Bullet journaling – Keeping it creative

art, Bullet journaling, coloured pencil, creativity, goal setting, planner lifestyle, Planning and journaling

Setting up my bullet journal for May 2025: Primrose / primula theme

Posted on May 5, 2025May 5, 2025 by Laura

This month, I’ve again taken inspiration from our garden. A few weeks ago, I decided that I wanted to add more colour out the front of the house, so we went to the garden centre to look for a set of six bedding plants that should come back year after year. I opted for primroses (AKA primula) as there was already one out there which pops up each spring and was obviously set before we moved in over a decade ago. After the flowers had settled in – they went a bit floppy when we first installed them – I took some macro photos to use as inspiration for my spreads. It’s taken me ages to sketch out, draw and colour in all of the images but it was such a lovely, mindful activity that I found it really therapeutic. As I write this, it’s the 2nd May and I still haven’t finished all of the decor but I have drawn up my calendar, finances, goals and first weekly so I can actually fill in events and tasks. I hope you like my finished pages and they inspire you to give florals a go to practise your drawing, colouring or maybe painting skills.

Front cover

The calendar was the last page I finished and took me a long while to complete. I used a photograph of a plant pot of primroses for reference which I found on Google. I used mainly my Staedtler Ergosoft coloured pencils and blended a few shades together to get a nice peachy colour. I also used my blending pencil to mix up the colours and to create a smooth appearance. I also used my Sakura Gelly Roll pen in a size 10 to draw lines inside of the Pigma Micron as the actual primroses had a very thin white trim.

Photo credit: Laura Jones for Keeping It Creative

Monthly calendar

I added the decor to my calendar second, after I did the image for my finances record, and, as it had taken me such as long time to finish that one, I opted for a more sketchy appearance to the primroses you see here. I held my fineliner really lightly and tried to create a slightly wobbly appearance so the plants looked more natural. I’m really happy with how they turned out and the colours look so cheerful. I made good use of lots of my coloured pencils and also used my blending pencil to blend out any harsh lines.

Finances record

As well as the pack of six small primrose plants, we also purchased a much larger one for our back garden. The flowers are a lovely, pale pink but I didn’t have a coloured pencil which matched so I’ve gone for more of a peachy colour. I initially did just the flower in the centre but decided there were too many leaves and not enough floral bits so I added the other two and made them a little more washed out so the central one stood out.

Monthly goals

Last month I (yet again), picked far too many goals to be in with any chance of achieving them all. So, for May, I’ve really, really restricted myself and opted for just 5 (go me!). And, I’ve already achieved one of them as I made bread for the very first time yesterday!

Rather than adding some more primrose illustrations, I opted to add some stickers to make the set up much quicker. Some, I’ve made myself and others are from my ever increasing stash (you can never have too many stickers – right?). However, I have just started a new BuJo this month and a not to do goal of mine is to add plenty of my own illustrations straight into my notebook rather than overloading with stickers and making my journal super bulky (my orange one would barely close by the time I finished it!).

Weekly plan

I’ve been using this same style layout for quite a few weeks now and it really works for me. It gives me enough room to write events and add a few to dos underneath each day. I can then add a small illustration at the bottom if I want to, or use the full space for recording. This week, I’ve done some small primrose illustrations but I may not do any next week as I have lots of sessions at the university so I’ll be super busy.

Final words…

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog today. I hope you like my finished spreads. I think they look really colourful and provide a great reminder of our new plants and all of the other bright colours of primrose which you can get. The flowers seem to be thriving at the moment but as we haven’t had any rain for weeks, they require daily watering as the soil is getting so dry. I’m hoping they’re going to stay looking good for a least another month and continue to make me smile each time I get in and out of my car!

Wishing you a marvellous May,

Much love,

bullet journal, Bullet journaling, creativity, memory keeping, planner girl, planner lifestyle, Planning and journaling, reflective journalling

Setting up my BuJo for August 2024 – Birthday theme

Posted on Jul 30, 2024 by Laura

Next month, I share my birthday with my niece, Lexi. She’s turning 13 and becoming an official teenager, and I’m going to be slightly older than that! So, I decided to go for a birthday theme for August. I seem to recall that I’ve chosen this particular theme before, but I haven’t even checked back to see my BuJo pages from that occasion, so I’m sure they’ll be completely different.

I hope you enjoy looking through my pages and that they inspire you to do something similar for your own birthday month.

The front cover

My cover was inspired by an image I found in Cricut Design Space. My birthday cake turned out quite different, but the basic shape with two tiers and four candles with stripes is the same.

When I’d finished the design, I outlined it using a Pigma Micron in 0.2 and this helped to detract from the bumpy marks where I shaded places that had a piece of ephemera on the page overleaf. I still felt something was missing and decided to add hundreds and thousands onto the iced cake, which I think made it look more special. I’m pleased with how it turned out despite initially being disappointed because of the marks on the right hand side.

