I'm eight weeks pregnant. Shhhhh. I'm supposed to be keeping it a secret.
But alas, there's no way I can do that! My husband and I have been trying for 20 months! Almost two years! Finally a couple of weeks ago, a blood test confirmed that indeed, we are expecting.
And gosh, I just couldn't be happier!
In honour of my first (and possibly only) pregnancy, I decided to document everything.
From vitamins and morning sickness to strollers and bumper pads,
EVERYTHING is going into this new journal.
The best part? I made it.
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| The cover is probably my favourite part. It's impossible for me to feel scared, nervous or cranky when I see it. I used a few different fabrics plus some decorative trim. I embellished all of the swatches with different stitches. The blue heart at the top is a nice, soft felt. The textures are really fantastic! |
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| I decided on a button closure, as I wanted to be able to bring this with me in my purse without worrying about the pages getting folded or dog-eared. I chose my fattest wooden button and fastened a hair elastic to the back cover = instant closure. |
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| I stitched in the three signatures using a pamphlet stitch. Again, very simple, yet strong and nice to look at. I like the bold lines of the threads against the wavy trim that I used on the spine of the journal. |
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| Here's a close-up of that heart. See how my stitches are all messy? That's what makes this journal perfect for me. It's not prissy or fancy or too good to use. |
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| Here is the back cover of the journal. You can see the black stitching where I attached that hair elastic for the front closure. You can also see the wavy trim that is on the spine. I created the entire cover as one solid piece. |
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| A little blurry, but here is the inside cover. You can see the reverse side of the front cover where I used a decorative leaf/vine stitch. I used a soft suede for the inside covers, mostly for its softness. |
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| On the inside front cover, I had threads showing from where I fastened the button (for the closure). In hindsight I should have done the button before adding the suede to the inside. I didn't really mind having the threads showing, but I DID have this ridiculously cute robot patch that was begging to be used somewhere on this project. Now he has a home, and he is seen every time I open the journal! |
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| Ahhhhh the pages. I selected some favourites from my stash, AND went out and bought some specifically for this journal. The result is a collection of awesome papers that definitely inspire me! You can see that on the second page, I've used a white gel pen to write with. I have a few different pens that I am carrying with this journal and I'm finding that the white pen is PERFECT for using on the darker-coloured pages. |
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| The page on the right was one that I bought. It's an old, weathered fence that I instantly loved! |
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| In all, this journal was made straight from my heart. My goal is to write in it every day, and to not beat myself up if my writing isn't neat, or if I miss a day for some reason. I created it to have a document that I could look back to remember my feelings, excitements and fears. I am absolutely in LOVE with the finished product :) |