Tag Archives: Hobonichi

But How?, Fountain Pens

Morning Daily Sample/Pen Routine – Process

Alright, you know those posts I have about the daily samples? Well, let’s get into the technical specifics of how I currently do my daily morning ink and pen routine. I assume someone out there will get something out of it. Here we go!

Step One:

Three notebooks stacked on top of each other. The one on top is a Hobonichi Techo 2022 Original, underneath is a textured black notebook with a Goulet Pens purple ink splatter sticker on the cover, and the one on the bottom is purple, with 2 stickers visible. The top sticker is a lightbulbs with a garden and a black cat inside. And the bottom one is partially obscured, but the whole thing says, Don’t Believe Every Thought You Think.
Set up the notebooks. For this I add some stickers to the pages where I start today in my Captain’s Log, and that day’s page in my Nightly Journal. I also pull out my Daily Sample Journal. 

Step Two:

On a wooden desk are: - paper towel which caught a ton of ink drops and spills - a blank white sample card - a purple vial holder in the shape of a giant d20, which is holding a vial with a cap that has three white stickers on top. One is blank, one says “4” and the other says “9.22” - a grey dip pen with a protector over the metal nib, and is resting on a glass pen holder - a stamp ink pad with the lid taken off - a stamp with the shape of a B nib
Pull out the sampling supplies. First, the sample vial, which I put in the 3D printed d20 vial holder Aaron made me. Next I pull out the nib stamp I am using that month and the ink pad for it. Then the dip pen I am using – currently an Iro-utsushi, metal nib instead of glass. Last the two paper towels I use – one where I can catch any spills and one where I can rest the q-tip when I am done with it.

Step Three:

A wooden desk with various ink sampling supplies. Centered is a sample card with blue ink swapped across the top, a black nib stamped on the right side, and drips of ink off the nib tip and a larger pool of ink.
This is where I start putting ink down on paper. I use a q-tip to pick up ink from the vial and swab the top of a sample card. Then I’ll stamp the card with that month’s nib stamp. Next I pick up a little more ink and use it to make a puddle of ink on the card, making it look like the ink is dripping off the tip of the stamped ink nib.

Step 4:

6 places that had ink applied by a q-tip: - the top of an ink vial lid - the blank dot has had a drop of ink applied - My Captain’s Log page that lists the Akkerman inks for that month, a drop of ink has been applied next to the #4 - the sample card with ink on the top of the card and a puddle of ink - the daily sample journal page with the puddle of ink and the stamped ink bottle filled in with color
I use this q-tip in seven spots, funnily enough. The swab at the top of the card, the ink puddle on the card, an ink puddle on that days journal sample page, a dot on top of the vial lid, a dot next to the name of the ink written out in that month’s list, then I swab in the ink bottle stamp on that days page, then! 

Step Five:

A close up of a page in a planner, each line with the day of the month to the left. At the top is “9” and “September,” underneath I have written Akkerman in purple. There are four days visible, each with a line of ink drawn from right to left - they are all different color blues.
Seventh and finally for the q-tip, a line of ink on the page that lists every day of months in a column. And then I rest it on a paper towel because it pulls the rest of the ink out slowly and sometimes you can see some really interesting color separations. 
Two notebooks, the smaller planner resting on the larger. In the planner, you can see “04 Nassaus Blauw” and a square of the same color to the left. The larger notebook page is for September Daily Samples for Akkerman, with the first 4 ink names listed twice - once on the left in alternating orange and purple, and once on the right in that days ink color. There are drops of ink on the far left of that days ink.
Once the q-tip is done – moving on to using the dip pen. I start with the Captain’s Log and Nightly Journal – I write out the name of the ink on the page I list all of that month’s inks next to itself. Then I write it again at the top of that days Nightly Journal page, and fill in a square – the top of those pages have a very short checklist, so I basically color in the box you’d normally mark when something is done. 

Step Seven:

The sample card has a swatch of ink applied to the top of the card, there is a nib stamp with what looks like the same ink dripping off the nib and into a puddle. The card text reads: Akkerman 04 Nassaus Blue Xxxooosssssss 22SeptVent-4 Standard
Next is the sample card. I put the ink manufacturer, series if applicable, name, and some test x’s, o’s, and interconnected s’s. I also add which month it is usually by year, month, “vent” and the day – for example, 22SeptVent-4. And last I put the kind of ink it is on the right edge of the card – standard, shimmer, or sheen – those are the three types I’ve sampled so far. Well, ColorVerse calls their shimmers “glistening” and there are some shading inks that go by different shades. 

Step Eight:

A notebook page - there is a sticker applied to the top left corner, it looks like a sample that has floating lantern art. To the right of the sticker is text reading “04 Nassaus Blauw” with scribbled marks to the left and underneath and the right side. In gold ink in the top right hand corner the text reads “9.4.22 Sun”
I write the name of the ink in one last spot in my Captain’s Log – that days first page.

