Moleskine is a name that most people have heard of – whether or not the individual is a stationery addict. They are a very well known brand in the stationery world. Mostly for their vast range of notebooks but they do have a ton of other products too. In the past, I have tried the odd product of theirs and thought they were decent. However, today, I wanted to share one that I very recently got – and my initial thoughts on it. The Moleskine Bullet Notebook from the Art Collection. This was one of the items from my National Stationery Week package and I am so utterly in love already. Since it’s #LetsGetCreativeDay, I figured I would showcase how I am using mine.
I really do not know how I’ve spent this whole time without one and am super excited to actually use it as a travel journal in the coming year or two – once I actually make some proper travel plans! But I do think it is versatile enough that you can use it for pretty much anything – even as an ordinary notebook.
The Moleskine Bullet Notebook and how it fits into the Art Collection
The words “Art Collection” and “Bullet Notebook” might not have gone together a few years ago. Bullet notebooks were invented as a planner system – a way to dump all of your thoughts down and keep track of them (and your life). When it was first invented, Ryder Carroll (the inventor of the Bullet Journalling system) did not intend for it to be an artsy thing. However, it was a system that allowed people to make it their own – in whatever form that was. Some people prefer to get a little creative in their BuJos whilst others might get super creative. (I kid you not. Search for pages on Instagram or Pinterest and you will find a huge variety of beautiful spreads that are functional and pretty. So seeing the two paired together makes my heart melt a little.
The Paper
Moleskine has done a brilliant job of adding a little bit of sturdiness to the bullet journal notebook without making it too bulky. This notebook has thicker pages than the classic notebooks that they offer, sitting at 120 gsm. You can’t paint all over it and throw watercolours at it. However, they do offer a watercolour range, if that’s what you’re after. This particular notebook can definitely handle more colouring pens and other mediums better than the classic though.
The paper itself comes in a dotted layout, perfect for any bullet journalling. I personally love dotted layouts for pretty much any purpose though – it is one of the most versatile layouts in my opinion.
Size
This notebook comes in the Moleskine ‘large’ – which is 13×21 cm. For reference, it’s the same length as an A5 notebook but not as wide. I quite like the width of their large notebooks. They are in between the width of a Traveller Notebook insert and an A5 notebook. So if you find the former not wide enough or the latter too wide, the Moleskine large might be the perfect size for you.
The Set Up
Without a doubt, the set up of this notebook is what inspired this blog post. I opened the package to have a quick flip through, just to see what it was like. The layout and the details within the book forced me to fall in love, within a few moments. As far as initial thoughts, I am incredibly impressed. For me, it’s the details that matter. There are dozens of dotted notebooks out there or ‘bullet journal’ notebooks. But Moleskine quickly set themselves apart from the crowd with their setup. So without further ado, let’s get into the set up!
It starts with the usual “In case of lost” page and a personal information page so that you can get your notebook back. These are, of course, very useful in case you lose the notebook or you need some information – such as your passport number – whilst you’re out and about. Obviously, if you are travelling around with the notebook and there’s a chance you might lose it, you need to be careful about what data you’re inputting – like with anything that holds data about you.
Here is where it gets interesting
Immediately after that, we go into a world map titled “My inspiring journeys” and it encourages you to fill the page however you want. I love this page. The traveller within me loves this page. Now for those of you that do bullet journal, you know that the first thing you will want to set up is a page content. With the Moleskine Bullet Notebook, it’s already set up for you. There are five lined pages, with two columns, for the contents. The only entry prewritten on the page is “Pen Test”, page 149 – which I’ll get into in a moment.
The notebook has 148 dotted pages, each numbered for ease. This is the bulk of the notebook. Here you can easily add your future logs, your monthly pages, your daily trackers or whatever else you want.
Page 149 is a lined page, labelled ‘Pen Test’. I adore that this is already written into your book. I tend to make the last page of any new notebook a pen test anyway. Using a pen that bleeds through the page or feathers and ruins everything else is not ideal. I love that Moleskine have already planned and prepared for that situation. The notebook ends with a final page (page 150), which follows the same lined two-column layout as the contents pages or the pen test. Here you can either continue testing out pens, if you need the extra page to do so – or you can use it however you want by simply adding your own title. It has been left blank so you can use it however you would like.
The back of the notebook has an expandable pocket so you can store away a few photos or notes. It also has a flap at the back labelled key page, for your bullet codes and colour code notes!
How I am Using Mine:
Honestly, there is no right or wrong way to use this. If you want to keep it simple, go for it. If you want to be fancy, do that. Whatever your heart desires. For me, personally, I definitely intend to use mine as a travel scrapbook journal. The world map is very cute and I cannot let up the opportunity to use it.
I usually get my photos printed from a local company. However, given the lockdown, that has not been an option in the past few weeks. So instead, I decided to create some templates that I could throw photos into once I get them printed.
These templates are all in my Moleskine Bullet Notebook, ready to replace the sticky notes or ‘photo here’ sections with actual photos. This was easy enough to do by cutting the sticky notes down to the correct size of the photos I want printed. For the embellishments that go on top of the real photos, you can use removable glue. This way, you can adhere the actual photo easily. Or just stick it down partially.
For these templates, I used the Thoughtful Studios Tess-A-Penpal collection, as well as some of the other embellishments that I have from there – from the Tessa’s Thoughtful Sunshine collection.
Get Yours!
From the offset, I am a huge fan of the Moleskine Bullet Notebook and definitely am excited to fill it with many moments in the coming year – when we can head out. For now, I am preparing by making some templates with my existing supplies!
You can purchase yours from the Moleskine site directly if you’re keen to get one!
Disclaimer: The Moleskine Bullet Notebook is one of the items I received in my NatStatWeek Bundle for free. However, all opinions are my own. I just instantly fell in love as I saw it and wanted to share!