Talk Bujo to Me | Bright Ideas Metallic Brush Pen Review.

If you are new to bulletjournaling: it is basically a wish list, to-do list and journal – and what I like to do is decorate it with doodles, handlettering, stamps and washi-tape. I have two informative posts about my step into this bujo-world and setting up collections.

Disclaimer: I received these pens from Abrams - Chronicle Books for review purposes, but every opinion is my own. I'm not paid.

This set is the Bright Ideas Metallic set, which consist of 8 double-sided pens. One side has a regular marker, the other side is a brush pen. I love double-sided pens, because it makes them more diverse. You can use the regular side for normal writing or decorations, while the brush pen helps you to make more fancy handlettering.

The brush pen itself is more flexible in comparison with the Tombow Dual Brush Pen markers. I don't mind the difference, but I would say it is harder to work with as a beginner. It took me some extra practice to get straight lines. I love the different effect it gives, because you can make even thicker down strokes by pressing harder. I prefer these pens over the Kuretake Fude Brush Pen, because the tips from the Bright Ideas set are smaller.

The colours are beautiful and have a nice metallic sheen. I love how bright and colourful they are, not opaque at all. As you can see this is more noticeable on black paper, but I also love the effect on regular white paper. The 8 colours are Silver (Silver Screen Dreams), Gold (Midas Touch), Green (Mermaid Tales), Blue (Tip of the Iceberg), Purple (Simply Mauvelous), Pink (Rose Reverie), Light Pink (Petal to the metal) and Copper (Champagne Wishes). This is a perfect range of colours to work with, although I would love to get a red shade! 

The pricing is, what I would call, a regular price for these type of pens. This set retails for $13.45 on Amazon, which means every pen is about $1.70. That's a really good price considering the quality. Other products I could find in this Bright Ideas line are:
-Regular 20 double-sided pens.
-The Bright Ideas Notebook, with different coloured paper.
-Sticky Notes
-Graphite Pencils, also in Metallic Edition.
-Neon Glitter Gel pens.

I'm really happy with this set and I'm definitely interested in trying out more products, like the regular set with the primary colours.

Talk Bujo to Me | July '17 & haul.

If you are new to bulletjournaling: it is basically a wish list, to-do list and journal – and what I like to do is decorate it with doodles, handlettering, stamps and washi-tape. I have two informative posts about my step into this bujo-world and setting up collections.


Every month I like to pick a theme or a theme color, so for July I went with blue and ocean/beach details. I found two sets of doodles that inspired me: this set on Shutterstock and these doodles from Jamtoons. This was one of the first times I tried to use watercolours in my bulletjournal and I'm impressed with the paper; it holds the water really well! I think I will definitely continue to use watercolours in my spreads, because it is an easy way to add a pop of colour.

This was the first month that I participated in the new Instagram challenge by Boho Berry, simply called #bohoberrychallenge. Every month has its own theme and this time it was all about personal development/growth. I loved making all the spreads and to truly think about topics like: what I need more and less off or what I truly love about my life. Sometimes these are good things to think about. It always makes me realize how happy I am with the life I have and how far I have come as a person.

There are still aspects of my life that I need to work on, like dealing with my negative self-talk and how I deal with some unrealistic fears that still hold me back, but this challenge also showed me all the things I CAN celebrate about myself. Also tell me: what is your greatest talent? This is always one of the hardest questions, because I have a feeling I haven't discovered mine yet? So in the end I decided to go with reading multiple books at the same time, without losing track of the characters/plot.

I have a little haul to show you this month. The first thing I got, after going back and forth between buying or leaving, I got this beautiful handmade glass dip pen from J. Herbin. I've practiced a little in my learning bulletjournal with some black ink from Pelikan 4001 and I really like it! It takes some practice, but the result is pretty and I definitely want to get some more colours ink.

And I got three new notebooks. Two of my beloved notebooks from Leuchtturm1917 for my collection. I got the Anthracite one and Red, which will be my bulletjournal for 2018. I've already started my preparations by copying spreads that I will need, like my book wish list of upcoming publications, my goals and Ultimate TV show tracker. I will show you all my spreads in one of my next bulletjournal updates.

