Hello, friends! Elizabeth here from Plant Based Bride on YouTube and @elizabethturn on Instagram. Today I’m sharing the step by step process to create an olive branch-themed habit tracker in your bullet journal!

If you'd prefer to watch a timelapse of the process rather than following along with this blog post, check out this video:

Let’s get started!

Supplies For Creating An Olive Branch Bullet Journal Habit Tracker

• Notebook - Archer & Olive x Plant Based Brise Sunrise B5 Notebook
• Pencil and Eraser
• Pen - Sakura Micron in 04
• Circle Template - Pickett Circle Master No. 12041
• Watercolours, Gouache, or Pens - I used Winsor & Newton Designer’s Gouache in Olive Green, Zinc White, and Sepia as well as Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolour in Yellow Ochre (you could use Archer & Olive Acrylographs to replace these paints if you prefer)
• Gold Watercolour or Pen - I used both the Gold Acrylograph from Archer & Olive and the Arabic Gold Watercolour from FineTec

STEP ONE: SKETCH

I always like to start by sketching my spread, and this time is no exception! Use this time to plot out your spread and try different layouts and configurations until you’re happy with the balance.

STEP TWO: PAINT THE LEAVES

Next, I used my olive green gouache to paint the leaves of every other olive branch. I like to use a medium-sized pointed synthetic brush for leaves, as I can use the tip for finer details and take advantage of the brush’s shape to paint leaves quickly (start with light pressure on the tip, drag towards the stem with more pressure to apply more surface area of the brush to the page and widen the stroke, then lift the brush off the page so the tip creates a thinner line connecting the leaf to the stem - see the timelapse above)

STEP THREE: PAINT THE OLIVES

For the olives I used a mix of olive green and yellow ochre to create a base, leave a small crescent moon-shaped space empty as a highlight. I will add more depth in a later step!

STEP FOUR: ADD GOLD LEAVES

Using my gold acrylograph, I outlined the remaining olive branches.

Once the acrylograph ink was dry I went back in with my gold watercolour and a very fine brush to get that extra shine!

STEP FIVE: ADD THE HEADER

Using my back fineliner I handlettered the spread header.

STEP SIX: ADD TRACKERS

Then I used my circle template to create all of the small circles, one for each day of the month per tracker.

I decided to track four habits this month:

STEP SEVEN: FINAL TOUCHES

Using my sepia gouache, I added a shadow to the bottom and top of each olive and blended towards the centre. This adds warmth, complexity of colour, and dimension to the olives.

The leaves were a bit light for my liking, so I went back over them with the same olive green paint but with less water on the brush for a darker and more opaque finish.

Once the leaves were dry I mixed the olive green gouache with zinc white to get a lighter green to use for detail. With the edge of my brush, I added a single central vein to each leaf.

And that’s it!

I'd love to see your version of this spread if you decide to give it a try. Tag me on Instagram @elizabethturn so I can see them! You can also download the printable version of this spread here: