more photos from Calgary

TIPS & HINTS- Let's continue exploring journaling! (p.s. thank you for all of you who have jumped on my bandwagon and are now exploring journaling on your blogs and through the emails you've sent. It is definitely the biggest COMPLIMENT that I could ever receive. I want to help you & myself grow in our scrapbooking. So this adventure is going to be fun!) Lisa Bearnson gave the best lecture I have ever heard in regards to journaling. She said "YOU HAVE TO BE HAPPY, to SCRAP HAPPY." So what does that mean, unhappy people can't scrapbook. Well no. She is just saying that we have to remember to make the most of every moment and each other. We have to value time spent as a family, or with friends or nature. Whatever your passion is. Sometimes we spend more time on scrapbooking the memories than the time we actually spent on making the memories. How true is that? How many of us are guilty of this fact?? Hello, any hands raising, because mine is fully raised! What is your family going to remember more, your scrapbook page or that awesome time where we all went toboganning together, making memories, having fun as a family? Where dad got thrown off the sled and ended up rolling all the way down the hill getting covered in snow. Well there's our answer. Lisa said that she journals about everything, and always has. She has many journals from over the years and sometimes shes rips a page out and uses it directly on her scrapbook layouts, to show where she was in life. Do any of you keep personal daily diaries or journals? I do, BUT they are only to remember my boys. Their first words, their reactions to new things, things they learn, what they do. You can relive their little lives through reading my journals. I always make them very attractive too, because I think they are my gift to them when they are older. (shown below) However, most of the stuff I write I have never made a scrapbook page of. So why not? It must have been important at one time if I thought I should write it down in their journals to tell Jim. So why would I not think it is important?or not scrap-worthy? I have many pages that have no journaling, so why don't I put some of these stories on? I'll tell you why, we are worried that people won't find the stories as funny or memorable as we do. We are always worried what others think. Now this is crazy! We should be making our scrapbooks for our families and those we cherish enough to show. I don't write lengthy details, sometimes it is one or two lines, sometimes longer. I actually truthfully started it to make sure that Jim never missed out on any part of the boys growing up, since we talk everyday I would tell him what I wrote. Now it has become more for the boys.

Everyone says that you should use your own handwriting. This is of course ideal. I am guilty of typing out stuff too! I love the different fonts. But there is such truth in this. Why? Look below...

This was written about my children by MY grandma (their great grandma) She always writes down little things that they do or say at her house. Stuff that is important to her. Now how valuable is this going to be when my boys grow up. They will be able to see exactly what she felt about them through her own handwriting. You begin to learn about people. My husband was given photocopies of letters from his great Uncle to his sister (Jim's grandma). They are unbelievable. One line in one of the letters talks about how he is away at war and has just met a girl. He said, " She sure is swell." No one talks like that anymore. So reading this in his own handwriting puts you back to understand the era he came from. Unfortunately Jim's great Uncle never returned from the war, so these letters have become the only way we know about him. Thank goodness he was faithful in writing to her.

So when we are going to journal, let's divulge more about the situation, our feelings, any relevant info. Maybe spontaneously interview your family members, get & use their input on your layouts. HAve them do their own writing if able. Remember, children go through so many language fads, seeing them write their own journaling will be hilarious to look back on in 20 years. Maybe we should journal more about fads, likes & dislikes. Because these things change. Our scrapbooks are actually mini time capsules. They contain everything important to us that year, or maybe that subject. So let's be more constructive when we write. Before we journal on the page, maybe make a web. When I was teaching we'd draw a circle and place lines away from the circle writing everything that describes the word in the circle. Then we were able to generate more thoughts about a subject. It always would help when it came time to write. Try it. Remember, to be successful at journaling you have to be comfortable in your niche. SO #1)journal from the heart #2) be more descriptive-how did people feel? what they experienced, heard, smelled? what were the stories behind the scenes? #3) why do you love this picture? what is so special about it? #4) whenever possible (and when you feel comfortable) use your own handwriting. (want to know a secret??? I still print my journaling out in pencil first and then go over it...EVERY TIME! but who cares, it allows me to position it or make changes where I want)

So good luck. Have fun, Remember this is for you, & your family. NOBODY else. So think of it in this harsh reality. If someone close to you was to suffer from amnesia how would you want them to remember their memories? 5 W's or maybe a bit more descriptive so that it could trigger a memory? Good luck, and email me with your successes. Remember, if you don't want to leave a comment, don't, I have received private emails regarding different subjects on my blog everyday. I read them all. So if you want to share with everyone, please do. or if you want to keep it private, I understand.

Guess what??? I already received my first challenge layout from a blogger. So check back on Friday to see all the layouts.

So a few more pics from Camp Croppin. The crazy girls at my table had this ready for me when I came back from a class. Silly beans!

Here's Melina, I think when she won best name tag. (this is Dawn's photo so correct me if I am wrong)

this photo is from Kim, we were taking a Heidi Swapp class and she was the tent mom. Great job she did too!!!

Here's a different photo Dawn took of Lisa Bearnson looking at my scrapbook.

So in closing, I would like to thank LISA BEARNSON for inspiring all of us to journal better! Also tomorrow I hope to post some more photos from Kim. I had a little problem getting them to download on the blog. I'll try tomorrow.