JOURNALS .....

Journals and journaling ...... it's one of those things that I think you either love or hate, there's not much middle ground. I love them, but I will admit to struggling to put my thoughts into words sometimes (for fear of sounding silly, I think), yet when I do, I find it very cathartic.
I'm drawn to "special" journals (a bit like I'm drawn to stationary ......... Man, I just LOVE it !!!) - no plain composition books for this girl !!!!

I came upon a new technique, while browsing through Pinterest, looking for some useful, non candy Halloween Gift ideas ... there are some extremely clever, and talented people out there, and I'm so glad that the internet has afforded us the ability to share our ideas :-)

THIS IS THE TUTORIAL that I used ..... lucky for me, I even manged to find the exact same spooky toys she had !!!! I used a cheap hard cover journal that I picked up at Walmart. Are these not brilliant .... Brittany tried to claim this one !!! She settled for me making her an exact replica ...... that sweet girl of mine :-)
I love the old leather look ..... who knew that good old kitchen paper towel could look so awesome !!!!

Have any of you heard of Bible Journaling ...... it was new to me, until a few weeks ago .... what an awesome form of worship !!!! There are Journaling Bibles that you can buy, they're quite pricey though, and I find the print a little too tiny for my 40+ year old eyes !!! I take plenty of notes in my Bible during sermons and Bible Study, but I'm not an artist, by any stretch of the imagination, and illustrating in it, just makes me nervous. I also find a lot of encouragement in the words of some of the songs we sing at Church, and I'd like to include those too.  So I thought that a spiral bound, hard cover sketchbook,might do the trick ..... remember - no plain books for me .....

I used the same technique, but used wooden elements instead of the plastic toys ... I love the metallic effect :-) The wooden elements give you a much more raised edge - they're thicker. I'm not sure about the strip along the side, and may still replace that with a plain purple strip.

I'd love to make more of these journals - I'd like to try "drawing" with my glue gun to give the raised edge, I think that could be fun too.

Fall is upon us, and it's time to start thinking pumpkins and things ..... the ideas are whirring around in my head. I think a mantel of sweet forest creatures may be on the cards for this year ..... what do you have planned ?