karenika

Gratitude Journal Project – Intro and Week 1

In 2011, I did a weeklong daily art journal project that I loved. In 2012, I did a collage project that I loved. So this year, I decided to sort of combine the two and add the element of gratitude and celebration.

I bought myself an A4 Moleskine Sketchbook and decided to use the right side pages only. My goal is to create some art on each page each week. Some might be collage-y and some will be more like art journaling. Whatever my heart desires. And then the goal is to update the page throughout the week to add 2 gratitudes each day from me, one from david and finally 3 things to celebrate for each of my family members for the week. Since I post these on Mondays, each page will go from Sunday to Saturday.

Like most of my projects, I am not exactly sure how it’s going to work but I am open to playing along and letting it morph to what it needs to be.

Here’s my first before page, I figured it’s best to start the year with my word:

and here’s what the page looks like with all the gratitudes and celebrations:

There we go. Just another excuse to create art and remember the present that is my life.

David’s Gratitude Postcards – Intro and Week 1

I explained in this post how David and I decided to create Gratitude PostCards for 2013 as our project. We plan to mostly use stencils for him but also anything he wants. The cards are addressed to people he is grateful for and specific reasons why. I love this project cause it involves art, thinking, gratitude, and writing. Not to mention bringing joy to others. Unlike mine, I will post both the front covers and the back without the name/address.

with that, here’s his first card:

and the back:

there we go. Here’s to gratitude in 2013!

Weekly Diary – January 5 2013

Here are some snapshots from our week:

Army men’s been a big hit.

David’s been teaching Nathaniel how to strategize.

he’s also been building more of his legos. This boat is from the Lighthouse which is awesome!

Nathaniel’s been playing with his toys, too.

finding creative uses for all of the toy’s parts.

we took a short trip to the Palo Alto Jr. Museum and Zoo and got to see bobcats, spiders, bees, bats, birds, fish, and many other animals.

and I snapped some photos of the kids, of course.

we played Blokus. Even Nathaniel’s pretty good at it.

our Christmas tree is still up and will be until mid January this year cause I will be away at a course next weekend and can’t take it down. Oh so sad. Not.

David’s been playing with the Origami Yoda books too and practicing his origami.

We’ve also been playing with paper and punches. Tons of fun.

the dark weather hasn’t been helping my photos.

but I soldier on anyway.

and here we go. i hope your week was lovely, too. here’s to a wonderful, incredible, peaceful 2013!

Weekly Diary is a project for 2013. You can read more about it here.

SixBySix Project – Intro and Week 1

As we approached 2013, I knew that I wanted to continue to do art journaling. I’ve really enjoyed making art each week and wanted to make sure I created an excuse to give me time to create regularly. However, I have a tough time keeping all the art I’m creating. My books are becoming bulky and this year I am trying to focus on learning to let go and share. I’ve had people occasionally approach me to ask if I sell my art. So I decided to combine the two and create this project.

I call it SixBySix because I cut up my watercolor paper in a small square (it’s actually about 5.5″ by 5.5″ so it can fit into a 6×6 envelope to mail.) and I create my art on that paper. I will then sell each piece. There will only be one each week. The price will be the same no matter where you live (unless this becomes really costly, in which case I might add a shipping cost for outside the US.) Assuming I can find my scanner and am not too lazy (which is a big assumption) I might at some point offer prints too, but I am not holding my breath on that.

Please remember, this is personal and hand-made and thus imperfect. If you want perfect art, do not buy mine. Also one more reminder that these are pretty small. 5.5inches by 5.5inches. That’s about 14×14 centimeters). You will just get the original piece of watercolor paper with my art and signature in the back. No mounting, no frame. I don’t want to misrepresent anything. I will put a paypal button under each (you can pay with credit card or paypal.) the button doesn’t update so you will have to click through to see if it’s sold out. I will try to update them as quickly as I can and remove the button if it’s gone, but just in case. Each piece will be $35. That’s US dollars. If you have questions please leave a comment and I will reply as fast as I can.

