Writing and journaling matters to me... A lot! I couldn't be without my journals, it's my form of expression and a much needed means of relaxation.  Plus I am a complete stationery addict.  And so to mark World Stationery Day and National Stationery Week I have decided to write why writing matters to me.

I have to admit, it did take me the best part of a day to think about what to blog about for National Stationery Week, it could have been a number of things; My favourite types of stationery, an up to date post about my favourite UK shops (click to read my post from last year), a list of my planners and journals or what to include in them.  However the message of the week is about writing and as a teacher myself I know the importance of it.

Hard work does indeed reap rewards, I had a great year last year and wanted to incorporate working hard and rewarding myself into both my journaling and my Word of the Year for 2019.  Last year I focused on the word 'Happy' and it was a great success.  You can see more on last years word here Word of the Year 2018.

Self Care is so important, if you don't look after yourself then you will struggle in other aspects of your life.  I love adding a bit of self love into my journaling as you can see from my self care and mood tracking journaling pages.
Self Care and Mood Tracking ideas in your Bullet Journal.

This years pages are an extension of this idea, but with the added notion of working hard to receive it.

​The #kmmamjunkjournal challenge has been happening again over in my Facebook Art Journaling group. We have just completed our second challenge which ran through the month of August.  Lots of lovely people have taken part, both in the group and on Instagram (if you search for the hashtag #kmmamjunkjournal on Instagram you can see some of the works in process and finished journals).  A lot of people are still completing theirs, so I will do another post when there are more finished journals from the participants.

​The images from my journal are below as well as a video flip through of the completed journal I created this year, which includes sewn in signatures (a first for me). ​

Eek, I'm excited to share that over in my Facebook Art Journaling group we will be having another junk journal challenge throughout the month of August. This will follow the same format as last years very successful challenge and will run from 20th July - Aug 31st on Instagram and in the group. We will once again be using an hashtag #kmmamjunkjournal on Instagram and we can post progress updates in the group and on other social media platforms. 

From the middle of July there will be a few prompts to get you started over in the group and a Pinterest board updated with tips and ideas here KMMAM Pinterest Board. You can see the prompts on the main graphic and below.

I've always been in to creating journals, scrapbooks, smash books and travel journals, even as a teenager. As a child I used to make magazines and then when I was 13-14 I made a gorgeous travel journal of my visits to Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire places of beauty. I had actually completely forgotten about it, but my mum was keeping it safe for me.