Scraps & Sass: July Journaling Challenge: By the Numbers

Wednesday, July 09, 2014

July Journaling Challenge: By the Numbers | A MSA Post

I have this thing for numbers. No, I'm not a math geek... in fact I despise math... but I do love numbers. In decorating. On scrap pages. Using them to tell a story... etc. So this month, I'm challenging you to use numbers in your journaling. To count up things that take place, share a number of things you bought/read/cooked/etc. A great example of this process is found over at Julie Kirk's Notes on Paper blog. She has a tutorial about tracking your month in numbers and gives examples like,

"Some months the numbers will be obvious and come completely naturally to you.

there'll be birthdays;
anniversaries;
house moves;
travel;
sporting events;
winning the lottery [OK, so that one might not be a monthly occurrence ... but we can hope!]"

and

"so what are your key - everyday - events?
what are your activities / hobbies?
who or what have you shared your month with?
what have you made?
anything unusual and out-of-the-ordinary happen?
alternatively is there anything that happens so often, it's regular, repetitive? Because the numbers involved there are going to be worth collecting too - and even comparing with the same thing in the next month! "

and

"For example:

What did something cost?
How big was it?
How heavy?
How often did X happen?
How much did something / someone grow?
How many X did you make / receive / give / find / lose?
How long did X take?
How far did you walk / drive / swim / fly?
How may pages did you read / write?"

Julie is awesome! There are more ideas on her blog if you feel like checking them out... AND she also has a Pinterest board where you can get your page(s) pinned as long as you use some sort of picture (since that is how Pinterest works). It is a great community to play along with (if you are so inclined). Check out her blog for more information and where to link up.

But even if you don't want to join up with another virtual community, documenting your day/week/month in numbers is kind of fun and a great way to look back on your memories in the future. If you are stuck with not a lot of photos and you want to create a photoless page, numbers are definitely the way to go. And it is perfect for those of you doing Project Life/P365 type projects.

And here are some examples of different types of scrapping/journaling/memory keeping that illustrate what you can do with numbers