Always.

I had a little list of people who wanted journal jars!  But I lost it. :(

I really want to send them out around Christmas time as little Christmas presents.  So for those of you who I talked to before, please resend your mailing info to me! [lyssaloveless@gmail.com]  I’ll probably send them out sometime during the first or second week of December so they arrive close to Christmas time. :)

For those of you who have no idea what a journal jar is:

A journal jar is, well, pretty much exactly what it sounds like.  My mom’s former best friend used to make them all the time about ten years ago, which was when I first got one.  What I will send out is a jar-glass or plastic-with a ton of colorful paper strips folded up inside.  Each strip of paper will contain either a question or a prompt for you to answer or reply to.

I’ve pulled a few questions from my jar to show you examples:

Questions: What are your most deeply imbedded values?

Describe your relationship with God.

What is your earliest childhood memory?

Prompts: Tell about your mother: personality, characteristics, stature, coloring, talents, temperament, family stories about her, her role in your home, etc.

Tell about your dream wedding: color scheme, dress/tuxedo design, your bridesmaids/groomsmen, the season, the food, the location, etc.

After pulling either a question or prompt, you write your reply in your journal.  You don’t want to reply with short answers - the purpose is to actually think about what you’re being asked and replying thoughtfully and as thoroughly as possible.  Think of it as though you are writing a memoir of sorts - this will serve as sort of a scrapbook, just sans photographs.  (Unless of course, you wish to add photos or drawings, it is after all, up to you.)

Oh and for the record, if you ask me, I will go through the questions and prompts to eliminate any topics (mom/dad, religion, politics) if you would like.  Though, I cannot promise that I’ll get them all out for you.  It’s possible that I would miss one or two of them, you know.

If you are interested in receiving a journal jar, please send me an e-mail at lyssaloveless@gmail.com with the following:

• your tumblr link
• full mailing address
• any topic elimination (or addition) request
• your top five or ten (or six, seven, eight, nine) favorite colors
• your top five favorite animals (don’t ask, you’ll see)
• favorite genre of music and favorite artist (this may end up being irrelevant, but, try to answer that for me anyway, kay?)

BUT PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE a thousand times PLEASE do not e-mail me a request if you do not intend on using the journal jar properly.  They aren’t exactly the most expensive things to put together, but with shipping and what not, they are not at all cheap.

I do not want to waste my time and money making these and mailing them to people who don’t really want them and only requested one because you enjoy getting stuff in the mail.  Actually, if that’s the case, I’m down to mail you a letter or something if you’d like.  For those who would prefer just that, then please say so in your e-mail.  Pen pals are always fun!

If you think the journal jar is a cool idea, but you know you won’t use it the way it is intended, then I can send you the file of questions/prompts via e-mail after I remake it.  That way you have all of the questions/prompts from the jar listed but instead of writing them in a journal, you can keep your replies in a computer file or blog them!  All without wasting any space in your bedroom or wasting my time and money!  ;)  So seriously, think before you request.