Hello there!  Erin here with a fun idea for capturing more of YOU in your memory keeping.

I have been trying to make an effort to be in more photos, which is hard since hubby works long hours and I am usually the one taking them.  I really do want to capture memories of myself – moments that are flying by so fast as my kids grow up.  I realized there is more to capturing me than just being in the photos though.  I also need to capture more of what I am thinking, hoping for, planning, more of what is going on behind the lens.

Now, as you know, I LOVE Art Journaling, and I use it as a way to express myself creatively, but those pages are not really for my kids, they are more for me.  I also really like the ease of Pocket Scrapping, and how straight forward and “user friendly” the designs are.  Not too long ago I started a book just for my kids where I combined the two – expressing my thoughts and feelings in a Pocket Style art journal page – and my kids LOVED it.  They like being able to read what Mom is thinking and see the pretty pages.  I like it because it allows me to finish pages pretty quickly, while still expressing myself and exercising my artistic streak. The hardest part is deciding what kind of information to include in the book.

When I think back to the things I enjoyed most in learning about my Grandmother I realized it was the little notes she left behind that really told me the most about her.  Her shopping list or spring cleaning to do list.  Her address book and the piles of cards and letters she wrote.  These days, making Bucket Lists is a popular thing to do, in fact in The Sweet Shoppe Bingo Challenges this month one of the prompts is a Spring Bucket List, so I thought why not start there.

Here is the page I made with my Spring Bucket List

Using Spring Woods and a simplified 6×8 pocket template, I was able to make a happy page sharing some of the activities I would love most to do in the spring.  It gives me an upbeat encouragement to actually get out and do those things I have been thinking about, and it also gives my kiddos a glimpse into the heart and mind of their frazzled mommy! Win, Win Right!