Butterfly Journal

In a little over a week from now, Close To My Heart will be holding their annual convention in Anaheim, California at the Disney Land Hotel. Sadly, I will not be attending this year, but am very excited for it nonetheless for several reasons.

One is that one of my newest consultants, Tamra Pope is going for her first time, and has entered the album contest. There's nothing like your first CTMH convention and Tamra is UBER-talented, so I think she has a really good shot at the contest. Another is that the new Autumn/Winter Idea Book will be unveiled. And finally, they will announce any new changes, new products and programs, and the next location for Convention 2012. I'll be following Twitter the whole weekend!

In the meantime, while I wait for all the new goodies to be revealed, I have created a Butterfly Journal with other products outside the CTMH circle.

Products used in this journal are from companies like Bo Bunny, Tim Holtz, Pink Paislee, Basic Grey and Prima to name a few. I am offering this as a class July 17th for $45 here in Melbourne, FL. Keep scrolling through this post to get an up-close peek at all the pages and their lovely details. The journal is filled with inspirational quotes, beautiful overlays, little pockets and pull-tabs, plus layers and layers of feminine goodness.

At first glance, this might appear to be a mini album, but it's more of a true journal-sized book measuring approximately 7 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches. The purpose I had in mind when I designed this journal was for personal collection of one's thoughts, self-description, favorites, and dreams in their lives at this current moment.

Something which could help one learn more about herself while also providing a lovely documentation of the person she has become to be shared through the years with her family now and far into the future. (I wish my own mother had done something like this at my age now so I could reflect on what she was like, was thinking, to discover how much we might have in common and to see how her life turned out based on her dreams and goals.)

I started compiling my own lists and information that I am planning to write in my journal and I found it to be a little daunting. It unearthed a few things about myself that I have allowed to go dormant for many years. While getting started was a little tough, once I got going things seemed to start to flow better, and I began to see that I still have dreams and wishes and positive thoughts I need to share.

Some of the topics I will include in my own journal will be:

1. A brief description of myself through the years and the things I remember loving back then and the things I dreamed for my future, from childhood to high school, through my early marriage up to now.

2. Favorite things about myself right now in my life.

3. Favorite things in my life right now. (from foods to activities, hobbies, television, etc.)

4. Things I still dream of doing before I die. (my bucket list, essentially)

Here are a few close-ups of each page to share the details of the beautiful products used...