Re-Useable DIY Journal

I don't know about you guys, but there are days when you just need to vent. For me, those are usually the days when the fiance is already sick of hearing about it, and the friends are all busy at work or something. Hence the journal.

I've been meaning to pick up a new one for a bit now, but I haven't had the time. Today, I figured I'd tackle one I saw on Pinterest a while back.

The Reusable Nature Journal Tutorial and Template was a great start for this project. No, I didn't print out the template. I wanted to make mine a little larger and sturdier too.

I followed all the basic steps, adding 4 changes:
My pages were full 8.5" x 11" pages, folded in half and sewn
My cover material is the same height as my pages (plus about 1/4")
I put grommets on the holes for the laces (I had them, and it makes it more durable)
I hot-glued white cardboard (from an old gift-box) to the inside covers

Material I used was leftover red pleather, and I used 1/4" elastic instead of elastic cord - both things that I already had in the stash. 

Lace Samplers

Well, I figure its almost crunch time for me to get started on making the lace for my veil. I'm planning to make an oval, full-length, mantilla veil that can be worn several ways and passed down to other friends and family who are getting married. Traditional mantilla veils seem to have 3-4" wide lace all around the border. Knowing that I need ~17' of lace to go all the way around my border, I think 4" is a bit over-ambitious. So I've played around with different patterns that are anywhere from .5" to 2.5" wide.

I've posted a few bracelets before, but as pretty as the lace is, I haven't loved the look of it for the veil. Here's my previous post.

And here are the new patterns I've worked up:

Similar to the lace I did last time.
Pattern #147

I wanted to keep it simple, but I like the more romantic look of a shell pattern.
Pattern #73

I went for something wider, and I really liked it.
Wide Scallop Pattern

This is probably my favorite. It has the shell pattern, but it is more of a "lacy" look than pattern #73.
Pattern #3018

So I've had several people tell me that they like the simpler edging. I can see that it would have more versatility. However, they are both worked into the base chain long-ways. Meaning I would chain 17' and then work 17' of sc into that base chain. If you've ever done base-chain work with lace, you know you can only do a limited amount in a sitting before your fingers are in agony. The larger two pieces have a short base-chain, and are then worked one motif at a time, across. This would be a bit easier on my hands. Also, I feel like if I'm going to spend approximately 80 hours working into the base chain (based on some preliminary calculations) that I would want the lace to be pretty damn impressive.

Ok, folks, what do YOU think?