Winter Journals

I joined a Winter Journal swap quite a while ago and to be honest in the midst of all the apron and Christmas Swaps I also joined (what was I thinking!) I'd all but forgotten about it. Monday evening, after I'd gotten all the boxes packed and ready to be picked up, I sat down and started thinking about what I'd like to make for my partner. Thinking leads to going through my papers and my embellishments where I found the FAITH card. It spoke to me as there is so much going on in my life right now that there is little I can do about, except to have faith. I decided to put together a journal for myself and finished it in under an hour. Red, black and white have always been my colors. That still left me without a journal for my swap partner.

Back to my papers and embellishments I went! I pulled several sheets of silvery blues and pearly whites - all colors that reminded me of my Christmas tree. While I was looking for embellishments I remembered some vintage glittered words Murph and I uncovered in an antique/junque store last fall and wondered if I could remember where I had tucked them for safe keeping.
I found them in my sideboard, carefully wrapped in tissue and tied with a string. While I was at the sideboard, I noticed the little bowl of vintage rhinestone buttons (see the first picture) and thought why not!
I put this together, thinking it would be perfect to use this year to "Journal Our Christmas". The ribbon is some that I received from my partner in the Aqua & Red swap. While this is all very nice, it still left me with nothing for my swap partner. So, back to the papers I went.
Finally I came up with this. A very simple Winter Journal with some pearl and sequined flowers along the edge.
I like the idea of a clip on the top to hold a favorite photo, quote, or whatever inspires you to journal.

I have to admit, it felt good to be working with paper, glue, and goodies again! It's so much quicker for me to put together a paper piece than a sewn piece. That almost instant gratification is nice sometimes.