Banana Split Sunday!

I missed last week's 2RB challenge, but all week long I had an idea rolling around in my head, so I was happy to get to combine this week's gratitude challenge with last week's sketch. Here's what the sketch looked like:

I flipped the sketch upside down to make this matchbook fold gratitude journal. Inside there are pages for each month of the year, with room to jot down a word or two each day for the things I'm grateful for. At first I had planned to use some Indian Summer paper and a Fall image, but then I decided that it should be something that would look at home on my coffee table or night stand year-round whatever the season, so I opted for this adorable Rachelle Anne Miller magic fairy, Lily, along with Colorfall and Mushroom Fancy designer papers from Imaginisce's Twitterpated Collection. I really love how she turned out, bright and fun in colors that are timeless.

I colored my image with Copic markers and highlighted her dress bodice and edges of her wings with some Spica sparkle! I then used my Nestabilities Labels 3 to cut and emboss the image...since this was the largest of the set and matting therefore was not an option, I sponged heavily around the edges to define them and give the illusion of layers. I did the same with the tag for the sentiment, from the October/November Journaling Spot. The only embellishment is a dotty bow tied with a button and some cording.

I like for the inside of my card to look as pretty as the outside, so I finished this with more of the orange dotted paper on the flip side. Normally I would adhere a flap to the clasps of the brads so the mechanics would not show, but in this case I would like to be able to replace the pages each year, so I left them accessible.

I hope you'll play along with this week's challenge...we each have something to be grateful for! I also hope my fellow Americans have a marvelous Thanksgiving! Have a terrific week!