My Pregnancy Journal - Everything I Love!

I'm eight weeks pregnant. Shhhhh. I'm supposed to be keeping it a secret. 

But alas, there's no way I can do that! My husband and I have been trying for 20 months! Almost two years! Finally a couple of weeks ago, a blood test confirmed that indeed, we are expecting.

And gosh, I just couldn't be happier! 

In honour of my first (and possibly only) pregnancy, I decided to document everything.

From vitamins and morning sickness to strollers and bumper pads, 

EVERYTHING is going into this new journal. 

The best part? I made it.  

The cover is probably my favourite part.
It's impossible for me to feel scared, nervous or cranky when I see it.
I used a few different fabrics plus some decorative trim.
I embellished all of the swatches with different stitches.
The blue heart at the top is a nice, soft felt.
The textures are really fantastic!

I decided on a button closure, as I wanted to be able to bring this with me in my purse without worrying about the pages getting folded or dog-eared.
I chose my fattest wooden button and fastened a hair elastic to the back cover = instant closure. 

I stitched in the three signatures using a pamphlet stitch.
Again, very simple, yet strong and nice to look at.
I like the bold lines of the threads against the wavy trim that I used on the spine of the journal. 

Here's a close-up of that heart.
See how my stitches are all messy?
That's what makes this journal perfect for me.
It's not prissy or fancy or too good to use. 

Here is the back cover of the journal.
You can see the black stitching where I attached that hair elastic for the front closure.
You can also see the wavy trim that is on the spine.
I created the entire cover as one solid piece. 

A little blurry, but here is the inside cover.
You can see the reverse side of the front cover where I used a decorative leaf/vine stitch.
I used a soft suede for the inside covers, mostly for its softness.

On the inside front cover, I had threads showing from where I fastened the button (for the closure).
In hindsight  I should have done the button before adding the suede to the inside.
I didn't really mind having the threads showing, but I DID have this ridiculously cute robot patch that was begging to be used somewhere on this project.
Now he has a home, and he is seen every time I open the journal!

Ahhhhh the pages.
I selected some favourites from my stash,
AND went out and bought some specifically for this journal.
The result is a collection of awesome papers that definitely inspire me!
You can see that on the second page, I've used a white gel pen to write with.
I have a few different pens that I am carrying with this journal and I'm finding that the white pen is PERFECT for using on the darker-coloured pages. 

The page on the right was one that I bought. It's an old, weathered fence that I instantly loved!

In all, this journal was made straight from my heart.

My goal is to write in it every day,
and to not beat myself up if my writing isn't neat,
or if I miss a day for some reason.

I created it to have a document that I could look back to remember my feelings, excitements and fears.

I am absolutely in LOVE with the finished product :)