Product Review: The Black Page Journal

September 27, 2018 3 Comments

Oh my goodness! It’s been a while. After an unexpected break from all things (except surviving and trudging through the days) in my life, I am so glad to sit down at my computer and write my thoughts. The last couple of months have been a whirlwind of emotions and adjustment. It took much longer for my kids to get acclimated back to school and figure out a schedule. I think it’s safe to say we have our schedule pretty well figured out, just in time for it to change for the holidays. But to the real reason for this post – a Product Review for The Black Page Journal.

Product Review for The Black Page Journal

I’m excited to do something a little different – a product review of the latest notebook I’m trying out! It’s a black page dot-grid notebook, larger than the normal A5s and a really fun experiment. I thought it was completely appropriate for October & Halloween. I planned on using this notebook for September and October. This notebook was purchased with my own money, and all opinions are mine, I was not compensated for my opinion.

Watch the Product Review below – and subscribe to my YouTube Channel!

Book Stats – The Black Page Journal:

Roughly 7×10 inches or 180 mm x 255 mm
100 un-numbered pages
30 dots across per page x 45 dots down per page
- I count square sections made by dots not dots themselves – so to me, it is 29×44
Approximately 5mm dot grid with gray dots (the grid is not precisely 5mm)

My Thoughts:

The quality of the journal could be better – a majority of the pages were cut at a slight angle, so there are some white edges on a lot of the pages. Some cuts are worse than others. Having run a copy center for 9 years, I know the process and would have made one of my employees redo the job or adjust the cuts if possible. However, if this were a white-page notebook, I wouldn’t have been able to tell.

You can’t use a pencil to sketch out your designs because the eraser leaves marks on the page, so everything had to be freehand. Later, I discovered that I could use a black pen to replace my correction tape in my regular journals and correct mistakes. Which, if you’ve seen my YouTube videos, I try to leave any and all mistakes in the editing. One reason to show how to fix mistakes and the second to show you that I’m not perfect, nor do I claim to be.

The pages are a little rough in comparison to the notebooks I typically use. I wouldn’t use a brush pen on them anyway since it’s a black page journal, so that doesn’t really matter. White gel pens stood out, and so did other colors. (I linked the products I used below – check them out). After doing the video review, I used Prisma colored pencils and was astonished at how well the colors stood out and popped off the page. I would definitely use more white and pastel colors for future pages of color pencil.

Conclusion – Would I buy it again?

All in all, I paid about $5 USD for the book. It was a great experiment and if I wanted a black page journal again, I would probably buy it for the same price, but I’d think twice if the price went up and I knew the quality stayed the same. I loved the color pencils and how the gel pens contrasted with the black pages and want to try out some more dark paper specifically for the pens and pencils. If you buy one, make sure to carry a gel pen so you can use your notebook anywhere!

By the way, if you want a good laugh, look at the description on Amazon for the book. I didn’t read it before I bought it, I got a good chuckle from the description.

Products Used on the Test Page for the Journal (affiliate links):

(** are products I like the most on this journal)

Black Page Journal

From the Pen test Page:

**Metallic Bullet Pens – Classy Shop – bit.ly/cm-metallicbullet use Choc15 for 15% off discount
**Metallic Brush Pens – Classy Shop – bit.ly/cm-metallicbrush use Choc15 for 15% off discount

Pilot Silver Marker
Pentel Gold/Silver Gel Pens
Sharpie Metallic Fine Point Markers – Copper, Gold, & Silver

**Uniball Signo White Broad Pen
**Pentel Milky Pop 4-pack Gel Pens
Sakura Gelly Roll

Prismacolor Pencils

**Helix Circle Maker – One of my all-time favorite products
Pentel Click Eraser Stick
Eraser
Kneaded Eraser
Micron Pens

Chalkboard Sticker (desk)

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Logitech WebCam
Microphone Blue Yeti
Camera Tripod
Adobe Premiere Elements/Photoshop
——–

August Plan With Me: Barnyard Vibes & Filling Space

August 5, 2018 3 Comments

This month I put a TON of work into illustrating my bullet journal, partly because I wanted to fill up the rest of the space in this notebook to start a new one in September. And I use my planner more when it’s pretty. I know I’m not the only one to do that. In March, I said I wanted to fill a notebook with a year’s worth of plans. But all that changed. I managed to fit 6 months into in this book, and I’m not mad.

