April 2023 Romantic & Soft Floral Bullet Journal Theme
Inspired by the lustre of a string of pearls, dewdrops on rose petals at sunrise, and the splendour of an English garden; my 2023 April theme is delicate and whimsical in shades of blush. The variety of texture in the glossy PET tape, embossed papers, skeleton leaves and glitter-coated washi tapes lends an extra layer of depth, plus waterfall tabs ensure the theme is striking and impactful, despite its low contrast.
Watch it come together step-by-step in the video below, or scroll on to see all the details up close and find links at the end of the post to all the elements that made it come together.
Disclaimer: Some links in this blog post are affiliate links, meaning I will make a small commission if you choose to make a purchase through those links. Some items used in this bullet journal theme were gifted.
Cover spread: skeleton leaves and waterfall tabs
I was inspired by Kimberley of @mooncraftbujo’s stunning March waterfall tabs. Though in a very different colour scheme, I knew I had to use them in my April pages! Funnily enough, the last time I tried waterfall tabs was exactly one year ago for my Twilight-inspired April 2022 theme. In my 2022 attempt I kept my tabs only one dot grid space wide, but this time tried two spaces and found the result much more satisfying! I also varied between solid and pattered washi tapes, rather than trying to achieve a gradient effect.
On the left page I’ve added two sweet little skeleton leaves - I was worried they would bulk up the pages quite a bit, but they actually sit quite flat and flush with the pages when the book is closed. They are very delicate though, so if you’re a glue tape user like me you’ll need to use a very light hand when applying glue.
Calendar Spread/Monthly Log
I’ve mentioned before I don’t use this page too heavily, but my monthly themes feel incomplete without them. I didn’t feel too bad placing this one on the smallest of my spreads (thanks to the waterfall tabs) since it’s not likely I’ll return to it much throughout the month. I was forced to position my Thursday column over the centre fold of the book though, which might make Thursday planning a little awkward this month.
If you’re someone who likes to use clips to keep pages open, or has a particularly stubborn journal whose pages refuse to lay flat, it’s worth mentioning that waterfall tabs make it almost impossible to clip your journal pages from the sides. You’ll need to come at them from the top and bottom instead, which can make manoeuvring your hand around them difficult.
I’d also like to give thanks to the stunning washi tape at the bottom of this spread - one of the Fragrance set from the Washi Tape Shop. It was my favourite of the set, and I very sadly ran out of it while making this setup. It will be very sorely missed! My Washi Tape Shop pals - is it possible to make this one available on its own?
Unfortunately there wasn’t enough room on this spread, or the next, for more skeleton leaves. I would have loved to use them on every page, but I also didn’t want to cut them off on any edges, so I held out until I had a bit more page real estate.
Tracker Spread: Habit Tracker Page, Mood Tracker Page
This habit tracker worked very well for me in March so I’ve carried it forward for another month. I’ll be adding my habits as text instead of doodles this time though! This left page was quite narrow, so the habit tracker was about the only layout that would fit here comfortably.
The mood tracker on the facing page is actually incomplete - at the time I photographed these spreads I hadn’t yet totally worked out how I planned to use it! I tossed up a few elaborate ideas - a washi tape swatch for each box being one of them - but once the month hits I prefer simple solutions for my trackers. After taking these pictures, I added three marker swatches at the bottom to relate to different moods. My plan is to simply colour each box in with the colour corresponding to my appropriate overall mood for the day.
Goals, Favourites & Musings Page; Spending Log Page
This girl needs her goals section - otherwise I’ll never stay on track for my yearly goals (and sometimes I still don’t)! The favourites section is for anything I’m enjoying during April, from books to music and TV shows to particular foods and even makeup or skincare items. The musings section at the bottom is for a snapshot of what’s on my mind - just for future me to enjoy when looking back over this book in a few years’ time.
The spending log has evolved a little this year - while it’s functionally the same, I’ve been squishing the two tables into one for the sake of space saving. And to think this page started off as a double-page spread!
