Stop Wasting Weekends Presents:

Outdoor Adventure Journal Challenge! – Day Four

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OUTDOOR ADVENTURE JOURNAL

This is really a 5 day challenge to create an Outdoor Adventure Journal, and this day will be all about the resources you can find for your journaling ideas!  If you happened to miss it, check out my entire article on what an Outdoor Adventure Journal is, and why you NEED to create one!

And you also should check out Day 2 – which is all the Supplies you Need to Create an Outdoor Adventure Journal, and Day 3, How to actually get started Creating Your Outdoor Adventure Journal! 

Brief Summary of the Outdoor Adventure Journal

The concept of this isn’t anything I had seen ANYWHERE!  It’s not exactly a field notebook, and it’s not exactly a bullet journal.  It’s something really UNIQUE.  And, sharing it with you, makes me hope that it will become something that you learn to love, and grows with you as well!

We live in a fast paced, technologically driven world.  Facebook, Text Messages, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest……our attention is constantly being lured into these distractions that leave us with little peace, comfort, and satisfaction.   Many people turn to nature for rest, relaxation, and reflection.  However, given our modern world, most people who consider hiking (or camping) find the silence a bit overwhelming at times, and the lack of distraction, uncomfortable.

After learning this completely new way to see the world outdoors, and record your time in nature, you will be able to plan, dream, record, study, draw, sketch, paint, and reflect on your experiences in a completely new way.  So, without further Adieu (<–see what I did there?), let’s get to DAY 2, and look at all the resources available for your journaling ideas that you can actually use create your very own, personalized, Outdoor Adventure Journal! 

DRAWING NATURE

Given that you will be out in nature with your Outdoor Adventure Journal, these are some amazing journaling ideas for learning to draw the nature you see! This part of your outdoor adventure journal will be the part (if you choose) that looks more like a field notebook.

I’ll just say that HANDS DOWN if you are interested in drawing nature, then the resource John Muir Laws or the Nature Journal Club is going to be hands down your very best bet.  There are not only books, but also full length workshops (over an hour!) on You Tube that show you exactly how to draw birds, plants, skies, water, and landscapes! 

If you want to check out one of his VERY in depth videos on how to draw birds, (its and hour and a half long, and AMAZING!), then check this out!

When drawing nature (birds, twigs, leaves, animals, etc. in your Outdoor Adventure Journal, you may feel as if you need to be Bob Ross (Happy Little Trees……).  Don’t get paralyzed by perfectionism!  Just remember that by the sheer fact you are doing this, you will get better!  That means your first attempts will not look as good (to you, only!) as the attempts you do later on.  But don’t let this deter you from starting your nature journal, your planner, and recording your memories, or dreaming about the future!

As we work on something over and over, it is inevitable that we will surpass ourselves again and again. So do what you can, now, with joy!  But for those of you who would like to learn even more, and get even more journaling ideas regarding how to draw nature, here are some excellent resources!

• Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of the Natural World
• Drawing Nature for the Absolute Beginner: A Clear & Easy Guide to Drawing Landscapes & Nature (Art for the Absolute Beginner)
• Peggy Dean’s Guide to Nature Drawing and Watercolor: Learn to Sketch, Ink, and Paint Flowers, Plants, Trees, and Animals
• Handbook of Nature Study
• The Nature Connection: An Outdoor Workbook for Kids, Families, and Classrooms
• Keeping a Nature Journal: Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around You
• The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling
• Botanical Drawing in Color: A Basic Guide to Mastering Realistic Form and Naturalistic Color
• Botanical Drawing using Graphite and Coloured Pencils
• How to Keep a Naturalist’s Notebook

 

Handwriting and Lettering

You want to make your letters express your journaling ideas in a creative way!  This can be a huge hangup for many people who attempt journals, planners, or notebooks!  I’ll say it again!  Don’t get paralyzed by perfectionism!  This is an area that many people struggle with, but again, remember that your first attempts will not look as good (to you, only!) as the attempts you do later on.  Please, please, please again don’t let this deter you from starting your outdoor adventure journal.  The important part of an outdoor adventure journal isn’t how it looks, but the fact that it is a tool to help you plan, dream, and memorialize.

The idea of learning how to do lettering or handwriting beautiful titles may not be your jam.  That’s ok!  Remember this outdoor adventure journal is all ABOUT YOU!  I know that certain types of hand lettering and handwriting are super popular right now.

One of the best videos I’ve seen for modern and popular calligraphy is here!

