A "quickie" design.
I made some simple floral doodles for my March 2025 [quick] journal design theme!
I used calendar stamps, stamp inks, and archival ink pens.
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
Following a couple of weeks of illness and an unwanted emergency room visit, I made a quick journal design with floral doodles. I just wanted to make something quickly so that I could document my recovery process right away.
I searched online for "doodle flower and leaf" for inspiration. I colored the doodles with ink pens. This did not take long and took my mind off of the pain for a short while. The dots were intended to fill empty space so that the pages did not look too bland.
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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
Again, I made simple floral doodles and colored them with ink pens. I sprinkled some dots on the pages for less "bleh." I liked the look of these pages better than the previous pages.
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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
The highlights page is simple, but it will be filled and cluttered with text by the end of the month. I kept the mood tracker simple by using blocks instead of imagery like I prefer to do most months. It was a quick and simple design sprinkled with floral doodles and dots.
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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? Simple shapes and easy doodles is a quick and easy idea!
Have you set up your journal design? 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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