Underhyped Stationery We Love 📙

0:00Hello and welcome to the Planner Pals Podcast, a podcast hosted by two true planner pals. My name is Mark and I go by Mark Your pages. And I'm Jess or Jessie, Karen and in today's episode we're gonna be touching on stationary that we just feel like it doesn't get enough love in the community. We've noticed that not enough people are talking about this, at least by our standards and in general it's just kind of under hyped. Before we get into that though, of course.

0:21Thank you so much for the comments you left on last week's or last two weeks episode. We always say last week's. We do this every time I'm like, this isn't a weekly podcast yet. Maybe we need to work on that? I don't know, I feel like 2 every two weeks for us is a lot of work with everything else we have going on. I would love to get there. But you know what? I get so excited for this time of the year because like our times go back to like our normal where like we can do this much earlier instead of much later.

0:47So I do get excited. So who knows if we get it far enough ahead, maybe some bonus episodes at the end of the year or something. Yeah, we're already like, you know, writing checks that the body can't cash or whatever they say. I can't remember what the saying is, but you guys know you get it. Yeah, You know what's up? But it was really great to see a lot of other ideas on how people are planning for those big events and big things in their life. And it's also great too, like we talked about, you know, things like changing jobs and things like getting married, but there's also just like general life events that happen as well that for every individual person feels bigger than maybe some other people do. So it was great to know that people were able to utilize what we shared last time.

1:24And then also there were some really cool ideas too in the comments on like ways that people have either taken those ideas and altered them a little bit for themselves or ones that I've never heard of before as well. So it's always very cool to see inside of the comments. We definitely want your input in this episode too, because if we're thinking about under hyped items, I want to know all of the ones that you think need to get a shout out, all of the ones that you want to sing the praises of.

1:45Make sure that you drop those in the comments, but what would be your first unsung hero of the stationary world? Yeah. So when we started thinking about these ideas, I was like, well, what are some items that I have that maybe other people don't or kind of iffy on? And I wanted to let you know the Tom Studio Lumos pens are the first thing. Now I say this because I know that they did a butt load of advertising like over the past few years. I mean, the reason that I have as many as I do is because of the advertising that they've done. But if you haven't seen the Lumos pens, the really cool pens, I specifically love the Duo because it is basically two to three different pens all in one. And what's really great, especially about this one, it's one long pen, but it breaks down into two smaller pens and it comes with like a cartridge of like 12 different nib sizes. And what I love so much about this pen and why I think everyone should at least have one, not more, is because you can put the different sizes on them. And what I love the most is that they have kind of this reservoir piece that you fill up with

2:48fountain pen ink. And this is like the biggest reason that I think everyone should have one because I know a lot of people are very nervous about fountain pen ink and fountain pens as a whole. Jess, you have been one of those in the past. Yep, very guilty of that. So with this, what's really cool is you could just take the pen and reservoir and you can dip it into any ink that you want. So you can literally have a pen or a brush pen, a thick, a thin, whatever you want with any type of ink.

3:13Now it doesn't work well with shimmer inks or anything like that because it has to still suck it up into the tip, but it is a very easy access into fountain pen ink and fountain pens ish because it's not like our normal fountain pen we're filling up and we've talked about before. What I also love is that there's really like a pen for anyone. So while yes, I'm a big fan of the duo, you can buy like little little mini ones that they have like they just came out with this little. I call it the cricket because it's like very small. You can actually put on a lanyard if you want to, but it's like a field pen essentially, it's very small. You kind of put it where you want and then like they also have like other ones that look totally different. Just have like a single type of nib on them and like there's a lot of different things.

3:56I mean, it's Tom Studio as a whole, but the Lumos specifically because I always please keep them right here by my desk. And what I've done essentially is I fit them with like the most commonly used sizes. So I have like a very, very thin line that I just keep in black. And then I have like a really thick, like a one point, you know, 0mm on the other side. So it's like very thin or very small and they last a really long time. I actually do not know the last time I filled this with ink.

4:25So it really does hold on to a lot of it. You're not doing it as often as you might do with a regular fountain pen. And for that, I absolutely love it. And I think that more people should have them. And also Tom and like what he does with his studio and his people are just awesome. Just as a brand as well. Yeah, I think that the kind of sustainability aspect of a pen like that is also just really cool. Because if we think about it in terms of like your regular run-of-the-mill fine line or whatnot, especially if you're a heavy-handed individual like me and of your nice beautifully like rounded tips and a very, like flat top mounted, and then, you know, have to hold the pen at a very specific angle to get the kind of line you're looking for. It's nice that the Lumos and like the range has those kind of replaceable nibs.

