Gratitude Journals!!

Time for another installment of Anything But a Card challenges!!  This week we are working with the theme of 'TIE IT UP'.  Twine, ribbon, jute, fibers...etc.  For my project, I used twine in several places including to tie a fun charm on the binding!

I'm not sure if I had a chance to 'WHOO HOO!!!' all over my blog that I won one of the big prize packs over at Frosted Designs 12 days of Christmas challenge.  I was so excited when the first of the awesome sponsored prizes showed up at my door!  It was this AMAZING paper set complete with kick-booty Thickers by Amy Tangerine.

The colors are just so bright and fun and as soon as I unwrapped them, I just knew they would be perfect for a layout featuring my middle kiddo.  She is a bright, funky, quirky, fun, ball of sunshine for sure!  Then when one of my dear friends challenged her FB friends to try a gratitude journal together, I had an 'A-HA!' moment!  I thought, what better project for these papers than to sit down WITH my daughter and create gratitude journals together that we can fill out throughout the year.

I've been trying so hard to share with my kiddos a revelation I had this time last year.  We have several people in our lives that just always seem to be unhappy.  I know we all have hardships that seem insurmountable sometimes, but there has to be something to the fact that sometimes people who have it all still manage to be walking around in a daze of sorrow and others have lost everything but still manage to find something to smile about.  I think it all comes down to prospective and focus.  You can choose to dwell on the bad and let it overshadow the silver lining, or you can choose revel in the sunshine peeking through the dark clouds.  You can't control what happens in life sometimes, but you can ALWAYS control how you let it affect you.  Such an important lesson to teach them even at a young age, because it will likely shape the way the have relationships for the rest of their lives! 

Here is are 2 pics of my busy little scrappin' bee hard at work on her journal:

And the finished product.  My book is on the left and hers is on the right.  She's almost as sleepy as she is proud I think...we were hard at work for about 4 hours!  These bad boys are filled with over 50 pieces of fun patterned papers that we can journal on, adhere pics or momentos, etc.  Like our own funky smash books but with a focus on finding the beauty and happiness in every day. 

I'm also sharing this project with AllSorts 'Flower Power' challenge

Thanks for visiting!

♥