Ready for Take Off: Lessons Learned – January Monthly

January 11, 2018 3 Comments

Lessons Learned from Bullet Journaling

Every month I learn something new from bullet journaling. This month is no different. This month, one of the lessons learned from Bullet Journaling I’ve learned is that open boxes are fun. I did it in my January future log and continued the trend in my January Monthly Calendar. Not all boxes have to be perfect or closed off.

The background art took up more room than I wanted to give at first. But then the colors just seemed so beautiful I couldn’t let them go. So I didn’t fight it and just let things meet where they wanted to meet. I don’t get a lot done the last week of the month anyway right? But the more I look at it, the better I like it. Another lesson learned is that I need to leave room in my life for art and for the ‘things to do’.

(FYI I tried to find the inspiration picture for this spread so I could share it and now I cannot find it anywhere – I looked at it once briefly know how to draw the back of an airplane and I loved how the sunset looked with the clouds) Lesson here: save the picture to your Pinterest board, you so you can find it again.

Intentions Foiled – Ready for Take Off, Anyway

I fully intended to do a whole year’s worth of flowers and foliage and the like as my yearly theme is ‘grow’. However, the transportation theme just built on itself and each doodle became more and more fun (just wait until the mid-month habit check – I think that layout is my absolute favorite for the month). So what can I learn from this seeming mishap? I learned to just let inspiration take place. Crazy that I can learn from bullet journaling, but it seems to have a lot to teach me.

What has Bullet Journaling Taught Me This Month?

I guess you could say that Bullet Journaling has taught me how to compromise. Sometimes what I think is very important at first is actually not important after all. Am I making a big deal about something that truly doesn’t matter why not just be open to new ideas? Who knew a little-dotted notebook could hold such insight in its blank pages? Who knew it held life lessons that years of living have not been able to teach me yet?

I think that all this drawing and journaling and planning have gotten into my brain and tried to make me a better person. I’d better let it do its magic and learn how to compromise in real life. I think I’ll take a cue from my monthly theme and let the good things take off. It’s easier to let things come naturally and not force them. I learned that when creating this month’s group of spreads. Just allow the inspiration to come and learn from it.

Recap: Lessons Learned (just this month!) from Bullet Journaling

Open box design is fun
Leave room in my life for art AND for ‘things to do’
Intentions aren’t always what you need
Intentions don’t always give inspiration
Compromise – if something doesn’t work out the way you want it, don’t just say no at first. You might enjoy it.
Allow yourself to become a better person

Question:

What unexpected objects have inspired your life lessons? Let me know in the comments below!

Watch the process video below for how I painted/set up this page.

Remember to plan your life so you live beautifully and don’t be afraid to find your inner muse.

~Tricia

Keep the Function of a Monthly Calendar Spread with a Touch of Flair

October 6, 2017 1 Comment

October Monthly Calendar Layout

I didn’t always use a bullet journal as my preferred method of keeping track of my life. I used other planners. In fact, I used a planner once as a journal so I would have just a snippet of space to write in. It worked, for a while. But here is the thing, I was flipping through my old planners and they were so boring. The function was there, but the inspiration wasn’t. I have many half-filled or abandoned planners – it’s really embarrassing. There were planners where there months where there was nothing recorded. It wasn’t until I found the freedom of creating in the bullet journal system that I used it consistently.

Bullet Journaling = Flexibility and Variety

Part of the reason I have stuck with bullet journaling for so long is the variations you can add to your planner. You allow for as much space as needed any given month or week. Be as creative or minimalistic as desired. For me, This may not always be a priority, but now I need that space as a creative outlet. That being said, monthly calendar-style layouts offer the least amount of flexibility. I tried to create a gravestone monthly calendar layout. That didn’t work well because I use my monthly as a way to glance at the month and see what is coming and it was overwhelming to look at – so I just turned the page and did something different.

If having a monthly grid layout works for you, by all means, go, be productive and love the square you are in (I’ll only be a tinge jealous). Maybe someday you can teach me of your ways.

The monthly calendar is so incredibly functional, my month wouldn’t be complete without it! This start of the month page may just be the most functional page in the whole month’s layouts. Can you hear the accusing tone in my words? Don’t get me wrong…functional is essential but it’s usually so boring.

I like seeing a monthly calendar – I am a very visual person, so seeing the relationship between events helps me plan my days. Especially with the monthly calendar with its familiar boxed days. But sometimes, those boxes are just too boxy.

