What is Bullet Journaling? A Guide to the Planner World.
For those who are not quite up to speed on planners or the planning community, you may be a little confuzzled as to what all of the commotion about "bullet journaling" is about. Ryder Carroll, the creator of the bullet journal system defines bullet journaling as :
"The Bullet Journal is a customizable and forgiving organization system. It can be your to-do list, sketch book, notebook, and diary, but most likely it will be all of the above. It will teach you to do more with less" - BulletJournal.com.
If you can't tell by now, a bullet journal can be simply whatever you want it to be and as creative or minimalistic as you wish. Many YouTubers use it as a customizable planner with different trackers, collections, spreads, etc. This also is a way to get creative and practice with doodles, hand lettering, and different writing styles and fonts. Each page is a blank canvas left for your creativity to decide what happens next.
What supplies are needed for me to start bullet journaling?
Notebook
After going through, technically, 3 bullet journals, I have found that I, along with many other planners in the bullet journal community, prefer to use the dotted A5 notebooks or a grid notebook. This allows you to create your own lines and boxes without having lined paper in the way, taking away from the aesthetic of the spread. The absolute most popular notebook used is the Leuchtterm 1917. These notebooks have pre-numbered pages and come with an index for you to fill in. This is convenient for referencing pages or collections that you love. They also have two ribbon bookmarks to help keep track of your place or make it easier to flip back to frequently used pages.
The Leuchtterm 1917 is my personal preference, but feel free to use whatever notebook you have already or would like to try. Only one suggestion that I can offer is to be sure to use a notebook that has thick enough pages. Sometimes if you use a plain spiral bound notebook or any other simple notebooks, the ink from pens or even sometimes the shadows from pencil can bleed or shadow onto the next page. Choosing something with thicker pages helps prevent any issues with bleeding and shadowing, for the most part.
Pens
Although you may see many people using the same pens as one another, there is no real designated or specific pen/pens you HAVE to use. It's all about whatever works best for you and what you prefer. I personally love using the Sakura Micron Pen fineliners in sizes .01, .03, and .05. I also use the .08 size for some outlining larger details. These are both great black fineliners and they don't really bleed through the pages. They can sometimes shadow but it doesn't affect the other pages really. They're perfect for trying out new fonts, doodles, banners, etc.
Another writing pen I use fequently is the Tombow Dual Brush Tip Marker. I like to use these when doing hand brush lettering as well as coloring in or adding highlights to my bullet journal spreads. These pens also can have a watercolor effect to it if mixed with a very small amount of water. A similar pen set are the Marvy's, these can sometimes be less costly. These too have the water color effect as well if used with water.
Misc Supplies
Some cool ways to spice up your bullet journal is to use some cool add ins. My personal favorites are to use stickers! You can use a few websites, many have really cheap subscriptions that give you access to a lot of images or some can be found on the internet or at your local craft stores.
You also can create your own by creating your own doodles on sticker paper and cutting them out.
My next personal obsession is WASHI TAPE. There are just so many cool patterns and sizes that you can mix and match and use wherever. These can be found at any craft store or etsy shop. You can also find them on Amazon. They are usually cheap and last a while.
This next item that I use just as much as my Micron Pens are super cheap and super helpful and pretty. When anybody asks me what my recommendation for color is my go to is the Crayola Super Tips markers. I bought the 20 pack but then later bought the 50 pack for a couple of dollars more. The colors are so pigmented and can range from vibrant to pastels which are helpful when doing highlights or outlines for things or want to do cute and fun lettering headings.
Bullet Journal Spread/Collections Ideas
*Year at a glance
*Year mood tracker
*Class Schedule
*Cleaning duties
*Monthly spread
*Month at a glance
*Monthly habit and mood trackers
*weekly or daily planning spreads
*Movies to watch
*Books to read
*Social Media growth tracker
*Meal Plan
*AND SO MUCH MORE*
For those of you who are not artistically inclined or want to save time on layouts, there are a number of sites and fellow bloggers that offer printable templates for you to use free of charge. I am working on posting my own printable layouts for you guys if you wish to use.
I would love to hear what you guys have created and cool spread ideas that you came up with. Feel free to send me a message on the Contact page! I would love feedback and to connect with you and share cool tips and tricks for bullet journaling whether you're a new member of the crazy community or an avid experienced bullet journaler! Happy days and talk to you guys next time! :)
