Getting Ready for 30 Days of Lists

It's the eve of the launch of the September edition of the 30 Days of Lists challenge and I'm super pumped to be participating in this, my 21st challenge. It was this challenge that turned me on to the whole "use a journal prompt to tell my story" community.

Should you be interested in journaling to share your story as well, you can search the blog for my own posts about:

• 30 Days of Lists
• Lists | Journal Prompts + Junk Journals in General
• Gratitude Journaling - list making in a looser form
• Art Journaling - also includes lists

I simply adore the whole process of journaling, of taking just a few moments to share little snippets of what I am "currently" thinking and who I am in a handmade journal. I almost always use  a journal from my shop that I've created from mixed papers, tags, envelopes and other ephemera.

PREPPING MY JOURNAL PAGES

I am a fan of texture and layers and techniques in my journals, as if you didn't already know that. Which means that sometimes I embellish my journal pages before the actual listing ever happens.

Here's the journal I'm using and this is how my cover looked before I embellished it, to personable it and to make it my own.

And this is how I embellished the cover, very simply, with some washi tape, my List Nerd tag, and I even pulled out my old school Crop-o-Dile, too.

DOCUMENTING WHO I AM RIGHT NOW

I like to include my "Right Now" status and I do that with a little card I tuck into pocket formed with the folded kraft paper bag. You can see how I've done that in some of my other #30lists journals here:

and here

and here, too. 

A FEW SNEAK PEEKS 

Here are a few sneak peeks of some embellished pages that I can share without giving anything away. 

 3" yellow number   |   feather journaling card   |   book page shipping tag    |   day of the week round

focus die cut  ➤ freebie download when you register for #30lists 

more shipping tags 

black number tags 

black number tags 

Find more journals perfect for listing, telling your story, documenting an adventure, or...

On My Mind | This Week in My Gratitude Journal

My Gratitude Journal journey began back in 2010 when I literally went through my paper stash and pulled out cardstock, ephemera, tags and envelopes. When I shared it on my blog and on Facebook, so many people asked me to make one for them. So I did. And thanks to the phenomenon of Pinterest, back in its early days, this image was pinned around the world a bajillion million times and so began my tradition of making Gratitude Journals for my Etsy shop.

my original gratitude journal

And I've continued with documenting my thankful thoughts and grateful moments in some form since then. And I am not committed to just one, I use all of the types of journals in the shop: a travelers notebook, a composition journal, a one line a day journal and my DIY journal card setup.

THIS WEEK IN MY GRATITUDE JOURNAL

Here's the journal I used this week, which happens to be on sale for just $13.50 {August - December 2019} through this evening.

Click here to see more Journals on sale

ON MY MIND

I didn't know where to begin when I turned the page and saw this yellow legal pad page staring at me. When that happens, I often scan my printables die cuts, also included in the 25% off sale, for a journaling prompt that will get me started. I used the "on my mind" from this set.

I know I can't be the only one that has Christmas Gift Lists on their mind already. 

SOMETIMES

Once again I used a printable die cut, from this set, as my journal prompt. I'm sharing a few less than lovely attributes, but such is life. Amiright? I also used a Date die cut.

more shipping tags in red, blue, pink, manila and orange

PETTY CASH

Oh how thankful we should all be for the blessings of stocked cupboards and full bellies. Sadly, there are too many hungry people, even in our own communities.

I went through our receipt drawer and pulled one out from our last trip to Costco. Yeah, cha-thing cha-thing. I decided to add it in to my Gratitude Journal with a paper clip and you know that I was going to bling it up with some pretty paper.

WHAT IS #ILOVETHURSDAYTHANKS

What is #ilovethursdaythanks? It's a way for me, and you, to connect with other like minded souls. Those of us that find joy in documenting our thankful thoughts and grateful moments. Those moments that sometimes could be so quickly forgotten, those thoughts that haunt us and won't let us go, those words that touched our heart when we needed them most, those people who made a difference just by being there.

Join us over on Instagram and share your #ilovethursdaythanks.

SUPPLIES USED

Journal Prompts          Printable Date Rounds                On My Mind                 Gratitude Journals

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Using Tags On Scrapbook Pages

I was inspired to create a scrapbook page by I Love It All Creative Team member Kate Ware, you can see the project she created here, and scrolled our photo library for a photo of me and my sweetie.

USING TAGS ON SCRAPBOOK PAGES

Tags are one of my go-to supplies for creating. I use tags in my journals, travelers notebook pages and on scrapbook layouts. 

On this page I created, I used two tags: the smaller red tag as a way to bring some color to the top of my page and then the manila tag that's part of this printable set. 

I also used one of the patterned 1" rounds, the you and me tag and two word phrases from the set. 

