Gratitude Journal 2013

Hello crafty friends!

I've been watching Ali Edwards make a December daily year after year after year and I totally want to do it, too.  But the kit costs $99... and I'm too lazy to make my own (LOL)... and I've heard of people doing November gratitude journals so I decided that was better suited to my needs and budget at this time.  ;-)

Last week I got to work on making my journal.  I have this package of chipboard from Hobby Lobby.  I think I paid $6 for it.  I decided to cut each sheet of chipboard in half, making my book-making process easier.  Also, each page will have a 4x6 picture (or smaller) and journaling, and of course I need space for embellishing, too!  :D  Making each page 5.5 x 8.5 is perfect to accommodate all of that. 

 

I picked these patterned paper packs to decorate my album.  On the far left is the CTMH Huntington paper pack (available now), n the middle is last year's Avonlea CTMH paper, and a My Mind's Eye paper pad that my dear sister Ana bought me at Michael's.  :-)

 

 

 

 

Further, I've picked out stickers and other embellishments that I will include in my album.  These are all being put into a box for when the time comes...

 

 

This is the cover of my album.  I used Huntington paper, cardstock cut with CTMH's Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, and the pumpkin, cut with CTMH cardstock, was actually cut from one of the Disney princess cartridges.  I added Stickles, and CTMH mocha pearls and bling, as well as bronze Shimmer Trim.  The "so very" and "2013" are from a CTMH alphabet stamp set.  The leaves are cut from the Art Philosophy cartridge, too, using CTMH bronze glitter paper. 

Details:

Some of the inside pages:

 

 

Now, why did I make this again?  What is a gratitude journal?  Well, every day for the month of November I will take one picture of someone or something I am grateful for and then journal about that, making one page per day.  I will print the pictures until the end of the month (unless there's a sale on picture printing!) but I can plan each page accordingly, adding the journaling and embellishments each day as I go along. ;-) As I go through, I'll dig through my box of pre-picked embellishments, stickers, etc, to spruce each page up.  Also, I will print my pictures in black and white just so that there aren't conflicting colors in my journal.  The Autumn palette is my very favorite set of colors so I want to stay true to that. 

 

Does anybody want to join me?  You need to make your journal now so that you can hit the ground running on November 1st... and if you'd like me to make your gratitude journal, contact me for more information.  ;-) 

 

I will be sharing my finished pages throughout the month of November so stay tuned!

 

Blessings,

 

Martha