I still believe the only things you need to set up your very first bullet journal are a notebook and one pen. Nothing fancy, nothing expensive just the basic tools to get you started. And armed with your creative mind you can create the most wonderful bullet journal there is!

Armed with your creative mind you can create the most wonderful bullet journal there is! Click To Tweet

BUT I also know that I always want to know what tools others are using to create a beautiful piece of artwork or a gorgeous bullet journal spread. There is always something I haven’t tried yet and which may suit my personal needs. I also might have a slight planner/notebook addiction, but psst! Don’t tell Sandra! So without further ado let’s talk most favorite bullet journal supplies

Top 5 Bullet Journal Supplies

This post contains affiliate links. This simply means that if you purchase something through the links provided I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. You can be assured that I will never recommend something that I don’t enjoy using and wouldn’t recommend to my best friend as well! For more information, see my disclosures here.

#1 Leuchtturm 1917 – My Notebook of choice

Since I’m an artist and note taker by heart I already have filled quite a few sketchbooks as well as lots of notebooks. Moleskine, Leuchtturm1917, Semikolon, Paperblanks, you name it, I have probably tried it. And even if I won’t go so far as to say the Leuchtturm1917 A5 Hardcovers are the best notebooks out there. I at least would say they are the perfect fit for my personal bullet journal needs. Let me explain why!

When I decided to give the bullet journal system a try I already had two notebook brands in mind. Moleskine and Leuchtturm1917. I really enjoyed filling up my Moleskine Sketchbook to the brim and already had started an Leuchtturm1917 Sketchbook. They both have an amazing paper quality, they are sturdy, come in beautiful colors and have a nice little pocket in the back of the notebook to keep notes and stickers.

I knew I wanted dotted paper since it allows me to draw straight lines without a ruler. Also, the dots are way less visible as lines or squares, so it looks more like blank paper which I loved immediately. I also knew that I again wanted Hard Cover as well as A5 in size. So that I can keep it with me at all times without destroying it. At this point, I did a lot of research to find the differences between the medium Moleskine and Leuchtturm1917 notebooks. In the end, Leuchtturm1917 won with two slight advantages. Firstly, the Leuchtturm1917 has numbered pages as well as an index section in the front of the notebook.

And secondly, the Hard Cover dotted version of the Moleskine is only available in black. If you want a notebook which has a colorful cover and dotted paper you have to go with the Soft Cover, which wasn’t an option for me like I explained earlier. Otherwise, they are both absolutely awesome and highly recommend!

#2 Staedtler pigment liner 0.05 – My number #1 pen

When I first set up my bullet journal I tested out the pens I thought might work well on the Leuchtturm1917 paper on the last page of said notebook. I wanted to make sure they don’t bleed through, don’t smear and give me the minimalistic look I wanted to go for. Yes, the girl with the thousand doodles wanted to go for minimalistic o.O After a few tries I decided to go with one calligraphy pen for the headers and a normal pen for the text. Both blue.

As you can see in the image above the results are quite decent, but it took the ink quite a while to dry. And since I’m a very impatient person and wasn’t willing to wait a couple minutes every time I filled a box in my habit tracker I tried out more pens. The winner by far was the Staedtler pigment liner in 0.05 line weight.

I also own a 0.3 but I only use it to fill in big black areas. My pigment liner allows me to draw super thin lines as well as to draw the outlines of letters and just fill them in afterward if I want bold text instead. That way I get the best out of both worlds in one pen. I already went through a bunch of them and always make sure I stock up on them two at a time. If this pen ever gets out of production I have a serious problem since it’s the only pen I use to do my writing, haha.

While collecting my favorite bullet journal supplies so I could write this post I realized a lot of them are products by Faber-Castell. Faber-Castell is a brand which has a great reputation here in Germany, so over the years, I collected quite a few of their products. That said, all my opinions and recommendations in this posts are my very own based on years of experience in using said products. I’m not sponsored or in any other way compensated by Faber-Castell.

#3 Faber-Castell Grip 2001 Pencil (HB) & Trio Sharpener

I really go through phases when it comes to the perfect pencil. Currently, I really enjoy using the plain standard pencil. Sometimes I’m the biggest fan of mechanical pencils. And other times I want them super soft and smooth, so I go for a graphite 4B pencil. Right now I prefer the HB, which is the perfect mix between Hardness & Blackness. The only thing I never like are really hard pencils, so everything H2 and up. Since it etches lines in the paper and even if you erase them, the etching is still there.

So which one should I choose?

Depending on the pencil you choose (standard pencil, a pure graphite pencil or a mechanical pencil) the way you draw changes. So you should keep that in mind when making your decision. For my bullet journal, I don’t want anything that etches lines in the paper (H2+) and I also don’t want anything that might smudge (B2+), so HB is my grading of choice. Which kicks the pure graphite pencil out of the race too, since it is really soft and tends to smudge easily. Otherwise, it’s totally up to you if you prefer a standard or mechanical pencil. The standard one needs a sharpener and the mechanical one needs refills. So you have to keep one additional supply at hand either way.

