do. Do you want to work with colour pencils? Or do you prefer water colour? Or do you just what to write in it?
Paper can have different thicknesses and it is important to understand why not every thickness is the best for every way of journaling.
The thickness is measured in grammes per square metre (g/m²). When the g/m² is low, the paper is thin and it can shine through to the other side of the paper. If the g/m² is high, the paper is thicker and it can take up more water. In that case the paper is quite heavy.
There is no standard g/m² for notebooks. That is why you should know, or at least think about, what you want to use it for.
For example: My notebook Leuchtturm1917 has a thickness of 80 g/m². That is enough for my purposes because I use it mainly for a little bit of doodling and most of the time for writing.
But if you are interested in colouring your journal with water colours, you need a notebook with a thickness of at least 100 g/m², better even more.
Another point you should have in mind is, that paper can have different colours. Do you prefer a shiny white paper or is an ivory creamy white paper your preference?
My wisdom for today: Don’t buy the first one you see. Think about your requirements of the journal. Ask yourself what the paper needs to withstand for your needs. 😉
If you are interested, I can write a more extensive article about paper.
Love to you all,
Christiane
Why do I journal?
Hello 😉
do you remember when you started your first journal? Or are you planning to start our own journal?
I remember exactly when I started writing. I was 13 years old when I got my first dairy. I was so excited. It was my book. Just for me and my thoughts. I loved it so much. 🙂
I used it nearly every day for the next 6 years. But in contrast to today, I used only for my thoughts (stories, daydreams, ideas etc.) not for planning. 🙂 After my 19th birthday I stopped journaling. Today I don’t know why, I just did.
A few years later I started my studies at university and I realised that I needed some structure and because of that I bought a Filofax-like planner. It was purely functional. But it didn’t bring joy like my old diaries.
Over the years I had different calendars. They were all pretty but after a few months I got bored and I didn’t use them. I missed something. I remember that in a few planners the space wasn’t enough while in others there was too much space.
In 2016, I was looking for a new hobby. I wanted to be creative and I wanted to see a result. So I spoke with my husband about my old diaries and calendars. I searched the web and found the bullet journal method. (I will write later about it)
So I bought a journal by Leuchtturm1917 and a few artist pens by Faber Castell. On Pinterest I found a lot of inspiration. With all that, I created my personal journal where I have space for appointments, lists, quotes, habit trackers, to dos and a lot more. For the first time, I had a calendar that reflects me, my personality and my needs.
It is good to have an overview about all the things which matter in your life. Sometimes I have the feeling, that I am more grateful for the time and how I use it. I am collecting memories. It is important to remember the good things in your life and a bullet journal can help you to achieve that for you as well.
And that is what my very first page looked like. 🙂 I was so proud of it … and I still am.
So, it was a beginning and now, three years later, I am still loving it.
Love to you all,
Christiane
Evil Journalista 