Since it’s for sale, I will not copy any artist’s art. I will use stencils sometimes and create my own other times but each piece will be my own unique creation and idea. If I use a quote, I will make sure to attribute. If you find something that looks like a copy, it’s unintentional and please notify me so I can attribute, remove, or do whatever’s necessary.

I’ve never sold art before and have mixed feelings about it. Depending on how things go, I might change my mind and not sell them or whatever. Either way, I will aim to create 52 pieces of 5.5×5.5 art this year.

With that here’s my first one:

This one has some gold paint so here’s a slanted view too:

It reads: You already have what it takes to make your wishes come true.

here’s an example of what it looks like in an 8×8 frame.

Sold- thank you

Here’s to hoping for more art in 2013.

The Savor Project – Plans for 2013 and Intro Page

In 2012, I did my own version of Project Life. I decided to use the pages to tell stories and the pockets as two-up (or one-up) mini scrappy layouts. I also included my weekly art in the pages. When I was trying to figure out my plans for 2013, I decided I no longer wanted to use the 12×12 albums and I definitely didn’t want to have to make two albums. So, I came up with the idea to use the baseball pocket pages in 8.5×11.

I already have a ton of them and so it seemed like the best plan. My plan is to use one page a week. So a spread will be two weeks. Which should mean that at the end of the year, I’ve used 27 page protectors. Which should fit into one album.

I am not sure if it’s going to work out. I am also not sure how the stories will work out. I am not sure if I will include my art or not. My plan is to make it work. To experiment and find my way.

For now, all I have is the cover page. Which is super-simple. That’s the plan this year: super-simple.

I haven’t even bought an album yet. I have one that I’d been using for my OLW, etc and will put my pages in there until I am sure I am sticking to the 8.5×11 format. Then I’ll buy one. Likely, the American Crafts Modern albums as they are what I use for my normal albums.

Here we go. Nothing super-sophisticated. Just an excuse to tell our stories. Let’s hope it works!

Gratitude PostCards – Intro and Week 1

This year, I decided that I wanted to focus strongly on gratitude. I did a lot of gratitude-focused work in 2010 and 2011 but I feel like it sort of declined in 2012, so my plan is to bring it back front and center this year. I’ve created a few projects around it. The first one is Gratitude PostCards.

When I was looking for a project for David and me for 2013, I ran across these watercolor postcards and decided they would be fun to do art on and send out to people with notes of gratitude. After I talked to David, he liked the idea, too. Then I decided that I also wanted to make my own cards and send them out to people for whom I am grateful. People who make my life so much better.

And thus the Gratitude PostCard project was born.

The watercolor paper quality in the postcards isn’t perfect (at least not to my personal liking) and I am still learning how to use it. But the goal here is not to create perfect art. It’s just to couple something I love to do (art) with something that will give me joy (gratitude) and hopefully show someone how much they mean to me.

I will share the art part of the cards here with you so you can see what I’ve done. Since I am not selling these cards, this will be my opportunity to use mediums I haven’t tried, create similar art to what I might want to learn from, use my templates, and just have fun.

Some will be great, some not so much. That’s just how things go. My goal is to keep them simple.

With that here’s the first card I created:

it says: celebrate every single day.

not my favorite one, but it’s the first one I created.

Here’s to celebrating gratitude in 2013.

A Book a Week – starters + the portrait of a starter

I picked up Starters after reading the blurb and seeing the cover. Computer chips?! I am a programmer after all. I had to pick it up. And I am so glad I did. It was absolutely fascinating. I read it pretty much in one sitting and then moved over right to the short story she wrote after it.

The Portrait of a Starter was fun, too. And the premise of these books is different than all the other young adult novels.

It’s rare to find something new and different now and I appreciate it very much when I find it. So I loved it.

And I look forward to the second one.

2013 Sketching – Week 1

My goal for 2013 is to make three sketches a week. If I make more, great. If I don’t, that’s ok. Trying to keep the pressure low while still encouraging myself to draw.

Here are the ones for this week:

that’s it for this week.

Sketching is a weekly project for 2013. You can see a detailed post on my sketching journey here.