The calendar

I found a few pieces of ephemera in my stash to add to these pages, and I then made a few more images to glue in using Cricut Design Space. I created the stars to add to the page to complement the ones on the cover.

Finances

This is my usual income and expenses tracker that I use to help monitor my spending with a few pieces of birthday themed ephemera for decoration. In August, I want to try to keep my purchases to only essentials in order to save money whilst I’m not doing university sessions over the Summer.

Record keeping and journalling pages

When Michael and I are taking a short holiday from work, the focus of my bullet journal pages tends to be recording events and places visited, plus a little bit of reflective journalling. I’ve set up a page for the dates around my birthday for the left hand side of the spread and a cute frame for a photograph of the two birthday girls, a number of decorative pieces from my stash and a little room for me to journal about bits and pieces from our celebrations.

Final words…

Thank you for visiting my blog today to have a look at my bullet journal set up for August 2024. I hope my pages have provided inspiration and ideas for planning, memory keeping and journalling for your own birthday or the celebrations of family.

Wishing you a healthy and happy August and don’t forget to plan in some ways to enjoy the summer now it has eventually arrived in the UK even if it has waited until the last month of the season!

Bullet journaling, goal setting, life hacks, lifestyle, memory keeping, planner girl, planner lifestyle, Planning and journaling

Creating a bright and colourful Summer Bucket List spread in my Bullet Journal

Posted on May 28, 2024Jun 1, 2025 by Laura

Last autumn, I set myself the challenge of creating a bucket list for each of the four seasons and making a Traveler’s Notebook journal for each in which to record all of my experiences across the year. This week, I finished setting up my final double page spread for the summer season in my Bullet Journal and I’m super pleased with how it turned out. The aim was to produce something inspirational using bright summer colours and images which embody the summer season. I enjoyed the process from start to finish and thought I’d share with you my finished product, explain a bit about how I went about setting it up and give a step by step guide to help you make your own.

Defining the season

The first step I took was decide on the dates for summer – I chose to base my seasons on the meteorological start and end which is June 1st to August 31st, but I could have opted for the astronomical period which cites the beginning as Thursday 20th of June to Sunday 22nd September. It’s obviously up to you which you go with and you probably already have your own idea when summer falls.

Brainstorming ideas

Initially I look at a range of bucket list ideas on Pinterest and noted down any which appealed. I also spent some time thinking about what summer means to me e.g. going to the beach and activities I enjoy doing such as birdwatching, photography, tasting summer fruits and going for walks in nature. As we’re off on holiday to Wales for a week next month, I then researched places to go and things to do in the local area which I could add to my list.

If you end up with a huge, long list of ideas, think about which activities most excite you, which fit in with your priorities for this year (e.g. relaxation, having fun, being adventurous, learning new things etc.) and which feel most realistic.

Setting some achievable goals

Whilst adding items to my list, I tried to make sure that there we’re some quick and easily achievable goals and some which will take more planning and organising. It’s also important to consider your budget, time constraints and any other commitments you have. It’s no good writing that you want to do a hot air balloon ride if you have no idea of the cost and haven’t researched locations from which these are available.

Creating a visual representation

For my bullet journal inspiration board, I selected some stickers from my stash and made some in Cricut Design Space. I even chose to add some real photographs of the places we would like to go, so I have an image of my local beach, and pictures I found online of Yorkshire Lavender and the two National Trust places we intend to visit during our holiday in Wales. I also found some tiny stickers to fill in the gaps between the bucket list items.

Of course, you don’t have to create a concrete visual representation for display. You might choose to simply close you eyes and picture yourself doing the activities and thinking about how they would make you feel or you might just write your list and put it somewhere you can regularly refer to.

Planning the details

For each activity, I’m now spending time fleshing out the details. So, for example, I’ve found what looks to be a simple and tasty recipe for strawberry lemonade and added it to Notion. I’ve written down the postcodes and travel times for the National Trust places and the RSPB reserve and have done some reading so I know what to expect when we go. I’ve also noted costs involved for different items and have purchased my summer novel on Kindle (for 99p!) and seasonal jigsaw puzzle already.

Final words…

I hope I’ve inspired you to make your own bucket list for summer 2024 full of exciting activities you’d like to try and maybe some old seasonal favourites. Creating a plan which is unique to you, is a great way to explore possibilities for the upcoming months so as to ensure you make the most of all of the free time you have available to you.

Wishing you a fun summer,

art, bullet journal, Bullet journaling, creativity, Cricut, lifestyle, planner girl, planner lifestyle, Planning and journaling

Setting up my Bullet Journal for May 2024: Gardening quotes and flowers theme

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Laura

This month, it’s time for me to start a new bullet journal and the one I’ve chosen is the Tsuki ‘suzume’ from Notebook Therapy. Suzume is Japanese for sparrow and, as a bird lover, this was the perfect choice for me. The notebook features gold embossing of a sparrow carrying a flower in its beak plus a crescent moon, shooting star and sparkles on the front of the gorgeous pink linen cover. There’s also small details such as the same flower to the spine, plus gold edges to the pages which are really special touches too.

