September 30, 2008

Journaling from the Heart.

Real journaling.
Not "look at me, i was the perfect mom" journaling.
Let your kiddos see the real you. That you have flaws.
That you were unsure, even scared.
Let them see the good and the bad.
The days you had no idea what you were doing!

Let them know the reasons you fell in love with your husband,
the reasons marriage is a work in progress.

Be YOU.
Don't feel like you have to present a perfect image in your scrapbooks.
I don't know about you, but I'd love to have a scrapbook of my mother's emotions.
To say "OH! She was lost sometimes, too!" or "THAT'S her love story with my dad? How cool!"

I try to "write from the heart" on every layout.
That doesn't mean you need to write a novel on every single page.
Sometimes, a sentence will do.
But I'm a firm believer that all pages need journaling.
Heck, I've been known to even write it on the back of my pages.
Hidden journaling is great, too.

Here are some examples. Some are sappy (i admit it)...and some just show the real deal.
Feel free to use humor in your journaling. I know I do!!









So now comes a challenge.
You knew it was coming, didn't you??
I challenge you to do a page with handwritten, true to life journaling.
It can be serious, or completely funny.
It can be sad, or happy.
You choose...just make sure it comes from the heart.

Link your pages here by Saturday night at midnight (EST)
and I'll choose a winner and send you a RAK from my stash.
I promise it will be good!

Can't wait to see what y'all do!
xo
s
at

23 comments:

  1. AnonymousSeptember 30, 2008 at 8:26 AM

    Fabulous inspiration here - on so many levels! Thank you! If I can catch up from my vacation at some point, I may just go ahead and try this!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anilú MagloireSeptember 30, 2008 at 8:38 AM

    One of the things I love most about your pages is the journaling.
    It's always perfect in that it comes from the heart like you said.
    I will make an effort to start journaling too.
    It's such an important part of what we do.
    Thanks for this!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hanna LongSeptember 30, 2008 at 8:57 AM

    Steph - I always love your journaling so heartfelt and honest. Thanks for this challange its a great jumpstart

    ReplyDelete
  4. Erin MSeptember 30, 2008 at 10:50 AM

    perfect challenge.
    Love the "get real" aspect of it!
    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  5. KimberlyOctober 1, 2008 at 4:30 AM

    Love journaling! These pages are great.

    ReplyDelete
  6. HelsbellsOctober 1, 2008 at 6:55 AM

    Thanks for the challenge.

    Here's my effort :)

    http://littlemissscrapper.blogspot.com/2008/10/brand-new.html

    ReplyDelete
  7. LynnOctober 2, 2008 at 1:13 PM

    thanks for this challenge Stephanie. I always love your journaling and am trying to get better at mine, so I did something i've never done before and wrote some serious journaling! My LO is in the gallery and is called 'I wish' or you can see it on my blog.

    ReplyDelete
  8. GinaOctober 3, 2008 at 1:41 PM

    Love the challenge! Here's a page I just did with hand journaling. http://reformationtheologyandcheerios.blogspot.com/2008/10/so-so.html

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousOctober 3, 2008 at 3:53 PM

    Okey dokey! I did a layout today about my recent trip to the USOpen. Here is the link: http://www.studiocalico.com/forums/galleries/show/5273

    I also uploaded a layout that I did a while ago, but was saving in case it got picked up. It doesn't have to count toward the rak!!!! LOL It is a page about my husband and his grandmother.
    Link:http://www.studiocalico.com/forums/galleries/show/5272

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousOctober 4, 2008 at 6:17 AM

    Hi Steph, I may just be your biggest stalker and so here I am posting my first ever layout on SC just for your challenge, I'm VERY nervous, so please be gentle!!

    http://www.studiocalico.com/forums/galleries/show/5279

    ReplyDelete
  11. HeatherOctober 4, 2008 at 8:56 AM

    here is mine....this was hard for me, but I'm really pleased I did it. thanks Steph for the push.

    http://www.studiocalico.com/forums/galleries/show/5280

    Heather

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnitaOctober 4, 2008 at 5:17 PM

    Here is the link to mine :

    http://www.studiocalico.com/forums/galleries/edit_pictures/5291

    Thanks for the push to do this , havent been able to concentrate on scrapping lately due to having trouble dealing with the difficulties my teenage daughter is having to work through at the moment .... have found doing this very therapeutic and plan to do a little mini book or something for her to look at when she feels down , so she knows that we are there for her ... wow its tough being a parent sometimes ! Anita

    ReplyDelete
  13. ErinOctober 4, 2008 at 6:58 PM

    Love this challenge and your gorgeous pages and real journaling. I always love your pages for their honesty and emotion. Here's mine:

