Lately, I've been paying attention to things that draw me in and capture my heart. For the past two weeks I've been attracted to a series of videos featuring the paper crafts of a lady named Angie Bunner. She has no social media accounts of her own, but her creations are so beautiful many people share them on their own channels.

For days I could not figure out what it was about her crafts that were attracting me. Everything she did resonated with me. After watching videos over and over, I finally figured it out. Her style reminds me of the French brocante and how I have always loved the light and colors of Paris.

Me in Paris many moons ago. I love the blue and grey colors. Something about it reminds me of oysters. Photo Credit: P. Bright

This realization took me back to my time in France and Paris years ago. It reminded me of how much the French love of pleasure has inspired my life. I decided to take all this further and create my own "junk journal" and see where the process took me.

A junk journal is a hand made journal created with scraps of things you have around the house. Many people give their journals a vintage look by tea or coffee dying the papers. I like this look and experimented with it. First, I started by making a few paper tags. Then I quickly moved on to the journal, itself. It was like it had to be created. I didn't stop until it was done.

This journal took a while to make. I stayed up late for several nights working to complete it. I've included a flip through video of the final product below. I'm happy with the end result, but it was the process that was the most revealing to me. I had forgotten how much I loved France and the things I learned during my time there. Since the completion of the journal, I've been slowly incorporating these learnings back into my life. Starting with cooking and eating with pleasure.

I challenge you to be more mindful of the things that are drawing you in. Explore it. There may be more to it than meets the eye.