Harvest & Fall Barnyard theme in my Bullet Journal + Pages to fill the end of a journal | @ ChocMusings ChocolateMusings.com

12 Week Year Experiment

Well, when I read the 12 Week Year, I decided that I could fill up a notebook for every 12 weeks if I wanted. Starting a separate collections journal turned out to be a good idea. I LOVE writing, jotting, doodling, building on ideas. I also realized that I needed space to track notes, etc. for current projects. Leaving space to breathe is a beautiful thing, especially when my mind starts racing 10,959,008,943 miles per hour when I lay down to go to sleep.

How to Fill Space in your Bullet Journal

Wasting space at the end of a journal seems, well, wasteful. So I threw in a bunch of trackers that I wanted to try. Coupled with note pages, I successfully filled up the rest of the book. Each page has a unique farm animal doodle + painting. My friend Amy & decided to feature Farm Animals in our Instagram Challenge this Month, so that’s where the idea bloomed. See below for a list of pages to add to your bullet journal or planner if you’re at the end and need to fill a few pages.

If you spend any time on Instagram or Pinterest, you know that there are lots of different trackers and plans you’d like to try. Since I had a few pages left in my journal, I filled the space with different trackers to see how I liked them. Each page features a different animal, partially so I can easily find the pages I’m looking for. “Oh, that one has the peacock, that’s the one with the chicks crossing the road, that one is the horse one” — tricks to help my brain.

Spreads such as a Planned vs. Actual Productivity log, editorial calendar, I added a gratitude log back in (partially because the Instagram challenge helped me think of an idea and a focus for my gratitude.

Productivity Tracker in My Bullet Journal - Track planned vs. Actual | @ChocolateMusingsCreates ChocolateMusings.com #bulletjournal #bujo #planner #productivity #tracker

Great Quotes

In a previous habit tracker post, I mentioned a quote from Gretchen Rubin, an author who writes about habits and happiness. She said, “We manage what we monitor.” Then later she mentioned that “monitoring habits don’t require change, but often leads to it.” Peter Drucker wisely said, “What gets measured gets managed.”

We Manage What We Monitor - handlettered quote #change #habits #handletter #quote #handlettered

I want to start creating and selling more planner-related resources, both digitally and eventually shipping products. This month’s ‘filler pages’ are a way to help me recognize my time wasters and what I can do differently.

Monitoring habits doesn't require change, but often leads to it. - Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before #habits #change #quote

What gets measured, gets managed - Peter Drucker

Too Ambitious?

Ambitiously, I also decided to document creating all of these pages (20 spreads!) with one YouTube Video per day. As of Day 4, I fear I’m in over my head (partly because I can’t get my computer to render the videos fast enough!). I have so much I want to share! Speaking of videos watch below for the flip through.

Extra pages at the end of your notebook? Add some extra notes pages with your theme to fill up those blank pages | @ChocolateMusingsCreates ChocolateMusings.com

Ideas for Additional Pages:

If you’re a blogger:

Editorial Pages
Blog post notes
Video notes (if you edit videos)
Social Media Results for the length of the notebook
Blog statistics covering the period of the notebook
Successes!
Things to Improve

Other Extra Pages:

Braindump (this month I call mine an Idea Cloud)
Lists of pages in your next journal
Productivity tracker
Monthly to do list
Next Month’s Plans, ideas, where you’d like to go, important information
Monthly Review
Journal/Event Page
Instagram Post Tracker
Gratitude Log
Quotes for your next journal
The inspiration for your planner
Doodle pages for headers and icons
Favorites

What pages do you add as ‘filler’?

~Tricia

No Matter Which Notebook I use – You’ll Always Find These Supplies Close at Hand

July Plan With Me – Watercolor Wash

July 8, 2018 1 Comment

July Plan With Me – How to Do a Watercolor Wash Background with Blocked out Spaces

It’s World Watercolor Month!

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew it when I started planning my July pages. Or maybe it was because I recorded all sorts of fun holidays in my future planner” and I subconsciously remembered it. Either way, this month’s plan with me is immensely appropriate for the month! I’ll show you how I did my watercolor wash + what I learned and tips & tricks.

