Serious Play

One Little Word

So, I have joined the One Little Word 2012 class at Big Picture Classes once again.

 

I participated in the OLW 2011 class with Ali Edwards last year and loved every minute of it. I do not expect any less this time around.

Essentially, instead of choosing a long list of New Years Resolutions that may or may not be kept, I choose ONE LITTLE WORD for the entire year! As the days and weeks and months play out, I learn and grow around my OLW. It is that simple.

My word this year is...

I have completed the first assignment for January and am excited to share it with you.

On the first of every month I will be participating in a OLW Blog Hop full of wonderfully creative ladies who are also taking part in OLW 2012. Since this Wednesday is Feb 1, I will be sharing my first assignment here on my blog on that day. I will also be posting a list of the ladies that are involved in the Blog Hop if you would like to go visit their blogs as well.

 

I hope to see you back here on Feb 1st for my OLW 2012 posting...

 

 

 

 

Project Life :: Week 3

So, I have Week 3 of my Project life to share with you.

 

This week there were no inserts. Just the two-page spread.

 

The left side contains most of my stories this week. 

 

 

The right side is full of 4x4 Instagram shots.

 

 

I like this little weekly review of the main events...

 

 

And to finish up, my favorite shot of the week (even though my hips look huge)...

 

I have been working on a few 'new' things for my PL for next week.

This project is really growing on me. And the rest of my family too. I am noticing that they are beginning to participate more. Yay.

 

Have a super weekend!

 

 

 

 

Embroidery

So, I am busy working on an embroidery project.

 

Not much else is getting done around here. This project is time sensitive and my time is up at the end of this week! Will show you more when it is done.

 

I do have a Project Life Week 3 post ready to share...I just don't have time right now to upload it!!

 

Hope you are hanging in there this week with whatever you are doing too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Art Journal Quotes:: Week 1

So, I am starting a new venture...

 

For some time now, I have been admiring the work of those who do art journaling. As always, there are a plethora of excuses as to why I cannot do art journaling myself. However, I am never one to turn down a new challenge. So I am diving in.

Above, you can see my first attempt at art journaling. It is fairly obvious that I have a long way to go. I am giving myself 52 weeks to improve.

Why 52 weeks, you ask?

Well, at the same time as the art journaling was swirling around in my head, I came across Lisa Congdon. At the beginning of January she took on 365 Days of Hand Lettering. Essentially, she is going to feature hand lettering every day for the entire year on her blog. Last year she featured A Collection a Day.

I have never done something that big. But it got me thinking...

What could I do every day for a year?

After much contemplation and abandonned ideas, I settled on something that pleased me...

Quotes

I love quotes. I have yellow sticky notes all over my office and my iMac that remind me of wonderful things that people have said. Some are inspirational, some thought-provoking. Some heart-warming, some motivational. And I love every one of them.

I could do a quote every day!

But...I don't have time to do something pretty with quotes every day. Sure, I can scrawl them on a yellow sticky note, or in a notebook, but how can I bring them to the level of Lisa Congdon?

And then it came to me...

Quotes + art journaling!

Now, I know what you are thinking. How can she have time to do a quote every day in an art journal when she doesn't even know the art of art journaling? And when will she do other crafts? And when will she do scrapbook pages, and Project Life and other mini albums that she so loves doing?

Trust me, I contemplated each of those questions myself and here is what I came up with...

I will scrawl a quote every day in a little notebook (that I will probably share with you) but I will only choose one quote per week to elevate to the level of art journaling. Each week, as I feature my quote, I am also going to learn (or improve) on a new art journaling technique. That way, I am learning art journaling, and I am collecting something every day.

365 Quotes + 52 Art Journal Entries

And so, I present you my Quote 1 (pictured at the top of this post).

 

 

Who knows, perhaps it will become a book one day like Lisa's...

 

Note: Sorry that the photo is so pale. I am having issues with photographing my work. I leave for work in the dark and come home from work in the dark, so lighting is an issue for me right now! Apologies!

The quote reads...

