I know its a little late in the month to talk about my planner set-up but with the long weekend and my impending trip to Portland for the PNW Pen Show, things have been a little topsy turvy.
This month, I built another mermaid theme for the Patrons and myself. I feel like no matter where you live, July is a perfect time to get in touch with your inner merperson. Cool ocean currents and the deep sea is just the relief most of us need in the northern hemisphere as we slowly roast in the summer heat. Those in the southern hemisphere can dream of the upcoming warmer temps.
Pens & Inks:
It took multiple tries to get the right combination of nibs and inks this month. I , of course, treally wanted to use my Sailor PGS “Follow the Mermaid” fountain pen but the nib seems finer than a standard HF so I needed a bit darker ink to get the right contrast and usefulness from it. I ended up using the Colorverse Pillars of Creation which is a sheening reddish purple ink. I also really wanted to use my Platinum 3776 Kungpoo with the UEF nib but just couldn’t get an ink that was ocean-y enough for my theme AND dark enough for the needlepoint nib. In the end, I took the Kungpoo out of rotation for this month and put in a pen with a slightly wetter nib in the form of my Platinum Prefounte with an 03 nib and filled with Colorverse Morning Star.
- Pentel Sign Brush Pen (Emerald Green)
- Marvy LePen (Jade Green and Teal)
- Dot é Pen (Mint)
- Wretch Dual Color Gel Pen 0.5mm (Calaite & Mauve part of the Vintage 4-Color Set)
- Sailor ProGear Slim Follow the Mermaid (21k model still available)
- Delike New Moon EF (no longer available)
- Nagasawa Fresh Greens ProGear Slim (no longer available but other Nagasawa PGS models can be found here)
- Platinum Prefounte 03 Fine in Dark Emerald
- Franklin-Christoph Pocket 45 (this colorway is no longer available but other models can be found here)
- Colorverse Pillars of Creation (part of a set with Mystic Mountain mini bottle)
- Robert Oster Torquay
- Pen BBS #224 Leo Tolstoy (no longer available but Mountain of Ink offers some good alternatives)
- Colorverse Morning Star
- Pannonia Cheerio Waterbus — HUNGARIAN ink (Limited Edition, no longer available)
Ephemera:
I was spoiled for choice when it came to ocean-themed ephemera. Both sticker books were filled with a wide assortment of options from sea life to vintage bathers and pirates and I used a little of all of them. I love the giant Mystical Ocean PET tape but I did need to get creative in how to use since some of the stickers are quite large. What do you expect of whales? Of course they are big. There is amazing silver foil details that look great so I made these giant sticker work.Even using them liberally, I didn’t use a full repeat from the roll and the roll has at least 5 repeats of the designs so I think these big guys will come up again next year!
- Poseidon’s Kingdom Sticker Book
- The Seashore Sticker Anthology Book
- Mystical Ocean Pre-Cut Transparent PET Tape (XL)
- Sea Goddess Sticker Sheet
- Crystallary Sticker Sheet
- Days of the Week Sticker Sheet
- Date Dots Sticker Sheet
Do you theme your planner or journal by the week, month or year? What kinds of themes do you use?