Jot 9 is Here

A bright Wednesday here - no snow in the city, yet - and I have a steaming mug of coffee in front of me. The water came back! Thank you to everyone who crossed their fingers on Monday. So a coffee, a small but perfectly formed and foil wrapped Viscount biscuit..what else do I need?

Maybe a magazine? Issue 9 of JOT is here! It's so lovely to look at: all 176 pages of it. 176 pages? Really.That's enough inspiration to keep us all going for months.

There's a little bit of me too, with the final part of my Scrapbooking Bucket List. I made a page about scrapbooking 

and some of the Jot Girls - Sharmaine Kruijver, Kim Jeffress, Meghann Andrew, Jodie York, Lauren Hender, Mardi Winen and Anna Allan - took on the challenge of following a prompt of their choice from my list. You can see it all in 

Jot 9 right here

Jot magazine 8 is Here!

There's a gorgeous, big, new issue of Jot magazine out this week. Just in time for Christmas. Kim Archer always pulls together a beautiful selection of layouts, Project Life spreads, hints and tips and this one has all of that combined with lots of festive cheer!

* You can click here to find Jot 8 *

You can find me on page twelve with the second part of my Scrapbooking Bucket List. Go on, try something you've never done before! This is the page I made following one of the prompts:

A "right in the moment", just now layout using a photo from Me On Monday. Some of the Jot Girls took up the Bucket List challenge (which feels like a real privilege because they are wonderful scrapbookers, all of them) and their pages are in there to enjoy, too..

...along with lots of Christmas album ideas, some very cute tags to download and an inspiring gallery.

Check it out!

Before I go today I wanted to remind you that * Christmas Club * is back this Sunday. Come, bring your Christmassy post and get festive. We'd love to hear any little Christmas story you've been hoping to record, or even some seasonal tips, or your favourite festive photo. Or you can start to write and see where it takes you . "At Christmas we..." All contributions very welcome. See you there?

The target was Target: a Page For Jot 7

The target was Target. No doubt about it. She'd paged through her brochure collection, she'd begged me to buy a guidebook, she'd made a note of everything - everything - which needed her attention just as soon as she'd arrived. BUT, once the tickets were booked, it was obvious she had one seriously big goal in mind. And that was Target, that discount wonderland, that distant dream.

It was right there on the very first page of The (Not So) Small One's Big Book Of Florida: noted under Shops I Want To Visit (also Walmart, Barnes and Noble and anywhere with an extensive confectionery aisle), cross referenced with Things I Might Buy - oh so many things, just little ones, but nothing costs very much and if you save hard and arm yourself with some luggage scales from the Pound Shop you can do some hard hitting bargain hunting damage, right?

But maybe I should let her tell her own story:

Orlando, Florida. It just screams magic. I mean, you've got walt Disney World, Harry Potter, the list of theme parks and attractions all claiming the title of "most magical place" goes on...To me, howver, it is Super target which is pure magic. This glorious haven of notebooks and candy is all I need> From water bottles to clothes, groceries to bicycles, it has it all with the added American novelty and a Starbucks on your way to the exit. In my opinion nothing can beat it..

That's the story she told when I asked for one. for a page. I had been pulling together some ideas for Jot 7 (OUT NOW): a scrapbooking bucket list, things, scrapbooking wise, to try at least once in your scrapbooking life. You can find them in Jot 7 (OUT NOW). I chose one and practised what I preached by using someone's else's journaling. And I discovered how freeing it can be! For once I wasn't thinking about the words. I just enjoyed sticking things down, knowing that The (Not So) Small One was in charge of the recording. I'd do it again tomorrow! in fact, I think I probably will because she has quite a lot to say on the subject of Twizzlers. Seriously, I can highly recommend giving it a go. That Dangerous Notebook I talk about? the one the family agree can be a little bit worrying? I'm passing it round..

You'll find Jot 7 right here

Jot 5 is Here (with a Challenge)

....with thanks, first of all, to everyone who stopped by and left a message on Thursday's post. it's been much appreciated.