5:07Can you buy just the nib pack by itself? Yeah, you can. So you can buy just the nib pack by itself. You can buy reservoirs. So like something else you can do is if you want to change the color of your pen, but it's still not ready to be emptied. They do also sell little canisters that you can put those in to like air tight, save them and put it in a new color. So really, you really can do whatever you want. And and to your point, just one of the reasons I do like it too is because I had the same thing when you have those fine liners with like the what is it like point one or like point twos or whatever, and you like press a little too hard when that little, well, the little felt piece goes inside of the metal nib, I just die inside. So that's never happened with these pens for me, even though I'm using them.

5:50But if for whatever reason it did, you absolutely can buy just the refills of it and they sell them. And also just like different sizes too. So you don't have to buy like this big like carton of nibs every time. You can say, oh, I really like to use this size and they'll sell like three of them inside of a little pack. I know that Erin of Erin Smith, she did a challenge where she had kind of one month where she was trying to do all of her pen writing with just this one pen.

6:15And she's not like me. She's she's out there like changing her ink colors using Blues and also black, but purples and greens and yadda, yadda. And I'm like, that would be quite a struggle for me if I was changing that many types of ink. But then as you said, having those different cartridges and being able to just swap them out and such so you can use the same pen body but with different colors is pretty cool. Obviously you have to get the ink to come like through the tip or whatnot, but if you're going for, you know, the one pin to roll them all, it's a pretty good fit. It is.

6:42And honestly, you don't have to change it out that much. I really thought up front, I was going to be changing colors all the time, but I think when you go through the process once or twice, you're like, it's not that it's difficult, it's just cumbersome because you do, you know, you get ink on your fingers a little bit because you're dealing with ink and moving things and the tips and the reservoirs and all of that. And honestly, I really did think that the reservoirs are going to run out of ink a lot faster than they have been.

7:06Like I have one of my pens that I haven't changed in a year. I've had it for probably over a year and I've Everly ever put ink in it once. And that's wild to me because it's like, whoa, this thing is really lasting and it's doing really fantastic. And I just find myself grabbing them whenever I need something real quick. So I keep them here on my desk. So as much as you've seen about Tom's studio, I'm sure in advertising it's I know, I think they're just an underrated, you know, the Lumo specifically in the duo because it can do so much for you.

7:33And also it can be a fantastic gateway into fountain pen inks, but still keeping it in that fine liner space for yourself. How about you, Jess? What's one of your favs? So most of my kind of like, you know, under hyped stationary items and whatnot come from the fact that past Jess was a hater. I mean, current Jess is also kind of a hater sometimes, but in terms of these items in particular, it's because Jess was a hater. She was sitting there like, really, do we need this? Is this necessary?

7:59Is this just consumerism talking? But she's come around on it. And the first one definitely would have to be dot markers. I was sitting there thinking like, I can draw a circle. Like if it's that small, it doesn't matter if it's a little bit kind of skew, if caddywhompus, I can draw a circle. I don't need to have a special pen that's just for making dots. I was wrong. I use them so often. Once I got the first set, I'm like, Nope, we need the entire collection. I want them in every single colorway. I'm going to use them all the time and I definitely do. If you don't know what a dot marker is, it's essentially funneling up a marker.

8:28But the top is like a rounded kind of Dome shape. So it means that then when you press it down onto the page, you get a little circle. If you apply more pressure, you get a bigger circle. If you apply less pressure, you get a smaller circle. Which means it's not only nice for functionality because I will use this a lot of time to like put in the checklist or highlight something specific on a checklist. I use this one in particular to do like my daily highlight. Like this is the most important thing to do today. Make sure that you focus on this. It just helps that item stand out on my checklist a little more.

8:57But you can also use it for decoration In particular is like space fillers is somebody who is like allergic to white space on the page and just does not like the idea of there being big blank sections on my layouts. The dot marks are really great to just go and put in some little dots as if it's kind of like stars and sparkles kind of a thing, maybe a couple different colors or you can supplement with some other little doodles and drawn items or whatnot.

