Printable mini guided journal and envelope template

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I’ve had such fun creating an ever-growing collection of handmade envelopes with mini accordion journals tucked inside! I thought you might want to give it a try, too, so I’ve created a new, free printable page and a quick tutorial to get you started.

If you’d like to create your own mini accordion journals and envelopes, start by downloading and printing my mini envelope and journal template. (The file includes two page sizes. The first page is letter sized. The second page is A4.) You’ll also need a pencil, scissors, tape or glue, and extra paper for making your envelopes.

Begin by cutting out the envelope template and mini journals. For the mini journals, I like to cut just inside the dashed lines so they don’t appear on the journals.

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Next, trace the outline of your envelope template onto the back of your chosen paper and cut it out. I’m making two envelopes, one for each mini journal.

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Now for the folding. With your envelope paper face down, fold the side tabs in toward the center using the dotted lines on the envelope template as a guide.

For the mini journals, I like to start by folding them in half, so that the top and bottom meet and the words are on the outside of the fold.

Fold the envelope bottoms up and over the side tabs, again using the dotted line in the envelope template as a guide, and apply glue or tape to attach the bottom to the sides. Then fold down the envelope top.

For the mini journals, fold the tops and bottoms in half again so that they meet up with the centre fold.

Insert your folded journals into your new envelopes and you’re finished!

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You can record your answers to the prompts now and attach your envelopes to your journal or you can tuck your envelopes into a tote or backpack for a little journaling on the go.

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I hope you’ll love this little journal project. If you’d like to try making more envelopes of different sizes and shapes and more mini journals, I’ve also posted a brand new printable handmade journal and envelope kit in the shop.

As always, happy journaling, friends!

 

And then some

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“Let me be who I am, and then some,” wrote Mary Oliver in her essay Building the House. (From Upstream, 2016, p. 164.)

Imagine that. Going all in on who you are. Even the parts you might sometimes hold back or worry are just a little too much for public consumption.

My “and then some” might be more experiments with uncertain outcomes, more eye contact, more idealistic enthusiasm (or would it be enthusiastic idealism? I’m not sure.)

What is your “and then some”?

 

New emergency journal pages ... for the bumps in the road

There was a long afternoon, not too long ago, when I was thinking of giving up on one of my dreams. This guided journaling dream right here, actually.

While I was giving it a good mulling over, another thought came to mind instead: what if there was a journal page for moments just like this? An emergency journal page that tackled the scary and discouraging and worrying stuff head on. A journal page with lots of colours and lots of prompts that was right there with you in the moment, reminding you that this was just another bump in the road and that you are strong enough and smart enough anyway to make it over and beyond it — and the next one, too.

Long story short, instead of giving up on one of my dreams, there’s a new set of journal pages in the shop. The first one is free for you to try — from my resilient, dreaming heart to yours.

 

New journal pages on the way

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Putting the finishing touches on a new set of journal pages. These ones are for the bumps in the road. I am convinced that journaling in these moments helps us see through them and beyond them; it helps us reconnect with our better, wiser, and more hopeful selves. Looking forward to sharing more later this week.

 

What/who are you admiring today?

It’s March! Time to start a new journal calendar page and I can’t wait!

Today’s prompt is “admired.” Lately, I’ve been admiring kindness. I’m seeing examples all over the place — at home, in my community, in my inbox, out in the world. I think I’ll write a lovely little list of kindnesses I’ve encountered or observed recently.

How about you? What/who are you admiring today?

 

Reverse engineer your day - new 10-minute journal pages!

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about reverse engineering your day — starting with the way you’d like your day to end and working your way backward from there to figure out how you’ll make it happen.

Since then, I’ve been working on turning that idea into a new set of 10-Minute printable journal pages. I’ve just posted them all in my shop and this first one (in the photo above) is free! If you’d like to give it a try, just click on the photo above or right here to download it.

The rest of the pages in the set take the idea even further — from a page dedicated to thinking about how you’d like to feel at the end of the day to a page for testing out one of your new ideas by day’s end. I hope you’ll love them all!