Do your journals feel a bit...vanilla these days? Let's admit: those acid-yellow highlighter grow old very fast! The new season is a great time to give your beloved planner/journal and inject some personality onto its pages. Look no further than the humble sticker! These little bursts of color and design can transform your journaling experience, making it more engaging, visually appealing, and a true reflection of your unique self.
How to Use Stickers With Journals and Planners
But, first, let's try to understand what is journaling with Stickers and how to actually use them for your benefit? Journaling with stickers is a delightful way to infuse your written reflections with a touch of personality and fun. It goes beyond simply sticking colorful decorations on the page. Think of them as a visual representation of your current emotions, highlight key moments, categorize entries, or even serve as creative prompts.
Whether you're using cute animal stickers, love playing with color to express joy or stick those iconic motivational quotes, stickers inspire you, diluting boring pages.
- What Journaling Stickers to Choose?
Certainly, my personal recommendation – go original, go bold, go large! But, everyone's journaling aesthetics is different. Some like it simple, others vintage, and some prefer bright and colorful. But, there are still a few aspects you would want to consider.
- Material Matters: Consider the type of paper your journal uses. Opt for a washi-type sticker or paper sticker if you have thin pages to avoid bleed-through. If your journal or planner has thicker paper pick vinyl stickers. They offer vibrant colors and a more durable option.
- Consider Style and Mood: As we've discussed above, your personal aesthetic matters the most. Do you crave a minimalist aesthetic? Opt for geometric shapes or monochromatic sticker sets. If your heart leans towards playful expression, explore options with vibrant colors, cute illustrations, or funny quotes.
- Functionality First: While aesthetics are important, consider how stickers can enhance the functionality of your journal. Do you need habit trackers? Find stickers that represent healthy habits (workout icons, veggie images) or completed tasks (checkmarks, stars). Love bullet journaling? Stock up on functional stickers like flags, arrows, and labels to keep your spreads organized.
- Don't Be Afraid to DIY: Customizing stickers is so much fun! If you can't find exactly what you're looking for you can try to customize your very own set of cute stickers. You can print out your favorite images or quotes, and hand-drawn doodles to make your journal truly unique.
My humble sticker collection :)
How to Make and Print Custom Stickers for Your Journal?
But how do you actually customize and print stickers? You can go both digital and analog for this! Grab your favorite drawing tools, be it pencils, pens, paints, or digital software. Sketch your art, re-draw, and reinforce the lines for better quality. Don't stop doodling: inspirational quotes, power words, schematics, and simple symbols work just as good.
If traditional drawing techniques aren't your cup of tea, there are plenty of online tools and free designing apps available for you. Explore and experiment with fonts, shapes, and colors to create stunning visuals for your custom stickers. Ready to print? Then it is time to stock up on printable sticker paper! Those can be quite expensive but the results are great.
Why Use Stickers Anyway...
Wondering why you'd use stickers in your journal? After all, clean, minimalist pages have their appeal. But stickers offer more than decoration: they aid in habit tracking, spark creativity, and help organize thoughts. Here are some simple ways to leverage your favorite stickers for a more effective journaling experience.
- #1. Mood and Habit Tracking:
You can use stickers to represent your mood (e.g., smiley face for happy, cloud for gloomy). Additionally, create a weekly or monthly mood tracker spread with designated spots for your stickers. The same works for habits: use cute stickers as a reward system for completing daily or weekly habits (e.g., star sticker for exercise, bookworm sticker for reading).
- #2. Gratitude Journaling:
Everyone knows and keeps a gratitude journal these days! Decorate your entries about things you're grateful for with aesthetic stickers that reflect those things (e.g., heart sticker for love, coffee cup sticker for caffeine!).
- #3. Goal Setting and Progress Tracking:
You can also use stickers to identify goals and track progress (e.g., trophy sticker for reaching a milestone, houseplant sticker for growth). Design a visual representation of your goals and use stickers to fill in progress bars or color in sections.
- #4. Decorative Spreads and Collages:
Create themed spreads for different holidays, seasons, months, or events using a set of themed stickers. Don't stop on stickers, use anything: washi tape, stamps, borders, and other things that add a personalized touch to your journal pages.
- 5. Memory Keeping:
This is my favorite way! Enhance your journal entries about special events or trips with stickers that represent the occasion (e.g., plane sticker for travel, birthday cake sticker for celebrations). You can customize them yourself or buy a sticker pack filled with themed stickers. To keep everything more organized, create pockets in your journal using washi tape (I also like to glue in envelopes), and fill them with mementos and small stickers.
Concluding...
Hey, that's all for now. Hopefully, this blog post will inspire you to finally stick those cute decorations into your daily planner, diary, or bullet journal. If you have some extra time and a wish for artistic expression, you should definitely try to customize your personal sticker set! Keep journaling, and remember that a sentence a day keeps the doctor away!
