Ideas to fill your notebook - Part 2

What pictures will you choose to add to your pages?

So here we are with another selection of random things that I hope will inspire you to dive into some of the blank pages in your favourite notebook and maybe fill up a few more pages. Of course, you don’t even have to start from the front...pick a random page and go wild!

j) Journaling - use your notebook as a place to loosely record your thoughts and ideas about whatever is on your mind. Remember that a journal is very much For Your Eyes Only, so write whatever feels important. Or perhaps you prefer a specific focus, so maybe keep a dream journal, a hobby journal or start a collection of notes to yourself. Your journal, your choice.

k) Keepsakes - use your book as a place to keep treasured cards from your nearest and dearest. Photographs or postcards can make your book into the perfect memory-keeper. Include posters, flyers or programmes from your favourite shows and events, dried and pressed flowers from your favourite meadow or snippets of cloth from a much-loved garment. Add handwritten labels to make sure that the memories remain crystal clear.

l) Letters or love notes - collect together all the letters, love notes, pictures and poems given to you by your partner, children, family and friends. Perfect to browse through when you need a little pick-me-up.

m) Meal planner - for a more practical day-to-day use for your new notebook, how about taking time each week to plan out your menu and shopping lists. This can help create a balanced diet and protect against the habit of always making just a few favoured meals. Look back over past weeks to see what you enjoyed and what you might have forgotten about in the bustle of everyday life.

n) Nature Notes - keep track of the passing seasons by logging birdlife or other animals seen in your garden or when out and about. Use symbols to create a simple weather tracker and keep a record of daily temperatures. Dry and press leaves and flowers to decorate your nature notebook and add sketches or doodles to illustrate your observations or take a photograph once a week of the same view to show the passing of the year.

o) Opinions - Have a little rant...go on, you know you want to! Collect headlines from the newspapers or screenshots of all the ridiculous tweets or Facebook posts that you see but refrain from commenting on in public and then let rip in the privacy of your notebook. Use shouty capital letters, use red or green pen, use as many exclamation marks as you want to...only you will ever know :-)

p and q) Positive Affirmations and Quotes - You don’t have to scroll far through social media before someone shares a hand lettered quote or an inspiring thought for the day. Write these out for yourself or print them and stick them in your journal. This could become a place to refer to if you need a little boost of positive energy or could be a source of positivity that you can pass on to others when they need it. Make it a little collection of smiles and pats on the back, a silent reminder that you are awesome!

r) Research - Looking into your family tree? Collecting folk tales or songs to inspire your artwork or music-making? Trying to learn a new language? Whatever it might be, your new notebook is the perfect place to record all your research in one place. Add photos, sketches, newspaper clippings, printed text or vocabulary lists to make it the perfect repository for all your new knowledge!

There you go folks - another whistle-stop tour through some hopefully inspiring prompts to get you started on filling up those gorgeous blank notebooks you have been collecting. See you next week - same time, same place - for the final part of the alphabet of inspiration :-)