...with much Gratitude

Shortly after my last blog post in September I went through something that changed me forever. I had a routine outpatient surgery that left me with an undetected internal bleed and by the time the doctors in the ER found it I had lost over half of my blood volume. It was a very close call and I tear up every time I think about my husband and mother sitting in the O R waiting room all night praying I would make it and trying to prepare themselves for a different outcome.
When I woke up after the surgery I was in so much pain yet I was grateful for the pain because it meant that I had survived. I like to think I was a grateful person before all of this happened but now I am grateful in a whole new way. If I could go back in time and change the outcome of the first surgery and never go through this whole ordeal I wouldn't change a thing. I have learned so much through this experience. So, it is with much gratitude that I move forward in my life taking with me the things I learned.



For my first blog entry since the surgeries I decided to share this Gratitude Journal I designed for ScrapbooksPlus. The idea behind it came from a friend. She has a gratitude journal and each year at Thanksgiving she records what her family is thankful for from that year. I decided that when my kids were old enough we would start the same tradition.
I started with the Graphic 45 ~ Staple Collection ~ Envelope Album and Teresa Collins ~ Giving Thanks Collection of papers and embellishments. I added some Prima flowers on the cover along with some Tim Holtz Tissue Tape. I also added a Metal Glitter Charm from The Girls Paperie and glued two tiny magnets on the back to use as my closure system.




In the center of the lightest color flower I attached a Making Memories Metal Sayings embellishment so the magnet on the back of the Metal Glitter Charm had something to cling to. The tags from the Giving Thanks Collection are double sided so when you open the book the back of the "Gratitude Journal" tag shows the same design. The same is true for the "Count your Blessing" tag below.


I chose this album because of the envelope pages. I could have simply decorated the cover of a notebook or journal but how much fun is it really to look at empty pages. I wanted a journal that I could display. The envelope pages gave me the ability to have pages to decorate and a place to keep those blank pages. As the years go by we will fill them up



I made these pages for the journaling. They slip easily inside the pocket pages and I could even add two or three to each pocket just in case we are really grateful. I cut them out of cardstock and stamped them using Antique Linen ~ Distress Ink and a music note clear stamp. I then used the Distress Ink to create the halo effect around the edge of the cards. Finally I added the titles to the top using the transparency sheet from the Giving Thanks Collection. I cut them out and glued them each to a journaling page using Zip Dry.



I used more embellishments, tags and papers from the Giving Thanks Collection as well as other items I had in my stash to decorate the rest of the album.