commonplace book Q3 flipthrough 📖 + introducing a new journal!! 💫

Hi friends - apologies if this voiceover is a bit weird in places! I was suffering with allergies when I recorded this 🥲
Also, THANK YOU so so much for 1k subscribers! I'm so grateful that ANYONE wants to watch my videos, let alone a thousand people ❤️
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✨LINKS & INFO✨
Socials:
- Instagram: / ellies_books_
- Tumblr: / ellies-space
- Email: [e-mail]
Notebooks & Pens I Use (not sponsored, just love 'em):
- Hobonichi Cousin Avec
- Tomitaro Makino: Hobonichi Plain Notebook (A5) - Yamazakura
- Sailor Pro Gear Slim Sapporo White Gold Trim Fountain Pen
- Parker Fountain Pen (exact type unknown)
- PILOT FriXion Erasable Rollerball Pen Black
- Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen (Hard Tip)
- Tombow ABT Dual Brush Pen - Pastel (Pack of 18)
Shops I Buy From & Creators I Love (also not sponsored, just love 'em)
- Megan Rhiannon / Petite Gloom ‪@MeganRhiannon‬
- Theory of Lauren ‪@theoryof.lauren‬
- The Coffee Monsterz Co ‪@TheCoffeeMonsterzCo‬
- FolkPaper on Etsy www.etsy.com/u...
- StickWithKate on Etsy www.etsy.com/u...
- BARTISTAShop on Etsy www.etsy.com/u...
- kolorcafe on Etsy www.etsy.com/u...
- The Journal Shop www.thejournal...
- Miso Paper misopaper.co.uk/

[@earthologyhut]

OMG “I can’t do all of the things I want to do because I am disabled!” You have no idea how important it was for me to hear this - I am compiling notebooks and all these plans for 2024 but a little (tiny) voice in the background is asking “are you being realistic? Are you going to be able to work towards ALL these goals in one year! …. Please move some things to 2025 to take the pressure off - I had moved some goals but until I HEARD you, I will move some more goals, I was setting myself up to fail again with wanting to do too much - more than my body and cognitive functions could handle. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much - for your channel and for saying what I needed to hear … and lots of other interesting things I like to hear too. Last year, in my bullet journal, I realised I was journaling more than I was planning and decided to listen to myself - that I needed a dedicated journal (like I did in my teens (pre-electronic gadgets)), so I got myself a Stalogy and found I was writing pages and pages and proud to say I wrote everyday and feel so much better for it. (I also work in Mental Health so it was helpful on so many levels). Wishing you luck and freedom with your journaling/ thoughts, feelings and experiences book. Varsha 😛☺️🤗

[@ellesbooks]

Oh this made me emotional - I'm so glad you heard this message exactly when you needed to!!! It's so difficult to remember, in my experience anyway - I always seem to forget my own limitations and then have to force myself to slow down. Hope your 2024 plans feel more manageable now!! ❤️ That's such an achievement that you wrote every day - very very impressive! Also, side note, I've bought a Stalogy book to use as my next commonplace notebook ☺️

[@astralanomaly42]

As I fellow disabled person, I needed to read this comment! Thank you so much for sharing.

[@earthologyhut]

@@ellesbooksI can’t decide if I want to use my TN regular as common place or Hobonichi A6 as both will be portable enough to come with me to hospital appointments. As I use hospital transport I am often sitting waiting for around 1-3 hours. Stalogy is lovely paper for stamping and gel pens, I hope you enjoy it. It’s also fine for fountain pens but not great for sheening or shimmer ink true reflections. (For me) 🙏🏽

[@ellesbooks]

@@earthologyhut tbh both of those options sound great! I'm always a bit biased toward Hobonichi 😅 but TNs are beautiful!! Thanks for the tips on the Stalogy! I've actually started using it already as a personal/private journal. I'd stuck to gel pen so far as I wasn't sure how fountain pen would hold up, so it's good to know it works okay!

[@earthologyhut]

@@ellesbooks the shimmer and sheen aspects of special fountain pen inks do not show up on Stalogy paper so this year I will try Tomoa River paper but paint and stamping on stalogy is fine archival ink will show through depending on colour but I didn’t mind or stuck something on the page behind. Wishing you lots of your with your 2024 line-up 🎉

[@tatianapl]

That cat’s rule sticker truly surmises the order of universe. I have an urgent need to find one now (slightly worried the kitty overlords might find my lack of faith disturbing).

