This month’s bullet journal theme is sea creatures in bright colors! I got the idea for the theme when I imagined octopus tentacles creeping around the corner. Then in my head, I heard the song by The Weeknd “I Feel it Coming.”

Who is with me when we come to a new year and want to step carefully into it? I lost my bullet journal mojo around September 2020 and struggled all of 2021 to get it back. I didn’t stop creating. In fact, I have mountains of things that I did create and want to share, but I also want to move forward.

These octopus tentacles look scary – but they aren’t, I promise. They want to see what’s around the corner. I’m hoping for something good.

Plan With Me Video

Love planning videos? So do I. It’s how I got my start bullet journaling. Check out January’s Plan With Me Video – I talk even more about the function of each page and how I set it up. Forgive my voice, I was recovering from a terrible cold then, and it was the first day I dared to record.

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Pretty + Functional Bullet Journal

Do you ever create bullet journal pages that are pretty but not functional? What about practical but not pretty? This month, I strived to merge the two. My calendar page could use a little help, but I love the idea of this running to-do list on the right. It reminds me of the original Bullet Journal rapid-logging method with its ongoing list. I must have a visual layout for the calendar – in some way, form, or fashion.

To keep with the sea creatures theme, I added these adorable jellyfish. After adding the gold accents, I decided that all jellyfish are hereby ordered to add sparkles and gold accents. Do you think they will listen to me? Probably not.

One sea creature I didn’t care for this month in my bullet journal was the fish outline on my habit tracker/brain dump page. Even though I love the name of my brain dump page, “Swimming Thoughts,” the fish was disappointing. After talking with my best friend, she pointed out it was also on my habit tracker page. And that page is the one I use to improve my life.

Weekly Layouts – Sea Creature Bullet Journal Theme

I shared a little of the whale shark sea creature on my personal Facebook page. There, I named him ‘Ted’ and decided to name all the other lovely sea creatures in my bullet journal this month. All except the jellies and the fish on my habits page. If you have names, I am so open to ideas.

Week 1 – Sea Horse “Herbert”

This little guy was more than challenging. I love to do with watercolor paints (and always have in every medium) to create shadows using color. The texture of this sea creature certainly allowed me to study how light and shadows work to make the crevices and outlines on his body.

Week 2 – Sea Turtle “Ed”

Do you ever have one of those things you want to draw or create so badly but think you’ll never do it justice? Sea turtles are the sea creatures that I’ve always wanted to paint – but never did. I seriously cannot wait to paint more sea turtles.

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but… stop putting off the things you really want to do. Do them already. Whether painting a sea turtle, training for a marathon, or whatever else guides your heart. Stop turning yourself away from your dreams.

Week 3 – Giant Blue Whale “Ned”

Oh, this gentle giant. This sea creature fits so perfectly in my theme. While sketching the shape for this week’s art, I kept thinking about how there are so many things bigger than us all. More significant than we realize, we are so focused on our minor ores trying to get wherever we are going that we never stop examining the depths. We do not know what greatness lies beyond our little boats. “Ned,” the whale, is a gentle giant and would never hurt anyone.

Week 4 – Whale Shark “Ted”

We live near Atlanta – which has a gigantic aquarium with four whale sharks in its gargantuan tank. These sea creatures are so majestic and so lovely. I used masking fluid to resist the watercolor paint to make the white spots. Then gently removed the masking fluid dots after the pages were completely dry.

Diving into the Functional Parts

See what I did there? Diving in? Sometimes you have to dive deeper to see these sea creatures. But not here, in these bullet journal layouts. I adore the weekly pages. The challenge I gave myself was to create a very functional design, and I could still include art that felt like it met the ocean – free-flowing and not constricted. But I also wanted to keep the same basic layout for each week. I think I succeeded.

It starts with my ‘top 3 things’ – so these things are on my to-do list that needs to get done. Below that section, I added a place for appointments to keep my schedule. The largest area at the bottom is other day-specific to-dos.

Each weekly page has a section on the right where I write down tasks – this is where I pull my top 3 to-do items and other daily tasks if needed. And I have to say it’s fabulous.

How I Plan for Each Day

I decided to take my advice and implement these two things every night to have more productive days. f you’re looking for a great new year’s resolution or simply a way to be more productive, try these two things out every night.

Red Coral – Sea Creature or Not?

This month’s final page is a journal page, and I adorned it with twisted red coral – using a fun, loose way to paint. I think I’ll have to do a tutorial on this painting style. It’s easier than you think. Coral is a living organism. Does it count as a sea creature or not? ‘m not sure!

Which sea creature is your favorite this month from my bullet journal? This theme makes me want to return to the beach.