Happy Mail - Again , Not Wool

 I've been thinking a lot recently about doing some 'real' journaling. 

I have  a very basic craft journal for this year; each month has two pages, the left hand side records yarn in and out and the right hand one lists completed projects for the month. And once those are complete I decorate the pages with a few relevant stickers. Simple, not too taxing, does what it was meant to do. 

I also have a similarly simple Reading Journal where I record monthly what I have read. This takes  a bit more keeping up as I give the book a mark out of five and then write  a few lines to justify my score. And again I decorate each entry with a few more or less relevant stickers. The problem that I have with this one is that I don't always remember to record a book when I've finished it, particularly if it's a re-read or if it's on Audible. So I suspect a few things get missed, but I suppose if they are so forgettable I don't remember to write about them as soon as I have read them, then maybe they don't deserve to be recorded? 

Anyway I feel I want to do something a bit more ambitious and at the same time not so restricted i.e. not tied to a particular facet of my life. Just to create a page or pages about something that happens or that inspires me, whether that's a colour, a memory of a place I once visited, a birthday, whatever takes my fancy. I can't draw, but I can cut out and stick stuff together, and I have lots of supplies because of the cardmaking. 

I've watched a few videos about it on You Tube; there are 1000s and the people who make them simultaneously declare that its all easy and doesn't have to be perfect and your journal pages are unique to you and you can do what you want - all the while producing the most stunning and artistic pages on camera, and that's very off putting. I'm a long way from the person who thought that everything I did had to be perfect from my first try onwards but even so I'm dithering because I think I'm not artistic enough. Then again, who is going to see this stuff? and if I enjoy doing it and feel that I'm creating something that speaks to me or about me then that should be enough, shouldn't it? 

So earlier this month, in an effort to get myself started, I ordered a 'Journal Starter Box' from a stationery company and it came yesterday. 

There it is and here are the contents 

A journal, washi tape, a gel pen, a highlighter, some sticky notes, a little booklet of yellow/gold themed photos and the thing that looks like a cat's leg is a combined corrector and sticky tape dispenser - one at each end. I haven't quite worked out how to use that yet.

Nor has the box helped get me over the fear of failure. because who wants  to mess up that beautiful book? 

I may return with photos of some finished pages in due course. Or not. Depending.