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Floral Wreath Bullet Journal Theme – May 2019 Plan With Me

April 28, 2019 Leave a Comment

Floral Wreath Bullet Journal Theme | ChocolateMusings.com @ChocolateMusingsCreates #minimalist #blackandwhite #bulletjournal

Floral Wreath Bullet Journal Theme – May 2019 Plan With Me

Have you ever had something you really wanted to try, but never did because you were afraid you wouldn’t be good at it? Practically everything I do starts as that thought in my head. This time it was drawing flowers. I really wanted to draw flowers. Outline drawings, watercolor paintings, floral wreaths, you name it, I want to create flowers. But I collected flower drawing & reference books instead of trying. I chose floral wreaths for my bullet journal theme this month and I’m happy to say that April showers bring May flowers!

I went a little flower doodle crazy and I’m super thrilled with the way they turned out. It gives me so many ideas for the future. In a way, this whole month is minimal. I love how elegant it looks and how it turned out. I hope you find some inspiration in my floral wreath bullet journal theme this month.

Watch the Plan With Me for Some Oh-So-Satisfying Flower Doodles

What’s in My Planner This Month:

I skipped the monthly welcome page (gasp!) partially because I stared at some blank pages and didn’t know what to do at first. The other part was that I was trying to conserve pages as I thought I could get two more months out of this journal, but I realized that I neglected my brain dump pages and review pages, and those pages are essential for keeping me organized and motivated, so I got a new notebook instead of trying to cram another month in the journal.

Circle Monthly / Calendar Wheel

If you’ve been around my blog in the past, you might have noticed that I like circles. The May monthly calendar doesn’t disappoint. Built around a partial floral wreath, I created a circular May monthly log. Then because I wanted a miniature calendar, I added a flip-out page which also has color codes. Thinking I would only use the flip-out for the monthly, at first I was pleased with the idea. Then I realized I can use it for all the weeklies to follow and now I’m a little giddy. I love it when something good turns into something fantastic.

The only thing I wish is that I would have kept the colors muted or not used as much of them. So use only a stripe of color instead of coloring the box in. I don’t think this will be the last of floral wreaths, a flip-out calendar or color codes. So, there’s always next time!

Flowers inside the monthly calendar wheel + Habit Tracker Vines | ChocolateMusings.com @ChocMusings #bulletjournal #flowers #floral

Floral Wreath Bullet Journal Theme | ChocolateMusings.com @ChocMusings #minimalist #blackandwhite #bulletjournal

If you have only a few calendar items, the monthly log either in horizontal or vertical format (like mine for last April or December) or this circular format (also known as a calendar wheel) is a really fun change to display significant dates and a high-level overview for the month.

Habit Tracker

Instead of my usual circle habit tracker, I decided to go with a block format. Just so I didn’t have two facing circles across from each other. My favorite part about this page is the leafy vine wrapping around the words. Using a Tombow Brush Pen, I was able to get the thick and thin lines just like you see in calligraphy. Unlike the calendar facing page where each line on the flowers is the same width, the brush pen gives a little more character. I’m excited to track my habits this month!

Weekly Flower Wreaths

I LOVE floral wreaths. Flowers wrapped around a circle – what could be better? Creating floral wreaths was the inspiration for the entire month, and my goal was to make each day different. #missionaccomplished

I used different pens and pen thicknesses on each of these pages. My favorite: Micron 02 .30mm and Micron 03 .35mm. I also tried a black Papermate Flair pen and a .50mm Micron pen.

Tip: if you decide to watercolor the flowers, make sure you use an archival pen (like the Micron pens, not the Papermate Flair pen) if you ink before watercoloring. Otherwise, your black outlines will blend with your watercolors. And make sure the ink is completely dry before watercoloring. You can use the Papermate Flair pens after the watercolor is absolutely dry.

Minimal Weekly Bullet Journal: Floral Wreaths Theme | ChocolateMusings.com #floralwreath #bulletjournal #weekly

Miscellaneous Pages

I added a new page to the month – a social media planning page. Believe it or not, I have a lot more images I want to share each month than I post here or on my Instagram page. I create something a little special for Random holidays like Pick Strawberries day or Waffle Day and it never fails, I forget to share them!

