Summer bullet journal spread ideas with #PentelPickMeUp (ad)

Life is far from perfect right now. So much is outside of our control and we can’t participate in many of the activities which usually bring us joy. Fortunately, there’s never been a better time to be a stationery addict, as one of the few things Lockdown can’t ruin is our creativity. In fact, I’ve been spending more time creating in the last few weeks than I have in the last few months, and it’s done wonders for my wellbeing. 

The lovely team at Pentel sent me a genuine bundle of joy recently and it inspired to get more creative with my bullet journal. I’m a long-time fan of their Brush Sign pens, and I’ve since added their EnerGel pens and Pointliners to my bujo essentials. 

First up, here’s a closer look at those new Brush Sign pen colours. They’re my favourite pens to letter with and I’m loving these new pastel shades. The small, slightly flexible tip makes them ideal for beginners – and they’re fun to blend, as I’ll show you later in this post. 

The EnerGel range is super-smooth and ultra-quick drying, making them ideal for left-handed creatives and so versatile for bullet journal fans. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the range and it’s easy to see why they’re still so popular. 

You never know when you’ll need a black fineliner and it’s great to have a selection to hand. The Pointliners come in five tip sizes (0.05mm, 0.1mm, 0.3mm, 0.5mm, and 0.8mm) – perfect for writing, outlining, doodling, and more. 

What I love most about all these pens is that they’re smudge-proof, meaning I could use a ruler with no mess, and quick drying, so I could rub out pencil guidelines instantly. They’ll certainly be a staple for future bullet journal spreads. Speaking of spreads, I used them to play with some ideas for the next couple of months. 

June 2020: Botanical theme inspired by Andrea Reyes Studio 

I’m a big fan of inspiring quotes about growth and have wanted to try a few borders in my spreads. I’ve kept things quite minimal lately, with the odd lettered header and some colourful flourishes, and wanted to explore developing this a bit more. 

For my title page, I created my wreath outline by drawing around one of Jenson’s plastic cups in pencil, and used two of my green Brush Sign pens to add the leaves, using a technique I spotted a while ago on Under the Rowan Trees’ feed. I then did a bit of tip-to-tip blending to write ‘hello June’. 

Gratitude is such a big part of my journaling. I like a good brain dump at the end of the day but always finish on a positive (something I picked up at a mindful journaling workshop: exit kindly). For this page, I lettered ‘gratitude’ with a Brush Sign pen, drew my border with an EnerGel, and doodled a flower using a Brush Sign pen and 0.05 Pointliner. 

Whether you’re setting up a weekly spread or just want to record one line a day, this template is simple enough to repeat week after week and is easily adaptable for different monthly themes. I drew out my table with my trusty 0.05 Pointliner (I love this tiny tip!) and lettered with the Brush Sign pens. 

I like to add random quote pages throughout my journal, and this is one of my favourite quotes. I used the same doodle flower technique as before, and this time I lettered with an EnerGel. They’re so flippin‘ smooth! 

July 2020: Rainbow theme inspired by mgracejournals 

Rainbows have featured a lot in my journal lately, but I wanted to use them in some spreads for a whole month. My bujo used to be so minimal that I kept most of my hand-written content to black fineliners, with the odd highlighted header. Now I’m all about the colour. Not only is it nice to look back on (I do like a bit of reflection!) but it makes it much more fun to update regularly. 

For the title page, I used a selection of EnerGel pens for the rainbow and wrote ‘hello July’ with some of the Brush Sign pens. 

I wanted to create a colourful monthly set up, so drew out a table using the EnerGel pens, adding some habit trackers down the side (there’s that 0.05mm Pointliner again!) and a rainbow quote using the Brush Sign pens (I added some of my pens from the original 12-colour release for this one). 

I really love a mood tracker! I like being able to track patterns and tie this into my monthly review. When you have high-functioning anxiety and depression, mood trackers can be a bit, well, depressing! But I like to create a design which makes me smile. Not gonna lie, it did take me a few goes in pencil first, then I used the 0.05mm Pointliner for the circle, the Brush Sign pens for the lettering, and the EnerGel for the moods. 

I decided not to add a quote page for this month, instead choosing to focus on the things I love. When you’re feeling a bit crappy, it’s handy to have something to remind you of the things that bring you joy. For this page, I blended two of my Brush Sign pens for my header, used one of them to draw the heart outline, and then filled it with EnerGel lettering. 

How have you been getting creative during Lockdown?