Collaboration: Free Brush Letter Practice Guide for your Bullet Journal
For today's post I collaborated with the lovely Olivia from RandomOlive. I've talked in a previous post about my obsession with handlettering, so when Olivia asked me to share a Free Brush Letter Practice Guide on my blog I was over the moon!
When I had to think of the phrases or words I'd like to have in this Free Printable, I knew I had to make it relevant to my bullet journaling. So, I've chosen titles that are very often used in various spreads like: gratitude log, monthly focus, future log, habit tracker and monthly challenges. The idea is to practice (and then practice some more!) in order to be able to recreate these titles in your bullet journal. :)
I decided to use my Tombow Dual Brush pens in order to practice my hand lettering. I know Olivia uses paint brushes and paint (and I love it!), but I think they are not that practical for a bullet journal, so I prefer using my Tombow markers instead.
The trick is to hold the marker in a 45 degree angle. I also hold it quite far up - that helps with the thick downward strokes.
If you like this, Olivia also has a Practice Guide for the days and months, which I think can be really usefull for your dailies and monthlies. You can make them look pretty and colourful in no time ;)
Lastly, if one of your goals is to better your brush lettering and hand lettering, then maybe you should check the Comprehensive Brush Letter Practic Guide out. It promises to turn you into a pro in 45 days! Olivia even gives you a schedule to stay on track. Perfect!
Download your FREE Brush Letter Practice Guide:
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Brush Lettering Practice Guide
This practice guide has everything you need to practice and improve your brush lettering skills. In formats both for printing and for your iPad.
What do you think of brush lettering? Have you tried practicing it?
Blogging with your Bullet Journal
Back in June I decided to create a separate Bullet Journal that would be dedicated only for my blogging. I remember that I used to have second thoughts, of whether I will be able to have 2 bullet journals and manage to keep on top of them. Plus I didn't know whether I should have a daily spread on each one, or if I should have only one combining the two. Well, after having two bullet journals for almost 2 months now, I can show you how I made everything work for me. So, here's your chance to have a look into my blogging bullet journal ;)
I've chosen a Moleskine Dotted Notebook in black. It has 240 pages and it's dimensions are 13x21cm. I have a post comparing it to the Leuchtturm1917 here if you're interested. I am not overly artistic in this bullet journal but I try to keep it neat and functional.
My first spread is a 2016 Overview. It starts from June, since that's when I started using this bullet journal. Here I note down some important dates, like the days that I send my Newsletter, or any other days of the year that are interesting to mention on social media, or that could inspire me to create interesting posts or spreads about.
Then we move on to my Blog Stats. I like to keep track of my progress across my blog, newsletter and all social media. It helps me to be focused and motivates me to try harder.
The next spread has to do with any income I make through my blog. I use affiliation links in my posts for various products and sites. They provide me with some pocket money each month, that helps me pay any expenses for my blog. If you're interested in how I monetise my website, please let me know in the comments below, so that I can make a post about it. ;)
Then I created a basic weekly schedule for my blog. It helps me stay focused, but I don't necessarily follow it as it is every week. Things happen that might not allow me to have a set schedule all the time. However, I like to have a basic plan like this, so that I have a form of structure no matter what happens in my day. I still have it in pencil, since I'm not 100% sure about it yet... Keep moving things around ;)
The next page has to do with social media. The top part is my promotion schedule for each post. I tend to promote each post 5 times in different times and days. So, I've created a schedule in order to plan my promotion strategy. I tend to use Hootsuite and Buffer (for Instagram).
The bottom part is a table with all the social media sizes. It is very helpful when you are creating banners or post pictures that you want to promote on different social media, where each one has different post sizes.
Note: The table shown above is a bit out of date and I'm going to change it very soon! ;)
I've created a free printable with all the social media sizes for you to download, which is already added in the Free Resources Library.
Click here to join the Newsletter and get access to the Free Printable and the Resources Library.
Moving further, I've created a page with all the information regarding my blog. That includes a description of what my blog is all about - sort of like a mission statement - my style, the colours I use, my fonts and the picture sizes I use on my blog (post, sidebar, pages etc.).