All the Things

My journal page/memory keeper spread for the month. I love filling in details of the adventures we have as a family, what I learned & created for the month and other good things.

Seeds of Thought

The last page in my monthly pages is my brain dump page. I love coming up with names for brain dump pages that tie to my theme. For instance, February was a pirate theme & I called my brain dump spread “X Marks the Thought”. So this month, I called it “Seeds of Thought”.

I’m so excited to track and do all the things for the month of May. I love creative planning/bullet journaling because I can customize it and use it as a learning tool each month. I think you might see florals in the future. The moral of the story is, don’t let your mind convince itself that you can’t do whatever it is you want to do before you’ve even tried it.

I hope I’ve given you some ideas & inspiration to dress up your planner or bullet journal and try drawing some flowers & floral wreaths.

Wishing you joy and creativity every day - Tricia

How to Watercolor Paint Raspberries & Blackberries Tutorial

April 18, 2019 Leave a Comment

How to Watercolor Paint Raspberries & Blackberries + Video Tutorial | ChocolateMusings.com #beginner #watercolor #tutorial

How to Watercolor Paint Raspberries & Blackberries Tutorial

I had so much fun with the fruit infusion recipe inspiration for my bullet journal. Painting the raspberries and blackberries was more fun than I expected. So today I wanted to show you how to watercolor paint raspberries & blackberries. It’s really easy and requires just a few items.

Watch the Video Below – I walk you through all the steps

You’ll see how easy it is to paint raspberries & blackberries. You’ll want to start creating your own today!

Supplies Needed

Watercolor Paper – when starting out with watercolor, it’s important to use the right paper. Printer paper is thin (typically people buy 20lb paper) and it will only cause frustration because the paint will bleed through and you won’t get the same effect. I started painting in my journal after I experimented with water and paint for a while. Watercolor paper is designed for watercolor and will hold up a lot better than other paper.

Round brushes – Round brushes are good because they hold water well and the bristles form a tip which will allow for finer detail work when needed. I have several different kinds and some I like more than others. How the bristles hold water and paint make a difference to me…now. When I first started, I wouldn’t have noticed the difference.

Tip: What I would not recommend is buying that 50 pack of brushes for $5. Choose a brush that won’t fray and will hold their shape. You don’t need the most expensive brush, but you need something more than the cheapo bargain pack.

Watercolor Paint

I used two different types of paint but choose your favorite. I like the rich color with Windsor Newton paints, but I haven’t had any issue with the store brand version from Michaels or Hobby Lobby. As a beginner, learning the techniques is more important than having the fanciest tools. After all, Bob Ross painted with a pallet knife.

One thing to note is if you’re starting you don’t want to spend a lot of money on supplies. Learn the basics, and then if you really like it, keep going and find other supplies. (Read: welcome to the rabbit hole.) If painting or drawing turns out to be a worthwhile hobby to you – it brings you joy and peace to your soul, then there’s time to expand your supplies.

Other Supplies You’ll Need:

Papertowel (not tissue or bath tissue), two sets of water (one for rinsing the paint off your brush) and the other for getting new, fresh, clean water.

Good lighting is essential. I have terrible lighting in my house, very little natural light, so I bought photography lights with daylight bulbs and use them for my art projects & videos. If you have natural light, that’s always best.

Start Painting

To paint the berries, we will use what’s called ‘wet on wet’ which means we will start with a wet surface (add water to the paper) and add a lot of water to the paint. (See the picture below for what I mean.)

If using a pencil – lightly sketch the individual circles that make up the raspberry or blackberry. Draw lightly! Erase most of the lines once done – just so you can see the shapes. Now, dip your paint in fresh water and with the very tip, paint circles with the water, but don’t close in the circles, do mostly outlines. Start in the center and add half-circles around it to complete the shape of the berry.

Tip: if you’re having trouble seeing the water on the paper, try looking at the paper from an angle. The light reflects differently at a 30 or 45-degree angle versus straight down. If you’re still having trouble, use your phone flashlight at an angle to highlight the markings.

Watercolor Painting Tip: Start with plain water outline, then add paint | ChocolateMusings.com #beginner #watercolor #tips

Now to Add Paint to your Raspberries & Blackberries

Now for the fun part. Get some more water on your brush and dip it in the paint, but don’t be satisfied with just one swipe across the paint surface, especially if you’re using the hardened watercolor paint cakes. You’ll have to experiment a bit, but I found that I wanted the watered down paint to almost drip from the tip of the brush.

