WIP: Journals

I have four journals that are a work-in-progress...not sure how that happened, okay, maybe it's because I'm a hoarder saver.

This first journal is my 2014 journal...it's basically all my instagram photos.  The journal itself is an old book that I altered.

I actually had too many photos just for the first half of 2014 that I've decided to do four books broken down by quarter...this book is first quarter (I'm a little behind) so it ends with March.

I've got the other three books ready to go...I just need to order my prints from Origrami.com for second quarter so I can get caught up!

This is my junk journal...I always have one going.  As soon as every nook and cranny is filled with junk I've kept from everyday life, I will start on a new one.

This is a sewn journal made entirely of various size patterned papers, newspapers, book pages, old envelopes, etc.  Anything I thought would work as a "page" was folded in half, then sewn down the middle.  Outside cover is brown kraft paper.  These simple and inexpensive handmade journals are my favorite.

You can see there's still plenty of room for little odds and ends, bits of papers and other goodies that I stumble upon daily.  Anything that I think is pretty, interesting or has neat graphic goes in here.

This is my "treasured things" journal made from an old book cover.  I took out the inside pages and added a three ring binder insert with patterned papers and other cardstock weight papers as the pages.

Only treasured things from my daily life make it in this journal...concert tickets, theatre tickets, business cards from my favorite people/shops, etc.   I started this journal three years ago and still have lots of space.

And this last journal is my "Explore Minnesota" smash book that turned into my summer bucket list journal.   It seems every summer, around mid-July, I get a little panicked because we haven't DONE anything and summer is almost over...so this year I made a summer bucket list consisting of 23 things I'd like to do...we have 15 completed with a month to go!

 And the book is almost filled!

There's nothing I like more than filling a journal...except maybe ice cream!

Hope you're enjoying your summer!

New York Travel Journal...

 I finished my New York Travel Journal 2013 last night...I went full throttle to get it done so I wouldn't forget what we did...felt like so long ago already if I would have waited any longer I surely would have forgotten everything!

 I usually make the journal ahead of time and I'm beginning to realize I NEVER make it thick enough...my journals always end up so bulky they never close properly...and this one was no exception.

Tom and I decided to take this trip on (sort of) the spur of the moment.  Thirteen years ago (almost to the day) he proposed to me in Times Square.  We found the exact spot where I agreed to be his wife but it sure had changed...and...wouldn't you know it, a man interrupted us during our private moment to ask for some money...just our luck!

This little pink pocket (I think it's Amy Tangerine) holds the little book I made before the trip listing all the places I wanted to visit, in which borough it's located and the address (with cross streets)...this little book came with me everywhere and I referred to it quite often.  It was very helpful because, let me tell you, we got lost more times than we could count in the West Village, SoHo and Little Italy!

Our hotel was very nice with Central Park South right out the front door...the nighttime view was spectacular.

Our subway adventure was really something too...we wanted to head to the NYU area and ended up in Harlem!  Although we discovered our error relatively quickly, we were on the "Express" A Train so had to just roll with it until the darn thing finally made a stop where we could switch trains.

The last day of our trip we spent checking out Central Park...that was quite an adventure.  You never know just how far you walked until it's time to walk back...probably should have jumped on another train!

 Goodbye New York, until we meet again!

What I'm Working On...

I ordered prints of about 80 of my Instagram photos from Origrami.com. 

They print the photos similar to retro Polaroids and as an added bonus, for the back you can choose from a few different themes like a retro camera silhouette, postcard style, a map of your Instagram photo location...or it'll print the first comment from your Instagram post...doesn't matter which you order, they're all super cute.

 Sorta makes me cringe when I glue it down cause the back is just as cute as the front.

And if pretty packaging is your thing, you'll love that your photos come in a cute little "photo file" box with a white silhouette of a retro camera printed on it (just like on the back of the photos.)

 I've been slowly adding my origrami prints to this journal I made at the end of 2012...

 I still have a million photos to add but I'm just taking my time, enjoying the process.

 Maybe I'll finish by the end of 2014?

New Album on Etsy...

 Here are the additional "Its About Us, a Love Story" photos for the album just listed in my Etsy shop!