9:19It makes for a very easy but effective space filler that takes barely anytime because you don't have to actually draw the circles yourself, you're just pressing the pen to the page. I've been in the same exact boat. I probably have a lot of the collections because a lot of people have them. It's interesting because the first time I saw it was like a Japanese pen, you know, stationary company had them. And then I started to see other people carrying them and I was like, these look very similar.

9:45Wait, are these even different? Because I don't know about yours, but like mine have the dot on one side and then kind of like a small brush pen or like a small like kind of tip on the other side. But then every time I get them, they all look exactly the same, but they're branded differently. So I'm curious if there's probably probably as a company out there like whitelisting that product. So if you're a smaller brand or a bigger house or whatever, you can just put your name on that pen and be like, Oh, the mark your pages dot marker or, you know, whatever that might be.

10:13But I've always been in that same boat too, where I bought them, But I'm the opposite. I don't use them all the time because it's just like I'm of your mentality of I can draw a circle of my own. But the one thing I do actually use them a lot for is like really big, like mono line drawing, like lettering and and writing on a page. So I use it a lot for like headers. If I'm running out the month, I'll use it for kind of like list or to do or like other things like that, because it looks really cool. I was just telling you before we got started, I just had my anniversary two weeks ago and I wrote my wife's name on her card with one because I wanted something like bold and colorful, but I didn't want to have to pull out like the pens and the ink and all of that.

10:56And it looked really nice. And I was like, oh, I forgot. I do like to use this for other things and putting dots on pages. So even if you're not into the dotting of the thing like, you can just write with it like a regular pen, but you get that bolder line, which I really like. Yeah, and I think the nice part about using the dot marker to right as opposed to like a brush marker say is that because the Dome is kind of uniform depending on which way you hold the pen, it's going to look like the same every time. Whereas with a brush marker, depending on how you kind of tilt the angle or apply pressure or whatnot, the variation that you can get in the strokes is much more varied compared to a dot marker.

11:32Like a dot marker, if you're going to apply semi kind of similar pressure the whole way through, you're going to get a fairly consistent look in terms of that line work. So if you're trying to go for a bold header, but you want all of your strokes to be the same kind of size, it's really good for that one thing. I will say that because of the like way that the hens probably quote supposed to be used, it can dump a little bit more ink down if you are trying to write with it compared to just dotting with it.

11:57And also in dotting with it, if you apply a lot of pressure, it'll dump more ink down. It's kind of how it works. So you do have to be sometimes a little wary as to where you're putting those titles or how hard you are pressing to make sure that you don't end up with any kind of blue through or ghosting or anything like that. But it is still a fun way to use them. I find that with your point about the white labeling and such, I think it's kind of nice in a way because the ones that I have, because they were the first ones I saw, I got the what Kurataki Zig dot marker, whatnot. Some of them have the end little plastic nibs, some of them don't.

12:31So this pastel one in particular, that collection doesn't have the kind of fine liner on the other end. But my other ones that are a bit brighter, they do, but they are also a little bit pricey compared to some of the other dot markers out there. You can get the, I think they're called the colour dot ones. They sell them on journal say those ones are a fairly nice budget friendly alternative. They still work the same way, they're still going to get you the same end product, but you're not breaking the bank on them.

12:54Mild liner also has released theirs I think, or at least they were releasing them, which I guess the nice part about those ones is that the colours of those specifically match your mild liner colours. So if you are a fan of mild liners already, if you're already using their highlighter range or whatnot, at least then you can have dot markers that are going to be in the exact same colour as the markers you're already using, which is kind of fun. And I think they also added some shapes, right?

13:16Cuz it go wild. I think we got our first peek at some of those, which are kind of cool. It's kind of here or there though, because I feel like a lot of those shapes you do have to like get it down the right way or else it doesn't quite look right. Whereas like I like something uniform. I personally would go for a stamp instead of using like a dot marker like that or a shaped dot marker just because I know of the uniform. I can't get a uniform dot with the dot markers. I've tried it and then I've got like one big fat one and then really like small and every time I do it, it's like this. I have stamps that can do this a lot faster. Also, the one thing I have a problem with and you mentioned like you have like the pastel colors, I feel like a lot of them are not, they're very transparent, so they're not very opaque, which I guess is fine, whatever. But I have a green one.

