Planner Supplies I love and some I regret

For those who don’t know – I actually use two different types of planners. The first is an Erin Condren Life Planner and the other is a bullet journal. I’m on my 4th Life planner and so am pretty secure in my style of planning. My bullet journal is where I can be creatively experimental and develop my lettering, drawing and design.

So what are my favorite supplies to keep my creativity going?

1. Tombow Dual brush Pens – there is a reason that these are so incredibly hyped – because they are amazing. The color saturation you get with these is unbelievable. You can use them to letter, to draw, to color and – my favorite – to get a watercolor effect. I find them incredibly versatile. I suggest starting with a few of your favorites and then let your collection grow by your needs. At least in Spain, you can buy them one by one which is fantastic. I am almost completely happy with my collection – maybe just one or two brown tones and I’ll be set 🙂
2. Washi Tape – I have a lot of washi tape. I wouldn’t say I use it constantly in my planners but I do use it to organize some of my other planner supplies. I streamlined my collection before I moved here but really love having a rainbow selection. It’s reasonably priced and there really is something for everybody and every occasion. I use washi tape to decorate envelopes I send to friends and family. I mark my sticker organization using washi. I also use washi for other practical uses like hanging pictures. Overall – it’s one of my favorite things to have.
3. Sharpies – Whether it be pens, thin markers or those classic big fat black ones, I adore Sharpies. When I realized that Amazon was a thing here (I know – of course it is) I immediately went on the hunt for some Sharpies. Thank goodness you there was a lovely selection of pens and thin markers that I immediately purchased. I find the Sharpie pens to be really long lasting and good for doodling. The tips of the markers and pens are durable. The colors are vibrant and opaque. Seriously – Sharpies are just my favorite daily writing supplies.
   

   
4. Most of my planner stickers – It is no secret among my friends, family, students, colleagues and roommates that I am absolutely sticker crazy. I love giving them as prizes in class. I like to decorate my planners. I like to generally spread joy. It’s one of my most discordant quirks. For the most part – I love all the stickers in my collection. At this point, I know exactly what I want in planner stickers. The only problem is that I always want more which isn’t in line with my minimalist values. I do have amazing storage though which I am pretty proud of. With my new storage, it is so much easier to see and use all of my stickers. Thank goodness I had 20 hours in the middle of January to whip my collection into shape!

What are a few things I regret buying? 

1. Giant Paper Clips – Sure these look cool but they just don’t function the way I need them to in either of my planners. In the bujo – they pull pages and they just don’t properly fit in my Erin Condren. I’m going to keep them (as you can never have too many paper clips) for the time being but if I can’t make them work for some function by my next move – they are getting cut.
   

   
2. Zebra Mildliners – yes, these look great in instagram posts. However, they aren’t really conducive to my type of bullet journaling or planning. I like some of the colors but some of them aren’t necessarily ~mild~ but rather are just like a regular highlighter.
3. Kawaii page tabs – I don’t really mark pages in my Bujo and I use a Kindle when I’m reading. I don’t know what I was thinking when I bought these seductively cute little post it notes. They are charming but will have a better home with one of my students
4. Sweet pen set – this pen set is really adorable. Similarly to the Kawaii page tabs – I was sucked in by the cute. That being said, they just are not consistent enough for me. They don’t have a smooth write and I think 3 of them exploded ink everywhere (shout out to the red one for making it look like I was bleeding). I know they will have a better home with a student.

What are some of your favorite planner supplies? I would love to know what new things to explore the next time I’m feeling uninspired. Let me know below!