[@ellesbooks]

😂😂😂 Love the Star Wars reference... I think I got my sticker on Etsy somewhere AGES ago! Definitely worth searching for so the cats know you support them in their impending revolution 🫡😅

[@suebateman4480]

Hi, Thank you so much for this video. I'm currently off work battling some kind of lurgy. I'm autistic, I have fibromyalgia and polymyalgia rheumatica and am currently weaning off nearly 2 years on steroids, so between them and the fibromyalgia every bug hits like a sledgehammer. I turned 50 at the end of September, and my big present was a mobility scooter! I still have a lot of frustrated days around what I can no longer do. I hope you don't mind that I've written down what you said about being disabled and chronically ill as it was so well phrased and really spoke to me. I've spent the past few days binging journal videos and decided that I wanted to start up a commonplace book.

[@ellesbooks]

Oh crikey, that doesn't sound fun - I hope you feel better from the bug soon! I don't mind at all that you wrote down what I said - in fact, I'm really honoured that you did 🥰

[@pointeplusplus]

Black kitties are awesome! I adopted a litter a few years ago and three of them are little voids 🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛. That sticker “cats rule and the patriarchy drools” is everything 😂 I also celebrate the solstice! It’s my dream to go to Stonehenge someday but I’m in the US so it’s far

[@ellesbooks]

Omg!!! THREE voids!! You're living the dream 😍 I really hope you get to go to Stonehenge one day. I went a couple of years ago and it was amazing!

[@agathoklesmartinios8414]

I just discovered your videos today and I like them a lot. Like you, I am late diagnosed autistic (+elements of ADHD, so AuDHD, I guess) and I relate a lot to many of the difficulties you have talked about. Trying to be social, eat healthy, work out, read, engage in special interests,... I don't know where people find the time for all of it. You mentioned at the end you hoped to journal more regularly, as you currently go through spurts of it and then not for a while. I have the same issue. I want to journal more but find it hard to stop doing what I am doing to make time for it. It is so much easier on the old executive functions to just keep doing what you're doing instead of going through a change. So a lot of the time I keep watching KZbin and end up not journaling because it gets too late. Even though I really want to habitually journal in between shutting down my computer and going to bed, but I keep struggling with finding a way to make the transition easier. On a different note, I also love the Leuchtturm notebooks, and use a softcover B5 notebook with dot grid in the same colour as you showed near the end of this video for my regular journaling. I love your handwriting and lay-outs, it looks so beautiful without feeling unrealistically perfect. I also want to minimize my screen time more, and have been getting interested lately in analogue zettelkasten and commonplace books, the former of which I am going to try out soon. But I might also try keeping a commonplace book, if I can manage that. I love the look of the Hobonichi notebook you use, especially how the grid actually extends to the edges of the pages, unlike with Leuchtturm where this is not the case. I looked them up and wish they were available in B5 format, though I may still check them out. The reason I prefer the B5 format is that my handwriting is bigger than yours and I write in cursive, so I need to keep a blank line between written lines to prevent the text from overlapping and becoming unreadable with ascenders and descenders crossing all over the place. With A5 notebooks I found that the pages felt a bit too cramped and restrictive, so I tried a B5 notebook, which I find a lot more natural for more long form writing like journaling. Anyway, enough infodumping. Just wanted to let you know I am enjoying your videos and find them very inspiring!

[@ellesbooks]

Ooooft, relate SO MUCH to wanting to journal between the "shutting down computer" time and bed - I'm finding it really hard these days, too. I find when I get really into a video game, my journalling gets way less frequent because I get so absorbed 😅 And interesting about the B5 notebooks - I'd heard of B6 but didn't realise B5 existed too! It looks like such a lovely size - it almost reminds me of a sketchbook, except for words! (Not so eloquent of me there, lol.) I can definitely recommend the Hobonichi books for their aesthetics! The only downside is that the paper quality seems to have got worse/more inconsistent of late, which is a shame. Thanks so much for the kind words - really glad you're enjoying the videos, and also glad my layouts come across as more realistic. I've found aiming for "perfect" really stifles my creativity!

[@melissabennett6571]

This video was the perfect thing to start my Monday morning with. 😊 I’m in love with how your commonplace notebook is because it’s clear that you actually USE it in whatever way you need at the time.

[@ellesbooks]

Thank you so much 🥰 I'm so glad that came across! I think it works for me as a practice because I don't force myself to use it in a particular way - I just do whatever feels right at the time!

