You have to leave the city of your comfort and go to the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. You will discover yourself.
~Alan Alda
Every year millions of blank and lined paged journal books are sold in the United States. Amazon sells more than a million books to those wanting to write their musings or organize their thoughts. Equally as popular is the scrapbooking community. Those who love to mesh photographs, stamping art and stickers together in a bound book for posterity. I may have a few of these journals or scrapbooks on my shelves or in my drawers – and by a few I mean twenty or more.
If you are a reader of this blog, then you will know that I am an ardent photographer and love to assemble projects that utilize photos and quotes. (Read a recent article here.) I am a firm believer that sparking your mental processes through creative outlets is one way to keep yourself challenged and active from your youth through your golden years.
Let’s look at the value of both keeping a journal and scrapbook.
What is Journaling?
Consider journaling a way to plan your current and future life while reflecting on and learning from lesson of your past. A journal is a running diary of your thoughts, dreams and concerns. It also chronicles events and your “take” on what has happened.
A journal is a “safe place” where you can emote your love for another, anger, disappointment or sadness. It is where you can let out your deep seeded grief. While not a substitute for a trained therapist, a journal is often a tool to help guide you through the tough times in your life.
One of the most common themes among those who journal is to see how problems, once thought unsurmountable, were actually resolved, leaving the scribe with a much larger understanding and appreciation for having “made it through” and perhaps much better equipped to cope with future challenges.
What is Scrapbooking?
Scrapbooking to me is being able to put in to themed books the milestones of your life of those of your loved ones. Many parents, especially mom’s, love to keep sweet memorabilia of their babies first year, child’s school years and extra -curricular activities. I for one have made many scrapbooks when my children were young. Included in these precious memory books are first words, pictures of first steps, locks of hair from the first haircuts and much more. Being able to fill in the blanks for older children of their first years, is always a nice way to add to bonding experiences between parent and child.
Now that my children are adults, I have “shelved” these lovely books hoping that someday I will show them to their offspring and have some good belly laughs and perhaps smile through nostalgic tears.
There is positive mental health value with both journaling and scrapbooking for all ages.
As an educator, I see the value of offering journaling opportunities in school. Children can have complicated lives, and what a wonderful way to give them space to write and reflect than a journal. This avenue for discourse can be quite powerful if it is an ongoing conversation between a teacher / therapist and child. Being able to voice concerns, opinions and much more without judgment or having to actually “talk”.
Also, imagine the ability to see your child’s interpretation of their lives through the art of creating a scrapbook. There are many templates to help a child get started and ways to stir their creativity. Also, parents – don’t be shy!
Now let’s talk about a fun company that helps enhance your journaling and scrapbook world with their designs – The Stickii Club!
Related: Don’t miss the GIVEAWAY at the bottom of this post!
Stickii Club is a subscription service that also makes available a la carte stickers to accent your journal and scrapbooking project. I became interested in this start-up company when I met them at a gifting suite and thought that there true to life stickers would make a great addition to creative projects, especially with journaling. My favorite is the retro ones and travel as I love to put together my photography and utilize these stickers to help compliment the story. (As you know photography and journaling are my way to experience calm!)
I had an opportunity to send interview questions to the founder of STICKII CLUB , Rita and here is what I learned:
BUT WAIT…. THERE IS MORE!!
SIGN UP IS ONE CLICK AWAY! USE THE PROMO CODE: LOUISE for $2 off a month’s subscription

Want to WIN a set of STICKII CLUB stickers? Simply do the following to ENTER the STICKII CLUB GIVEAWAY!:
GIVEAWAY COMPLETE- WINNER ANNOUNCED.
STEP ONE: FOLLOW ON and LEAVE A COMMENT with the HASHTAG #StickiiClubGiveaway >>> INSTAGRAM
or
FOLLOW ON >>> FACEBOOK and COMMENT with #STICKIICLUBGIVEAWAY
STEP TWO: BE SURE TO COMMENT ON THIS POST BELOW SO I KNOW TO LOOK FOR YOU!!!
LASTLY: Be super groovy if you also signed up for their >>>> EMAIL.
What will the Stickii Club winners receive??
💥 💥
GRAND PRIZE: SEVEN PACKS (7) of STICKI CLUB STICKERS! TRIPLE WOW!!!
FIRST PRIZE: FOUR PACKS (4) of STICKI CLUB STICKERS! DOUBLE WOW!!
SECOND PRIZE: THREE PACKS (3) of STICKI CLUB STICKERS – WOW!
THE RU!LES
Winners will be randomly chosen from ALL Entries who either follow on INSTAGRAM or FACEBOOK between July 16th and August 18th, 2018. The giveaway winners will be chosen by a random generator on August 19, 2018 of all eligible entrants. Residents of the United States of America only. Cannot be related to anyone from Stickii Club nor Louise Sattler. Shipping will be by standard mail. No substitutions or monetary trade value will be offered. Multiple follows by autobots or fake accounts will result in deletion of entry.
DISCLAIMER: I received promotional product from Stickii.Club. However, I LOVE LOVE LOVE this product and would have written this blog regardless!
What a great way to work through life’s “things”.
YES IT IS!