Faux fur, faux leather, faux flowers. I even have faux grandchildren! Yes, I really do. The parents of these sweet twins (now 20) adopted us as an extra set of grandparents when they were born, so I've always called them my faux grandchildren, but we love them like the real thing:)
Yes, we've all heard of faux fur & faux leather (and now faux grandchildren) but have you heard of a FAUXBONICHI? A what??? It's a journal that is a "fake" HOBONICHI? A what???
OK, I'll try to explain. The HOBONICHI is a type of planner/diary that was developed in Japan about 2002. At first you could only get them from Japan (written in Japanese), but now you can actually order them from various places online. However! They can be quite expensive.
This one is $65!!!
So...some bright, creative woman person (these days I need to be sure to be politically correct) came up with a DIY or "faux" HOBONICHI and named it FAUXBONICHI. (Nobody seems to know exactly who this person was.) There are many youtube videos and blog posts about this, so you can search to find more info (if you even care to).
Most journalers who use this type of journal create their own. Many, if not most, use those hardback composition notebooks that you can get for $1 most places. The covers are altered according to the DIY-ers choice of materials and style. I am no artist (like some), but here are some I have created:
Anywho! I began one last year, but with all the craziness I got way behind. I did go back though & summarize the last few months of 2020. Now I've begun once again for 2021. And so far, I'm really enjoying it. Many FAUXBONICHI-ers use their own artwork to decorate the pages, but since I can't even draw a decent stick figure I use clipart, magazine clippings, & photos. I love to write & create with paper, so making my own journal & designing my pages is a creative outlet for me.
Some journal every single day, but I don't...for 2 reasons:
1. there is not enough going on in my life to write about
2. I just don't want to!
So I write about the most important things or whatever strikes my fancy at the moment.
recent pages
I have journaled off & on for years, and now that I am getting "more mature" I really wish I had written much, much more. Going back & reading what I did write brings back many memories, but I am also hoping that someday (when I've gained my heavenly wings...and I do plan on going UP & not DOWN...Lord willing) that my grandchildren will read my journals & learn more about their CHERI as well as see what was going on in my life at the time. I would love to be able to read journals written by my grandmother & mother.
Another type of journal I have worked on in recent months is a QUESTION & ANSWER journal. I found some lists of questions (via internet), printed them out, and glued them in my journal. And I've answered each one as truthfully as I can...some are quite personal & thought provoking. Again, I hope my grands will read it and see into the heart of their grandmother...and maybe even laugh a little:)
One of my favorite possessions (that I wrote about H E R E) is a scrapbook made by my Aunt Katy who died very young before I was even born.
I think I must have inherited her gene for wanting to preserve the past & present for the future since I love making scrapbooks, taking photos, and now writing in my FAUXBONICHI. It also scratches my itch for the cut & paste activities I did as a child and also used in my primary classroom for over 30 years! There's just something about paper and glue that makes me do a happy dance.
Do you journal? If so, how often do you write & what type of journal do you use? Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had all kept a journal from childhood until now! Oh the memories!
I kept and online journal at my website. I just copied and pasted everything on my blog to texts to print out. I like the idea of having a journal of questions and answers. I need to go back to previous blogger post to copy and paste those. I like to craft and I am in a group called Fussy Cuttin Cuties and we do a lot of cut and paste of graphics with projects. Last year we "visited a few states. This year we are visiting countries. We interact in a Facebook group. We are putting our projects in an A5. Nice that you make your own journals. I have made a few junk journals and really enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteSusan, thanks so much for dropping by. Your group sounds fun...although I am not good at fussy cutting!!! I also made about 3 junk journals. Not sure that is my forte, but may try it again someday.
DeleteI have kept a prayer journal for many years but not any other kind of journal. It just doesn't seem to interest me but I sure do like the idea of leaving it behind when I leave this world for my kids and Grans to read. Guess I'd better get started if I'm ever going to do it. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteLea, you might enjoy doing a Q & A Journal. I think I've enjoyed that more than any other kind of journal I've done. Some questions I really had to do some soul-searching to answer but I wanted to answer them as truthfully as I could. I think in years to come (IF my grands will read it), it can have some good life lessons for them as well as help them to know more about the heart of their Cheri:)
DeleteI used to write a handwritten journal many years ago and did so for a number of years, but then when blogging became so easy to do, that has kind of become my journal. My handwriting is atrocious and I don't enjoy writing by hand anymore, so my attempts at journaling usually fail. I have lots of those neat little journal books sitting around here and there just waiting for me to fill them up. I start up gung ho and after a little while I give it up because it is just so much easier to type it here. I wish I could remember to save all of my blogs and print them out or at least save them to a flashdrive. I have done many, but have gotten way behind in that too. But then I think once I am gone no one will read it anyway. I don't have any daughters or granddaughters and the guys really don't care about stuff like that. Oh well, I love your idea...I just know I wouldn't follow through with it for long. Just being honest.
