 Happy November! Today kicks off the first day of November - a good month to reflect on all the good in your life, give thanks and let gratitude sink in. It's also a great time to keep a gratitude journal. "A gratitude journal is a diary of things for which one is grateful. Gratitude journals are used by individuals who wish to focus their attention on the positive things in their lives. Gratitude, the feeling of appreciation or thanks, has gained a lot of attention in the field of positive psychology," according to Wikipedia.  A gratitude journal can take many forms - a simple composition notebook, a Traveler's Notebook insert you make or buy, a collection of small journal cards that you write on and stick in a SN@P! Album or similar, writing in a mini album you have created and so much more. Keep in mind if you already use a planner or bullet journal, you can easily incorporate this idea into that. Just look at the examples below!
Now that you have your Gratitude Journal, what should you fill it up with? It's an easy answer: whatever makes you feel gratitude. However, it can be a little intimidating to start. Below is a round-up of some prompts that can help inspire you to create and reflect on your gratitude. Do you keep a gratitude journal? Have you been inspired to start one?
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When Eileen Hull was here this past Sunday she brought the most fantastic vintage suitcases stuffed full of traveler's notebook journals and mini albums made by her and her design team. It was a visual feast!
One of my favorite things is books and journals "stuffed with stuff". Back in high school I remember getting a thick notebook with a heavy duty silver coil and hand made paper cover. I "stuffed" that notebook with pictures of fashion that I loved from my Seventeen magazines and more. I still have that notebook and consider it a little time capsule from the late 90s (those eyebrows and chunky shoes were rough looking in hindsight!). I have been a traveler's notebook, smashbook, junk journal fan ever since! But I have to admit I haven't made much time for this type of crafting lately (I'm still trying to finish up my traveler's notebook from my trip to Denver this past May). However, I told myself on Sunday while at the Eileen class that I was going to make time daily - even if just 10 minutes - to create in one of my traveler's notebooks or journals. It may only be Thursday, but I am going 4 days strong so far. Since I have all things traveler's notebook and junk journals on the brain currently, I thought I would share some of the awesome inspiration I have been perusing lately. Scroll down and get ready to look like this: 
Aren't they fun looking? I especially love that the bottom four pictures actually incorporate junk mail into them. Look at the use of the envelopes! If you need a little more in person inspiration to get you going, sign up for the Gratitude Journal with Hope class coming up later this month. In that class you will use a vintage hymnal to create a gratitude journal to use during the Thanksgiving holiday season. All the details and sign-up are here. Or grab a book or journal and some "junk" and sign-up for the Creative Weekend starting Friday, September 29. You can have a table in our studio to get creative on all weekend for only $15. Details and registration are here. When we have exciting news like “Eileen Hull is coming to Palette & Paper on September 10” we like to share it in our newsletter, on Facebook and Instagram (so be sure to sign up for the newsletter and follow us on social media). Eileen Hull is a designer for Sizzix, has created various products with manufacturers, travels the USA and Canada in her amazing camper named Scotty and more!  When Eileen heads to P&P in less than two weeks she will be sharing and teaching two classes that utilize her revolutionary Sizzix ScoreBoards XL Die –Journal. This die allows you to cut the pieces to make your very own Traveler’s Notebook cover, and Eileen will guide you through how to create one out of fabric or paper. Click here to read more about the two classes and get registered today!  One of the reasons having Eileen here along with her awesome Journal Die is so exciting is because Traveler’s Notebooks are, in a word, awesome! You can do so much with them! To expand a little more, the Traveler’s Notebook, in simplest terms, it is a “notebook system” consisting of a cover with elastic bands inside that enable the user to connect to it notebooks (aka refills or inserts) and other accessories (card holder, dashboard, etc.). This enables the user to customize the Traveler’s Notebook based on their needs with just switching the contents/refills. As we have shared before in this blog post, Traveler’s Notebooks can be used in daily organization for a plethora of things.  They can also be used to make amazing journals and albums for trips, prayer/faith journal, experiences and so much more. By using the die set you can cut the pieces to make the TN cover like you see below.  