After trimming the manila tag from the cardstock, I punched the patterned 1" circle, trimmed out the "forever & always" tag and the word phrase which I then rounded out the corners to mimic a tag shape rather than just a rectangle word phrase. I added foam dots to the back of the "forever & always" tag and tucked the word phrase tag beneath it.

For the top of the page, I added a red mini tag  as a date and place holder and tucked the "you and me" tag behind my photo covering up the white portion of the tag.

MORE PROJECT CARDS MADE WITH YOUR SCRAPS

I made up a few project cards using the rest of the elements and here's what I made:

And here are a few more ideas to inspire you and get your creative mojo flowing:

SUPPLIES USED

Just the Two of Us Tags + Card Set

Red Mini Tags

Find More Tags + Labels and Journal Card Sets

Free Hello September Printable

Don't you just love that chill in the morning air? Somehow the onset of cooler morning temperatures invigorates me and kick starts me in a list making frenzy of everything I want to accomplish before the bitter temperatures of Winter move in.

Until then, I'm going to enjoy every single lovely day outside that I can. And that includes journaling on the mud porch, because that's one of my favorite places to be and favorite things to do.

You know I'll be playing around with this free printable soon!

MORE CUTE PROJECT CARDS

If you love this patterned journal card as much as I do, take a peek at this complementary set. It includes all you need to make several project: word phrases, tags and rounds and two more journal cards.

Here are a few cards I made:

And here's the printable set I used:

FREE DOWNLOADS

Find other free downloads from I Love It All here.

DOWNLOAD ALL THE HELLO JOURNAL CARDS

Download Hello September Journal Card

Here's a link to find the Hello cards for January, February, March, April, May, June, July and August. 

Between the Pages of A Good Book

Think you don't have to time for yet another project, don't have time to journal? This is me sitting in the school parking lot as I'm waiting for my precious youngest daughter to open the door and say, "Hi, Mommy!"

Some days I read, some days I browse social media and some days I grab a couple of crafty supplies, my glue stick and a journal before a I head out the door.

THIS WEEK IN MY GRATITUDE JOURNAL

I'm using the flagship Gratitude Journal this week. If you've been wondering when the 2020 Gratitude Journals will arrive, they'll be in stock and ready for shipping on August 29th. Want me to add you to a wait list so you'll be the first to know? Just email me and I'll send you a special reminder with a 30% off coupon code to use!

Date Rounds and Book Pages

You know I'm a fan of adding bits and pieces to my pages and today was no different. I began by trimming the edge of my colored index card with some washi tape. I used a book page label {from this set} and a printable DATE round {from this set} before I began journaling.

I used the book page element as a jumping off for my gratitude journaling about reading. Some days it's nice to have a journal prompt and that's when I let the page in my journal or the ephemera I've added help my tell my story.

Paper Ephemera Die Cuts

I've been punching up a storm lately as I prepare to restock the shop with lots of new paper shapes. I used some cute little arrow shapes for my list of "YAY" thoughts.

I'm so immeasurably proud of my girls and all they seem to be able to accomplish. Scholastics, Athletics, Community Involvement, Choral Ensembles, Club Activities and Youth Group - and they do it all with dedication and heart.

We are so incredibly grateful to have these two special young ladies in our lives.

SUPPLIES USED

Gratitude Journal                  Arrow Paper Shapes                  Book Page Kit

WHAT IS #ILOVETHURSDAYTHANKS

What is #ilovethursdaythanks? It's a way for me, and you, to connect with other like minded souls. Those of us that find joy in documenting our thankful thoughts and grateful moments. Those moments that sometimes could be so quickly forgotten, those thoughts that haunt us and won't let us go, those words that touched our heart when we needed them most, those people who made a difference just by being there.

Join us over on Instagram and share your #ilovethursdaythanks.

My Ring Bound Travelers Notebook Journal

As much as I love a beautiful, blank white page in a new notebook, there's something that stirs my soul when it comes to mixed paper junk journals. And then it dawned on me that I could tell my story in a travelers notebook size journal by making it ring bound and using pretty papers.

I CAN'T EVEN

For this entry, I used one of my new journaling card sets and deconstructed it. I trimmed off the title. With the remaining section, meant for your journaling, I trimmed it a bit narrower and turned it facing down instead of sideways.

Here's the card set:

And here's a closeup of how I altered it:

Of course I added layers with some washi tape, torn paper scraps and the thankful word phrase from this set, on which I used my feather punch on.

TELLING MY STORY

And if you don't follow me on Instagram, you may have missed these journal entries. I kind of love this first one.

glassine bag

journaling card

 journaling card

pink shipping tag | in my garden

patterned paper rounds | crochet heart paper clip

MIXED PAPER TRAVELERS NOTEBOOK

If you're more of a traditional Midori notebook fan, I made this junk journal with a stapled binding that includes an embellishment kit. But I offer plain paper travelers notebooks in 5 sizes, too.