More Than Just a Planner

Since I was a toddler wearing overalls and pigtails, I was constantly exploring and reaching for my mother’s orange handled crafting scissors, wanting to create a new craft or learn something new. From different genres of books to the types of trees, species of birds, learning crafts, and finding rocks in my backyard to paint, my imagination was vivid and tactile. I craved learning and creating from the days of finger painting on construction paper onward. This turned into my exploration of different arts and crafts. I bounced from activity to activity – calligraphy, making tiny houses from kits, writing, crochet, designing my own greeting cards for family members, diamond paintings, paper dolls – you name it, I’ve probably explored it. What I haven’t explored, is on my to-do list.

This inability to settle with one form of crafting has resulted in a wealth of knowledge, a closet full of random boxes of beads, paints and glitter, and on occasion, quite frankly- a mess. Until I found bullet journaling! This artform incorporated most of the skills that I had formed from other crafts into a journal or notebook. It was something I could expound upon, and a way to hone my skills even further. Not only that, but it was also fun and relaxing.

No longer did I have to worry about what to do with that pile of paper in a random folder – I could use it to create my own daily planner. Daily planner, diary, journal, mood tracker, financial tracker – the sky is the limit when it comes to how to “properly” use a bullet journal. There is no one size fits all scenario. There is no stating that I cannot use my journal as this. I can create my journal to suit my needs, to fit my creativity.

My passion for bullet journaling was fueled and became more than just a hobby when I entered college. I was stressed with work, school, and extracurriculars. Finding it hard to keep track of when assignments were due as I was writing them down on sticky notes, or trying to mentally keep track of everything, I decided it was time to invest in a planner. Something that could help me keep track of my life, in simple terms. However, I was disillusioned when shopping for this miracle tracker that I’d envisioned in my mind. None of them screamed “This one is YOU all over”. I didn’t have that exciting love at first sight moment when I picked up a planner and said, yes, I will pay over $20.00 for this. Everything seemed too plain. I decided that I had enough creativity in my body to make my own planner, especially seeing my mother, aunt, and grandmother using their orange-handled shears to create their own masterpieces.

Thus, began my journey down the rabbit hole known as bullet journaling. A versatile craft and hobby that allows the individual creative reign. You can start the days whenever you want. If you want one page to be used for one day at a time, it’s possible. Bullet journaling means that you can take a blank journal with a dot-grid and make it yours.

I utilize my handwriting and calligraphy skills to make the outlines. It’s interesting and fun to experiment with new styles, whether I want the journal to have a vintage or a modern theme. I use my scrapbooking scissors to cut paper so I can glue it onto the pages in order to make a theme. Floral, travel, chocolate, galaxy. I also use watercolors to create themes – or mixable markers. Depending on the theme, I utilize different media. However, I always have scissors available to cut the scrapbooking paper. At first, I would borrow my mother’s scissors whenever she wasn’t utilizing them. Then I ended up being gifting Fiskar’s scrapbooking scissors – my own form of orange-handled scissors. This ability to create patterned edges to colored paper adds dimension and details to the weekly spread. After years of various crafting materials scattered from one end of my house to the other, I now can get by with ink, paper and most importantly scissors. Those items are what I deem necessary in order to make a spread for my bullet journals. Added extras are stickers, washi tape, colored markers, and any other form of artistic media.

I like to add inspirational quotes or song lyrics to the pages in order to bring a smile to my face when checking. I also like to keep my journals separate, creating multiple journals for different purposes at a time. I find that creating a new page or a monthly spread affords relaxation.

I will continue to create new bullet journals as I journey through life and crafts. While my interests might waiver throughout the passing years, as my bullet journals display, my passion for creativity remains a constant. Bullet journaling provides me an opportunity to utilize artistic license, mixed medias, and experimentation to help keep my life organized and documented. On top of all of that, it’s simply fun!