Uncategorized Sep 1, 2026 8 min read

How to Start a Sticker Journal: Easy Ideas for Beginners

How to Start a Sticker Journal

Want to journal without spending hours on sketching and drawing? Sticker journaling is one of the easiest ways to do some creative work without being creative. Journaling is a way to add personality to your pages. Sticker journaling is the cutest way to keep yourself busy and do some creativity without any pressure.

You can use the stickers to decorate your notebook, organise your plans, record your memories, and make your notebook enjoyable. The best part is that you don’t need any kind of complicated thing to start journaling. If you are completely new to start a sticker journaling, then start small. A notebook, a pen, and a few stickers are enough to start your creativity.

If you have ever seen those dreamy journals on social media and want to start sticker journaling, then this guide will help you learn how to start sticker journaling at the beginner level.

What Is Sticker Journaling?

Sticker journaling is an artistic form of journaling that combines stickers with written notes and other decorative items. In journaling, you decorate your pages and layouts with stickers instead of writing. Some people use stickers just to decorate their pages and make their journaling attractive; on the other hand, some use the stickers as part of their planning and to save their memories.

For example, you write about your daily routine and add a coffee sticker on the front when you visit the coffee shop, and add a flower to the gratitude entry. You could also add the stickers to pin your weekly tasks.

There is no correct way to do your journaling. Your journaling can be neat or bold and colourful; however you want to do it.

Why Should You Try Sticker Journalism?

Traditional journaling is not for everyone. Some people find the page, but they cannot find the words to write their thoughts on the page but sticker journalism is very easy for

Anyone. Stickers can also help you :

  • Make plain journaling pages more interesting
  • Express your emotions visually
  • Record your daily memories
  • Organise information naturally
  • Develop a relaxing creativity in your hobby
  • Personalise your notebook

Supplies You Need For Starting A Journal As A Beginner

To start journaling, you don’t need a massive collection of supplies. Only a few main things are enough to start journaling effectively as a beginner. It is much better to start journaling with some essential and high-quality tools.

Here are some tools that are essential to start journaling

The Absolute Essential Tools For Starting Journaling

You need these three tools to start journaling in an effective way

The Journal: Look for a notebook with thick pages so that the ink or sticker glue does not bleed to the other side of the paper. The grid dot pages are mostly used by beginners for starting their first journal because it gives a guide to align the stickers and writing in a straight way.

Pack of Stickers: Instead of buying individual sheets of stickers, buy a sticker book or a variety of ephemera packs. They instantly give you 200+ theme stickers like vintage theme, coffee theme, etc. It gives a quick boost to your journaling at a lower cost. You can buy high-quality packs of stickers from Custom Sticker Pro in low amount.

A Pen: Buy a smooth-writing gel pen (0.5 mm) in black so you can write easily around the stickers as you want

Beginner-Friendly Tool Kit For Journaling 

These two inexpensive tools save you a lot of frustration while pasting the stickers on the paper.

A crafted tweezer: A fine-tipped tweezer helps you a lot to pick up small stickers easily and paste them in their position without getting frustrated. This small but effective tool saves you time and helps you enjoy them.

A small craft scissor or knife: A small craft scissor helps you to cut the stickers’ edges precisely to make them clean. If they disturb the border of your pages.

The Background Addition (Optional) 

The paper looks good when they are layered with texture. The use of these two tools makes your journaling more attractive. These stickers are optional to buy; if you want them, you can.

Washi Tape: A grid-pattern roll of paper tape with excellent borders, frames, and background anchors for your stickers

Glue: It’s essential for layering non-sticky paper scraps.

Step-By-Step Guide To Start Journaling As A Beginner

Starting your first journal makes you intimidate, but there is no strict rule for starting journaling. But here is one secret you should know about journaling before starting: make your journaling as simple as you can. This will make your journaling more effective and long-lasting.

Below is a step-by-step guide to start your journaling journey today:

Define Your “Why”

Before putting a pen to your page, decide how you want your journal to serve you. Knowing your goal make easires to find your theme and choose your layout. The common styles you can use to decide why you want to start journaling

Memory keeping: Documenting your daily lifestyle to save your precious moments forever, like travel, achievements, and many more.

Art and stickers: The use of stickers, ephemera, or painting to express your feelings in a creative way

Mental health: Through the journal, you can express your thoughts and emotions on the pages to improve your mental health and avoid overthinking.

Gather Your Minimalist Setup:

Don’t wait for a massive amount of accessories to start journaling. You can express your thoughts and emotions with a minimum but essential set of tools like

  • Notebook
  • Pen
  • A pack of stickers

Preparation Of Your First Page

The blank page causes “Blank Page Syndrome”. So break the ice immediately and create your first page with your name, date, some favourite quotations and a few stickers. It gives you a confident to start your new hobby and develop your interest in journaling

Also, permit yourself to make mistakes because mistakes give you a chance to learn new things and open doors for you. If you ruin the page, then don’t worry; paste a large sticker on it and a scrap page and start again from the start.

Create The First Layout Of Your Journaling 

If you are starting your sticker or creative journaling, then follow these three steps to build a beautiful page layout for your journaling

Start with a base layer: Apply a strip of washi tape or a scrap paper cutout near a page corner to anchor your design.

Make a focal point: Add your favourite large sticker on the right side of the page at the top for the base.

Add accents: add tiny stickers around the heading, like florals or stars, to balance the page.

Add Your Words 

Leave the space around or right next to the stickers to add the cluster of words. Words are important to express your emotions. Add words according to your theme or niche

Build The Habit

You don’t need to write every hour of the day. You just need to sit for 10 to 15 minutes for a week and write your daily lifestyle or your emotions and thoughts on the pages.

Journaling is a hobby that gives words to your thoughts, so build the habit of journaling for a long time.

Best Types Of Stickers For Starting Journaling As A Beginner:

The type of stickers depends on how you would like to write your journaling and design your pages. Below is a breakdown of 3 types of stickers that are mostly used by journalers

Sticker Type Material Look and Feel
Washi Paper Sticker Semi-translucent matte paper A soft, blended look that appears printed directly on the paper
PET/Clear Plastic Stickers Transparent, glossy or matte plastic A vibrant, clean, smooth, and seamless look with no white border
Matte Paper Sticker Traditional opaque paper Solid, crisp colors with a defined look

The Type Of Stickers That Beginners Should Avoid When Starting Journaling

Try to avoid 3d foam stickers or puffy stickers; while they look good, they create a bump on the page of the notebook that can cause difficulty writing on the back of the sticker page later on.

Popularity Of Sticker Journaling

Sticker journaling has become very popular these days because it can be a source of creativity. Some people can’t do traditional journaling because of a lack of words, so they move forward to sticker journaling. It’s so relaxing and looks so aesthetic on social media. It’s also beginner-friendly, and you don’t need to become an artist; you can do this journaling with a few packs of stickers. It’s not just adults who do this; it’s also become very interesting for children to get a new hobby to keep them busy and avoid screen time.

Conclusion

Sticker journaling is a creative hobby that anyone can start with a few things like a notebook, a pen, and a pack of stickers. You don’t need to buy expensive supplies to start journaling. No one needs to do heavy drawing for this; you just need simple stickers. Sticker journaling can help to make your plain journal look more attractive or aesthetic. Show your emotions visually.

If you want to start your sticker journaling, you can get custom stickers according to your theme and taste from Custom Sticker Pro. We give you high-quality, premium-looking stickers to give a quick start to your journaling. Get a quote and book your customize stickers order.