My May Bullet Journals 2021

Hey guys!

How was your week? Mine has been good. I am officially on my Summer holidays which is crazy because it’s only the start of May! One perk of online learning I guess.
Today I’m showing you my May bullet journal spreads. I made a few changes this month, especially in my personal journal so if you had any of the issues I was having with then I hope these changes help with your spreads.
If you have never seen any of my bullet journalling posts before here is a link to them if you are interested. I started bullet journalling at the start of 2020 and it has quickly became one of my favourite hobbies. But that’s enough pre-amble – As always let me get into telling you about my journals if you are interested in that – if not just skip down to the photos of my spreads.

How I Journal:

I have two bullet journals, one for blogging/reading and then one for my personal everyday life and while this isn’t typical (usually the point of bullet journals is to have everything in one place) but I find that having them separated works best for me. Plus, I get to do two different themes. I decided to upgrade my personal bullet journal this year from an A5 to B5 because I do use it everyday and I wanted a little bit more space than before which I don’t need for my blogging journal. So far I am liking this upgrade as it meant I could condense down all my spreads into fewer pages but I am still not 100% used to the larger size of it now so it’s harder to plan out spreads.

My Supplies:

If there is one thing I’ve learnt about bullet journalling it is that you do not need fancy stuff to do it. I started with a pack of highlighters and journals that were under £10 from amazon and that was it. I have since upgraded because I have fallen in love with journalling and it is where I want to spend my money but you definitely do not need to do that.

• Scribbles that Matter B5 Bullet Journal in Charcoal (155pgs and 160gsm) *I bought this on sale
• Stationary Island A5 Dotted Journal in Berry (180pgs and 120gsm)
•  Stabilo pastel highlighters 
• Tombow Brush Pens (Black N15, Cool Grey 3 N75, Crimson 847, Asparagus 192, Deep Blue 565 and the 12 Pastel Colour Set)
• A Fineliner Set from Amazon that I got for Christmas but any black pens are good.
• Uni-Ball Signo white gel pen (I actually don’t like this much and I want to buy a better white pen but it will do for now)
• A pencil
• Ruler
• Rubber/Eraser

My Blogging Bullet Journal:

This is my blogging/reading bullet journal. It is a stunning maroony-berry-purple and I love it. It was £8.99 on Amazon from the company Stationary Island and despite the lower price tag I cannot recommend it enough. It is very sturdy with decent page thickness. I’ve only had the ink bleed through once or twice when I used it last year and I was definitely going a bit crazy with the colouring. I read reviews saying it fell apart on them but I had two of them last year which I used every single day in 2020 and neither of them broke. And I’ve been using this one for 4 months and it’s also still perfect condition.

For this theme I picked bubbles. And I am so so so happy with the way this turned out. I much prefer drawing my themes in this sized journal than in my other. I love how the pages feel slightly connected but also not. I would redo the writing if I was to change anything but I am still super happy with it!

I added a small chart down the side to track my bookstagram photos which I am loving using and will definitely become a new staple. I also removed my calendar and stats spreads from this month’s journal because I just wasn’t using them anymore and I didn’t want to waste space.

I kept my new book buying tracker from last month because I’m loving it.
F means format – so e-book, physical, hardback etc.
£ – Is obviously how much it cost or if it was free
V means via – so where I got it from, netgalley, waterstones, amazon etc
I just like having it all in one place so I’m less likely to run out of room than I was in previous months.

So that was this journal, most of my spreads are identical to usual just with the different theme and colours.

My Personal Bullet Journal:

This is my personal bullet journal. It is massive. I thought I would get used to the size but I have quickly learned that B5 notebooks are just not for me. I am not busy enough to fill the pages and I just end up wasting loads of space. I am continuing to use this journal until I finish it, but I have shrunk what I use it for in order to conserve space. I made a title page as per usual but then I just left the next one blank. I will put my to-do lists on the days I need them there, and slowly just fill it up as the month goes on, that way I only use what I need each month.

I don’t love the way this looks but that’s all part of bullet journalling. You aren’t going to adore every spread you make but as long as it still functions that is what matters!

So those are my spreads for May. Definitely pairing things back because I am not as busy as I once was. The B5 size is definitely not for me but that’s just something you learn with time. Anyway, have a great day and week! I will see you on Sunday with a review!