I have only been in the top Hobonichi Cousin (in my red Van Der Spek Codex since about June but it is already well-used and battered – the sign of a planner working hard.
Susie D traded me this April 2017 to March 2018 Cousin in June or thereabouts, so I could test whether the format suited my needs. Because of my job, I need a planner to run from January to December, so when I knew it was a success I ordered one for 2018.
My planners are not pretty or neat. I scribble notes and bookings with whatever pen I can find, I am hard on the pages, constantly flipping back and forth. As a leftie I press really hard when I write, and I cut the bottom edges when a page is finished so that I can flip quickly to the present day.
I am used to ring binders where I can throw away the pages when I am finished but I have liked watching the year progress through the wear on the edges of the pages.
The only downside is that, unlike a ring binder, I cannot easily transfer the pages I need from 2017’s Cousin to 2018’s. I could tear them out I suppose but we shall see.
I’m trying the Cousin for the first time this year. I’ve never really got anywhere with the A6 Hobonichi, and ordering from Japan was costing me an arm and a leg in customs fees! But I saw your posts about how you were using it, and the Journal Shop had them reduced before Christmas … I’m cautiously optimistic that I can make it work, as it will give me stacks of room for scheduling and to-do lists. I didn’t much like the cover it came with (the choice was limited by then), so I’ve bought a gorgeous kimono-style cover off Etsy. I’ve been fiddling and experimenting tonight.
I am still loving mine, after more than months in it. For the moment I cannot imagine moving out. Would love to see your kimono cover – it sounds gorgeous!
I got it from Christine Shephard’s shop on Etsy – it arrived really quickly and absolutely beautifully packed. https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ChristineShephardUK
Wow she has such nice things there – and the prices are reasonable. PS what cover did you get from JournalShop?
I thought the prices were very good, and she posted promptly. The one I got was red with tiny flowers on and a gold band across the middle – she has a similar one in A6. I like the look of her other notebooks as well. The one I got from the Journal Shop was the gingham one – OK, but not really me.
Oh yes, Christine Shephard has some amazing covers. I got a very cute cotton A6 cover last year; great quality, the price was very good and more importantly, shipping fees for an overseas order were normal (which is rather rare these days).
The only downside is that fabric covers tend to get dirty, especially on corners and edges. Even though I water-proofed mine to make it more durable and easier to clean, and though I only use it at home, it still gathers dirt.
Would a cover on cover work?
i don’t know if all of her A6 covers are made the same, I’d guess so. But on mine, sadly, the cover-on-cover would run too large. My cover (open flat) is about 25 cm wide and 17 cm tall, and because it’s made of two layers of cotton and an interfacing layer, it’s sort of thick. Not too thick mind you, but I think it would bulge and leave about 5 cm of plastic to hang both vertically and horizontally. It **could** function I guess, but I don’t think it would be pretty.
Maybe you could copy those pages you need instead of tearing them out 🙂
You could cut off the pages you want with an x-acto knife, hold them on a separate A5 folder somewhere on your planner cover’s pockets or place them between the pages you want, on your 2018 Cousin.
Thank you for the tip! They would fit into several of the pockets of the cover.
Don’t tear them out – use the first pages to index your dailies!