Summer is officially here and we’re thinking about our holidays and logging them for future reflection. A journal is the perfect way to keep track of everything you’ve done and keep it safe to remember forever. Whether you’re off somewhere hot, staying at home, or starting a journal for any other reason, you’ll want yours to really stand out. It’ll be easier to scan back through if you’ve made a feature of the pages and probably much more interesting too, but it can be hard to get those creative juices flowing and get your journal looking fabulous. So we’ve come up with some top tips for making your journal really shine.

DRAW

Drawing can really bring your journal to life. You can use drawings to highlight what you’re writing about, like a beachy banner across the top of a page to do with summer, or a movie reel along the edge of the page about what films you want to watch. Banners, scrolls and wreaths can emphasize something important, like the title of the page, or simply add a little decoration. Different shapes and styles of bullet points are also a great way to break up the page and identify different parts of your journal. Drawings are great in both black and white and in colour. Speaking of which…

USE COLOUR

Colour is great and so adaptable. You can use it in so many ways to make your journal shine. Have a selection of different coloured pens and pencils at the ready whenever you’re journaling. We love the Lamy Logo and Lamy 2000 multifunction pens for having a variety of coloured ballpoints ready to go at once. Get colouring with a Kaweco Sport Clutch Pencil and coloured leads to make the page really pop. You can even use highlighters, paint and ink to add colour to any page.

Then think about how you’ll use colour. Changing writing colour can make important words really stand out. Have different colours mean different things, for example black is general text, but red was something important and purple something special. Colour is also great for titles and for highlighting sections, by either colouring the background or colouring around it. Or simply add a splash of ink to the page and have a colourful background. Experiment with this and we’re sure you’ll have loads of fun.

QUOTES

Adding large pop out quotes that cover a page can bring inspiration and change to your journal. They can be relevant to what you’re writing about or just encourage you to be the best you.

HAND LETTERING

Often very similar in style to calligraphy, but done using a pen, instead of a traditional dip pen and ink, the difference here is mainly that hand lettering is drawing the words, whilst calligraphy you are writing them.

Hand lettering takes a lot of practice and discipline to get really good at, but you can quite easily create some stunning effects with some basic knowledge. There are fantastic tutorials available online – just search: hand lettering tutorials! You can make your letters look like all kinds of fonts in this way – find a font you like and copy it or do some bubble lettering (We bet you still remember how to do that from primary school!)

STICK IN IT

Found something that excites or inspires you whilst on your travels? Have a memento that you want to keep forever? Got a postcard that makes you giggle? Grab your glue and stick it in.

This really allows you to be creative and make every page different. If you did a cool doodle on a sticky note, then don’t throw it away. Stick it in and keep it safe. Stickers, stamps, and sparkles! Washi tape (a decorative masking tape) is also a great way to attach bits and bobs into your journal whilst adding additional colour. You don’t need to be a great artist to get creative with washi tape.

We’d love to see how we’ve inspired you to Jazz Up Your Journal. Send us your photos on twitter using #jazzupyourjournal and tagging @pen_heaven, or on Instagram @penheaven #penheaven #jazzupyourjournal