Bullet Journal: Materials

One of the great things about Bullet Journal is that you don’t need lots of fancy stuff to get started – any notebook will do. However, if you love stationery like I do then you may want to invest in one of the Leuchtturm1917 originals. I use their teal Bullet Journal and I like that it’s pretty flexible in terms of layout, and I’m enjoying using it more than one with lines. You could use one of their dotted notebooks if you want a different colour – I’ll definitely get a pink one next time!

Other materials that I use so far include these Sharpie fine pens (which write beautifully), some Stabilo Pen 68 for decoration and borders, and some tracing paper for tracing my titles. Yep, I’m not ashamed to say that I haven’t handwritten the titles myself! More on that shortly… You can also decorate with washi tape, stickers or anything else that you fancy. Some post-it notes might also come in handy.

Bullet Journal: the basic principles

So the basic principle behind Bullet Journal is to make journalling a little quicker so that you keep up with it more frequently. The Bullet Journal website refers to this as ‘Rapid Logging’. Essentially, it’s a tool that you can use in whatever way to help you to be more efficient, pr-active, organised or for any other reason that you need it for. For me, I need it to be a place for me to empty my head of my million-and-one ideas that I have at random points in the day. I need it to help me organise my lists so that when I have a little bit of time to work on my blog or my shop, I can use that time well.

What keeps the process ‘rapid’ is the use of short sentences (although this isn’t necessarily what I’m going for personally) and the use of a key to indicate the status of tasks. This is the key in the front of my journal:

It’s suggested that you use the relevant key at the start of each point to help you to work out which order to complete things in. I use some of these symbols in mine, but have adapted them to suit me. The ‘getting started’ post on the Bullet Journal website is great if you want to find out more about the principles of the ‘official’ system.

How I’m using my Bullet Journal

So I’ve taken the basic principles and just adapted them to what works for me, and I really believe that it’s the key to keeping this up. I use my Bullet Journal to write down thoughts as I go, but I do want it to be neat (that’s just who I am!). So I decided to write some large titles in a lovely handwritten script font, and then print them out in reverse so that I could trace them. Then I can just add bullet points in underneath as I go along.

I’ve found it really helpful to have a general to-do list for my blog – I always remember random things that need doing when I’m out and about, and it has been great to have a place to write them all down. You can see in the picture at the top of the post that I’ve been using post-it notes as well, and I created a couple of pages where I can just stick them in to be able to transfer ideas later on. If you like things to be neat and tidy, this is quite a good system!

I’m using my Bullet Journal as a monthly system for now. If I ever get to quit the day job, I’ll switch to a weekly format! This monthly format allows me to focus on what I need to do each month, but without pressure if necessary. Nothing is completely fixed, and I can be flexible about what I can realistically achieve. So for April, I traced the header for the month and made a list with bullet points. As I completed a task, I used the Bullet Journal system of marking it with a cross to show that it was done. In May, I wrote a header again and then highlighted any tasks that were not yet complete by putting them in a box at the top of the first page like this:

New tasks for the month were then added in a list below, and crossed off in the same way. I also added another box for blog posts, because one of my intentions for this year was to write four blog posts each month. You can probably guess that I didn’t quite make it last month, but that’s ok. Thankfully, I did get all my GDPR stuff done – phew! On that note, you can read my privacy policy here if you want to…

So yes, I have full sentences in my journal. And yes, I do like to spend a little bit of time decorating it and making it neat and tidy, which goes against the point of it being a quick system. But this is what works for me and I love it. Since using my bullet journal, I haven’t felt quite so stressed out trying to remember the things that I want to do in the little bits of time that I have to create things. It has meant that I use my time more wisely, because I can focus on what needs doing first or what I want to spend my time on. I actually find that it isn’t hugely time consuming this way – I enjoy drawing the titles and it’s fairly quick to write a list as bullet points anyway. I’ve used the same format for June and I’m happy with how it’s working, but it’s something that I can adapt as I go along if I need to.

Bullet Journal resources and supplies

I’ve already mentioned the Bullet Journal website as a great resource for information if you’re starting out. Here are some other useful resources and places to go for supplies:

There are lots of great videos on the Claireabellemakes YouTube channel (and if you’re interested in other planners too, Claire talks you through her amazing selection!).

Nikki McWilliams also has some really helpful videos on her YouTube channel – there’s a great one about setting up, and she also has a tutorial for ombre hand lettering. Nikki also has her own Etsy shop dedicated to Bullet Journal supplies and cool stationery.

If you’re a stationery addict like me, you’ll love Jennifer Cockroft’s post about pens!

I have a Pinterest board dedicated to Bullet Journal, which is a great place for inspiration.

What are your top tips for Bullet Journal?

Let me know in the comments below! I plan to write up some of the take-away points from Blogtacular in mine over the next week or so. I’ve also written my Creative Manifesto, which I’m really looking forward to sharing with you soon! I’ll keep you updated with how I’m using it and adapting my Bullet Journal as I go.

The post Starting a Bullet Journal your own way appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

This year I’ve been working on a very special project for our wedding. Tom’s Dad, Keith, is a methodist minister and he took our marriage service, which was wonderful! As lots of you know, I made waistcoats for the dads and groomsmen, but wanted to make something extra special for Keith – so I decided to make a stole for him to wear during the service.

A few months ago, we secretly measured one of his stoles so that I could get the size right. I think the most difficult part was getting the angle of the neck just right, but thankfully Tom is good at that kind of thing! I made a template for the outer shape, pinned it onto some material (Macao in cream from John Lewis) and cut out two using pinking shears.

Then I needed to work out where the hems would be and a ‘safe zone’ for embroidery. I’d marked it out on the original pattern, traced it (in case I ever need to make another stole!) and then cut it out. This inner patter was then pinned on to the stole pieces so that I could tack around it to show where the embroidery needed to go.

At the bottom of each side of the stole, I decided to embroider a cross, as this is often part of the design. Tom suggested that I use the leaf design to match with the waistcoats to embroider the outline, and that turned out to be a brilliant idea! I used a dotted notebook from Leuchtturm1917 (which was very kindly given to me after I won a competition through National Stationery Day last year) to draw the design, measuring out the exact dimensions to be able to make a template.

Once I had finalised the template, I was able to trace it onto some tissue paper and pin it on to the material. This seemed like the simplest way to do it and it actually worked really well – I’ve also discovered that greaseproof paper is also very good for templates! I stitched short sections of the stems around the template first, before adding the leaves. I used split stitch for the stems and the leaves as I find that the easiest and quickest stitch to do.

The next stage was to work out what the rest of the design would be like. I wanted it to be related to the waistcoats and include some other little designs. We laid it out on the floor and used some wool to mark out a wiggly line where the leaf and branch motif would go. Initially, we thought that the spaces in between would allow for extra designs to be embroidered in, but when I had finished sewing I discovered that it looked great without it (and that I was running out of time anyway!)

When the embroidery was finished, I sealed the back with fusible interfacing before using tailor’s chalk to draw the outline of the ‘safe zone’ so I would know where to sew. Then I cut the back panels out of Duchesse satin in champagne (also from John Lewis) and made some little pockets for the rings, stay stitching them on to the back panels. The next stage was to put right sides together and then sew!

After turning the right way round and pressing, it was time to do the most complicated bit: the angle behind the neck. This involved Tom measuring with a protractor and me getting a bit stressed, but the end result was really good! I stitched the outer side on the machine and then finished the inside using slipstitch.

And this was the finished stole, complete with ring pockets!

I’m so pleased that Keith loved his stole – and that I managed to keep it a secret for so long!

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