2013 – More Thoughts and Goals

Like last year and the year before, after I thought about my word and my plans for 2013, I began to think more and more about what the word and the priorities meant. Since I tend to be self-reflective during this time of year, this is very long and mostly for my benefit (I like having a record of my plans and my thoughts) so feel free to skip. I won’t be offended.

By the way, this is influenced by Chris’s annual review article. I’ve read this before and have always liked the idea. I’m a technical person at heart and all these specific goals, measurable steps, etc. are right up my alley. Since I have my list of 9 priorities this year, I thought it would be a good exercise to see if I could come up with 3-5 goals for each.

I will post about each of the projects I mention over the next week. I’ll then come back and link them here but I promise it’s all coming in the first week of the year.

One of my goals this year is to specifically do less. I know this might not seem so from the list, but I am focusing on what I know will feed my soul but no more so I can also rest and breathe more since I know I have a big commitment this year as I work towards getting my coaching certification.

So here we go:

Goals for Each Priority

Family
1. Teach Nathaniel how to read by using the same book I used for David.
2. Take photo of full-family and write updates weekly (Project Weekly Diary).
3. Write daily gratitudes for me and David (Project Gratitude Journal)
4. Have a family tradition where we do something together each weekend for 1-2 hours.
5. Create gratitude-focused art with Nathaniel each week (Project Nathaniel’s Gratitude Pages)
6. Create gratitude postcards with David and mail them out (Project David’s Gratitude Postcards)
7. Volunteer in both David and Nathaniel’s schools
8. Schedule minimum bimonthly date nights with Jake
9. Tell our family stories (The Savor Project)

Health
1. Continue running daily, work your way back up to 5K a day
2. Find a way to incorporate strength exercises weekly
3. Come up with three healthy ideas for each meal and use them
4. Get minimum 7hours of sleep every night and 8 on the weekends
5. Meditate every day
6. Floss daily

Work
I don’t share much about work on my blog and I won’t here either but I promise you I have 5 specific goals for work for 2013.

Art
1. Sketch minimum three times a week (Project Weekly Sketching)
2. Art journal weekly incorporating hand-lettering (Project SixBySix and Project Gratitude PostCards)
3. Pick one of the online classes I didn’t complete and do the work
4. Experiment with at least three mediums
5. Experiment with collage/mixed media once a week (Project Gratitude Journal)
6. Continue to create for my design teams (Maya Road & My Mind’s Eye)
7. Create a new Savor Project for 2013 (The Savor Project)

Celebrating
1. Write at least three long thought/idea oriented blog posts a week
2. Make a list of 3 achievements each week for each family member and have a celebratory breakfast/lunch once a week.
3. Send one kind email to someone each week
4. Have and end-of-day ritual each night and a welcoming-the-day ritual each morning

Reading
1. Read a book a week (Project A Book a Week)
2. Read regularly to and with David
3. Teach Nathaniel to Read
4. Regularly attend both book clubs

Gratitude
1. Write down two things I am grateful for each day (Project Gratitude Journal)
2. Write daily for David (Project Gratitude Journal)
3. Create gratitude-focused art with Nathaniel each week (Project Nathaniel’s Gratitude Pages)
4. Create gratitude postcards with David and mail them out (Project David’s Gratitude Postcards)
5. Create gratitude postcards for me and mail them out (Project Gratitude PostCards)

Learning
1. Get Coaching Certification
2. Continue to coach clients
3. Take two classes locally
4. Learn to drive on the freeway – still not giving up on this one
5. Learn to ride a bike – nor this one!

Belonging (I changed this around a bit but it’s still about building community)
1. Go out to breakfast/lunch once a week with a good friend (or a potential good friend). If not possible, call/email a friend to reconnect.
2. Invite guests over for dinner at least once a month
3. Extend an invitation to someone new once a month
4. Send out gratitude cards to people whom I am grateful for

There we go. As more creep up over the year, I will likely come here and add/alter as needed.

Schedule for Blog
I’ve also come up with a tentative schedule for my blog for 2012:
Mondays : Gratitude Journal
Tuesdays : Sketching
Wednesdays : A Book a Week + Gratitude PostCards
Thursdays : The Savor Project
Fridays : SixBySix
Saturdays : Weekly Diary
Sundays : David’s Gratitude PostCards and Nathaniel’s Gratitude Pages (we will alternate this each week)

I will also aim to post self-reflection/thought posts minimum three nights a week. Likely Monday through Thursday.

