Write a Summer Journal, Suggestions for Different Types of Journals

Writing a Summer Journal

The long days of summer are here and to many of us summer offers an opportunity to slow down and reflect. Summers afford us time to read a book during long daylight hours and write down ideas, meaningful thoughts and moments. Summer is a great time to start a journal, write stuff down and start a journey of the mind.

The benefits of writing a journal have received a lot of attention in the last few years thanks to psychologists, researchers, business titans and religious leaders. In this blog post we will list our recommendations for the different types of journals we are most frequently asked about.

One of the most talked about ways of  getting organized is the bullet journal, which uses symbols and shorthand to quickly reference ideas, goals and to do lists. A bullet journal should lay flat and have a strong binding. Most customers pick a size of 5 x 7 inch or larger, because it can be hard to get organized in a pocket sized journal. Look for a paper quality, that handles different media such as pens, pencils, gel pens and markers well, this will make it easier to use color and drawings in addition to symbols when laying out a bullet journal. The Leuchtturm Bullet Journal, has everything you need to get started, such as an index, instructions and suggestions on proven bullet journaling techniques and hacks. The Leuchtturm Bullet Journal has two page markers for easy reference. If you are confident you have bullet journaling down to a system that works for you, but still would like some support like dot grid pages, two page markers, numbered pages and an index we recommend the Leuchtturm dot grid journal as it will save you some money. For those bullet journal writers,  that  enjoy creating their own look and layout, page numbering and index we suggest a blank A5 Paper-Oh notebook.

To evaluate and keep track of goals and life experiences over a longer period of time Paperblanks created a 5 year journal, which makes for a perfect companion for major life transitions like courtship and marriage, college, pregnancy and birth of a child and early childhood and keeping your head on straight when starting a major venture like a business.

Summertime is a great time to catch up on reading. Creating a literary log or book journal to keep track of what you have read and more importantly why a particular book was meaningful to you can be great fun. A book journal can provide a great jumping of point during discussions at a reading circle or book club. We suggest that you number the pages of your journal and create an index or choose a journal, that already provides these features like a Leuchtturm1917 journal. Our customers find great joy in picking a journal, that is inspired by a great artist like the Paperblanks Embellished Journals Series, which feature great writers and artists like Bram Stoker, L.M Montgomery and Lewis Carroll. A journal, that looks like an old manuscript out of one of the worlds great libraries like the Paperblanks Aurelia Notebooks also makes a popular choice.

Summer and travel go together. For many travel journal writers the Italian brand Moleskine will come to mind. Moleskine was marketed by identifying with the travel journals of famed travel writer Bruce Chatwin and Ernest Hemmingway.  The Moleskine Pocket Journal started a whole rebirth of elastic banded simple journals and still makes a good reliable choice for travelers, who want an unfussy and practical journal. When traveling decide if you need to be able to keep a small journal at hand and in your pants or breast pocket or travel with a decent size bag and do most of your writing at a table. For small true pocket size journals our favorite is the German brand Troika Liliput (spelled wrong on purpose) journal, it has dot grid paper,  a pen loop and even a small pen  to ensure that both pen and paper are always at hand. If you are able to sit down and write and carry your journal in a bag we recommend a slightly larger size. Paperblanks Midi Journals offer a wide range of cover designs and quality bindings in a compact 5 x 7 inch format.

In summer when we slow down we often long to reconnect with our spiritual side. Writing a journal can be a great way to connect with spiritual questions, faith and religious books either by yourself or in a group setting. There is really no wrong way to go, but most of our customers will select a lined journal with a strong and attractive binding that can be brought along in a bag. Leuchtturm1917 journals with page numbers and an index in the front and plain non distracting cover are a popular choice for a bible group journal and include stickers to mark cover and spine. Paperblanks offers journals inspired by the famous medieval Lindau Gospels and Iron and Twine, which was inspired by 18th century Christian prayer book and journals that are inspired by Buddhist art, and Islamic art for those looking to make a more specific connection between their journal and their faith.

When children return to school, their first assignment is often to write about the summer. For many children this feels like a chore. Family summer journals are created as the summer happens, collecting funny anecdotes, photo’s, clippings, drawings and more turning a chore into fun. A family journal comes out when waiting for food, a flight or ferry and when reminiscing after trips. Some tips, do not pick a journal that is too small, it is bound to get to lost and maybe hard to handle for small hands. Strong journals with blank sturdy pages work best. For smaller children the blank Stacy Walker Journals work well with bright colors and simple attractive designs. Paperblanks landscape format guest books also make a great choice with 120gsm paper they are a nice scrapbook/journal/sketchbook hybrid. Pick one of the renaissance covers to give the book a magical air.

Customizing your Paper-Oh Journal to get Organized

Paper-Oh the wonderful modern Paper Journal creations by German book binding and paper artist Nadine Werner are ideally suited for further personalizing and customizing. This friendly Canadian at the Paper-Oh Office explains the possibilities and gets you started and organized.