Step Nine:

A planner page - what is on this page is explained in the caption of the photo.
Then I switch over to the Daily Ink Sample Journal. I make 4 squares, 4 circles, and 4 triangles all filled in. Then I scribble a square to be as saturated as I can make it. Then more interconnected squiggles. Below that I put the same info I had on the sample card – manufacturer, series, name and then whether it is a standard ink or not, and finally which dip pen I am using. Beside that I draw straight lines until the ink starts to fade. Below that I write “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” because that phrase has every single letter of the English alphabet at least one. Then a line of dots and dashes. Then a description and my FEELINGS about the ink. Lastly, after one last dip into the vial, I draw what I call my sharp squiggles – it’s just a mess really, but I find the motions soothing and the visual appealing.

Step Ten:

A notebook page - there is a sticker applied to the top left corner, it looks like a sample that has floating lantern art. To the right of the sticker is text reading “04 Nassaus Blauw” with scribbled marks to the left and underneath and the right side. In gold ink in the top right hand corner the text reads “9.4.22 Sun” underneath is the text “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” written 10 times, in 10 different inks. The first is purple, the next two are different blues, the next two are different greens, a shiny red with gold sheen, a maroon, a orangey red with gold shimmer, a yellow orange, and a gold with gold shimmer.
I finish by testing all of the pens I have inked that day. I started doing this when I would find a pen wasn’t working well in the middle of the word day which was so very frustrating! So the pen test gives me an idea of which ones to avoid that day haha. In this photo I just repeat the quick brown fox sentence, but really I’ll just write down my thoughts, changing pen colors on every line.

And that’s it! When I first got started with this I would just ink up the sample card, usually just with a square swab applied by q-tip and the ink manufacturer and name. I added the daily sample journal later. Then I added writing it in my Captain’s Log, then my nightly journal, etc. It has evolved over time. I switched from a glass nib dip pen to a metal nib – recently, actually. I’ve changed up the kind of sample cards I use for samples and I have changed the format I use on the card. Huh…this line of thought could end up being a whole other post. So I will leave it there!

I want to share these kinds of things in case it is helpful to someone. And I love collecting this data and putting it somewhere, so throwing it on this blog seems like a good place for it.  

Accessibility, Fountain Pens

How I Got Started – The Whole Pen Thing

A little over a year ago, I was sitting on a couch, trying to figure out how to get my life organized. Imagine, 2021, a year and more into the pandemic. It was August, and I had made it to the weekend absolutely exhausted. With my chronic pain as bad as it was, that’s what a weeks worth of work would do to me – exhaust me. And then it would take me all weekend of doing nothing to get back into a state where I could just go to work again. My brain fog was at an all time high. Staying organized and being able to emotionally regulate felt impossible. I stopped most of my hobbies and socializing. I woke up, went to work, and then went back to bed until the next day, for months. I didn’t even have the energy to figure out how to fix it. Doesn’t that sound like fun?

First attempt at a notebook system configuration. A teal notebook cover with several small notebooks within, and a pen in a pen loop on the right.
First attempt! I wanted to try out something I could hold and use, tried out different kinds of paper and notebooks.

What does this have to do with pens, you may ask? Well. Back to August – I’m procrastinating from doing anything useful by scrolling facebook, when I run across a post from a friend of mine. She posted a photo of one of the art journals she was playing with at the time. I’d seen her posts before, and it clicked. Maybe that’s what I needed to get back to doing – using pen and paper to stay organized. 

Back to? Yep. I’ll try and make this next bit short. Let’s back up to 2015. I’m a 20 something adult, a book bag with me everywhere I go – to make sure I had all of the essentials. I leave this bag in a car while I ran in to grab something – I come out and the car has been broken into, bag stolen. What would Spoon consider essential you may ask? Well two things, my favorite pen collection (no fountain pens yet), built up over several years – and a notebook I had in my pocket at all times and had been carrying for years. It had all of the notes for the book I was writing and a dozen other story ideas and journal entries. When it was lost, I was super upset – and decided to go digital. That way everything could be backed up, and retrieved. And I thought I was good – I felt like I’d found a great solution to staying organized. Problem solved. Then, fast forward to August 2021, I realized that this digital thing wasn’t working anymore. I wasn’t using the digital planner, I wasn’t writing in the digital journal, and I was losing track of all kinds of things, important things. I felt like a broken version of myself. Such drama. But in all seriousness, my mental health was in a very dark spot. 

Seeing my friends post on facebook sort of clicked something in my brain – maybe I should try pen and paper again? But where to even get started. I asked her what notebook she was using and she told me and then asked what I was interested in using it for? Organizing, planning, writing. Basically, a paper brain. Well – clearly I had asked the right person, because heck did she have a bunch of suggestions! We talked about notebooks, notebook covers, organization systems, pens – really, this is all my friends fault. Ahem. 

A notebook cover with three notebooks. Laying to the left is a brownish cover, in the middle is a purple cover with two sticks reading “Department of Opposition Lawful Evil” on one and “Queerty” on the other. Under the purple book is a Hobonichi Techo cover.
The first trial of notebook configurations.

