I have a blank A5 journal for memory keeping and I LOVE to decorate it in every way possible and it’s great. But I don’t do that with my planner much at all as decorating would slow me down and I might end up playing catch up on the dailies! I’ve limited my planner supplies to a tombow fudenosuke hard tip, a fountain pen filled with a really dark brown ink and 8 Zebra Sarasa clip vintage pens. Which sounds like a lot but is actually incredibly little in comparison to my journal supplies! I will allow myself to do a little bit of hand lettering for headings and just one doodle that I don’t even do a preparation sketch for, I just wing it 😊 I’ve found that this is the best way for me to use my planner every day and keep up with it because to fill a page isn’t such an involved decorating process! Besides, I have an A6 HON so decorating it would give me very little space to plan! 😊 Thank you for this awesome video! It’s so in depth and helpful ❤️ Despite the lack of decorating in my planner, I’m happy with the way it looks! Only thing I want to change/improve is get a fine nib for that fountain pen I use because the medium nib in it is a bit thick for the tiny Hobonichi grid and makes things look messier than they need to be. And I tried an extra fine and, while it looked neat, it was a NIGHTMARE to use. Constantly hard starting and skipping and just about the scratchiest nib in existence… maybe I just got a bad nib but I don’t want to take that risk again and I think a fine will be the Goldilocks size nib 😊
Kudos to you! In the sea of planner-related videos on this platform, yours offer an original (and insight-prompting) approach. It's so easy to get swept up in the gorgeous planner spreads and range of notebooks (and the rush to 'complete' a book) that we forget that our planner is a functional place/way of self-expression. I'm having so much fun watching these videos and seeing how and where I fit into the bigger planner picture. (Great analogy: outfit and accessories for planning and deco.)
I got sucked into so many planner styles by watching planner videos, and, yes, overspent, but I finally sat down and wrote down what I wanted, what I liked, what I disliked, etc. I have 2 functional, minimally-decorated planners (one for my desk, one for my purse) and then multiple journals that I actually save (planner pages are discarded). I decorate the journals but not the planners. I can still continue to admire everyone else's decorative spreads, but I know myself well enough to know I can't (or won't) replicate them. Very well-developed and thought out video!
I'm loving this series! Rachelle - I want to let you know that I'm a middle-aged mom and I find your content more interesting and useful than all the mommy-oriented planner youtubers.
This is a great video. I am a “variety is the spice of life” decorator. Sometimes I am strictly utilitarian. Sometimes I am full-on scrapbook and ephemera laden. The rest of the time, I am somewhere on the spectrum in between the extremes.
You are definitely my kind of planner tube creator. I subscribed this week and am really enjoying the content, the tips are helping me refine my own planning routine and making it more "me". Thanks so much for your work 🙂
I love it how you can use different styles and decoration according to how one wants to use their journal or planner. This is something that it’s not that much talked about because so often it feels like there’s only “one way” to do things. And of course you do what works for you! ❤
I Like what you said about stickers or illustrations helping you feel seen in your emotions. A journal can make such a good listener and witness to our lived experiences!
I use higlight markers to label different tasks to different categories. So it's functional, it helps me quickly see what I'm doing, and also all the different colors look pretty 😊
I agree that highlighters are wonderful! I definitely fall into the minimal decor category at this point, but also love a tidy finished product! I really love using a muted-cool color palette of highlighters, and a favorite way to use them is to draw a box on monthly spreads to indicate special days, days with appointments and special events. I"m leaning into using just one color per month, but we'll see how it goes. So simple, so effective!
Thanks for this series, it’s very helpful to think about the function and let the form follow. I’d love a video on how you incorporate the productivity (Eg GTD) in your work flow and planning.
Oh I just found your channel and I'm excited to see your take on all the planner information. I've been stuck in the decorative planner tube space and I definitely need more content like this!
