Create a lockdown journal

Do you want to be able to create a beautiful journal about your life or your family life but you just don’t have a creative bone in your body?

Then keep reading as I am about to share with you some practical tips and tricks on how to create a beautiful journal to save your memories from fading with time.

By following my tips, when you look back on your journal in years to come it will evoke your most fondest memories along with the people and places that changed your life forever.

Today, I am going to cover two areas:

1. Supplies you need 

2. The process for writing and making it look nice.

Supplies you need

 Pen and pencil kit

 Best for: People who want to write lots of words! Your journal will be mostly words with a few coloured headings.

Contents:

·       2 coloured double ended calligraphy pens

·       1 super thick black calligraphy pen(4mm)

·       3 fine line pens of different width(0.1, 0.5 and 0.8mm)

·       1 double ended black calligraphy pen

·       1 push pencil with lots of leadsticks in the stem and an eraser on the end

·       1 zip lock bag

Artist tips:‍

Get pens with two ends so you can easily create thick and thin letters and save on carrying extra pens.

‍The artist kit

Best for: People who want to paint pictures in their journal or use paints to create beautiful colours or washes across pages. I wouldn’t go anywhere without my whole kit(and know in lock down I don’t have to!).

Contents:

·       1 thick black calligraphy pen

·       6 fine line pens of different width(0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5 and 0.8mm and BS)

·       1 pencil, sharpener and eraser

·       Small glue stick

·       Small scissors (note: remember to putin luggage when jumping aboard an international flight)

·       Watercolour box paint

·       3 mini brushes that fit inside thewatercolour paint box

·       1 black permanent marker – sharpie

·       Small Ruler

·       1 pencil case

Artist tips:

If you plan to do a lot of drawing the pencils with the lead sticks will not cut it as the leads break easily if you are planning to use pencils for shading or pressing hard and soft to create different effects.

 Watercolour pencils are great for those who want the paint effect but aren’t confident with painting . You just draw and colour in what you want then lightly brush over with water to get the paint effect.

Scissors allows me to cut the perfect shape from a photo.

‍ The process

 End of day reflection

Journals allow you to contemplate the experiences you have had at the end of the day and jot down the places (of your house if your in lock down),people you spoke to (in your immediate family) and events you don’t ever want to forget.

So, find a cosy spot, preferably with a margarita and reflect! Ask yourself “what did I love the most about today?”, “what did I learn about the world or myself?”, “who did I miss during this lock down and why?”

 If your having a 100% perfect and rosy and beautiful lock down experience then you would be…lying!!! Things will get annoying and go sideways.Reflect on these things and ask yourself “what annoyed me so much?” “is there a funny side to this after all?” Maybe you want to whinge about your family or housemate which would be funny to look back on later and is most likely a good way of dealing with some of the confinements of the lockdown!.

Reflection allows you to gather your thoughts and decide what the key things are you want to journal. Free yourself from writing pages and pages of content by using reflection as a tool to uncover the top three things you want to say. As Mark Twain once said “I would have written less if I had more time”.Take the time to think about what you want to say so its worth reading in years to come!

Step by step …

1.     Decide what you want to remember about today and what you want to say about it.

2.     Decide if you will use a whole page of your journal or just a part of it.

3.     If you only want to use part of a page use your pencil and draw a light line around the area you will fill.

4.     Lightly pencil in your heading making it as big as you think you will need for big fancy letters or small fine letters.

5.     Write what you want say.

6.     Stick in any momentos.

7.     If your day was super special and you know you have some amazing photos that you want to add later leave some small 2inch x 2inch empty boxes so you can paste them in when you return home.

8.     Go back to your heading – by then you may wish to change your heading text to something more memorable and easier tofind in years to come.

9.     Making your headings pop by changing the height or width or direction.

 I hope this article helps you get your creative juices flowing and the journal you create is as unique and beautiful as you