JOURNAL IDEAS TO TRY OUT

Whether you are new to journaling, or have been at it for years, it’s always good to get new ideas, experiment, and shake things up. Whether it is an art journal, a bullet journal, a junk journal, or another journal, here is a list of ideas that you can use to breathe new life into your personal work of art.

1. Write inspiring quotes from your favorite books or movies, or TV shows. The top 100 quotes have been done to death, try quoting Buffy the Vampire Slayer instead. 
   

2. Have a page where you test out your art supplies. See how much you can fit on one page, layer pens over paint markers, and put translucent sticky notes over that.

3. Dedicate a page to research things that interest you. You never know, months from now you might want to use that Irish folklore research months from now for a poem or short story.

4. Doodle page borders, check Pinterest or Tiktok, or Youtube for ideas. 

5. Distress your journal a little if you want to, rip a page in half, it’s fun. 

6. Use color. Layer colors. Add colorful pictures. Use a whole box of crayons on a page.

7. Try a 30 day journaling challenge, find one already created, or make one specific to you.

8. Draw the same doodle on every page.

9. Stamp your initial on every page. 

10. Hide a word or a doodle on every page, months from now you can play “where’s waldo”

11. Add pictures of what you talk about the most. If it’s you, add more pictures of you. If it’s BTS, get some Jungkook up in there. 

12. Try drawing a comic strip, even if it’s just of stick figures.

13. Learn how to do letter art, that can really dress up a page.

14. Write an about me page. It’s great to look back on later.

15. If you like to write fiction, try some writing exercises.

16. Or make an illustrated page of fan fiction.

17. Try drawing a mood tacker, you can use a simple color grid or get creative with shapes and doodles.

18. If you like to draw try some drawing prompts.

19. Make your own stickers and use them to decorate. Use packing tape, or sticker paper, or get fancy and use a cricut.

20. Make an art page with a picture/ drawing, of your birthstone, your astrological placements, your birth month flower, etc.

21. Use a page to brainstorm ideas for your latest creative project.

22. Try reverse coloring, draw some colorful blobs, then outline them to create an unexpected picture.

23. Make a page of tiny doodles. See how many you can fit on a page.

24. Analyze your nightly dreams. Write your dreams then research any symbols that stand out to you, look for repeating patterns, learn more about the places and things you dream about.

25. Review new products. Draw a little picture and write a description about the newest thing you’re excited about. 

26. Do a what’s in my bag list, like celebrities do in magazines, 

27. Design Outfits based off of your wardrobe and draw them out. 

28. Have a dedicated sticker page and make a sticker collage. 

29. Make a Seasonal check list of things you want to do in each season. 

30. Use stamps, there are so many rubber stamps and you can even create your own.

However you decide to dress up your journal, make sure to have fun with it, and keep it true to you. Happy Journaling!