We’re a quarter of the way through the year and that means it’s time for me to share my May bullet journal set up. This month I wanted to keep things simple and decided on spreads that were quick to set up.
Before we begin, here is a list of the materials I used:
Bullet Journal Supplies
- Leuchtturm A5 dotted notebook
- Arteza watercolour real brush pens
- Crayola Supertip markers
- Tombow Fudenosuke brush pen (hard)
- Pigma micron fine line pen (No. 02)
- Pentel mechanical pencil
- Eraser
May Bullet Journal COver Page 2019
I’ll be completely honest, I had no idea what I wanted to draw in my May bullet journal. I was stumped for ideas.
I decided to simply start doodling and see what happened.
I used my Arteza watercolour real brush pens to create the doodles. And my Tombow Fudenosuke brush pen (hard) and Pigma micron fine line pen (No. 02) for the lettering.
I’m not completely happy with the cover page but it was quick to do and essentially sums up what’s been making me happy recently; sunny days, blue skies and bluebells. There are masses of bluebells in the local park and they are so lovely to see.
I opted to add a quote by William Wordsworth that reads “To begin, begin”. Which sums up where I am at right now as I am working towards creating a new business for myself.
May Monthly Overview
I wanted to make my May monthly spread simpler than what I’ve been doing in recent months. I came to realise that, as much as I like a large calendar spread, I don’t actually use it all that much.
At the begining of the month, I’ll fill out the calendar. However, I then favour using my weekly spreads to see what I have coming up and rarely check the monthly calendar.
For my May bullet journal monthly spread, I therefore went much simpler.
I drew a small calender with the dates at the top of the left page. Underneath this, I created space to write down my goals, birthdays and to note down important dates (appointments etc).
On the right-hand page, I created areas for jotting down my intentions for the month and any blog ideas I may have.
Finally, I drew a table to keep track of my blog income and expenses.
I kept the page simple with only two illustrations of bluebell bouquets and I highlighted text using a blue/grey Arteza watercolour real brush pen.
May Gratitude & Highlights page
Usually, I place my highlights page at the end of the month. However, for May, I decided to move it to the beginning.
This is because I was often forgetting about it! I’d end up writing entries in bulk when I finally remembered, which wasn’t ideal.
Moving it to the front will mean I’m more likely to remember as I have gotten into a good habit of writing down a line each night on my gratitude page.
These spreads are the simplest as they are essentially only titled (and numbered for the gratitude page). But, they are always my favourite to look back on.
To distinguish between the days on the gratitude page, I highlighted alternative lines using the blue/grey Arteza watercolour real brush pen.
I actually hate doing this as I am so messy with it, yet I keep doing it as I feel it helps when it comes to reading back what I’ve written.
Finally, I bordered the bottom of both pages with lots of bluebells.
This illustration is super simple to create. I draw lines using green Arteza watercolour real brush pens, then dab different colours of blue and purple for the flowers.
Keeping the flowers abstrats means they are quick and easy to do.
May BUllet Journal Weekly Spread
For my weekly spreads, I decided to change things up this month. I have used the same weekly layout for the past two months and it felt like time to try something new.
This month, I experimented with my first dutch door spread, which is 11 boxes wide.
Rather than spread a single week over two pages, I stuck to one. So a full spread is for two weeks of the month.
On the dutch door in the middle of the page I gave myself space to write down my weekly tasks and any notes.
I also added a small calendar to the top of the dutch door and highlighted which week it was. I get so muddled up with days/dates/weeks and I hope this will help my brain fog!
The flip side of the dutch door has the exact same for the following week.
I kept the spreads minimal, highlighting the days of the week with the blue/grey Arteza watercolour real brush pen and separating the days with a line of dots.
For decoration, I added a single bouquet of bluebells on the bottom of each side of the dutch door.
Skipping Trackers this Month
You may have noticed that I decided to forgo using trackers in my bullet journal this month. I had been tracking a few habits and my steps previously.
Each night, I sat down and filled these out. However, I came to realise that I follow pretty much the same routine each day.
My habits are established and, though it’s been interesting to track my steps for a couple of month, I don’t think I’ll learn any more from doing this.
I, therefore, decided to take a break from trackers this month. I want to see how I find that.
I think habit trackers are super useful for establishing new habits. But, at this moment, they feel a little redundant to me as I’m set in my routine.
So, there you have it! That’s my May bullet journal set up for 2019.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this and that I’ve given you some ideas that you can use in your own bullet journal.
Further Reading:
- Bullet Journal Inspiration: April 2019 Set Up
- March Bullet Journal Set Up 2019
- February Bullet Journal Set Up 2019: Star Themed Bullet Journal
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