Here’s another little peek into my 2018 bullet journal! I’m still using the same Scribbles That Matter A5 dot grid journal, I enjoy the structure of the dot grid (and how easy it makes drawing lines and boxes!) and the size is perfect for me. As the year went by, I found myself decorating the pages more and more and have been using the journal much more as a memory keeping project than as an organisational planner. I do have a separate journal that I use to plan everything for work – I think of that (totally undecorated!) notebook as my planner, and this colourful notebook as my journal. They became two very separate entities as the year went on.

This journal has really taken over from scrapbooking as my main way of preserving memories. I’m sharing pictures of my blank (or “before the pen”!) spreads here but I’ve been adding little notes and reminders in the daily boxes in my weekly spreads. Sometimes it might be a quick note of where we went or what we did, sometimes something funny that someone said, or what we watched on TV – just little things that I wanted to jot down in the moment. I’m sure that these notes will be helpful when I do go back and scrapbook some photos from the year!

Monthly bullet journal spreads

Monthly spreads are my favourite pages to create in my journal! I really enjoy picking a theme and creating some doodles and characters for the page. As the month goes in I’ll add in quick notes of events and the pages end up as a little snapshot of the month.

Weekly spreads

My weekly spreads allow me more space to add notes, and to decorate! I’ve been sticking to the same basic structure for the week as (a) it works for me (b) it’s quick and easy to draw and (c) I don’t have to decide what layout to use – less time thinking about it means more drawing time! Even my weekly spreads have become more and more detailed and involved as the year has gone on, I’ve surprised myself with how important this creative time has become within this project. Sunday afternoon has become my bullet journal time and I’ve really enjoying drawing just for the sake of drawing again!

Sometimes my theme for the weekly will reflect something that’s happening that week, for example the start of a new series of Doctor Who! Sometimes it will just be something that I want to draw, or an idea that started with one of the prompts in the planning patreon I subscribe to: The Quirky Heart Digest. (If you’re interested in learning more about creative planning, check out the Quirky Heart Community group on Facebook for lots of arty ideas and planner tips too!)

Harry Potter bullet journal spreads

Earlier in the year I made several Harry Potter themed pages in my journal, and I couldn’t resist visited the wizarding world again to create this series of Hogwarts inspired spreads. (I am Team Hufflepuff in case you were wondering.) I really enjoy indulging my (slightly geeky) fandoms in my journal!

Materials used:

I’ve stuck with the same basic set of supplies all year, this combination of materials is working well for me and having a set range of products to use really me to work more quickly and avoid stalling my progress by trying to decide what to use! You can find my favourite arty bullet journal supplies here. Here’s my basic bujo supply list:

Scribbles That Matter A5 dot grid journal
Markers: Tombow Dual Brush pens and Sakura Koi brush pens
Coloured pencils: Prismacolour Premier and Derwent Studio pencils
Fineliners: Uni-Pin fineliner pens (various sizes)
Date stamps from Waffle Flower and Studio L2E, alphabet stamps from Lawn Fawn and Avery Elle

If you’d like to see more planner spreads as I post them you might like to follow me on Instagram where I share all my adventures in my bullet and art journals!