I wanted to start small – practically, and literally, turns out. I picked up a notebook cover, an A6 Hobonichi daily planner, and a blank A6 Wonderland notebook. For work I tried 4 or 5 different planner systems, and finally settled on a Techo Weeks, for scheduling and to dos. And an A5 Hobonichi Daily to keep track of what I’d done during the work day. Oh, and a sample pack of purple pens, which is where I tried out a fountain pen for the first time in recent memory. And then I got curious about fountain pens…I asked Dora – and we went down another delightful rabbit hole together. She showed me pens with different fill systems, told me where I could get ink samples so I could try out different colors, and even recommended what ended up being my first refillable fountain pen – a Twsbi Eco. Purple, of course. Purple is also the color of the first ink sample pack I ever got! All of her advice got me started, and I was able to give myself space to experiment and find something that worked really well for me. From the very start each part of the process kept me engaged and having fun. 

Three purple pens, the top is a purple Pilot Metropolitan, the second one is a light purple Kaweco Sport, and the last is a purple Twsbi Eco, all laying on a tan blanket.
The first purple Twsbi Eco at the bottom! Some of my other first trials were a Pilot Metropolitan (also my friends suggestion) and a Kaweco Sport. They all write very differently.

As I tried new things, I got more organized. I was able to self regulate more. I was journaling and waking up and wanting to do things besides sleep and go to work. My mental health was evening out enough that I could start realizing that I needed to make some changes – which we did. I was worried about this whole thing being a passing ADHD interest – but when I hit December and was still using all of the notebooks and pens and my interest kept deepening and expanding – I gave up and embraced the new me haha. 

Notebook page with the text “Feelings & Research” in a blue ink with a purple sheen. There is an uncapped pen resting on the page, a blue resin with a white finial and a music nib.
Sailor Cobra Blue, and the opening page for the book where I started doing research into Autistic Burnout.

By the end of 2021 I had started researching (Autistic Burnout, different post), I was consistently using a planner (for some one with ADHD this is impressive), and I was increasing the amount I was journaling every day (this is incredibly useful for someone who has trouble self regulating their emotions, I have found). I was appreciating the joy that sampling inks daily gave me. I was appreciating the joy I could get from a beautiful pen. I was appreciating the joy and peace I was getting from putting those beautiful pens, those gorgeous inks, onto delightful paper. And by the end of the year I had settled on a solid system for myself. I invested in duplicating that system for 2022 – and have continued trying new things! I went thru a lot of iterations between August of 2021 and August of 2022 so I won’t bore you with all of them here. Maybe I should put together a timeline of when I was using each book and pen config?

Now – what am I using these days? 

  • A6 Techo Avec Cousin, which I use for a nightly journal. Just a small space to recap my day and have a moment of transition before bed. 
  • A5 Wonderland, I call it my Captain’s Log – everything goes in here, journaling, workshopping, playing with new inks, more research. Whatever, it’s an undated space where I can write endlessly. (I’m on volume 3!)
  • Techo Weeks, After my vacation at the end of 2021, in January I actually decided to use this for home scheduling and to-dos instead of for work. We go over this every day after breakfast, and it helps us remember things, sync on stuff, and coordinate what is needed. AND I can keep track of tasks long term. So handy. 
  • For work I settled on a Kokuyo Jibun Techo Days Diary – I just needed more space than the Weeks could give me – and A5 Wonderland notebooks for meeting notes and a workbook. It works incredible well. (I use different colors pen inks for alternating lines or meetings so I can stay ORGANIZED.)
  • There are a bunch of other notebooks of various sizes I use for my various hobbies, but I’ll go into those in another post. 
A pen holder with 14 pens. The pens are all the colors of the rainbows, and the pen case is a roll up with a classic wave pattern and the inside is a soft blue fabric.
I bought a new pen every time someone made me cry for a while, and ended up with two different rainbows from Twsbi and Pilot.

The pens I am using rotate every month, and each month has a theme – check out my posts on Pen Palettes to learn more. I will have been sampling inks daily for an entire year once we get to October of 2022. And I continue to find fun new things to try with all of it. I think I can safely say this is a solid special interest. 

And there’s more! Tangled up in this timeline is how I started using multiple different pens every month, sampling pen inks daily, and setting up transitions and tunnels and stopped masking and – so many things. More future posts! 

I wrote this for two reasons. The first is that seeing stories of how – and why – other folks got started really inspired me to try this out. And second, this brings me great happiness and if even a single person reads this and it gives them an idea that makes THEM happy, then I win. I guess a third reason is I am Autistic, this is a special interest, and this blog lets my info dump without irritating anyone. 

This is my first post that touches on both my disabilities and my pens! I wouldn’t have gotten started with this when I did if my mental and physical health hadn’t been so awful. So, while I can separate them sometimes, it’s all really tangled up in each other, which is part of what makes me me. Isn’t identity fun? More soon!