Announcing Celebrate October - Invitation

With one week left until my favorite month begins, I'm ready to announce my prompt-driven, memory-keeping project for celebrating October and invite everyone to join me.

Why October?

I love October for a lot of reasons. Autumn is my favorite season, and while it officially begins in September in my neck of the globe, fall delights reach full fruition in October.

October is also the month my parents were married. It's when my husband and I met in person for the first time, and it's the month of our own wedding anniversary.

Where I live, October is when the air gets crisp, the breezes get chilly, and the trees turn every breathtaking color imaginable. October is also when both apples and pumpkins are fully in season, and it's the month of Hallowe'en, too.

There is so much to enjoy and celebrate in October, so many memories to make and document. So, if you love October, too, I invite you to join me in celebrating this month with a memory-keeping project.


The Project

I've participated in several month-long scrapbooking projects, most notably Journal Your Christmas, Shimelle Laine's yearly class that has helped me create my most favorite scrapbooks. I've done a few albums for December Daily, the project Ali Edwards does every year to document the holiday season, and I've done my own daily memory-keeping project for the month of my birthday.

The past three years, I've done what I've called Everyday October albums, which documented the daily happenings in my life during the month, and while I enjoyed them, they didn't really capture the spirit of October like I wanted.

Enter Celebrate October, a project with 31 prompts I created from brainstorming and researching special days of observation during my favorite month. There are all kinds of ideas for celebrating and documenting October in ways I've certainly never done before, and I hope you will join me in this adventure.


Forms of Documentation

Almost anything will work for this project, so use what you like, whatever inspires you to document and/or create.

Here are a few options to consider:

Traditional scrapbook album in your favorite size
Traveler's Notebook
Art journal
Pocket page album
Photo album
Handmade mini-book
Digital photo book
Instagram or other social media
Blank book or notebook
Journal app on your phone or tablet

How This Works

Every day, I will provide a new topic to explore in a prompt containing more than one (hopefully) inspirational idea. Prompts will be posted on a dedicated, private Facebook group, and you can use each prompt (or not!) however you choose.

(Anyone who is not a Facebook user and still wants to participate, please reach out by email to talk about alternatives.)

The goal is celebrating October and documenting that celebration. Just keep in mind that even writing a few sentences counts as documentation, and there are many ways to celebrate, even quietly in your own heart and mind.


My Approach

I will be journaling my responses to the prompts, and the pages of my traditional scrapbook album will spring from that. I plan to take photos, though there will be pages I create that use photos from the past or images I gather from media or the Internet.


Let's Talk About Daily Creating

Now, I love creating, and I think that, in a perfect world, creating every single day would be really good for all of us.

That being said, I have almost ruined my love for paper-crafting by participating in projects with daily requirements. Life happens, and even our best creative intentions can be hijacked by any number of realities.

So, I'm taking Megan Anderson's wise advice to "document now, make later."

I have no idea what this October will hold--me being without a working crystal ball and all--but I can promise that I will absolutely NOT be creating a page or even part of one every single day. I know that's not a realistic goal for me, so I'm not even going to attempt it.

I hope to stay current with responses to the daily prompts in my journal, then create pages for the album as I have time and inspiration, even if I don't finish by the end of October. I may even have to skip days of journaling and catch up when I have time. That is completely OKAY! We all get busy, and life doesn't stop throwing things at us because we're engaged in a daily project.

But if you are the kind of person that thrives on the challenge of getting a page done every single day, go for it! I will cheer you on with gusto!

That is just not how I roll, and I want to give us all permission to do what we can when we can, what interests and inspires us.

The only rule for Celebrate October is to enjoy it. No stress, no pressure, and absolutely no requirement to do anything every day.


My Supply List

Album - 12 x 12 We R Memory Keepers 3-ring scrapbook album with an orange cover.

Journal - a Moleskine notebook, trimmed to fit a traverler's notebook cover.

Kit - I keep a large collection of autumn-themed supplies that I'll be using for this project, some new, and some older, along with some autumn stamps, as well as dies and punches.


Reach Out

So...I think that covers all the details. If you have any questions, please email me.

Or if you are all in to participate, please click here to access the Facebook group, request to join, and you can post questions/comments/ideas/suggestions there.

(Again, if you don't use Facebook, and you still want to participate, we can work something out; just email me!)

I realize that a week isn't a lot of time to prepare for a project like this, but honestly, all you need to get started on October 1st is paper and pen (or your phone's notes app) to record your responses to the prompts. Everything else can be done after October begins. So, jump in!

This adventure is new for me, so I'm on a bit of a learning curve. I hope you'll be patient with me as I navigate the particulars to make Celebrate October a success.

I'm really looking forward to celebrating October with you!