In honor of the Great Pumpkin.
With Walt Disney World's 50th anniversary coming soon, I setup my journal/diary with a WDW design theme for September.
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.
The Design Theme
Since I recently finished a trip to Walt Disney World, I originally thought about a Disney Halloween journal design theme. But then I figured I did a lot of Disney-themed blog posts and videos the past month.
The animated film, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, came to mind while I was thinking about a Halloween-themed design. I don't draw Peanuts' characters, so I thought this would be a fun change for myself.
Title
For the title page, I referenced online photos that displayed after I searched for "great pumpkin." There's a scene in the film where Linus is waiting in a pumpkin patch while holding a sign that read, "Welcome Great Pumpkin." It seemed fitting to have the sign read, "Welcome October 2021."
After I sketched Linus holding the sign, I decided to add Snoopy and Woodstock to fill-in some dead space. I'm glad I did because Snoopy's my favorite Peanuts character.
I colored this and the other pages with watercolor.
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 decided to make the mini calendar the wall of Snoopy's doghouse. I replicated an image I saw online of Snoopy sitting on the rooftop wearing a witch's hat.
Woodstock is facing Snoopy from the top row of the larger calendar. I added a bag next to Woodstock (is Woodstock considered a male or female bird?). I imagined Woodstock's happy because the bag is filled with treats.
I added the Peanuts gang at the bottom of the right page. This was the scene from the film where Lucy's complaining after visiting a house while trick-or-treating. The screenshot I replicated made it look like Lucy was upset with Snoopy on his rooftop.
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,
gaming, and
workout.
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 of October, I kept the design simple with a pumpkin patch along the bottom of both pages.
Mood
I treat my mood tracker page as a coloring page of sorts. Each night, I'll color-in something that represents my overall mood for that day: awesome, meh, bad/sad, or sick.
I'll color-in a pumpkin in the pumpkin patch based on my overall mood at the end of each day. This is similar to the mood tracker page I created for my November 2020 Journal Design.
To make this different from last year's pumpkin design theme, I added Linus, Sally, and the silhouette of Snoopy in front of a full moon at the top of the page. I also added vines and leaves to add a little visual appeal for myself.
I didn't wait for the watercolor paint to dry before I closed the journal. Some of the black paint bled onto the blank page. Oh well. "C'est la Vie."
My Thoughts
I loved that I based my design theme on the Peanuts cartoon! I hated that I used watercolor paints to color the pages.
There's nothing wrong with watercolor paints. It's a fun medium to use, but it's not the best for the journal pages. Even though the pages hold water well, blending colors was unnecessarily challenging on the pages. This is more apparent in the background of the title page and along the header of all other pages.
It's time to change how I color my journal pages.
I should make a habit of using different medium for coloring my pages. I have pens, markers, colored pencils, pastels, and other paints I don't use enough. The best way to get used to other coloring mediums is to use them.
What's Next?
Now's a good time for me to let the watercolor rest for a while I give my other medium some much needed attention. The next artsy post will hopefully feature something other than watercolor.
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Thanks, and have a great day!
Simply Jelly Jam
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