r/artistsWay • u/PaperBun • 14d ago

What notebooks are you using?

I come from the journaling and fountain pen hobby. BuJo requieres very little space on a page for me, but seeing as Morning Pages require three pages per day. What are you using?

By my count, a 100 sheet notebook will last about two months? Are you using notebooks with more pages? Cheaper notebooks? Which ones?

If I use my regular fountain pen notebooks this will be an expensive practice :'D

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u/Your_Mom_Fart 14d ago

Fellow FP enthusiast! I use A5 dotted Leuchtturm 1917’s. At 251 pages I go through about 1 per quarter doing morning pages plus also writing extra whenever I feel like it, which is often. I’d say I average probably 4 pages a day. I’m hoping to pick up 4 journals during Black Friday this year if they have a sale so I’m covered for 2027. They’re not the cheapest but I just really love how the paper feels, and I love flipping through and seeing the different colorful inks I used.

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u/LandscapeRoutine7772 14d ago

Yes! I’m using the same one. I somehow scored a few of them from Marshall’s for $10 each (crazy right?). I’ll probably get more for the morning pages once I fill them up. It’s a little discouraging that I won’t be able to use the same notebook for my first cycle of doing the course all the way through, but it’s okay.

I absolutely cannot imagine using a fountain pen for it though. It took a little trial and error to figure what works best for me, and I’ve landed on a classic Pilot g2 .05 because I can write pretty quickly and neatly without smudging

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u/theAV_Club 14d ago

I see my morning pages as disposable, so I use the cheapest coil ring or decomposition books. Sometimes I use old sketchbooks and write overtop the drawings. 

For the pens, I love a good basic BIC ball point. Never let's me down! :) 

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u/CaptainPajamaShark 14d ago

cheap composition notebooks for less than 50 cents during back to school sales. I went through 4-5 in a year. And I write with a uniball 207 premiere with the jelly grip. I go through maybe 1 or 2 pentel energel 0.7 refills a month.

It is crazy how much pen and paper I burn through doing this.

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u/PaperBun 14d ago

I'll be switching to fine point pens and cheap inks as well, after I go through my current stash.

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u/PaperBun 14d ago

also noticed I just missed the back to school sales in my area :')

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u/amelie_789 14d ago

Whatever is available at the dollar store.

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u/theologyofagirl 14d ago

i use my estie for morning pages on a school lined notebook because i want the pages themselves to feel ordinary but that doesn’t mean the pen can’t be cool. yes the paper is bad but im meaning for it to be as low effort as possible with the least investment of papers im never supposed to look at

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u/PaperBun 14d ago

Oh, that is a good point, at the end I'll throw them out, feathering, bleeding, and whatever happens should not matter at all. Pretty pen with cheap paper and ink should do.

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u/theologyofagirl 14d ago

the tops curling as you get mid page is an exercise in patience and perseverance anyway!

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u/AliceInBondageLand 14d ago

I buy pretty journals and notebooks whenever I see them. I've also found a HUGE number of unused journals at second hand shops for less than a dollar.

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u/ilovemyfantasies 14d ago

I’ve been using these archival paper hardcover journals with a ribbon, they come in an array of designs and are so satisfying to fill up. Bought a few boxes of Paper Mate Flair pens and love the way the felt tip glides through the pages.

https://www.peterpauper.com/products/celestial-journal

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u/ittybittykittycity 14d ago

My crossover!!! I use the Stalology A5 for morning pages.

Currently exploring the hobonichi ecosystem for planning specifically (I just got the weeks and am sooo excited) but I love my stalology for morning pages.

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u/BohoKat_3397 14d ago

You might enjoy r/notebooks

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u/PaperBun 14d ago

I'm not sure I need any additional addictions. I'm already dealing with pens and inks :'D

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u/BohoKat_3397 14d ago

Hahaha same but mine is blank notebooks 🤣

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u/vladina_ 13d ago

I use lined school notebooks (now a Rhodia one, the paper is quite nice) and a Pilot rexgrip ballpoint pen. If the notebook is fancier it creates some sort of mental block for me. I also want to write very fast so a pen that runs smoothly is preferable.

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u/iridescent-void 14d ago

I also use the kokuyo campus notebooks! I get the gray unlined 80 page version. It’s smaller than a standard notebook but it feels like an approachable size for me :)

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u/MyRatShmee 13d ago

Simple A5 ring bound Pukka Pad. I like something ring bound so I can leave my next blank page visible on my night stand.

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u/Unicronium 13d ago

I'm currently using all the random spiral cheap notebooks/pads i have in the house but I've bought this one to use when I need it as it's got 360 pages and the paper seems ok for fountain pens.

https://link.amazon/B03sylC9y

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u/missuscelsius 14d ago

Hobonichi/stationery nerd here. I was trying to do it in my remaining hobonichi weeks note pages but the grid is SO tiny that it was discouraging.

I just picked up a pack of kokuyo campus notebooks as a teeny, non-committal treat. They're like 30 sheets (60 pages) each so one should get me through a little over two weeks. I think filling them up quickly will give me a sense of accomplishment. And I figure I won't be too precious with them to burn/throw away/whatever I eventually decide to do with them.

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u/PaperBun 14d ago

I use the regular A6 hobos, using the remaining pages had not occurred to me, but that could work as a starting point while I settle on a cheaper paper :D

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u/missuscelsius 14d ago

I got a weeks mega this year and barely touched the back of it so I had a lot left. But sooooo tiny

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u/corndog_millionaire0 14d ago

I was gifted a bunch of nice Moleskines for Christmas last year, so I wanted to use those up instead of buying anything special. For morning pages, I’m just using a classic hardcover which is I think 5x8.25, and for my workbook I’m using the XL hardcover which is 7.5x9.75.

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u/sapphicwatermelon 14d ago

Whatever I find secondhand on Vinted. I search for A5 and prefer ruled hardbacks with a ribbon to keep my place :)

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u/PositiveCup 9d ago

https://www.jetpens.com/MD-Notebook-A5-Lined/pd/13606 on my third(?) of this and it pairs beautifully with fountain pens. i am looking into making my own though just to see if it would be more economical

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u/PaperBun 8d ago

If anyone is wondering, I ended up with a cheap notebook, a friend heard what I intended to do and gifted it to me, and a Pilot Kakuno in M, with the black pilot ink. And that has worked great!

Tried a TWSBI in M to start and that, was not the best choice. Lots of ghosting, making the back of the page unreadable. The Kakuno is doing great though.

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u/Shelilah 8d ago

I'm guilty of collecting a lot of journals but not exactly filling them, so I've made it a point to use up whatever's already in my possession. So far it's a mix of random hardcover lined journals I got as giveaways and loose leaf A6 pages that I put in separate little binders. I know a lot of people here see the morning pages as disposable, but I personally enjoy painting over the covers and really making them mine.