August 2019 Printable

We are feeling that retro chill vibe that is vaporwave in this month's printable!

Add a [neon] pop of color to your journal this month ^^v

Download here: Link

Do tag us if you use our printable! We would love to hear what you think!

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Jibun Techo 2019

  

I've been using the bullet journal for 2 years but I became busier and busier and thus, the format no longer worked for me. 

In April, I moved to a Kokuyo Jibun Techo, a rather popular planner system. 

I paired it with a Pentel Sliccies multi coloured pen. 

The version I bought was the Jibun Techo Biz with a planner that starts in April. 

The 2 cover choices were Red and Navy and there's a pocket on the front, which I've used to keep spare change and random things I've been given.

The front and back pockets are also great for storing cards, receipts and small sheets of stickers. 

I've also included another notebook for taking notes, also from the Jibun Techo range and a small A6 folder from Daiso. 

I found this pencil board at Tokyu hands from another brand. 

It matches the red cover well!  

There are yearly, monthly and weekly sections. 

I used the monthly overview as an expense tracker. 

The weekly section is vertical. I like that the layout has a to do list on one side, a time based planner, place to stick our TN5C printable. 

Overall, I'm really happy with the Jibun Techo. 

It's really easy to use and retains elements of customisation similar to the bullet journal. 

I also really like the compact size, perfect for slipping to a handbag for everyday or work. 

Do you use a Jibun Techo? Share your tips below. 

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Review: Pilot Juice Neon Pens and Black Fusen

Neon is a summer, festivals and look at me! 

Pilot released these gorgeous neon pens and black paper fusen.

The black fusen comes in a variety of different shapes. 

I picked up the speech bubble, star and of course, cat.  

First up, the black fusen had a list of recommended pens. 

The top 2 ranges are gel pens,  below is 1 marker and 1 mechanical pencil range. 

The Neon colours are Pink, Red, Green, Orange, Apricot Orange and Yellow. 

The colours show up on the black fusen beautifully but only 3 of the 6 colours show up recently well on regular notepaper. 

I really like the neon colours, I am excited to use them in more projects. 

And whilst the ink looks great on the black fusen, it's probably not necessary to purchase it if fusen is not your thing. Would I use it often, maybe not. 

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Review : The Green Party Magic Color Ink Glass Pen Box Set

A month ago, I was on holiday in sunny Singapore when I chanced upon a gift store of sorts called "The Green Party". Entranced by the numerous giant plush toys that adorned their doorway displays, I ventured in for a look and found out that they also sold stationery. Score! (Don't you love it when you find unexpected stationery?)

I picked up a few things and amongst them was this curious gift box set below.

Inside, there are two bottles of ink,  a glass pen , a glass pen rest and a mini UV torchlight.

The glass pen nib is very fine and works very well for writing. Pictured below is the red ink the set came with.

So what about the other bottle of ink? Well its a clear ink which only shows up when you use the UV light to shine on it. I guess thats what they meant by magic ink!

This is mostly a novelty thing to own since I dont envision myself needing to write secret invisible ink messages to anyone anytime soon [but never say never]

If you ever find yourself in Singapore, drop into the store for a look!
Who knows what you might find!

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July 2019 Printable

Our July Printable is here! We're feeling kind of green but stuck to our love of pastels. 

Also, did you notice this month's printable looks like washi tape? 

We adore washi tape and if you'd like to take it one step further, we recommend printing this on our washi tape sticker paper. 

Do tag us if you use our printable and upload it on social media!  

Download here: Link

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Review : Zebra Pen Mildliner Double Ended Brush and Fine Tip Pen

Over here at TN5C we love our Mildliner highlighters so when ZEBRA [the manufacturer] announced that they would be making MILDLINERS in BRUSH form, we were quick to purchase them!

They come in 15 colors [also available in 3 sets as shown grouped below]

The colors are exactly the same as the existing MILDLINERS highlighters and are wonderful for coloring and lettering [of course]. The larger brush tip is soft yet sturdy enough to make lettering a breeze whilst the other end with the smaller nib is good for basic thin lines and writing.

I've found them wonderfully useful in my daily journaling and I would almost consider them a must have!

What about you?
Have you tried them?

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New find! Stick'n

There is a store in Singapore called Popular, a bookstore best known for school books and supplies. 

I shop there pretty often, I buy office supplies, snacks, cute stationery and even phone cables.

The other day, whilst looking for some new pens, I came across a range of fusen that I had never seen before. 

Stick'n, as it turns out, is a Taiwanese fusen brand. 

Popular had everything from normal paper fusen to index tabs, film fusen, roll paper fusen and even fusen pockets, which we'll discuss in a bit. 

I picked up 3 items. 

Decorative film fusen inspired by famous fruits of Taiwan, pocket film fusen and fusen index tabs. 

 Out of the 3, the fusen index tabs were my least favourite, simply because it is so big and that makes it inconvenient to use. 

The pocket film fusen is really interesting. 

You can use it to hold pieces of paper anywhere in your notebook, receipts instantly comes to mind. 

You can also use it as a temporary frame and because it's film, it's reusable and can be written on. 