I couldn't resist this lilac coloured notebook from Rhodia. This is one of their new lines. I already owned their dotted Notepad to practice handwriting, so I decided to branch out and try their dotted Goalbook. I have to say I'm not impressed.. The quality of the cover is disappointing. It is made of a soft material, so you can see every line and scratch the moment you touch it. The paper has darker dots and seems flimsier – I don't think it will react to water colours as well as the Leuchtturm paper. Shame! They have a different range of colours, so I hoped I could switch between them, but I will stick with my good old Leuchtturm notebooks.

Talk Bujo to Me | What I use for bulletjournaling.

If you are new to bulletjournaling: it is basically a wish list, to-do list and journal – and what I like to do is decorate it with doodles, handlettering, stamps and washi-tape. I have two informative posts about my step into this bujo-world and setting up collections.

Today I want to talk about all the materials I use for my bulletjournal. Almost everything I get is bought on a Dutch website called Penstore. I am not sponsored, but simply enjoy using this website. It is easy to navigate, with different sections, and they provide fast shipping. For my Dutch followers: if you want there are also Notitieboekplaza, de Inktpot, Writersplaza, de Kwast and Liefde voor Papier.

You don't have to use anything that I mention in this post. Bulletjournaling is all about what works for YOU. So if you use a regular 1 dollar notebook and only a pencil, that is fine too! I just want to show you all the materials that work for me and it might give you some inspiration.

Talk Bujo to Me | January '17.

If you are new to bulletjournaling: it is basically a wish list, to-do list and journal – and what I like to do is decorate it with doodles, handlettering, stamps and washi-tape. I have two informative posts about my step into this bujo-world and setting up collections. 
Setting up 2017.

I started with the set-up of my new bulletjournal in December last year and it has been so much fun. The best thing about the bullet system though, is that you can start at any point in the year. I started my dotted Emerald Green Leuchtturm 1917 in June last year and I filled it entirely. I wasn't really sure what to expect and what spreads I wanted to include, so setting up my new one was easier this time. I enjoyed using my Leuchtturm, so I bought a light blue one for 2017. The stickers you see are purchased from Redbubble.

My next informative post will be about all the materials I use, but here is already a little spoiler. I'm building a collection of different pens and I found this set of Staedtler fine liners (0.3 mm) for a good price. I really like to use them for that little pop of color in my spreads and they are also very easy to doodle with.

The first page is my key and the start of my Index. I googled a picture of the Disney castle and drew the silhouette as my key. The Index is the part where you list down all your spreads with page numbers to make it easier when you look for something. I have a few special methods to keep my Index simple and uncluttered that I will share with you next time. I'm currently 'reviewing' a few ways to make navigation easier as well, so be on the look-out for that post.

Another spread I enjoy using is the 2017 calendar. I flip to this yearly overview when I'm setting-up my monthly log and habit tracker (I include the days and dates). And let's be honest, I simply like the look for having a calendar as one of the first pages. The next page are a few of my goals, divided in 'personal' and 'hobbies'. I like to set goals to give myself some guidance what I want to achieve in a year. This can be something as simple as 'make time for my family/boyfriend' or 'be kind and open-minded'.

Talk Bujo to Me | December '16.

I started my official bulletjournal in June and after 7 months, my entire dotted Emerald green Leuchtturm 1917 is filled. I love to flip through it and see all the collections and spreads I've created. It helps me to stay organized in different ways, because it acts like a to do list, diary/journal and wishlist. It helps me to be creative in a different way and I love how I can practice different fonts and a more solid handwriting. Definitely be on the look-out for more bulletjournal posts in 2017, also to help you with setting up your bujo if you are interested.

Setting up the month. 

For the 'hello December' page I decided to draw some random snowflakes and Olaf. I accidently created a new month called 'Dember' in my monthly log, hehe.

The habit trackers are great, because they show me how I divide my time and what areas I should focus on. In my case, that is definitely working-out. The to read/to watch list is more an idea and over the months I rarely finished everything I wrote down, but it is a fun addition and I like to see how far I can come. It is most helpful for listing down review copies I should read that month.

Doodles.
I was really ambitious this year and decided I wanted to make my own Christmas cards. Here are two examples. On the other photo you can see one of my pages in my sketchbook and I'm quite happy with the result.

2017, the start of a new bulletjournal. 

I always like to start with a new beginning, so I am saying goodbye to my full Emerald notebook and I'm going to start in a dotted turquoise Leuchtturm. It is fun that I can perfect my set-up and all my spreads now that I have more 'experience'

Talk Bujo to Me | October '16.

