hey friends elizabeth here from plant based bride back again with another video and today
i'm setting up my bullet journal for may with an abstract theme today's video is sponsored
by skillshare i'll talk to you about them more at the end of the video but for now let's hop
into this setup so for supplies for this theme i'm sticking to a couple colors of gouache
from the windsor newton designers line sepia raw umber and raw sienna as well as some zinc white
so that i can mix that into the various colors to get lighter variations of them
i'm still using my b5 size vegan leather olive branch notebook for my collaboration with archer
and olive unfortunately the notebooks that i designed for archer and olive were limited
edition so they are no longer available but you can still grab beautiful notebooks from their
website if you do use my discount code pbb10 for 10 off it also gives me a bit of a kickback
so thank you for supporting my channel i'm starting by painting some blobs
but as i go things will start to take shape more i like to start with the larger areas of color
so that i can give those a lot of time to dry and then also layer other elements on top i'm starting
with this light beige peachy sort of color that i created by mixing raw umber with zinc white
and before i get too carried away with this first spread i want to make sure that i keep
in mind where i'm going to be cutting this page away because i love to create tabs to easily flip
between weeks in my setups and my monthly spread as you will know if you've been around here for a
while so i'm creating tabs as always with a little peekaboo window at the bottom so that i can see
a little bit of that abstract pattern along the bottom of the page no matter
what spread i'm using to create my faux dutch door rolling weekly spreads i like to alternate
between a page with a tab and a page without until i have enough for every single week of the month
as i go i'm just creating variations on the same colors by mixing my three main
colors with different amounts of white or just using the color as it is out of the tube so i
can get all these different variations and get some richness and depth without having so many
different colors that things start to feel a bit overwhelming or disjointed if you're familiar with
my style then you'll probably know that i like to keep my color schemes pretty tight i like
to focus on one or a few colors at a time when possible i just love a good minimal color palette
chewy really wanted to be involved while i was filming this video he kept trying to climb onto
my bullet journal while the paint was still wet and he also wanted to make sure everyone saw
his glorious and majestic topher that grows out between his toe pads so you're welcome
now that some of those larger areas have dried it's time to add some more details to this for
this theme i was really just focusing on having some vaguely round blobs for the general shapes
as well as incorporating some linear elements maybe some squiggly lines and also the occasional
botanical or leaf element i sort of treated the number of shapes and elements in a similar way
to the color palette where i tried to keep to a relatively narrow library of shapes to stick to
so that it wouldn't feel too overwhelming like there were too many different things going on
while still having some interest not just having a bunch of blobs although i think a bunch of blobs
or circles looks awesome obviously since i did a whole bullet journal setup like that but sometimes
it's fun to have some different types of elements and just kind of get a little more free form with
it have some fun so even though i was trying to have fun and pick up different types of elements
and just kind of have a sense of whimsy to the spreads i didn't want to overdo it so again
sticking to a little bit more of a limited library of shapes throughout my spreads
i'm keeping this spread really simple just writing may on the cover page on
the left and creating a very plain minimalist calendar on the right
i'm also painting my tabs and you'll see that i use some washi tape to make sure that i get a
nice clean line on those tabs i had a loose plan for these spreads before i started i sketched
my ideas out using procreate on my ipad but once i started painting i just kind of went for it
i added new things where i hadn't planned to add anything i played around and changed placement
or the colors that i'd planned and that's one of my favorite things about doing more abstract
themes like this one usually my more realistic themes i have to plan a lot more and be much more
considered about what i'm doing there's usually a little less leeway for trying something different
once i'm actually in the painting or the drawing phase but with a theme like this i can just keep
making things up as i go and i actually didn't plan any of my weekly spreads for this setup and
as you all will know if you watch my videos i usually keep my weekly spreads very simple just
practical my rolling weekly as i have talked about for years at this point i usually don't worry too
much about making it look particularly pretty but this time around because this theme was so
simple to continue to incorporate in different ways i decided in the spur of the moment to add
some design elements to my weeklies as well and i actually really love how it turned out it was so
fun and it kind of makes me want to start adding a little more decor to my weeklies again outside
of just creating a bit of a window to see the art from other spreads so let me know in the comments
down below should i start adding more decorations to my weekly spreads i'm on the fence this theme
was so quick to put together although waiting for each layer of paint to dry definitely dried things
out a bit if you were to use something like archer and olives acrylographs which are paint pens this
would go way faster because those dry very quickly but i really wanted the variation that comes with
using paint having lighter areas darker areas being able to see some brush strokes i just
thought that that organic quality that texture would really add another element to this theme so
i've made it all the way to the final spread of this setup which is going to be a quote page
and adding more elements here and there as i go
and the quote i decided to use this month is tell me what it is you plan to do with your one
wild and precious life mary oliver something about that quote just really jumped out at me
and i have some terrifying yet exciting things happening in my life right now a lot of changes
a lot of sleepless nights and this is just a good redirect i think for my mindset
because we only get one life so it might as well be wild and precious
since the paint had fully dried on the spread i let chewie do what his not so little floofy heart
desired so badly which was to lie down on top of my bullet journal before i show you the final flip
through of all these spreads including the other weeklies that i decorated i want to talk to you
about today's video's sponsor skillshare i'm sure y'all already know that skillshare is an online
learning community with thousands of inspiring classes for anyone who loves learning and wants
to explore their creativity and learn new skills which i'm sure all of you do if you're hanging out
here on my channel from fine art to productivity and lifestyle to illustration and more you can
find classes that will match your goals and interests i'm currently taking michelle b's
class designing the life you want four exercises for clarity and motivation i've been watching
michelle's youtube videos for years at this point and i really love her insights her ideas as well
as her beautiful aesthetic and editing this is a really quick class that you can fit into your busy
schedule and helps with journaling prompts and a workbook to take you through these four exercises
to help you pivot your life in a direction that's more suited to your goals and values i've finished
watching the class and have started working on the exercises and so far i'm finding them really
insightful and eye-opening i definitely recommend both her skillshare class and her youtube channel
skillshare is always ad-free so you can stay in the zone while you're exploring new skills
new premium classes launch every single week so there's always something new to discover
also the entire catalog is now available with subtitles in spanish
french portuguese and german because skillshare is sponsoring this video the first 1000 people
to use the link or my code plant-based bride will get a one-month free trial of skillshare
thank you again to skillshare for sponsoring this video and now let's do a little flip through
of all the spreads in my may setup flipping back to the cover page here and i'm really
happy with how these spreads turned out there's just something so happy and whimsical about them
and i just feel like i needed that this month so i'm really excited to start using these spreads i
really love the color scheme some of my favorite colors in here and i feel like using weeklies
that are a little more colorful and quirky will help me get through this very busy month
before i go i'm going to take a quick second to thank my patrons for their support
extra special thanks to our newest patrons erin amelia catherine mccanco marjorie
anne sarah eleni catherine bethany maria randy carmen izzy maud christy and madeline welcome all
of you to the squad we are so excited to have you if you at home want to join the squad feel free
there's a link in the card and in the description box down below and with that i'm gonna get going
thank you so much for watching this video and i'll see you really soon in my next one bye friends
you