Have you ever picked a theme that made you nervous because the colors felt out of your comfort zone… and then it somehow turns into one of your favorites? That’s exactly what happened in this February 2026 plan-with-me. In this video I set up February in my mom’s bullet journal (yes, I make her a full monthly setup every month—she loves it, I get to use more stationery, and you get an extra video). The whole theme is built around a dreamy lotus sunset palette using three tapes from The Washi Tape Shop: Lotus Twilight for that sky gradient, Lotus Silhouette for the continuous scene, and the pre-cut Lotus Saga pieces for the enchanted garden details. I walk you through my “frame first” formula with a thick black fineliner, then layering the sky on top, the pond/lake on the bottom, and filling the middle with the illustrated pieces—plus little extras like butterflies and (surprisingly cute) frogs. I also share how I balance “visual weight” across a spread by adding a pinkish-purple bar detail in the calendar and bringing in a muted mustard yellow for alternating lines in notes sections. We finish with multiple weekly layout ideas (including my favorite one with a romantic center scene) and my mom’s must-have pages: monthly expenses and a brain dump/thoughts page with white letter stickers for contrast on dark tape.