My May bullet journal theme was inspired by photos of beautiful vintage bicycles with woven baskets of flowers.
There's just something about vintage bicycles that takes your imagination to riding a bike in a beautiful valley at a time where life was just simpler. With a beautiful breeze hitting across your face and just an appreciation for God's beautiful nature.
This bicycle theme is all about sketchy imperfect ink drawings, using different size fine liner's. Adding just enough blue on every spread to make the headings and florals pop. And a touch of vintage emporia.
I hope you enjoy :)
*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post contains affiliate links from which, at no additional cost to you, I earn a small commission from.
May vintage bicycle Cover Page
I decided to hand-letter my May heading in Modern Calligraphy with some traditional style elements, just to go with the whole vintage vibe.
Instead of my usual shadowing with brush pens, I went for a blue Prisma color pencil.
Shading the heading with a pencil and then diffusing the color with a colorless pencil gave a total different look.
Lastly, I flourished a couple of ink leaves and the heading was done.
If you want to know all the supplies I use then check this post next.
Bullet Journal Supplies. On the hunt for something new?
My bicycle sketch was inspired from a photo I saw on Pinterest. Except I wanted it to look sketchy and imperfect.
Have you ever tried this free style of drawing?
The trick is try not to overthink it and just go for it.
If you want more doodle inspiration, take a look at this section full of doodle fun!
Last but not least I didn't want to use much color, I wanted to keep the sketchy ink look so I decided just to color in the basket and flowers.
Keep Reading because I have a full step-by-step spread showing you exactly how I drew this bicycle. So, you too can totally create this.
‘One Word’ Inspirational Spread
This spread consists of one word that either inspires, motivates or moves you. I love adding this spread across from my monthly cover.
I've done many of these spreads so I had to dig a bit further to find a word I found inspiring.
And finally I found a Greek word 'Meraki' . It means to do something with soul, creativity, or love, to put something of yourself into your work.
I loved it and it's what I strive to achieve in my spreads. So it was 'perfect'
This spread I used:
- A vintage hand-written letter
- a vintage used envelope
- some blue vintage drawn flowers
- Some patterned printed paper to create a small envelope
- the brown lined paper is from Muji
- the washi tapes: Also from Muji
- A candle stamped with a 'z' that symbolizes our brand.
I get all my vintage papers from a vintage collection I've purchased. It consists of a whole collection of real vintage papers and illustrations that are taken with a great quality camera. You get over 1000 images all with a transparent background.
I love just picking out a few, printing them and adding them into my spreads. You only have to purchase it once and you can put together different elements to create just about any vintage vibe your mind desires.
Check out this bundle for yourself 'The World's Greatest Vintage Collection'
Click here
I've purchase so many amazing bundles, from mock-up images to procreate brushes. I just really recommend their site.
So I chose from the collection a vintage hand-written letter, an old envelope, and vintage-drawn blue flowers that were perfect for my theme. Printed them out and I was ready to go.
May Bullet Journal Theme: Monthly Overview
This month I tried out a new monthly layout and I found it to be so functional. I love that I don't have to write in little boxes. and they are sectioned out to suit my needs. I think I'm going to continue with this layout in the coming months.
Tip: Bullet Journaling is all about trying different layouts till you find what works for you. Unlike a store-bought planner that you may not stick to just because it's not customized to your needs.
What doesn't work out for you, just ditch the spread and try something new!
May Bullet Journal: Quote Spread
This was part of a scrapbooking Collab I took part in on Instagram. The great thing about Collab's, is they force you to step out of your comfort zone. This Collab consisted of scrapbooking and vintage butterflies.
So I printed more of the images from the vintage collection I've purchased. Put them together until I was happy with the layout.
I love using Grid paper from Muji for lettering.
It's one of my most-used hacks. You get to practice your lettering, and if it goes wrong just start all over again.
I looked at a few vintage butterfly illustrations and decided to draw one in the corner with a fine tip liner.
Then added a few butterfly and leafy stamps.
Want to know more about my bullet journal hacks... read this next.
Bullet Journal Mistakes? 10 Easy Ways To Fix Them
May Weekly Spreads
What better time to have a picnic after a bike ride. Peace, quiet and tranquility. While I mostly journal indoors, journaling outdoors would be a lovely change.
This month was about experimenting with different weekly layouts. This consisted of six boxes surrounding a bicycle scenery. A window with 'weekly' written inside and adding some blue to the heading and flowers.
I felt it was missing something, so I decided to color the background in a light greyish creme color and while subtle, made the illustration stand out.
I only did 3 weeklies this month. But the last weekly was a horizontal layout.
I cut out grid paper and Kraft lined paper to write the days of the week on them. added some blue washi tape.
The rest of the spread I added different vintage bicycle doodles, a tiny picnic, a leather bag with florals and a journal of course.
Lastly a little envelope made with washi tape. I liked the light color background in my second weekly, so I continued with the same method just adding some shading around each box.
Want to check out more weekly layouts, so you never run out of an idea again?
How to make a bullet journal weekly spread one page
19 Bullet Journal Weekly spread ideas-How to create beautiful layouts
May Monthly Habit Tracker
This habit tracker was simple yet effective. All the things I want to track in one chart. Filling in the chart with a simple dot made this spread easy and functional to use. Finished the spread with some woven baskets and florals.
May bicycle Mood Tracker
It's always fun to come up with creative ways to make a mood tracker spread. This is an easy to draw vintage bicycle, and I used the wheel to color in each day. This spread was super simple to create and is no way perfect. So give it a go...
May Brain Dump Spread
Have you tried a brain dump spread? It is the perfect place for all your thoughts. Ideas, goals, feelings, a place to get it all down. added some washi tape and another bicycle illustration.
This time I saw a photo with a leather bag with some flowers and I loved it. No surprise, a journal added next to the florals 😂.
May Bullet Journal Theme: How to draw a bicycle
After posting some of my spreads on Instagram this month, so many people asked how I drew the bicycle. So I added a 'how to draw' spread.
If you want to create this spread. Don't forget to 'pin it' for later and tag me on Instagram @zpiecesdigital. I’d love to see if you recreate this.
I think that's a wrap guys. I hope you enjoy my monthly bullet journal theme and take some inspiration from it. If you are on the hunt for more bullet journal theme ideas, head over to our Plan with Me tutorials.
Until next time...
‘Happy journaling everyone and stay safe’