Do you want to personalize your journal but don’t really know how to? Would you like to add a personal touch to your everyday journaling? Or are you just tire of following one type of bullet journaling? Or do you want to just add a little more spice to your journal? In this blog, I will be talking about how I create spreads in my bullet journal, but they’re not the usual weekly spreads, they’re the ones I make for myself! Let’s get right into it! 

Hello! I’m Viv from @bujowmee on Instagram/YouTube here talking about different ways you can fill up your journal! I started creating spreads like the one above in my journal starting this year and I absolutely enjoy creating them now! One thing I learnt from journaling like this was that there is no “right” way of journaling. There are so many particular rules that people would want you to follow, but honestly, straying away from them is fine too. You can always learn and develop your own style by taking inspiration from other journaling accounts on Instagram/YouTube. In this blog, I’ll be talking you through the different types of spreads I’ve created so far in my journal! (: (P.S.: I’m almost done with my journal and I only used it for 3 months!)

Supplies! 

For the different types of spreads I’ll be showing you today, I used the equipment below which you may also find helpful in recreating any of the spreads! Remember you can always use my code VIV10 for 10% off on all your orders at Archer and Olive; we love ourselves a little discount!

• Archer and Olive A5 Moon Flowers Neapolitan journal! (any journal can work too!)
• Acrylographs from A&O
• Scrap paper - any color’s okay!
• Stickers and washi tape!
• optional, but you can always use it to decorate the spreads (:
• UniBall White Signo pen (optional if you prefer the white acrylograph!)

If you’re more of a visual leaner, feel free to take a watch the video below, where I explore different lettering styles! Feel free to continue reading 

But what are they..?

Before I start, I want to make sure I let you know that the following spreads are just examples of some spreads that you can create in your journal. You don’t have to strictly follow it nor do you have to try only these spreads! Feel free to make whatever ideas you have in mind come to life through your journal!

The first spread I have is a highlights spread! It’s basically a spread for the highlights of the time period you used your last journal for. For me, I tend to stick to at least six months before creating a new highlights spread. For the spread, I tend to add some big milestones along with some memories I want to remember or did not write a lot about in my weekly. For the journal I’m using currently, I added some memories along with how I got my first job!

The next spread I have is something a lot of people create a spread about already. It’s a ‘Note to Self’ spread! It’s basically a spread you create in your journal where you write a note to yourself at the start of each journal. The letter can be anything, some manifestations for yourself, any goals you want to achieve or just a small reflection of who you are or aspire to be. I personally create this spread every time I start a new journal because it’s a way to check how I did with the goals I set for myself, and also if there’s anything else I can add or change in my goals!

This next spread is something I’m trying out for the first time, but now that I’m almost done with this journal, I might not add it to my next one. It's “When did I last..?” spread where I basically keep a track of all my tasks like cleaning, laundry, and some other chores around my house. I thought I would use this every time I do my chores, but I stopped using it after the one time I did it :’) 

The next one I have is one of my all-time favorite spreads to create in my journal! It’s the mood board and I recently created a blog about this last month! Feel free to go back to the blog for a deeper explanation on what it is and how I create them! I love adding mood boards to my journal because they show my intentions as well as goals for the month! It’s also another way to check how I’m doing with the goals I set for myself at the start of the journal!

The next spread I have is something I created after my weekly! I usually use my weeklies to write about the day and a way to reflect on whatever went right or wrong, and if I had a good day. I tried making this spread as a way of tracking my habits, and any big tasks I had during the week! I particularly made this spread for the first week of the year since I knew I wouldn’t have too many tasks to write about. You can always use this as a spread in your journal where you write about any projects coming up in the new week!

The next one I have is a junk journaling pocket spread! This one really helped me out with storing my supplies in a little pocket in the journal itself! The best part about this spread was that I always knew what was in there since I would flip through it to get to my weeklies. I do use the back pocket of my journal but at most times, it ends up being neglected because I usually don’t remember what I put in it or I just forget it exists in the first place—

This spread was inspired by the Instagram trend of searching your name and adding ‘core’ to it on Pinterest! It’s also inspired by @handletteringtings on Instagram. It was so fun making it especially adding the tiny description to it because I could change it to anything I wanted! I also want to start making spreads like these in my friends’ names hehe (:

This is probably the one spread I want to continue using in all of my months! It’s the deadlines spread, where I write all my deadlines for assignments, projects, and more! It’s definitely helpful as a student to use it in case you don’t use a google calendar like me– But it’s also useful for keeping track of your projects at your job. You can, of course, use your deadlines spread for any appointments or trips you have coming up as well!

This is something new I tried for this journal and it’s a self-care page! I believe journaling is a form of self care but I’m trying to find new things to add to my self-care routine. I thought I could use this spread as a reflection and think about new things that I can try for self-care. It’s not finished yet either, but I do really like how it’s turned out so far!

This is the spread I created for Valentines day this year! It’s still incomplete, but honestly just the quote page looks beautiful as well! It’s definitely a low effort spread but I love how the lettering turned out. If you’ve got a favorite quote or just want to write something in your journal, you can always try this type of spread!

This spread is a variation to the ‘junk journaling tings’ spread I created! It’s also my march cover and inspired by @/prettylittlellamas! It’s definitely my favorite cover so far and it holds all my favorite journaling supplies in it! You can try this spread out as an extra folder in your journal in case your back pocket gets a little too thick! In case you were wondering how I made it, you can follow this tutorial by @/prettylittlellamas on YouTube! Below is an example of how I’ve filled up my journal cover in my journal!

And that’s all the spreads I’ve tried this time in my journal! I hope you found some spreads you want to try or were just inspired to try a new type of journaling! You can also follow @/jashicorrin’s list of journaling for 52 weeks, and I’ve added the link here! Feel free to download the printable here, as it’s like a checklist with every spread I’ve done so far!

There are various spreads you can try in your journal and I hope you’ve found the ideas in this blog post to be helpful; I hope you’re excited to create an aesthetic for yourself and your journal! Feel free to tag me, @bujowmee, @archerandolive, @archerandolive.community, #AOShare, and #archerandolive in your spreads related to this blog on Instagram. We can’t wait to see what you create! (: