Aloha! I am still working on “catch up” posts to share projects I did this year but did not get up here on the blog. It is all in the name of trying to bring blogging back into the routine of my daily life, where it has been pushed aside and left on the back burner for far too long! A gratitude journal is a great way to get started with the traveler’s notebook format, if you have not tried it yet.
I created this gratitude journal for a workshop that I taught last November in The Clique. We used the Maggie Holmes Gather collection from American Crafts-Crate Paper. I made the mini book in the standard TN size, but I stitched pockets into my pages to give it a twist. There was an interactive component of this project-tags where I asked all of the kids to journal their own gratitude thoughts, and later tucked these into the pockets.
Sometimes the simplest projects are the most satisfying. My favorite supplies for traveler’s notebook albums are Instax film to print photos on using my Instax Share printer,
I also love using stamps, washi tape, and a simple black gel pen. These large copper colored clips make it easy to keep my pages spread open flat on my desk when working and photographing.
If you have not tried documenting memories and journaling in a traveler’s notebook format, you might really like it. To test the waters, try picking up a kit like the ones here available a la carte before committing to a subscription. It is very easy to find pre-made inserts with decorative covers and different types of pages such as plain white, off-white, dotted, graphing, black, and lined. This section of the Clique Kits shop has traveler’s notebook inserts in plain white style that are very pretty, and also some options for purchasing a cover album.I also love to make my own! I simply cut paper 8.5 x 9 inches and fold it along the middle so each side is 4.5 inches. Then I staple the seam with my Sparco long reach stapler, which I found on Amazon. Once the book is constructed, I trim the pages so that they are even.
Now it is ready to be filled with grateful thought, memories, bits and pieces, scraps I want to use up, and lots of room for creative expression! I guarantee that once you start, you will get hooked like I did!
-xGia
