Fabric, Flowers, and FREEDOM to share...

Hey, everyone!

I have a really special project that's kind of near and dear to my heart.   Tracy (our DT leader, President of Helmar, USA, and a really dear friend of mine) reminded me the other day of one of my favorite all-time quotes inspired by Ray Bradbury...  


"She took a LEAP OF FAITH" and built her wings on the way down..."   
It's a quote that I love so much, I actually have a necklace with that sentiment as well as an engraved bracelet charm.   I started thinking about those words, and about how important it is to have a SOFT PLACE to land when we take those important leaps in life.    
One of my "soft places" to land is my family, and I am really, really grateful for that.  Sometimes though, I like to have a private, safe place to keep my thoughts, hopes and dreams and now add the very recent love of art journaling and well...journals are much needed around here.


Another dear friend of mine and my AMAZING boss, Marie,  hand-bound this journal for me for my birthday and I adore it:

Add to that?  A THIRD dear friend of mine, Eryn  sent me a package the other day in the mail from the gorgeous boutique, "Vintage Glam" she owns and it was wrapped with this beautiful hand-made fabric flower:

It was WAYYY too pretty to just discard and I wanted to do something special with it...it, too, is soft, and girly and beautiful and I just love it.


So there I was- journal, flower, and I found some fabulous Pink Paislee paper and UNITY stamps to play with.   I was all set with the help of my Helmar Acid-Free Glue and a Zap Dot!   Here's what I did:
I covered the chipboard cover with Acid-Free glue and spread it evenly using a sponge brush.

Flipping over to the back side, I almost became devastated (lol) when I realized that I cut my paper for the back of the journal, in order to highlight the "THINK POSITIVE" graphic and much to my eye rolling, realized I was about 1/4" short.  Ack!  Well, it was Distress Ink to the rescue as I was able to cover up my little mis-measure :)

After adhering the paper for both covers I was ready to stamp these adorable clouds and sentiment, "Believe in Rainbows" from the Unity stamp set "Happyville".  I LOVE this set.  After cutting out a fun piece of Pink Paislee paper for the front cover and gluing it down, I was ready for my final 'touch'.

I glued down this AMAZING flower/ribbon embellishment and made sure that it was secure with a Zap Dot.   Two of the ribbons are stationery and the other two are free to flow and I really love how it makes the journal look and feel.  What do you think?
Here are a few final photos of the finished product:

Front cover:

Be sure to stop by the HELMAR Design Team blog today too, for more info and THANKS for stopping by...as for my journal?


I haven't decided exactly what I'm going to 'keep' in here but some very special thoughts and notes, indeed.  I hope that you guys have enjoyed this and that you all have a 'soft place' to land- and a soft place for your thoughts along with an appreciation of the FREEDOM we have to share them...
hugs and love,
xoxo,