Need a Flexible, No-Pressure Planner for 2023? Try Undated.

Many of us (myself included) are hesitant to commit to a traditional “dated” planner for various reasons. Personally, I don’t need to use a planner every day, so for the past few years I’ve taken a pass on things like Hobonichi or Jibun Techo because I feel bad about purchasing an expensive bulky notebook or journal that I won’t use as intended. Instead, I’ve opted for undated, or “open” planning tools that allow me a bit more flexibility to use them during the months and weeks I need more structure, and skip weeks or months when I don’t. The best part? You don’t need to purchase and commit to your planner in October or November when many dated planners are released, because you can start anytime! Personally, I’m spending this “dead week” between Christmas and New Years closing out my notebooks and planners from 2022 and setting up what I plan to use in 2023. I’ll do a full-length post on this topic next week. For now, if you’re in the market for an undated planner to kick off the New Year, we have several options available in our shop (and a couple of dated options too, if you prefer that format)!

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all brands sold. Don’t forget that through January 1 at 11:59pm CT, you can take 10% off most brands in the shop using the coupon code “LOYAL10” at checkout! Year-end inventory count starts in two days so all of your purchases help us make it easier to close out 2022!

1. Traveler’s Notebook Diary Refills. We have dated and undated Traveler’s Notebook diary/planner refills in both the Standard and Passport sizes. My personal favorite is the Traveler’s Weekly + Memo layout, which uses a week-to-two-pages format with a weekly calendar layout on the left and space for notes on the right. (And if you’re looking for a versatile modular notebook system, we have Traveler’s Notebook covers in both sizes available.)

2. Write Notepads Weekly Planner. This landscape-style wirebound notebook is a favorite for intermittent planning on a weekly basis. Write Notepads makes excellent fountain pen-friendly paper, and the landscape orientation makes it easy to sit this underneath your keyboard while you’re working.

3. WMS & Co. Calendar Pads. Similar to the Write Notepads Weekly Planner, WMS & Co. makes tear-off calendar pads in both full-page and slimmer “keyboard” size. Whether you use them for planning or for daily list-making and notetaking, these pads are versatile tools that come with different color gilded edges.

4. Midori MD “Codex” Day-to-a-Page Notebook. One of the most popular Midori products in our shop is the MD “Codex” notebook, a 360+ page bound journal that comes in a dot grid or blank paper layout and allows you a full A5 page for each day of the year. Use it as a journal, or combine with the Midori MD Diary Stickers to add planner functionality to a Bullet Journal.

5. Midori MD Calendar Stickers. These diary/calendar stickers are made from fountain-pen-friendly Midori MD Paper and can add monthly calendar functionality to any notebook or journal. Since these are undated, you can use them every month or just when you need them.

6. Midori MD Multi-Year Journals. For those who enjoy “micro-journaling” (my personal term for jotting just a few sentences about each day), these Midori MD hardbound books are a joy to use, in either three, five, or ten (?!?) year formats. Each day of the year has a separate page, allowing you to compare that specific date to prior years as you write, but the years themselves are undated, so if you decide to take a year off you can easily pick back up again.

7. Lochby A5 Planner Refills. While intended to pair with the excellent Lochby Field Journal, these slim A5 refills feature 68gsm Tomoe River Paper and since they are standard A5 size, can fit different notebook covers. They use a monthly + weekly undated layout that is quite versatile.

8. Soumkine “Agenda” Planners. While unfortunately Soumkine is stepping away from the business of making analog tools, we still have some remaining stock of their hardcover slim “Agenda” undated planners (which can also be used as a slim notebook). The paper is excellent.

For an option outside the T.G.S. Curated Shop, fans of disc-bound systems may want to consider William Hannah UK, which I’ve been test-driving for the past couple of months. I plan to post a full review, but I’m impressed both with the paper quality, the disc system, and the cover itself. The system is no inexpensive, but you do get what you pay for. Happy shopping!

Intentions for 2023: Personal Reflections and Goals Looking Forward

Last year I kicked off the New Year with a post titled “Five Intentions for 2022: What I Want to See from Myself,” where I took five not-quite-resolutions and discussed how I wanted to change things up over the coming year, both personally and for The Gentleman Stationer. As with most “New Years Resolutions,” I forgot about the specifics of these intentions after a few months, which is exactly why I left them as a rather vague set of “guiding principles” as opposed to specific, concrete goals. As we stare down 2023 (seriously!?!), I’m going to spend today’s post checking in, recapping my progress on the intentions from 2022, and talking about my general themes for 2023. In short, I plan to continue with most of these same goals, adding in a couple of new ones that are more tweaks as opposed to new “resolutions.”

