Attitude of Gratitude: Journal and first few days

Last year I read about Tessa Buys' Attitude of Gratitude process towards the end of November and was so bummed that I didn't get to it earlier. So I was so excited to start it this year!

I decided that I wanted to keep a simple daily journal with some brief thoughts of what I was thankful for that day and include some of the days memories.

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For my format, I wanted to keep it simple. I love the Amy Tan journal that is available by American Crafts, so I built my album with that one in mind. I used scraps of paper from my two favorite paper lines recently: the Amy Tam line and the Random line by Crate Paper.

I took some leftover papers and cut them to a maximum of 7x10" (which would be 7"x5" when folded). I had a lot of scraps that were smaller, so I included them, too, but just made sure that the would fit into a 5x7" format. I collected all my scraps, scored the papers (and I scored some unevely to add some chracter), and then stitched down the middle.

For the covers, I cut two pieces of chipboard 5 1/2" x 7 1/2" and covered the insides with some Amy Tan fabric paper, and the outsides I used real wood paper by Creative Imaginations.  Yes, it is real wood.  I splatted a bit of orange paint and then bound the covers with some FabRips from Studio Calico.  I left a bit of space between the two covers on the binding to accomodate the size of the journal.  Some chipboard letters, fabric heart (which I cut by hand and machine stitched), and some stitching under the title.  I then punched holes with my crop a dile in the binding and in the inside pages and tied it all together with a bit of baker's twine.

I took out a bumch of stickers, rubons, and journaling spots from my stash.  I limited myself to stickers and rub ons because I don't want this one to be too bulky.  But I may add a few ribbons here and there.  I am also considering adding in a few photos, too, but we will see!

I am so excited to go through this process this month!  I will be back at the month's end with a wrap up and to share my favorite pages!  THANKS for stopping by!