Surprise surprise, I’m back with another bullet journal related post! After posting various snaps on my Instagram and blog posts like ‘My 2020 Bullet Journal‘, I’ve had people ask me what pens and stationery I use when working on my bujo. After bujo-ing for well over four years and a lot of trial and error, I like to think I’ve got the hang of it! So, here’s what I’ve currently got in my bullet journal kit.
You can use any pencil case, pencils, and rubber, and the choice of actual bullet journal is a personal one; I’m currently using a Leuchturm 1917 and have a soft spot for the Rhodia Webnote books. But the pens you use make all the difference. The pens I use for writing and drawing are the Uni Pin Fine Line. I got these pens as a pack of ten for around ten pounds in a sale in Ryman (a steal, I tell you). Why do I love these so much? Firstly, they come in a range of sizes! Starting at an extremely thin 0.05cm tip, great for sketching, and ending at a 0.8cm tip, great for outlines, they offer you an immense amount of choice and intricacy.
Secondly, they are water and fade proof, meaning they don’t run. I can go over them with felt tips, highlighters, or watercolour paints, and they’ll stay there, without dragging ink across the page. Finally, they don’t bleed through the page and ruin what’s on the otherside! In all honesty, I do only use bullet journals that have decent paper quality, so I can’t vouch for what they are like on simple notebooks, but they are perfect for what I need.
Now, we come to the bit that I know most bujo-ers will be interested in; coloured pens. Currently, I’m using three different types of pens for both my bullet journal (and note making for my Masters). Firstly, we have the bujo-er’s best friend; Crayola Supertips Felt Tip Pens. People hear the word Crayola and just think ‘children’s crayons, not for me’. But honestly, they offer the best range of colours and quality in felt tips I have found yet. Plus, they are damn cheap, compared to other good quality pens. Here’s a little glimpse of what they look like on paper!
Moving more into the niche market, I have the highlighters that I will recommend ‘til the day I die; Zebra Mildliners. I only have five of the colours in this series, and they don’t offer the neon colour that people associate with highlighters, which is exactly what I want. They have a highlighter tip at one end, and a relatively thick fine-liner tip at the other, which I find very useful for when I’m making notes. Both the Supertips and Mildliners still come out clear and bright when used over black pens, and that’s all I can ask for.
Finally, I do have some coloured fine liners I use, just not as much as the felt pens. Like my black pens, these are from Uni, but these they are from the Emott range. It has a pretty wide spectrum of pastel colours, and are very fine, with a 0.4mm tip.
So, those are my ride and die kind of items in my bujo kit (if you can have a ride of die relationship with pens that is…). However, after spending/wasting a lot of my time making my bullet journal look freakin’ spectacular, I’ve picked up a few other things along the way, starting with washi tape.
Simply put, this is colourful and sticky paper-based tape. It’s great for creating borders or adding a bit of colour to your spreads, but I love using it to create various shapes once you pull it away from the paper. I also think having a good white gel pen in your pencil case is great for bullet journaling. Layering it on top of colour gives a really nice looking affect, and you can use it to hide any little mistakes.
And with that, we come to the end of what’s in my bujo kit! I don’t think I’ll be making any changes to what I use for a while as I’m pretty darn happy with what I’ve got (but I am nearly at the end of my Leuchturm, so a new bullet journal is on the horizon). If you’ve got an item in your bujo kit that you hail the best of the best, let me know! I’m always keen to try out new stationery (because I am a big ol’ stationery nerd).
Rosie x
rosie abigail 
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