Starting a bullet journal was one of the best things I ever did. There’s so many different types of diaries, and notebooks, and spreadsheets that I’ve had and tried and because things are always changing or they require too much of a routine, they’ve trailed off and been left unfinished and unused. The bullet journal gives me the chance to work at my own pace and makes the whole thing relevant and practical. The idea to start one came from Pinterest, and I began adding to my own bullet journal board with inspiration and ideas and worked from there.
My first issue was finding one, although as it turned out, it wasn’t much of an issue at all. Usually notebooks with a nice front and elastic to keep it together is pricey, but as luck would have it a trip into Morrisons allowed me to find a dirt cheap £2 notebook that was exactly what I wanted. The front began to bore me after a while so I simply painted it and stuck things to it to really make it mine (see pictures below). They aren’t perfect but they suit me, and allowed me to be creative with paint freely which I’ve not had the chance to do for a while.
I have a personal journal, and one I have started for our upcoming holiday to Florida for keepsakes and planning. I’m quite happy to eventually start putting up some of my pages and potentially upload them to my YouTube also. I feel like decorating the front really gives them a sense of personality and belonging and constantly makes me want to pick them up and work in them.
There is no real right and wrong way to have your own journal but I wanted it to look the way the ones I had seen did, and for that I needed to do some looking around (again, Pinterest was my go-to, as well as YouTube).
My favourite inspiration sources in particular were:
Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/ParkerandMe/bullet-journal/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leLTEwGYgew
All in all I’ve found it’s been a nice place to wind-down and express myself as well as keeping track of the things that I’m usually so busy I lose sight of. I’m particularly interested to see how the tracker for my moods develop to maybe encourage myself to make more of an effort to source any issues or patterns.
So if you’re looking for something to develop at your own pace with anything you want to give yourself a small, safe, creative place to collect yourself, then definitely begin a bullet journal!
My Handmade Hobby 