Creative Cafe Journal

I don't know about the rest of you but when I make or create things they are generally for other people. This time I made something for MYSELF!! I got this 3 ring binder journal kit last year and it is 8.5 x 10.25 so a nice size. Included were 12 photo pages (one for each month) and 72 journal pages. 12 of them were printed with calendar inserts which I had to stamp & decorate for the appropriate month.

I decided I wanted to use this book for my yearly journal. So the first thing I did was make each monthly calendar. Some of the months I was lucky enough to have appropriate numbers and decorations to use but the others well lucky I have lots of stash to use.

So for each month the first page would be a monthly calendar and then below it a space to record your dates to remember. It also came with tabs to put on the edge for each month too. The back of that page is all lined paper.....decorated with some embellishments....and ready for me to journal the things I want to remember.

The second page had the top section with little boxes where I plan to make notes of things I want to do that month and the bottom section was just lined for journaling. The opposite side of the page is lined on the top half for writing but the bottom half is a big box labeled "ideas & doodles".......how neat is that?

The third page is just lined on both sides for more journaling or notes. It was fun finding embellishments for every month to make every page "special". I love how my May gardening page turned out........don't you?

Last there was the photo insert page which will hold four pictures. I really like this because some pictures are not meant to be scrapped but they hold allot of memories for me. For example.......I have a neat picture of Travis & Kevin playing Wii last week-end early in the morning.

The book also came with a dozen various pockets to use but not sure what I can do with them yet. Maybe in my next blog I will post some pictures of these and you can give me your thoughts on what to do with them.

Since this book was for ME, I decided to use some of my favorite papers I have been saving to cover it with. I used Webster Pages........I just love them but actually hoard them as they are each prettier then the next. The paper I picked was so appropriate as it has a circle on it that says On This Day surrounded by the days of the month and the outside circle has all the months. I added a glittered blue bird and a butterfly and for a finishing touch a piece of green velvet ribbon. The picture of the front of the journal is at the beginning of this blog. On the back of the book I used the same paper but just added a rub on glitter saying.

I am really happy with the result and will enjoy using this all year. Almost would like to make this a yearly thing from now on..........guess I will have to see how long this Creative Cafe journal stays around.