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When I started my bullet journal I didn’t have a lot of confidence in my drawing ability. I also didn’t know how much time I actually wanted to spend drawing or decorating my spreads. I wasn’t sure how a monthly theme would fit into my journaling plans.
On the other hand, one of the things I liked best about other people’s journals were the monthly themes that they chose to showcase. I thought that it made it more interesting, more fun and easier to understand in some cases.
When I was planning on starting my first bullet journal I thought that I would pick a different flower every month and that’s what I would use as a monthly theme or accent but I quickly realized that that wasn’t what I wanted to do.
Now that I’ve done a few themes I can say that I love having a changing monthly theme in my bullet journal. It’s almost an incentive that I use to make sure that I’m continuously excited about adding to my journal and keeping up with my planning.
Plus, it’s a justified way to feed my growing Pinterest addiction (comment if you have one too!)
Things to consider
Style
Are you a maximalist or a minimalist?
If you want to keep your journal streamlined and only use one colour then choosing a theme that embodies this value is important. Likewise, if you want to keep drawing to a minimum using thick lines to separate sections or geometric designs to add visual interest might be all you need.
When you lean on the maximalist side there really isn’t a limit on what you can use as inspiration for your theme. The world is your oyster as they say.
Drawing ability
Ok, time to be frank with yourself. Do you like to draw or is it something that you want to like to do but actually don’t? If you don’t want to draw then maybe going with some printouts or stickers/stamps could give you the look you want without all the “hassle”.
Are you an amazing artist? Then you can use your journal to practice different styles of art and drawing through your themes. If you spend an entire month drawing anime, you’ll be better at it just like if you spent an entire month drawing all sorts of trees you’d increase that skill.
If you’re just looking to get better at drawing in general (me!) then pick things that you feel would be fun to try and recreate. You can set it up so that you practice a particular style or subject. Or you can pick things you like so that you will enjoy the process of drawing and hopefully keep working at it. My kids and I draw a lot together and my oldest daughter consistently reminds me “Remember, it doesn’t have to be the same or perfect. You just have to do it”. Wisdom from the mouths of babes.
Fun
If it’s not going to be a good time to make don’t do it. If it’s not something that you can turn into what you want to spend your time looking at, don’t do it. Your monthly theme should be something that will make you smile and give you energy. It should also be something that you’ll enjoy creating. With a bullet journal you’re the one putting in the work so it should definitely be work that you’ll have fun doing.
Inspiration
When you think of each month, what comes to mind?
What sorts of things make you happy when you see them?
When I pick out my monthly theme I’m hoping to draw something that I will want to look at for at least a week. I want to pick something that I could draw a few different ways as well. This is because if I can draw it a few different ways then if one way doesn’t work I can try another. That adaptability has been important for me keeping up my confidence.
Most of my spreads have been things that I just like and wanted to have some fun drawing.
I started in January with snowflakes. I thought, “how hard can that be?” and just dotted them in randomly. In February I picked “Pink” as my theme so I drew in pink roses and hearts. March was leprechaun themed so I did rainbows, pots of gold and shamrocks.
In April I wanted to start actually testing my drawing so I branched out and did foxes. This was my turning point into maximalism. From there you can see my themes evolve and challenge me more.
My favourite animal is the fox, which is why I picked that.
I picked pokemon in June because I can actually draw them and my kids loved the idea.
I picked The Nightmare Before Christmas for October for Halloween and how many good memories I have surrounding that movie.
If you pick things you love then you’ll end up loving your monthly theme.
Keep a list
The great thing about a bullet journal is you don’t have to do it all at once. Really all you need is one idea to start with. Make yourself a mini collection and when you have ideas or see really cool spreads online jot them down.
Have a running list of your ideas so when it’s time to plan your month you have some options to choose from.
Maybe a start few Pinterest boards where you can pin images to use as inspiration would be helpful to start with as well. Once you have enough images for a monthly theme you can feel confident in taking it on.
I start with a Pinterest board for images and quotes for a potential theme as soon as I have the idea for it. This has kept options open and then when I get really excited about some of the pictures I can use that theme next.
Spoiler Alert!
I was originally going to use Harry Potter as my October theme but my kids really wanted to do Jack and Sally. November will be HP season here at my house.
I’ve known I wanted to do that monthly theme since June so it’s been patiently waiting in my collection and the board on Pinterest has just been accumulating inspiration.
Remember to follow me on Pinterest–> link in the sidebar!
Ideas
Here are some ideas to help you brainstorm some potential themes
What’s your favourite movie?
What was your favourite cartoon growing up?
Do you have a favourite animal?
Do you have a goal for the month you could plan your theme around?
Are you taking a trip that you could base your monthly theme off of?
Is there a milestone you’re accomplishing during the month like a wedding or graduation?
Alright, I hope that was helpful! There are tons of ideas that things to draw inspiration from. Do a quick google or Pinterest search and you’ll find a ton. Also feel free to look at any of my flip throughs.
Just remember that your journal is made just for you and is one of a kind. Make it something you find inspiring, something you can be proud of. And definitely make sure that it’s something that has your personality stamped all over it.
