Monthly cover pages serve more than just a way to mark the beginning of the month. They set the tone and the theme for the entire month.
While not a required page in a bullet journal it is a useful page to start off a new month. It’s like creating a fresh start from the previous month. Especially if you are using a new theme.
In your own monthly pages do not be afraid to get creative. Use doodles, quotes, or even a full on theme. Creating a cover page for your monthly layout helps you to stick to a chosen theme throughout the month.
Before we get started here is a list of my recommended supplies.
Recommended Products
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Try changing up the color or coloring the whole crystal in to make it stand out against the shape you use behind it.
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Experiment with different types of fish, seals, or darker blues. Also consider adding a mythical feel to it by adding a mermaid to your page.
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Obviously you can switch up the colors or add a small simple design to the outside edges of the rivers.
This was one of my favorite cover pages that I did. I’m not great about hand drawing stars but when this was finished they all looked like they were dancing. The imperfection of the stars were actually pretty perfect.
Change up the font on April or change the colors on the umbrella. Try a bright yellow or deep purple instead.
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Do a dark night time sky theme on your feathers and add stars using a white gel pen. Do an ombre effect between each leaf making it look like sunrise is coming by the time you reach the end of branches.
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Switch up your font used or add some color to your page.
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Change up the color of your splatter. You could add a small watercolor doodle towards the bottom of your cover page and have the splatter get less and less as it goes towards the top.
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Use thicker accent lines or fill in your font with a bright color. The other thing that would be neat would be to fill in the font with art instead.
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Switch up the font on the month’s letter or change up the color in the flowers. Keep the font super minimal but thick and add bright colors to your flowers.
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Use different colors in the lines or add artistic flair in between the lines. Consider using a script font instead of a bold one to soften up the spread too.
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Use a different shape to frame the waves, add a larger frame to your waves, or change up the colors of the wave to something fun like rainbow colors.
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The citrus cover page could be changed easily to oranges, grape fruits or lemons. Consider coloring in your citrus too.
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You can try making the panda more cartoon like or take out the color all together.
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Focus on the washi tape here and add solid colors instead of patterns. Also switch up the font to a calligraphy font.
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Give the dragonflies rainbow colored wings or switch up the colors to a galaxy colored wing with stars in it. You can also fill in the font and leave the dragonflies black and white.
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Try silver, pale green or another color to the flowers or color them in completely. Try a different font for it too.
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Make the dandelions larger and then use a super bold font over the top of them for the month. Likewise you could just do a lot of seeds in a bottom corner making them fewer and fewer until they reach the top opposite corner.
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Make them into monarch butterflies or another species of butterfly.
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Change up the patterns to be just opposites of the same pattern, use a different font, add color to the patterns.
From time to time the Scribbles that Matter Journal is sold out on Amazon. When this happens third party sellers will try to sell the journal for an insane amount of money. DO NOT BUY THAT! Scribbles that Matter should be back in stock soon. My second favorite journal is the Essentials Dot Matrix, though I warn you the pages on this one are thinner and bleeding and shadows show up on opposite sides. However, it's a decent cheap journal if you are in a pinch and just want to get started.
- Journal
- Stencils
- Fine Point Pens
- Micron Fine Line Set Pens
- Tombow Fudenosuke Soft And Hard Tip Brush Pen
- Tombow Brush Pens
- Washi Tape
- Crayola Super Tips
Monthly Cover Page Inspiration
Below I have a few examples of creative monthly cover pages that you can draw inspiration from. Remember, this is your bullet journal so add your own unique touches to it. Make it your own. I’ll even give you a few ideas on how you can change it to make it your own under each spread.Pink Crystals
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Try changing up the color or coloring the whole crystal in to make it stand out against the shape you use behind it.
Ocean Themed Monthly Cover Page
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Experiment with different types of fish, seals, or darker blues. Also consider adding a mythical feel to it by adding a mermaid to your page.
Green and Gold Cover Page
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Obviously you can switch up the colors or add a small simple design to the outside edges of the rivers.
