I’m back with a February 2021 Bullet Journal Setup. This month I have chosen to do a mailbox theme for February, signifying sending love letters on Valentines Day. When researching lettering ideas, I realized my theme carried another meaning: love at a distance! And after the last year, I think we have all become accustomed to love at a distance. I also think we can all agree that it’s not getting easier. But! I digress. You can watch the setup video here.
My cover page turned into a bit of a dumpster fire (that I was able to contain, thankfully!), so my supply list is a bit out of control. So bear with me!
February Setup Supplies
- Scribbles That Matter Bullet Journal (Affiliate link – make sure to use STMLOVE for 10% off)
- Art Philosophy Classics Watercolor Paint
- Derwent Watercolor Pencils
- Marie’s Extra Fine Gouache Paint
- Tombow Mono Drawing Pens – sizes 02, 04, and 08
- Gelly Roll in white
- Archer & Olive Acrylograph Pen in White
- Crayola Supertips
- Tombow Dual Brush Pens: 856, 879, 947, 993, N15, N55, N75,
- Natasha Miller Letters Washi Basics Collection in Caramel
- Natasha Miller Letters Mini Calendar Stamps
- Generic Brown Paper Bag
- Generic Number stickers
- Natasha Miller Letters Mail Call Stickers (free printable for email subscribers or physical product available in the store)
Creating the Cover Page
I created an interactive fold down door for my cover page, revealing mail and the month. My priority was getting colour on the page as quickly and efficiently as possible. This priority basically set me up to fail! I chose watercolour paint to achieve this goal but also to create texture. For the most part, it worked out okay. I ended up using FAR too much water and causing the page to warp a lot. I solved this problem by sticking a new page down. (The rest of my pages had already been penciled in so gluing 2 pages together wasn’t necessarily an option. I was NOT redoing the calendar page!)
The second tip I wanted to share was using a piece of cardboard when cutting your dutch doors. I place the cardboard between the pages, preventing damage to the following pages.
The next tip is another problem solving tip. Lately, I’ve learned that there are 2 types of gouache paint: acrylic based and water based. For Christmas, I got some water-based gouache paints. Basically, they have the opacity of an acrylic paint and the blendability of watercolour paint. With this gouache, I was able to mix a matching grey to the watercolour paint, cover the mistake, and then blend the gouache in using a bit of water. Done and done!
So, basically, as I kept going and adding, I ended up having to fix whatever went wrong. Lesson take away from my cover page: don’t rush! Lol!
February Monthly Setup
With the rest of the monthly setup, I stuck to my go-to layouts – monthly view calendar, habit trackers, brain dump, and first weekly layout. I was just a little more playful with them.
For my monthly view calendar, I set it up like a post office with rows of mailboxes for the days of the month. I used the mailbox numbers as the dates, drawing black boxes and using white Gelly roll over top. I kept the colour details simple using Tombows and Crayola, instead of watercolour again.
For my habit trackers, I drew in mail boxes (that look almost like bird houses but I ran with it…), and used my Mini Calendar Stamps for the tracking portion. I added stickers throughout the layout to add to the whimsy and make it a bit more obvious that they are mailboxes!
I opted to keep my Brain Dump page simple to maximize space for thoughts and ideas floating around in my head.
Weekly Layout
For February, I used my favourite Rapid Logging Task List method. I split up work and home task lists again, like I did back in March 2020. Using a dutch door layout to accommodate the two lists, as well as a “Next Week” section, I am hoping this will allow more space to jot down appointments and tasks.
I will most likely stick to this layout throughout the month, with very minimal changes. As much as I love creativity in a bullet journal, functionality is also important.
That’s a wrap on my February 2021 bullet journal setup. I hope you enjoyed today’s video and post. As always, don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or comments. I am always open to learning new things. Today’s lesson was that I may actually enjoy gouache painting… a lot!
For any shop updates, or to see how my journal(s) progress, make sure to follow me on Instagram @natashamillerletters.
Until next time!
