In honor of the famous cartoon cat and his friends.
In honor of my favorite lasagna-loving cat, I decorated my pages with Garfield and Friends!
I used calendar stamps, stamp inks, archival ink pens, watercolor markers, acrylic paint, and paintbrushes. I also used a pencil and eraser for my initial sketch.
NOTE: While the page layouts are similar to Bullet Journal (BuJo) setups you have seen online, I use this journal as a diary/memory keeper, not for productivity. The BuJo-inspired pages encourage me to make note of the good things in life, even on the worst days.
In case it's helpful, below are the main points covered in this post:
Calendar Overview Pages
I wanted to have bright, vibrant colors that would put a smile on my face every time I opened my journal. I remembered how happy seeing the Sunday comics in color made me feel as a kid. After a while, I decided Garfield and friends would put a smile on my face.
I used watercolor markers for that vibrant pop of colors on the characters and objects. I initially colored the background with a colored pencil, but switched to an acrylic paint color that quickly brought my attention to the pages.
This page features:
Odie,
Garfield,
Jon,
Liz,
Santa, and
Pooky.
This page also features a glass of milk, plate of cookies, tablet/phone (or whatever device it looks like to the viewer), and round ornaments.
The calendar overview is where I note important dates I want to document in my journal. For example, I will make a short note of something that happened on different days.
I also highlight the best and worst things to happen during the month. I primarily want to document positive things on the decorated pages, but I feel it is also important to document bad things, especially if it is a lesson learned.
Hobbies & Dogs' Pages
These are my favorite pages because of how busy it looks. I wished I added more to the calendar overview pages, but I only know of so many Garfield characters.
This page features:
Big Vicious Dog (does he have a proper name???),
Squeak,
Odie kissing a bone,
Nermal,
Garfield, and
Arlene.
This page also features a container of tennis balls, slice of cheese with a gift bow, mistletoe, spring mouse tower toy, and round ornaments.
While many journal enthusiasts track their habits, I track my favorite hobbies as a reminder to dedicate time for fun. I also track things I want to do for my dogs to ensure their happiness and well-being.
The hobbies I track are:
art + crafts,
writing, and
gaming.
I also track the following for my dogs:
when they go for a joy ride (their favorite thing to do),
when they go for a long walk,
when I care for their coat with a brush, leave-in shampoo, or bath,
when they receive teeth care with brush chews or teeth brushing, and
when they get to relax with a picnic in the park.
I especially wanted to track my young dog's training progress. We will focus on mastering a few skills. I would love for her to become a Canine Good Citizen one day. Unfortunately, I am horrible with training. We have a long training road ahead of us.
I created another BINGO game. This is just a goofy activity to fill what would otherwise be negative space. It serves as a wish list of things I would like for the month.
Highlights and Mood Pages
Since Christmas is celebrated in December, it made sense to include an oversized Christmas tree for my mood page. It will look more colorful by the end of the month.
This page features:
Odie,
Garfield,
Jon with a Christmas tree tie, and
Liz admiring a bouquet of roses on a table.
This page also features gift boxes and round ornaments.
Every night, I write a line of text highlighting one good thing about the day on the highlights page (left). It forces me to think on the bright side, especially on the most challenging days when my depression hits hard.
I treat my mood tracker page (right) as a coloring page of sorts. Each night, I will color-in a part of an image or shape that represented my overall mood for that day.
What's Next?
Struggling to come up with a theme for your journal design? Why not pull inspiration from one of your favorite childhood cartoons!
Have you set up your journal design? Do you know if the "Big Vicious Dog" have a proper name? Comment below to share what theme you went with and the materials you used.
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Thanks, and have a great day!
~Simply Jelly Jam
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