Creating a color palette for your journal or planner really helps you create a really cohesive feel in your journal. If you are into setting up themes for a year, then its a good idea to use 12 of your pages to create an annual theme with colours you want to stick to for the month over the course of the year. 

Let me Introduce myself and tell you why I know a little about this topic! Hi, Nicola here from My Inner Creative, and I run the journal instagram page @theartofbujo. In 2018 I completed a diploma in Creativity and I actually have an MBA too! 

On of the things that my diploma taught me that colors are important and having some Idea around what you want to create weekly or monthly will help with your productivity in the long run, as it is something you won't need to ummmm and aaaah about at the start of every week or month. 

Tip 1: Keep it Simple

Over complicating your color palette will lead to a confusing mess in the long run! Keep it to primary colors or complementary colors. You can find gorgeous color palettes in nature and some of my personal favourites are blush pink and green, or turquoise and pink and purple. 

To help me stick to my color themes in my planner, I used my A&O Stickers and a simple marbled and wood wash washi tape to create a 3 color theme. You can see here the main colors are Mustard, Grey and Black. 

I love customising my planner to create something unique to me. So my A&O undated planner is perfect for those productivity hacks!

Tip 2: Preplanning 

As mentioned earlier, having your themes set up and ready to go for the year is a great way to eliminate the guesswork on those "what theme should I use this month" questions. Create a list in your journal, or planner of themes you would like to try or color palettes you love. This way, when you are at a loss for ideas or planning out your year you can use this as a reference sheet.

Tip 3: Using a Mood Board

Is there an image you absolutely love? A sunset, a forest scene? Why not create a mood board in your journal? Stick in the images and pick up some of the key colors in the images, for example a sunset image could have gorgeous oranges, yellows and pinks in it. This will help you stick to a color palette theme and gives you a really pretty reference page to start with.

Think about a theme like tropical, bright vibrant colors, so pull 3-4 colors from a theme you love and stick with those throughout your spreads,

Tip 4: Using something you love!

Got a fun strip of wash tape? Some stickers you want to use? Something you can't wait to use in your journal? Well why not choose that Item, and find1-2 colors that match it well, and use that as a theme for the month or week. That way you are able to create something special for you and stick to a cohesive theme.

Tip 5: Have fun! 

As always, this is just a guideline to creating a really easy and simple palette, but open yourself up to playing with color-ways and give yourself space to be creative. There is nothing stopping you from mixing brown and purple, or green and orange on a page! Be creative and always have fun. Your planner and journal might be a tool for productivity, but it is also a creative outlet and something you should find joy in. 

Walking you through how I created my Color Themed spreads

For my themes, I really wanted to create something fun and muted. I wanted colors that would match my A&O stickers. So stuck with really simple colors and horizontal spreads in both my undated planner and my journal. 

If you would like to see the full video on how I created these 2 spreads you can head over to my YouTube Page and watch the video here.

On of the things I love about my A&O Journal is that although I used some heavy handed stamps in the spread I created, there was absolutely no bleed through to the other side of my journal page! And ZERO ghosting!