There’s a serious lack of representation of the summer time Christmas that those of us in the Southern Hemisphere experience. For some reason we still get inundated with images of snow and fireplaces, while it’s 35°C outside and we’re cranking up our air conditioning! That’s why I was so excited to find a book of Aussie Christmas stickers at Officeworks this year. My setup still has elements of traditional Christmas vibes - there are snowflakes in the gold foil stickers and Santa hats on some of the critters featured - but I’ve kept my sunburnt country in mind while putting this one together. Watch it happen in the video below, or scroll on to see photos and find links to all the goodies I’ve used.

Cover Page & Quote Page

Quote and Cover Pages

“Done up like a Christmas tree” is a very Aussie way to describe someone or something that’s gaudy, overdressed or ostentatious. As a serial overdresser, I feel like I spend all year done up like a Christmas tree! Incorporating this saying into my journal felt like the perfect way to nod to the silly season while keeping it casual, and a chance to practice my dip pen lettering too!

The cover spread is a collage of many pieces - papers and washi from Paper Monogatari, foiled washi sheets and stickers from a set I grabbed in store at Spotlight, and in pride of place, the Santa Wombat! I’ve added small botanical stickers from the Washi Tape Shop to help the doily act like a wreath - they aren’t explicitly Aussie botanicals but they look like they could be!

Calendar Spread

I’ve deliberately steered away from a traditional red and green colour palette this time - though there are pops of red within some of the stickers. Instead I’ve gone for the dusty green of a gum tree leaf, with lots of warm browns and beiges to represent dry grass or the colour of our sky in bushfire season.

Goals, Favourites, Musings Page; Spending Log Page

There’s nothing like a small sticker to help decorate a page while keeping lots of functional space free! I’ve been really enjoying a double-line of washi or similar decoration at the bottom of a page lately - it gives a page a great grounding point, allows space for consistent decorating, but also leaves lots of page space free. I’ve used paper and washi this time, to make sure there’s some green on the page, but a wider washi layered with a thin washi is my favourite combo!

Content Planner Spread

I’m testing out a new content planner layout - this version has dedicated spaces for the platforms I’m scheduling content for, which will hopefully keep it from getting too confusing without having to introduce a colour coding system. Wish me luck!

Dutch Door Dashboard Weeklies

I’m pretty excited about these! I’ve noticed I haven’t been remembering to use my habit and mood trackers lately, but my weeklies are constantly in use and open on my desk. So I figured, if they live together I’ll be more likely to use them! I’ve removed half the page on several leafs to allow for these Dutch Door weekly spaces, and placed two habit trackers on each side of those so they’ll be visible at all times. Then I used some star, moon and sun stamps to add a cute illustrative mood tracker element in the space around those habit trackers. I love it!

Stuff I Used to Make This

* = gifted
• Kuma Luna "Hourglass Dreams" journal *
• Scrapbooking papers and check washi tape from Paper Monogatari's Autumn Serenity collection box *
• Lace doily paper from Paper Monogatari's Tiny Bookshop collection box *
• Gold gilded script and sheet music washi sheets - Aussie link | US link
• Gold clear floral snowflakes sticker sheet
• Australiana Christmas sticker book
• Craft knife
• Curved pointed tweezers *
• Winsor & Newton metallic watercolour set
• Oblique dip pen from this set (with many nibs)
• Misty Flower washi tape sticker set *
• Sakura Pigma Micron 03 fineliner *
• Archer & Olive Calliograph pens from subscription box - sorry, they don't seem to stock these ones separately.
• Tombow dual brush pen in N89 warm grey
• Tombow dual brush pen in N15 black:
• Quirky Cup Collective Fantasy & Fiction stamp set
• Quirky Cup Collective Practical Magic stamp set
• Glue tape
• Tombow Mono Graph mechanical pencil *
• White paint marker - for fixing mistakes!
• Vintage scissors *

December Bullet Journal: Australian Christmas Theme