Below the flip-through video, you’ll see time stamps for different themes and a description of how the theme came about.
Make sure you check out my review of the Nuuna journal. The uncoated paper isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I love the company’s dedication to sustainability and the depth of information they provide to their users.
3:14 Jan – Where’s Wally?
Pages from a Where’s Wally book
Staedtler markers
Pigma Micron pens
Papers
Washi tape
I was tidying my bookshelves and one of the books I thought I’d pass on was Where’s Wally. While looking at it, it suddenly occurred to me that I could use these pages in my journal, and then I’d be able to spend a whole month seeing what I could find in one of these pictures. The theme was pretty simple from that point. I marked finds with a washi sticker, so it didn’t obliterate the picture. I was amazed how much I could find, and there was so much more than the original clues, which I also included in my journal spreads. The theme was unexpectedly a lot of fun!
5:48 Feb – Washi cats
Washi tape
Uni-ball signo metallic gel pens
Artline gel pen
Stickers
Stamps
Rub-ons
Tombow dual brush pens
Sometimes my inspiration is pretty simple. I had cat stamps and cat stickers that I wanted to use. I thought I’d have a go at creating cats with my torn washi tape technique, and when looking through my washi tape collection thought I’d throw conformity to the wind and do them in pink! I’ve discovered I like pictures that suggest movement – these cat poses are perfect.
8:55 Seaside adventure
Washi tape
Tombow dual brush pens
Pigma Micron pens
Stickers
Artline gel pen
Fountain pen
I enjoyed telling a story about a fox in washi tape in my previous journal so much I wanted to try it again. My technique with the washi tape was different this time, laying colours down and cutting them to a drawn design. The month tells the story of a girl that dives for treasure, combining both the girl, and sea animals. The subject of the story was driven by wanting to use sea-themed stickers for my dailies.
11:36 Apr – Into the woods
Winsor & Newton acrylic paints
Stickers
Rub-ons
Fountain pen
I have very little experience with acrylic paints, and you don’t get better unless you practice, so here we are! My original idea was a camping theme and my original cover page had a tent in it, but it was so awful, I covered it over with another piece of paper! We all have our bad days 🙂 The idea morphed to Into the Woods, because this then allowed me to paint some large Northern Americas animals into my pictures, as landscapes on their own were too hard.
13:14 May – Music
Winsor & Newton watercolours
Papers
Stickers
Stamps
Artline gel pen
Uniball signo gel pen
Tombow dual brush pens
I found a book of madrigals at the charity shop, and figured the readership for that was probably pretty low so I wouldn’t feel bad about tearing it up to use in my journal. A long time ago I’d seen a picture where someone had drawn little figures on the music notes and it had always stayed in the back of my mind. This is my own interpretation using miniature watercolour figures and trees.
14:40 Jun – Dachshunds
Washi tape
Gelly Roll gel pen
Chameleon pen
Stickers
Papers
Who can resist a dachshund? Like so many themes in this particular journal, I was inspired by a sticker set. I used my washi tape collage technique.
16:47 Jul – Fish
Washi tape
Prismacolor coloured pencils
Uniball signo metallic gel pen
Stickers
Stencil
Distress ink pad
I’m starting to sound like a broken record! The theme was inspired by the goldfish stickers I used on my dailies, but I really ran with the theme and didn’t just stick to goldfish, but expanded into aquarium fish for the first pages, and then drawing fish with coloured pencils from Australia’s Great Barrier Reef for the weekly spreads. The use of stencils on my dailies came about because the stickers were quite small and I needed something to create some interest on the page. They worked perfectly, looking exactly like water plants.
18:57 Aug – Archer & Olive box
Archer & Olive monthly box – celebrations
Gelly Roll gel pen
Fountain pen
I live in Australia, so I don’t make an order from Archer & Olive lightly. This meant that when I decided I had to have a new journal to review, I finally got to indulge in a few other products I’d been eyeing for a while, including washi tape and a monthly box. The idea of these boxes is they determine your theme for you. The box includes everything you need to fully complete a month in your journal, including papers, washi, a stencil, decorative stickers, day and number stickers. I hunted around on the internet for ideas on how to use the box, and there weren’t many available, so I was on my own! The central idea of my theme was to use ripples inspired by the rippled edge on the dutch door title page. I alternated paper colours, and washi tapes, and stuck stickers down wherever I could!
20:11 Sep – Barbie
Archer & Olive pastel notepad
Saved papers, pictures, and cards
Washi tape
Stickers
Tombow dual brush pens
Uniball signo gel pens
Chameleon pen
The Barbie movie was huge in July/August and the lettering on the billboards was fantastic, so I copied that font, added a whole lot of pink, and then finally, added a whole bunch of my favourite quotes from the movie. On the title page I tried to bring in the mid-western feel of the movie with the sunray picture, but there wasn’t any other attempts over the month. I used so many pink stickers, I don’t have many left in my collection!