Bulletjournaling has become more important in my life and I want to share it with you guys! I already started a series where I write down all the information I have gathered over the past few months, but from now on I will also showcase pictures (that I also post on my Instagram) and talk more about what keeps me busy.

                                                                                Setting up October.

For October I decided to go with the Halloween theme throughout all my spreads, so here I doodled a few pumpkins and a little ghost in the left corner. There are different ways to use Monthly logs. I really like the have these squares, making it look like a calendar, but you can also write down the dates in a list.  I used that method at the beginning of my bulletjournal, but my current log gives me a better overview.

Like every month I created to lists for all the books I could possible read and movies/TV shows I could watch. And like every month, I failed miserably, haha. I finished Furthermore (was okay) and Bright smoke, cold fire (was disappointed)

I did watch Corpse Bride, which is perfect to watch this time of the year, The Secret Life of Pets (was okay) and I continued with the second season from Marco Polo.

Talk Bujo to Me | September '16.

Bulletjournaling has become more important in my life and I want to share it with you guys! I already started a series where I write down all the information I have gathered over the past few months, but from now on I will also showcase pictures (that I also post on my Instagram) and talk more about what keeps me busy.

Setting up September.

I talked about collections in my second post about Bulletjournaling and I always love doing this. I like to pick 2 colours and stick with them throughout the entire month. For September I went with purple and green. Flowers are my favorite type of decoration, so I drew a half flower wreath.

I suck at completely TBR piles, but I still like to make one every month and see how far I can come. Most of the times I include the review copies I HAVE to read at some point. I also like to create a list with possible movies/TV shows for that month.

I ended up reading V.E Schwab - The Savage Song and L. Frank Baum - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. If you try really hard you can see that I planned to watch Reign and Stranger Things: did both things and decided to DNF Stranger Things.

Talk Bujo to Me | Creating your bulletjournal collections.

Reminder: I'm a newbie at this. I've been using my bulletjournal since April this year, so I'm still in the middle of figuring everything out. I just thought I would give you a look at my method.

Last time I talked about my step into the world of bulletjournaling and I gave a quick explanation about what this concept means. In one sentence: it is a flexible way to keep track of your life with the help of collections. And those collections are the topic that I want to talk about today, because they decide the structure of your bulletjournal.

To describe the meaning of a collection, I like to point out this quote from the bulletjournal page: collections are pages dedicated to related ideas, can take any form you need them to, and are not just limited to lists. They can be projects, illustrations, basically any kind of related content that you want to live outside of your daily journaling.

This means that you need to sit down and decide for yourself what matters to you; what you want to have in your bulletjournal to help you in your daily life. There are different collections that I see return across the bulletjournal community and I use them myself, because they are really useful for me.

1. I always start with a page to introduce the new month. This is a great way for me to separate the months when I flip through my bulletjournal. I also find it relazing to do, because I try to come up with new ways to decorate the page. This time I went with a flower wreath.



2. Then I draw a calendar for the entire month where I write down big events like birthdays, tasks I need to do somewhere that month, my goals and recap. Most of the times I decorate it with an inspirational/motivational quote. Lately I've been trying out color schemes, where I pick two colours that I will use on every page that month. It looks neat. July is purple with pink.



3. Then one of my favorite pages: a habit tracker. Here you can add anything you want to keep track of and whenever you do something during the day, you color in a square. At the end of the month you can see how many times you did a certain thing.



4. I'm trying out something new; a memory page, where I combine doodles and text to point out memorable things I did during the month. I combine this with the books I want to read and TV shows/movies I want to watch. A lot of times I don't finish the list, but it is fun to challenge myself.



5. Dailies. This is the part where you can really creative, because the ways you can use these dailies are endless. I'm still trying out different lay-outs and I love to switch up! Here are two examples of different lay-outs I've tried. The purpose is to fill these out with everything you have to do, in combination with the icons you choose in your key (I talked about this in the previous post)

So, there are the collections that return each month in my bulletjournal. What I love about this system is that you can always add more or take away the ones that don't work for you. It is up to you how you fill in your bulletjournal and how much decoration you use. There is no right or wrong way, because in the end it is basically a to-do list.

Other pages I have in my bulletjournal to give you an idea of all the things you can write down.
Challenges. I'm currently trying out two Instagram challenges called 'plan with me' and 'rock your handwriting' and it is fun! Here you can see the page where I set up the Plan with me challenge and a page where I did a prompt for rock your handwriting.