ReplyDeletePam, I hate my own handwriting with a passion. I do use it for some of my journal writing but I also type some entries out, cut them out, then paste them in the journal!!! You really might like doing a Q & A Journal. That has been my favorite. You are right about the guys, but who knows...there might be a female great-grand or great niece somewhere down the line that would read it. I am hoping my grands will at least read that journal because it will give them a lot of insight into who I am and therefore maybe give them insight into their own selves...plus offer some life lessons.
DeleteI have a journal I started when I was 12-to around 16 and it's fun and funny to go and read it now. It's like having a conversation with me as a kid! I could really tell her something now! Anyway, I've attempted a written one over the years but usually fail so blogging has become my journal. I print mine out each year and I hope my kids and Grands will read them one day and know what I've done all these years as I also write about my childhood on my blog from time to time. This year I may even have a special blog post monthly with a memory from the past. Yours are so creative! They would be fun to pick up and read and I'm sure your family will appreciate it. My Granddaughter gave me a book with questions that I've been trying to finish for her. I gave a similar one to my Mom and I cherish her thoughts in her own handwriting since she's passed away. Have a good week Cheri!
ReplyDeleteYaya, do you make your blog into a book? I know somebody mentioned to me a good while back about doing that. I have one of the books with the questions, and I've answered them. But I also really like the Q & A Journal I've been doing. It delves much more deeply into asking questions about yourself. Some are hard to answer because they bring up memories or issues that have been difficult in my life. But if my grands someday read it and it helps them deal with difficult situations, then it will have been worth it:)
DeleteWhat a neat idea, and they look great.
ReplyDeleteI wrote in a free-association journal for many years, but then I stopped because I wanted to connect with other people through writing somehow. And I wanted to be able to use pictures (I didn't think to cut and paste) and reference articles and other materials. Once I discovered blogging it was clear that's what I was yearning for.
I started blogging twice a week in May, 2007. Then in August 2013 I started blogging every single day... that's the right amount of challenge for me, and one reason my life hasn't been disrupted much by the virus. I'm too busy thinking about blog posts.
I don't have any grandchildren, and my daughter reads my blog every day, so between that and emails and phone calls, she knows me pretty well. I really love blogging, that's what I was born to do.
Yes, I think blogging is definitely a type of journaling. The cut and paste thing with my fauxbonichi just satisfies some of my creative juices. I enjoy blogging too although I sometimes have trouble thinking of something to write about. I have loved to write since being encouraged by my high school English teacher. It's something I really enjoy doing. I've always wanted to write a children's book, but that I'm pretty sure isn't going to happen! So blogging it is!
DeleteI used to journal a lot Cheri and then got lazy with it. Especially when I could type instead of write. I dislike my hand writing too as it's awful. Though I only blog once a week that is pretty much my journaling of life. But, I do keep a bible study journal and every week I record in it what I am learning, what God has spoke to me and I've always been faithful with that as I also use it as part of a teaching tool for ladies Bible Study. I love the idea of cutting out and pasting pictures or etc. to the blog post in the journal too. A neat idea. I hope that your week is awesome to you dear lady. Hugs and blessings, Cindy
ReplyDeleteCindy, I want to start a Bible study journal...or something like that. I have a "sort of" prayer journal but want to do more. We just started a women's Bible study group at my church a few months ago and then we had to stop meeting due to the virus. Now we are meeting via ZOOM but I sure miss meeting in person.
DeleteWell, journaling requires an effort....so NO. I do not journal. But after reading this I think I will try it again. I think I will make it a thing that I write each evening before going to bed. Thanks for that idea.
ReplyDeletePam, I so wish I had been consistent over the years with journaling. I have gone back and read some of what I did write and I've realized so much about myself...plus there were some special memories I think I would have forgotten had I not written about them.
DeleteBefore I started blogging I wrote in a journal every day for years and years. My blog has turned into my journal so don't anymore. Last year I just threw all my journals in one of our bonfires. Just didn't see the need to have them anymore. Some things I just don't want to remember!! I like to enjoy the moments as they come.
ReplyDeleteAwww, I hate you threw them away. But if that made you happy, then that's OK:) I would love to have been able to read about my grandmother or mother when they were experiencing life.
DeleteOh, how I enjoyed this post, Cheri, I have journaled for years, but never seem to finish a book!
ReplyDeleteI found one the other day that I had written in 1978, that was such a great read for me going back to see what was up!
I say I am going to be more faithful in writing each year, but somewhere along the way I dwindle off, a poor habit.
Would you believe my dh is more faithful in writing in his journal!.
Thanks for the encouragement.
Blessings,
Sue
Have to say I'm a little surprised by your dh...I can't imagine mine writing anything in a journal:) I can so identify with what you've said. I always seem to do the same thing, but I'm trying to do better.
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ReplyDeleteI have heard of neither bonichi but I do journal. I just don't draw pictures and I don't consider it remotely interesting, and I have to force myself to do it, and sometimes I get days behind and have to play catch-up ... I can't imagine who would ever want to read it but there's just something about chronicling your days that is fascinating. So I guess I'll keep doing it. Your homemade journals look fantastic! My children and others give me journals because they know I love to write stuff down, so I'm never without one. xoxo
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