I have the same planner decorative style as you, and I also have this itch to do something more creative as well-so I keep a separate journal from my planners (an A5 Stalogy) where I turn to whenever I feel like I need an outlet to use more stickers and washi, collage, save ephemera, etc. I also use it when I have a lot of thoughts I want to dump in multiple pages that don’t fit into any of my planner books. I have weeks where I want to do a lot and end up using that book every day, and some weeks where I might take it out once. I like having it as an unstructured outlet for my random bursts of creativity, without disrupting the hyper functionality of my planners
Thats such a great solution. Sometimes I dream of a bujo reality where I have enough space to do both again but I think the inconsistency may bother my brain 🤔
GIRL! Omg, I did the same exact thing with getting a bunch of ephemera packs and I’m so overwhelmed with the amount I ended up with. 😭 I guess I got really excited to start junk-journaling, I should’ve started small because now I’m stuck with all of these scraps and papers that I don’t even have enough journal space to add to!
I love this video. And you're very right. Everyone has a different decorative style and if they have differernt planners/journals, they decorate differently. I am the type who loves decorating my planners (it's the only way I look) but I totally understand what you mean by getting overwhelmed that you can't use a the planner. Some spreads seem overstimulating to me or confusing on how to read. It works for some people but not for me. For me, I use the horizontal planners for personal use and vertical layout for work. I use washi tapes as borders/dividers and decorate with a few stickers but leave a lot of space to write. Then after I write, I'll add more stickers for the deadspace or whatever fit for my day.
I need functionality, I'm the person who can't make it anywhere if it isn't in my planner. However 90% of the reason I have a planner is to decorate. I need the creative outlet. I have a big 8"x11" very plain, cheapish planner but I adore kawaii and stickers so I decorate. My process is that I put appointments in when I make them. Then I decorate. I put in my to do lists during the week and I continue to decorate all week. By the end of the week the spread is done and I start the next one. Working in it makes me look at it so I can get where I need to be and do what I need to do. I have more in common with the kawaii journal community than the planner community. I loved Lisa Frank and collected stickers as a kid so I feel like this is the grown-up version of that. I know my style would drive some people crazy but it fills both my functional and creative needs.
honestly with these last couple video's i'm finding out that i had no idea that the Cousin had so MUCH in it? Definitely gonna try one next year. I've been paying p much almost as much for a Jibun standard [or... i might've gotten the Lite this year, idr] so yeah. gonna try that next year, I already know.
I mostly keep ephemera in my bullet journal. I figured during the last couple of years that what I need is a monthly layout (trying out the vertical one for the first time this year!) and a financial tracker for each month. For this year I decided to add one or two pages to write down a review of that month, to reminisce about stuff that happened, stick some ephemera and stickers (usually I glued this on my monthly pages and during 2022, some were covering the others, which I don't really mind, but I kinda want all of it to be visible lol). I don't use weeklies - I tried those during 2019. and 2020. in various formats and just ended up writing down to-do lists.... And because I like to look at my bullet journal's from time to time, I relized that I don't want to know if I had to vacuum or buy certain stuff at the market on a specific day three years ago. I want to capture the feeling and I do that with stickers, ephemera or a doodle. And yeah, I'm the Maximalist the Artist percentage is also pretty strong in my results on the quiz 🥰 Love your content, it offers a different perspective on the ways people like to plan 💖
I have been loving your videos! I tried to take your quiz, but it seems to be unavailable due to so many people taking it :). Just wanted to let you know!
My planner deco style is a lot like my taste in music and books: it depends on my mood. Sometimes, it's writing only, these days I'm messing about with character/functional stickers, and I started with washi and ephemera. I have a rathr large stash, but I know that I'll use it the next time I'm in the mood.
I think like, Amazon? or staples? It's a 1.5 inch 3 ring binder with inserts that are just off the rack somewhere. Look for photo size or for business card size for different sizing options.
My decorative style depends on the planner purpose and size. I do decoration almost every week in all my planners because the color and decor inspires me. I like looking at it and I’m more inspired to use my planner if it makes me happy. But the amount of decor is different in my work planner than my EDC and those are different than my brand planner. But size makes a difference too. I like to have some white space and to have balance so the amount of decor and type of decor changes if I have a bigger planner for that planners purpose because I have to have room for all the function first and foremost and then decor but still with white space and not being cluttered. It’s important to remember too that everyone’s brain processes things differently, sees beauty differently and sees clutter differently. Some more “minimal” planners with less decor stickers and just tombows, washi and character stickers look super cluttered to me in how they are laid out how the writing is done. But some peoples planners with full sticker kits can be very clean and simple even with all the decor.