A year from now, you will wish that you had started today.   - Karen Lamb

I don't remember where I found this one, but it has stuck with me. It is the motivation I need most days.

 

 

 

 

 

Embroidered Heart Map

So, I have been busy embroidering maps!

 

Of course I first saw the idea on Pinterest and promptly added it to my list of projects to do.

After collecting the supplies that I needed, it was very quick to make.

For the How-To Instructions go here.

 

I love maps and have been keeping my eye out for all sorts of inexpensive atlases so that I can tear out the pages and use them for crafts. There is just something intriguing about maps...the colours, the design, the pathways, the innuendo of travel and adventure...

For sure I will be creating more projects with maps.

 

I made this first embroidered map for myself, but now I am thinking it would make a nice gift for newlyweds...

 

 

 

Upcoming Projects

So, I am knee-deep in projects right now.

 

I apologize for being scarce this week. My internet connection has been sporatic due to the cold.

Here, in Western Canada, we have been experiencing a true deep freeze. With temperatures as low as -30*C, everything moves at a slow pace (or not at all). I have attempted to do posts each night this week, but my internet just wasn't cooperating.

But I'm back...

 

In all this cold, we Canadians love to hunker down in our cozy homes and keep warm. This has been a perfect opportunity for me to work on some extra crafting.

I have several projects on the go right now that I hope to share with you next week, as well as my Project Life Week 3.

 

Hope you are staying warm...wherever you are.

 

 

 

 

Project Life :: Week 2

So, I am right on top of Week 2 and quite proud of myself.

 

I created the little blue pinwheel with the inside of a printed security envelope and punched a star to put on top.

I have another insert in this week's spread. So here is the spread with the insert to the right.

 

And here is a close-up of the left hand page.

You can click on any of the images to enlarge.

 

Here is my spread with the insert to the left...

 

And here is a close-up of the right hand page.

Here I included the quote by Ali Edwards that I created in Photoshop and printed out. You can read more about the quote here.

 

I am continuing to make a journaling card dedicated to a brief overview of the week. It is just something that I know I would want when looking back after a few months. I am a bit of a detail person.

 

Lastly, the insert for this week contains a story about my daughter.

I used one of Ali Edwards' Long Journalers which I resized to work on a 6 x 12 piece of cardstock. I trimmed around the outline of the journaler (as shown below), attached my printed pics and slid it into a 6x12 page protector.

 

The journaling reads...

This week, a package arrived for Jessica. She was at school late due to rehearsals, so it sat unopened on the island until she returned home. No one thought much of it. We assumed that it was just an information package. However, when Jess opened it and began reading, a smile spread across her face. It was an acceptance letter to  the University of Calgary in the Commerce program majoring in Accounting. She had only put in her application last week, so this was a very quick reply. We were not expecting it. 

Another pleasant surprise came when we read that because of her "excellent academic performance to date" she also qualifies for the President's Admission Scholarship worth $2000. We couldn't be more proud. To begin the celebration, Ash, Jess, and I had a little toast to her right then and there. 

On Friday night we went out as a family to Cravings (our fave restaurant) to celebrate Jess's accomplishments. Saturday night, we had Gramma and Papa come for supper and again, we all toasted and prayed over Jess. She has worked so hard at school to make it to this point.

Even when applying, she wasn't sure that this is what she wanted, but after all of hte people celebrating with her, she is now embracing this new adventure that is before her. You go Girl!

 

Hard to believe we are at this point already.

Trying to hang on to all the remaining moments that I have my girls near.

Trying to capture memories to last a lifetime.

That is why I am doing Project Life this year.

 

What is your story?

 

 

 

 

 

NYE 2011 Layout

So, I am still catching up on a few of my holiday layouts.

 

The pic is one taken with Instagram. Underneath of the photo is thick paper that I cut and reused from a Banana Republic shopping bag. I simply folded it over itself a few times, purposely not square.

 

The gold and silver are two different products. The gold colour is OA Sprinklers. The colour is called Treehouse, which is a yellow/green, but I did not shake the bottle thoroughly and the colours had settled. This is how it ended up and I love it!

