Grand Vacation Blog Hop: Remember to Give Thanks

Thanks so much for stopping by The Creativity Cave!  I am so glad to have you visit my little slice of the Internet and hope you enjoy your stay! 

This month's theme is Remember to Give Thanks.  I can't even believe this is the theme because it is so on my heart right now!!  I think most people who know me personally, know that the past 2 years (almost to the day) have offered me challenges in my life I never knew could exist.  They have been impossible.  They have been gut-wrentching, and they have been both physically and emotionally exhausting.  Some of those challenges I've shared, and some I have not.   So so so so many times over the last two years I have asked WHY?!  Why have all these things happened.  To me and to my family.  The answers are never clear to me and I am convinced that is part of the journey.  While I have never considered myself to be all that religious, I do have faith.  I do know where I stand with Jesus and my heart is full of love for Him.  Religion has been complicated for me, to say the least. Now what on earth does all that have to do with Stamping?  I promise there is a point–it is coming soon so stay with me even if you are thinking UGH! 

I promise I am NOT going to get on my high horse.  I'm not going to tell you what to do or how to do it.  I'm not going to tell you how great I am for this journey–to be honest–it has sucked!  PUUH-LLEASE  know I'm nothing close to perfect.  To be honest, I like to swear almost as much as I like to stamp.  I  promise this is not a I'm not that kind of post, SERIOUSLY!!   But I am going to tell you that I am THANKFUL.  I am so very thankful for the blessings I have and TODAY I would like to share the way I want to REMEMBER TO GIVE THANKS!

So, I made a prayer journal a couple of years ago (not the this one).  I did it as a class.  it turned out nice.  I researched a bunch of stuff–I had to–what did I know about prayer journals?!?  I bought a couple of journals at Family Christian (let's be clear–this is not a store where I am a regular shopper)  I accidentally bought a journal for a woman with self-esteem problems (whoops–I think I can safely say that is one area I'm not really struggling with).  But it did have nice things in it and I was drawn to the look of it–it was pretty.   So I made my journal, I held my class and I had happy, happy customers.  One thing I did learn in this process was to give prayers of thanks and to go back in your journal after some time has passed and see how your prayers have been answered–sometimes we don't see that in the middle of things, at the time of our prayers. 

I thought I would be "all about" my prayer journal after my class.  I mean I pray all the time.  Mostly asking for everything in my life to be better, be fixed, be easier for me, since we are being honest.  I certainly pray for others, as well.  In fact, I feel overwhelmed by people who are "in my prayers". I never want to say that "I am praying for you" or "you are in my prayers"  unless that is true.  But that is overwhelming–it hurts me to see others suffering (especially when I have felt such pain these past 2 years).   But the thing is, I really didn't use it that journal myself.  I think I wrote in it like once…sooooo…..

My decision was made by the name of this Blog Hop:  Honor those words of our theme!  This is my last GV blog hop for the year.  I didn't earn the Grand Vacation to the Mediterranean this year. I am so sad to lose the opportunity to share alongside these amazing women each month.  So many of them are my friends, amazing, amazing friends who have helped me get through the past year. They are some of the best people and they are people whom I am tremendously thankful to know and love!  But all hope is not lost…

I DID earn the Getaway Vacation!  I actually am leaving to go on that trip today and I am bringing my sister!  So what better way to honor this last hop with my new journal that is inspired by the beautiful ladies I've met along the way!  My hope is to use this a journal of Thanks and Prayers. Despite the challenges of the past year, I have so much THANKS in my heart!  So here is how I put it together.

Watch the video–I know it is sideways–I'm not sure why–that's not how it was shot, but it has great info and a bit of emotion–I'm sorry about that!!  SHEESH!

About the journal:

First of all, I was trying to figure out how to put it together and then it dawned on me:  PROJECT LIFE!!!!  Yay!  The perfect format!  Then I looked at our project life kits.  I love a whole bunch of them but they were not quite right for what I wanted.  Remember what I said about pretty?  That was what I was going for!  Next, I knew after looking through my project life cards that I wanted to include quotes and maybe some scriptures.  I went to Pinterest and pinned a bunch of stuff to my REMEMBER TO GIVE THANKS BOARD (that is also what I put in the search!!)   Next what to do with the things I found.  Hmmmm…. I wanted to print out all the quotes in cool fonts, mixing things up, but I was also pressed for time.  I started this yesterday afternoon (I've never been known for being way ahead of schedule!)  I pulled out my PL grid cards,  and decided my own hand-writing would be easiest.  I figured I could stamp some of the words and then I could add stamped images in bright colors.  So, I took out a few things that were my favs:  Endless Thanks (fitting wouldn't you say), The itty bitty accents punch pack, and the Back to the Basics Alphabet.  I added a couple of things here and there and the rest is history!! 

Cover close up–I markered the letters in REMEMBER with markers.

Added the flowers with glue dots.

Inside the cover.  I put the date (tiny in the front cover).  I started writing on the first blank card (Kraft) and will continue to journal on each blank card.  The "quotes" that I made pretty are for inspiration along the way.

This is one of the "full" pages (6 x 8).  I will journal around the card when I come to it in my book.

Here is a sampling of the "inspirational" cards for decorating my book. Below are several close up.

This is what a typical "spread" in the journal looks like.  With Project Life the cards are removable and super easy to take out and write on then put back!

The last page is where I stored extra cards.  I used 2 packs of the pages, with room for more!

I hope you liked this project.  If you watch the video, my apologies for the beginning! I just was trying to share that through the incredible challenges, I am trying to live for the blessings!  Thanks , again for stopping by! Please feel free to subscribe to my mailing list on the right in the side bar.  I hope you'll stop by again soon!  Please continue on the hop.  You are at Dena Rekow's blog right now!

Product List

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