Prayer Journals

Hello everyone! I hope all myAmerican friends are having a very happy Independence Day, and to all my international friends, I hope your Saturday is going great! We're having a quiet day so far, but having a little cook-out later and then will go to see the Triple Three-Alarm Fire in the Sky (the area's BEST fireworks show ever!) that is put on every year by the firefighters in Orrville. The OFD has been doing a huge parade, a 5-day long carnival, and the most spectacular fireworks display for many, many years and we never miss it!

I worked on a little project last night and this morning that I wanted to share with you. Every week when I go to Sunday School, and to Bible Study on the weeknights, I jot down prayer requests, usually in a scrap piece of paper or an index card if there are some handy. Often the list of requests get misplaced after another week goes by, and sometimes I find myself wanting to look back at them, to maybe cross off requests that aren't needed anymore, give thanks for prayers that were answered, or just as a reminder to check in with that person and see how they're doing. So for the longest time I've had it in my head to FINALLY use the Bind-It-All that I bought back in February (yes, 5 months ago!) and make myself a Prayer Journal. Something not too big that I could keep tucked in the case with my Bible, where it would always be handy. Then, earlier this week the super-talented Valerie Stangle posted this little class project on her blog, and it was just the push I needed to get started!

What I actually decided to do first though, was to create a Prayer Journal for my daughter Kaylie and her best friend Randii who will both be leaving tomorrow morning for their mission trip to Virginia. Later this weekend, I have two more journals to finish... one for me, and one for Kelsey (who picked out some fabulous American Crafts papers for her journal!)

So first here is Kaylie's Journal which I designed with some SEI paper that she picked out. I dug through my old chipboard letters from Stampin' Up! and found a letter K to use. Valerie used some rectangular chipboard coasters for her project, but since I don't have any of those (and don't know where to get them... anyone have a source?) I just cut some heavy-duty cardboard from some 12x12 paper packs I had at the store. Both of these journals measure 4" x 8". I covered the cardboard front and back with the designer papers using Modge Podge and a foam brush, and also Modge Podge'd the chipboard letters so these will be good and durable.

I was lucky to have these white spiral bindings that I kept from some old booklets. I used to work for an oncologist, and there were some old patient study booklets that were going to be thrown away, so I used my noodle and saved those bindings, knowing they would come in handy someday! They're 5/8" in diameter and worked just perfectly in my Bind-It-All (and they were free, so you can't beat that!)

Inside I did just as Valerie did with her booklet and cut down some notebook paper to size.
Taking another cue from Valerie's fabulous design, I included an extra page in the back with a little pocket for holding a few notes. Sometimes at our church, the secretary types out prayer requests and leaves them in our mailboxes. Usually she types the request out 10-12 times on a sheet of copy paper, then cuts them in little strips, so these can just be slipped into that pocket until there's time to enter it in the journal!
I stitched around the outer edges of the pocket for extra stability and added a little round tab punch (another great idea from Val!) so that pocket page is easier to access.
Here is Randii's journal, using some gorgeous black and white paper from Magenta, and some bright pink Bo Bunny paper for accent.
A little bling on the letter R, and a few more details similar to Kaylie's and they're done! I even got to use my new Martha Stewart Scallop Dot Edge punch from the Hope Stamps Eternal store! I've loved this punch everytime I've seen it used by my stamping friend Maria Gurnsey, so I FINALLY got one of my own! :)
The flowery frame and Scripture stamps I used on both journals are from Stampendous. Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope the rest of your weekend is fabulous!