    http://www.studiocalico.com/forums/galleries/show/5292

    ReplyDelete
  14. AnonymousOctober 4, 2008 at 7:49 PM

    Hi Stephanie, I'm new here and have never posted anything before, but I'll give this a try! I've been feeling lately like I don't include enough of my feelings on my pages. This is a good push to do that! I only have the journaling done so far, and it will go with a picture of my 2 year old son in his church clothes. Because it is so lengthy, I'll hand-write it and put it in a pocket on the page. I'm leaving it here because I don't have a blog--hope that's okay!
    Cole, you are a funny little stinker! Oh, the things you say and do. Always destroying something of some kind--you seem to get your jollies out of that. Time out doesn't deter you and even the occasional spank doesn't do much. You just love to be naughty! But then, of course, you turn on your charm. You do something darling that we can't get enough of. For example, last week in church Daddy was trying to keep you occupied with his phone. You put it up to your ear and said, very loudly, I might add, "Hello, Christmas? (that's what you call Santa Claus) I want lots uh duh beeeeg trucks!" Oh, so very cute. And so LOUD, too! You tromp around in your little church shoes and button-down shirt and cords, like such a little man. I so don't want you to get bigger. Well, in some ways I do, mainly I hope you'll grow out of the destructo-mode--soon! But those sweet little cheeks, wispy toddler hair, your darling knock-kneed stance and little diaper-bum...they are leaving day by day as you stretch into a little boy. I always go in and check on each of you at night before I go to bed. I just look at you and stroke your little head and your sweet face and hands as you lay in your crib. You are filling it up, and pretty soon you won't even fit in it! I try not to let it make me sad, but so often it does. You are my baby, maybe my last, and you are growing up. Although you can be a real challenge at times, (sometimes I really want to pull my hair out!) you bring me so much joy, too. I love to pick you up, swing you around, listen to you laugh and then we fall to the ground and you give me a big hug. It's those moments that make it all worth it, being a mom. And I realized, you don't get those moments any other way. You EARN them. With dishes washed, laundry cleaned, dirty diapers changed, and a million other tedious daily things--you earn those supremely beautiful, joyful moments. I couldn't have you if I wasn't willing to do all the work that comes with kids. But because I am willing to do the work, I have you and Alexa and Ben and I get those moments. They are fleeting, they come in between periods of quarelling and sometimes tantrums and sometimes frustration. But they are real. They are true love made tangible for a second, and they get me through. I am so thankful for them! Some people don't have that, ever. That mother's love that is so deep and so solid that NOTHING, even a child who makes the worst of mistakes, can ever destroy. Mothers love their children, no matter what, always. That is a privilege. Feeling a love like that is a treasure beyond any other. Thank you for being one of my treasures, little Cole. You will always be my baby. Love, Mom

    alisyn@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. kilismomOctober 4, 2008 at 7:51 PM

    Hi Steph!! Thanks for the opportunity!! I was sooo thrilled after I completely this...want my daughter to benefit from it. :)

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/17389682@N07/2913728826/in/photostream/

    hope you won't have probs viewing!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Sweet PeripetyOctober 4, 2008 at 9:08 PM

    You can see my l/o here:
    http://www.studiocalico.com/forums/galleries/show/5293

    Thanks for the challenge, Stephanie.

    ReplyDelete
  17. JenniferOctober 4, 2008 at 9:12 PM

    Here is a look at a couple pages of a minibook about my postpartem depression.

    http://www.studiocalico.com/forums/galleries/show/5294

    ReplyDelete
  18. Christie WildesOctober 4, 2008 at 10:12 PM

    Here is my page. I haven't done any journaling about my dd's bad behavior before - but it def. needs a place. haha

    Thanks for the push.

    http://www.studiocalico.com/forums/galleries/show/5296

    XO
    Christie

    ReplyDelete
  19. AnonymousOctober 4, 2008 at 10:46 PM

    Here is the link to my LO. Journaling is on the back and is about how happy my kids make me, even when I'm on the verge of insanity! Thanks for the challenge! http://www.studiocalico.com/forums/galleries/show/5297

    ReplyDelete
  20. DeniseOctober 4, 2008 at 11:07 PM

    Here's mine: http://www.studiocalico.com/forums/galleries/show/5298

    ReplyDelete
  21. Jill HOctober 5, 2008 at 10:32 AM

    thanks for this challenge!

    here's my page: http://www.studiocalico.com/forums/galleries/show/5284

    ReplyDelete
  22. AnonymousDecember 4, 2009 at 10:13 PM

    Good day !.
    You may , perhaps very interested to know how one can collect a huge starting capital .
    There is no initial capital needed You may start earning with as small sum of money as 20-100 dollars.

    AimTrust is what you haven`t ever dreamt of such a chance to become rich
    The firm incorporates an offshore structure with advanced asset management technologies in production and delivery of pipes for oil and gas.

    Its head office is in Panama with offices around the world.
    Do you want to become really rich in short time?
    That`s your chance That`s what you desire!

    I`m happy and lucky, I began to take up income with the help of this company,
    and I invite you to do the same. It`s all about how to select a proper partner utilizes your money in a right way - that`s it!.
    I take now up to 2G every day, and my first deposit was 1 grand only!
    It`s easy to join , just click this link http://ejezodyzug.lookseekpages.com/okafymij.html
    and lucky you`re! Let`s take our chance together to feel the smell of real money

    ReplyDelete
  23. AnonymousDecember 19, 2009 at 1:25 AM

    Hello !.
    You may , perhaps curious to know how one can reach 2000 per day of income .
    There is no initial capital needed You may begin earning with as small sum of money as 20-100 dollars.

    AimTrust is what you haven`t ever dreamt of such a chance to become rich
    The firm incorporates an offshore structure with advanced asset management technologies in production and delivery of pipes for oil and gas.

    It is based in Panama with offices around the world.
    Do you want to become really rich in short time?
    That`s your chance That`s what you really need!

    I`m happy and lucky, I began to take up real money with the help of this company,
    and I invite you to do the same. If it gets down to choose a correct partner utilizes your funds in a right way - that`s AimTrust!.
    I take now up to 2G every day, and what I started with was a funny sum of 500 bucks!
    It`s easy to start , just click this link http://wenuboqah.lookseekpages.com/obepihyl.html
    and go! Let`s take our chance together to become rich

    ReplyDelete