Hi friend! Elizabeth from the @thejoyfulsojourn on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, to tell you about one of my favorite products from Archer & Olive- the NOTEPADS!

I’ve been purchasing notepads for the last year and can’t get enough! And I’ve been pleased to see them pop up in occasional seasonal subscription boxes as well. So if you’re like me, or just have one you don’t know what to do with, let me share with you several ideas for how to use A&O notepads!

Supplies - use the discount code "JOYFUL10" to save 10% at checkout at Archer and Olive!

• Notepad – the star of the show!
• Any sized journal you have (or want), to play with!
• Pens 
• Stamps 
• Stickers
• Various desk supplies like scissors, double-sided tape, liquid glue pen

Use 1: Hourly Time-Blocking

Are you a seasonal sub box subscriber? If you’re not, you should be! They’re an excellent value, are beautifully curated each season, and occasionally include small notepads like the two seen above in cream and pink. If you have these already, try pulling out the sheets and gluing them down to your journal for daily planning! The side margin is great for hourly time blocking.

Use 2: Collaging/Junk Journaling

Notepad paper makes excellent collage paper! In the journaling page above, I used collage paper from a subscription box along with deep red notepad paper from this year’s Halloween box, to make a scrappy journaling page.

Use 3: Page Color Change-up Tip-Ins

Need a break from your white journal? “Tip-in” paper by gluing in or using double-sided tape, to insert a page of notepad paper into the journal. You can trim the edge to make a dutch door (above) or grab a darker colored sheet to really show off the beauty of your of acrylograph paint pens (below).

Use 4: In your Planner!

Are you using an Archer & Olive dated planner? Each month has it’s own title page and if you want to add extra panache, collage it with notepad papers and stickers!

Use 5: Testing out layouts in different journal sizes

Have you ever wanted to explore a different size journal? I’ve been living in an A5 journal, but the B6 size has caught me eye! I’ve been using a B6 notepad (which has a lower price-point) to try out my favorite layouts in the smaller size to see how everything fits before committing to a B6 journal.

Use 6: Fixing Mistakes in Your Journal

I have such decision paralysis when it comes to a new journal - how to set it up, what 'aesthetic' I want for it, figuring out what purpose it will actually serve, etc. That paralysis has led to a lot of pretty journals sitting on my shelf unused. Well I'm in my era of USE THE THINGS, and I hope you are as well- especially if you have a notepad handy!

Notepads are an excellent way to fix mistakes. If you feel like you've messed up a page, simply cut the page off close to the spine (leaving a little bit of the page dangling), then take a piece of notepad paper and glue it to the strip of remaining old paper. VOILA! Matching dot grid paper that's the same weight, style, and fit for your journal...a do-over! And it hasn't added bulk to the journal. 

In the example below I went rogue and replaced a messed up A5 page with the list-sized paper pad, and I think it looks pretty cool! It looks like I cut the existing journaling page down, when I really tipped a new page in place of the boo-boo page!

In addition to adding the list sheet, I punched out paper from a neon notepad and created deco hexagons (that can be functional as well), and ripped paper to create a header at the top. 

Use 7 : Creating Layouts

The sky is the limit here! Whenever you want to create a specialty layout or even weekly planning page, rip off a page of colorful notepad paper and cut it to the shapes/sizes/days you need! This is a fun way to add texture and color to your journal without breaking out pens, stamps, and stickers. All you need is paper and a glue stick!

If a video tutorial for any of these ideas would be more helpful, check out the YouTube video below where I explain each idea!

Click below to download a coloring printable that you can print onto a piece of notepad paper (make sure it's set to cardstock) and tip-in to your journal!

Looking for more tips and inspo? Be sure to follow me over at @thejoyfulsojourn on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, and if you have additional ideas for how to use notepads, be sure to tag me and archer & olive using: @archerandolive @thejoyfulsojourn @archerandolive.community #AOShare #archerandolive