[@htt2707]

Im enjoying your videos so much. Your book looks amazing and its very inspiring. I am just beginning journaling and keeping commonplace book about my interests such as photography, reading, growing vegetables and other stuff. I love your sense of humour. And I do relate to your struggle as an autistc guy and struggling with burnout.

[@ellesbooks]

Thank you so much for the kind words! It means a lot ☺️ us autistic folks have to stick together!

[@EarthGoddess366]

I just want to say that this is an absolutely brilliant video! I love the way your brain works so much. I found myself resonating with quite a few things that you had written down in your book. You have inspired me to start my own commonplace book and to get back into fully immersing myself in my life and my specific interests. My favorite page is your special interests page lol. You have given me so many ideas on how to actually make space for the things that excite me and bring me joy. I feel like this is going to be a fun little adventure! Thank you so much for sharing this with us 💕

[@ellesbooks]

Thank you so much for the kind words!! So glad to have inspired you - I hope you enjoy commonplacing 🥰 It really does provide a great opportunity to further engage with the things we enjoy!

[@bezozzle]

Yay for WWDITS 😁 Lovely video Ellie, felt like I was sat down having a cuppa with you, very cosy vibes 🥰 ☕️

[@ellesbooks]

Thanks so much Bez! That's exactly the vibe I was aiming for, glad I did it justice 😌

[@heatherk255]

Eee! Another lovely video, Ellie :) It's so interesting to see your commonplace book and what you put in it. It makes me want to start one. I mean, my Tumblr is basically already a giant commonplace space, but having a physical book would be so amazing (as I can see from your videos). Thanks for sharing, as always !

[@ellesbooks]

Thanks so much, Heather! Tumblr basically is just a digital commonplace tool, lol. There's something so satisfying about a physical book, though... Like I'm an archivist or medieval scholar 🤓

[@heatherk255]

@@ellesbooksExactly !

[@sujeyplans7720]

I love how your brain works! Your intellectuality fills a gap in this community. I'm so inspired by this and I'm definitely starting a commonplace notebook. I'm trying to decide what size notebook?!

[@ellesbooks]

Thank you so much! 🥰 So I would say, consider what's more important to you - the book being portable, or having lots of space to write! I have big handwriting so I always go for an A5 size, even though they're a bit chunkier and heavier. But if you have smaller handwriting, a B6/A6/passport size might work for you!

[@murdermcmurderface]

hey, thanks for making this video! i’m currently going through and watching your videos and they’re so lovely. i’m also autistic and journaling is one of my special interests

[@ellesbooks]

You're very welcome - so glad you're enjoying the videos! Also your screen name is incredible hahaha

[@PlannerUK]

I really want to read Cecile now! Enjoyed the video. Thank you!

[@ellesbooks]

Would definitely recommend it - it's so good! You're very welcome - thank you for watching 🥰

[@iHanna]

I love this video/idea/notebook, thanks for sharing! I agree with you on Maas second book is the best one! But just a note on what you said about being disabled and that's why you're never going to be able to do everything you want to do... I think that is true for most creatives though, there are always more ideas than time who ever you are. At least that's what I think?! 😚💕 Cheers /from another youtuber and notebook lover

[@ellesbooks]

Thanks so much for the kind words! And you're so right - so many creative ideas, so little time 😅

[@goodvibeslovin]

Thanks for sharing! I love the car sticker! Also, I enjoy the cottage fairy on YT. Thank you for sharing your commonplace, very inspiring.

[@ellesbooks]

You’re so welcome - thanks for the kind words 🥰 and yes, The Cottage Fairy is wonderful! So soothing and calming!

[@bellscansada]

your book is so pretty and pleasing to see, thank you for sharing it 🥺🥰 im so excited for you reading journal, honestly!!! my book started as a reading journal and then i ~expand it lmao

[@ellesbooks]

Thank you so much!! ❤️ I feel like reading journalling is the gateway drug that leads to so many other forms of journalling lol

[@shelina_virjee]

I love how neat and pretty this book is. I record all sorts of things but need to work on presentation.

[@ellesbooks]

Thanks for the kind words! 🥰 One thing I always say though is, don't worry too much about presentation, as long as your journal is fulfilling its main function, whatever that looks like for you. Pretty spreads are aesthetically pleasing for sure, but, for me at least, getting the info down on paper is the most important thing!

