Down and Dirty Bullet Journaling

Bullet journals set me free, but probably not in the way you'd normally think. Never heard of bullet journaling? It's a way to keep a combination daily planner, calendar, diary, and sketch book in one. There are people making amazing bullet journal pages! They make beautiful artistic masterpieces of their mundane everyday lives. Yes, I do paper crafting. I make cards, I stamp. I color. Sometimes, I think I even make art. But, not in my bullet journals. My bullet journals are a mess of functionality. Still, bullet journals set me free. So, on y go! Let's talk a little about the freedom of bullet journaling and see my newest journal. 

What is Bullet Journaling and how is Freedom?

Raise your hand if you really like the idea of keeping a planner, you know it totally helps you keep your life straight, but somehow, you just can't keep up with it. Me, me, me! I do really good writing things in my planner for a few days, weeks, or months and then, it sits idly by for months on end before I get serious about getting my life organized again.

This means that I bought lots of planners and at the end of the year, I would find I had only used a small fraction of it. I beat myself up for the waste of money and my inability to keep up with a planner. 

Then, I read about bullet journaling. It's just a blank notebook. You fill it in as you go. At the true heart of it, you create a code for your to-do lists, number the pages, and keep an index of the pages so that you can quickly go back and review things. Sometimes, I do those things, but mostly I don't. The freedom of a bullet journal is that I can write as little or as much as I want for each day. I can create a weekly spread if I'm up to it. And when my journal gets set aside for three months, I just pick up where I left off. I can add to-do lists, or meeting notes, or ideas that I have on the next page, even though it means my journal is a complete mess. I'm free! I can write down what I need to when I need to. I definitely have a down and dirty style of bullet journaling. 

Making a Beautiful (on the Outside) Bullet Journal

Even though the inside is a hot mess, I like the outside to be super pretty. I want to love my bullet journal; I want it to inspire me so that I pick it up and use it. So, I like to create my own using my favorite papers, like the Flowers & Field patterned paper.

I recently came to the last page in my bullet journal and had to make a new one. I picked the absolutely fabulous Flowers & Field patterned paper. This paper is going to be FREE with a $50 order in January and February during Sale-A-Bration. I love, love, love this paper! The colors really pop on the black backgrounds. I added a greeting from the Ridiculously Awesome stamp set that I embossed with white embossing powder and some flowers from the All Things Fabulous stamp set that I stamped in Daffodil Delight, Mango Melody, and Flirty Flamingo. 
​

I used the same process that I shared with you this summer when I made this journal with the Whale of a Time Suite. I start with a common composition notebook and use Mod Podge to decorate the outside with patterned papers and stamped images. The Mod Podge makes the journal nearly indestructible. This orange and pink beauty is the one I've been using for the last year and a half. You can see that it is still in great shape thanks to the durability of the Mod Podge. 

The back of my new bullet journal.

A new Year, a New Messy Bullet Journal

On the inside of my journal, I'll start by adding a few months of calendar pages so that I can start writing down my schedule. I'll transfer some important info from my last bullet journal like the list of friends' birthdays. I'll add some important reminders. And then, I'll start adding to-do lists and whatever else that I need to write down. I'll mark important pages with a piece of washi tape on the edge. This makes it a little easier to find things. 

Maybe I'll make goals. Maybe I'll add some sketches or doodles. Who knows, but my new bullet journal is beautiful and ready to get down and dirty!

Supply List to create your own down and Dirty Bullet Journal

Click here to see the complete supply list for this Flowers & Field Journal, except for the Flowers & Field patterned paper because it won't be available until January when you can get it FREE with a $50 purchase. If you need any of the supplies to create your own journal, simply check the items you need and click "Add to Cart." Be sure to add the host code (in the sidebar to the right) on the second page under the pink box that says "Checkout."