Starting a new scrapbook journal

I've written bits and pieces about my scrapbook style journals before, but only in passing.  I've never really shared much about my personal journals.  I had read on several blogs about this wonderful idea of keeping a simple daily journal that would be interspersed with beautiful bits and pieces of things that speak to the journaler in a personal way.  I so wanted to do this, ever since I first read about it.  But it wasn't until 2007 that I finally spent the money on the watercolor sketchbook that would be the basis of my scrapbook journal.  (In case readers hadn't noticed by now, I tend to be extremely frugal.  Bordering on cheap.)  

Above you see my first journal, begun in July 2007 and filled up in just over 2 years.  I don't think other scrapbook journals I've seen have been titled, but I have given titles to mine.  I titled this first one "Gathering My Thoughts" and, as you can see, the first picture I chose was bowls and crocks full of cherries.  You can't really read the lettering around the picture, but this is what I wrote: 

"I love cherries; I love vintage things; my kitchen is red and green.  Just as the cherries have been gathered into these lovely bowls and crocks, I hope to use this journal as a place to gather my thoughts.  No perfectionism allowed."

The next two photos show some of the pages from that book.  You can get an idea as to some of the kinds of things I have been drawn to. 

 

My next scrapbook journal was begun in August 2009 and here is the first page of it:

Its title is "Stir Up Memories", but of course there are all sorts of topics covered in this scrapbook journal.  I jotted the following in reference to the patchwork scraps surrounding the pretty vintage bowls:

"Life is like a patchwork quilt ... some beautiful patches, some ugly ones, some dull patches, some unusual ones ... all stitched together by God's hand to produce something lovely and useful."

Many memories are detailed in this scrapbook journal: holidays, trips, births and deaths, and just day to day happenings.  There also memory joggers, such as what action to take if the wood furnace smokes.  And toward the end of it, I kept the journal at our cottage and, in my spare time,  journaled through the book Make Room for What You Love, by Melissa Michaels. 

And now I'm ready to start a new one.  A little simple math will tell you that "Stir Up Memories" took me 13 years to complete!  Yes, sometimes I skipped entire years in between journaling here.  Life has been just a little busy.  That's why I ended up taking it to the cottage and giving myself a specific topic to journal about.

 "Keep the Homefires Burning" seems like the perfect title for another scrapbook journal as I start this new one in October 2022.  Keeping the homefires burning is such an important responsibility in our day when life itself seems to be turning ... well, maybe not upside down, but surely sideways.  We need to make sure we are holding tight to traditional values [gasp!] and keeping our families as close as possible.  We need to make our homes beacons of warmth and light, ministering not only to our loved ones and friends, but also to others who need the light of the gospel.

As I think of homefires, I also inevitably think of our little camp.  Fires are pretty much a constant here -- fires in the woodstove to take off the morning or evening chill, and campfires in the outdoor fire pit to roast hot dogs or marshmallows with family and friends.  Or, sometimes just for the companionship of a friendly, cheery, crackling fire.

I'm several pages in and so far have just been journaling about happenings this fall, starting with our Nevada family's visit in September.  I have high hopes for keeping up with this scrapbook journal more regularly than the previous one.