Wishlists and lists where I write down all the movies I NEED to see, books I NEED to read, random things I want to buy at some point, etc. Basically, I love making lists and this bulletjournal is the perfect way to keep them all together. Here is a wish list with books that will be published in the next months.


And random pages, like these two. One is for motivational purposes, the other simply to talk about my love for reading. I really like setting up these pages, because I get to practice different fonts and decorations.

So that is it for my lay-out! I have returning collections and then I fill in the rest with my love for lists and random ideas I want to collect.

Was this helpful? What lay-out do you use in your bulletjournal?

Next up: Different lay-outs you can use for your collections.

Talk Bujo to Me | My step into the bulletjournaling world.

Reminder: I'm a newbie at this. I've been using my bulletjournal since April this year, so I'm still in the middle of figuring everything out. I just thought I would give you a look at my method.

I don't even know how I came across the concept of bulletjournals, but I probably found it on Instagram or Pinterest. I'm always looking for ways to be organized and I love making lists. I am a big fan of the app called Wunderlist, but when it comes down to organization I prefer to use notebooks. There is something about writing everything down and crossing of that motivates me more.

So, when I was introduced to the concept of bulletjournaling I was really curious about this and a bit hesitant. I know that I can easily get carried away by something and I was afraid to take the plunge, but eventually I went with it and I love it. It is a modified to-do list, but the whole concept around it with extra logs made me realize I wasn't effectively using my to-do lists before.

Bulletjournaling is also not only a way to keep track of everything I have to do in my daily life and blog schedules, but it also gives me rest in my head. I have an anxious nature, but the fact that I can write anything down and can make lists of everything that might bother me is really calming.

Back to the basic of what bulletjournaling is. It is a bullet system, an analog system, that helps you to create order by "tracking the past, organizing the present and planning for the future." It is created by Ryder Carroll. It is a way to rapid log what you have to do.

There are four key concepts.

1. Index. You number all your pages, so you can organize those entries in your index page.
2. There are several logs you can use in this system, like a Future log, monthly log and daily log.
Future log: events occurring in future months (example: birthdays)
Monthly log: events/notes and tasks.
Daily log: a spread with day to day tasks.

For your daily log:
First step is writing a topic on the top corner of the page, like the date. The next step is to add short-formed notations, organized into three categories: Tasks, events and notes. A task is a simple dot and it has the following key:

• X = Task Complete
• > = Task Migrated
• < = Task Scheduled

Events are a simple circle; O. Notes are a simple dash: –.

You use signifiers in front of these Bullets to give them extra context, like a ! to show that it is a very important bullet. For more information I recommend the official Bulletjournal website. I went ahead and changed these to my preferred keys, but this is the main idea.

My keys.

3. Collections are a group of related ideas. This means you can make lists of everything you can think off. Here are two examples of pages I came up with: a wishlist of all things non-bookish and a spread for my classic-reading challenge.

4. Migrating tasks. At the end of the month you look at your Monthly log/daily logs and you look at undone tasks. You assess them and migrate them if you still want to do them or cross them off if they no longer have value.

You can go as simple and minimalistic as you want with these key concepts, but I like to go all out with decorations, drawings, banners, dividers, quotes and random doodles. I've always been artistic/creative, but the last couple of years I've been too busy with other things. Bulletjournaling helps me to bring out that side again. I'm also a bit obsessed with lettering, so it is a good practice. Here is an example of a random doodle page I added:

My tips for starting one:
1. Look at some examples and try to come up with a system that looks useful to you. Like: do you want a monthly spread, weekly, daily or all of them? What extra pages would be of benefit to you? I will take more about this in the next part.

2. Don't get carried away: if you like to keep it simple, stick with it. If you want to go all out: go for it. It is easy to fall in love with all the pretty creations some people make and I've seen jealousy and negativity surrounding it. Just do what you want to do and don't compare your bulletjournal with someone else. There is no right or wrong way.

3. Buy a dotted journal. My first one I used had lines, but dotted really is much nicer to use. I'm using the Leuchtturmn 1917 and I love it. The paper has a nice quality and doesn't bleed so much. I've also heard good things about the Moleskine dotted notebook.

Next part:
LAY-OUT.

Do you have any questions? Do you use to-do lists?