Notably Ornate Mini Journal

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Listen For Your Heart Whisper

Amidst the clamor of life - the ring tones and beeping, the buzzing and honking - there is a whisper inside of you.  If we stop long enough to listen, we will hear the faint sound of that whisper - the whisper of our dreams - our desires - our truth.  One way I try to quiet the noise inside of me and around me is to journal.  At times I will journal in the morning - trying to capture the random thoughts that race around my head.  Journaling gives them a place to land so they don't have to keep buzzing around in my head, trying to grab my attention.  Although I have not been consistent with my morning journal, I have tried to remain consistent with my evening gratitude journal.  I make it a before-bed ritual - to record at least 10 things I am grateful for - the gratitude I have found - in the day I have just lived.  I have a small red journal on my nightstand where I record these lists of gratefulness.  When I travel, I take a handmade journal with me and I record my thoughts and my gratitude list in the journal.  By taking time to stop and capture these thoughts I open myself up to hearing the whispers of my heart.
I created this journal using 1/2 a piece of Sahara Sand card stock.  I inked bubble wrap using my Whisper White craft ink pad and stamped onto the surface of the card stock.  I also stamped using Perfect Plum ink and the tip of the Crystal Effects container.  The Sahara Sand panel in the middle was run through the Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and then sponged with Sahara Sand ink.  I sewed around the edge of the book with my sewing machine.  I also sewed a piece of Victoria crochet trim to the embossed panel and then sewed the panel to the front cover.  I stamped the bird from Notably Ornate onto Whisper White card stock with Perfect Plum ink and cut it out and adhered it to the card using dimensionals.  The word "Discover" is from Handbill Headlines (retired) and was stamped in black onto Sahara Sand card stock and punched out with the extra large oval punch.  The words came from an old book.  I cut them out of the book, sponged the, and adhered them to the cover.  A few rhinestone jewels add some sparkle!  The inside of the journal has pages made from scrap paper.  I used string along with decorative threads/yarns to create the binding.  I hope you like it!