Elizabeth’s Journal, covers
Elizabeth’s “Favorite Things” Journal
Elizabeth and I met years ago, via LinkedIn. We exchanged greetings, shared some feelings, shared our love of family, writing and blogging, nature. And the friendship grew.
For years, we corresponded via emails and Facebook, we partnered on a little blog sharing, etc. We enjoyed numerous phone calls. And the friendship grew.
We encouraged each other, nagged each other occasionally, counseled each other. We celebrated our accomplishments, lamented our troubles.
Years and years of correspondence, about a thousand emails, dozens of telephone conversations…
Sharkies Conference in Delaware
Sharkies Conference
We progressed to the point that in 2016, we met for a writers’ conference at my brother and sis-in-law’s house in Newark, Delaware. This was the first time Elizabeth and I met each other face to face, and we were immediately comfortable.
When I decided to create my poetry collection, Elizabeth worked with me to make this collection beautiful and ready for publication. Without her, my No Boundaries poetry collection would not have made it to fruition.
Porch at Shrine Mont
Shrine Mont
Later, Elizabeth invited me to her writers’ conference at Shrine Mont in Virginia. And I knew I HAD to go.
This conference was a re-affirming of our friendship, and it touched me deeply. A culminating event was walking the labyrinth at Shrine Mont with Elizabeth and other new friends, met at the conference.
A special gift
I met Alyssa and Dan Sharbono (Couple of Artists) at an event at Minot State University in North Dakota. They make custom, recycled-material journals, and I knew that this is what I needed to get for Elizabeth. She’s a journal-writing junkie, and I could customize a journal with the help of Alyssa and Dan. What a perfect partnership!
While talking to Alyssa about what this journal meant to me and what it would mean to Elizabeth, I teared up a few times. Alyssa understood how special this gift would be. I selected several of my own personal photos and screen shots, and with Alyssa’s help, created a most beautiful journal for my special friend.
In the journal, I included…
Labyrinth at Shrine Mont
- A pic of a few of us at the Sharkies conference in Delaware (with my goofy brother photo-bombing)
- The Shrine Mont labyrinth from our retreat weekend
- A vintage photo of a country doctor (a nod to Elizabeth’s country-doctor husband John)
- A photo of me at a covered bridge that Elizabeth took on the way home from Shrine Mont
- Elizabeth’s Heartspoken blog banner (shamelessly copied from her site)
Me at the covered bridge
Elizabeth’s Heartspoken banner
The front cover of our custom journal is a photo of Elizabeth and John’s house – I had to ask Elizabeth for that photo with instructions to “just send it, it’s for a special surprise.”
The back cover is a vintage map of Elizabeth’s beloved Shenandoah Valley.
When I sent the journal, I enclosed a few thoughts…
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Please take a moment to read Elizabeth’s companion piece
about this special journal at Heartspoken.com.
Do you need an awesome diary or journal?
Do you need a special journal for a special someone? Click on these links for Couple of Artists –
https://www.etsy.com/shop/coupleofartists
https://www.instagram.com/coupleofartists/
Facebook page for their gallery/studio space, 62 Doors Gallery and Studios –
https://www.facebook.com/62Doors/
Quoted from Elizabeth’s partner blog –
Share your favorite gift or favorite things
A gift can be special for a million different reasons, and your list of favorite things is likely to be entirely different from mine. But I’d love to hear about any memorable gifts you’ve received and why they’ve touched your heart. And I’d also love to hear about your favorite things on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Just use the hashtag #FavoriteThings and #Heartspoken.
See this link also – Gretchen Rubin Happier Podcast
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What’s the most special, most memorable gift you ever received?
Karen R. Sanderson 