Dancing Stars Cover Page
This was one of my favorite cover pages that I did. I’m not great about hand drawing stars but when this was finished they all looked like they were dancing. The imperfection of the stars were actually pretty perfect.
April Showers Cover Page
Change up the font on April or change the colors on the umbrella. Try a bright yellow or deep purple instead.
Plant and Feather Themed
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Do a dark night time sky theme on your feathers and add stars using a white gel pen. Do an ombre effect between each leaf making it look like sunrise is coming by the time you reach the end of branches.
Minimalist Number Cover Page
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Switch up your font used or add some color to your page.
Splattered Hand Lettering Cover Page
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Change up the color of your splatter. You could add a small watercolor doodle towards the bottom of your cover page and have the splatter get less and less as it goes towards the top.
Falling November Font
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Use thicker accent lines or fill in your font with a bright color. The other thing that would be neat would be to fill in the font with art instead.
Simple Floral Spread
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Switch up the font on the month’s letter or change up the color in the flowers. Keep the font super minimal but thick and add bright colors to your flowers.
Bold Lines Cover Page
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Use different colors in the lines or add artistic flair in between the lines. Consider using a script font instead of a bold one to soften up the spread too.
Making Waves Cover Page
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Use a different shape to frame the waves, add a larger frame to your waves, or change up the colors of the wave to something fun like rainbow colors.
Citrus Cover Page
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The citrus cover page could be changed easily to oranges, grape fruits or lemons. Consider coloring in your citrus too.
Panda Cover Page
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You can try making the panda more cartoon like or take out the color all together.
Cherry Blossom Cover Page
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Focus on the washi tape here and add solid colors instead of patterns. Also switch up the font to a calligraphy font.
Dragonfly Cover Page
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Give the dragonflies rainbow colored wings or switch up the colors to a galaxy colored wing with stars in it. You can also fill in the font and leave the dragonflies black and white.
Golden Flowers Cover Page
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Try silver, pale green or another color to the flowers or color them in completely. Try a different font for it too.
Make A Wish Cover Page
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Make the dandelions larger and then use a super bold font over the top of them for the month. Likewise you could just do a lot of seeds in a bottom corner making them fewer and fewer until they reach the top opposite corner.
Blue Butterfly Cover Page
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Make them into monarch butterflies or another species of butterfly.
Black And White Patterns
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Change up the patterns to be just opposites of the same pattern, use a different font, add color to the patterns.
Setting The Tone For The Month
The monthly cover page can simply set the theme for a month, or it can set a tone. Instead of picking an artistic theme consider picking a word for the month. For example, if you pick the word positivity, you would draw doodles that you associate with positivity. You would only do quotes working with positivity. This is something I plan to do in August so when I post my monthly layout I’ll be sure to share a link here. Recommended ProductsFrom time to time the Scribbles that Matter Journal is sold out on Amazon. When this happens third party sellers will try to sell the journal for an insane amount of money. DO NOT BUY THAT! Scribbles that Matter should be back in stock soon. My second favorite journal is the Essentials Dot Matrix, though I warn you the pages on this one are thinner and bleeding and shadows show up on opposite sides. However, it's a decent cheap journal if you are in a pinch and just want to get started.
- Journal
- Stencils
- Fine Point Pens
- Micron Fine Line Set Pens
- Tombow Fudenosuke Soft And Hard Tip Brush Pen
- Tombow Brush Pens
- Washi Tape
- Crayola Super Tips
What Comes After Monthly Cover Pages
As you saw in some of the examples above you could easily add a small calendar to your monthly cover page. I do this often on my own cover pages because it gives me more space for my monthly spread. I almost always pair my cover page with a monthly spread for events, goals, projects, and plans for the following month. This helps me to plan more efficiently and keep my goals front and center all month long. You may find that all you need is a simple planner for the month to track appointments and events. You can add a habit tracker, mood tracker, or any other tracker you need to your monthly spread too. Do you use a monthly cover page? Let me know what themes you’ve used in the comments below. Follow me on Pinterest for more like this and pin this to your favorite Bullet Journal boards.