Revisiting Goals from 2022

Write More Fulfilling Content. For 2022, I wanted to move T.G.S. away from being a pure “product review” site, and publish more pieces that help people discover the appropriate tools that they can use to get “real work” done in their life, whether that be personal writing or journaling, creative work, or planning. There’s a tension in stationery between acquisition for use and acquisition for its own sake, and between finding a good pen that you can use everyday and spending endless amounts of time and money searching for the “perfect” pen, ink, notebook, etc. The latter can be fun, and while there’s nothing wrong with collecting and exploring all of the various stationery rabbit holes as a hobby, it’s easy to lose sight of why many of us got started in the first place. Of the five 2022 intentions, I’m most happy with how this one turned out: I wrote more series and “editorial”-style pieces in 2022 than I ever have before. Given the traffic, comments, and reader reactions to these particular articles, I plan to keep them as a major part of T.G.S.

Travel More and Reconnect Post-Pandemic: It’s Finally Over! (Or Is It?). While 2021 was marked by fits and starts in terms of trying to get the pen show circuit going again, 2022 plowed ahead, with most shows occurring as scheduled and seeing relatively robust attendance. I attended five pen shows: Baltimore, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington D.C., and San Francisco, and had positive experiences at most of them. I think the biggest takeaway is that, like me, many people are looking at these post-pandemic pen shows as opportunities to connect with other users and members of the community, and not solely as two or three-day shopping binges. If the shows respond with more thoughtful alternative offerings such as additional courses and workshops along the lines of what was available in San Francisco, I believe they will continue to grow. I plan to attend several shows in 2023, though I’m still finalizing specifics as I work through my family calendar. I’ll update shortly!

Minimize/Stash Reduction. I’ve sold off a LOT of pens over the past year, and while I’ve added some, acquisitions have been more intentional. For the first time in however many years, I’ve not had to add a new pen case for storage purposes, have actually sold off some pen cases, and have slots open in those that remain. (I know, unheard of, right?!) I plan to continue this trend, with Patreon members seeing the first round of reductions via a “Gently Used” sale coming at them this weekend in advance of the New Year.

Growing a Sense of Community around TGS. I’m consolidating the last two points from my 2022 Intentions because they’re related. Despite the inconveniences of not being able to travel much in 2020 and 2021, one positive aspect of the Pandemic, at least for me, was getting comfortable maintaining connections via e-mail, social media, and, yes, even Zoom, and I feel that I’ve stayed in better touch with friends and colleagues between those occasions I get to see them in person. I’ve truly enjoyed getting to know many of you through Patreon, and hope to grow that community online and participate more in-person at shows as things continue to normalize.

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In terms of new acquisitions, I’d definitely be happy to see 2023 limited to a handful of custom/small batch pens.

Are There Any New Intentions for 2023?

Not necessarily. The four topics discussed above remain a pretty good barometer of where things stand and the direction I want to take things. However, I’m probably going to add two complementary, more concrete personal goals to the list.

Set Better Boundaries Between “Work” and “Play”. I’m not talking about the day-job here, I’m talking about T.G.S. While I’ve operated the site as a formal business for tax purposes, etc. for a few years now, every so often I’ve had to take a step back and make sure that the business aspects of T.G.S. don’t take over what I enjoy about stationery. Honestly, I even briefly considered giving it up entirely around mid-year, but quickly discovered that I could never do that. It’s a fundamental part of who I am, and the work I’ve done here and the community I’ve grown are a far more personally fulfilling contribution to the world than most of what I’ve accomplished on in my day job. Still, I need to remember to read and write for my own enjoyment and personal growth, not just for the site, in order to maintain personal balance. I may write more on how I intend to do that as the year goes on.

Further Limiting New Acquisitions for my Personal Collection. I’ve never had a “hard cap” on the number of pens in my collection, but maybe it’s time to set a more concrete restriction on how I accumulate stuff. Does that mean purchasing pens only at shows, or restricting personal purchases this year to unique pieces from independent makers? Maybe. Honestly, I already have pretty much one of every “mainstream pen” out there due to more than a decade of collecting, and running the site/shop gives me the opportunity to sample and test new releases without having to add yet more pens to my personal collection. It’s a situation that’s somewhat unique to me, but it’s been nice to start drawing boundaries around what’s a “TGS Pen” purely for review and testing, and what pens form part of my core personal collection. In terms of pens I’ve purchased for review, I need to be better about reviewing them and promptly selling them off or giving them away. Not all of them can stick around, as there’s a limit to how many pens one can actually use in a year, even if you’re rotating frequently.

