Making and Keeping a Quotes and Poetry Collection Notebook
Hello! Valerie Sjodin here, and today I’m going to be sharing how I set up and organize a quotes and poetry journal notebook.
I've been collecting quotes and poetry for decades. It started by writing down meaningful quotes and putting them in a stationary box. Then, with the computer, I typed them out and copied and pasted them into Word documents by theme. That worked well for awhile and I still use that method.
When I started to choose a word for the year, I searched for relevant quotes and poems and copied them into my journal notebooks. I still refer to those often, and that prompted me to start a Quotes & Poetry Collection in an Archer & Olive Notebook. For this journal, I decided to up my usual size from an A5 to a B5. It has been so fun, I thought you might like to see how and be inspired. In the video below I walk through the process.
I highly recommend the Archer & Olive notebooks. The paper if fantastic! Use this link and Code VALERIE10 to receive 10% OFF your order.
Supplies:
- Dotted notebook in the size of your choice
- Pens of personal choice
- Pencil
- Washi tape
- Scissors
- Ruler or straight edge
- Eraser
- White paint pen for corrections
- Black calligraphy marker (opt)
- Circle Dot Stickers (opt)
An Easy Process for Making a Quotes & Poetry Collection in Your Notebook
What is included in a quotes and poetry notebook is totally customizable to what you want and need. The following are what I like to include, but are optional.
Title page
I like to make a title page for my notebooks so you see I made the title on a piece of dotted notepad paper in taped it on the notebook page with Washi tape. I chose to use Washi tape as my main way of embellishing the pages, along with pen. Keeping the process simple makes it easier to come back to it and add a quote or two.
Front pocket
There is a back pocket in each notebook and I use it all the time, and like to decorate that too. You'll notice I also like to put a pocket in the front of the journal, using the page that is glued a bit more at the spine. Here is a link to another blog post that shows how to make a pocket similar to the one shown in this post: https://www.archerandolive.com/blogs/news/how-to-make-a-pocket-in-your-journal-using-washi-tape?/?aff=816
What to put in the pocket
A quotes and poetry journal is an ideal journal for pockets.
- Quotes written on scraps of paper can be put in a pocket to be added to the journal later.
- If a section of quotes gets full, a pocket is the perfect place to store overflow quotes.
- Stickers to use throughout the journal can also be stored in a pocket
Organizing the quotes & poetry in the notebook
I organize my quotes and poetry by word theme. This is inspired by having a word for the year for nearly two decades. Each year, I would look up my word and put the word 'quotes' after my word in the search box. From there I would visit various quotes sites and copy and paste the quotes that resonated with me into a Word document. Then I would print them out and hand copy them into my word of the year/planner notebooks. Organizing by a word is an easy way to find a quote or poem with the desired theme in mind.
At the beginning of each word themed page, it is helpful to make the word stand out in some way, like a title to a chapter. Calligraphy, brush lettering or stamped letters are a few good options to make the word stand out.
Using a sticker in front of the word also helps visually mark the beginning of a new theme.
It is personal choice how many pages to have between the word themed quotes/poetry pages. I allot about 6-8 single pages for each word in the B5 notebook.
What if there is not enough space for all the quotes for a particular word theme?
Adding a page, either at the spine, or tipping out one of the sides of the page is a good option when added writing space is needed. Use Washi tape on both sides of the pate to connect the added page to the notebook.
What if there is too much space or pages left in a word section?
Having blank pages and space in a section is an opportunity to feature and embellish a favorite quote or poem.
Making an index or table of contents
Keeping track of the themes of the quotes and poems should be easy and useful. In the back of the journal, I left a good number of blank pages (10 single pages) for an index, although it is just a guess.
When I write my word title in the notebook, I add the word to the index. As the notebook gets filled with more words and quotes, I'll add page numbers and list them along side the words in the index.
Making it doable, easy and beautiful
Using a particular pen or stamps for the word theme makes it easy. I don't have to think of a new way to present the pages each time.
Washi tape, stamps, or stickers are all fast and easy ways to decorate the pages. I like to pull a simple motif out of the Washi tape pattern and draw that at the beginning of a quote or poem.
Check out the video below to see the process and be inspired.
Another easy way to add quotes in a beautiful way to your notebook is to print out a quote with a decorative border and paste or tape it into the journal. Below is a downloadable quote about the power of words. At 100% it fits into both an A5 and B5 journal nicely.
One reason I'm excited about this journal is it is an heirloom I can fill and pass on. Having a beautiful, high quality notebook makes it special and is an invitation to come and write more meaningful words.
MORE INSPIRATIONAL LINKS
Inspiration for Keeping a Motivational Quotes Journal