There are also 2 types in the 1 package. One has a tab, and the other is a plain pocket. 

I used the pocket fusen here to hold my laundry docket in place, so I don't forget to pick it up. 

Very useful! 

However, I do wish the colour selection is a bit better, but it is quite subtle when you attach it to a notebook page so that's not a big dealbreaker. 

The decorative film fusen is also really cute. 

The material is conducive to colouring, great for that pop of colour on your notebook pages. 

So if you see this brand out, you should definitely look out for some of these items! 

Are you already a fan of Stick'n? What's your favourite product? 

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Review: Daiso Neon color fusen collection

Another day, another trip to Daiso, another new cute collection! 

I picked up a few pieces from the Neon color fusen collection, but the full collection looks like the above picture. 

The square one is film whilst the other 2 are paper. 

The size of the fusen is what really I was really interested in. 

I had recently begun using a Jibun Techo, and finding stickers/fusen that would fit in its narrow columns was proving to be a challenge, so I bought these Daiso ones, hoping they would fit. 

And they did! 

I loved that the back of the fusen was 80% adhesive, this made it easy to peel and stick.

The colours of all the designs also worked well together. 

Writing on the fusen is easy, although like other film type fusen, a marker is required. 

The paper fusen performed well too.

If you have a Jibun Techo or a similar notebook, I would definitely recommend these.

For reference, the width of these are 1in/2.5cm and 1in/2.5cm tall for the film and 0.4in/1cm tall for the paper fusen. 

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Review : MASTE Life Log Masking Tape

Japanese masking tape brand MASTE made a new range of tapes known as Life Log Masking Tape meant for journaling. There are 8 types in the collection so far. 

I picked up one in the range for FITNESS.

The tape is very wide with sections for detailing's one fitness progress. 

One nice feature about this tape is that you can use water based inks to write on it as well! Making it a lot more convenient than most masking tapes [which require markers or alcohol based inks to write on]

They fill up the journal nicely; adding a lovely pop of color. 

Have you tried any of these? What do you think of them?

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June 2019 Printable

Its almost June~ we are into the second half of the year!

We can't get enough of the pink and purple color combo!

As always, tag us #TN5Cprintable on instagram to show us your pages! 

Download our free printable here. 

p.s If you are thinking about printing this on sticker paper. Check out all the new additions to our Etsy store. We have lots in stock including printable washi sticker paper ! Do check it out here!

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SARASA Select Present Set 2019 Spring

 ZEBRA Sarasa pen range often puts out a present set perfect for those stationery lovers in our lives. This spring they have launched one with a little difference!

Other than the usual 5 color body + 5 pen refills, they have also included a limited edition mini size SARASA clip!

Its about 1/2 the size of the full size SARASA clip pen ^^

This would make a cute addition to anyone's collection!

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Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo

Unless you've been living under a rock, you must have heard of the latest Starbucks Roastery store in Tokyo.

It is a brand new type of Starbucks store, of which there are currently only 5 (including Tokyo).

The Tokyo store, located in the Meguro area, is the biggest, comprising of 4 floors and a dedicated Teavana tea bar. 

Since it's a new store, there were reports of really long queues of people wanting to visit.  

I visited 2 months after the opening and decided to give it a try. 

The queue process was relatively simple and easy. 

1. I arrived around 11.30am and headed to the building next to the main Starbucks building where I received a queue number. 
2. When my number was called on a screen, I entered a queue in this small building where I waited to be moved to another queue of about 10 people in the front of the small building.
3. When it's time, 2 staff members would escort this smaller queue to the entrance of Starbucks roastery.

I spent about 30mins doing the above 3 steps. Keep in mind that the queue later in the day is longer. 

Also, once you enter the building, the queues do not end. There are queues for food, drink and merchandise so budget your time accordingly. 

The good news is that the number of people allowed in the building at one time is restricted so even though I had to queue for my food/drink. I didn't have a problem locating a seat/table. 

The kind of good available include pastries, sandwiches and pizzas and it all comes out of an in-house bakery.
There are also an assortment of desserts and a drinks menu that is exclusive to the store.

I had a pepperoni sandwich and a cream macchiato and it was both very delicious. 

Overall, I feel it is worth a visit but get there early and be prepared to spend a few hours there.

If the queue numbers are too far from the front of the queue, there is a Don Quixote on the main street or the area is also known for it's cute stores.  

Now, on to the merchandise. 

As is with everything exclusive, Starbucks Roastery Japan has it's own range of merchandise that is only found in their store. Not just designed by Starbucks but also in collaboration with other brands. 

The obvious one is Travelers Factory. 

The collaboration goods included covers, inserts, stickers, masking tape and pens. 

Starbucks' own merchandise.

Gorgeous limited edition cards.

Other brands that have made exclusive goods for the store include Baggu, BEAMS, Tokyobike amongst other local and international brands. 

Lots of great products to look at and bring back as souvenirs. 

Note that there might a limit per person on the number of items you are allowed to buy. 

But other than that, happy shopping!

If you made it this far:

We have brought back some inserts to be added to our store soon. Stay tuned! 

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