Last year around March, I decided to start documenting my creative journey using a *Happy Memory Keeping Planner. I wanted it to be a place I could turn to when I was feeling uninspired or when I started to feel like I hadn't accomplished enough in my creative life. Essentially, I wanted it to be a celebration of everything I had done throughout the year, all recorded in one place that I could easily reference when I was feeling low.
I often struggle with comparison and the feeling that I don't measure up to those I see on social media, or those who are accomplishing (what feels like) so much more than I am able to. And I don't think I'm alone in this feeling. We all have a tendency to compare ourselves with others, and when all we see of others is what they choose to show us on social media, it can seem like our own lives are pretty miserable in comparison. But of course, we all know this isn't true.
So I wanted to create a place for me to celebrate my wins, both big and small. It was just for me, which is why I chose not to share it online. I created most of the pages in my free time, usually in front of the TV at night while Jesse was traveling. I had no intention of showing it to anyone else.
But as I started making plans to do the same thing in 2020, it occurred to me that others might benefit from the idea. Memory planning has become a bit of a trend lately, so I thought perhaps others would like to see my own version of this form of scrapbooking. So I decided to talk about it a bit in my 2020 Plans and Goals video to gauge if there was any interest.
Still I was worried that others might see this as vain, or as a sleazy form of self-promotion. I don't want to seem like I'm shoving my own wins in others' faces or bragging. I'm not. I honestly don't think I have enough wins to be enviable. Remember this started as a way for me to pull myself out of the depression of comparison.
Ultimately, I (obviously) decided to share my pages and deal with whatever fallout I may receive. There may be times when I feel the need to blur certain parts out, but overall, I want to be as transparent as possible, and REVEALING this part of myself is part of that.
But I've blathered on enough for one post, so here are the details of this week's spread and my 2020 Creativity Journal in general. I'm using the Memory Planner Templates from Retro Hip Co. as the base of my album. There are lots of different ways you can bind these pages, but I've decided to hole punch each sheet and store them in a *Heidi Swapp Storyline album. I think this will give me the most flexibility as the year goes on.
For Week One, I chose a few supplies from my Feed Your Craft stash. I used the Makers Make digital cards and resized them to fit into my planner. Actually, I had resized them to fit into my Happy Memory Planner, which is a slightly different size from this template, but I made them work. I also used the stamp set from the Makers Make kit, as well as the Aster alpha and number sets and the What Day is It stamp set (no longer available) designed by Brandi Kincaid.
I also had a little bin of random Dear Lizzy cut-aparts sitting in my cabinet, so I decided to use a few of those as well. Then I grabbed some coordinating washi from my stash and an old texture stamp from Studio Calico, and called it good.
I hope you've enjoyed seeing this little peak into my Creativity Journal, and I hope it inspired you to celebrate your own wins, whatever they may be.
Happy Crafting!
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