There is nothing like starting a new journal. For me, it’s a sensory experience. I love the smell of a new notebook, the feel of the paper and how my pen/pencils flow on the pages. It has to be smooth.
When Carol launched her Badly Made Books collaboration I loudly squealed for joy. She didn’t even tell me and left it as a complete surprise! I did as any notebook enthusiast would and hunted the postman daily until I had them in my hands.
I won’t go into detail on the notebooks themselves as you can find lots about them here but I did want to share some of my layouts so that all of you might find some journal inspiration and use these as more than just a weekly to-do list.
1. Art Pages and Sketches
The majority of my pages are art pages. I like to think and sketch or doodle. It helps to keep the creativity flowing and it’s something that I carried over from my bullet journals.
Now, of course, as makers, you can use these pages to sketch out a design or a modification on your current pattern and use the grid pages at the back of the journal to go more in-depth. This is why I like these notebooks because you can be working a pattern, the ‘best’ idea pops into your mind and you can sketch it immediately and go to the grid to work on it further.
2. Trackers
If you’re purely functional then adding trackers and reminder sections is a great way to use the blank pages. In my bullet journals, I like to draw out habit trackers but in these notebooks, I like to sketch things.
3. Washi Tape
Personally, I have a medium-sized washi tape collection but I’m always a little unsure how to use it. It’s so pretty I sometimes don’t want to waste it. Yes, my brain is a little odd. So I like to add it as a divider or background in my journals. This gives me four extra sections every week and I use them as trackers, brain dumps or menu ideas.
4. Monthly Overview
One of the best features of these notebooks is that they are undated and you can use them whenever you need them. This of course means you don’t need to use them sequentially. I use one of these journals purely for work around Stolen Stitches so I add a monthly overview calendar to the start of a month, especially if I know I’m going to be busy. It helps to double back and have an overview at a glance. Yes, I use a ruler…sometimes.
5. Review Pages
These are one of my favourite pages to add to journals. They help me decide what to keep and what to remove from our schedule. As this is a work type journal, the questions are more orientated to work, but I have personal review pages over on my blog here if this is something you might like to explore.
6. Goal Pages
I’m not the type of person who makes resolutions but I do like to set intentions or personal goals. I add them to my journals when I feel like I have the capacity and energy to take something extra into my schedule. I’m never too hard on myself if I miss them because life happens but I do like to keep a visual reminder in places.
7. Gratitude Log
By far one of my favourite practices is keeping a gratitude log. This is a personal practice that I added to my work journal and it helped to frame these questions around work so that even when I’m busy and stressed I can find ways of being grateful which in turn leaves me more optimistic. If you’re looking for more info on this or my personal questions you can find them here.
The pages in these journals are perfect for sketching and they really love pencils and Tombow dual tip pens. I don’t use watercolour pencils or anything too inky in these journals.
I hope these pages inspire you to try something new in your Badly Made Books notebooks. If you have used these pages for other ideas please share them in the comments. I’m always looking for new ideas for my journals too!
If you would like to get your hands on a Stolen Stitches Badly Made Books Notebook then CLICK HERE.