I started my Stalogy B6 ($21.60) in October of 2022. The advantage of setting up a planning system that is based on Bullet Journal/Commonplace Book/Freestyle is that you can start and end whenever the mood strikes.
In January, I added the Midori Pocket Diary ($16.80) in my beloved leather cover by Bassy & Co (my conifguration was about $85). Over the months, I cut the pages of the Midori calendar and pasted them into the the Stalogy to create monthly spreads. The paper in the Midori planner is fountain pen friendly and the tabbed monthly calendar pages were fun and functional. However, the week-on-a-page with notes in the Midori did not end up being useful for me. I had planned to use the weekly pages for work notes but it ended up being more efficient to use a separate notebook for the office.
Once I started customizing my Stalogy, adding the calendar pages and even pasting in the extra lined pages as inserts to add additional pages, my journal/planner/notebook took on a life of its own. I even got out stamps, stickers and washi tape to help liven up pages.
Each month, I added a tab to indicate the month and was wild and free with the types of tabs. I could have been more consistent but I grabbed what was handy, sometimes just using a turn of washi tape. I like the freedom and fun it created.
I pasted in lots of little tidbits: receipts, business cards, photos printed from my digital photo printer and even some leaves and flowers. The book slowly became a time capsule as well as a visual reflection of the year.
There’s even some ink sample pages from a fountain pen show this year that kept turning up until I stuffed them into my journal as a keepsake.
I didn’t think I’d ever be the type to do this sort of journal keeping but it has brought me such great joy and I was so sad to reach the end of the book.
I’ve been so enamored with this silly mess-of-a-planner that I applied some Midori rub-on decals in gold foil ($5.75 per pack) to the cover.
Rather than start another Stalogy 365 in December, I am spending December working in the Zen Art Supplies B6 sketchbook ($13.95). It has heavier pages than the Stalogy with 120gsm cream paper. The paper was a bit too smooth for me for a sketchbook but as an interim journal, it feels good to use up some of the MANY notebooks in my stash and is working out well.
I also have started embellishing my pages with festive holiday elements and mark my spot with a Book Dart ($9.95 for 50). I might even add some more holiday elements. While I am still sick at home, I can have a little holiday festivity in my notebook.
Are you moving forward in your current planner or planning for a new planner? What part of the planning/journaling process is your favorite?
Previous posts about my planner set-up for 2023:
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I love the Hobonichi A5 planner in English with a Monday start. It takes fountain pen ink really well on the Tomoe River paper. I use a Roterfaden cover, which was expensive at $150, but is ingenious in its design. Three removable clips and your choice of layouts. I use two clips and add an A5 notebook that is fountain pen friendly. I carry it with me everywhere! Thanks for your blog. I really enjoy them.
Every time I see your Stalogy I swoon and want to do one myself. Except I don’t really keep up with anything (not even my 5 year journal… ooops!) so I’ll just watch yours with envy.
I tried the Travelers Notebook Weekly plus Memo. I did well the first time I had it. Then I tried to turn a lined Leuchtturm notebook into a kind of planner. It didn’t work right, so I abandoned that. The next year I got another TN Weekly plus Memo, and did poorly with that one. And like Laura, I even failed with a Midori 5-Year a few lines a day notebook. Sigh.
This year, I got a CR Gibson Bulleting Log Notebook. You have to write in the page numbers in a grayed circle, and circle, underline or highlight the month and day. It’s been this notebook that I finally have kept up a page a day. It ran out in November, so I got the Leuchtturm I started, and am using it for a page a day. I’m keeping up in that. I’m adding a Midori post it note that I stamp a calendar page on. Fill that in, and secure the lower end with washi tape. On that page, I write down birthdays and holidays. I have some stickers of trees in the seasons I’m going to use for the Soltices and Equinoxes. I’m tempted to get the moon phase stickers I think Ana shared.
It’s limited in that I can’t put in appointments too far ahead of time. I have to put those somewhere else. Ana solved that with her calendar spreads from the other notebook. I could write them on the new month page….
I think Midori also sells paste in monthly calendars that you can add into your notebook. Check over at Gentleman Stationer. I am pretty sure he stocks them. Dated and undated!
Oh, I love that top view image that shows how thick your book has become with glue-ins and such! I second Laura’s envy!