14:01I can't even see it when I put it on the page. I put it, I was like, maybe there's not ink in here and I would kept pressing it and I had it got like real close and I was like, Oh no, what's on there? I just can't see it. And so like that's a big thing too. It's not an off brand. I forget which brand it is. I got it literally for like a dollar. I think off of like a sail bin. Maybe that's why. But I think it is important though to make sure that you don't go all in. Maybe try a few colors beforehand too in case you have have that issue just because like you said I think a lot of them are more in that pastel highlighter mildliner ish. I don't know what they call like a pale highlighter maybe is a good definition for it.

14:37It's not like a in your face one, but just making sure you can actually see the color and it's doing what you want for you before you like go all in. Yeah, that's the nice part about the Zig range in particular, and that's why I have all of them, is that they do have a decent range of saturations. They've got their pastel set, it has like 6 colors. They have their neon set which has like 5 colors or something like that, but then they also have their stock staple like, you know, standard set or whatnot, which has your red and your pink and then your magenta and your different shades of blue and your green. That's a lot more punchy than the pastel green and such. I actually use those in my 5 year journal because I wanted to have color-coded months mainly just other than there was some visual interest throughout the notebook. But it means that then with the fleet of pens I have, I could get 12 colors in a like really nice gradient range. So I have my little rainbow across the year. Do you need every single color?

15:27Probably not, but I wouldn't be me if I didn't strive to achieve every single color in my collection, and thus I do have the full set. Yeah, that's very true for you, Jess. I feel like you are the the completionist. We've talked about that with your Tombos and things like that. The problem I have is that if I were to start to go down that route, that I would have to remember to take that pen with me like everywhere that I went. Otherwise, you know, if you're out and about or you're at work or wherever it might be, you're like, oh, I need to do, oh, wait, I don't have that.

15:53And now it's not consistent. Then you end up like, I'll like write, literally write a note to be like, go back and dot that thing so it looks like everything else. So sometimes why I don't like the theme things or like use a lot of the same. I know the value of it. I know the value of color coding and all those things. But it's like if you forget to bring that color or that pen with you, you're kind of a bit of a hard spot. I am typically the type of person who collects all their materials for the month and just keeps them all in my pencil case. So right now, given the fact that it's here, this one is the one I'm using for the month of October because it is in fitting with my color palette.

16:25All of the other ones are safely away. They are not being used right now, but this one I am using. In terms of your second item though, what else do you think is underhived? Yeah, so I talk about Ugg bunk a lot. Their analogue system, I think is one of my favorite systems around. That's not a bullet journal. So if you haven't seen it before, there are these really cool cards. They are a regular index card and they have different kind of symbols on them. So there's essentially 3 different cards that they have. And this is what I love about the system. You have a today card which essentially is really focused on the task that you want to complete for that date, has a space for the date of the week.

16:59And then you have 10 dots that go down on that card which allow you to write in different tasks that you want to accomplish for that day. Really nice, love it. Then after you have the Today, you have the next card. And the way that this is supposed to work is that's the tasks or the events or the things that you want to take take on next after today. And then they have these really cool craft colored papered ones that are someday. And that's where you kind of put those future ideas or things that you want to accomplish later on, similar to rapid logging or a bullet journal or planning.

17:29The idea is that as you move between each of those days, you're then rewriting the tasks that didn't get complete or moving them around. And I really like the idea. What I don't love necessarily is that I'm so used to bullet journaling and planning that there isn't technically a future log or a place for notes necessarily. The thing is, is that they've also come out with like an extension of their analog system where they have like bigger size cards and things like that. They have gridded cards.

17:55If you don't want the lines you have blank. You've got like they've really kind of gone above and beyond. Now, the reason that I think that they're underrated and a lot of people maybe don't have it as one, you may not be aware of them. You know, they're a small stationary shop actually in Pennsylvania in the US. What I love about them is their craftsmanship also. So Jeff ones, the company's big into like product design and craftsmanship. And so when you get the analog system, you have a few different ways that you can go about it.

18:23They have like solid wood pieces that hold your card upright and then you store all of them in the back and archive them, which is really nice. And then they also have like these other versions. I have this really long one I'm not going to pick up because it'll drop all my cards. But this is like long stand essentially that you can mix and match and so you can put the analog cards on your task in one spot and then if you have notes for something else in the other.

