Update: Things are always changing, including journals. There are all sorts of beautiful journals, bullet journals, planners, and stationery papers to choose from. You can even use printables or digital planners to write. Regardless of the medium, the main point is to use and practice it.
What is a washi tape journal? What’s the correlation between washi tape and a journal?
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Writing a daily journal can be wonderful and relaxing.
You have the choice to do a lengthy journal or just a gratitude journal. It’s entirely up to you which one you want to use.
A Gratitude Journal can be simple and fast such as…
“I’m thankful for my wonderful family and friends.”
Just aim for one line per day if no time.
One of the popular washi tape uses is to decorate a journal. It can also be a diary or a planner. You can tape a journal page left and right, top and bottom, making it a framed page.
Or, you can use masking tapes to mark important meetings, appointments, calls, etc., on the diary.
The lovely washi tapes make the journal fun and beautiful, even if you are the only one who sees it.
I collect several different notebooks, planners, diaries, and journals. They could be just store-bought, given by someone, or complimentary copies.
I’m not sure what to do with them because one or two planners are good enough for the year. But I always imagine I’ve tons of appointments/ideas/things to fill in the blank pages.
Anyway, I started writing daily journals when I was in university. Hmm… I did make it a point to write as frequently as possible, if not every day. My primary purpose in writing a journal is to practice my English writing since this is not my mother tongue.
It’s nothing fancy in my diary but to record what happened at that time. You know… what else to worry about when you were in school? It’s probably nothing much besides worrying about school work, friends, food, vacations, etc.
I never thought of decorating any journal pages.
I believe the text, writing or the record of life is far more important. Other than practicing my English writing, another advantage is to write by hand.
I often checked my handwriting to see if it was pleasing to the eye and readable. Not surprisingly, it’s good sometimes; it’s not so good or even messy on some days, and I can’t even read my own writing.
It’s so different nowadays.
Thanks to internet technology, I see many beautifully decorated journal pages, planners, and diaries.
You can find all sorts of embellishments, note cards, post-it notes, highlighters, etc., to make the journal pages delightful, unique, and personal.
And of course, washi tapes become handy when you want to bookmark some pages or highlight your next holiday trip. If you have a few rolls, you can cut them into your desired lengths, make them in a bookmark and take it with you.
Writing a daily journal can be a fantastic way to express oneself.
It helps to let go of your emotions. For example, writing can help you to:
- examine what happened that day
- “scold” someone you dislike
- write lovely messages to someone you care about
- complain about something which you don’t want others to know
- talk about the negatives, the positives, sweat & tears, and so on
You will find much better after jotting down the good and the bad.
However, sometimes it can be challenging, especially if you are a working mom or busy professional trying to maintain such a habit.
After graduating, I still kept writing my daily journal.
I wanted to keep my diary short and sweet. However, not only was it longer than I expected, but it’s also taking quite a fair bit of my time.
Plus, there were days I was still writing backlogs. Daily became once a week, then bi-weekly, once or twice a month.
After a while, I stopped journaling completely.
I started picking up when someone suggested I check out a book called The Secret.
Here’s the link if you want to know more about it. Or continue reading…
One of the suggestions in the book was using The Secret is to start making a list of things to be thankful for.
For instance, “I am so happy and grateful now that I am healthy!”
Why am I talking about all these practices of being grateful? What has this to do with washi tapes which seem out of topic?
Instead of writing a lengthy journal, which might take too much of your time, or postponing it until the backlog piles up, realize that you have to fill in the blanks; what about having a washi tape gratitude journal?
You can just write, for example, as suggested in “The Magic” book, something about “Count your blessings”. Make at least five each day. Then use washi tapes to adorn the page.
It’s simple, fast, inspirational, positive, and happy.
It’s so much easier to write five short yet powerful sentences and, at the same time, make use of and showcase your washi tape stash.
No doubt that there are plenty of different planners, journals, and diaries out there. They could be cheap, expensive, fancy, or not-so-fancy. Or some well-known brands like Filofax, Erin Condren, or Hobonichi planner. Otherwise, a simple notebook, D.I.Y. journal page, or even an exercise book will work, too.
Make washi tape journal your very own happy book!
Before I end today’s topic…
I want to share some samples I have prepared just for you. I used text, quotes, affirmations, and pictures in the journal. I’ve been collecting these inspiring quotes for quite some time, not knowing what to do with them or how to decorate them.
So, this is a great opportunity to do something with these quotes and use those beautiful masking tapes. I stick one washi tape or a maximum of four different types on a journal page for you to see each type clearly.
What kind of journal/planner do you use? Do you decorate it?
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