I was planning to re-visit my prefix ‘RE-‘ for my word in 2025, and I still am going to revisit my previous journaling and artwork, but one day I got a surprise. During Thanksgiving weekend a word seemed to fall out of the sky and settle in my heart: Sanctuary. The chorus came with it and I found myself singing:

‘Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary
Pure and holy, tried and true
With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living
Sanctuary for You.’

(By John W. Thompson & Randy Scruggs)

I said the word out loud. SANCTUARY, and knew it is the right word for this coming year. Sanctuary, as in a place for Holy Spirit to dwell in. Sanctuary, as the place in God I can go and be anytime. Sanctuary, as in the new house Keith and I are working to make a home as we work on our marriage and unity in this new season. Sanctuary as in decorating, painting and generally making my new home as cozy and welcoming as possible. Sanctuary as in being at home with myself and learning to let go… Yes.

With this new revelation came some new inspiration and I decided to start another journal. I had zero plans for this, but when that little spark of inspiration and vision ignited, I began a process that has become familiar to me for making a word meaningful for the upcoming year.

Below are the pages I have done so far, and at the end of the post there is a flip through of the journal

The journal and most of the supplies below left, and the Content pages to be filled in as I go, writing page numbers and content names later.

Beginning the journal

I decided to organize the information in a journal. Dotted journals, especially the A5 size, are my favorite type of journal for a Word of the Year. The dots help me write straight and when using Washi tape and making sections, the dots are invaluable.

For this year, I am using an A5 (my favorite size) dotted journal by Archer & Olive. This particular journal is part of the ‘Cottage Comfort’ subscription box from December 2025. The beautiful folk style art captured my imagination and goes well with my ‘cozy’ theme. I also have a bunch of Washi tape that coordinates really well with the journal, the lovely Washi tape that comes with the subscription box, and the folk art stamps. The set was calling me ‘Home’ and after looking further into the word ‘sanctuary’ adding home with all its meaning of the heart and hearth seems like a great fit.

Definition pages

Looking up synonyms, Scripture, and quotes about my word really helps me get a good idea of the meaning, both deeper and broader. It also is a source of inspiration for my art focus throughout the year. From this process, I already have some ideas of combining some quotes with some ‘sanctuary’ imagery. 

To begin the content of my word of the year journal, I opened a document on my computer and looked up the following, copying and pasting the information in the document.

1. The definition of the word in a number of dictionaries and then wrote out a compilation of the definition

2. Synonyms to get a broader and deeper understanding of the world

Meaningful Music

3. Because it was a chorus that first came to mind, I decided to look up songs that had the word ‘Sanctuary’ in the title. I listened to them and wrote three down that I found meaningful.

The Music notation stencil, designed for StencilGirl Products® helped me easily add the notes and clefs in pencil and colored pencil.

Then, opposite of the third song lyrics, a pocket was added with cards to lists relevant books, websites etc. read over the year. I used the dotted paper from the Archer & Olive bluescale A5 notepad to make the pocket and cards. Use the affiliate code ‘Valerie10’ to receive 10% off your purchase.

Scripture

4. Psalm 16 came to mind and after revisiting it, I knew that would be a theme Psalm for the year.

On most of the pages with a lot of text, I’ve used Washi tape as a decorative element. I found that the Washi tape included in the Cottage Comfort subscription box went well with a bunch of Washi rolls I already have.

Then looked up the word sanctuary in Scripture, and added those to my journal. Since I am using some stamps in this journal, I bought a letter stamp set from Amazon. I like this one because it has multiples of most used letters so I can line the word up on the printing block instead of one letter at a time.

Quotes that contain the word for the year

5. Then looked up quotes that included the word and picked relevant ones I can refer to later and use for artful inspiration.

Home Quotes

In looking up ‘sanctuary’ the word ‘home’ kept coming up. This came as a welcomed confirmation of my word choice for 2025. In the past few years, my husband and I have bought a home in another state, sold our longterm home, moved into a small trailer, and then moved into what I hope is our ‘forever home’ and then sold the home in another state. There has been a lot of moving along with an ongoing inner journey of seeking ‘home’ on a number of levels.

Also, I absolutely love making a house a home, so on the practical level, the idea of making ‘home’ art with quotes is inspirational. The quotes in this journal serve as inspiration for art that combines words and images.

For these pages, I’ve used pen, and the stamps from the Archer & Olive December subscription box, and a variety of Washi tape, and cutting triangles and rectangles as simple house shapes from the tape.

I hope you are inspired. A journal like this is so doable and doesn’t take a lot of time.

The blank pages following are like an invitation to fill the year and the journal with things that are noteworthy and bring joy. I hope you find that in the coming year.

“In one way, or another,
we’re all trying to get back home -
to who we truly are meant to be.”

Valerie Sjodin

Further inspiration

Here are a few previous blog post links about keeping a journal with a word focus for the year.

How to choose a word of the year

How I explore my word of the year  

Here is a flip-through video of the pages done so far…

Word focused E-course

If you want to dig deeper into your word and expand your creative techniques, check out my online course ‘A Beautiful Word.’

Looking forward with hope

Now I have four journals for the year, not counting the seasonal Garden journal: the planner, diary, commonplace book, and a word of the year journal. It is an invitation to more creativity. I am also looking forward to revisiting previous art adventures with gratitude in the ‘vignettes of beauty’, explained in a previous post.

Thank you for stopping by and reading. I hope you are inspired and looking forward to the upcoming year.

I’d love to know your thoughts, suggestions, and questions in the comments section below.

Be blessed!
Valerie

Affiliates etc.

Amazon: Sometimes I post links to Amazon products on my site. I receive a small commission if you click on the product and purchase it. I only recommend products I use, am happy with. It costs you nothing, but does help me cover some of my costs to host the site etc.

Archer & Olive: I am an Archer & Olive affiliate. To receive a discount of 10%, use the code Valerie10 when you order. You get the savings and I receive a commission to help cover my online and tech costs.

StencilGirl Products: I receive royalties from stencils I’ve designed from StencilGirl Products. I hope you enjoy creating with them.

More inspiration

Visit my blog post at Archer & Olive about making a commonplace book and get a FREE DIGITAL DOWNLOAD and watch the accompanying how-to video. Use code ‘Valerie10’ to receive 10% off

Set up for my 2025 journals post: https://www.valeriesjodin.com/blog/journals-set-up-2025-washi-tape

‘A Beautiful Word’ e-course with the theme of exploring your word.

Onward and forward into the New Year!