May 2025 Colorful Doodle Bears Journal Design
- Simply Jelly Jam
- Apr 29
- 3 min read
Quick doodles for a quick design theme.
I doodled some happy bears for a quick and easy journal design theme!
I used calendar stamps, stamp inks, archival ink pens, gel pens, watercolor markers, and a paintbrush.
NOTE: While the page layouts are similar to 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 did not want to devote a lot of time on my journal design theme. After a few minutes of thought, I decided to doodle cutesy bears on the pages.
I originally thought about drawing the Care Bears' various characters, but I decided to stick with simple doodles so that I could quickly return to caring for dogs and playing video games. (My priorities in life are in check!)
Bright colors added visual appeal to an otherwise simple design. Hearts, stars, and dots filled in some empty space. Besides using a white gel pen to highlights to eyes and noses, I left the design as-is and moved on to the next pages.
Hobbies & Dogs' Pages
I doodled a some bears doing activities I enjoy such as gaming, drawing, sleeping, and reading. I doodled a couple of bears holding on to the BINGO block to fill empty space and add more color to the pages. Throughout the month, I will use colored markers to identify the days I complete a hobby, training activity with my crazy dog, and BINGO block.
Highlights and Mood Pages
The highlights page is mostly plain, but I doodled a couple of happy bears along the top of the page. For the mood page, I doodled a bear holding a bunch of balloons. I also doodled a few balloons attached to a wrapped gift. It seemed fitting since I will celebrate my birthday in May.
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 things I want to do for my dogs to ensure their happiness and well-being.
The hobbies I track are:
art + crafts,
writing, and
gaming.
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.
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? Doodle whatever brings a smile to your face!
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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