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Congratulations 'dragonfly'!  An email has been sent.  Thanks to everyone who participated!!

I enjoy journaling, and I enjoy journaling with photos.  Sometimes a photo says it better than I can.  I’m not really a scrapbooker, but I enjoy the idea of photos and words and some light embellishment.  Last year I signed up for an online art journaling class, and I really enjoyed the lessons.  As much as I enjoy writing, sometimes I struggle with what to write about.  I have always thought of journaling my life as being something important.  I want to one day be able to pass on my life stories (no matter how mundane) to my children or grandchildren, so if they are interested, they can get a true glimpse into my everyday life.  This is of course hoping I will have some grandchild that is as interested in history as I am. 

Katie (a longtime blog friend) at Gadanke is the designer behind this fun journal I’ve been working on for a few months.  I bought it back in March, and I’ve been filling in the pages ever since.  What is especially wonderful is all the prompts throughout.  I love having a few minutes to myself, and just opening the pages and writing whatever I feel like, in no particular order.  The other day I printed some of my favorite Instagram photos of late and added them in.  I’m loving the doily that was inside!

I especially love that the journal has a little pocket for holding treasures (and came with a blank sticker for me to decorate) and old library cards.

I have filled in pages with words, but obviously those are mostly personal so I haven’t shared them here.  But I love the opportunities for filing out and adding in photos and other memento's.  It’s such a fun, cute journal.  If you’ve ever wanted to have more of an “art” journal, this is a great first step with all of this fun items inside.  And this is not the only journal!  There are so many other variations – recipe, kid’s, Christmas, baby, home…  Really, something for everyone.

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Katie has graciously offered up a $25 gift certificate to Gadanke for one lucky commenter.  Head on over to their site and take a look around at the different journals let me know your favorite.  I’ll pick a random winner on Sunday!   

Here is a little more from Katie on the topic of the journals:

♥ The best thing about Gadanke journals (if you ask me!) is that they're accessible and usable for anybody. ♥ They're for people who say they never know what to write about. Gadanke journals have lots of writing prompts to help keep the ball rolling. ♥ The journals are small, so they fit in your purse. A lot of women take them to the coffee shop. You could even journal sitting in the carpool lane! ♥ The books give you a place to put your stuff. Date night movie ticket stubs? Vacation postcards? Paste them in or open the loose bindings and pop 'em in. ♥ And for those who wish they were craftier or want crafting to be easier and more fun, the tags, envelopes and cool papers in the journals help bridge the gap and inspire you to start embellishing your pages.

And because the story behind why Katie started these journals is so close to how I feel, I wanted to share it here with you:

“ A couple of years ago, NPR's StoryCorp was in town. It was also my grandma's 90th birthday.The two of us decided to hop into the recording studio to capture some pieces of her story. I had all sorts of prompts to help her with her story telling. (I was always the listener, the one who asked question after question.) The only problem? My grandma couldn't remember. Too much time had passed. Later, my dad turned to me and said, "Katie, I need you to write down your story." I knew he wished he had his mom's stories. So I started writing. I started wondering about all of the other women who have stories deep inside of them, and I started thinking about how my tendency to just listen and ask could help put those stories onto paper. Gadanke was born with fabulous writing prompts and recycled papers. I feel so lucky to be living my dream!”

Good luck everyone!