My jetstream has problems writing near the gutter of the spread on my weeks, more on the right hand page than the left hand page, but the problem occurs on both pages. It behaves as if the pen is empty in these areas of the pages but writes just fine as i move away from the gutter. All three colors reproduce this and it occurs whether or not I use a pencil board. I don’t use stickers so there is no bulking issue. Has anyone else had this experience or have any ideas how to resolve it? It’s making me want to stomp the pen.
Good thing I watched this video before I checked out my online orders of stickers and stamps which I dont even know if I will be using 😅 Thank you for all the good advice 🫶🤎
O, how many carts have I stocked with stickers only to abandon bc I (thankfully) realized I would never use them! I'm glad you found the advice helpful!
Just a friendly correction: you’re wrong. 😅 An aesthetic is a noun and aesthetic is an adjective. Something can ABSOLUTELY be aesthetic or not. It’s not a verb, that’s correct, because a verb is a doing word 😊
I have a blank A5 journal for memory keeping and I LOVE to decorate it in every way possible and it’s great. But I don’t do that with my planner much at all as decorating would slow me down and I might end up playing catch up on the dailies! I’ve limited my planner supplies to a tombow fudenosuke hard tip, a fountain pen filled with a really dark brown ink and 8 Zebra Sarasa clip vintage pens. Which sounds like a lot but is actually incredibly little in comparison to my journal supplies! I will allow myself to do a little bit of hand lettering for headings and just one doodle that I don’t even do a preparation sketch for, I just wing it 😊
I’ve found that this is the best way for me to use my planner every day and keep up with it because to fill a page isn’t such an involved decorating process! Besides, I have an A6 HON so decorating it would give me very little space to plan! 😊
Thank you for this awesome video! It’s so in depth and helpful ❤️
Despite the lack of decorating in my planner, I’m happy with the way it looks! Only thing I want to change/improve is get a fine nib for that fountain pen I use because the medium nib in it is a bit thick for the tiny Hobonichi grid and makes things look messier than they need to be. And I tried an extra fine and, while it looked neat, it was a NIGHTMARE to use. Constantly hard starting and skipping and just about the scratchiest nib in existence… maybe I just got a bad nib but I don’t want to take that risk again and I think a fine will be the Goldilocks size nib 😊
Kudos to you! In the sea of planner-related videos on this platform, yours offer an original (and insight-prompting) approach. It's so easy to get swept up in the gorgeous planner spreads and range of notebooks (and the rush to 'complete' a book) that we forget that our planner is a functional place/way of self-expression. I'm having so much fun watching these videos and seeing how and where I fit into the bigger planner picture. (Great analogy: outfit and accessories for planning and deco.)
Thank you Diane, it's always nice to see you in my comments
Oh wow! Great idea to test drive a system by drawing it on the blank pages in the back!
I got sucked into so many planner styles by watching planner videos, and, yes, overspent, but I finally sat down and wrote down what I wanted, what I liked, what I disliked, etc. I have 2 functional, minimally-decorated planners (one for my desk, one for my purse) and then multiple journals that I actually save (planner pages are discarded). I decorate the journals but not the planners. I can still continue to admire everyone else's decorative spreads, but I know myself well enough to know I can't (or won't) replicate them. Very well-developed and thought out video!
Thank you Mara!
I'm loving this series! Rachelle - I want to let you know that I'm a middle-aged mom and I find your content more interesting and useful than all the mommy-oriented planner youtubers.
Omg Tory! Thank you so much for saying something, I appreciate you watching and commenting!!
This is a great video. I am a “variety is the spice of life” decorator. Sometimes I am strictly utilitarian. Sometimes I am full-on scrapbook and ephemera laden. The rest of the time, I am somewhere on the spectrum in between the extremes.
You are definitely my kind of planner tube creator. I subscribed this week and am really enjoying the content, the tips are helping me refine my own planning routine and making it more "me". Thanks so much for your work 🙂
I love it how you can use different styles and decoration according to how one wants to use their journal or planner. This is something that it’s not that much talked about because so often it feels like there’s only “one way” to do things. And of course you do what works for you! ❤
I love the simple line you said of making the journal look like me! So effective!
Thank you
Love your channel; feels like spending time with a friend who loves what you love! 🩵
This is so sweet 🥲 Thank you so much for watching and I'm so happy you like hanging out with me ☺️
I Like what you said about stickers or illustrations helping you feel seen in your emotions. A journal can make such a good listener and witness to our lived experiences!
I use higlight markers to label different tasks to different categories. So it's functional, it helps me quickly see what I'm doing, and also all the different colors look pretty 😊
Nice!! It does sound pretty and functional. I've done a liiiitle bit of color coding over the years and it is nice!
I agree that highlighters are wonderful! I definitely fall into the minimal decor category at this point, but also love a tidy finished product! I really love using a muted-cool color palette of highlighters, and a favorite way to use them is to draw a box on monthly spreads to indicate special days, days with appointments and special events. I"m leaning into using just one color per month, but we'll see how it goes. So simple, so effective!
Thanks for this series, it’s very helpful to think about the function and let the form follow. I’d love a video on how you incorporate the productivity (Eg GTD) in your work flow and planning.
Oh I just found your channel and I'm excited to see your take on all the planner information. I've been stuck in the decorative planner tube space and I definitely need more content like this!
Welcome to the channel Amanda!
The planner style quiz link doesn't seem to be working....
I have the same planner decorative style as you, and I also have this itch to do something more creative as well-so I keep a separate journal from my planners (an A5 Stalogy) where I turn to whenever I feel like I need an outlet to use more stickers and washi, collage, save ephemera, etc. I also use it when I have a lot of thoughts I want to dump in multiple pages that don’t fit into any of my planner books. I have weeks where I want to do a lot and end up using that book every day, and some weeks where I might take it out once. I like having it as an unstructured outlet for my random bursts of creativity, without disrupting the hyper functionality of my planners
Thats such a great solution. Sometimes I dream of a bujo reality where I have enough space to do both again but I think the inconsistency may bother my brain 🤔
GIRL! Omg, I did the same exact thing with getting a bunch of ephemera packs and I’m so overwhelmed with the amount I ended up with. 😭 I guess I got really excited to start junk-journaling, I should’ve started small because now I’m stuck with all of these scraps and papers that I don’t even have enough journal space to add to!
I love this video. And you're very right. Everyone has a different decorative style and if they have differernt planners/journals, they decorate differently.
I am the type who loves decorating my planners (it's the only way I look) but I totally understand what you mean by getting overwhelmed that you can't use a the planner. Some spreads seem overstimulating to me or confusing on how to read. It works for some people but not for me.
For me, I use the horizontal planners for personal use and vertical layout for work. I use washi tapes as borders/dividers and decorate with a few stickers but leave a lot of space to write. Then after I write, I'll add more stickers for the deadspace or whatever fit for my day.
I love your videos so much 😭❤
Thank you 🥺
I need functionality, I'm the person who can't make it anywhere if it isn't in my planner. However 90% of the reason I have a planner is to decorate. I need the creative outlet. I have a big 8"x11" very plain, cheapish planner but I adore kawaii and stickers so I decorate. My process is that I put appointments in when I make them. Then I decorate. I put in my to do lists during the week and I continue to decorate all week. By the end of the week the spread is done and I start the next one. Working in it makes me look at it so I can get where I need to be and do what I need to do. I have more in common with the kawaii journal community than the planner community. I loved Lisa Frank and collected stickers as a kid so I feel like this is the grown-up version of that. I know my style would drive some people crazy but it fills both my functional and creative needs.
Lisa Frank kids are ALL planner girlies now
This video was so helpful! I'm glad I found your channel!
