pens and stationery and everything in between

I know, I know, I have neglected this blog of mine for way too long! I have a legitimate excuse though, in that I was working relatively long work hours to get in applications for some of my clients to receive additional government funding to support their everyday communication needs. For those of you new to my blog, I work full-time as a speech-language pathologist, helping children 0-18 years who have communication difficulties be able to better access and interact with others in their everyday lives. We take communication (i.e. talking, sharing stories, texting, tweeting, etc.) for granted and I challenge anyone to spend a day trying to communicate with someone without using their voice, or without hearing someone else. It can be socially isolating and not to mention frustrating for some of the kids I see every day. I’m lucky enough to love what I do, even though it takes me away from other pursuits that I enjoy, at the end of the day, someone is saying their first words, or communicating using a speech-generating device, or being able to hear for the first time. That’s why I don’t mind pulling in the sleepless nights and long hours – it’s a small sacrifice compared to what they might gain :)

That aside, I’ve been noting down many, many, blog post ideas during my lunch breaks to share with you, as well as a multitude of new downloadable printables in my Etsy store. I’m super excited to release some of these in the next few weeks, and, as always, would love to hear your feedback and start some wonderful planner discussions!

I thought, being that I’m on the comedown from an exhaustive month, I would start with something simple. One of my lovely IG followers (@bluebirdcreates) posted this request the other day, and I’ve had several questions regarding what pens and stationery I use for planning. So here goes…

I’m a minimalist planner, so I try to take with me very little. I also have terrible neck and shoulder problems, so I’m always cautious of keeping my everyday bag as light as possible. This is a picture of everything I carry around with me on a daily basis.

My notebook of choice (at the moment) is the Piccadilly notebook. This is the notebook I will often go back to after many side pursuits in several other notebooks. I know the traditional bullet journal notebook is the LT1917 dotted notebook, but there’s something about ruled notebooks that just sits nicely with me. If you’re an Aussie local, they retail at around AUD$9 at Woolworths stores. From what I’ve read in the Google+ and FB discussions, they are also available at B&N in the US. A similar brand that I’ve used is the J. Burrows notebook, which is available at Officeworks here in Oz.

As for pens, I only carry a few. My main pen is the Uni Jetstream 101 in the 07 nib. It retails at around AUD$2.95 at local newsagencies and Officeworks. You can also purchase them on eBay (international) and the beauty of these, is that you can also buy refills! I’ve run out of mine and the eBay seller no longer sells them, so if anyone has these, please let me know! I also would really like the clicky-top one – this is on my wishlist.

For the margins that I draw in my Piccadilly, I use a Staedtler Triplus Fineliner in grey

For planning lettering in my bullet journal and if I’m tentative about tasks, I use a Uni Shalaku S mechanical pencil with a 07 lead.

For adding colour to notes or journal pages, I bought a pack of 10 Daiso coloured pen set. I’ll usually only carry one colour on any given week. This week is pink :)

For the dates in my logbook pages and if I need to do any outlines in my lettering, I use a Uni Pin fineliner in 08 nib.

To rule the lines (no pic), I was lucky enough to inherit leftover sample bag goodies from hubby’s previous place of work, and I got a flexible ruler that doubles up as a bookmark and a magnifying class. He’s an audiologist and previously worked predominantly with the older population, so that explains the multi-funcionality of the ruler!

If you’re wondering how I get my event circles so round, it’s a hack I made. I use an old membership card and punched a hole in the corner using a hole punch, and et voila! Perfect event circles every time – you can thank me later ;) I’ve also tried old loyalty cards from coffee shops and juice bars, but they’re not sustainable. Something that’s made out of thin-ish plastic does the trick. The pic below is a new one I made for another bullet journal.

If that wasn’t boring, then well done for making it to the end :) If you haven’t done so already, I’m running a giveway to mark 1k followers on IG (@decadethirty) which consists of a few items I use. I know 1k seems tiny compared to the other planner community accounts out there, but thanks for the support. I really appreciate it and love seeing and reading wonderful ideas out there.

Happy stationery hunting, folks!

dm

DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated with any of these products and do not get paid for promoting them.