Why I Journal - tips and ideas Part 3

I have always put the words first in my memory keeping and to be honest I find it very hard to scrapbook/project life if I am limited to how much journaling I can add.  I do believe that photos are very important but the words bring the photo to life, give it meaning and emotion.

Quite often a story I want to tell is sparked from an embellishment or a stamp.  These are also great things to use if the words just won't flow easily.  I wrote a blog post about my "bucket list" (a prompt from 2015 Blog-tember challenge) and I wanted to get the story down on paper and into my album.  When I first got these mini flair buttons from Feed Your Craft my first intention was to use them to document a holiday that we had recently.  As I was looking at them, a different story started to unfold in my head.  The words on the mini flair and my blog post were coming together in my head and I realised that I could use these to tell a different story.

Quite often when I get new products like these mini flair or stamps I just stare at them for awhile, letting my head just take them in.  I let them flow around in my brain and as I sit there stories start to emerge.  If the stories come quickly I grab a pen and paper and start making notes but if the story is not there I just let them sit on my desk and wait for the story to appear.  It may sound a bit strange but this process has worked for me for many years and I have been able to tell so many wonderful stories.

This particular story was important for me to tell as I want my children to grab life and enjoy all that it has to offer, the good and the bad.  This has been my personal mantra all through my life and I want them to understand that a good life just isn't handed to you, you have to go out and get it.  I want this layout to encourage them to do so.

You can read these earlier posts about tips and ideas for journalling here and here.

Don't always be in a rush to use product, let them inspire you to tell stories and record your history.

If you would like to order some of your own mini flair buttons head over to Feed Your Craft and use the coupon code TRACEY20 to get 20% of your order.

What inspires you to tell stories?  I would love to hear how your stories unfold.

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Kellie Stamps - new release...

Its always exciting when new stamps/digital stamps are released over at Kellie Stamps.  And this month is no different.  There are three new digital sets and one physical stamp set available.

I am showing Project Life cards made using "Gosh" and "I am, you are, we are" digital stamps that are available for purchase now.  The great thing about digital stamps is there is no waiting and no pre-ordering.  As soon as your purchase has gone through you can start creating.

Also exciting this month is the "gosh" digital stamp and physical stamp set which has been designed in collaboration with Brandi Kincaid using her amazing doodles.

I have a few more projects to share over the next few days so keep an eye out.

Happy Monday

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Sapore Espresso Bar...

It's no secret that I love trying out new cafe's and restaurants and I love to photograph it all.  The more quirky or funky the cafe/restaurant looks the more I want to go.  I stalk several foodie accounts on Instagram and they keep me well inspired to keep a list of places I want to try.

On Friday I caught up with my very dear friend Donna and we went to Sapore Espresso Bar.  I have had this cafe on my list for some time so I was excited to finally be going there.

You can check out their instagram account here, and keep an eye out for their amazing milkshakes which I am yet to try.

I ordered the Breakfast Board of a bacon & egg slider, potato croquette and mini granola pot.  I have to confess... the main reason I ordered the breakfast board was because the idea of a mini granola pot sounded so cute and I am all about the packaging.

... and those jars are filled with freshly juiced apple, ginger and lemon!  YUM!!

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So Excited to announce...

You may have already heard but I thought I would share it here too.

I'm totally excited and thrilled to announce that I am part of Feed Your Crafts first ever Creative Team and super thankful to be working along side these amazing ladies.

If you haven't heard about Feed Your Craft then pop on over to her shop and discover her wonderful handmade flair buttons.  As well as being the creator of super cute flair buttons, Elise is super creative so check out her blog here.

Can't wait to start this new journey...

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I am - layout

New digital stamps from kellie Stamps are now available and I think they might be my new favourites.  I think I have said it before about being worried that there were no longer going to be physical stamps from Kellie Stamps but I have definitely moved on.  I am finding working with the digital files so different and challenging and it's certainly helping to get my creative juices flowing.

For this layout I have used "I am, We are, You are" digital stamps both for my journaling and then I used them and the trace & cut feature on my cameo to cut out some of the words to add as embellishments.

Right now I am right into journaling about how I am feeling and the words in this set were just perfect.  I think it's really important to get these stories told.  It will be so interesting in years to come, to look back at this and see how I was feeling.

Since about April (I think) when I first started purchasing Kellie Stamps I have been trying to challenge myself every month to see how many stamps I can use from one set.  I love this challenge and so far I have been able to accomplish it without too much difficulty.  Fingers crossed I can keep it up.

What have you documented lately?

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