Bullet Journaling: The Supplies You Need!

I initially fell into the hole of bullet journaling when my academic planner was falling apart senior year of high school. Realizing, after weeks of research, that an Erin Condren or planners of similar style would not be financially practical, as adorable and addicting the stickers were, I stumbled across a series of YouTube videos where people designed their own planners however they would see fit. This sparked an interest in me, as I really enjoy doing things my own way. At first, I thought it was just a journal where people had the freedom to draw, write, essentially what you could do in a normal diary, but I discovered that it was so much more.

image via Amanda Lee

One of the creators I really took inspiration from was Amanda Lee (youtube.com/amandarachlee,) who created spreads and themes surrounded by simplicity. She showed everything from the supplies she used to design her bullet journal to how to hand letter, and actually planning her monthly spreads on camera as well. After discovering her tips and ideas, I decided to do a little bit more research on this concept, and I knew bullet journaling was right for me.

The best part about creating your own daily planner was designing it however you’d like. For many influencers, they chose their themes based off of colors or shapes, but for me, I was in love with the idea of creating spreads based on television shows and movies, with the iconic symbols that were depicted in each production. I designed themes for How I Met Your Mother, Gossip Girl, Gilmore Girls, Grey’s Anatomy, The Greatest Showman, so on and so forth.

Bullet journaling is a very therapeutic way of self-expression and people around me could tell that I was so fascinated and in love with it. Along with those comments, I often received questions regarding the supplies I use and what are the best tools to get started, so here, I’ve created a simple must haves list of everything I believe is essential to bullet journaling. I will list the products I use, as well as some great alternatives!

The Journal: The key essential product of bullet journaling. For the most part, dotted notebooks are the way to go, since it’s easy to sketch out boxes and lines, and because it’s dotted, it kind of hides, so once you’re done with your spread, it doesn’t really show. I personally use the Leuchtturm1917 A5 Dotted Notebook, but some great alternatives are the Scribbles That Matter A4 Dotted Diary, and the Molskine Dotted Notebook.

image via Leuchtturm / Amazon.com

Fineliners: These are primarily used to design and sketch your bujo, (short for bullet journal). Personally, the Sakura Pigma Micron Pens are my favorite, I own the 0.5, 01, 02, 03, 05, 08 pens, and they have a wide collection, going from the thinnest to the thickest tips, and let me tell you, the 0.5 is SO thin, I fit a whole semester’s worth of information on a 3x5 index card with it. Other great alternatives for fineliners are the Staedtler pens, LePen, and the Faber-Castell Pitt artist pens!

image via Sakura

Color Tools: I swear by the Zebra Mildliners. These are double ended highlighter/marker sets and they are the most delicate highlighters I have ever owned. They do not bleed through pages like most highlighters do, and they make highlighting and designing so fun based on their beautiful colors. I also use the Tombow Dual Brush Pens to add some color into my bujo. These give off a watercolor effect, and are incredibly stunning. I’ve heard that the Crayola Supertips is an affordable option, and works amazingly well, too!

Zebra Mildliners

Tombow Dual Brush Pens

Calligraphy: Again, with the Tombow Dual Brush Pens are amazing because they have somewhat of a sponge tip on one end, thus, they are amazing for calligraphy or handlettering. They have a wide range of colors, but the only downside is that the tip is actually pretty big, so your words won’t be tiny. I also recently bought the LePen Brush Pen and the Faber-Castell PITT Artist Brush Pen, and I’m not going to lie, it’s not too bad! I thought I’d try them both because where I work, they sell them, but the LePen is actually half the price of the Faber-Castell. I noticed how their tips are about the same size and degree of softness as well, the PITT artist pen is just slightly more pigmented, but you can barely tell! My most recent purchase were the Tombow Fudenoske Pens. I’ve heard so much about these, especially through Amanda, and she said the hard tip ones were the best. I bought a pack of six, three hard tips, three soft, off of Amazon, and to be honest, I am so in love. I have just started experimenting with them, they have such a dainty tip, and the calligraphy turns out amazing. I can’t tell you which one I like the best yet, but these are such great pens to start off with if you are a beginner!

Faber Castell PITT Artist Brush Pen

Le Pen Drawing Brush Pen

Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pens

Writing: I started out using the Pilot G2 pens, but as time went on, I realized that they kind of ghost/bleed through pages when I color in my trackers or to-do lists. I later on switched to using just a pencil to write in my everyday tasks, but now, I’ve discovered that the Muji pens are the most dainty and precious, especially the 0.38 tip. These are incredible, and they make your handwriting so neat and organized!

G2 Pilot Pen

Muji 0.38 Pen

For me, having a journal, some color tools, a few fineliners and a couple of good calligraphy pens are all I really need, and I know it seems like a lot, but once you get hooked, you’ll keep wanting more! You can use watercolor, washi tape, stickers, collages from magazines to design your bujo as well! I really hope this helped answer any questions you may have about what I use for my bullet journal, feel free to reach out over social media or email if you have any questions!

Xx, C