#ella's tips

[metanoiastudies-blog]

What journals / notebooks do you recommend?

Hi!! I highly recommend:- the blue campus notebooks by kokuyo i’ve ran through 2 notebooks for my bujo and they’ve been great. I use the notebooks for school too and it’s been amazing, i highly recommend this notebook, it’s my absolute favorite!

- muji’s plastic ring file + dividers + paper with grid/grid dotted paper i love muji’s papers, but i don’t quite like the notebooks because there’s too little pages in my opinion, but the newest ring system that I have is pretty nifty. I don’t recommend a double ringed file though (the pages keep escaping because their double punched holes are abnormally wider than their rings- so i’m using a file fastener to keep them together) so try and get the multiple ringed files. I love this system because I’m very bad at spacing my pages, so with this system I can arrange what goes where very easily, and choose which papers to bring if the file gets too thick (I use A5 for my bujo and B5 for my school notes). i’ve been told that the recycled paper file material splits open very easily so i use the plastic one (which is really good so far- i don’t have much complaints)

- any notebook you can findi actually don’t really bother with what notebook i use. normally because as long as the papers are great (quality and quantity) and they’re small but big enough to travel with, no matter how ugly the cover is (because you can always decorate it), they’re good to go. don’t spend so much money on a branded notebook. notebooks are places where you should be okay with making mistakes, jotting down your feelings, okay with wrecking etc. if you want to invest in a good notebook, i recommend you only do so for a planner/bujo/diary, and only for the sole purpose that this will motivate you/make you happy/add to your emotional attachment - but again, there are many good quality and cheap notebooks out there.

please never feel obligated to buy expensives notebooks ! notebooks and journals (bujos) should be there to help you and to bring you happiness/some ground to your life ^^ and as previously mentioned, it’s totally okay to spend a bit more on notebooks and journals (everyone has different things that they don’t mind spending money on and if school supplies are it for you, then by all means buy it!)  

[metanoiastudies-blog]

I LOVE your bujo spreads and your theme! aw yis stan bts and park jimin :))) I'm not sure if this was addressed in your FAQ, (your link for FAQ is broken on desktop, I think :( ) but I was wondering how long it takes you to make your weekly spreads? They're so pretty and detailed!

thank you so much, you’re so sweet omg (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)<333 and YOU’RE AN ARMY? HI OMG also oh no is it broken? i’ll try and get it fixed as soon as my schedule allows it >< and haha! i’ve actually never been asked that question before so i’ve never listed it in my FAQ (๑˘︶˘๑) 

it takes me about 15 minutes setting it up (and i fill it in as the week progresses)? (i’m used to the current format that i use, but when i first started it took me about 45 minutes to figure out where to dump everything i needed ><)

i don’t know if you can tell, but i list a lot of tasks in each day (and i time how much i orientate around each task to make sure i don’t accidentally pull an all nighter whoops), so i’ve never been able to divide each day like how some of my friends do (but again this depends per person -( ˙꒳ ˙ )-.) 

i organise my spread into 4 columns (through the very traditional form of folding my pages slightly *cackles* ) and i normally place admin related things like weekly checkpoints (essentially things i have to finish by the week or i’m going to pull another all-nighter (ib is so hard don’t ever do it eek)), calendars, schedules, spending, study trackers etc on the 1st and 4th column (i set up these columns first :D), while my tasks and time planning are in the middle (which are done throughout the week)^^

i spend a good 10-20 minutes everyday planning my next day and it’s a stress reliever for me so i don’t really mind spending more time on it planning and decorating (washi tape and highlighters are great for decorating bujos <3) but i also know that this isn’t for everyone and that’s fine too (*´▽`*)

thank you so much <3 i’m very honoured and grateful that you like my spreads ♡( ◡‿◡ ) and i hope this helped!

[metanoiastudies-blog]

Hey! Do you have any favorite pens that you would recommend?

hi! thank you so much for stopping by! i do, omg i’m such a stationery hoarder *cackles unashamedly* (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄). 

