month-in-review | july 2012

We were holding on to the last days of Summer during July, as school starts in early August for us here in East Tennessee. Swimming still seemed to be the major event going on for us, although both girls did  get new bikes, too.

The journaling spot slides in and out of the pocket I made by adhering the photo to the page on just three sides. You can find this download, and so many more, over on Avital's blog Creativity Prompt where she shares fun projects and even freebies each Friday. I also used her epoxy stickers a while back on a mini book project for Zach.

...but the highlight of the entire Summer had to be the trip to the American Girl store in Atlanta. Thanks to Nana & Papa and Oma & Uncle James, there was some extra moolah for the girls to shop with. Yes, a very eventful month and I'm happy to have it all written down and would surely have forgetten some of the details if not for this delightfully easy way to document highlights of our life.

The 2013 Month-In-Review mini book {the same one I'll be using} is now in the shop and ready to ship! Happy to say that many of you have already purchased your month-in-review mini's from the shop and are ready to join me as we greet 2013 with a pen in hand and highlights to capture.

Month-In-Review 2012 Archives

January  |  February  |  March  |  April  |  May  |  June  |  July  |  August  |  September  |  October  |  November  |  December

365 things i am grateful for gratitude journal

Who knew that when I shared my little 365 Things I Am Grateful For journal that there would be so many people ready to run with the idea of taking a moment out of their day {or night} and record their grateful thoughts? And now I know that many of you out there love this idea as much as I do...the Gratitude Journal gets pinned to Pinterest. A lot. I mean A LOT.

Thank YOU!

There's a whole Gratitude Journals section at I Love It All ready for you to begin your journey of thankfulness and gratitude, mindfulness and being aware of the joys in your life that you don't want to forget.

The Gratitude Journal That Started It All

You'll have a whole year's worth of life moments that matter and made you smile. Memories of the days that you realized just how lucky you are. And blessed.

Compact Gratitude Journals

If you're looking for a Journal with mixed papers, but with less emphasis on days and months, more freestyle, you might find this Gratitude Journal more to your liking...

...or even this one.

Journaler's Gratitude Journal

I bet there are a lot of you that love lined journals as much as I do. Here's an "old school" approach to journaling. You can make it your own by adding washi tape, using watercolors, stickers and journaling cards. The beauty is, you make it your own. Gosh, just write if that's what speaks to you. See all those goodies? They're all included with your purchase.

Notepad Gratitude Journal

I have a teenager. She likes to write and journal, but on her own terms. She doesn't want cute papers. She doesn't want monthly tabs. She just wants lined paper and something low-key. There ya go, sweet teen! 

Travelers Notebook Gratitude Journal
I use more than one Gratitude Journal...and the travelers notebook is perfect for tucking in my purse for on-the-go Gratitude journaling. It's not romantic, but you know all those times you're in a Doctor's waiting room or at sports practices? Yeah, down time. And it's THE perfect time to pull out your Gratitude Journal and take a minute or two to think about your day, your life, your right now and write it down.

Sometimes, I go through my journal and embellish some pages. Everyone is different though and if that's not you, just write. But for me, if a page is embellished, it's eye candy for me and I want to open it and choose the page that will hold my thankful thoughts.

Gratitude turns what we have into enough.

good times

He was home for 5 days, but it still wasn't long enough.

Ruth and Zach with the Girls

rock paint

Yes, we had a good time.

sneak peek | my mind's eye

Sharing my Insta-Fun Summer mini album over at My Mind's Eye today using the On the Sunny Side collection with some decorative tape and stamp sets from Indie Chic.

mommy and me x3

he's headed back to Charleston this afternoon

he's home...

...so I'll be back to blogging on Monday. Until then, in case you missed any of these on Instagram or Facebook.

Good Times.

i create | the twinery

I'm a huge fan of altered projects and often buy items with the thought, "I can do something cool with this!" in the back of my mind. Please tell me I'm not the only one that has this thought swirling around in their head from time to time. My project began with a clearance canvas as my base and one of the four newest colors of The Twinery twine to hit the market...Strawberry!

While the paint was drying on my canvas, I wanted to cover up the design that was already there, I gathered supplies: floral wire, baker's twine and wire snips. I roughly drew my word onto paper and  bent the pliable wire to form the word create. It wasn't until I was finished with that word that I decided to add the "i" and use a heart to dot it. After all, I do "love" it all!

With a little patience and a little time, I had wrapped my letters and was ready to place it on the painted canvas. If you happen to have a somewhat smaller gauge of wire, you won't have to snip your wire to create a word, you'll just be able to fold it back on to each other. I didn't do this because my wire is quite chunky.  

In retrospect, I do believe I would have used a different color twine for each letter. It would have seemed a bit more, hmmmm, creative.

Just think of the possibilities...Christmas ornaments, gift toppers, name art for a kid's room. Ready, set...go pull out some wire and twine and get ready to create! Oh, and have fun! If you happen to do this project yourself, please leave me a link so that I can stop in for a visit to see what you've created. I'm kinda nosy that way.

sneak peek | september gallery

featuring Pebbles, Ormolu, The Twinery AND 3 year old Zach

Full Gallery Reveal happens on September 1st at write.click.scrapbook.

he loves things that go fast

We're on our way to the Muffler shop, but I had to pass him up to get a photo because he's such a happy camper right now. The motor is in and it works...obviously. I don't like his scruffy beard much, but that's probably why he's keeping it. We do irritating stuff like that to each other sometimes.

EDITED TO ADD:  The scruff is gone and I have my clean shaven hottie back!

And since I'm sharing words on a Sunday Photo day, let me share this as well. I joke with my Sweetie and tell him that this is probably the only BMW in the world with a #3 Dale Earnhardt license plate.

Other than the scruffy beard right now, he cleans up pretty well and believe it or not, wears Brooks Brothers and J. Crew during the week. Go figure, he's well rounded!