How To Do a Watercolor Wash – My Process

If you want to recreate this in some way (adding your own twist of course!) you’ll need:

Paints (I use Crayola Markers)
Paintbrush or Water pens
Water (if you use the paintbrush option)
a Notebook
Sticky notes or masking tape to block the water in specific areas
Patience or a blowdryer to speed up drying time
Pens or Markers to add dates/events/details after

Block-It Off

Block off the sections of your notebook that you want to keep from painting. I cut the sticky notes to the size I wanted (remember that I did have some bleed under the sticky notes from the water – I was okay with it, but keep that in mind). If you use tape or another sticky substance, make sure to test it out on another page first (maybe one in the back) to make sure you don’t tear the page or something when removing the tape.

Choose your palette and paint over the whole page or sections you want to watercolor wash. I tried to do a gradient fade from dark to light in my journal, but it required a lot of water, and the pages of my notebook couldn’t handle that much water (as you can see below with the bleed through).

The less water you use, the less chance you will have to bleed through. I used the same markers in June, less water, more intense color, less bleeding, lesson learned.

Patience or Hairdryer & Add Details

Once the paint is dry (either through extreme patience or with a speedy blowdryer) to increase the look of the gradient, I outlined each line of days on the monthly calendar with dark to light markers from top to bottom.

Add the days of the week and the name of the month and all the events and voila! Done. For even more detail, use a gold or silver pen to add little details and doodles around the remaining background.

Favorite Places for Random Holidays:

From World Watercolor Month to Sea Turtle day, I love some random holidays. So I thought I’d share my sources for where I find my random holidays to celebrate! I subscribe to some of these guys on twitter & Instagram; I love their notifications.

daysoftheyear.com
timeanddate.com/holidays/fun/
calendar-365.com – This one has some other facts about the days, not so many fun holidays, though.
holidayinsights.com
nationalday.com
holidayscalendar.com
ntldays.com

If you know of another website or reference for fun holidays, please let me know in the comments below!

What have you recently tried in your planner or journal? Did it turn out as you wanted?

~Tricia

Ugly Journaling – Why It’s Important

June 17, 2018 7 Comments

What Is Ugly Journaling?

Have you ever heard the term Ugly Journaling? Probably not, because I made it up. Ugly Journaling is when you write so you can get it all out, ignoring the fact that your handwriting isn’t perfectly coiffed, your letters straight and even like you’ve seen or practiced.

The words flow out of your fingertips, even though you’re writing as fast as you can, you miss some thoughts. Rapidly logging all the things that come to your mind, inhibitions of a beautiful journal don’t matter anymore, all that does matter is getting all the thoughts out.

When your pen lifts from the page, and you realize what you’ve done to your perfectly curated journal, you realize for the first time that this journal now belongs to you.

That’s what ugly journaling is – at least how I see it.

Why Ugly Journal?

I don’t ‘ugly journal’ very often. Maybe I should do it a little more, though. Back in March, when I separated my journals from long-term collections to current plans and had a goal to keep the planner for 12 months, I wasn’t stingy with the allotment of pages for each month, but I didn’t add anything extra or fun. When one month ended, the next one began.

Slowly, I felt constricted in my own doing! I still like and use my long-term collections notebook, but I don’t think my red planner will last for a year because I need to do a whole lot more ugly journaling, where I write down thoughts without restriction.

Why Is Ugly Journaling Important?

Just google “Why keep a journal” and you will find many compelling reasons why journaling is beneficial for your mental state. Psychologies.co.uk has an excellent article and five great reasons to keep a journal. I know that I solve more of my own problems and gain more confidence in myself when I journal. I wish I would have journaled more as a kid and now as an adult. Letting go of needing everything perfect, my writing, my life, myself, and just writing frees my mind and my soul.

You don’t have to ‘ugly journal,’ but I find it completely freeing to let go and just write with no restriction.

My Process

Sometimes I ‘Ugly Journal’ everything that comes to my mind. This is kind of like a brain dump where the ideas are disconnected and don’t have a rhyme or reason. I also ugly journal on a theme or a topic. For instance, I expected myself this year to create products and videos left and right. But instead, I’ve been in a rut for longer than I realized, and found myself in the middle of June with nothing to show.

So I sat down and wrote a list of things I feel like I’m lacking. I wrote to myself without inhibition. That writing opened up into more free-form writing consuming 6+ pages in my bullet journal. Finally, I had some ideas of what I was really struggling with.

Finding Solutions

So then I created a grid – Struggles vs. Solution and wrote answers to my struggles. Believe it or not, I found that the root of my problem was that my files on my computer were disorganized, and I get distracted by the mess in my house. I felt stuck.

