Using several stamp sets.
I used several stamp sets to include a summer-themed set I bought from my local Dollar Tree.
NOTE: While the pages are like those who setup their Bullet Journals (BuJo), I use this journal more as a memory keeper/diary. 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 topics covered in this post:
Calendar Overview Pages
The calendar overview is where I note important dates I want to document in my journal.
The larger calendar fills much of both pages. I note events such as birthdays, appointments, and holidays within the appropriate block that represents a day in the month. During the month, I will make a short note of something that happened.
On the right, I will note the best and worst things to happen during the month. While I write a line of text highlighting one good thing about that day on my highlights page, I believed it was important to document the bade things as well. It will allow me to reflect on the past and press on with the future.
I also have a mini calendar for next month and another box where I'll note next month's events coming soon. I like being able to visually see ahead to things I may need to be aware of before those days come.
Productivity-related notes like to-do lists are managed in a separate and more simplistic Bullet Journal.
I was inspired by a summer-themed stamp set I bought from my local Dollar Tree. It is not listed on their website, but my store location had dozens of the set in stock.
To keep the design simple on myself, I also used letter stamps opposed to writing most of the headers by hand. If I owned smaller number stamps, I would not have hand written the dates.
I used water-based markers to add color to the pages. Water-based markers are less likely to bleed or show through the pages. It adds a pop of color, although the design is not my best. At least it was quick to do on an otherwise busy summer day.
Hobbies and Dogs' Pages
This month, my hobbies & dogs are tracked across a two-page spread. While many journal enthusiasts track their habits, tracking my favorite hobbies reminds me to dedicate time for myself and happiness. The hobbies I track are:
arts + crafts,
writing, and
gaming.
For my dogs, I track the following:
when they go for a joy ride,
when they go for a good walk,
when I've cared for their coat with a brush, leave-in shampoo, or bath,
when they received 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 new puppy's training progress. I will likely continue to do so for several more months.
I left myself an area to make short notes if needed. It is helpful to make a short note of minor health-related issues like watery eyes or excessive hiccups. Fortunately, these issues do not happen often, so the notes box does not have to be that large.
I again used stamps and water-based markers to decorate the pages. The left page is identical to the layout of months past, but I made another change to the training tracker on the right page.
Since I adopted my puppy, I have enjoyed tracking her training progress. However, I have struggled to create a layout to best document where we are at with a new training or how well she is doing.
I am not sure if this new layout design will work well. If not, I guess you will see a different layout for next month's design.
Highlights and Mood Pages
Every night, I write a line of text highlighting one good thing about that day on my highlights page (left). I will write about a simple thing that made me happy.
Even on the worst days, I try to think about a highlight of that day to write down. This page is intentionally left blank since I will fill it in throughout the month.
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 represents my overall mood for that day: awesome, meh/OK, sick, or bad/sad.
I used three summer-themed stamps to fill the mood page. At the end of July, this would be the most colorful page to view!
What's Next?
If you are struggling to decide on a design theme for your journal, consider using stamp sets to fill your pages!
Have you set up your journal design? Comment below to share what theme you went with and what materials you used to create it.
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Thanks, and have a great day!
Simply Jelly Jam
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