The silver colour is glitter glue by Elmers. 

 

I punched some stars from velum and used more glitter glue to adhere them to the page, leaving the corners of the stars to curl up just a touch.

 

I kind of just played around with this one. I had no plan before I started.

But I like the end result.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Project Life :: Week 1

So, I completed the first week of Project Life!

 

It took me a while to get going. I am still finding my groove, but I like the process so far.

I want to be consistent with marking the week # and I am not sure if this is it, but I am going with it for this week. I also want to capture the weather from week to week, so this is a screenshot from my iPhone.

 

 

Sean and I went out to Canmore on Friday night without the girls. We went skating on this great little pond that we discovered.

The 'Life in pictures' that is on the bottom left of the pond shot is a brush from Ali Edwards'  Life in Pictures Brushes and Stamps. I plan on using those brushes a lot in this album.

 

At the bottom of this page is a tag that I created from a manilla file folder.

And yes, along with everyone else, I am reading his bio.

Because we were still off of school this week there was a lot going on. I had quite a few things to report. So, right off the bat, I had to use an insert. Here, I used a 12x12 page that had six 4x6 pockets and simply trimmed off the extra three pockets along the right hand side.

Jess and I went for haircuts. I went fairly drastic. Her, not so much.

 

Again, still getting the hang of this, and I am not sure how I want to do an overview of the week. Here, I wrote it all on a recipe card. Not sure if I will always do it this way.

 

In the pockets on the backside of that insert, I have some memorabilia from the week.

A letter from our sponsor child in Mali.

The packaging from Bernard Callebaut's new chocolate shop called Papa Chocolat.

Tickets to the World Jr. Hockey Championships that Sean and I attended.

 

I really liked the mail that we received from Mali, and especially the stamp and postmark.

So I saved it.

 

And finally, the page of 4x4 shots.

I really like this size. Since I take so many iPhone shots using Instagram, this size is perfect.

I am realizing, too, that if I want to do some journaling in that space, I can simply print the pic in a smaller size and journal around it! Sort of like a mini scrapbook layout.

 

Well, already making note of some of the changes I will make for Week 2, but I am happy that I have begun this project.

I am not as consistent as some and therefore unable to state on which day I will be posting the pics of my Project Life spreads. Some weeks it may be Thursday. Some weeks I may have it done for Monday. And some weeks may end up being a few weeks all together after playing catch up.

That's how my life is.

 

One thing I know for sure... I am not happy with the current process I have for taking the shots of my PL album since a full spread is so large. 

How are you photographing your spreads each week (besides standing on a ladder)?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated...

 

 

 

 

 

Quote from Ali Edwards

So, I was affected by this quote today.

 

Ali Edwards was one of the first scrapbookers that I began to follow many years ago. I subscribed to Creating Keepsakes magazine and she had been one of their winners of the Hall of Fame contest. After that, she had regular articles and projects featured in the magazine. I have saved every one of her articles. In a binder. In page protectors.

Over the years, Ali had a newsletter that I subscribed to that just came to my inbox. I loved it, but it fizzled out a few years back. And now that Ali has moved from Typepad, I don't see it anywhere on her new website.

The good news is that Ali is doing a newsletter again. This time it is going to be weekly and she is calling it 52 Creative Lifts. I love this idea of sharing her inspiration in regard to creativity. Her first issue, called A New Beginning, can be viewed here.

And you can sign up to receive her newsletter here.

 

Anyway, I said all that to say this...while reading the first issue of her online magazine, somewhere near the bottom of the page, I read the words that you see at the top of this post:

"Don't spend all your time watching other people's practice."

 

It stopped me. 

I reread it several times.

And then I nodded.

I do that.

I spend a lot of time looking at all the great things others are making and wish I could do that. A whole evening can pass...and I am inspired for sure, but I have not accomplished anything myself!

So, I made myself a little sign using Photoshop that is going to hang in my craft room with Ali's quote on it.

 

This is going to change me...