Touch the brush to the circles of water and watch the color spread. Coax the water along the design you made earlier with the water. Add more paint if needed. Add a little variation of color if you want, especially near the bottom so it looks like a shadow. Fill in the circles a little bit, but not so they’re completely filled in. Use the tip of the paintbrush to direct the pigment where you want it to go next.

The parts left white on the paper act as a highlight for the berry.

For the blackberry, you could try starting with a blue on some parts and adding black to the other parts, so the two colors run together. Follow the same technique for filling in a portion of the circles but still leaving a highlight.

How to Easily Watercolor Paint a Raspberry & Blackberry | ChocolateMusings.com #beginner #watercolor #tips

How to Paint a Blueberry Bonus:

As a bonus – I added How to Paint a Blueberry! Use water to create a circle and then mostly fill it in, leave a couple of parts uncovered and leave a crescent shape near the top as a highlight. Add quite a bit of paint to the water areas and let the paint fill in the water. Once you’ve got it nicely covered, use the tip of your paintbrush to pull the ink upwards into a crown. Basically, little triangles poking out of the top of the blueberry.

Add a crown to your blueberry to top it off | ChocolateMusings.com #beginner #watercolor #tips

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial on how to watercolor paint raspberries & blackberries. Make sure to follow my YouTube Channel and leave a thumbs up on the video!

Let me know in the comments below what you’d like to see in the future.

Start Planning

Start planning! Here’s where I share my love of pretty & functional planning spreads, and my bullet journal. Planning is how I broke out of a 12-year creative rut, and I’m never going back to those dark ages.

I love to share how I use my bullet journal to keep me organized and find joy and creativity every single day. I’ll use my bullet journal to show you examples, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use them in your own planner (whether you bullet journal or not).

Use these ideas and the others you find to inspire you and create and organize yourself in your own way. By the way, I love creating Plan With Me videos to walk you through my pages. Subscribe to my channel on YouTube here!

Click on one of the images below and discover a whole new way to start planning/organizing/living your day!

What is a Bullet Journal?

Bullet Journal (or BuJo) is a term coined by Ryder Carroll, though, the concept has been around for a long time. For instance, Leonardo DaVinci kept books and records of his inventions and thoughts. Italian poet, Giacomo Leopardi, wrote original ideas and a veritable “hodge-podge” of information in his notebook known as the Zibaldone. However, Ryder made it more accessible in recent times.

I am not a bullet journal purist. Very few, if any of my notebook spreads align with the original concept of bullet journal. For instance, I thoroughly enjoy painting, creating, handlettering, and a myriad of other artistic aspects of creative journaling.

In addition to the creative side of my planner, I also enjoy keeping track of my day-to-day tasks, appointments, and thoughts. There’s my disclaimer, so you know what you’ll find here without any surprises.

Pirate Planner Theme

February 3, 2019 5 Comments

The Inspiration for this Month’s Bullet Journal Theme: Pirates

I’m so excited to show you my planner set up for February. I use the different spaces in my planner to learn and try new techniques and styles. The pirate theme this month in my bullet journal was so much fun and opened the door to many ideas and styles. Overall, I am so pleased with the outcome. By the way, after months of seeking the perfect notebook, I love this notebook by Archer & Olive.

I’m a fan of finding inspiration and then adapting to my own needs or tweaking until I can make it my own. I learn visually so I find inspiration all around me. What I’d like to do is show you my inspiration for my monthly spreads to help inspire you!

Watch the unfinished version of the flip through below.

Pirate Theme Bullet Journal Cover Page Ahoy Matey! | @ChocolateMusingsCreates ChocolateMusings.com #pirate #bulletjournal #bujo

The Inspiration for this Month’s Bullet Journal Theme: Pirates
Cover Page Inspiration
Monthly Calendar
Pirate-Themed Bullet Journal Habit Tracker
Pirate Theme Weeklies in My Bullet Journal
Collection Pages
Brain Dump Page/Idea Log

Cover Page Inspiration

Inspiration for this adorable boat welcome page: I have to admit that it came from Baby Shark’s related videos on Amazon Prime. My two-year-old is obsessed with this song, and I occasionally turn it on and watch it with him. Then they sing counting songs and other silly lyrics. There is a counting song that shows cute little boats and inspired this cover pate.

