Hi everyone! I’m Maddy from @planwithmaddy and I’m going to show you how to create a self-care spread in your bullet journal. Self-care has always been important to me, and with the world’s current state, it feels even more necessary. With this spread, you can set self-care goals and track your daily habits.
Step 1: Gather Your Materials
Step 2: Sketch Your Design in Pencil
I always begin with a pencil sketch in my bullet journal so I can visualize my design and spacing before going in with pen. The Z-Grip Plus Mechanical Pencil is perfect for this because of its comfortable grip and small eraser that can easily erase even the finest of details.
For this spread, I wanted to include a routine that covered several areas of self-care. After sketching the title, I drew spaces for three areas of self-care practices: Body, home, and mind. Then I sketched the lettering for my monthly goals, leaving plenty of space to write below it. To outline my tracker, I sketched a rectangle that is seven spaces tall and 30 spaces wide to track the seven chosen activities throughout the month.
Step 3: Add Lettering with Brush Pens
For this step, I used my Mildliner Brush Pens to add hand lettering to the spread. I love using the brush tip of the Mildliner Brush Pens for large, bouncy calligraphy and using the fine tip on the other end for adding more precise lettering.
I chose two of my favorite colors, Smoke Blue and Vermillion, to keep the spread colorful but still cohesive. I used the fine tip for faux calligraphy by writing in cursive first and then adding parallel lines along the downstrokes of each letter.
Step 4: Outline and Add Details
To outline all the boxes and add in smaller writing and other details, I used my Sarasa Clip Gel Retractable Pen in black. This pen writes so smoothly and is great for small details like the numbers above my tracker. You can also use it to add details to your lettering to make them more dimensional. In this spread, I used my Sarasa Clip to add line strokes to the right of each letter as a simple way to mimic shadows.
Step 5: Begin Setting Goals and Using Your Tracker
Now the only thing left to do is create self-care goals for the month and start using your tracker! You can track your self-care routine daily by using the fine tip of your Mildliner Brush Pens to fill in the spaces of each activity you’ve done for that day. As your needs and habits change throughout the month, you can always add new goals.
I hope you found this helpful and I inspired you to create your own self-care spread! For more bullet journal inspiration, check out How to Start A Gratitude Journal by Zebra Pen Artist Ambassador Andrea of @wildeyesbujo.