18:48It's just really nice. And I think that it's definitely one of those things where you're like, I'm not into notebooks or I'm not into planning, but I still like to keep a list. This system that he's created, analog is the name of it. I think it's it's perfect amazing. Yeah. I think that having that kind of what I'm going to call a heads up display, that's not really what it is, but having it right there in front of your face is a probably good system for actually remembering what your top priorities for the day are. As somebody who typically when they write a task list for a day, it's a lot longer than 10 things. I would be going through many, many cards every day. So I don't know if it's necessarily for me, but I do love the style of it.

19:26I love the kind of minimalist aesthetic of it as well. It's, it's very kind of like well crafted and feels very intentional, like in terms of the design that they've done for it and such. And I think that it is definitely like, you know, fits a certain type of person or whatnot. If you're out here writing a laundry list of tasks, then maybe not. Or if you wanted to use it in conjunction with your laundry list, maybe that like you pick out your top ten and you write those on the list for the day so that you make sure that you make time for them. Having a top 10 for a day though, that feels like a lot. Well, that's the thing about it.

19:57I actually use it a lot for home stuff. So I don't even have A at home bullet journal like I have my work one. I do write home thing. Things inside of there, but for stuff around like social media, the podcast, reminding myself of things I am forever writing on these cards and I actually don't do them on a daily because a lot of the times I'm not approaching it that way. And that's what I also love about this is like, yeah, I can have a today card, but sometimes a today card will last me for a week just because it's things that I don't have to necessarily get to right away or an idea I write on a someday card.

20:28But anytime I do give myself like a new today card, I do go through and look at the tomorrow or the the someday. So like to a certain extent, I don't use this system exactly how it was planned, but it's there. One of the cons I would say about it and what a lot of people like have a moment to take aback is that it is a little expensive. And a lot of people look at these cards and they're like, I could do that on an index card and you absolutely could. You would just have to write today and like do the same things on your index card.

20:59Someone had a message me and they said they called their foe monk cards or their fake monk cards because they love the idea of the system and how it works, but it's a little pricey for like what they're looking for. And when you go into like a solid wood holder with like, you know, actual metal, all things falling out, you know, all of this made in the US, that approach to things. It's you're buying a premium brand and with Ugg Monk, Jeff is putting out premium quality.

21:28Like this isn't just, you know, crappy little paper like this is nice thick cardstock that you're running on. Like it stands up by itself. It's not like, you know, slowly peeling over by itself because it can't sustain it. And just the craftsmanship and the artistry that goes into the products I just love. And so it's just so cool. I think to be able to like use it and talk about it when it works really well for you. There's also a stand that's just made out of metal. So like it's not as expensive.

21:54It's like the nice like hard solid wood. And so they've, I think, heard a lot of the feedback from the community and saying like, I really like your product, man, but like, I'm not paying $85 for a stand and then I have to pay, you know, extra money for your cards that have to be used. You know, it starts to add up. But I think that if you are into that thing, the minimalist, that aesthetic and whatnot, you're probably already used to paying a premium for the products that you have around your house. So I think for that it makes it really nice. Yeah, I think it's kind of funny. It's like thinking about your top 2 items versus mine. You got like, you know, your fountain pen, you know, one all be all and all kind of a thing.

22:33It's like, OK, well that's going to be a premium price because it is going to be like a one time purchase. And then your odd monk one, which is like an $85 stand, I'm like, it has that pen. I think for myself, because I think about that a lot as I've been investing in a lot actually of Ugg Monk, like the gather system he has. I use that for my, my monitor stands at my desk. Like I love a lot of what he's doing. And I think for me, it's one of those things where I know that I will be buying that and I will not have to buy it again.

23:02The problem is, is that he comes out with like new products all the time of things. And I'm like, well, I already have this, you know, hardwood stand, but I really like the aesthetic of this other one that they've done. Like, do I need both? Like, no, I don't. But like I want to support him as a small business anyway and to like, I like the variation and how I can set things up. And I'm not throwing this away even though I'm not currently using it because I'm using the other stand that I have now.

23:27But there may be a time when I have a different desk setup or I, you know, have to go back to work. I hope I don't have to like be remote for the rest of my life. But like, if I did, I would take this to work with me and have it at my desk, right? So I think it's very much about how you look at it. And like you said, I'm buying this once and using it forever. Same thing with my Tom Studio pen. Like I'll keep buying these because I like the different designs but I'll never be throwing it away. No, very fair.

