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I haven’t made a lot of softcover books, but I’m really proud of how this one turned out. There’s a funny story surrounding this journal, actually. I’d gone to the Fraser Valley Women’s Expo with only the one guided journal as an example, and it was way more popular than I expected, so on Saturday night, I went home and did nothing else but bind books. I made three new books—this guided journal, another guided journal, and an example 2025 weekly planner. What a whirlwind!

The way this guided journal is laid out is to help map out a larger goal, to create smaller goals, and to encourage weekly reflection. There is a single page at the beginning for your long-term goal. The start of each week includes space for your short-term weekly goal, and the following pages are each dedicated to their own day, such as Motivation Monday, Wellness Wednesday and Self-Care Sunday. A full spread weekly reflection separates each week. There are 24 weeks in total, which gives you six months of guided journaling.

I’ve used the long stitch method for this guided journal, which is a bit more difficult for a softcover book, as I can’t punch the spine holes as easily. To combat this difficulty, I stuck a paper spine template to the area of the suede I wanted to stitch, and sewed through that, then tore it away afterward. Since the colour scheme of this book was earthy tones, I used a dark brown waxed thread. The cover material is a soft and smooth suede leather; I left a long piece on the back so it can wrap around the front. There were a few things I tried as a method of tying the book together so the flap wouldn’t be loose, and I eventually settled on a thicker strap which I wove through the spine stitching.

Like my other guided journals, this book contains twelve signatures, each with 20 pages, which gives it 240 pages in total.