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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Hello October – Smells Like Fresh Baked Apple Pie – Monthly Welcome Page

September 28, 2017 4 Comments

Hello, October. You smell like fall. You smell like freshly baked apple pie.

If you don’t like apple pie, no worries, I’ll make apple crisp – you like that right? I’ll make extra topping.

You sound like the leaves crunching under my feet and the cool, crisp fall nights perfect for stargazing near a fire as it crackles into the night and then slowly dies to embers glowing in the moonlight. Oh Hello, October.

Hello, October. You taste like pumpkin spice.

You feel like the cozy socks I’m always tempted to wear and the heat seeping through the mug of hot chocolate as I enjoy the onset of a cooler season. If I didn’t know any better, I might say you are my favorite. Summer is fun, but it is so chaotic and unstructured. October feels like the time to slow down and enjoy life after school has started, schedules are in place, and before the craziness of Thanksgiving and Christmas set in.

October feels like a time to dream, so if it is chilly or not, if the leaves are falling or if they are staying green on the tree branches, pick up a good book, and let your imagination go. Daydream of the best times of your life. Or create a fall bucket list and enjoy this time of year.

Choosing a Theme

Halloween is always a fun theme for October. The festivities are at the end of the month, so you have a full month of enjoying little critters and ghastly ghouls. But this time, I decided to paint a pie. Truth be told, it would be the first pie I’ve ever made. Yes – that includes baking. I bake a terrific apple crisp, but I have never really attempted a pie.

Page Overview:

What I found difficult was getting the right color in the painting – showing a golden brown, not orange, and not burnt. Just enough orange and brown to make the pie look like it recently came out of the oven. The other thing is what to do between the lattice-work? I looked at lots of pictures of pies for reference and got very hungry doing it.

Overall – I’m pleased with the page – especially being that it is my first pie. The apples are my first painted apples as well. So many new things!

Typically my welcome pages for the months are on the right side, but I thought I would be great to include my monthly goals & monthly to-do list. I secretly think I just wanted to come back to this page and salivate as I look at the pie.

I know we are always overly critical of our own work, so I will admit that I like the “Hello October” but I think I could have done better on the “Monthly Goals and To Do” my spacing is a bit scrunched at the end. I’ll just put that on my to-do list for next month. That is one thing I have learned from my bullet journal. I have learned that it is ok with things that aren’t perfect. Sounds strange coming from a self-proclaimed perfectionist.

Now that this is done…

I may actually create a bucket list for October just because it has given me all the feels.

Leave me a comment and let me know what your favorite thing about fall is – and what is on your fall bucket list. I’d love some ideas! I’ve included a list of items I used in this post below. Enjoy!

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.

Here’s to September, the beginning of a new season. A time to embrace what comes and to reignite the flame for schedules and planning.

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