Betwen the Lines: KOKO & LYNN Undated Illustrated Journal

I love pretty things. I love color and fun and creativity. But I also don’t have time to be creative. I know how that sounds, but as a working mother of two young kids, I really don’t have nearly enough time to do all the fun creative things that I would love to do.

Enter KOKO & LYNN’s hand-drawn journal. They have created a bullet journal essentially pre-made. They’ve illustrated it, made all the monthly and weekly spreads, and added plenty of extras to make the possibilities endless. It comes in 100% recycled packaging which very much is in line with their brand identity. The picture below is a screenshot from a video I took way back when I first received my journal earlier this year.

If you’ve ever seen videos or pictures of people who are truly talented at journaling and bullet journaling, you know how aesthetically pleasing they can be.  Beautiful handwriting, clever illustrations, lots of variety. But they also have time. This is their business, their hobby, or their platform. I don’t have those. I also don’t have even decent handwriting. So creating a journal from scratch is certainly doable for me, but it wouldn’t be fun, or cute, and if it’s not fun, then there’s no chance I’ll stick with it.

 I have purchased journal after journal, year after year. And I’ve never been able to stick with them. For some reason, this one is different. This one is fun, and beautiful, and it brings me such joy. It allows me to have zero expectations of myself. I’m not trying to make it cute for anyone, I just want it to make me happy.  

Perhaps I have found success with this journal because I use it more like a diary, and not a tool for future planning. I use it to document my life, the books I’m reading, the thoughts I have each week.  And while the pre-drawn illustrations are absolutely adorable, I often add my own touches. Perhaps that is why this works for me. It’s already fun and pretty, and when I have time, I can add what I want. But I don’t have to and it’s still a delightful experience.

 While attending the Baltimore pen show earlier this year, I walked past a booth with the most beautiful leather covers. Lincoln’s Leathers & Pens spoke to me. I’m not exaggerating when I say that anything bright, shiny, pink, or fun will catch my eye. Pink is basically my personality and I wear it proudly. I am very much at the point in my life where if it makes me happy and doesn’t hurt anyone, I’m all for it. So when I walk by and see iridescent A5 covers, I  literally stopped in my tracks.  

Unfortunately, a picture will never do her justice but trust me when I say that this cover is magic and pure joy. The point is, I could go into detail about how great my glitter pens look on the high quality paper, or how nice and flat the pages lay, but at the end of the day, I’m not a blogger (as I’m sure you can tell). I’m just a tired mom who loves to fill those little moments with color and joy.

I know that KOKO & LYNN just came out with new designs and I look forward to starting next years journal. As someone who felt they didn’t have time for a hobby, which is still very much true, I find this perfectly fills that hole for me. I am looking forward to having these for years to come, serving as a reminder for how hectic and busy these days are when I know I’ll miss them terribly. Until then, happy journaling.  

All products featured in this post were purchased at retail without any special consideration.