So, as with last year, these are my personal reflections and goals. I’ll continue the year-end review/New Year’s planning content for the next week, reflecting on how I think the community is involving, what I’d like to see more or less of, and of course, planning my stationery kit for 2023!

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Setting Up Your Own 2023 Analogue Tool Kit? Take Advantage of Our Year-End Promotion

As you prepare for the new year, including setting up your notebooks and planners and other analogue work tools, take advantage of a 10% discount on most items from the T.G.S. Curated Shop using the coupon code “LOYAL10” at checkout. See yesterday’s post for full details, including any exclusions, though most of the 2022 Top Sellers are discount-eligible.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program, and does not utilize advertising or third-party affiliate links.

A Year-End Promotion to Close Out 2022: Take 10% Off Most Shop Items

It’s time to start clearing out the shelves to make way for new releases and restocks in 2023. As a thank-you to all of our loyal readers and customers, through 11:59pm CT on January 1, take 10% off most items in the T.G.S. Curated Shop using the coupon code “LOYAL10” at checkout. (Some exclusions apply - see below for details.)

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Use New Year’s Week to Get Your Journals and Planners Ready for 2023!

The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is an opportune time to organize your planners and notebooks headed into the New Year, and if you haven’t picked yours up yet, it’s a great way to use your New Year’s discount. We offer a range of planners and journals, both dated and open, including the Traveler’s Company diaries in Standard and Passport sizes, Write Notepads Weekly Planners, Lochby Planner Refills, and even a few remaining Soumkine Universal Planners. Finally, just before Christmas, we received a restock of the WMS & Co. Weekly Planner pads, which are an excellent way to plan without committing to a full notebook or stand-alone planner. It’s also a great time to pick up a Midori MD Notebook and cover, which you can turn into a planner using the undated diary stickers.

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New Arrivals from TWSBI: Jade and Rose Gold ECO-Ts and TWSBI Precision Restock

Our shipment of the new TWSBI ECO-T in Jade and Rose Gold arrives today, and these pens will be packaged as a set with an 18ml bottle of TWSBI Midnight Blue Ink. We also are receiving a restock of the TWSBI Precision ballpoint pens and mechanical pencils, which have sold very well and are excellent “technical” pens and pencils. Happy Shopping!

Promotional code excludes TWSBI, Lochby, and Good Made Better. The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all brands sold.

Sunday Reading for December 25, 2022: Christmas Day Deep Freeze Edition

1. My 2022 Brand Discoveries (via Rachel’s Reflections). I was going to take a pass on Sunday Reading for today, but I was catching up on my own blog reading this morning, especially year-end reviews like this one, and figured I would go ahead and do a post. Rachel discovered some excellent indie brands this year.

2. My mnml inkvent challenge returns, week one (via mnmlscholar). Now that I have another converted fountain pen user in my household, I’m not going to get out of doing the inkvent calendar next year, and probably some sort of challenge like this one.

3. Vinta Holiday 2021 Inks (via Mountain of Ink). Vinta’s holiday inks from last year are still available at Vanness! Festive colors that you can use year-round!

4. IWI Color of Nature Cold Dew (via Fountain Pen Pharmacist). I’ve gotten really into grey inks lately, and this cool-toned grey looks interesting.

5. Fountain Pen Review: 2022 Lamy Safari Special Edition Strawberry and Cream (via Rants of the Archer). I still haven’t picked some of these up. I really want to swap the clips and end caps. I may indulge in some Christmas Day end-of-year shopping.

6. Classic Pens LB7 Artist’s Proof Review (via SBRE Brown). I guess there are still LB7s floating around out there, though they don’t seem to turn up much on the secondary.

7. Platinum Curidas Fountain Pen Review (via Pencilcase Blog). I need to revisit the Curidas, especially since Platinum has gotten most of the issues worked out with the feeds.

8. Inkmas Day 10: Dominant Industry for Wonder Pens (Tuna Grey and Ginger Chicken) (via Well-Appointed Desk). Shop cat themed inks from Wonder Pens and Dominant Industry! I’ve been using a lot of Dominant Industry inks lately, so look for reviews!

9. Inkmas Day 12: Vanness Inc. Sweet Tater Pie (via Well-Appointed Desk). In case you might have missed it, Vanness has launched their own in-house ink line!

10. Pelikan’s Pint-Sized Cap Top: The Long and Short of It! (via Pelikan’s Perch). Vintage Pelikans are growing on me more and more, especially the long-cap M101n model.

In Case You Missed It…

The past week on the blog has featured the annual Year-End Review series in which I recap posts from 2022 and make my year-end observations. This coming week, we’ll be talking about resolutions/intentions for 2023!

• Five Up, Five Down in the Personal Collection. I take a look at five items in my personal collection that I used more than expected, and five items that I used less. This project was pretty fun, especially in revealing that I wasn’t using certain pens I very much enjoy and need to get back in rotation.

• Part II: Favorite Products Reviewed in 2022. An annual tradition in which I look back at my five favorite products that I reviewed over the course of the past year.

• Part III: Top Sellers from the T.G.S. Curated Shop. Another tradition from the past couple of years (since I started the shop), I look at ten best selling products by volume. Any orders placed over the weekend will ship promptly after Christmas.

• Part IV: Series and Editorials. A resolution of mine from last year was to write more “editorial” style content, and I think I succeeded! This includes more posts in response to reader questions, as well as a series on Notebook Systems, Specialty Nib Grinds, and “System Techo”.

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This Week in the Curated Shop: New TWSBI Holiday Drops, and a Year-End Promotion Using the Coupon Code “LOYAL10”

While it was a bit too late to ship in time for Christmas, TWSBI is dropping a Jade Green and Rose Gold ECO-T set, which comes packaged with an 18ml bottle of midnight blue TWSBI ink. We also have more of the Caran d’Ache “Colour Treasure” Collection, which I believe will be going away after the holidays, so if you want your Jumbo Pencils sets, act now!

Finally, as a special year-end bonus, take 10% off all eligible items in the shop through 11:59pm Central Time on January 1, 2023. It’s time to clear out some back stock to make room for a bunch of new goods I plan to bring in, so enjoy this opportunity for loyal readers and customers! Use the coupon code “LOYAL10” at checkout. (Excludes TWSBI, Lochby, and Good Made Better.)

TWSBI

Midori

Caran d'Ache

Maruman Mnemosyne

Consider T.G.S. Patreon!

For those who want to support T.G.S. without necessarily adding to their accumulation via shop purchases, the Patreon Program offers two options for tiers of support: $3 and $5 (with a discounted annual option) and plan on making monthly meetups, pen show events, and periodic exclusive content the primary benefits. Of course, Patreon members will continue to get first access to periodic sample sales, with right of first refusal on gently used pens. (Reminder that those items which made it through Patreon become available to the general readership.) Many thanks to all of you who already decided to back via Patreon. Your support means the world to me!

Holiday Sign-Off, Year-End Review Recap, and One Last New Arrival!

It’s about time to sign off for a short holiday break, and we’ll return with regular content early next week. In the meantime, please feel free to check out our Year-End Review series in which I recap posts from 2022 and make my year-end observations:

• Five Up, Five Down in the Personal Collection. I take a look at five items in my personal collection that I used more than expected, and five items that I used less. This project was pretty fun, especially in revealing that I wasn’t using certain pens I very much enjoy and need to get back in rotation.

• Part II: Favorite Products Reviewed in 2022. An annual tradition in which I look back at my five favorite products that I reviewed over the course of the past year.

• Part III: Top Sellers from the T.G.S. Curated Shop. Another tradition from the past couple of years (since I started the shop), I look at ten best selling products by volume. Any orders placed over the weekend will ship promptly after Christmas.

• Part IV: Series and Editorials. A resolution of mine from last year was to write more “editorial” style content, and I think I succeeded! This includes more posts in response to reader questions, as well as a series on Notebook Systems, Specialty Nib Grinds, and “System Techo”.

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TWSBI ECO-T Royal Jade Rose Gold Fountain Pens Are Available for Pre-Order

Intended to be a Christmas release, the Jade/Rose Gold ECO-T arrived just a touch late to ship out in time for the holiday, but we currently have the pen available for pre-order, shipping immediately after Christmas. This particular offering features additional rose gold trim on the piston mechanism, which distinguishes it from the Smoke and White Rose Gold ECOs. The effect will be more like the 580 Rose Gold Models. All Jade and Rose Gold pens include a 18ml bottle of Midnight Blue ink.

This post does not contain affiliate links. The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases made through the T.G.S. Curated Shop and reader contributions. By shopping with us directly, you are supporting original content, pen reviews, pen show events, etc. from The Gentleman Stationer. If you would like to support us even further, please consider checking out the T.G.S. Patreon Program, which offers access to online meetups, exclusive discounts and pre-orders, and more!