Planner Peek: The Hobonichi Weeks and a Fauxbonichi Journal

Today is going to be a quick post because I have to get myself together for the RT Convention next week, but I wanted to pass along a little planner p0rn. :)

So y'all know that I have a planner and journal obsession. And the journey to "planner peace" is an ongoing one, which means I'm always poking around the internet and looking at all the options. Well, recently, I came across the world of Hobonichis and Fauxbonichis. What the heck is that?

Well, the Hobonichi is a Japanese planner that has a cult following because of the clever layout and the amazing paper--Tomoe River paper. This paper is very thin but can take fountain pens, watercolors, etc. without bleed through, which means that a lot of people use these planners as art journals. Just go on Instagram or Pinterest and search Hobonichi to see. It's amazing what some people do in them. And even if you don't use it for art, the layout is great. The Techo and Cousin versions offer monthly, weekly, and daily layouts all in the same planner. Hard to find. I'm strongly considering buying the Hobonichi Cousin (which is an A5 size) next year. But right now I'm sticking to my modified Happy Planner for my planning (I've put the Day Designer aside for a while because I missed my weekly view.).

However, Hobonichi has a wallet-sized weekly version. And when I saw that, I knew I wanted one. I don't travel with my planner because it's too big. But I needed something to have with me in my purse for when I make appointments and such. Yes, I could use my phone. But I don't work well with electronic calendars. This Hobonichi Weeks would be the perfect size. Plus, I get the Tomoe River paper and they offer an April start version. So I ordered one, and I have to say, it is really lovely. The paper is almost Bible page thin but they weren't lying about the no bleed through. That's impressive. And bonus, the travel wallet/passport keeper I bought fits the Hobonichi Weeks perfectly so I don't have to get another cover. Yay! Isn't it pretty?

If you want to check it out, Amazon still has a few Hobonichi Weeks left last I checked, though I think pink is sold out. You can also get them directly from the Hobonichi store, but you do have to use a yen to dollars converter to figure out your costs. And here's the wallet. I did a lot of research trying to find one that would be the right size since there aren't a lot of options for covers for the Weeks version. This wallet comes in a number of different cute colors, is well made, and has the RFID blocking to protect your cards and passports from scanning. I was really pleased with it.

On to Fauxbonichis...

But after doing so much research on the Hobonichis, I discovered that people are doing DIY versions called Fauxbonichis to do their art journaling. (MissVickiBee seems to be the one who came up with this idea. Here's a link to her video about it.) This intrigued me because it would give me a chance to try out art journaling before committing to a pricier Hobonichi Cousin. I am notorious for giving up on journals and diaries. I've never been able to stick with one. But the idea of doodling in a journal and using it more as a memory keeper than a introspective diary type thing appealed to me. So I watched some YouTube videos (as you do) and decided to give it a try in a Leuchtturm journal I already had. (This is the one I have if you want to check it out.)

Well, I have been having so much fun with it! I'm hooked. I think it's serving as a relaxation tool like some people use coloring books. I get to draw and doodle and color, but at the same time, I'm keeping a record of memories and making a keepsake. This is also a nice lesson in fighting against my perfectionism because I CAN'T DRAW, lol. I have to accept that it's not going to look like those beautiful art journals I see on Instagram or Pinterest. And that's okay. The process is fun and I get a little thrill when what I draw actually resembles what I was attempting, lol.

So here are a few pages from my journal. The top sort of resembles the layout of a Hobonichi Techo, but I altered it to fit my own needs, including a place for a mood doodle. He's my favorite part. I've named him Moody Milton. :) I also record the weather for the day and use a little washi tape to brighten it up.

The pens I'm using are the Faber Castell PITT Artist pens to make the black lines and the Stabilos for colored drawing. Then I fill in with Steadtler colored pencils. Go ahead and judge me for having all those pens, lol. You can really use any pens you want. Just check for bleed through first because though the paper is very nice, it's not the Tomoe River. Some pens and markers will bleed through.

I use this stencil to make my lines and draw my little suns. 

I've been having way too much fun with it and so far. And if you're intimidated by the drawing thing like I was, I've found that the easiest thing for me is to google, "how to draw (blank)" and once I see simple images, I can reproduce them somewhat. I have a hard time just drawing something from scratch without inspiration to look at. You may have no trouble at all, but if you're drawing-impaired like me that might help. :)

Well, this post turned out longer than I thought, lol. But I hope I've maybe given you some ideas and inspiration. Let me know if you decide to give any of this a try!

Also, I won't be blogging next week because I'll be at the RT Booklovers Convention, so see you in a week! :)

Note: Amazon links are affiliate links. I haven't been asked to feature any of these products. These are things I've bought with my own money and enthusiastically recommend. :) 

Journaling for the Chronic Journal Abandoner

My stack of pretty notebooksI'm a writer. This means I love books and writing and pens and paper and pretty notebooks and words. Also, my first career was as a therapist, so I'm introspective and navel-gazing to a fault. You would think that this would mean I'd be a prime candidate to be a journal or diary keeper.

Sadly, this has not been the case. I've started many a journal. I like the *idea* of a journal. However, in practice, it usually last 2-3 entries before I bail. Something about writing to no one but myself doesn't appeal. The reason why I can maintain a blog is because it feels like it has a purpose--someone is reading, there is interaction. But waxing poetic in a journal that only I'm going to see--well, it feels like a waste of time. I don't need to write down my thoughts to know them. I ruminate enough as it is.

However, this week I finished reading The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun  by Gretchen Rubin, and she had a quote in there that really resonated with me. "The days are long, but the years are short." 

How very true this is. I feel it when I look at my son who somehow is now five even though I feel like I just cried, "My epidural is wearing off, DO something!" to my dear doctor. So, this got me to thinking about finding a better way to track the days and the memories that pass in a blink. And one of the suggestions in the book was to do a one-sentence journal. That way, the journal abandoners of the world like me wouldn't have to commit to anything more than a few words a day.

This concept appealed to me. One sentence. I could do that. So I went to Barnes and Noble and looked at some of the 5-year journals that provide 2-3 lines for each day. However, as I looked at them, I realized that although I didn't want to do long journal entry. I wanted to have room to say what I wanted to say and maybe I'd need more than a sentence at times.

So after spending way too much time looking at all the journals, I decided to get a blank, spiral-bound one. And instead of a one-sentence journal, I'm doing a bullet list journal. So maybe that will only be one bullet on a day or maybe there will be three. It will depend on the day. And I'm not recording private things that no one else can see. I'm treating it instead like a record of life passing--something that my husband or son can look through years down the line with me. It's like a photograph but with words instead. 

Here's my first journal from Monday:

• President's Day - Kidlet informed me this morning, "Mommy, no presents for us. Only presidents get presents today."
• Best moment of the day: Eating cookies in the mall with kidlet and hubs while we watched the carousel.
• Caught kidlet singing Lady Gaga's "Judas" while he played with his cars. Adorable.

So, as you can see, it's no deep and meaningful pondering on life, but it's the stuff that will drift from my mind and disappear in a week or two. Little important moments that I don't want to forget. The years are short indeed, and I want to be able to look back and smile at them.

Do you journal? What do you think of the idea of the one-sentence journal or my version, the bullet-list journal? Any other journal abandoners out there? How do you keep track of the little moments you don't want to forget?