Resolutions

Happy Holidays to everyone!!!  I hope your holiday's are going well so far, and that the rest of the next week and a bit are full of love, laughs, friends and family!

I've always been very bad at the whole resolution thing, I think it's the fact that in order to make a real and lasting change in your life it has to be something that you are doing for reasons that resonate and are important to you, not just because it was time to make a New Year's resolution. 

My sister posted an idea on Facebook a week or so ago about having a mason jar and some note squares and writing the good things that happen each and every day down and storing them all in the mason jar for review the next year.  This is a great idea for remembering what's important and realizing that there are so many good things happening each and every day.  My husband has also started something over this last year called a "rainy day letter".  It's along the same principle, that you keep note of the good things that happen each and every day and the things that make you happy, but rather than waiting until the end of the year to read and review them, you take it out on a rainy day, when you are feeling down and out.

I decided to combine the two and I made this for my hubby for his Christmas present.  I think now I'm going to make one for others in my family, including a cousin just starting her journey through cancer.

Here's the box from the outside.  It's a drop spine box that I made from scratch using some book board that I had in my stash and paper from the Pemberly paper pack from CTMH.

 

Inside the drop spine box is a hard covered journal that is made with a chain stitch binding.  The journal fits perfect inside the box and leaves lots of space to add pictures and other bits and pieces.

 

Here is a picture of the spine of the journal showing the chain stitch binding.  Above is a view of how nicely the journal opens because of the chain stitch, it opens flat and is very easy for writing in!

I'm waiting for the CTMH Spring/Summer 2013 catalog to arrive here before I design the vacation mini-album that I'm going to offer for my March class, but ideas are already going through my head and I'm thinking that maybe a drop spine box with both a journal and a mini-album inside sounds great and I'm sure once the catalog arrives (I can't wait!!!) and I see the wonderful summer and vacation papers and stamps in it that I'm going to have tons of ideas going through my head!!!

 Sending you wishes for happiness and joy for the rest of the holiday season and for the entire new year!!!