gratitude journals are here

I'd like to once again share with you my daily gratitude journal and give you the chance to buy one for yourself for the upcoming year. I believe the practice of daily gratitude is not only important to keep our mind positive, but I believe it can truly change your heart.

I've had my journals available in one way or another since 2009 so I had this wild idea of redesigning the journal to celebrate the upcoming year. Unfortunately that put me behind getting it ready for print, so I apologize for such late notice in making this book available to you. But it's here and ready for purchase if you would like to join me this year in expressing gratitude.

Above you will find the gratitude journals for 2015. Feel free to scroll through the book to get an idea of what it looks like (included are only a few sample pages, not the entire book). The journal is softbound with 142 pages. If you'd like to purchase you can easily click on the shopping basket in the bottom right and purchase right from the blurb site. If you would like one of my books from previous years. Go here to find a link of where you can purchase.

If you act fast you can save 20% or 30%

These limited time offers end on December 19

20% off

Save 20% when you purchase two or more books*

(up to $150 in savings)

CODE: 2PLUS

30% off

Save 30% when you purchase five or more books**

(up to $150 in savings)

CODE: 5PLUS

daily gratitiude giveaway

The Squam Art Workshop store is having a holiday bizarre now until December 1st. Among the wonderful items being sold you can find my daily gratitude journal. They were sold back in January/February and have been redesigned with a different cover for 2013.

Journals are shipping immediately so there is no wait if you are looking to purchase them as a gift for the holidays. Stock up now!



[photo by Michelle Madden Smith]

As a way to celebrate another year of gratitude, I'll be giving away one of my gratitude journals. Just leave me a comment by Wednesday evening at 9pm MST and I'll announce the winner Thursday morning.


Happy Voting!!

gratitude journals

gratitude can transform
common days into Thanksgivings,
turn routine jobs into joy
and change ordinary opportunities
into blessings.

~william arthur ward

If you've read my blog for any amount of time than you already know how I feel about expressing gratitude daily and what a difference it can make to our life when we walk through our days constantly noticing the blessings we have. There is just never enough room to allow in the negative thoughts because we are focused on all the good.

So with that said, I am thrilled to finally let you know about my gratitude journals this year. The ladies over at squam (elizabeth, michelle, christine, and jen) and I collaborated to make three beautiful gratitude journals available to you. It is very much like what I offered last year, but they are squam inspired. Each photo on the cover has come from my time either spent in the woods or by the sea.

Below is a beautiful video with Elizabeth, an amazing insightful woman I wish everyone to meet, expressing what gratitude means to her.

Gratitude Journal from Squam on Vimeo.

To purchase one of these journals please visit the squam store (don't delay they are only available until January 31st). It might just be the second best thing you do for yourself all year, the first being going to squam. I can't say enough about what a magnificent experience squam is -- it changed my life, will you let it change yours? They are currently accepting application now so don't wait, classes fill up. Go here to see the four unique retreats and all the classes being offered. Oh and did I mention I was teaching ;)

Thank you thank you for all your support and giving me the chance to share a project that I have loved. I hope a daily gratitude practice is something you will enjoy in twenty twelve.

xoxo

gratitude journals on etsy

Finally, after hours resizing and reformatting to get ready for a printer, I finally have gratitude journals ready for my etsy store shelves. Go here to see the listing.



Thank you so much, as always, for your support on my little projects. I am quite excited about this book as I believe, from experience, when we go through our day looking for things to be grateful for our outlook completely changes. A day that once was dismal can be changed as quickly as it came. Last year I didn't even have time to make one for myself because I wanted to share them with as many of you as wanted, but I am pleased to say I have my very own copy ready and waiting to be filled up January 1. So if you're interested, for yourself, for a gift, check out my etsy shop for more information on purchasing one of these books.

xo,
amy gretchen

creative wednesday week 9

After Squam I got this crazy idea to put a chalk board in my kitchen (there was one in the beach house we stayed in). It's not the first time I've wanted to have a chalk board in my house. There have been countless times I've envisioned Adam and the girl's art gracing the wall, loving messages back and forth, and even daily reminders.