Now, for the weekend, maybe, you are looking for a chance to put your feet up and relax for half an hour? I have just the thing. The new Jot magazine has just been released and it's all ready and waiting to be enjoyed right here: Jot 5

For this issue Kim asked me to expand on an idea I had earlier in the year: scrapbooking as a tourist in your own town. So I've come up with some new ideas and prompts which I hope will work for you even if you aren't making too many traditional layouts right now. There is always an extra corner of a Project Life page waiting to be filled..

I'm still a 12x12 girl, so I made this new page based on one of the prompts

that would be..using a photo taken, not by you, but by someone visiting your town as a tourist.

When my lovely blogging friend Ruth came to visit she took lots of superb photos which gave me a whole different perspective on the things I see every day. Armed with her very kind gift of a CD of her pictures (thank you!), I have a stack of new stories to tell because seeing what she saw has been so illuminating and inspiring. It's definitely worth asking anyone who comes to call to let you have a look at what they wanted to capture.

And if you get a chance, then you could think about joining in my challenge over at Jot. You can find out more about that here at the Jot Challenge page. Check out the other challenges too! But better still - sit back and enjoy the whole magazine first.

Jot Magazine Issue Four (and a Challenge)

Happy weekend everyone! It's been a busy week here. I'm going to be looking forward to spending sometime curled up on the sofa peering out at the rain and curled up with a book - but only after I've finished reading the new edition of Jot magazine. Issue Four is out now and, oh, it looks so good! You can read Jot here

This time round I'm revisiting my plan for some quick scrapping. It's what I call Twenty Twenty Scrapbooking: twenty minutes to plan and pick, twenty minutes to push forward and twenty minutes to prettify your page. I have a new sample up on the Jot Blog and you can see the three stages I went through to end up with this page

in an hour. Twenty Twenty Scrapbooking can be found here. And, then, if you like the idea, go on, see if you can carve out three times twenty minutes, make a page and link it up on the Jot Challenge page so the Jot girls can come and see. And if you are interested in submitting, you can check out the guidelines for Issue Five (coming in March) while you are there. Jot Magazine. It's good.

Take My Challenge!

I was going to ask today if you've caught up with Jot magazine: but I don't think I need to! Lots of you have been in touch to say that you have been enjoying the first issue. Kim has done a wonderful job of pulling it all together and she's already planning to do it all over again with a new issue out at the beginning of September.

But before we get to that, there is plenty to keep us busy in issue one. Have you checked out the challenges? Jot would love you to have a go!. There are five to choose from (but, hey, why stop at one?) and I'm offering you..Challenge 3 What to Scrapbook When There's Nothing to Scrapbook About.

Make a page based around one of the prompts in my article and add it to the linky (thanks Mitra for being the first!). This is my page:

"The first books I can remember reading by myself. It was the drawings which pulled me in. Shift dresses, cloche hats in a 1920's English country idyll. I loved it when my Grandparents came to visit and was very envious of Milly Molly Mandy and her big live in extended family. Plus, who wouldn't want a red and white striped dress? It was like my school uniform..only better.

I saved up my pocket money to buy the books in the only bookshop in town and while I was browsing I discovered Paddington. That series was next on my list.

They all sit on the pink painted shelves in my daughter's bedroom now. I cut her hair in a bob when she was little. I think she knows why.."

Or, of course, choose one of the others they're all tempting..):

- Challenge 1 The Cafe Challenge

- Challenge 2 Mardi's 365 Mini Book

- Challenge 4 Photo Booth Layout

- Challenge 5 Janelle's Upcycled Vintage Instagram Book

but do choose. Jot is about joining in!

Jot is Here!

Hurray! Jot magazine is here! Jot is a brand new, online, free magazine for the modern memory keeper and it has just been launched  by the talented Kim Archer and her team.

I'm absolutely delighted to be part of the first issue (along with a few friends) and I'd love you to check it out. I think you'll completely enjoy it! Page through, download it for later, enjoy it...and then join in the challenges. Oh, and did I mention it's free? Weekend reading doesn't come looking any nicer than this....

Find Jot here and on Facebook here!