A new year means for most, a new journal. Usually I don’t start a new notebook until I’ve completed my current one. But this year, I decided to move on to a new bullet journal for 2019.
The reason I’m doing this is because I probably only have enough pages in my current Archer and Olive Notebook for one more month. So I might as well set up a whole new year now, instead of delaying it a month.
I’m also eager to start in my new which I reviewed here. Plus after the narrower size of my Archer and Olive, I’m looking forward to the extra real estate that the slightly larger than A5 size notebook that Dingbats* will give me. As per my review, it handles all sorts of pens really well as well as watercolour. So I can’t wait to put it to the real test of day to day use.
My Chosen Notebook
So here is my beautiful new notebook. It is the .
I am just so in love with this BRIGHT lime green colour. It’s so different to all the journals I’ve used before.
Bullet Journal Set up – Cover Page
Since the notebook already has a key and index pre-printed, I decided to start with a 2019 cover page. I’ve done this on the pages that are actually assigned for the future log by Dingbats*. But since that set-up doesn’t suit me, I’ll just ignore it and do what I want. It’s my bullet journal and I call the shots. 😉
I have kept this page super simple by combining some simple block lettering with some brush-lettering.
You can see my pages are already wrinkled. That’s because I’m a master at accidentally wrinkling my pages when I’m erasing! 
Future Log
I used the next four pages for my future log. This design and layout was one that I created specifically for a blog post for the Kelly Creates website. You can find the full tutorial here.
If you look carefully, you can see that I made a mistake with my February calendar! I ended up cutting a square from the back of my notebook and gluing it on top to correct it. It doesn’t look too bad. (I think).
Birthday Calendar
Because I don’t like to keep birthday reminders in my Future Log, I created a birthday calendar. I used a Crayola super tip to create this big bold cursive, then I outlined it using a Muji gel ink pen and added some shading to give it a ribbon effect. I topped it off by adding some highlights with a sparkly pink jelly roll pen. Below that are 12 spaces for each month of the year. I’ll write the birthdays under the corresponding month.
Bullet Journal Set Up – Income Tracker
This next spread is tied into one of my goals for the year. It’s an income tracker, where I’ll keep track of my blog income. It is very similar to my Birthday calendar, I’ve just changed the heading font and the details in my month headings.
Year in Pixels
These next two pages are where I had the most fun.
First off, the “year in pixels” spread has been around for a couple of years now. It is basically a year long mood tracker! Each square represents one day, and you colour it in depending on your mood.
For the last two years I have said that I would create a year in pixels spread. It looks like fun! But then I always forget and by the time I remember, I figure it’s too late to try and remember all the moods that I’ve missed in the year so far. But 2019 will be my year of the pixels!!
I intend on adding the colour key along the bottom of the spread as I go.
On the opposite page is my goals/resolutions/intentions page. As I was trying to come up with resolutions and goals for the coming year, I ended up choosing a “word of the year” as well. This is not something that I would usually do. But I was really looking for a short and sweet way to say stop procrastinating and focus more on my work and my blog and the word “focus” popped into mind.
The layout for this goal spread was inspired by @saricastudio and her resolution page for 2019. You need to go check it out here, it is so beautiful. In fact, all her work is.
I chose to stick with the colours that I had previously used in my other pages. And I went with the same fuchsia colour as on the opposite page for my word of the year so that it pops out and you can see straight away “2019 Focus”. Hopefully I’ll refer back to these two pages often.
My Goals and Resolutions
To make myself accountable (to the whole wide web!), my goals/resolutions for 2019 are:
- Create Every Day – whether that is creating a new bullet journal spread, or a piece of hand lettering or painting, as long as I create one small thing every day. This is to keep my creative juices flowing and to keep practising.
- Eat Healthy – Junk food and sweet food is my downfall. I need to be mindful of what I eat, and hopefully that will lead to losing some weight!
- Double Blog Income – This is so I have a clear goal to strive with with regards to my blog and online shop. This simple goal will help to keep me focused.
- More Family Time – My kids are growing so fast. They have so much information the want to learn and to share, I need to make more time for them and spend less time on social media. Again, I need to focus on when needed so that I have the time to spend with my family.
Your Bullet Journal Set Up
Have you set up you bullet journal for 2019 yet? Or are you just carrying on with your current notebook? Either way, I hope you’ve found this article helpful in setting up some of your bullet journal spreads.
Since I shared my goals and resolutions with you, I’d love to hear what yours are. Share them in the comments below, or if you’re a bit shy, email me!
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