23:53And eventually my dot markers will run out. They haven't run out yet. I've had them for many moons. I have no idea. I've had them for a while, they haven't run out yet, but I also am not using like the exact same color every single day for like 20 dots. So take that with a grain of salt or whatnot. But I do think that there is something sensible about investing in pieces that you know are going to last a long time. They're in keeping with the kind of like style of planning or organizing that you like.

24:20And they're just quality. You know, it means that then you're not kind of adding to the landfill and all of that type of a deal. But I also can understand, and the other side of that being like that is a lot of money to spend on a stand. I liked your point about people making a fake system. And I'm like, I would have called it fug monk. Not that that's friendly, but it's like fake Ugg monk. So it's fug monk, right? Yeah, exactly. Well, I mean, depend on the kind of paper that you're using and if it's bleeding or not.

24:44I could be real fugly. But I just cracked me up though, because I was like, oh, I love that people still, they love the brand so much. They're still keeping the bunk in there. They're just calling it, you know, fake monk or faux monk or whatever. And it's just like, I just have to do this cheaper because my budget doesn't allow it, you know. And it's not like, you know, just me coming on trying to sue people for utilizing the idea of his system, you know, but not buying his product. Of course he would love you to buy it, but he's also a sensible human being that understands that it's not there. And that's why, you know, he offers a lot of the templates or he offers, he can get like two or three of the cards, like a stack of them for free from him, right? Like there's different things that they've done. But I think that when people try it out and to your point, regardless of the brand, if you're the type of person that really likes a certain brand and it does last a long time, you're right investing in it.

25:38You know, I know, you know, people probably think about like or wallets or things like that, Like yes, I can go to the Kmart and buy a wallet for myself that may last, you know, a year or so. Or I'm going to invest in like actual leather or a certain type of material and design that I know. My wife, you know, has all of her purses and she been using them for, I don't even know, 15 years, but they've lasted and they changed with the seasons and things like that. I look at it the same way as someone who's just buys a new, you know, purse or whatever like every six weeks because whatever this one's done, I like something else whatever versus I'm going to invest in this and it makes sense. I feel some way about fountain pens and other things like that too.

26:17It's not that I have a absorbent amount of money that I just like to throw around, but I think I've come to the time in my life where I've also like matured in my planning, where I used to be the guy that would buy 100 pens off a Timu because it's, you know, 100 pens for $5. There is a reason 100 pens cost $5.00 because I'm sure half of those probably aren't even going to work, but at least I know that now I've got good products that I really like. Yeah, and I think that in terms of that, like investing in pieces that you know will last or quality and all of that, there is usually an additional sensibility in doing some trialing and testing before that. So rather than going and buying the full set of Tombos, don't pull a jest, just buy one.

27:04See if you actually like that type of pin. Do you enjoy riding with it? Do you enjoy using it? That type of a deal Before you go and invest in the entire set, instead of going out and buying your Ogg monk system, try a Fugmug system where you just like, write on a little piece of notepad paper and slip it into the keys on your keyboard or something. Do I actually like this heads up display? Do I think to actually pick it up and use it? Or is it just an eyesore and I want it immediately off my desk or whatnot?

27:27But in coming to my second item. Yeah, I was just going to say what's yours. We've been talking about my stuff for a long time because I get all excited about my stuff. Yeah, this is another one that was, again, just born out of just being a hater because for the longest time, you know, watching the plan with me is online, seeing the people decorate planners on all of that. They're getting out their sticker packs and they're planning out where they're going to put things and they get their sticker tweezers out. I'm like, do you not have fingers? Can you not just peel it off yourself? What are you doing?

27:55Because again, Jess was a hater. She didn't understand. These sticker tweezers are the only thing that I kept from my sponsor table and my first go wild because I love them so much. I know I agree with you, I have mine from Archer and Olive because I was the same kind of hater. Like sticker tweezers are probably the most underrated tool I feel like at any planner arsenal. Yeah, they're just, they're actually great because in terms of, you know, peeling off a sticker, putting it onto your planner or whatnot, if you don't care that much about the placement, yeah, your fingers are fine, it doesn't really matter.