Seems like a silly thing, right? But the fact that I have a backup drive, my computer, and a google drive which all contained snippets of current projects, I felt lost and completely unorganized. I also don’t have a nightly routine. When I sit down for a few minutes in the morning, I literally have a few minutes. I find myself looking at all the open browser windows I left from the night before instead of finishing editing the pictures or proofing a post as I intended.

After getting to the root problems, I made a checklist and a process of when I would back up my files to the drive, what I would keep on my google drive, and a complimentary file structure for each location. I also gave myself a nightly routine to help with night-time and morning-time distractions.

Both of these are trivial things, but they’re keeping me from moving forward. Until I sat down and wrote my frustrations out, I couldn’t figure out what to do. None of this was pretty, though I tried to make some nice-looking headers and promptly abandoned that endeavor. Sometimes the content is more important than the look.

How does this apply to you?

Sometimes we get so caught up in the beauty or the form of our journals that we forget the function. Form should never take precedence over function. Something beautiful will stay beautifully unused in most cases. So while you’re creating your journals and looking up the most beautiful layouts, please make sure that it works for you.

I’m telling you that it’s ok to have non-Instagram or Pinterest-worthy pages in your journal. It’s ok that your journal has pages that are not aesthetically pleasing contains personal thoughts. This journal is for you, make it what you need it to be.

I’ve included the best journaling quotes I could find below feel free to pin them as quotes to add to your journal later. I’d love to know which of these or if you have other quotes that inspire you. I’d also like to know if you ugly journal.

~Tricia

Ugly Journaling - use your journal time as a list for things you'd like to change | Ugly Journaling - Why you need it in your bullet journal

Journaling quotes

Here are some quotes about journaling for your journal, I think many of these authors use ugly journaling. Surprisingly, I found many of these quotes separately, but Buzz Feed compiled a majority of them a while ago in an article.

“Keep a notebook. Travel with it, eat with it, sleep with it. Slap into it every stray thought that flutters up into your brain. Cheap paper is less perishable than gray matter. And lead pencil markings endure longer than memory.” – Jack London

keep a journal - it's less perishable than gray matter

“…The habit of writing thus for my own eye only is good practice. It loosens the ligaments… What sort of diary should I like mine to be? Something loose knit and yet not slovenly, so elastic that it will embrace anything, solemn, slight or beautiful that comes into my mind.” – Virginia Woolf

“There’s the you that you present to the world, and then there’s… the real one, and if you’re lucky, there’s not a huge difference between those two people. And I guess in my diary I’m not afraid to be boring. It’s not my job to entertain anyone in my diary.” – David Sedaris

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart” – William Worsworth

Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart - William Wordsworth

The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it – Joan Didion

It is like whispering to one’s self and listening at the same time – Mina Murray in her journal in Dracula by Brahm Stoker

It's like whispering to one's self and listening at the same time. - Brahm Stoker

I want to write, but more than that, I want to bring out all kinds of things that lie buried deep in my heart – Anne Frank

I want to write, but more than that, I want to bring out all kids of things that lie buried deep in my heart - Anne Frank

Write it down, let it go.

Plan With Me: June 2018 Beach + Ikea Display Room Method

May 31, 2018 6 Comments

In this plan with me for June 2018, I’ll show you how I used the Ikea Display Room Technique & gradually grew my journal to include only the pages I *really* wanted & needed. If you’ve felt overwhelmed by having too much in your planner, use some of these ideas to help eliminate unnecessary items in your bullet journal and find what’s truly important to you.

It started out this month with my bullet journal feeling like ‘too much’. Besides the fact that summer is the hardest for me to use my bullet journal simply because I get caught up in the ‘lazy days of planning’.

When your bullet journal seems to have ‘too much,’ take inspiration from Ikea’s display rooms and eliminate everything that takes up space. Condense, analyze what you truly need, then reset your planning for the future. I decided to follow those steps this month. Starting with just three pages and adding pages throughout the month as I needed them.

Beach Sign Welcome Page - Watercolor Painted with Crayola Markers | ChocolateMusings.com #welcomepage #bulletjournal #watercolor #crayola

Plan With Me Video: June 2018

In the video below, I’ll show you from start to finish how I created this fun, beachy spread plus the other pages in my bullet journal this month. Crayola super tip markers – one medium I love for ‘painting’ in my journals. I started with absolutely no pencil marks, so you’ll see the whole planning process, doodles and all.

