Please take the time to review the rules. Let's cover the important stuff.
FIRST AND FOREMOST, anyone participating needs to understand that there will be a cost of $3.85 in order to mail this journal via PRIORITY MAIL in a FLAT RATE envelope available at any US Post Office.
The Traveling Journal will be a beautiful handmade journal from Cindy Sanchez, owner of
MomsMenu.com. The new message boards are great at MM!
Here's how it works: LOCATION
Inside the front cover there will be a number of boxes. Inside one of the boxes, use a colorful marker to write the initials of your state. If you like, include some sort of symbolic picture (postcards are perfect for this, just cut out what you need). For example, if you live in Vermont, include a small picture of the beautiful fall trees, if in NY perhaps a photo of the Twin Towers. You get the idea.
YOUR PAGES
Each member will be allowed to use
2 pages of the journal. At the beginning of your first journal page, please write your FC username and the date. You may write whatever you like, as long as you stay within your 2 page maximum (4 if you count/use front and back). The journal has 35 pages (35 pieces of paper, therfore 70 sides) and there will be 15 people participating in each journal.
PHOTOS & DECORATIONS
we strongly encourage you (though not required) to include at least one photo on one of your allocated pages. The photo does not have to be of you, it can be your children, grandchildren, a beloved pet, or perhaps something that other members know you by, like a particular craft or talent. Your pages can be simply hand written, or you can decorate them with scrapbook items if you like. It's totally up to you!
TIMING IS EVERYTHING!
Turn around time on the journal must be no longer than FOUR DAYS. This should be sufficient time to write in the journal and send it on to the next person. This is an important factor as it could take a few months to get the journal back, it could be a lot longer if people hold on to it longer than they are supposed to!
BE PREPARED
You may want to write up what you want to say before the journal arrives so you can just write it in when it arrives. Also, next time you are at or near the post office, stop in and ask for a Flat Rate envelope. They are free and are available at all USPS locations. Find a photo you would like to include so that you aren't frantically searching when the journal arrives. Find a postcard from your state and decide if you will be cutting out an item to put in the "state stamp" area at the front of the journal.
THREAD POSTING
There will also be a thread created for this journal and whoever is participating will be required to post when they receive it and when it was sent on to the next person. If you feel that you won't be able to do this, please don't sign up as it is an important aspect! You can also use this thread for any type of chit chat, comments, or anything pertaining to this journal.
YOUR COST
Everyone participating is REQUIRED to mail the journal to the next person in line using US Postal Service Prioirity Mail Flat Rate enevelopes. Using the Flat Rate envelope
will cost $3.85, no matter how heavy it is. As long as it fits inside the envelope, the cost is $3.85. Please do NOT ship this any other way, do not use media mail to save the pennies, do not ship UPS ground as it takes longer, etc.
US Postal Service Priority Mail Flat Rate ONLY. ANYONE MAY PARTICIPATE
We originally were going to limit this to US only, however the overwhelming show of love for our international members won out. Therefore, when you fill out the form to join, please be sure to indicate where you are willing to mail to.
We are still trying to figure out how to decide who gets the journal at the end. It will be mailed back to me, but Tami and I are still trying to come up with a good plan for awarding the journal. I'm sure we will all want to keep it!!
If you think this sounds fun and would like to be included, AND you understand and AGREE to the shipping cost and terms above,
please fill out the FC Traveling Journal Request Form.
(This will not be needed for the new #2 journal) 
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