31 Things

After over a year working on this journaling project from Ali Edwards, I finally finished it this week and I am so pleased with the results.

As you can see, I'm still waiting for the album to arrive but otherwise it's complete. Next time I'll be ordering direct from Ali.

The project is based around 31 prompts from Ali's online classroom which are designed to get you writing about yourself.

It needn't take a year to complete; in fact Ali recommends a month but that's the thing I love about this kind of project - everyone can work at their own pace. Since I was working again and started at a busy time of year, I broke it down into baby steps.

First I wrote in a new notebook, addressing one 'thing' per week. Then I typed these up, three per week, editing as I went along. This took 41 weeks.

I then moved on to the photographs and did these over a couple of weeks. I really want to improve my photography skills. Sometimes it was hard to find a fitting subject for a particular theme but it worked out. The important thing is to find something that gives a small insight into life at the moment.

Finally I completed three layouts a week. I stuck to the suggested layouts and used the recommended materials. When all 31 were done, I did the front page (above) and stamped the sides.

I'm really glad I did this project. I think it helped my writing. It certainly helped me reflect this year. It also inspired me to look for more journaling projects though I really want to do something that focuses more on us as a family next.