So I got started over the weekend and finished up yesterday. I pulled down the magnet boards, which I hadn't been loving for a while now, filled in the holes, masked off the area, and began to paint. I haven't seen the girls this excited about something in a long time. It's been like Christmas around here as they've anticipated being able to draw on it and make it theirs.

My other creative Wednesday project: yep you guessed it...

Yesterday I put the finishing touches on the gratitude journals. I assembled them all and got them ready for shipping. It really is a ton of work when you look at it step by step, but seeing the finished product makes it all worth it. I love the way they turned out and hope they are received and appreciated throughout 2011.

I am hoping to have some gratitude journals in my etsy shop in a week or two for all those interested. They will be a bit different, soft bound like paperback instead of hardbound. I'll give you the heads up when they go live in my shop. :)

Did you do anything creative this week?

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REMINDER
Oh and don't forget tomorrow is the 12th for all of you participating in 12of12. This month seemed on the longer side so I'm really looking forward to another round. Enjoy!!

creative wednesday | week 4

This is a bag filled with dreams & recipes for soup & she's deciding right now which she's really hungry for. -storypeople

I read this yesterday and it made me laugh out loud. I guess you could say I was lying in bed trying to make myself get up and be productive when all I really wanted to do was pick up a book and stay cozy for a little while longer.

What to choose?

You'd be happy to know though, I picked my dream. I got up, did my essential morning activities, and headed straight to my studio to keep my creative Wednesday appointment.


I continued working on the gratitude journals I started last week, folding the signatures and punching holes. Now they're ready to be sewn.


I put together cards made from photographs from my Oregon trip.


Then I added the cards and other photographs onto my etsy site...it's been empty for far too long. It's crazy how much time that takes. Visit my site for more.

It was a busy day, but a very successful creative wednesday if I do say so myself.

--Did you do anything creative today?

creative wednesday | week 3

I started my creative day making a duplicate of the earrings I made last week. One for myself and then one to sell (I will add it to etsy when I can take a decent picture), a necklace to match, and another pair of earrings (I don't want to share just yet because I have someone in mind for them). It was about the time I was finishing up the last pair of earrings that it occurred to me, Christmas is just around the corner...I better start fulfilling my orders for the gratitude journals before my work gets mixed up with the holiday craziness.



So I spent the rest of my time double checking my design and printing copy after copy of the book. In fact my printer is still going. Crazy how long just that step takes. It involves coming back to the computer about every 20-30 minutes reloading paper, checking the printing, printing the reverse side, etc. But I am thankful for this one easy step because the real work is ahead of me. I'm not complaining though, I enjoy making them and knowing they are going to be enjoyed by someone for a whole year gives me enough incentive to spend my time making them.

I'm hoping to make some extras for my etsy shop, but that will all depend on my timing. I'll keep you posted when I have some available for purchase.

xo, amy

**Did you do anything creative today?

pieces

As of yesterday we are back on a schedule. As much as I loved my luxurious sleep ins during the holiday break, it feels good to get back on track. My organizing/purging mood that started after Christmas is still with me even though you can't tell I touched the basement at all. Sigh. I'm hoping to get to each room by the time February comes around. Today I took 4 bags to the DI. Feels good to give/throw stuff away...doesn't it?


I keep thinking to myself, so much for resolutions. Five days in and I've already eaten a weekly size portion of candy. I thought I had better willpower than that. Apparently I need to take it once step further and just get it out of my house. I admit to being sad about that. I do love candy after lunch. What do you do to satisfy your sweet tooth?


I'm working as quickly as I can to make the gratitude journals so they'll be ready by next week. I spent all day yesterday printing and was only able to complete 4 books (that's just the printing mind you). I figured out it took me 2 hours to print one book so today I've been calling around and think I will be going the professional route. Just doesn't making sense otherwise.


I could definitely use a bit of this clarity today. I took this photo Satruday morning through my studio window and was amazed by the bright blue sky I woke up to. Today it's gray and drab. Although I'm feeling great, the incessant grayness does have a way of sneaking in from time to time. Man, I wish it would snow again to wash it all away.