August 2017 Bullet Journal Setup (Back to School)

Since it's the end of the month, you know what that means: time to set up my bullet journal for next month! I'm (somewhat unfortunately) going back to school on the 8th, so I'm gonna need my bujo even more to keep my life together. I've added a couple of spreads specifically for school, and I'm actually publishing a post next week about how to use your bullet journal if you're in school/bullet journal spreads for students, so make sure to watch out for that!

Nevertheless, enough jabbering; keep reading to see my August 2017 bujo setup!

New York City Stationery Haul (AKA My Irresponsible Spending Habits)

Hey, everyone! If you don't follow me on Instagram, then you probably don't know that I went on a trip to New York City this past week. I was there for 10 days total - from July 9th to the 18th. In that time, I went shopping quite a bit. I actually spent almost $300 on stationery! Ahhh!!! As to be expected, that amounts to a lot of stuff. Anyway, that's enough talking; here is my New York City stationery haul!

Rhodia A5 Dot Grid Webnotebook Review (Best Notebook for Bullet Journaling?)

In terms of supplies needed for your bullet journal, there are two main components: a writing utensil and something to write in. Today, I'll be reviewing something of the latter: the Rhodia A5 Dot Grid Webnotebook. This is the notebook I've been using as my bujo for almost an entire year (since August 2016), and I'm currently on my second one. If you are trying to find a good notebook for bullet journaling, then read on to discover if this will be a good choice for you!

PSA: Talent vs. Skill (In Terms of Calligraphy and Bullet Journaling)

Today's PSA is is something that bothers me so much. The difference between talent and skill is not only confused within the calligraphy and bullet journaling communities, but also in society as a whole.

First up, here are the dictionary definitions of the two words, taken from Merriam-Webster.

• Talent: "a special often athletic, creative, or artistic aptitude (i.e. natural ability)" or "the natural endowments of a person"
• Skill: "a learned power of doing something competently: a developed aptitude or ability"

In other words, talent is what you're born with, the things you inherently are good at doing, while skill is what you work for. It's not necessarily a big deal to everyone, but you are disrespecting and discounting someone's hard work and all of the countless hours that they've put into developing their craft if you describe their skill as talent.

In terms of calligraphy, people practice a lot to get to where they are. Every person that you admire started from somewhere. People work diligently and spend a lot of time in order to improve their art. Personally, I'm not a very artistic person; I've never been good at drawing, and my handwriting is naturally really ugly. However, through lots of practice, I've been

When talking about bullet journaling, you usually don't see the behind-the-scenes: the mess that is some people's desks, mistakes and smudged ink, blank or half-used spreads, being dissatisfied with their current system, sketching out and carefully drawing spreads, etc. It does take experience to create conventionally pretty spreads and pictures. (And of course, a "good" bujo is just any that benefits its user, regardless of how "pretty"it is,)

So, in conclusion, talent = good at something because you were lucky and happened to be born with a certain ability, while skill = good at something because you put in a lot of effort and worked hard. Though it's annoying for creatives themselves, the biggest problem with people confusing these two terms is that it discourages others from trying to improve at something because they think, "Oh, I might as well give up because I'll never be able to get better since I don't have talent."

However, that is so not true. Hardly anyone ever starts out already good at their craft; though a natural affinity might aid some, it's a skill that's developed over time for the vast majority of people. See this as inspirational because anyone - regardless of natural born ability - can become good at anything that they put their mind to. Don't perceive your own lack of talent, something only a fortunate few possess, as an insurmountable barrier to success.

What other things bother you in the calligraphy or bullet journal communities? Make sure to leave it in a comment down below!

July 2017 Bullet Journal Setup

Welcome to the July 2017 setup in my bullet journal! This is my last full month of summer break, and I can't believe that summer break is already halfway over! I've been posting a lot on my Instagram since school's been out, and my bullet journal this past month has reflected my laziness throughout break so far. July for me will be a little busier than June, and I need to step it up with my bujo game a little. Anyway, I don't think you care too much about that, so here's my bullet journal setup for next month!

Modern Brush Calligraphy Alphabet (Bounce Lettering)

I've been doing calligraphy for a little over a year now, and in that time, I've improved a lot - well, at least I like to think that I have. In the very beginning, I think one of the hardest things about starting was that I was lost in terms of an alphabet. I used to have look at a bunch of different Instagram calligraphers for different letter inspiration, but through that (and lots of practice doing various headers in my bullet journal), I've developed my own style in terms of modern calligraphy.

That style happens to consist pretty much completely of bounce lettering, which is where the lettering is a little more free-form, and each individual letter isn't completely straight on a baseline (especially the strokes that connect each letter together, which tend to go below the baseline in bounce calligraphy). That explanation probably didn't make much sense, so look through my Instagram, and you'll see a lot of examples of it (such as in this photo). I personally find bounce lettering easier than "normal" lettering because you can be a little sloppy, but it'll still look good. Plus, it automatically gives it that cute and "whimsical" look that modern calligraphy is often known for.

So, I've decided to share with you today my own modern calligraphy alphabet, specifically for bounce brush calligraphy (though you can still by all means use this same alphabet for other types of mediums). If you've just started learning calligraphy or if you haven't started yet and you have no idea where to begin (or if you just want to spice up your own calligraphy style with some variation), then this'll be a great resource to kickoff your hand-lettering journey, whether you want to do weddings, decorate your bullet journal, or anything in between.

If this is your very first attempt at any type of calligraphy, I highly suggest trying out faux calligraphy before brush calligraphy. It's not required, but I think it would be helpful.