In June 2018, I did a cover page that I love to this day. Palm trees, flipflops, coconuts and a sign pointing the way to June. I added a little homage to my favorite cover page this month. Complete with a giant red X marking the spot – because that’s where you find the buried treasure!

Here’s a link to my June Plan with Me Playlist on YouTube

How to Watercolor Paint with Markers in Your Bullet Journal | ChocolateMusings.com Step-by-Step Tutorial + Video

Monthly Calendar

Using the idea of masking off areas like I did in July 2018 I used sticky notes to ‘mask’ off areas and paint/draw over them.

This result turned out beautifully. I love the look of old-looking parchment paper and the ship’s wheel. They really add a fun twist to the pirate bullet journal theme I was going for. Since I’d been dying to paint with some ink, and the Iridescent Coppery Plate Gold added such a subtle shimmer to the pages.

Below you can see how I blocked off the squares so I could draw out the design ‘behind’ the monthly calendar squares.

Here’s a link to my July Plan with me on YouTube.

Pirate Theme Monthly Calendar | @ChocolateMusingsCreates ChocolateMusings.com #pirate #bulletjournal #bujo

Sticky Notes Mask in my Bullet Journal Pirate Theme | @ChocolateMusingsCreates ChocolateMusings.com #pirate #bulletjournal #bujo

Pirate-Themed Bullet Journal Habit Tracker

If you could see me now. I am so EXCITED about this page and the possibilities and ideas that came from creating this page. My bullet journal pirate theme is not about plundering and pillaging, it’s about seeking treasure. Rare gems in my life to make me happier. And when something works PERFECTLY the first time I try it, that’s exciting stuff right there.

Pirate Theme Habit Tracker Compass Rose | @ChocolateMusingsCreates ChocolateMusings.com #pirate #bulletjournal #bujo

First of all: I LOVE circle habit trackers & other circles in my planner (read my blog post on how to create circles in your bullet journal) they’re just so well rounded (sorry/not sorry about the pun). So when I created this page, I wanted it to be like a compass rose and then add the goals to the center.

Once I drew the compass rose & painted/colored it in, I didn’t want to cover it up! So I created this circle tracker on my computer. After resizing it on the screen once or twice, I printed it out. Viola! It was THE perfect fit. No adjustments needed. But I printed it on white paper so I still couldn’t see the compass behind it.

Enter: tracing paper.

Side Note: Don’t try printing on tracing paper with a laser printer since those use heat to adhere the toner to the paper and the tracing paper will likely melt and ruin your printer.

But I knew my inkjet could handle thin paper (I printed on a dictionary page one time as an experiment). It printed beautifully. Since I designed it on the computer, look how even those lines are!

I think this is going to happen more in my life. I better stock up on tracing paper.

Pirate Theme Compass Rose Habit Tracker with Transparency | @ChocolateMusingsCreates ChocolateMusings.com #pirate #bulletjournal #bujo

Pirate Theme Weeklies in My Bullet Journal

Oh, I had so much fun creating each of these weekly spreads: Treasure chests, Gems, Telescopes, & Bottles, oh my!

Pirate Theme Treasure Chest Weekly | @ChocolateMusingsCreates ChocolateMusings.com #pirate #bulletjournal #bujo

Pirate Theme Weekly Telescope and Hat | @ChocolateMusingsCreates ChocolateMusings.com #pirate #bulletjournal #bujo

The biggest intimidation I had was the gems. I left this page as the last to do. Ok, let me explain. No…there is too much, let me sum up. (Thank you Princess Bride for that quote.) I’ve wanted to draw gems FOREVER (over a year – isn’t that forever?), and I found a Skillshare class that taught very simple ways to understand light and dark through transparent objects like gems. But I never did the assignment.

Finally, after a year of avoiding the assignment, I included gems on a weekly and just made myself do it. There’s room for improvement – for sure! But isn’t it always the first step that’s the hardest. I can’t wait to try more. Also, the white highlights are my favorite.