I have a list of blog post ideas, where I list any posts that I'd like to do in the future. It's very helpful as well when you're out of ideas and don't know what to write about. I also have a brain dump list, with all the things that I'd like to do, regarding my blog when I get some free time.
I have a spread dedicated to Instagram. On one page I write any ideas that I'd like to create and post a picture about on IG. And on the other page, I have my Insta-Plan spread that I create each month. Here I like to write down what I post each day. Sometimes I use it to plan my uploads from before. But really, I like to see what I post each month. At the end of the month, I write down next to each post the number of likes it got. This way I can see which are my most popular posts, and what my followers like to see me create and post most.
I create a month at a glance spread for each month. It is dedicated to plan my posts and my newsletters. Usually I plan all the posts for the month at the end of the previous month. However, I write everything in pencil, because I tend to change my mind or move posts around. Once a post is actually uploaded, I note it down in pen.
Last but not least, I create a previous month analytics for the month that just ended, and then I have my monthly goals for the month that just started. In my monthly analytics I note down all my statistics, my 5 most popular posts for the month, most popular pics on Instagram and Pinterest and all the Projects/Tasks that I finished this month. In my monthly goals I set targets for my blog and all the social media, and then I set projects/tasks for each one as well.
I decided to have one weekly spread combined with my personal and my blog related to-dos. I find it's better to have everything in one place. I tend to change my weekly spread around, depending on what is more important for each week, so I don't have a standard set up. In the picture above, you can see one of my weekly spreads to get an idea. :)
So, there you have it. That's how I use my bullet journal for my blog. What other spreads do you create for yours? Do you prefer to have separate bullet journals - one for your personal life and one for your work, or not?
Colouring: A Stress-Relief Technique
Coloring books are no longer just for the kids. On the contrary, adult coloring books are the in thing right now, placing them on more and more bestsellers’ lists throughout the world.
Researchers have acknowledged the therapeutic qualities of art for years, and many grown-ups find sitting down with crayons or coloured pencils a way to unwind. Colouring has therapeutic qualities that can help to reduce anxiety, create focus or bring about more mindfulness. Like meditation, colouring allows the brain to switch off other thoughts and focus on the moment.
Personally, I've always liked colouring. Since I was a little girl I remember treasuring all my colouring books that I just loved to fill in with my coloured pencils. This continued through my high school years and university, where I would always add doodles and colour on my notes and books. Even now, every note and diary has colour in it. And of course since I started my bullet journal, this has escalated a bit! You only need to take a look at my Instagram account :)
So, colouring has always been in my life. Lately though, I've discovered (a bit late, I know!) the adult colouring books, and this has opened up a whole new world for me!
Some of these books are more detailed than others, and they have some amazingly intricate designs that you can spend hours colouring! One of my favourite ones that I bought recently is the Enchanted Forest by Johanna Basford. I really like her style and I'm planning to get next the Lost Ocean as well as the Secret Garden.
I can literally get lost for hours, when I start colouring with these books. My favourite coloured pencils to use with them are the Pelikan soft coloured pencils and the Staedtler ones.
You don't have to be an expert to start colouring. You just add different colours as you go, and then see the whole picture transform. Of course, if you want you can take it to the next level and experiment a bit with shading that will definitely bring the picture to life!
You can find loads of colouring books online. Some of the ones that I've added to my wish list are:
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| Left // Right |
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| Left // Right |
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| Left // Right |
There is also a box created by Crayola specifically for adults that's called 'Color Escapes' that looks interesting.
If you don't want to buy any books, but you're still interested to see if you would like to start colouring, then you can find loads of adult colouring pages online that are free to download. I really like these ones:
Zen and Anti-Stress Colouring Pages for Adults
Printable Coloured Pages for Adults - 15 free designs
Free Adult Colouring Pages
Free Colouring Pages for Adults
Of course you can also try and create your own designs and get creative! I had a lot of fun drawing this owl colouring page. To create it I used an HB pencil to draw the design, and then I used my Sakura Micron pens in 01, 03 and 05 (depending how thick I wanted the lines each time) to draw the outline
You can click here to download it for FREE! For best results when printing, choose black and white in the settings. Hope you like it :)
So, grab your coloured pencils and let's get lost in the amazing world of colour :) Which are your favourite colouring books?