For my theme this time, I’ve chosen a combination of gardening quotes and pretty flowers. I’ve mainly used stickers to decorate my pages but I did take the time to create a hand drawn and coloured in image for my front cover. Hopefully, this month the weather will be a little warmer (and drier) and there will be a few more opportunities to get outside to tend to our flower beds and pots and see our bright blooms appear. We’re also hoping to spend some time relaxing on our garden bench (including after dark looking for our hedgehog visitor) and I might even get to enjoy my morning coffee in the sunshine. Fingers crossed!

So, here are my pages for the month of May. I hope you enjoy looking at them and I would love to hear your thoughts or questions about any aspect of my set up in the comments below.

Front cover

I enjoyed using a combination of Tombow Dual Brush pens and Crayola Supertips to colour in my hand drawn design. I then added the spots to the watering can using a Sakura gelly roll pen to add more interest.

Month on two pages

The sticker decor for this page was all created using images from Cricut Design Space and turning them into print and cut images. I couldn’t resist adding a few sparkles using a Uniball Signo gold glitter pen.

Finances

My usual chart to record my incomings and outgoings.

Weekly plans

I’ve done the same set up for each of my weeklies and used flower decor throughout. This is for the first week which I’ve already started to fill in. I’ve been busy making tiny icon stickers to use to represent different activities and I’m continuing to add to my collection. This will make my planning process quicker and more visual.

Final words…

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog post and look at my bullet journal spreads today. I appreciate any form of support or encouragement towards my blog whether that’s reading my content, liking my posts, making comments or asking questions – especially as things seem to have gone a little quiet over the last few months (sob!).

Wishing you a joy filled May whatever your plans are for the month. I’m hoping to get the rest of my Spring bucket list ticked off as there are still quite a few items left including a waterfall walk and a bike ride!

art, bullet journal, Bullet journaling, creativity, Cricut, lifestyle, Planning and journaling, watercolour painting

Setting up my Bullet Journal for April 2024: Houseplants theme

Posted on Apr 11, 2024Apr 11, 2024 by Laura

For this month’s BuJo theme, I took inspiration from a cute little gift bag I found in one of my local garden centres. I made stickers to decorate most of my spreads but wanted to do some watercolouring for the front cover. Unfortunately, I’ve been ill with a bad chest infection so, although most of my pages have been set up since the beginning of the month, I was only well enough to work on my painting for the last few days. I was really pleased with the finished design and wanted the gold effects to be seen in my bullet journal so I’ve actually trimmed the watercolour paper and stuck it in. Usually, I wouldn’t do this, but as I’m nearly at the end of my notebook, I’m not so bothered with the bulk it has added.

The front cover

My finished cover image had to be trimmed down slightly to make it fit in my bullet journal which was a shame but I hadn’t intended to glue it in so I didn’t check the paper size. When I scan my paintings in, it’s easy enough to shrink them to fit so I always use an A5 watercolour piece of paper.

I had great fun mixing the colours for the pots and leaves and I loved using my Finetec palette to add some gold detailing. The shimmering effect is so pretty and I’m excited to open my BuJo each morning to check my schedule for the day. To get the shelves looking super sharp and straight, I applied washi tape to the bottom of each and then used a light sand Tombow marker to colour in. You can probably see that it’s not watercolour but I really don’t mind! The April title is a little sticker I made using a font I found on Canva.

Monthly Calendar pages

Last month, I had another free trial of Canva Pro so I typed in ‘watercolour houseplants’ and chose my favourite images to use as stickers. Cricut have finally fixed the issue with their print and cut sticker offset in Design Space so I was able to print my sticker sheets straightaway without having to reboot my computer. I’m so pleased they eventually sorted the problem as it saves so much time.

Expenses

I decided to use a mid green Tombow brush pen to highlight every other line in my expenses chart this month. It takes a while to do them, as I use washi tape strips to get the bottom of the lines perfectly straight, but I think it adds more interest to the spread. I left enough room to add three pot plants as decor too.

Weekly plans

April is another busy month so I wanted plenty of space to record daily events and to do lists but also a little room to add some plant stickers. I decided not to do a Dutch door layout this time but stuck with the horizontal days. I’ve added my running task lists to the pages after my weeklies like I did in March. The leaves across the top were created using a single leaf shape spaced out and in different orientations to make a kind of border to fill the space. I created one for each week and I think it finishes the pages nicely.

Final words…

Thank you for taking the time to look at my bullet journal pages for this month – I hope you like my chosen theme and my designs. I apologise for sharing them so late but I’ve been feeling completely wiped out for several weeks. I’m still not totally better but I managed to go to Clubbercise yesterday and Zumba today, so my energy levels have certainly improved.

I hope you’re all having a lovely April and that the weather where you are is better than it is here in Sunderland – we’ve had so much rain recently and one of the flower beds in our back garden is completely flooded and has been that way for weeks.

Much love,