For me the standard pencil has a slight advantage out of the following reasons: The mechanical version only offers you one line weight. While you can change the line weight of your standard pencil by changing the angle between pencil and paper. Out of the same reason, you can fill in big areas easily with a standard pencil. While it might take you ages depending on the line weight of your mechanical pencil. Additionally, since I like to keep the weight of my backpack or handbag to a minimum to give my back & shoulders some rest, I like to minimize my supplies as much as I can. So one standard pencil instead of three different mechanical pencils it is.

The Faber-Castell Grip 2001 Pencil (HB) differs from other standard pencils because it really has a great grip like the name suggests. And makes sure your pencil doesn’t slip no matter how many degrees are outside or how long you are already drawing. Also, the triangular shape makes sure it lies wonderfully in your hand. Plus I have been using them for at least 10 years and as long as I prefer standard pencils, they are my number one choice!

Faber-Castell Trio Sharpener

That said a sharpener is needed. The Trio Sharpener is really great since it allows you to sharpen standard pencils, jumbo pencils as well as colored pencils. In the beginning, I was quite confused why there are two different sharpeners for standard and colored pencils. Since they are both the same size. But as far as I understand it, the angle of the blades inside the sharpeners differs. So that one is perfect for writing and the other one for coloring. Drumroll! Besides that it is very convenient to sharpen your pencils while sitting in a Café without leaving any pencil shavings next to your coffee. Cleaning it is very easy too and I don’t think I will ever need to buy a new one. As long as I don’t loose it of course!

#4 Faber-Castell Kneaded Eraser and Easy Grip Eraser

You probably ask yourself why I use two erasers. I have a good reason for that, I promise. But first:

What is a kneaded eraser?

The Kneaded or ‘Art Eraser’ as it’s called has two advantages over a normal eraser. First off, you can get it clean again quite easily. Instead of rubbing of parts of your eraser on a post it to get it clean, you just knead it. Amazeballs!

Secondly, you can erase pencil lines, over which you have already drawn with your pen, without erasing any of the ink. Since I sketch out quite a lot of my bullet journal pages before I go over the final draft with my pen, I enjoy this advantage the most. Additionally, it also doesn’t leave any eraser crumbs on your pages.

Why two erasers then?

As always, where there is light there are also shadows. So philosophical today! That said a kneaded eraser is not as strong as a normal eraser. Which means, that if you have drawn very strong pencil lines it might not take it all off the page again. This is where my second eraser comes into play. I make sure I don’t go directly over my pen lines with this one, but it really gets off the last of the pencil lines. Also, I love the Easy Grip Eraser a lot since it lies way better in your hand as the standard rectangle shaped erasers.

Both erasers last a very long time and if you keep the little clear box the kneaded eraser comes in it won’t get very dirty in the first place. Otherwise just keep kneading!

#5 Faber-Castell PITT artist pens >>brush<<

An artist friend of mine owns the ‘6 PITT artist pens – shades of grey‘ set and uses them to give her drawings a more three-dimensional feel. Check out her amazing IG feed here & make sure to say hi from me! One day while sketching together I was able to try them out and fell in love immediately! So when my birthday came around they were on my wish list, of course!

I primarily bought them so I could give my technical drawings a 3D look in seconds, since those pens too, don’t bleed through and can give a very even finish if you draw fast enough and use the right paper. I also love that this set comes with three warm and three cold grays. Since it allows you to create a certain mood in an image without using color. The tip of the brush is amazing since you can either draw super thin lines. Or if you hold the pen at an angle you can fill in big areas super fast.

The pens have pigmented India ink, are extremely lightfast, waterproof, permanent, odorless, acid-free and pH-neutral. And most importantly for most of you bullet journal addicts out there, they come in 60 colors. I know that my black and white obsession does not reflect everyone’s taste, haha.

Above you can see the three colors I own, since those colors reflect my personal brand. I love using them for my calendex

Additionally, I also have one stack of post-it notes (3″x3″) which I can either use to mark pages I want to photograph for Instagram or to write down something really quick. I do this because I want to keep my bullet journal as clean and readable as possible, so I take my time when filling it in.

The only thing I’m still missing is a beautiful little leather case where I can keep all my pens in. I want it to be either black or in one of the colors of my brand. So if you have any recommendations it would totally make my day!

Also, I find it very important to mention again that it’s more about the understanding of your tools and what you do with them than about which ones you own. Of course, you can buy a lot of supplies and do amazing things with them, but you can create something as wonderful with only a piece of paper and one pen or pencil. Concentrate your energies on improving your craft and do what brings you joy! If any of the supplies I love using daily can contribute to it, awesome. But remember, no matter how expensive a tool might be, it’s just as good as the person actually using it!

No matter how expensive a tool might be, it's just as good as the person actually using it! Click To Tweet

This post contains affiliate links. This simply means that if you purchase something through the links provided I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. You can be assured that I will never recommend something that I don’t enjoy using and wouldn’t recommend to my best friend as well! For more information, see my disclosures here.