An inside spread from the Hobonichi techo, showing one page for July 1 and the other for July 2. The main area has gridded paper and there are quotes at the bottoms of the pages in kanji (Japanese).

Main Journal

My main journal is for “memory keeping”: a record of my days. I use a Hobonichi Techo Original (A6).

Monthly Index

I put two things on these pages now that I have a kiddo: swatches of the fountain pens inks I’m currently using, and a list of developmental changes in my daugther that month.

5

May

Blobby swatch of a lavender color
{Ink Brand} Lavender
Blobby swatch of a warm purple color
{Another Ink Brand} Purple
Blobby swatch of a dark purple color
{Ink Brand} Black Violet

{Daughter} this month:

  • A cute thing my daughter has been doing
  • A developmental milestone she reached
  • A first event, adventure, or meeting
  • Another silly habit

Daily pages

At the top of the page next to the checkboxes, I write a list of good things from the day. I use a star for personal wins, and a heart for anything else. The body of my daily entry is typically some combination of the following:

  • Headline written in Textura Quadrata-style calligraphy or old school bubble letters.
  • Bullet-style snippets of my day.
  • Spot illustrations: often drawn with a Pilot Explorer pen (F) and Platinum Carbon Black ink, then colored with Ecoline brush pens. Sometimes I’ll use Posca markers for a more graphic vibe.
  • Stationery: stickers, washi tape, or a Canon Ivy mini print to add some color.

5

1

水

  • * A personal win
  • ♥A good book I just finished
  • ♥A nice thing my husband did for me
Happy Beltane!
  • Here is a thing that happened during my workday.
  • R. and I went on a walk around the neighborhood after work. There are beautiful blooms everywhere, great timing for the start of late spring.
  • For dinner, we made the Mediterranean feta + veggies sheet pan bake again. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it.
A graphic illustration of three flowers in various shades of purple and lavender

Special pages

Hobonichi includes other special pages. Here's how I'm using them so far this year:

  • Year at a glance: there are 11 boxes per row, which is perfect for the Wordle. I write the word of the day and use a Mildliner to create a bar equal in length to my number of guesses. For example, if it took me 4 guesses to get the word, I'd have a green bar of 4 boxes.
  • Monthly calendars: at first I was writing down wins with color-coded dot stickers. I've switched to small two-color illustrations or icons describing my day. I'm still not quite satisfied with how I'm using these pages, so it's likely I'll change it up again.
  • My 100: movies I watched! I have a color code for the rating, which I add to the checkbox next to each entry. I add this dot using Zig Clean Color Dot markers.