Tags: Bullet Journaling, Journaling Hacks, Paper-Oh

Valentines Day 2017 Lovenotebooks.com: Favorite Love Poem

It can be hard to find a great Valentines Day Gift, but we have a suggestion. A beautiful journal with a handwritten Love Poem written on or glued in on the end paper in front of the Journal. It can be your own writing if inspiration catches you or a favorite poem by someone else. Make it extra special by printing or writing on art paper and gluing the art paper onto the the Fly leaf (The right side of the front end paper)

A journal is the perfect Valentines gift for yourself or your Valentine

One of our favorite Love Poems by Lebanese Poet Khalil Gibran below. What is your favorite Love Poem?

Love One Another

Happy Halloween-Scary Stories-Great Journals

Happy Halloween.

Start a new family tradition. Select a beautiful and durable (Scary)journal for inspiration and have kids and grown-ups contribute their scary stories. Each Halloween your family’s scary story book will grow. Reading stories from years past will be good fun and may even prove insightful. Journal pictured is by Paperblanks and features a print by Canadian artist Alistair Macready Bell.

Tags: Alistair Macready Bell, Halloween, Journaling, Paperblanks

Deafmessanger notebook review

I first discovered Deafmessanger notebooks on Notebook Stories blog, and quickly became obsessed. These notebooks are made by hand in Prague by an artist named Kucin. The books have a very cool, street art look to them. I wanted to order one of their 2011 planners but by the time I got around to it they were already sold out, much to my disappointment.

So when the kind folks at Lovenotebooks offered to send me one of the Deafmessanger noteboooks to review, I jumped at the chance! They very generously sent me the Square Journal Cykorka to review. I was so excited to get it and check it out! I’ve never seen a notebook like this before.

The notebook is 6 ¾ by 6 ¾ inches, which is a great size to carry in your bag with you to write or sketch in anytime inspiration strikes.

Deafmessanger Cykorka notebook

The stiff cardboard cover has a stenciled design on the front (I love the bird). The cover is held securely shut at the corners by red elastic.

Inside, the message “Treasure Inside” makes you want to come up with a Very Special Purpose for this book. There’s even a pencil included so you can get started right away!

Treasure Inside

There’s a red ribbon placemarker to find your current page easily.  The recycled paper is surprisingly smooth and nice. You can see little flecks in the paper, giving it away as recycled, but it is smoother than I expected it to be. This was just one of the many pleasant surprises inside this book.

Throughout the book there are bits that were found by the artist that have been bound into the book on the rings, not stuck on the pages. This has the double benefit of not covering any precious page space, and allowing you to see both sides of the object (all of which are fascinating and unique).

The bits include things like old post cards, maps, and magazine pages. My favorite is this hand-written page from a ledger of some kind:

Ledger page bound on rings

In addition to the items stuck in, on random pages there are hand-stamped quotes designed to inspire and get your creative juices flowing.

“Stories Are Maps”

The last page has a stamped signature and message against animal suffering. At the bottom of the page is the stamped message, “to be continued…” which reminds us all that creativity is always a work in progress.

“to be continued…”

The edge of the inside back cover has the artist’s website and email address. I strongly encourage you to check it out:

www.deafmessanger.com
info@deafmessanger.com

Back cover

The back cover has the stenciled message, “what u risk reveals what u value.” There’s also a tag attached to the back cover that says, “Made from Prague, Made in Prague.” That’s important to point out: the bits stuck into the book are from Prague, so in the book you get a part of the artist’s home, and in his art you get a part of the artist himself.

The result is an absolutely unique book that’s hand made for only you. It feels like a personal gift from a good friend.

You can now buy a wide selection of Deaf Messanger notebooks in a variety of sizes and styles at LoveNotebooks! Click here to see the product page.

Many thanks again to my friends at Lovenotebooks for giving me the chance to review this awesome notebook!

Post by guest blogger and fellow lover of fine paper goods Laurie from plannerisms.com

Tags: Deafmessanger, Grafitti Art, Hand Made Journals, Prague Artists, repurposed material journal, review

It’s Orange and Black it is Halloween

Halloween Journaling

We recently visited a pumpkin patch and the pumpkins we picked are now on display on our front porch. The prickly stems, the slight creepiness of the Pumpkin patch itself, what if those vines came alive! and above all the enthusiasm of our kids got me in a Halloween mood.

All of a sudden you seem to notice Halloween everywhere especially in front of the racks holding Rhodia Notepads, Orange and Black everywhere! Now at first blush Love Notebooks is not exactly your home for Halloween merchandise, but sometimes, especially around Halloween, you need to dig a little deeper…

So much of Halloween revolves around scary stories, mostly other peoples stories on TV, the movies and yes books. In our busy lives we often have to set our own creativity aside and purchase someone elses already fully imagined one. Instead of making our own costume we purchase one off the rack. This made me wonder what happened to the scary stories people made up themselves about the ramshackle house down the street, the spider that kept on growing and the neighbors cat?

Not too long ago  kids often recited a scary story or song to get their treat. Families made  up and shared their own scary stories. Could this be the Halloween where we designate a family journal and write down our own scary Halloween stories. It will be a fun activity with the kids. Each can write their own or can add to a story already started by the previous writer. Decorating a simple black journal will make the fun complete. This can be the start of a new fun family tradition. A notebook to add to and share with family and friends for years to come.

Tags: family activities, Halloween, Halloween activities, Scary Stories