28:25But if you're a persnickety biscuit like I am and you get really particular about like the exact alignment or how close it is to all the elements on the page or the orientation like whatever, these are great because they get your dirty green sausages out of the way so that you can actually see where you're putting things down, Which I again, when when I first got them, I'm just like, am I going to use these? Like I'll test them out, I suppose. And now they are like a staple. They come with me in my pencil case. They're also particularly aggressive. So you have to be careful then reaching into your pencil case so that you don't get the stabbing. But you can find them quite cheap online. You can find like, you know, very budget friendly options for these.

29:02But I think that investing in a pair that you are a little nicer that you genuinely like mine are from Alta New. They're still not that expensive in the grand scheme of things. And given the fact that this is a one time purchase, I don't feel that sad had about paying what I well, I didn't for it. I guess I paid for a ticket to go wild. I paid $600. I mean when you breakdown what you got from your table and that's the only thing you kept. I mean, a little pricey, but I know it should be.

29:29I mean, that's fine because I have used them pretty much on like at least a weekly basis for the last 2 1/2 years and that is fine. This is actually just, again, Jess was a hater. She didn't think she was going to use them. She's like fine. Like it's probably good to have one of these in my collection, I suppose. And now it's a staple item for me. And it's literally just for being able to get the orientation and get things placed in a way that doesn't require me to like put it down tentatively and then check and then peel it up because it's awful and then rip your page and then ruin your sticker and yadda, yadda. So it's probably saved me in terms of like notebook pages and stickers as well.

30:01And I think that that makes it even more valuable. No, 100%. I mean, you were talking about like the sharpness of it, like I, I will search my whole life for this little tiny cover that's on the top of mine because if I don't have it, I have grabbed it before it just right through your fingertips for me. I also like it if you like to use little stickers. So like I have a lot of like little icon stickers that I like to use sometimes and like my big fingertips, you know, the sometimes the stickers are smaller than my fingertip and it's like, well, if I can't hold it, get it on there, I'm like, oh, Mark, you have these tweezers that are literally made for this. Like let's do it.

30:36I also I'm really helpful too and I know there's another tool for this people have like the crickets or the silhouettes. The Is it called a weedler A. Weeder, yeah. A weeder, A weeder like that sometimes reminds me of like this, because when I can't get a sticker off of a paper, I will actually grab for this because the the tip of it is so thin and sharp that I can usually like get it like right underneath of there to be able to pull it off. There's times when I have like flake stickers, especially that I can't get the backing off of it and I'm sitting and I don't have fingernails because I bite them all off, but like I'm sitting there and I was like, Oh my gosh. So if you ever like watch a plan with me video and I take a sticker off the the screen, I'm probably using this to get the backing off of it so I can get it on there because I can't do it like actually on camera because I just can't get them off.

31:25So I see them as multi purpose now. Now it's like sticker backing off taker offer as well as sticker putting downer. I mean, if you want to get like totally TMI with it, given the sharpness, it also makes for a really great toothpick. Like, I know that that is definitely not the intended use, but technically it works for that. I mean, if you need to, I usually grab like a piece of cardstock or something. If I need to like get something out of there, I'll get nervous.

31:50I've thought about it with like exacto blades before where I'm like, or you have like a hangnail or something and you're like, I mean, I could cut that off with this exacto blade I have here. But the smart part of my brain is like, you will slip, you will cut yourself. It'll be a lot worse. Just grab some tweezers or grab like a fingernail Clipper or something. Let's be smart about this now. We don't need to cause more harm. And no, I have definitely used exacto blades for things that I should not be using exacto blades for, so I completely understand.

32:19Yeah, it gets a little little crazy there, but it's one of those things where I feel like we all have certain things that probably we could come up with a giant list of like other things that we love in our studio. And maybe that could be for a future episode where we talk more about our favorite products and all people love those types of videos. But these today were just ones that we felt were underappreciated, and hopefully you can appreciate them even more. I very much agree and I would love to hear from you planner pals.

32:46What is a piece of stationary or maybe a stationary brand that you think is under hyped? You think that more people deserve to know about it? More people should be singing the praises of that item. Let us know in the comments or you can e-mail us at [email protected] or hit us up on Instagram at Planner Pals Podcast. I'm hoping that in the future, along with underrated, we need to do a video of like overrated. I think that would be a really popular topic. Like what are the overrated ones? So if you want to hear an overrated topic, let Jess and I know and maybe we can scoot one of those in there. Until next time, friends.

33:17Thanks for watching and thanks for listening. We'll talk to you next time.