Quick design theme using a stencil sheet.
I used a Dollar Tree stencil, several water-based markers, and a few pens to complete this month's journal design theme quickly and easily.
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.
Title Page
While my February 2022 Journal Design was simple, it still took several hours for me to complete it. This month, I wanted the design to be both simple and quick so I could devote more time to other things.
I had a Crafter's Square Travel Themed Stencil I bought from Dollar Tree earlier this month. It's a good quality stencil that should last with many uses. I'm impressed by how the quality of art supplies sold at Dollar Tree have improved in the past couple years, but I digress.
Instead of coloring directly over the stencil as I did last month, I decided to trace the stencil with a pencil onto the paper. I then used markers to color-in the stenciled images.
For the title page, I modified the hot air balloon image slightly to connect the separated areas. I also drew squiggly clouds surrounding the hot air balloon.
Usually, I try to limit myself to a few colors for my designs or the colors synonymous to the cartoon I'm replicating. This month I decided to use all the colors of the rainbow. Not limiting myself to a palette of a few colors made the coloring process quick and easy.
Calendar Overview
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'll make a short note of something that happened.
On the left, I 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.
I thought filling in the excess blank space of both pages would be challenging. I either create a decorative banner along the top or draw several images along the bottom.
Fortunately, the stencil sheet made it easy for me to fill-in some of the blank spaces without much thought. Yes, there were a few spaces I wished I filled, but overall, it looked OK considering how little I did to design the pages.
Highlights and Trackers
Every night, I write a line of text highlighting one good thing about that day on my highlights page. Usually, I 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'll fill it in throughout the month.
On the trackers page, I note when I complete my favorite hobbies. 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.
My dogs' care and happiness are equally important. I track the following for my dogs:
when they go for a joy ride,
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,
when they participated in extended, extra, or hyper playtime, and
when something unusual happens with my senior dog.
Since I'll fill the pages throughout the month, I kept the design minimal across the top of the pages where I write my headers. I didn't realize that some dashed lines I drew on the left page overlapped the line of text for the first day of the month, but I'll work around that when the day comes.
Mood Page
I treat my mood tracker page as a coloring page of sorts. Each night, I'll color-in a part of an image that represents my overall mood for that day: awesome, meh, bad/sad, or sick.
I overlapped several hot air balloon images on the page. I numbered the divided parts of the balloons to represent each day in March. However, I was short one day.
I used the stencil to add an airplane to the page which I numbered for the last day of March. I decided on the colors I wanted to represent my mood this month and called it a day.
My Thoughts
I wanted this month's design theme to be both simple and quick. Fortunately, I was able to complete everything well within a couple hours using a stencil, several water-based markers, and a few pens.
Is it a phenomenal, super outstanding work of art? Of course not! But it's colorful and easy on my eyes. If anything, the stencil images make me want to head on a trip. Too bad I don't have any travel plans.
What's Next?
With March as National Craft Month in the US, I hope to complete more craft projects. If you enjoy crafts, why not plan to complete at least one crafty project in March? Aim for two or more projects if time isn't a hindrance.
Have you setup your March 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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