May has been a strange mixture of rainy and unseasonably warm here in the UK, although I guess that’s actually pretty typical of British weather – unpredictable! Summer is definitely in the air though, and it’s kind of wild to think we’re already heading into June. We’re almost halfway through the year!

The main event of my stationery life in May was a little stationery haul I got from Cult Pens at the start of the month, containing an exciting new fountain pen and four new inks. I also thought I’d do an update on my Personal Curriculum, which was a month-long project I started at the beginning of May. So first, the pen!

Fountain Pens

My new pen this month was the TWSBI Eco Root Beer. I already have the Caffe Bronze TWSBI, which is quite similar (although not as similar as Espresso!), so did I really need this? No, but I just loved the transparent brown/orange colour so much! And I could be wrong, but I think this is the first transparent Eco they’ve done with the premium trim?

I got it with a medium nib, and it’s so smooth to write with! I have it inked currently with Sailor Ink Studio 573, which I hadn’t used in a while, but it looks great in this pen!

Fountain Pen Ink

I feel like I hadn’t got any new ink in a while, and all of a sudden, I have four. And they’re all really interesting inks!

Firstly I got Diamine Lady Grey, which is an ink I’ve wanted since it was released. It’s a lovely grey, with purple and sometimes pink undertones, and lots of shading. 

I also got a shading ink from Troublemaker, called Kelp Tea, and this is an ink that really defies categorisation! It is essentially a murky green ink, but it shades brown, and also a little bit pink. Oddly, in some lights, it also looks a bit gold? It’s an interesting ink anyway, and I’ve been really impressed with Troublemakers shading inks so far. I also have Milky Ocean, which is my favourite blue!

I then got two Wearingeul inks: Persephone and Robinson Crusoe. 

Persephone is my second ever shimmer ink, after Diamine Moondust, and it’s a lovely dark, dusty purple with red shimmer. The shimmer is very prominent in the swatch, but I don’t find it as obvious in the writing, even though I’ve been using a medium nib. It’s such a pretty colour though, it doesn’t bother me too much. 

Robinson Crusoe is another interesting shading ink. It goes down a bright, turquoise blue, but then shades green. It’s definitely giving me summery seaside vibes!

May Personal Curriculum Update

May was the first month I tried out the Personal Curriculum trend, and I wasn’t sure if I would be able to follow through on my goals. It was hard to tell, starting out what I would reasonably have time for. 

But it went surprisingly well, and I hit all of my goals, which was amazing! I read the two books I’d planned to read – The Planets by Andrew Cohen and Brian Cox and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir – I watched the fourth Brandon Sanderson writing lecture on Youtube, I edited two of my short story drafts, completed all my space research pages, and not only completed the one cross stitch I’d planned to, but did another as well. So I think it’s safe to say, that’s a new hobby unlocked! 

Overall, I really enjoyed doing this, so I’ve decided to make this a monthly thing for now, and I’ve already set up my June goals.

June Personal Curriculum Goals

Research Topic: 

I’m going from space into the ocean this month! I found my research about the Solar System really fascinating, but then realised how little I know about some things on Earth. So I decided the oceans would be a good place to start. 

I plan to research all five oceans (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic and Southern oceans), and write a full page of research notes on each.

Non-fiction reading:

Again, I plan to read my non-fiction book as an audiobook, so I picked a title from my Audible library. I have listened to Atomic Habits by James Clear before, but since I’m currently trying to develop better habits to do with my health and writing, I thought it would be worth listening to again. 

Fiction reading:

This month I plan to read Persuasion by Jane Austen. For years I’ve been halfway through reading Jane Austen’s works (I’ve read Northanger Abbey, Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park), so I decided it was finally time to get to work on the others, starting with Persuasion. 

Writing Resources:

I decided to pick two different writing resources for this month. I plan to move on to the fifth Brandon Sanderson lecture on Youtube (it’s about world-building, so that should be interesting!), and I’m also going to read Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon. I’ve always felt mildly put off by the title of this book, but I’ve heard good things about it and have managed to get it out of the library, so I’ll give it a try!

Writing Project:

I’ve been working on short stories for a while now, but have decided I want to get back into novel writing. The only problem is that I can’t decide what idea I want to work on, so my writing task for this month is to make that decision and start plotting it out.

Craft Project:

I really enjoyed my cross stitch projects last month, and I’ve since bought a few more kits. This month I want to complete this cute bakery design, but I’m hoping I’ll have time for another one as well. 

So how has your May been? What has been your stationery favourite of the month?