[@mrsmoodle]

This is the first video of yours I'm watching after a suggestion, I'm glad I found you, as some who favours historical fiction, I'm excited to find out what you've read. I hope the grim weather hasn't affected you too badly. Have a happy Sunday x I prematurely commented, so here i am, editing, I'm also autistic, I find noticing your own subtle warning signs helpful but you have to act and not just notice. Having a list of self care tasks to do while in burn out is helpful. I have things like rewatching anne with an e, reading cosy books, playing cosy games like ACNH or stardew valley, reading about special interests. My whole life is a research project. X

[@ellesbooks]

Thank you so much for the kind words! Luckily, the storm wasn't too bad here - a bit windy and some rain, but we got off lightly! Thank you for the idea of the list of self-care tasks - that's such a great idea!

[@UsorThem07]

I love your nails as well as your very aesthetically pleasing journals 😌

[@ellesbooks]

Thank you so much!! 🥰

[@EvelynAlice7]

just watching this today and realised it’s your eras tour concert 🎉❤ have the best time, thank you for your video, I’m also a big reader, a fellow north east friend and swiftie!

[@ellesbooks]

Ahhh thank you so much! It was such an amazing time 🥺❤️

[@home.sick27]

black cats called nandor and lazlo sounds amazing haha

[@ellesbooks]

One day. One day, it'll happen 🤞🏻😅

[@eerykirstenelisabeth]

nandor & lazlo for cat names is incredible! i love wwdits!!! love the cat sticker so much 😏

[@ellesbooks]

It's such an amazing show right?! Still need to watch the latest season 😄 and tbh I love the cat sticker so much that I keep transplanting it into different notebooks ahaha

[@coveiest]

commenting before finishing the video-- i love (obsessed as well) What We Do in the Shadows! Lazlo is my fav character. definitely should name your future black brother cats Lazlo and Nandor!! so perfect

[@ellesbooks]

Yessssss it's the best show! Lazlo is incredible to be fair, and so quotable 😅

[@mrsrilling]

Loved listening to you process this. I’m inspired.

[@ellesbooks]

Thank you so much 🥰

[@IrinRay]

I love Leuchtturm1917 too so much. But Hobonichi stole my heart in 2023

[@ellesbooks]

It’s an eternal struggle trying to choose between the two 😭

[@heatherk255]

Also, congrats on 1k ! :)

[@ellesbooks]

Thank you!! 😁

[@merandasomnolentgamer8323]

Two kitties called Nando and Laszlo? Chef's kiss.

[@merandasomnolentgamer8323]

*Nandor, tricksy fingers.

[@ellesbooks]

It's truly the dream :')

[@blimeyifancyreading]

Beautiful spreads! Love your handwriting

[@ellesbooks]

Thank you so much!! 🥺

[@home.sick27]

18:21 had me looking up from my journal like i was personally attacked lmao

[@ellesbooks]

Honestly, watching it back, same - because I've literally realised within the last couple of weeks that I suck at monotasking and need to work on it again 🥲😂

[@ofthe_valley]

this video has inspired me to try keeping a commonplace book, so thank you for showing yours! :)

[@ellesbooks]

Ahhh this makes me so happy! You're very welcome 🥺 and omg I actually hadn't heard of Pentiment but it sounds right up my street (manuscripts!!!!) - thank you so much for the recommendation, not weird at all 🥰

[@PattyCampbell]

I loved this so much. Your voice is so soothing and your pages make my brain happy :)

[@ellesbooks]

Thank you so much!!! 🥰

[@EH00_]

It was so nice to see your commonplace and so inspiring! Seeing the North East appear was another 'omg same' moment :')

[@ellesbooks]

Ahhh thank you so much! And yay for the North East! 10 years I've lived here now and it's such a special place 🥰

[@brittanyalattabi7062]

“Cheese does not abandon me” 💀💀💀 SAME! I LOVE cheese and I know I can depend on it to make me happy 😂😂 I can totally relate

[@ellesbooks]

Cheese is one of the best things in life, let's be real 😂🧀

[@stephaniestephenson6662]

I really love your videos so much!! Cannot wait for next video x

[@ellesbooks]

Thank you so much!!! That means the world 🥺

[@bookhuggah]

I’m happy to see the progress through your notes. Just curious if the flowers in July, near The Burnings / Galatea were stickers or pressed flowers? Thanks again for sharing your story with us all.

[@ellesbooks]

Thank you!! The answer is… both 😅 They’re stickers of pressed flowers! I got them from a shop called Folk Paper on Etsy!

