the sun will rise

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30 Days of Lists Blog Hop | September 2015

Today, a bunch of us list nerds are sharing our take on journal prompts from the 30 Days of Lists March 2011 class, which you can find for free here. Since I am using a mini book that's already spiral bound, I had to get creative in finding a way to add a page to my journal.

I've shared this tutorial showing how to add pages to your mini book before, but find more in-depth photos in my blog post here. And if you don't have a Bind-It-All, but still want to add pages to a spiral bound notebook, there's even a tutorial on how to do that!

Now on to the list. I chose to journal about what I was looking forward to.

In the last 21 days, I have made 6 trips to the Pediatrician's office for one reason or another: 3 sick child appointments, 1 annual check up appointment and 2 visits to secure medical records for the oldest who had all his original documents stolen during a break in and the only way to get his Social Security card replaced was for the Doctor to confirm his identity. Yeah, lots of fun here.

MY LIST SET UP

On the bright side, I'm thinking that now I have all my visits in for the rest of the year and we won't need to go back. What do you think?

COMMENT TO WIN

Leave a comment sharing which pattern of the Travelers Notebooks you'd like to win. 

MORE LINKS

Similar 30 Lists mini albums are here.

Read more of my #30Lists posts, including past classes I've taken.

Find my List Love board on Pinterest here.

using washi tape to achieve a big effect

Last week, I shared how I use items from my scrap bin to decorate pages for my 30 Days of Lists journals. Today, I'd like to share how a simple strip of washi tape can be used in small doses to achieve a big effect.

USING WASHI TAPE 

On the cover of the journal I'll be using, see below, I used washi tape to embellish the white cardstock and to also attach the metal rimmed tag to the card as well. In my opinion, a little bit of washi just makes everything better. 

Here's another example of how a tag, some washi tape and my favorite foam Thickers really helps to pulls together colors and a certain feel for your pages.

I don't have much skinny washi tape, but it is fun. I felt that the black would draw your eye to the title of this list prompt since there is just so much going on between the numbered journaling card on the left and the pattern of the next list under the square title page on the right. 

What do you think?

Layers add another dimension to your page design and washi tape lends a layer without adding any bulk.

I knew my journaling for this prompt would take more than just the front of my Project Life journaling card, so I added a strip of washi tape that allows the reader to flip up the card and continue reading the story on the back. Often times, I don't particularly make a list of the list prompt, rather I use it as a jump start for a more lengthy reflection on the topic.

When I added the gold sparkly washi tape to this page, I held on to the triangular shapes left over from where I cut into the tape to make a pennant banner...

...and added them to the bottom of the page to notate that this was list 14.

What are your favorite ways to use washi tape? Leave a comment below and I'll choose one person to win a set of metal rimmed journaling tags. Sorry, this giveaway is open to US shipping addresses only.

JOIN THE FUN

Join the fun and list along with us in September. {affiliate link} There's a private blog, free downloads and a Facebook group. I'll be sharing my lists here on the blog, on Instagram and Facebook.

HELPFUL LINKS

MORE LINKS

Similar 30 Lists mini albums are here.

Read more of my #30Lists posts, including past classes I've taken.

Find my List Love board on Pinterest here.

notice the beauty

Enjoy more Sunday Photos.

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how i use my gratitude journal

Have you ever kept a gratitude journal? I began documenting my thankful thoughts back in 2010 and shared the journal I was using in a blog post. And then people began pinning the Gratitude Journal to Pinterest and asking where they could find one like the one I was using, because they wanted to buy one.

And that's how it all began.

Wondering what it's all about? There have been many studies on the benefits of keeping a Gratitude Journal, like this one.

And from personal experience, one those days that I stop and take just a moment or two to reflect upon my day, I realize that even though overall my day may have been "one of those days" in reality, there were so many other moments, not matter how small they were, that I had to be grateful and thankful for.

The Gratitude Journal is definitely one of my most purchased items and one of my top sellers. It's also among my most pinned blog post projects. And that customers browsing Etsy also pin the journal  directly from the shop listing, well, I'm just very humbled and thankful and yes, grateful.

ON NOT GIVING UP

I've not always been faithful to my journal. Frankly, in 2010, I sort of gave up on it all together toward the end of the year. 2010 was a tough year for me and instead of turning to journaling to focus on the good, I went in the opposite direction and just put it aside. In retrospect, totally not the right thing to do, journaling it all would have helped me to release some of my anxiety about the whole situation and perhaps help me to cope better.

That didn't stop me from making another journal to document my grateful thoughts for 2011. And I journaled. I'm a creature of habit and hate to give up on anything. It takes me a long time to just give up on something. Or some one. 