Welcome!!
honestly with these last couple video's i'm finding out that i had no idea that the Cousin had so MUCH in it? Definitely gonna try one next year. I've been paying p much almost as much for a Jibun standard [or... i might've gotten the Lite this year, idr]
so yeah. gonna try that next year, I already know.
It can definitely do it all.
This was another super helpful video!! Thank you!!!
I mostly keep ephemera in my bullet journal. I figured during the last couple of years that what I need is a monthly layout (trying out the vertical one for the first time this year!) and a financial tracker for each month. For this year I decided to add one or two pages to write down a review of that month, to reminisce about stuff that happened, stick some ephemera and stickers (usually I glued this on my monthly pages and during 2022, some were covering the others, which I don't really mind, but I kinda want all of it to be visible lol). I don't use weeklies - I tried those during 2019. and 2020. in various formats and just ended up writing down to-do lists.... And because I like to look at my bullet journal's from time to time, I relized that I don't want to know if I had to vacuum or buy certain stuff at the market on a specific day three years ago. I want to capture the feeling and I do that with stickers, ephemera or a doodle. And yeah, I'm the Maximalist the Artist percentage is also pretty strong in my results on the quiz 🥰 Love your content, it offers a different perspective on the ways people like to plan 💖
Thank you so much for commenting Aleksandra!! Experimenting is so important and I love how much you are trying stuff.
Another great video!
I love your videos!!! Where did you get this pebbled leather tan cover? Love this!😊
It’s moterm!! Thank you!
I have been loving your videos! I tried to take your quiz, but it seems to be unavailable due to so many people taking it :). Just wanted to let you know!
Thank you! I'm aware, I turned over my site so that it has a link to sign up to a form if you want to be notified :)
My planner deco style is a lot like my taste in music and books: it depends on my mood. Sometimes, it's writing only, these days I'm messing about with character/functional stickers, and I started with washi and ephemera. I have a rathr large stash, but I know that I'll use it the next time I'm in the mood.
I love your large folder set up with different ephemera and stickers etc! Where did you get your folder insert from please?
I think like, Amazon? or staples? It's a 1.5 inch 3 ring binder with inserts that are just off the rack somewhere. Look for photo size or for business card size for different sizing options.
My decorative style depends on the planner purpose and size. I do decoration almost every week in all my planners because the color and decor inspires me. I like looking at it and I’m more inspired to use my planner if it makes me happy. But the amount of decor is different in my work planner than my EDC and those are different than my brand planner. But size makes a difference too. I like to have some white space and to have balance so the amount of decor and type of decor changes if I have a bigger planner for that planners purpose because I have to have room for all the function first and foremost and then decor but still with white space and not being cluttered.
It’s important to remember too that everyone’s brain processes things differently, sees beauty differently and sees clutter differently. Some more “minimal” planners with less decor stickers and just tombows, washi and character stickers look super cluttered to me in how they are laid out how the writing is done. But some peoples planners with full sticker kits can be very clean and simple even with all the decor.
My jetstream has problems writing near the gutter of the spread on my weeks, more on the right hand page than the left hand page, but the problem occurs on both pages. It behaves as if the pen is empty in these areas of the pages but writes just fine as i move away from the gutter. All three colors reproduce this and it occurs whether or not I use a pencil board. I don’t use stickers so there is no bulking issue. Has anyone else had this experience or have any ideas how to resolve it? It’s making me want to stomp the pen.
I enjoyed the video.
I'm saying it now... You're going to be a woman in high demand this year.
👀 manifesting it
Good thing I watched this video before I checked out my online orders of stickers and stamps which I dont even know if I will be using 😅
Thank you for all the good advice 🫶🤎
O, how many carts have I stocked with stickers only to abandon bc I (thankfully) realized I would never use them! I'm glad you found the advice helpful!
Love your videos! Just a friendly FYI: “aesthetic” is a noun - not a verb. Something cannot be/not be “aesthetic”. ❤️
Just a friendly correction: you’re wrong. 😅 An aesthetic is a noun and aesthetic is an adjective. Something can ABSOLUTELY be aesthetic or not. It’s not a verb, that’s correct, because a verb is a doing word 😊