[@flamingogirl57]

How many black kitty's would you like delivered ? My Black Momma kitty just had 5... everyone of them all black !! 😊 Love your common place journal !!

[@ellesbooks]

omg!!! my heart is saying "all of them" but my head is saying "your current cat would be so unhappy" 😂

[@lorianderson7720]

I would love to know some of your sources for your quotes and pictures. Really loved this video.

[@ellesbooks]

Thanks so much for the kind words 🥰 I tend to find the quotes on Tumblr, or occasionally in articles I read. And the pictures are typically just from Google!

[@kathyesargent9088]

I have had 3 black cats they are they the best, one for 20 yrs, one for 14 and sadly one died at 7❤️❤️

[@ellesbooks]

They're so beautiful and have such character! I'm sorry you lost one of yours ❤️

[@mousegrey6747]

You may have already read them, but if you like slow(ish?) cozy fantasy, with some LBGT+ representation (though admittedly not the MC) you may enjoy the tea princess chronicles. It also has a kitty. And dragons, which we all know are basically cats with wings and scales…

[@ellesbooks]

Ooooh I haven't read them - thank you so much for the recommendation! Everything about them sounds amazing!

[@user-hk8rp2xj6y]

I really enjoyed the video I especially loved the drawing on the inside cover. Is that something that can be purchased? I think it's perfect for that spot.

[@ellesbooks]

Thank you so much! Yes, it's one of Megan Rhiannon's "gloomy" illustrations which she sells on her website! 🥰

[@user-hk8rp2xj6y]

Thanks for the info! @@ellesbooks

[@bibii4460]

No bc why didn't I think of that when I got my cat's and they're brothers 😭

[@ellesbooks]

You know what this means - you'll just have to get two MORE cats 😏😂

[@nerbprincess6671]

18:25 I'm multitasking right now while i watch this video oops lol

[@ellesbooks]

To be honest, I’m multitasking while I write this comment 😂 it’s really hard to stop!!!

[@fayemiamatthews-jones8446]

Hi, just wondering what do you use to print out all your bits/pictures in the book? I really like the idea and would love to use it in my own commonplace book x great video has given me so many ideas thank you!

[@ellesbooks]

Hey! I just use my desk printer, which is a Canon Pixma TS3300 :) Thanks so much for the kind words! ❤️

[@emmagawley2194]

Love this! What do you use you print out your pictures?

[@ellesbooks]

@@emmagawley2194 thank you 🥰 I just use my desk printer - it’s a Canon TS3300 series!

[@himbosuplex]

I actually just adopted a black kitten and his name at the shelter was Laszlo. I wanted to name him Hobie, but Laszlo is such a good name (and character) so his name is Hobie Lazslo now. I think someday when we get him a brother or a sister they will have to be named Nandor or Nadja...

[@ellesbooks]

That's so cute omg 🥺 Laszlo is an excellent character, to be fair. The most quotable of all of them 😅

[@merandasomnolentgamer8323]

I'm only allowed to have one cat where I'm living and I have an orange Ares. Hoping to some day have a black Edgar or Lenore. (Yes, I'm American)

[@ellesbooks]

Omggggg orange cats are the best so! So goofy and adorable!!

[@senoritachapman]

I’d love to know what other historical fiction you’d recommend.

[@ellesbooks]

I'm SO glad you asked 😅 I'm a fan of some of Philippa Gregory's books; some are a bit boring, but The Lady of the Rivers, The Other Queen, The King's Curse, The Boleyn Inheritance, and The Taming of the Queen gripped me! I also loved Elizabeth Chadwick's trilogy about Eleanor of Aquitaine (I think the first is The Summer Queen?). And, I love the author Nicola Cornick - her books are part set in modern times, part in the past! I'm sure there's more I've probably forgotten about too 😅

[@fatimakhalid4777]

I am thinking of getting into common placing and this is such a cool video! Do you mind telling what do you use to print out your photos and images?

[@ellesbooks]

Ooooh definitely do it - it's so fun 😄 And of course! I just use a cheap desk printer - it's a Canon PIXMA TS3355. And I use normal printer paper from a supermarket! I have to change the settings on my MacBook for it to look good though - I have to change the paper type to "plain" and the quality to "best". Hope that helps!

[@kalasimsy2966]

the national 😳

[@ellesbooks]

Such a good band!!!

[@Sonicas_Studio]

… and a hamster called Guillermo.

[@ellesbooks]

omg yes. this is a perfect idea 😂