Adventuring

Just stopping by quickly to let you know that I've closed up shop and put my email on auto-respond for the next couple of weeks. We're gearing up for a family adventure (or two) and I'm looking forward to spending a little time recharging my batteries and letting my mind wander. I know I'll return with all sorts of new journaling ideas and projects. See you in early September!

Good Stuff!: A Printable Mini-Journal (Some assembly required.)

When I'm writing journal prompts and designing journal pages, I often think in terms of balance -- the good and the bad, the ups and the downs, the successes and the challenges. They are the realities of life and I think it's important to explore them all.

Then, after a whole lot of exploration, I sometimes need a bit of a nudge back to the positive. With that in mind and on a whim (which is mostly how I operate around here), I cooked up a mini-journal devoted entirely to the good stuff, and I made a copy for you, too.

I warn you, there is some assembly required, so I've also prepared my first ever tutorial to help you assemble your very own Good Stuff! mini-journal.

Before we begin, I've included two photos to show you what your mini-journal will look like when it's completely assembled. You can see that it is indeed mini, measuring less than 3 inches wide and just over 2-1/2 inches tall.

Each prompt is one-off. You'll probably be able to finish the whole thing in one sitting. Then you can put it away somewhere and take it out again when you need to be reminded of all of the good things in your world.

This journal's folded book format is adapted from Esther K. Smith's awesome book, How to Make Books: Fold, Cut & Stitch Your Way to a One-of-a Kind Book. It's the very first book in her first chapter called Instant Books. In a moment you'll see why.

The first thing you'll need to do is assemble your production materials. You can download the mini-journal template page here. It's a two-page pdf file with a colourful version and a colour-free version, as always. You'll also need a cutting tool of some sort. I used a craft blade and ruler, but scissors will also do the trick.

Begin by cutting along the long dotted grey line to separate your journal from the title info. Then, fold the remaining part of the page in half, lengthwise.

Fold it in half again, this time at its width.

Next, fold up the two ends to meet at the middle. When you're done, you'll have a page with large accordion folds.

This is the last part that required cutting. Fold the page back in half again at the width and cut along the dashed grey line. This is what you'll end up with:

Pinch the two ends together along your original lengthwise fold line.

Push the two ends together.

Now flatten out your mini-journal. You'll end up with one side that looks like this:

And one side that looks like this:

The last step is to make one final fold, folding the prompt "One thing I'm totally looking forward to:" backwards so that it ends up being the back cover of your mini-journal.

Et voila! A complete journal, ready for your pen, pencil or markers!

One final word before you begin. Do not be discouraged if, upon completion, your mini-journal is not perfect. All of the folding involved means that edges might not be exactly straight and corners might not be just right. After I finished my journal, I spent a few minutes massaging the folds, pressing the page edges and corners with my fingers, and I'm really happy with the end result.

So there you go. A nearly instant mini-journal devoted to the good stuff in your world. I hope you love it! Let me know if any of the instructions are difficult to understand and I'll make any necessary changes to the tutorial. Also, let me know what you think of this new journal because I think I can see myself making a bunch more!