If you're someone who thinks that they just won't be faithful and won't keep up...

read on.

WHAT WORKS FOR ME

What I found works best for me is to journal when I can.

No pressure.

I'm over feeling the guilt for not writing in my journal every.single.day. 

I don't want to take the joy out of something that's supposed to bring me joy. 

Sometimes, I journal every day. 

Some weeks, I don't journal at all for weeks and weeks. 

And then there are the days I cheat. Yes, you heard me. I cheat by going back through my photo stream on my computer. Looking at our family photos helps me to remember moments and how I was feeling that day. It helps to jog my memory just enough so that I can journal the thankful thoughts that come to my mind when looking back on our photos.

It might work for you. If you happen to fall behind on a few days or neglect your journaling for weeks, don't give up on it, don't. Take the opportunity to jump right back in today and don't look back. 

JOURNALING OPTIONS

2016 journals will begin appearing in the shop soon!

• I've added some Midori size Travelers Notebooks to the shop and this one is a custom design for those that want a Gratitude Journal in an insert size notebook. 
• Here's a notebook style spiral bound lined Gratitude Journal with lots of room to document. You could even use this Perennial Calendar as a journal, especially if you're just writing one line a day.
• I'll be doing a Super-Mega sized 6x8 journal with larger pages for more journaling. The cover will be embellished with chipboard letters and a shipping tag, similar to this one but bigger. And there will be more pages per month and many of the pages will be embellished! There will even be a goodie bag included with bits and baubles inside to help you decorate or embellish pages, if that's something that appeals to you.
• The regular size Gratitude Journal will still be available, with three cover options like this year.
• And I'm thinking of adding a custom cover to some composition notebooks, similar to this one, for those of you that really love to journal, there are 100 pages in this one.

Use the code JOURNALIT for 20% off your order now through September 30, 2015. 

my favorite 30 days of lists pages | from the scrap bin

I've been promising to publish a round-up post of my favorite listing pages from the past 30  Days of Lists challenges I've participated in and now I can cross that off my list!

After I began going through my journals, I realized that there's a theme to how I design my pages and am going to do a series of posts, each highlighting a different theme. I've tried to link up sources and links to any supplies I might have used, many from the I Love It All shop.

FROM THE SCRAP BIN

Office Supplies

I wanted to find a way to journal on the dictionary page and came up with the idea of using a correction tape runner that I'd had for ages and ages and surprisingly...it worked! The correction tape runner is  similar in concept to an adhesive runner used by scrapbookers, but it's correction tape, and it's dry. I guess you could try it with the old fashioned correction fluid, but you might need to spread with a light hand so your page doesn't get too wet and buckle. 

Before I even heard of washi tape, I had this idea to use a roll of masking tape that I had in my stash as a way to journal on a page that had a busy pattern. I used a Sharpie and it hasn't faded or worn off. 

I was even a rebel and changed the list prompt from Reasons To Start to Reasons to Stop, that's what's so great about this challenge, you can make it work for you. Don't like a list at all, make up your own! 

And if you've followed along with me for long, you know that "Everything Happens for a Reason" is one of my favorite quotes | sayings. 

I stamped this mini manila shipping tag for a project, which came out less than perfect, and as I was designing this page I found the tag in my scrap bin and decided to use it.  I was able to squeeze the page into my sewing machine and added the list prompt above and below the stitch line.

Chipboard

I know I'm not the only one to have random shapes of raw chipboard hanging around. I know this particular shape is probably about 4 or 5 years old and because I find it hard to trash something that is still useful, I decided to write my list prompt on the chipboard and journaled on the page.

Another example of repurposing from the scrap bin is this collection of orphaned chipboard letters. I had to use the negatives of the die cuts to make the title work, but it ended up being one of my favorite techniques.

Offcuts

I am a super fan of this page. The cardstock pattern, colors, foam Thickers and journaling technique all appeal to me. I simply use the off cuts when trimming pages to include in mini albums I make for the shop and trim into them to make them look like a pennant banner and as a holder for the main word WHY of the list prompt. 

I did the same thing here, the scrap is just bigger, making it the holder for the list prompt again and using a paper clip to attach it.

Here I used my Tim Holtz tiny attacher to secure the title to the mini album page.

And these are off cuts from manila shipping tags. I also used my Dymo label maker for the list prompt title, it's probably 10 years old if not more.

Hidden Journaling

Glassine and kraft bags are almost always used as a page element in my mini albums. Glassine bags are great for adding ephemera, lists, tags or gift cards to and kraft bags add a fun textural element to your project and can be written on with almost anything. Use a permanent Sharpie to write directly on Glassine bags, though.