June 2018 Plan with Me Starting Pages

A Welcome page (not necessary but included because I love them, and you still need artwork even in a small space, and I needed something so I could turn the page and have the monthly plans on a two-page spread)
The monthly calendar page (with a daily habit tracker built-in)
Lastly, a monthly journaling page (one that I call All the Things with just the right amount of categories)

The welcome page is one of my all-time favorites. I started doing welcome pages last July, so this makes it my year anniversary of welcome pages! August 2017, January 2018, and June 2018 are my top 3 so far.

June Plan with me 2018 Welcome Page - colorful watercolor sign on the beach with palm trees, starfish, flip flops and sand, perfect for invoking a casual setting in your bullet journal

June 2018 Plan With Me: Rotated Tall Monthly Calendar | How My Journal This Month is Like an Ikea Display Room - condensed, small, minimal, and only includes the necessities | Chocolate Musings - Bullet Journal Inspiration

My Favorite Spread for the month perfect for journaling and memory keeping. | Chocolate Musings - Planner & Bullet Journal Inspiration #bulletjournal #bujo #journal

The Inspiration for June 2018 Plan With Me: Ikea Display Room

Have you ever been to Ikea where they display those ‘living in small areas’, and you see how beautifully arranged all the furniture is and still accommodates all the needs of the person living there? It’s fascinating how a small room can feel like it has everything you need. It’s a revelation to how much ‘extra stuff’ we keep just for the sake of keeping it.

When I was a little girl, I used to pretend in my room that my future house was the size of my bed or the size of my bedroom. It required immense creativity to decide where all my stuffed animals and art supplies would live in this small space. That’s where I got the inspiration for June’s plan with me.

What Small Spaces Require

Small spaces require organization, and you eliminate every unnecessary item. Each nook has a purpose (or two) and storage solutions are well-fitted for the area. When I visit Ikea, I wonder if I could honestly live in such a small square-footage. I’d like to think I could by myself, but definitely not with kids.

Well….that’s kind of what I did for June.

If you saw the plans for May, I condensed the weekly plans down to two weeks per spread. Thinking that was as small as I could get. I guess somewhere in the back of my head; my brain took that as a challenge. Fitting everything in life into 52 dots x 38 dots (the width and height of my bullet journal) takes some creativity and planning.

Monthly Calendar

On the monthly calendar, I wanted a background for each of the boxes, kind of a washed-out background and I used two colors. I wish that Crayola markers had a number on them so I could tell you specifically the colors I used. But I used a water pen to blend the colors from the drawn boxes. The extra two lines at the top of each calendar box are for my habit trackers.

Rotating the book so the calendar is taller than wide adds more space to each day. Each day is eight squares (4 cm) by 5 squares (2.5 cm). I attached my habits using a little washi tape and a sheet cut from a Rhodia Dot-Grid pad (I love lining up the dots, so it’s like the page just continuing onto that little flap).

Rotated Tall Monthly Calendar | How My Journal This Month is Like an Ikea Display Room - condensed, small, minimal, and only includes the necessities | Chocolate Musings - Bullet Journal Inspiration

Was I Crazy? Maybe.

This plan with me was a little disjointed and crazy. I learned a lot about what I needed (and what I didn’t) for the month. I might have been crazy to try condensing all of my plans so much, but I think you’ll agree, sometimes there’s not a whole lot going on, and it’s ok to modify your bullet journal to suit your needs for any given month. Even if that includes eliminating weekly or daily pages. That’s the thing with this type of planner, you can adjust it to suit your needs and add or remove elements as needed.

Post Plan With Me: June 2018 Through the Month

As the month progressed, I added a few extra pages including a beach packing list and a spending log. I loved using my “all the things” journal page to record specific memories as a family and make general notes. There’s a reason why I like to include these particular pages. One reason is they provide a quick overview to the good things of the month. Another reason is that I feel like I recorded a journal entry without feeling like I have to jot every detail down of every event.

Track your spending by category & need vs want review at a glance | Chocolate Musings @ChocMusings #bulletjournal #finances #money #tracking #spendinglog #spendingbloom

Planner Question:

Do you use the same pages/layout each month/week? If so, how long did it take for you to decide on that layout? If not, what makes you change each month?

Are you ok with leaving blank space in your planner when life is less planned, or do you condense everything down?