still giving thanks

My heart is full and as I bask in the mood of Thanksgiving...

I am STILL giving thanks, counting my blessings, CHOOSING gratitude...and this is the perspective...the frame of mind that I want to continue to carry into the Christmas season...into the new year...into my everyday, in fact.

Blessings and Thanks to you!

thankful

Pretend that this is the journal page you are working on this week...

What would you list as the things you are thankful for?  What images, pictures would you collage on this page to represent those things that stir gratitude in your heart?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall...

aaahh...fall...

 

 

"living, enjoying, celebrating the GIFT that is today...this moment...NOW.  Today is a gift...untie the ribbons."   Ann Voskamp

 

Enjoy!

found!

I was digging through my paper stash the other day and look what I found...treasure!

 

This is a file folder that I made out of Tim Holtz paper last October and evidently it got buried in the strata...so finding it was such a blessing...so much fun to see what I journaled last year...here is one of the "pages"(they are loose, not bound)...

 

 

As you can see, the paper didn't need much work...its beautiful and so just a quote-informed by the season  :)  and a little tape...quick and easy...journal happiness...

 

up close...quote printed on vellum...

 

Hope you are enjoying your October!  :)

 

 

 

 

more color



As summer is winding down, I must be thinking about fall...leaves changing color...because that is what keeps showing up on the pages of my journal...interesting how that happens...

 

I am loving this riot of color...and can you see the leaf in there?...(Tim Holtz Distress) inks sponged, sprayed, dripped, rubbed, and stamped on this page...

 

 

This is just the beginning...the foundation for this page...

I even love the "mess" that such wet mediums make of the paper...hmmm, kinda like the "glorious mess" (as my husband so affectionately calls it) of life...

  (Close the book, add some weight, and those warped pages become flat again.)  :)

 

One of the reasons that it is good to journal:- getting "out," expressing what's inside...even when you are not aware that it is in there...just something to think about...actually, go ahead, "play" on the pages of your journal, and see what shows up...

A is for...

The next page is A...
A is for "Appreciating, Acknowledging"...

and the back...
  (dictionary scraps, gesso, Rusty Hinge Distress Ink, clip art, washi tape, flower embellishment)

Then, N is for "Naming, then"...
  (Tim Holtz tissue paper, scrap with ransom letters-"take note", psalm 100 distress inked)

and on the other side...
  (dictionary scraps, gesso, Broken China Distress Ink, scrap paper, postage stamp doodled around, border added with Tim Holtz tiny staples)

Thankfulness really is a game-changer...Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  :)

closing up October...

yep...only just now.  :) And that is pretty much how October went...so quickly that I feel "behind" on everything...oh well, that's life. Here are my pages all together...ready to be "filed" away...  :)

...I loved this cute little file folder and the "loose" pages were so easy to work on. I will definitely use this format again for another journal. As you can see, all the pages are very much inspired by the season and I am still enjoying fall this year...I will definitely carry this into November's journal pages along with giving thanks...appropriate "focus" for this time of year, right!?!  :)
Hope you enjoy your beautiful fall day!

the process

Its interesting when you think about "the process" of learning, growing, life...or any project or chore that we tackle...there IS a "process" involved...as I began October's journal, I pulled out paper that spoke 'fall' to me...and then I started to sort through it and narrow down what I would use this month...this is a peek at what that beginning process looked like...

 

...and a little closer look at the yummy papers, yummy colors...

I love that those hot air balloons kinda look like pumpkins.  :)

...then, inspired by our women's retreat preparations, I decided that this month I would make a small "file folder" to hold all the "pages" that I create...

I don't know if you can tell by the pic, but we are making small file folders to hold our retreat notes (the file folder on the bottom of the stack is a normal letter-sized file folder.  The pile of folders on the top are about 8 1/2 x 6 each...super cute!)...
...here is my October journal "folder"...made from Tim Holtz paper...

 

 So that was just the process getting started...Yikes! Its the 8th...I gotta get journaling!  I'll be back with the first page or two...