Each of the #30lists journals I've listed in the shop have had a folded kraft bag as the first page of the album. It allows you to write on 4 surfaces of the bag, or not, and even tuck inside a journaling card for a private note. Really such a versatile item to have in your stash arsenal when scrapping, crafting or creating mini books.

I've made journals for each of the classes I've taken and this time I've done the same, here's the one I'll be using for the September class, but there's just one of the 5x7 journals remaining. 

JOIN THE FUN

Join the fun and list along with us, find out more info and how to register here. {affiliate link} Challenges are held each March, September and December. 

HELPFUL LINKS

Similar 30 Lists mini albums are here.
Shop with me!

Read more of my 30 Days of Lists posts, including past classes I've taken.

Find my List Love board on Pinterest here.

mistakes

We all make mistakes, some big and some small, but they don't have to define who we are or who we will become.

Enjoy more Sunday Photos.

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throwing pots

For such a very long time, I've wanted to learn how to make pottery. 

Lucky for me, there's a studio in our town that offers classes from beginner to advanced and is led by the most laid-back and patient instructor. Well, actually she's an artist as well as accomplished business woman.

Last night was our second class and it was even more fun than the first. During our first class I made the two bowls on the lower left, the ones that are larger and taller than the rest.

Last night's class has us learning how to do a cylinder so that we could fine tune our skills. We made the bases for coffee mugs. I only successfully got three coffee mug bases made. The other two smaller and shorter vessels are a result of me not having my clay centered correctly and when I began working they went wonky on me and I had to cut them off. Now I have condiment bowls instead of coffee mugs!

If you're local and are interested in learning to throw some pottery yourself, check it all out at Studio 212 and tell LeeAnne that Monika sent you! But wait, they offer so much more than just Pottery classes, there's Art and Drawing and Painting and Tipsy Brush classes for a crowd, too.

And there are also classes for the kids, the girls have taken a junior pottery class during summer break and loved it!

look what i found

One never knows the treasures they'll find when they start going through craft supplies that haven't see the light of day in more days than can be counted. And look what I found yesterday!

Okay, maybe nothing to be sooooo excited about, but I am! Firstly, because they are all in sizes I didn't have in my hook stash already and secondly, because I'm thinking that yarn needle probably belonged to my Mom from back when she was still knitting. I regret not having the patience to learn that skill from her when I was younger. I am so impatient, and still am, and when my practice runs didn't turn out perfect, I sort of gave up on it and me ever learning how to do it to the best of my abilities.

Just the other day, when Victoria was putting away a pom pom into our yarn drawer, she said we had so much yarn we could open a store. For the record, not really, we probably only have about 6 colors, it just looks like we have a lot. 

I've started on a new scarf project with four skeins of yummy yarn in colors that aren't my usual go-to shades, but that's the fun of it. Something new. This pattern will take me some time, so I hope that I persevere and follow through. I like quick gratification and so far, this project has not been quick for me. 

After the success of crocheting this scarf, with bulky yarn and a huge hook, you can see what I mean! 

I might even like this one better, though, maybe because of the choice of yarn. For some reason, I can't find a photo of the finished project, but it's very similar in stitch to scarf pictured above. You can find the pattern here.

What are your favorite crochet projects and patterns? I'm not very advanced in my knowledge of stitches and techniques, but I'm willing to learn. And there's always You Tube, right? Have you checked out my crochet love board on Pinterest?

In the Shop

where i've been

If you've wondered where I've been, I've been taking it slow.

And I liked it.

I may have liked it too much.

I liked that I made time to read, even if that meant that I didn't do the laundry that day.

I liked that I wasn't crazy busy this summer with my shop. That doesn't mean that I didn't worry that my numbers weren't where they were last year or that I was going to have to readjust my goals, but sometimes things happen for a reason. And I took that reason to mean that I needed to step back and enjoy the moments that I had with the girls, and with myself, and with Gordon.  After all, moments only come once. 

I liked that I had time to have time. Time to do nothing. Or anything. 

Honestly, part of me taking it slow is that I'm struggling a bit with a few things in my life and for the first time I'm feeling kind of lost and I'm questioning myself. And that is leading me to compare myself to others, which is a scary slide to be on. I'm old enough to know that there are ups and downs and seasons in everyone's life. 

And I know that it will all make sense. 

And I know that it's okay to struggle and question.

But, here's to the girls having a wonderful first day of school today which means we're back to a schedule. Schedules have always been a good thing for me.

And speaking of schedules, be on the lookout for some some fun, new projects I'll be sharing soon.

Thanks for reading. 

Thanks for your friendship. 

Thanks for sticking with me.

Thank goodness for each new day!

today she is 12

Enjoy more Sunday Photos.

Thanks for stopping in!

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