Some ideas for titles and lettering in different ways is here:

But for those of you who would like to learn a bit more, and get some ideas regarding how to do calligraphy or handwriting lettering, here are some excellent resources!

• Lettering and Modern Calligraphy: A Beginner’s Guide: Learn Hand Lettering and Brush Lettering
• Hand Lettering for Relaxation: An Inspirational Workbook for Creating Beautiful Lettered Art
• Lettering For Beginners: A Creative Lettering How To Guide With Alphabet Guides, Projects And Practice Pages
• Creative Lettering and Beyond: Inspiring tips, techniques, and ideas for hand lettering your way to beautiful works of art (Creative…and Beyond)
• Super Simple Hand Lettering: 20 Traceable Alphabets, Easy Projects, Practice Sheets & More! (Design Originals) Includes Technique Guides, Skill-Building Exercises, Art Prints, & Vellum Tracing Paper
• Adventures in Lettering: 40 exercises to improve your lettering skills
• Hand Lettering 201: Intermediate Lettering and Design Basics
• Faith & Lettering Journal (Deluxe Signature Journal) (Deluxe Signature Journals)
• Hand Lettering A to Z: A World of Creative Ideas for Drawing and Designing Alphabets

Bullet Journals

Many people are familiar with bullet journals. The original bullet journal (called “BuJo” by loyal fans), is a very specific system that helps you stay organized, but in a really unique way.  A great description I found from the website Tiny Ray of Sunshine says, “The Bullet Journal is an analog system created by Ryder Carroll, a Designer based in New York. In his words, the Bullet Journal is meant “to help you track the past, organize the present, and plan for the future.” It’s an amazing system that keeps a record of everything you could ever want to toss at it. It can be your task manager, sketchbook, journal, idea catcher, and much more!”

The Bullet Journal is a organizational system in a notebook that keeps track of anything you would like to write down in an coherent way.

But many people are using it to demonstrate their creativity as well, and now, the BuJo world has exploded!  Check this video out:

The ability to create endless pages, uniquely yours, has resonated with millions of people.  A great way to see what you would like to include in your Outdoor Adventure Journal can be found on … you guessed it, PINTEREST!   Click that link and you can find every journaling idea you have ever wanted to know about within a bullet journal.  I’ll see you in about a hundred years. 🙂

Again, its COMPLETELY up to you how you make your own Outdoor Adventure Journal.  The journaling ideas you have are yours, and yours alone.  What you decide to put in it, how it will look, what it’s function will be, is solely up to you.  You can make it functional, creative, artistic, about nature alone, or about planning your camping trips!

Even more Journaling Ideas & Inspiration

My Own Pinterest Board for Inspiration!

Make sure to head over to my Pinterest Board to check out the inspiration I’ve already captured for you!  Remember to follow our other boards for even more inspiration to Stop Wasting Weekends!

Some of the BEST Bullet Journaling spreads I found here.    Definitely check her out, she is amazing.

And here are some more videos for even MORE inspiration!

It really is like if a Field Notebook and a Bullet Journal had a baby.  A totally awesome baby.  

As I’ve said before, my vision was that an Outdoor Adventure Journal would be a place to memorialize the past, organize your present, and dream about your future. 

It can make sure you get things accomplished, memorialize those accomplishments, relax and be creative, and even dream about the future. Your Outdoor Adventure Journal will be unique to you, reflecting your personal style.  And while this challenge may help you, make certain to know that there is no one way to keep a Outdoor Adventure Journal, know that it will end up being very personal.

You may go through many stages, and trials and errors (nah, not errors, just ways you don’t want to do it anymore!), before you decide on the way that works best for you.  But here’s the best part.  This Outdoor Adventure Journal can constantly change and adapt.  Even in the middle of a month, a year, or a page.  You’ll see what I mean soon!  (So all of you out there who are perfectionists need not worry!  This Outdoor Adventure Journal  will be PERFECT for you!)

If you keep an Outdoor Adventure Journal for a month, a year, or even many years through many journals, you will see that you have a diary, a scrapbook, and a history of what you saw and what happened to you.  In this digital age of lightening speed technology, this will be a tangible way for you to hold your memories and future dreams (quite literally) in your hands.

Next up!  Day 5 of the Outdoor Adventure Journal Challenge is up next, and that’s where I give you about a MILLION more journaling ideas, to take your Outdoor Adventure Journal to the next level!!!

Adieu for now!