Monday, December 28, 2009

handmade

I didn't make as many gifts this Christmas as a I did last year, but what I did make I was so excited about. I've been thinking a lot about gratitude the last few weeks. How feeling grateful actually changes your attitude which in turn changes the way you see life. So with that on my mind I decided to make gratitude journals that would help keep you thinking about gratitude all year long.





It was more of an undertaking than I thought, designing it all from scratch, but one of those projects for me that didn't seem like work at all. I created the book layout in Indesign. Here are my initial notes. I had to work out each individual signature (group of pages) before I could begin to lay it out. I told Adam there must be a program out there that does this for you, but didn't have the time or patients or money to go looking for it.



quote from book:

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. - Melody Beattie



You can't really see it so clearly in the picture, but each page has three days and a place to write 3 things your grateful for from that day. It was definitely a labor of love and hope Adam's sisters and mom will enjoy them this coming year.

And because I loved the way they turned out so much and the concept that I decided to make an extra one to sell. I know I'm cutting it close with the new year starting this week, but seeing as they were gifts I couldn't share this information until after Christmas. If your at all interested go here to see it in my etsy shop.

Have a great day!

14 comments:

Natasha said...

i love love LOVE the patterns you chose...where did you find them? they look like amy butler to me? please email me at tashetta@hotmail.com
i would love to get a hold of the top print especially ( blue & brown & sage ). thank you!! very cute journals, by the way :)

Natasha said...

So you have two Natasha fans! Here is the other Natasha. I saw this gift on Jill's blog (or Robyn's?)and immediately thought how lucky the recipients of these books are. They are gorgeous plus so special because of all the time you put in them!

Jill said...

The books turned out so beautifully! I feel very lucky to be the recipient of one of them for sure!

I know what a huge undertaking a project like this is so the fact that you made so many of them is even more amazing to me. Thanks so much!

michelle said...

They turned out so beautifully, Amy. My first thought after I saw them on Jill's blog was, "how did she format all of the pages and signatures to work out with the dates?" -- a labor of love for sure.

Shelley said...

Wow! Those turned out very nice!

Ryan said...

These are great! Love them. They are beautiful.

Elizabeth said...

These are amazing!
I used your delightful tags on the popcorn balls we gave away. Thank you!

Liz said...

I love this! What a great idea. I would love one if you decide to make more.

Amy said...

GORGEOUS!!!!!!!

Lucy said...

I LOVE them!

Charity said...

Please tell me you will make another to sell? 114 views and all sold out!!! Maybe if you choose not to sell you could post instructions? Please???

Anonymous said...

Love it! I'm just learning how to use InDesign, so I'm especially impressed.
Who did the printing?
Are the floral designs yours too?

amy gretchen said...

Julie I'm doing the printing though I wish someone else was because it's proving to be a long process. Takes 2 hours to print one book.

No, the floral designs are not mine. I found them ages ago online. Made them into brushes and threw them in the design last minute...I knew it need something. So glad I did.

Anonymous said...

so sad I missed this message! We hadn't our computer for 4 days those days, and missed a lot of things!
anyway, that's a really great idea. I'm writting a "Livre du Bonheur" (Happiness Book)
(http://rachdur.blogspot.com/2009/10/un-peu-de-bonheur.html)
everytime something makes me happy but I didn't do it by myself...
Congrats for this journal

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