I’ve deliberately lined up the top of my goals box and bottom of my musings box with the spending log box in order to help these pages feel extra-cohesive.
Social Media Content Planner Spread
I’ve had some questions lately about how I use this spread, so I thought I’d elaborate!
I plan and schedule content in advance across four different social media channels: My Youtube channel (and this blog by extension), my bullet journal Instagram, photography website (which is my Real Job) and photography Instagram. That’s a lot to keep up with! I aim for one video and three Instagram posts per week for the bullet journal accounts, and one blog post and three Instagram posts per week for the photography accounts. I usually schedule at least the Instagram and blog content two to four weeks in advance.
Before I start, I assign where all those pieces of content will go on this content planner calendar, colour coordinated according to the account it’s for. I often use erasable Frixion highlighters for this because I end up moving things around later (though they won’t match this theme so I may not use them for April). I use the highlighters to mark, for instance, each Monday in blue for my YouTube video, and each Tuesday in pink for my blog post, and perhaps Tuesday, Friday and Sunday in purple for Instagram content for one of the accounts. Then as I prepare and schedule that content, I mark it down on the content calendar spread.
I quite often using this spread quite heavily before the month actually starts, so setting up my next-month’s spreads about two weeks before the month begins works best for me. It also gives me time to shoot and edit the Plan With Me video and create the accompanying blog post in time to provide some inspiration to others when setting up for that month!
I use Squarespace for websites and blogs, which has built-in scheduling features for blog posts. I use Later for Instagram scheduling and the built-in Youtube tools to schedule videos.
A Horizontal Weekly Spread
All my best weekly spread layouts have been thieved from @ruthie.journals, and this one is no exception! I love for my weekend days to each have their own space. This layout affords me not only that, but a whole extra space for notes which I love! I can use that space for tasks that don’t need to be done on a specific date, reminders about upcoming bills or events next week I might need to prepare for. I also love that this layout still allows plenty of room to decorate in the top left and bottom right areas of the spread.
As much as I enjoy the look of the waterfall tabs, I wasn’t willing to sacrifice any more of my cover spread of the subsequent pages to my craft knife. For all my weeklies, I opted for a more typical tab system instead. This way each page has a portion removed, the width of only two dot grid spaces across all of them, but still gave me an opportunity to use the washi tapes in a way that adds to the waterfall tabs’ effect without making any pages so narrow as to be unusable. It will also make it very quick and easy to navigate between my weekly spreads! I haven’t set up the subsequent weeklies after this one yet - like always, I’ll do that on a livestream on my Youtube channel in late March or early April.
Everything I Used to Create This Layout
• SassyPigeonHQ Crimson Wand journal *
• Embossed paper pack * - use code ERIN for 15% off!
• Sakura washi tape set * - use code ERINSMITH10 for 10% off
• Sparkly washi tape pair from Daiso Australia (sorry I can’t link to this!)
• Fragrance floral washi tape set * - use code ERINSMITH10 for 10% off
• Skeleton leaves pack from Officeworks (similar style for my international bbs)
• Fall Flowers PET tape * - use code ERINSMITH10 for 10% off
• ArrtX metallic paint marker set *
• Letter stamps set * - use code ERIN for 10% off
• Ornate bronze scissors - use code ERIN for 10% off
• Craft/stanley knife - use code ERIN for 15% off
*gifted
• A4 cutting mat - use code ERIN for 8% off
• Metal ruler (similar style) - use code ERIN for 15% off
• Sliding cutting tool (what are these called?) - use code ERIN for 8% off
• Ornate corner punch tool - use code ERIN for 8% off
• Curved pointed tweezers * - use code ERIN for 15% off
• Tombow dual brush pen in 800 baby pink - use code ERIN for 15% off
• Sakura Pigma Micron 03 fineliner * - use code ERIN for 15% off
• Glue tape - use code ERIN for 15% off
• Tombow Mono Graph Shaker mechanical pencil * - use code ERIN for 15% off
• White Uni Posca paint marker for fixing mistakes - use code ERIN for 15% off