Season of Change

Ecclesiastes 3:3
To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven

There are seasons in our lives that bless us, make us think, some are sorrowful, some are reflective, some which stretch us, some that see us moving in a different direction.
As one door closes another door opens.  Sometimes the journey to the next door requires time and patience.  That is where my journalling helps me and I needed something to put these things together.
Changes, for me mean journalling thoughts to help me.
So in this vein the Spiritus Album was born. 

(Please don’t be put off with the Christian theme I have included some positive thinking thoughts you can use for this album :)  )
the Paperline I used was the Prima Princess A4 paper pad.  This is lovely paper, suited the theme very well.
I covered the tags and extension binding with the papers first then went back to add bits and pieces.
As this is a journalling type of album I did not put a lot of embellishments on it as I tend to doodle as I journal making that my embellishment.   There are lovely embellishments in the Prima Princess line in the Scrapadabadoo store.  Nooooooo just saw the ATC pad, rats I would have used that for the album, ok need to get them and do the sequel to this.  I also find things along the way and I add them as I see fit so like to leave areas for that to make it more personal.  I do that a lot and it gets pretty decorated by the time I am finished. 
I used three pages as inserts, for the themes I used.  I have at least another three themes but want them in a separate album.  The three I used are Blessings, Hope and Prayer.  The others are Weary, Troubles/Fearful and Worry.  I have included them in the handout which I will add to the bottom of this blog.
I decided to go with 2” rings, but you could use ribbon or twine to keep the album together.  I sometimes want to take the page out so the rings suited me best.
I used the black tag album from Scrapadabadoo. 
 
I wanted to extend the tags so I can bind it and Ashliegh (scrapsbuttonsnbows)  had a great idea idea to extend it. 
Instrtuctions can be found here
 
The front cover
I dived into my stash, could I find my thickers, of course not, so found an ooooold spellbinders alphabet set that fitted, have some others but they were too big.  I used copper mirror card for the letters and came across a key (oooh I do love keys), the metal flower was a gift and popped a small rose in the middle.  And guess what, after applying the letters I found my thickers doh the usual in other words.  Those blessed gremlins!

Oooh did I tell you, I used gilding paste on the edges of the tags to give it a lovely finish like a bible edge lol.
Inside of front cover:
We all have a favourite verse/positive thought and for this album I decided to put my favourite verse with a wee extension, love this.  This has great meaning to me, so you can put something that means a great deal to you on this side.  Psalm 23 explained - I popped it onto chipboard so it would stand out.  Thanks Gwen (crafty lady) for this fab idea.

Blessings page
The next page can be what you decide, when I take the pages out I don’t always put them back in the order I had originally lol (too much like thinking – that hurts!!!)  So this one is Blessings.

I made a heading and popped in onto chipboard.  Well I do have a lot of bits of chipboard and needed to use them up, so its all Gwen’s fault you know lol.  She is such a lovely lady with great ideas.
  see what I mean lol.
I made a pocket out of patterned paper so I can place my verses/positive thoughts into to give me a starting point for reflection.


I cut a piece of patterned paper 4 1/2” x 3 1/4”, I scored at 1/4” on one long side and the two short sides and attached it to the tag.  
 
On the front of the pocket I put lines of a song on each page, for me worship and praise lifts me up and these came to me instantly.  Put your version on here, its amazing what singing a song can do for you no matter what kind.  Below that I added some verses as a starting point.
I cut out the verses and made them into little tags.  I loooooooooooove the WRMK Power Punch Euro Hook.  It lets me add ribbon if I want, but more importantly I love how it can be put onto a ring very easily when I want to change the verses around.  I put a little ribbon to keep the verses together.   That way I can change them round to suit my mood/situation.
On the back I made a folding pocket, I think it is called the Rose Pocket, saw this on utube but can I find the video, can I chookie birdie.

Rose Pocket instructions can be found here
I attached it to the tag using ribbon to hold it together.  I made journalling tags and used the WRMK Power Punch Euro Hook.  I didn’t put ribbon on these, as I found the lovely punch out area was fab for pulling the tags out.
 
 
The next page was Hope.
Same as before, made a pocket and tags to insert inside.  Song line and verses placed onto pocket.

back of the tag I did a cascade of #3 coin envelopes.  I do love cascades they give you great area for journalling, pictures and so on.  I used the patterned paper as hinges to make it look lovely.

Again I used some ribbon to keep it closed.  Added some lace at the bottom, the flowers on it reminded me of the verse ‘Faith as small as a mustard seed’ for prayer, beautiful things come from it.
I extended the flap of the coin envelope (3 3/4” by width of envelopes)  to give more journalling space.  I used the WRMK Power Punch Euro Hook for my tags, gives great purchase to get it out of the envelope without need a tag pull.

The next Page is Prayer.
I changed the front of this page when I found some lovely pictures on google so decided to go with that (I put in   The first picture the word prayer has words within it with what prayer means and I loved it so decided it was going to be my banner for this and the gorgeous wee bairn spoke of having childlike faith so went with that one.  Choose pictures that have meaning for you to personalise your album.

the back of this one

I took some large pockets from the Paper Accents Assorted pockets but they only had two of each size and I needed three so hauled out my Lifestyle Crafts Treat bag die and cranked one out for the middle.  I also used the Lifestyle Crafts Tab It die kit to use to attach the pockets to the tag.  These dies along with the Label It dies are my go to dies for such a lot, they are so versatile.  I also used magnets to keep the pockets closed.
I also decided when added the patterned paper I would use it as a pocket on the front to give me more space.  Also when I attached the middle pocket I glued it down so that I would have a pocket behind it as well.

I have always loved this picture with the boy and the dog, so had to use it lol.
Again I used tags and used the WRMK Power Punch Euro Hook.  Lol I think you are getting the message that I really love this tool.
Inside Back cover
I added a bible study leading up to Christmas.  Choose your own study/mediation/thoughts to help you.  Again I used chipboard to pop it up on the tag.  Of course some gilding paste had to go onto it lol.

For me the time with  Design Team has blessed me wonderfully.  I learned a great deal from a great bunch of gals.  I had to dust off thinking outside the box – that hurts lol but was such fun.
So as I leave the Design Team I wish them all the best, they are fab ladies that I am pleased to call friends.
I will never stop crafting er I bleed paper and glue lol. You can’t keep me down lol, I pop up everywhere.
So keep peeking into my blog
verses and some pictures in pdf document click here