My Blog Planning Essentials

I’ve mentioned that in my bullet journal, I’ve changed how I use it, focusing it more on blog planning than a weekly diary. I’ve talked in a previous blog post about how I plan my content, but I thought I would talk about what I use. I am still an avid watcher of Amanda Rach Lee and although I’m not recreating her spreads, I still use her spreads often as inspiration and follow her recommendations. I plan with these every month and have done since the beginning.


All these products are recommendations from Amanda, and whilst she uses a wider variety of things now, these are the items that I have stuck with and really enjoy! If you like bullet journal/organising/planning/drawing content, you should really check her videos out!


I was given the Bullet Journal version of this last year, and I really enjoyed using it so I picked it up again for this year. This is the original version, the dots start a row lower in this journal but that’s the only real difference. Whilst I haven’t done the more artistic, diary like spreads like I did last year, I still like using the dotted version. I still draw the boxes at the top, with drop shadows to give some colour.

The dotted version is great for helping you with drawing, line especially. Whilst a lined version would be just as useful, I feel the dots are more subtle, also great for tickboxing! It also comes with a label sheet which is also cream, so whenever I make a mistake I simply cut out the appropriate length and it’s fine! 


For adding colour, I will go between two types of pen – the first being the Tombow brush pens. My collection has grown to 14, and will definitely grow in the future. I also use this pens a lot when I am doing some colouring, as it has the two ends which are great for filling large sections, but also smaller areas.

I am still not great at using these for calligraphy/lettering, but it works great for providing drop shadows. 


At the start of my bullet journal, I have a few ‘traditional’ bullet journal pages with some lettering. For this, I like the Fudenosuke as I have more control and can be more precise with each letter. I also use this at the moment for filling in my black boxes. It is better for lettering so I will probably end up buying the black version of the Dual Brush pen.

Another thing I have enjoyed about this pen is that it hasn’t dried out. I have accidentally left the lid off, or not put it back on properly a few times and after a few strokes, it’s back to normal. With a lot of pens, leaving the lid off once is the end of it. 


These are the latest addition to my collection. As Amanda did, I also bought the three pack, which comes with a ‘traditional’ highlighter colour set, as well as others than are not neon. These are also dual ended, except instead of a brush pen it has a highlighter nib. This is what I also use for colour in my bullet journal.

If you saw my blog update, the yellow I used was a Zebra Mildliner. I like that the different colours it has, I recently used one of the purple shades as a normal highlighter and I really liked how it looked! Make your revision look pretty! 


I use this to draw all my outliners and black bunches of text. I’ve tried all of the different sizes that Amanda has used, but after she used this one, I haven’t used another. It is the perfect length. One problem that I had with the others is that the nib going down very quickly, on one side especially. 

This pen has what I would call a ‘traditional pen’ nib. It’s solid so it has not changed in size or height at all. I also don’t use it as much as I did before with the other pens so that might also be making a difference.

A good old biro!

I am quite a fast writer and typist, and I write my fastest with a biro. I also have plenty of them. By using a biro, it doesn’t matter which one I pick up, I can just use whichever one is close to hand. I can also write quicker, and that can get the tedious part of planning over – writing out the month four times!


Obviously this is what I use to do all the white text. It is roughly the same size nib as the PN, but a little liquidly. It writes easily over colour, as well as black. This pen is also the most easy to find. I had to order the Mildliners and Fudenosuke online, and where I live, the Tombow brush pens and Pigma Microns are only available in an art supply shop
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However I found this pen in my local Paperchase, but I’ve also seen it in other stationery shops.  

What are your stationery essentials?

Ellyn xx

Check out my last post here
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9 comments

  1. I keep hearing about bullet journals but never used one. I normally just watch out my ideas in a little notebook

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  2. I have never heard of bullet journals before, and have always used lined notebooks. I love bullets and cannot believe I missed out on this! This bullet journal looks neat and crisp; two things I also love.

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  3. I hear more and more about the effectiveness of bullet journals, but I hadn't thought about them as a blogging tool. This is definitely something for me to consider. Thank you so much for sharing!

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  4. I have tried several times to create a bullet journal but I don't think I do it right haha. I do love a good brush pen though! I enjoy doing brush lettering as a hobby. :) Thank you for sharing!

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  5. I haven't wrote notes down in a long time, I usually use Evernote to write stuff down so I have access to it on my phone, laptop, and tablet whenever I want. Plus my handwriting is so bad I can't always read what I wrote ha ha ha

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  6. I've used bujo in the past and loved it I definitely need to get back into it

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  7. I love the idea of using my bullet journal for my blog. I never keep up with it since I dont necessarily have a lot to plan day to day.

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  8. We share the same taste in bullet journals! I have the Leuchtturm and both Tombow pens, so good! X

    Megan | https://meganelizabethlifestyle.com/

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  9. Mildliners are always what I use for my blogging planning to highlight my title ideas! I also love the Zebra pastel ink pens which basically match the highlighter colours which is very satisfying :-)
    Sarah x
    http://www.saraheliza.co.uk

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