My inspiration for this week’s spread was the Notebook Therapy Stencils.

Notebook Therapy Stencils

Here are all of the shapes from the stencils:

I used a Frixion pen with the stencils but they’d probably work better with a needle tip pen. If you slip you can’t erase though, which is why I always use erasable pens with stencils.

There’s a good mix of shapes, borders, banners, weather icons, hydrate trackers, checklists, lines and a habit tracker.

When I’m deciding what planner or layout I’m going to use for the week, I make a list of the sections I need. So for this week (which was back in November I’ve just been slacking with posting), it was:

• Japan travel planning (I’m off to Japan for the cherry blossoms in 2023! I was supposed to take this trip in 2020 so have finally been able to reschedule it)
• Appointments
• To do (including priority tasks)
• Reminders

Before the Pen

I ended up using shapes from each of the stencils in the set. This is what I came up with:

I didn’t have enough space to use the curved edge borders, those would be good for a larger page size (e.g. B5, 7″ wide x 9″ high).

The star shapes of the stencil are a bit fiddly but since I used my Frixion pen I could erase and redo to make it neater.

I had some leftover space so created a border at the bottom of the page using some ovals on the stencils. There’s also arrows, stripes, lines and vines you could use to do a border.

I kept it simple with the left page for appointments, priority tasks (the star symbol) and other to do’s. On the right page I kept Japan trip planning separate and had a notes box down the bottom.

After the Pen

Much better after adding some colour!

I had a hard time choosing what markers to use and did test swatches for the Staedtler Norris club, Milkliners, coloured pencils, zooms, Sharpie S Note and the Zebra Mildliners. I was so close to using Zebra Mildliners but I use them far too often and wanted to try something else. Which was when I stumbled upon the MALA markers I found at IKEA a few years ago which were just the right thickness.

Related post: Favorite Twin Tip Markers for Planning (Roundup)

I outlined the circles then coloured them in properly when the task was complete.

Related post: 10 strategies for tackling your to do list

There was some light ghosting of the MALA markers on the back side of the pages, not enough that I wouldn’t use the back pages though. The Notebook Therapy journal is 160 GSM. As I mentioned in my review of the notebook, most notebooks with 160 GSM paper don’t have show through for marker pens like these.

Supplies Used

• Notebook therapy dot journal
• Notebook therapy stencils
• Frixion erasable pen in black
• MALA markers (from IKEA)

Notebook Therapy dotted notebook review

Would I use these stencils again?

I like them, but I actually prefer cheap plastic stencils like the ones I reviewed in this post instead. Because the plastic stencils are flatter than the Notebook Therapy Stencils, it’s easier to get a pen around the stencil outline. Except for the checklist shapes. I like the checklists on the Notebook Therapy stencils as the stencil is more sturdy and doesn’t slip as much as the plastic stencils (which I usually hold in place using some washi tape).

Past weekly spreads

• Minimalist versus Rainbow Bullet Journal Spread in the Kikki K Grid Journal
• Modifying the Agendio Planner
• Landscape page orientation weekly spread in the Happy Notes

Planning tips

• 10 Bullet Journal Weekly Spreads with Habit Trackers
• Project Planning Using the Action Method Book
• My all time favorite planner supplies

Liked this post? Pin it!