I dropped $80 on a set of stencils for my bullet journal last month.

Alice Ellis · 2026-03-13T00:35:05.456656+00:00

I saw them online and thought they'd help me draw neat boxes and banners faster. After using them for three weeks, I'm torn. They do make my weekly spreads look cleaner, but I feel like my pages are starting to look the same every time. It feels a bit stiff now. Has anyone else bought a tool that ended up making their journal feel less creative?

craig.viola5mo ago

Read a similar thing about mixing tools to keep things fresh, like @the_parker mentioned. Maybe try using the stencil for just your headers and going freehand for the rest. It can help break up that uniform look.

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murray.robert6mo ago

Heard about my buddy who bought a fancy pen set for his sketchbook. Said it made his lines too perfect, killed the fun. He went back to his old chewed up pencil after a month.

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the_parker6mo ago

Totally! Read a whole article on that.

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aaronm556mo ago

That's a tough spot. Do you think you'd feel better if you only used the stencils for some parts of the page, and left other bits totally freehand?

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