1. this is my absolute favorite (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ (i have like 5 of these oops). it is the uni-ball signo dx in size 0.38. it’s really smooth on paper, and the pen tip is super small so it’s great for people with tiny handwriting like me, and is especially great for art when making pen lines (looks great when scanning too). i use this pen for what i like/ more important occasions ie. essays, exams and art (i also use this pen a lot on my bujo, so if you need to know what it looks like, just check my bujo spreads╰(*´︶`*)╯ just a warning though,it’s a bit on the pricey side, the ink runs out pretty fast (but it may be because i use it for everything i do) and it smudges because it’s a gel pen, so you have to wait a bit before highlighting on it (and be extra careful about water and dropping it (once you do, if the cap’s off, that pen is gone bro) with this child - but other than that, it’s a wonderful pen to use)

2. my favorite blue pen. i don’t really like blue pens, but i’ve been using this for years when i need that super distinctive difference in color on my notes for lectures. it’s the pentel energel in size 0.5. another gel (can you see the trend haha). also super smooth, and also has the water smudging issue, but this pen doesn’t die if you drop it, the ink lasts you for quite a while too (´ ∀ ` *)

3. i just found this (my only regret is that i didn’t buy this in a smaller size), but it’s growing on me. it’s the faber-castell document proof super true gel cushion tip for comfort writing in size 0.5 (ikr the name is so long, i had a good cackle typing this out). it’s incredibly smooth, more than my uniball and i never thought i’d say that. the ink lasts well and it’s great for writing fast and/or cursive. the cost for this pen (where i live) is pretty affordable, and they come with refills ^^ (hopefully i don’t lose them though knowing me) ╰(▔∀▔)╯

4.  is this considered a pen(?) but it’s the zig calligraphy pen in size 2.0 and 3.0 (that’s how much i love it, i’ve 4 of these). it’s such a good art pen. good for making headers, titles, calligraphy, sketchy lines, ugh. it’s super good. it’s the more affordable option to other art pens, but the ink quality is stellar and the ink lasts really well. however, it is not a brush pen, and it being a calligraphy pen means that it will smudge and will stain on water, but it’s a extremely good pen (o˘◡˘o)

+ 

as for ball point, i don’t buy them tbh, i normally get the company ones in my mom’s office or if my friends get them for me as gifts (because it’s widespread knowledge amongst them that i love stationery 😂) 

++

you didn’t ask me for this, but i just wanted to list this down in case anyone was wondering. the muji black pen. (muji doesn’t label their things nor can i remember the size of the pen, but it is the bigger pen tip size (because it was cheaper)). i only bought this pen to see the hype on muji stationery, and i was a bit let down. it’s pretty smooth, but i probably wouldn’t buy it again. it’s rather expensive, and it isn’t as smooth as my other pens (it gets scratchy at times). it’s also too big for my handwriting, so i normally use it for making titles (or when i need large words on my notes). it’s my personal opinion, but i feel like the price of the pen doesn’t really equate to their quality (which is rare that i’m saying this because it’s muji and i love muji), but then again, muji’s hella expensive where i’m from - but don’t turn away from the pen, try it out if you want, my personal opinions shouldn’t sway yours ^^

i hope this managed to help you ~ i highly recommend you try these pens out because i really love them ( ´ ▽ ` )

[metanoiastudies-blog]

Hey, I'm really sorry if this has already been asked before, but what journal/notebook do you use for your bullet journal?

Haha I have been asked this before! But it’s okay, don’t worry ^^ I use a blue Campus notebook by Kokuyo, the paper is great and super smooth, I highly recommend this brand :D Ah but I heard it’s on the pricier side (I get them for free from my mother’s office) so you should take the price into consideration as well!

[metanoiastudies-blog]

where do you get your supplies?

Hello! <3 I do have a lot of stationery, but I get majority of them from either Popular (bookstore) or Art Friend (art store) :)

My black gel pens and Midliners were purchased on a bookstore membership offer, so they were only $0.70 USD and $1.05 USD respectively while my art pens were only $1.10 USD each (you can also get them from Art Friend, but I normally only purchase items from there if there’s a huge sale). My washi tape were gifts from my friends so I’m not particularly sure where they were from while my notebook is from Campus Kokuyo (which has excellent paper quality). My stickers are a long collection that I’ve accumulated over the years so I have forgotten where I got most of them. Sorry for the lack of precise information, I hope this helps!

- Ella <3