Just a little change to your monthly calendar makes it look completely new!

Round the corners for a change on the monthly calendar set up, add a bit of sparkle and whimsy with iridescent paints, a couple of cute spiders with webs and your (near) minimalist monthly spread is all dressed up. Keep function and add a touch of flair.

So if you find yourself bored with the same-old-same-old in your planner, tweak your functional layout ever so slightly, adding details that don’t scare you (see what I did there with the Halloween reference) by keeping function but adding some whimsy. It may not take much to brighten your planner and shake off the cobwebs (I did it again!) from your planning routine.

In review:

September’s monthly log was full of color and added elements.

I’d love to hear!

Leave me a comment below: What planner change-ups have you made to spice up your planner? I’d love to know what you’ve done!

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This post contains affiliate links. The cost is the same to you but, I will receive a small commission to help support my blogging and creativity habits. 🙂 All opinions expressed were solely mine and from my heart.

September Set Up

August 29, 2017 3 Comments

Hello, September.

How I’ve missed you.

Fall is a time that gives me the…well warm fuzzies. Even though September is not yet full-on fall, there is a certain deliciousness that comes with the crisp nights and cooling weather, the warm hues all over the tree tops as the autumn colors dot the horizon. The reds, oranges, yellows, soft browns, and PURPLE! Purple is a fall color I swear.

Apple strudel is definitely on the menu. I don’t care if I have to eat the entire pan by myself because no one else in my family likes it. I wouldn’t say that is necessarily negative, I consider it a perk.

September feels like a great time to cuddle up with a fuzzy blanket and read a book. I thought maybe I could have this Monthly Intro Page do double duty as a book tracking page (I’ve also heard the page called monthly cover page/splash page/monthly greeting or welcome page) whatever you call this “Hello September” page, I love the way it turned out. I added touches of iridescent watercolor paint after coloring with Papermate Flair Pens and using a water brush for blending.

As with most pages that I paint, I get caught up in the artwork and want to keep it for the beauty of the art. I don’t want to write on it! We shall see if I decide to deface the cover page and turn it into a reading tracker.

See how pretty that paint is? It shimmers.

Sigh.

Monthly Page Layout:

This month, I shrunk the size of the day’s boxes and am adding a smaller habit tracker fto the side of the page. Another reason I love fall is the return of a regular schedule. Don’t get me wrong. I love summer for the freedom it allows, but fall provides needed structure in my life (and my children’s lives!).

Blending Tombow Dual Brush markers has fascinated me. I’ve seen it all over instagram – so I tried it. Surprisingly, I really like the color combination of the orange #933 and the purple #636. I plan to write in black so scaling the numbers up in the day boxes and using them as a ‘background’ was perfect.

I wanted more fall colors and leaves. Lots of leaves. I never realized how hard leaves were to draw! Using a variety of the Papermate flair pens, I drew out basic leaf shapes (you can see my pencil marks) and filled in with colors and used a water brush to blend the colors. The flair pens don’t blend completely, but I really like the look it gives in this case. On some of the leaves, I went back and outlined them again.

The return of the habit tracker

Since fall is the return of schedules, it is the return of the neglected Habit Tracker to my bullet journal. Using the space on the right-side of the page, I added a baby-step tracker filled with only the essential items. Habits that I truly need to form {or break!}. As you can see, there are a lot of personal-development items on my habit tracker. It’s time to get my personal life back into shape!

For creating an effective habit tracking:

I am rather pleased by the colors and the layout for September. I added the washi tape for goals and the ‘to do’ section quite by accident. They are actually covering a hand-lettering mistake. The tape is sparkly orange and I wrote on it with a white “Recollections” opaque marker that I found at Michael’s in the loose pen aisle. I mark the monthly spread pages with washi tape for easy navigation. I added the white dots to the lettered titles too. I like the texture it gives and gives the text even more whimsy.

I wasn’t intending to add leaves to the boxes on the calendar, but it became necessary as I smeared the ink on number 13. I can’t tell, nor do I care because I like the added leaves! The number 25 may need some of the same help. Or maybe I should fill that day with plenty of fall activities that I will never know otherwise.

How do you fix errors on your page? Washi tape? Art? Stickers? Just leave it? Bullet journaling has taught me that it’s ok to make mistakes and to love them for what they are. Let me know what you do in the comments below.