My Bullet Journal
Guys when I say I’m obsessed with my bullet journal, that’s not even an understatement. In case you have no clue what a bullet journal is, let me give you a little run down. A bullet journal is a journaling system that creates lists and spreads to make you more efficient. Because you’re creating what you need, you’re not wasting pages and spreads in store-bought planners. The original bullet journal was simple and to the point. But, us bloggers and creative people have turned it into an art form, really. So, let’s take a look inside mine!
Ok, so first off. If you follow me on Instagram or Pinterest you may know that I love hand lettering. I’ve posted a couple of pictures on Instagram of work I’ve done. The bullet journal is the ultimate way to work on hand lettering. I create all of my headings, day spreads, monthly spreads, and whatever else I decide to make out of hand lettering. From script to block lettering, it’s such amazing practice! And, because it’s such a casual way of displaying hand lettering, mistakes are welcome!
At the moment, I don’t really have a system for organizing important dates, to-dos, and other lists, but that’s fine with me! Like I said before, a bullet journal is for you. You can literally make it anything you want. I just throw everything I need to do under my daily spreads. Hopefully from there, I can decipher what are to-dos and what are just general comments.
SUPPLIES
Alright so I live for these Staedtler fineliner pens. They’re what I use to create all of the spreads. They don’t bleed through the paper, and they’re fine enough to create details but thick enough to make the illustrations and spreads noticeable. Granted they are on the pricier side but are totally worth it.
In day-to-day life, I use the Pilot G-2 0.7mm pens to fill in the spreads. Guys. These are the most amazing and smooth-writing pens ever. The pigment is so dark and rich. I fell in love with these back in high school, and I’ve never looked back. I don’t use them for decorating in my bullet journal because they do smudge easily. What are your favorite kinds of pens?
For the journal, I actually kind of made my own. We had this notebook that was perfect for bullet journaling, but it was just too thick. So, I cut it in half, created a new cover, and voila, a new bullet journal that’s just the right size. Want a tutorial on how I recovered my bullet journal? Let me know!
YEARLY OVERVIEW SPREAD
I’m not going to lie. I found this idea on Pinterst and I created it myself. I love the contrast of the black pen on the white paper, and the scripty font above each month is so pretty! This whole spread probably took me around half an hour to create.
MONTHLY SPREADS
For each month, I create two monthly spreads. One is used for my every day life and the other is my editorial calendar. Keeping the separate like that is so much more efficient for me. I’m not trying to cram my life and my blog schedule into one 1″ x 1″ square.
daily calendars
These spreads let me look at my month at a glance. I keep the information here limited to important appointments and events. This just lets me see all of the major things going on.
So each month kind of has its own theme. May (as pictured above) doesn’t really have a theme, but I like to call it “bright.” For June (pictured below), I’m going with a more simplistic, monochromatic look. I think it’s going to really highlight the events well.
editorial calendars
Now these really don’t have a theme. I just draw out the calendar and build some lettering around it.
May was kind of a trial and error month. After all, I just started my bullet journal in May! I guess it kind of stuck with a blue motif. June is a very “make a statement” kind of month. I love the combination of the purple and orange in the title.
WEEKLY SPREADS
Weekly spreads are my absolute favorite! If I design something that I don’t like, I’m only stuck with it for a week!
In May, I got a little over-excited and did a different theme each week. I think for the upcoming months I’m going to stick with the same theme all month. I will say, I really like all of the designs I used for my weekly spreads in June.
I will say that I don’t have a schedule for creating spreads, yet. I know some people sit down each week and create what they need, but for me I just create whenever inspiration strikes. There’s nothing worse than trying to force yourself to hand letter.
INSPIRATION
I get a ton of my ideas from Pinterest! In fact, all of my ideas come from Pinterest. It’s a great place to find design inspiration for the bullet journal! I have a whole board dedicated to bullet journal ideas if you want to check it out. I’m constantly updating it because I’m that obsessed with bullet journaling.
Well that’s a look inside my bullet journal as of right now! I’m working on some other spreads for goal setting and blogging stuff. If you want to see another installment of this bullet journal series thing, let me know!
Have you tried out the bullet journal? If so, how do you like it? It makes my day when I hear from you all!
~abigail gray
P.S. Living the Gray Life is turning one on June 4th and I want to do a Q&A to celebrate! Please submit your questions through the link below! I’ll love you forever and ever if you do 🙂
If you read this far, you’re a true reader! My reader survey isn’t supposed to go out until next Saturday (my blogiversary!), but true readers deserve to get a first look at things! If you would like, I’d love it if you took the reader survey!
