Photos that show how the product actually performs...! See how I create my swatches

<h3>Pens: Uni-Ball Vision Elite BLX</h3>

<p>I love these pens! I think I mentioned them before, and no other pen has replaced them in my affections. The writing action is smooth and easy, the body is easy and comfortable to grip, and the “BLX” pens are blackened inks: red, green, blue, purple, and brown. The ink is fade-resistant and acid-free, meaning that it's also archival quality - so it won't fade over time.</p>

<h3>Notebooks: 5x7 lined pads</h3>

<p>...whatever happens to be on sale at either the office supply store or the bulk warehouse. I like using these pads for jotting down quick lists, or “first-draft” plans and schedules. They're nicely portable, there's no wire or side binding to worry about, and if I'm just braindumping a quick list, I'm not effectively wasting a large amount of the page. Once I've gotten an idea into a more solid state, I'll clean it up and move it into a journal…then either recycle the paper, or use the edges for scribbling random notes to myself, or aimlessly doodling to get the “focus” part of my mind out of the way of the “creative” part of my mind.</p>

<h3>Journals: Picadilly Leatherlook</h3>

<p>I first found these when they were in the “clearance” section at a bookstore. The paper is a nice thickness, ink doesn't bleed through them (though apparently the pages soak up fountain-pen ink pretty easily.) I might have liked the line height to be a few milimeters more, but they aren't so small that I feel I have to cramp my writing or effectively use two lines for one line of text. The lines go all the way to the end of the page, and there's not a huge blank space at the top or bottom, either. The covers are not as soft as “flexible” notebooks, and they do feel softer, kind of like leather might feel. According to the manufacturer's site, they should be available in a variety of colors…but all I can ever find are black, teal, and coral. (Which is okay. I have several of each of those colors. Give me a break, I felt sure that they were being discontinued!)</p>

<h3>Other journals</h3>

<p>I have some journals with decorative covers. I tend to use those for my “daily thoughts” journals, and use the Picadilly notebooks for planning. I bought several last year, and have finished one of them and started a second. I don't fill these up quite as fast as I do my “planning” books, but these also tend to cost more money…so not using them quite as quickly, is a good thing. (Becky also showed me a really inexpensive, fairly-good quality lined journal when we were at A Much Reviled Big-Box Store. And yes, I bought one. It's the store's house brand, so I can't go find it at another chain, not even for more money. That's the one I'm working on now.)</p>

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