Hello, Jane Maday here, with a blog full of easy doodle tutorials to help you beat the winter blues. Once the holidays are over, it is easy to fall into the winter blues. Your bujo can be a great help to your mental health, by reminding you of methods of self care and mindfulness to help boost your mood. In this blog, I will show you a page in my journal where I drew self care doodle reminders, and at the end you will find a downloadable printout of step by step doodle instructions. 

Consider the things that help you nurture yourself. Taking care of other things is a good way to boost your mood, so I added taking care of plants to the page. Green growing plants get me in a Springtime mood! Living in a clean, fresh environment always makes me feel better, so Spring cleaning is definitely on my list. I feel brighter when my house feels brighter. And remember, a healthy body helps with a healthy mindset. So take care of yourself with fresh air, exercise, and good food. 

Supplies for Self Care Doodles:

• Archer and Olive square Journal
• Black waterproof fineliner pens
• Pencil and eraser (a white plastic eraser works best)
• Optional - If you want to add color, gather assorted watercolors or markers. Alcohol markers will bleed through the page, so water-based markers are a better choice.

If you wish to purchase any Archer and Olive products, you can get a 10% discount if you use my affiliate code: JaneMaday10.

PREPARATION STAGE

The first thing I do after gathering my supplies is to create a very loose sketch of my idea.  This step is really rough, just to get my ideas jotted down and an idea of the layout. You can use either a pen or a pencil here, it really doesn’t matter as it is just the idea stage. If you don’t want to doodle at this point, just write a list of your ideas. Artists call this stage a “thumbnail”. 

SKETCH STAGE

My next step is to create a pencil layout on the actual journal page. This step is pretty rough, but I am guided by my thumbnail. I refine the drawings until they are ready to be inked. Try to keep erasing to a minimum, as that can damage the surface of the paper. If you are not sure about what you want to draw, try sketching it on a separate sheet of paper first. The lettering at this stage is just a scribble to let me know how much space it will need.

LETTERING STAGE

Once the pencil drawings are finished, it is time for the words. I always work my lettering out on a sheet of tracing paper first, because I know handlettering is something that I am not particularly confident about. 

INKING STAGE

Next, I go over all the pencil lines with a waterproof black fineliner pen. Let it dry for a few minutes before you erase all the pencil lines, so they don’t smear. Make sure that the pen is waterproof, or the lines will bleed if you add color!

VIDEO OF DOODLE SKETCHES

This video shows how I sketch out my drawings in pencil. You may find it helpful to watch this in conjunction with using the printable step by step instructions. 

FREE PRINTABLE

Here is a printable page of step by step instructions for how I created the doodles on my journal page. I hope you enjoy them! I’d love to see what you create, so tag me with @janemaday and use the hashtags #archerandolive, @archerandolive.community, and #AOShare. 

Take good care of yourselves, and remember, Spring will soon be here!