Using this as the base you can create amazing journals. The creations that have been made with this die are stunning! Just look at some of these! Amazing, right? It is so awesome see how this one die can create so many gorgeous journals that are as creative as their makers. So, be sure to join us and Eileen on September 10 to learn more about these journals and how to create one from the master herself! With the start of a new year many of us make a list of resolutions, and unfortunately, almost just as many of us (92%, source) don’t have success with our resolutions. With statistics like that it can be daunting to even try to implement resolutions into your life. What if you could simplify and just choose one word? One word that would help you focus on what is important to you for the year ahead. One word to meditate on and implement into your daily life. Have you heard of the “one little word” concept?  Ali Edwards is credited with the idea of one little word or OLW, and started choosing one for herself in 2006. In her words, “A single word can be a powerful thing. It can be the ripple in the pond that changes everything”. If you are on social media you may have seen friends and family talking about their OLW for the year ahead. The words chosen are just as unique as the people choosing them. Some I’ve seen include: focus, together, balance, joy, calm, move, grow, open, lively, grace, enjoy and so many more! Like with any resolution it is important that you keep your OLW at the forefront of your mind. With that, it is a good idea to incorporate your OLW into your artwork - bible journaling, art journal, traveler's notebook, hand lettering, watercolor painting, card making and more. Below are some examples of craft projects that others have created to celebrate and live their OLW on a daily basis. We hope you find inspiration in their words and creations,
Have you selected a word for 2017?
Care to share in the comments or the next time you are in the Shoppe? It seems like with each year’s passing that time goes more and more quickly. It leaves me longing for capturing and remembering memories and events. Palette & Paper offers a lot of products to help memorialize those memories. However, a big part of memories is capturing photographs to incorporate into your planner, scrapbook pages, traveler’s notebook, art journal and more. Most photos are captured using our smartphones (gotta love not having to haul around a separate camera), so I thought I would share a few of my favorite apps for photos, including editing, organizing and printing. Looking for an app to help boost the colors in your photos? Convert them to black and white? Make them warmer or cooler looking? Add some light flares or bokeh? Try out A Color Story.  It is free with in-app purchases available ranging from $0.99 - $8.99 for all the filters and effects. It is super easy to use, quick at applying filters for preview and doesn’t make any changes to your original picture. Here is an example of the filters and bokeh you can add with just one-click.  Original
Do you feel uninspired when it comes to taking pictures? How about participating in daily prompts to kick-start your inspiration? The app, Little Moments, has daily prompts available for the month (examples for a few days this month include: lunch, something red, three and pop!).  It also has editing capabilities and “stickers”, including quotes and doodles to add to your pictures. The app is free to download with in-app purchases available ranging from $0.99 - $3.99 to unlock all the designs.
Another great app that organizes all your photos is Shoebox.  It is free for unlimited photo backup and your photos are available everywhere – you can view them on your phone, tablet or computer (in-app purchases are also available). Another great feature of Shoebox is it will provide a little daily reminder showing you pictures that were taken on that date last year, 2 years ago, etc. It makes for super fun memories. On this date a year ago my dog was less than impressed with her new hippo toy (below, left) and 2 years ago my niece looked adorable while opening Christmas gifts (below, right).
You can also review timelines of photos by month and year.  Lastly, all of these pictures need to be printed out (something we are all guilty of – taking pictures and leaving them on our phones indefinitely). I like using the Printicular app.  Printicular works with Walgreens, so you can easily upload photos to the nearest Walgreens and get 1-hour service (they also have an option to have photos mailed to you if you aren’t close to a Walgreens). You can upload pictures from your phone and social networks, including Instagram, Facebook, Flickr, Dropbox and more. It is a free app and you can receive 30% off of your print job with code MEAM. Plus, you can print 4x4”, 4x6”, 8x8” and more. Are there any photo apps that you consider a must have? Leave us a comment! |
Palette & Paper's blog is written by creative team member, Kimberly.
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