Hello, my dear friend. This is a backlog post for me. Since I became more active on my YouTube: April San Pedro, I find it difficult to blog, update my Instagram: @iam_artisan and on Pinterest simultaneously.

Kudos to all those who are creating content consistently, because it is not easy. And it takes a lot of time and effort from plotting the contents, filming, editing to posting. So, very well done content creators out there.

Anyway, for my first post, I would like to start off with the system I’ll be using for 2021. For the first time, I’ll be trying out Bullet Journaling. Truth be told, I never really imagined myself doing this. For the main reason that I know, I cannot sustain it all.

However, since I stopped designing new Blangko planners for 2 years now, I run out of Blangko planner to use for this year. I wanted to buy a different planner but I also wanted to be purposeful when it comes to buying this year.

So, I shopped in my stationery store, Artisan Paperie and looked for something I can use. Then I found this dotted journal and took it as a sign to try bullet journaling. I’m also taking this opportunity to refresh my Blangko planner design.

I wanted to make this as minimalistic as possible but all the inspirations I can find were just too pretty. So, I started overthinking on how to make my first bullet journal that it kind of made me overwhelmed. Then, I’ve thought of my Blangko planner‘s format, and just followed it in a way but added few things in between.

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For my 2021 Bullet Journal setup, here are the materials I used:

• Dot Ding dotted journal
• Artisan Paperie Stickers
• Inkjoy Gel Ink .5 and .7
• Pentel Touch color black; Tombow
• G-tech .3 and .4
• Copic Pen .5
• Ruler
• Pencil and Eraser
• Correction Tape

Before the usual planner pages, I wanted to include few things that I don’t have in the Blangko planner.

First, is my word for 2021 which is “Being Intentional”. On the left part (sorry, I couldn’t share it anymore since I forgot to take a photo of it before writing on it) was my Intentions/Desires page. I divided it into 4: Personal, Family, Artisan Paperie and Yellow Hauz.

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Then on the one, I added Important Dates page. I have this in my Blangko planner and it was helpful in remembering all the birthdays and anniversaries. However, I should have written this at the back instead since I won’t be needing to check on this every so often.

I’ve thought of combining this with the Year At A Glance page. But as I was checking the space while writing this, I just find it really small even for the birthday list. Maybe next time, I’ll make this into 2 whole spreads. And I also realized, it’s best not to combine this with the Year At A Glance so as not to confuse with the upcoming plans.

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Then my Monthly Page. I wanted to created a dutch door here but I’m not sure if I’ll like it for every month. So, I just decided to make this simple and added a quote as my month’s mantra.

On the left side, was supposedly a mood board but decided mood board doesn’t really work for me. So, I turned it into a photo page instead. During this time, I wasn’t able to print a photo yet, hehe. So, that’s just an empty space for a while.

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So, let’s get into the usual planner pages… This one is an upgrade of my Blangko planner. I normally have the box style calendar but I added few things on the right-side hand: Focus On, Goals This Month, Achievements. These small row truly helped me set my focus and goals for every month. And the achievements made me feel great for achieving few things from it.

At the bottom part, became my favorite one – Habit Tracker. Which at first I thought I don’t have use for. I often see this part in every bullet journal, but what I normally see doesn’t really apply to me. Until I realised, I’ve been tracking some habits but in a weekly basis. And doing this in a monthly spread makes it easier to see my progress better.

Instead of the drinking water, sleep, etc type of habit tracker, I applied it based on my needs. Which are: my period, workout, journal, paint/draw, meditate.

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Just after the Monthly Calendar Page, I added a spread that I have in my Blangko planner that really helped me feel better the next day. It’s the Daily Gratitude page which I wrote on every night.

Supposedly, it’s a one-line per day, but the longer I write, I find more things to be thankful for everyday. So, there are days I just simplified what I’m grateful for and then I just put a longer version in my memory keeping journal (which I’ll be sharing on my next posts. What journals I’ll be using).

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My Weekly Page is basically just a copy of my Blangko planner. It’s in vertical layout with extra space at the top and bottom for stickers and quotes. But instead of adding a time (which doesn’t really work for me), I just divided it into morning and afternoon. This style made it more flexible rather than being tied-up in a certain time.

What I added here are the 3 priorities at the top of the daily tasks and notes per day as well.

Just to make the alignment even, I added Tasks and Goals at the right-hand side. To help me to focus what to do within the week.

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Another thing that I learned from Bullet Journaling is the Year At A Glance page. I should have written this at the front side but since I already drafted my January setup, I just added it at the back. And because I already knew from the Important Dates page that if I put all the 12 months in one spread, it will make the space really small, so I made this one into 2-spreads or 4-pages instead. Divided the year into two and added my Monthly stickers on it. Now, I got a wider space for writing.

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That’s basically it! It’s really meant to be simple but I cannot help decorate it with stickers, washi tapes and stamps since that’s what I like about my planners. It makes my to-do list less daunting, lol.

I would say, not bad for my first bullet journal. I really like how this turned out and I have so many learnings from it already such as: I realised how my mind works better in a vertical layout than the box style kind; I like to list my achievements so I would know what I finished; I can see my progress better when it comes to tracking habits.

And I cannot wait to apply this system to my Blangko planners.

Now, if you want to see how I setup my first Bullet Journal, here’s the video of that…

If you’re still looking for planners this year, may I interest you with my Blangko planners. They are undated, so you can still catch up. I also have planner or deco stickers that will go along with it. You can find them on my webshop: shopee.ph/artisanpaperie.

I also want to know what planner or system are you using this year? Are you using a planner? If you are, what planner are you using? I know some uses various journals or planners for different purposes. Or are you also doing a Bullet Journaling like me? If you so, I would love to see your setup too. Leave me a comment or message me on Instagram: @iam_artisan.

Here are my inspiration for bullet journaling:

• Shayda Campbell
• Amanda Rach Lee
• Pick Up Limes
• The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll (currently reading)
• Reg Silva and Airees Creates (shoutout to these girls because they are always my inspiration when it comes to art and we’re all doing bullet journal this year).