Gemma 
November kind of snuck up on me this year, so I was a little behind making this setup (I know, I know— it’s almost like this happens to me every month..?). Anyway, I wanted something quick and easy to create (I’m sensing a theme), but also something that was super functional, while still being nice to look at, because November is always my busiest month (in terms of planning and such), so I’ll be using these spreads a lot!
Ultimately, I fell back on my classic craft paper vibe for this setup, adding in some autumnal washi tape for a quick and easy pop of colour/pattern, and some leafy doodles (because leaves are, to be perfectly honest, the extent of my drawing capabilities).
Table of Contents
- Equipment
- Quote + Cover Page
- Monthly Calendar
- Blog Planning
- Christmas Planning
- Weeklies
- November Review
- Final Thoughts
Equipment
To make this setup, I used the following equipment:
- Tombow ABT Dual Brush Pen, N35 Cool Grey 12.
- Sakura Gelly Roll, 10 Bold, white.
- Brown craft paper.
- Autumnal washi tape (mine was from this pack).
- Glue stick.
- Scissors.
Quote + Cover Page
Throughout this setup, I used a simple, lowercase font for all of my headings/subheadings, written with the fine tip of my N35 Tombow. For the Cover Page, I wrote the header in the middle of a piece of torn craft paper, then filled the space around it with white leaf doodles, drawn with my Gelly Roll. I also added a couple of pieces of washi tape, to give the page a scrapbook-y kind of feel.
I wasn’t quite sure what quote to use for my Quote Page, so I fell back on an autumnal classic— a line from All Too Well (Taylor’s Version, of course). It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Taylor Swift, and this line about autumn leaves felt very fitting to my theme, so it worked out well! I wrote the quote across multiple pieces of torn craft paper, stuck them in, added some washi tape in the bottom-left corner, then filled the remaining space with more leaf doodles (this time drawn with the N35 Tombow). I also used the white Gelly Roll to add little corner ‘frames’ to the written sections, to add some brightness and extra decoration.
Monthly Calendar
Onto my Monthly Calendar now, and I went for a super simple grid format with rounded corners. I drew the grid and wrote in the dates using that same N35 Tombow. I stuck the header, created in the same way as the Cover Page, in on top of a long piece of the washi tape, then added more washi tape and more pieces of craft paper with white leaf doodles, into the bottom-right corner. Finally, I filled the remaining space with grey leaf doodles.
Blog Planning
Next up is my Blog Planning section, where I keep track of my content for the month ahead (and, in this case, the month after that!).
On the left-hand page, I’ll be keeping track of the posts I’m creating for November. In the top box, I opted to use a table format to track the progress of each individual post. The name of the post goes in the far-left column, then the subsequent columns are for when the item is made (m), the photos have been taken (p), the post has been written (w), the text has been edited (e), the photos have been edited (ep), the pin has been made (p) and, finally, a tick in the final column for when the post is completely finished. In the space below, I have 4 separate boxes, to house 4 lots of post-specific to-do lists.
On the right-hand page is my Blogmas At Home 2024 planning section! The format for this one is exactly the same as the table on the left-hand page, but it is much bigger, so I have space to keep track of more posts!
Christmas Planning
I like to get ahead of the game and get my Christmas presents completely sorted by the end of November, so I can fully enjoy the festive season. Therefore, just like last year, I have a Christmas Planning section in my November setup. However! This is not the most extensive Christmas Planner in the whole world, because I have recently created a cute & festive Digital Christmas Planner, which I will be using this year for all of my planning needs, both before & during the festive season. You can buy the planner for yourself, if you fancy, on Etsy. It would mean the absolute WORLD to me if you checked it out!
Back to this spread, though, and, on the right-hand page, I have a big space for any jobs I’d like to do in anticipation of the festive season, as well as a space for notes. On the left-hand page, I have my gift planning section, which I’ve obscured with makeshift ‘doors’ (in case I accidentally leave my bullet journal open and my family members catch a sneaky glimpse!). To make each door, I just tore a large piece of craft paper (making sure it was big enough to conceal the boxes that I had drawn below), and used a piece of washi tape to create a sort of ‘hinge’ on the left-hand side. I then used another, smaller piece of washi tape to keep the door closed— when I want to open it, I’ll just gently peel this piece away from the journal page, use the spread below, then stick the washi tape back down afterwards to ‘shut’ the door.
Underneath the doors, I have a space for keeping track of the main presents I plan to get my friends and family, as well as a space for stocking presents below. For the main present section, I have used a table format: the first column is for the recipient, then I’ll write the gift I’ll be getting them, then the price of said gift, then I have three checkbox columns, where I can keep track of whether or not I’ve ordered, received and wrapped each present. For the stocking section, I just have two simple boxes. I’ll write the name of the recipient at the top of the box, then use the rest of the space to note down stocking present ideas/plans.
Weeklies
Finally, we come to the Weekly Spreads! Last month, I trialled a new layout for my weeklies, which involved cutting the pages right down and using the space before and after them for task lists, and I found it really useful, so I’ve decided to go down that route again, this time around.
Week 1
Because I was under a bit of time pressure, I opted to merge the first 3 days of November in with the first full week and make a spread for 10 days, rather than 7, as my first ‘weekly’ spread. To fit in all of the days, I used a 3-up/4-across layout, using the 2 final spaces for the heading.
As you can see, this time around, I’ve decided to keep the left-hand space of my Weekly Spreads for generic tasks, but reserved the right-hand space for blog-related tasks. I naturally started doing this last month anyway, so it just felt right to make it official with the subheadings! To soften the sharp edges of the cut paper (I have a fear of paper cuts, naturally) and to add a bit of decoration, I folded long lengths of the washi tape over the edges of the pages I cut down.
Week 2
Back to a regular, 7-day week for the second weekly, so I’ve gone for a standard 2-up/4-across layout, using the first space for the heading.
Week 3
The third weekly is another full week, so I used the same layout, but switched up where I put the heading.
Week 4
The final week technically only contains 6 days of November, but I opted to included the whole week anyway, so that I can see any events on 1st December at a glance.
November Review
Finally, we have my November Review spread. Content-wise, this spread is pretty identical to my previous review spreads: on the left-hand page, I have spaces to note down the ATP & WTA Top 10 at the end of the month, as well as my #1 memory from, and top 6 songs in, November. I opted against drawing little squares to house the album art of the songs this month, simply because it’s always a bit of a faff and I just face it this month!
On the right-hand page, I have the heading (created in the same way as the Cover Page, washi tape and all) and a space to stick in my favourite photo from the month. I added a little more washi tape, along with a couple of leaf doodles, just to add some decoration to the spread.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I’m really happy with how this spread turned out. It was quick and easy to set up, but it still feels very autumnal and fun, so I think it ticks all of my boxes in terms of what I set out to do. I continue to struggle with drawing boxes with rounded corners freehand (they get progressively worse and worse as the spreads go on, and I lose my will to live more and more), but perhaps it’s time I just accept they aren’t my calling (realistically, I won’t be doing this… I’m a sucker for a round-cornered box, even if I’m useless at drawing them).
I hope you’ve enjoyed this November setup! I think it’s going to be so perfect for keeping me on track this month and getting me prepared for the busy festive season! On that note, again, if you’re interested, you can find my new DIGITAL CHRISTMAS PLANNER on Etsy here.
Gemma
xxx