Pirate Theme Weekly Gems and Pearls | @ChocolateMusingsCreates ChocolateMusings.com #pirate #bulletjournal #bujo

Collection Pages

Every month I include a journaling page that I call “all the things.” Where I record memories and other items that I did throughout the month. More circles on this page – this time in the form of pearls. Soft, subtle colors add a bit of fun to the page.

In real life, I never liked pearls before I wore them. When you wear real pearls, you know. They are heavy, but not burdensome, and warm to the skin. I love how they make me feel (I feel beautiful when I wear them). So including pearls on a page that I jot down beautiful memories is immensely appropriate in my mind.

I feel like pirates would love pearls – which naturally makes them perfect for my pirate bullet journal theme.

Pirate theme Journal Page Pearls | @ChocolateMusingsCreates ChocolateMusings.com

Brain Dump Page/Idea Log

X marks the thought! I love new names for brain dump pages, and I love brain dump pages in general. There are too many thoughts in my head to try and keep them in there. I found that this page is 100% necessary so I can organize and review all the thoughts and ideas. Every six months or so I will review past brain dump pages and see what ideas I missed in the past. It is one of my most used and underutilized pages. I think I will make an effort to review the concepts more often and work on developing the ideas even further.

If you hate the name ‘brain dump’, check out this post with over 150 + different names for brain dump!

Pirate theme Treasure Map Brain Dump | @ChocolateMusingsCreates ChocolateMusings.com

What’s your favorite page? I’d love to know what themes you’ve tried in the past!

Bullet Journal Pirate Theme | @ChocolateMusingsCreates ChocolateMusings.com #pirate #bulletjournal #bujo

Plan With Me: May Weekly Layouts {+ Video}

May 13, 2018 2 Comments

New May Weekly Layouts!

I’m testing out a new set of layouts for May! The May weekly layouts will be two to a page to accommodate less planning needs. Thinking about May’s plans (and on into June and July), I plan less and relax more. Sure, we will have a week of family vacation but other events are on the ‘unplanned’ side and ‘off-the-cuff’ decisions.

I work during the summer so my schedule stays the same. The only thing I need to worry about is my sitter for the kiddos and the occasional planned outing. Consolidating the weeklies will help ‘space waste’ across my spreads.

Creative planning or bullet journaling is so versatile! When you need more space, take more space, when you need less space, plan your spreads accordingly. This month I decided to try two weeks to a page and have two different spreads to try.

May Weekly Layouts

Watch the video below (be sure to subscribe for more content!) and see how I layout minimal planning and add bits of color to each page.

Summer Mode: Loading

May Horizontal Weekly Layouts + Plan with me video, layouts and reason for condensing two weeks to a spread

My kiddos finish school the end of the month (before Memorial Day in the US) and about Mid-April we lazily fall into summer-mode. The days are warmer, the sun shines longer, the pollen is thicker (in the Southern United States, we have Winter, Pollen Season, Summer then comes Autumn), despite the yellow haze in the air and yellow film lacing my car from all the pollen, it feels like summer is coming.

Summer Plans = Planning Less?

Though we may do more during the summer, I tend to plan less. Rather than leaving whole pages blank due to lack of planning, I decided to condense May to two weeks to a spread. True to form, I always have to try more than one spread for the month and decide which I like best. The area of the squares is the same (same number of blocks) but the layout is different. I’m already loving the vertical layouts. The horizontal layouts don’t have a designated place for meal planning and that’s an important part of my budget, so I’ll have to add that back in.

Same Layout Different Backgrounds

Just to see how different a spread can look, I like to use different backgrounds for each spread. Vertical & horizontal. In this month’s spreads, I use diagonal, vertical and horizontal watercolor painted stripes plus the last week uses circles instead for a completely different feel.

It’s just my way of making each page different when they are essentially the same.

May Vertical Weekly Layouts + Plan with me video, layouts and reason for condensing two weeks to a spread

Question:

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

~Tricia

Floral Wreath Bullet Journal Theme – May 2019 Plan With Me

Floral Wreath Bullet Journal Theme – May 2019 Plan With Me

Watch the Plan With Me for Some Oh-So-Satisfying Flower Doodles

What’s in My Planner This Month:

Circle Monthly / Calendar Wheel

Habit Tracker

Weekly Flower Wreaths