Sometimes, life moves too fast for us to pull out a camera and capture it. Today, I'm going to share some ways I incorporate journaling instead of (or in addition to) photos in Project Life.

Every once in a while, Caribou Coffee has a BOGO promotion. I usually go alone, so there's no one to share the BOGO with. Lately, I've been passing on the free drink to the person behind me in line. I obviously don't take pictures of random people in coffee shops, so there's no photos for this story, But it is a story that I wanted to document. I saved the receipt, wrote the story, and put it onto a decorated 4x6 card. 

I love trying new food. I try to get a photo of any new creations I make, and of course they end up in my PL book (and in my recipe book), but it's so boring to keep writing "I tried a new recipe, it was good" every time I make something new. So I started printing out a miniature recipe card to put in my book. I rate the dish with stars so when I look back, I know if I liked it or not, but I don't have to write anything else.

Sometimes I just have so much fun doing something, I forget to document it. That, or my friends get really tired of me snapping photos all the time. Or both...
So when I go out to eat at a new or fun place, I grab their business card. It makes a nice supplement to my journaling about the event.

Sometimes, there are stories that need to be told but don't need to be remembered or read every time you look through your book. Or maybe you don't want to share this information with everyone who ever opens your book. I had a very difficult day and wanted to write about it, but I didn't want to have to re-read it every time I looked back, so I made a folded journal card, decorated the front, and wrote on the inside. The story is told, and I can choose when to read it again.

So there you have it - some of the ways I use or supplement journaling in my Project Life book. I hope this inspires you to tell your story.

Just because you don't have a photo, doesn't mean life didn't happen.

Happy Crafting!

My mom has a group of really close girl friends from college. 
There are 8 of them. 
It can be quite intense when they are all together.

The great thing about having a bunch of friends like that is that there is always something to celebrate! Most of their kids are around marriage and baby-having age, so there are lots of showers to plan and attend. They all take turns hosting bridal and baby showers for each others' kids. 

Whenever my mom hosts, she comes to me for the invitations (DUH!), and now one of her friends has also started coming to me first for her invitations, too! This summer alone, I've made 3 sets of invites for Carol; one set for my sister's bridal shower, one set for another daughter of 'The Girls' (it sounds like a cult!), and one set for her daughter's friend.

I've really enjoyed making all these invites because it gave me a break from the pile of periwinkle products I had to make for my sister's wedding this summer (another post later - I'm still recovering and taking photos).

When I make invites as a commission for someone, I find out what theme, colors, or preferences they have in place for the event so I have a direction. Next, I create 3-5 prototypes using different papers and designs and send photos of these to the buyer. Once they choose a design (or tweak/combine one), I get crafting!

Here's the invite I made for Carol for my sister's shower:

I actually didn't make any other prototypes for this one and I didn't show Carol ahead of time because she said I could do whatever I thought Erin would like best. And Erin loved them! She always keeps stuff I make for her, she's so sweet!

Here's another invite I made for Carol:
(I put generic info on this one for photographing)

Her instructions were "bright colors".
Here are the other 3 prototypes I made for this order:

The last order came with the instructions "sangria wine red and eggplant purple with matte gold as an accent". Now there's a bride who knows what she wants! Here's what Carol chose:

And while I did make 3 other prototypes, I only made 'dummy' words for one other one:

So there we are!
I am so happy that Carol likes my designs and comes to me for her invitation needs! I hope some of the people who get the invites seek me out as well!

Happy Crafting!