March 2026 Mother Goose and Grimm Journal Design
- Simply Jelly Jam
- Feb 24
- 4 min read
This old comic always made me smile.
I drew Mother Goose and Grimm characters to make me smile! After all, the comic and 90's cartoon show always made me smile.
I used archival ink pens, water-based markers, calendar stamps, archival stamp ink, acrylic stamp block, and pencils (for initial sketches).
NOTE: While the page layouts are like Bullet Journal (BuJo) setups you have seen online, I use this journal as a diary/memory keeper, not for productivity. The BuJo-inspired pages encourage me to make note of the good things in life, even on the worst days.
In case it's helpful, below are the main points covered in this post:
Calendar Overview Pages
I initially could not think of a journal design theme that I have not already done. I briefly thought about a Mario theme in honor of MAR10 Day (Mario Day, March 10th), but I passed on that idea when I remembered that I have a few Nintendo themed arts and crafts in the works.
Once I decided on a quick and easy design theme, I did an image search for "old newspaper comics." I then saw Mother Goose and Grimm, a comic/cartoon series I have not seen or thought about in years.
I used to redraw Sunday comics when I was a kid, so I knew drawing these characters now would be easy for me. Sure enough, this design theme took me under two hours to complete.
On these pages, I included Mother Goose holding a bone, Grimm, a random fire hydrant to fill in some empty space, Attila, and Ralph.
Hobbies & Dogs' Pages
As I did with the other pages, I included a random bowl with a bone, Grimm, Ralph, Mother Goose, Attila, and another random bone to fill in the free space of my BINGO card.
Highlights and Mood Pages
I again included Ralph, Attila, Mother Goose, and Grimm. To fill in some empty space, I added a huge red hole behind the two main characters to give the illusion of them breaking through the page. Maybe I will paint the next two pages red for grins. I could always use a white gel pen to write any future journal/diary entries.
As I wrote this, I wished I added a bone on one of these pages to match the other pages. I may draw one towards the top of the highlights page later tonight.
Detailed Info About the Pages
The calendar overview is where I note important dates I want to document in my journal. For example, I will make a short note of something that happened on different days.
I also highlight the best and worst things to happen during the month. I primarily want to document positive things on the decorated pages, but I feel it is also important to document bad things, especially if it is a lesson learned.
While many journal enthusiasts track their habits, I track my favorite hobbies as a reminder to dedicate time for fun. I also track the things I want to do for my dogs to ensure their happiness and well-being.
The hobbies I track are:
art + crafts,
writing,
gaming, and
workout.
I also track the following for my dogs:
when they go for a joy ride (their favorite thing to do),
when they go for a long walk,
when I care for their coat with a brush, leave-in shampoo, or bath,
when they receive teeth care with brush chews or teeth brushing, and
when they get to relax with a picnic in the park.
I especially wanted to track my young dog's training progress. We will focus on mastering a few skills. I would love for her to become a Canine Good Citizen one day. Unfortunately, I am horrible with training. We have a long training road ahead of us.
The BINGO game is just a goofy activity to note and track a wish list of things I would like to accomplish during the month. I rarely complete a bingo (straight line or otherwise), but it is fun to track what I actually get done that month.
Every night, I write a line of text highlighting one good thing about the day on the highlights page (left). It forces me to think on the bright side, especially on the most challenging days when my depression hits hard.
I treat my mood tracker page (right) as a coloring page of sorts. Each night, I will color-in a part of an image or shape that represented my overall mood for that day.
What's Next?
Struggling to come up with a theme for your journal design? Search for images of your favorite comic/cartoon characters to spark inspiration!
Have you set up your journal design? Comment below to share what theme you went with and the materials you used.
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Thanks, and have a great day!
~Simply Jelly Jam
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