1 Month in my Sterling Ink Common Planner | A Review

Thanks for the honest review. I love your handwriting!

I got the A5 undated for next year as I have cute stamps I want to use for dating but I noticed right away the paper difference. I’m a paper snob though lol I only use DeAtramentis document ink in black and sepia brown. I’m hoping it holds up!

i hate ghosting and bleed through so much

My A5 binding is doing the same. I also experienced the bleeding thru in my B6

Love your set up! I’m starting to like mine more. But definitely will get A5 next time if I get one for next year!

Would you go into more detail on those pages that were divided by the months and how you use them? Loved the video. I’m starting mine in July moving from a bullet journal. Hoping this will work for me, tired of drawing spreads every month

yeaaa the bind shifting is 💀 a6 blank and I try hard not to let it bother me but 💀 I understand why the first supply was made soft now I miss that

Thank you for your honest review. I love the layout but I hate the binding and paper. I also noticed it DOES NOT lay flat like my hobo cousin. I love my hobonichi because the paper is so light and flexible and the binding is super strong (I'm rough on my planner and I also add a lot into the pages). I hope in the future the common planner binding will improve. But if the hobonichi cousin magically makes their daily's just plain 365 grid, I'd be at planner peace. 😭

Thank you for your honest review!
I’m currently trying out the Aura Estelle planners in B6 and weeks. They are very similar to the Hobonichi & common planner. I haven’t had any issues with the binding.

I love the "12 chapters 365 new chances" page 🥰🥰🥰

Yeah that’s bleeding 😬 I found that with my Staology when I first used it way back in 2016. I found that pink and red FPs were more likely to bleed than other colours. I haven’t used Sanzen TR yet as the notebooks in using are OG TR, but I’m a bit scared! Seems like it might be closer to Staology than OG TR from what I’ve heard.

Do you by anychance know what inks/brands you were using that bled through? I've had an issue with one single ink I own on Sanzen paper and it's really disheartening. It's Anderillium Purple Gallinule Purple. Not only does it massively bleed but it feathers too. I think I can deal with the level that you show here, personally although I'm glad I'm aware of it, but I just don't want massive amounts of bleeding so I'm hoping to get an idea of some inks to steer away from rather than wasting my money.

Thanks for this video as I’m looking around for planners to try for 2024. I can explain the bleed through your referring to. Hobonichi has a special coating on their papers that’s why you’re not seeing that even though they use tomoe. I used another notebook (forgot the brand) that uses tomoe as well & experience bleed through just like yours. The sample sanzen paper that comes with the Hobonichi doesn’t have bleed through so I’m hopeful.

Great video! Thank you for sharing your experience, and the timing is perfect as the 2024 pre-orders for the SI CP just posted. These seem like such a great option compared to HB in that there aren't any scripted pages in the back that I can't use like in the HB Weeks, and that there are plenty of undated pages that can use for daily or notes pages (for work). I'm concerned about the bleeding through using just regular pens. Just started getting used to the pens on the TRP, too. I don't use fountain pens currently, but I hope to in future.

This video and the comment section really helped me! The videos I've watched so far only talk about the layout difference between the CP & the Hobonichi & none about the paper quality & how it works. Thank YOU for sharing!

Sterlingink just started pre-orders on her CP planners w/ new sizes & layout options! Will you be ordering one? Or two?

I can assure you that the bleeding is not normal for the Tomoe River Sanzen paper. I extensively tested it with all my inks (over 80 inks!) and pens, I threw the ink on the paper in spoonfuls and nothing bled. Maybe the paper sterling ink used for that planner was a bad batch (there was one very early on in the production) or it got damaged during production. If the paper got moist and then dried again somewhere between factory and you, that could explain the bleeding. But in general, the Sanzen paper is actually just as (if not more) resistant to bleedthrough than the old Tomoe River Hobonichi used until this year. Fun fact: it also tends to ghost a little less.

I have a B6 half year for July - December, and the binding on mine has started to fail - or, not the binding but the glue holding the cover onto the book. There's a space or crack where the free end papers are pulling away from the book block. I haven't even started using it yet, except to do some pen testing and to write a few notes on the first 3-4 of the daily pages.

I wanted this to work for me so badly. The binding might be a deal breaker. 😬

I love this planner for the same reasons as you. I was in the Cousin and switched to this one in January. I preordered last year and have the full year version. I have never had any bleedthrough. I've preordered two of the 2024 planners for next year.

Curious, what are you tracking on those priority/quarterly pages?

I’ve been using Sanzen Tomoe River paper for 8+ months in planners and notebooks from SterlingInk and many other brands and have never had a bleed thru issue. The paper is amazing and though I love the original TRP I find the Sanzen to be improved for planning because there’s less shadowing and also inks dry faster. I’m not sure what caused your bleed-thru but that’s not bc it’s a SI product and it’s also not at all consistent with my experience with Sanzen TRP. I’m sorry this happened to you it but don’t let it deter you. Seems like a freak occurrence.

As far as the binding goes. I know some people has issues (though mostly the cover coming off/separating not the spine itself) but that was also primarily with the black linen cover. The mauve has been much better bc it’s got a different coating on the paper. All that said I used the B6 since BOY in the half year wirh tipins and stickers and I’ve got quite the fluff going on and I’ve had no issues. And I’ve got the A5 full year that I’ve been using since April but back dated to BOY (in the black linen) and I’ve had no issues with it either - I use stickers in it but no tipins. So I expect your spine will hold up. I found that the weird pull happened on the new “improved” hard covers and not the old soft cover. Think it’s because the extra structure is just added to the front and back and doesn’t go across the spine so it causes it to shift when you actually open it and break it in.

how much did the planner cost?

may I know where you bought the pretty leather cover please?

I don't see any sliding of the binding. It looks completely normal to me. As far as bleeding, I haven't had any issue with her paper. I agree you may have gotten a batch that wasn't properly sized, but it also looks like you had a juicy pen there.

I love your set up! I'm going to try this for 2024. I just could not keep up with the daily pages and I love how you have used it.

I’m new to the Common Planner this year as well as to “bound planners”. I didn’t realize there were so many things that can go wrong. I haven’t started using mine yet, I just figured these were known concerns with any bound planner