Thoughts to Cultivate

For the last two years, I created major focus areas I wanted to have throughout the year. Things that I want to come back to again and again. Some of these I will repeat for this year since I still would like to keep them forefront on my mind. And others are new for this year. These will likely show up in my art journals + self-reflection but I also want to have them here for reference.

1. Let go of worry Since my goal is to be present this year, I think this is even more important than usual. My goal this year is to remember to stay in the present moment. To breathe and see if I am worrying about something in the past or future vs the now. I also plan to use The Four Questions and listen to more of Tara Brach regularly.

2. Do Less I started slowing down last year and this year I plan to do so even more. With the coaching, I now have a lot of my free hours not free. I want to make sure I am making quality time to be with family. Quality time to rest. I do not want to burn out. I plan to do less this year. And let myself off the hook whenever I need it. Better to do one piece of art each week then to do 10 and then burn out.

3. Do not yell This one is self-explanatory. I absolutely hate hearing other people yell. And yet I do it more often than I’d like. This year, it’s a non-negotiable. It will not happen. It’s not a 5-10% thing. It’s all or nothing and the goal is nothing. People I love deserve my respect. (This is word for word from both years. I wish I could say I adhered to it. But, no. Ic did have much better moments in 2012 but for 2013, I want to be even more resolute. Stronger. Kinder. Quieter. Calmer.)

4. Be mindful I want to be a lot more aware of my own feelings. Those of my kids. Aware of how my actions affect others. How I actually have time before I need to react. How I can choose what to do next. How I can choose the tone of my voice, the way I feel, the way I react.

5. Celebrate I want to focus on all the good things in my life more purposefully this year. Take scheduled time to celebrate. Celebrate those around me and myself. Spread joy. Spread kindness. Make rituals. Reach out to people and celebrate together. Life is a present. The best gift ever.

6. Cultivate Belonging I have been struggling with community for a few years now. I think working at home and juggling all that I do makes it harder for me. I’ve also cultivated some social anxiety recently, it seems. So instead of trying to cure-it-all, my plan this year is to narrow down my focus. Find the few people I care about and cultivate those friendships. Focus on establishing deeper ties. Not necessarily wider but deeper. For me and my kids. That’s my plan this year. Let’s see if it works better.

7. Self-Compassion I want to be kinder to myself. I want to cultivate awareness so I can see when I fall back into my non-productive patterns and forgive myself. I want to show my kids that we all mess up and we all deserve forgiveness. I want to be kind, kind, kind. I want to practice non-judging awareness. And, most significantly, I want to quit taking things personally.

8. Be open While I want to learn to forgive myself for not enjoying some of the things others might, I also want to continue to ty new things. I want to be willing to do something just for someone else. Be open to the possibility that I might like it. I want to be brave. I want to be an example to my kids that we practice courage regularly. It’s not inherent. I want to show that sometimes we fail but we get up and try again. I want to move away completely from anything that encourages shame-words. I want to show that failure is a part of life and so is showing compassion to oneself.

9. Gratitude And, finally, this year I plan to kick the gratitude thing up a few notches. I want do practice it myself, cultivate it in both my kids, send it out to my friends. Just make it front and center in my life. I know it’s one of the biggest links to happiness. And so easy to do.

And there we are. I am sure more will come up. But these are some of what’s on my mind.

Here’s to hoping 2013 is fantastic for all of us!

David’s BoGM – Week 27

Here is the last spread from our book:

One final page from David’s book. It’s all tracing but I think he did such a great job.

With its ups and downs, I loved this project to bits. I think having a book full of things that make you smile would be great for all of us.

David’s Book of Good Memories is a bi-weekly project for 2012 with my seven-year-old son David. You can read more about it here.

2013 – Year of Being Present

Picking a word this year was challenging. Partly cause I grew to love Savor so much that I felt strongly that I didn’t want to let it go. When I look at my list from last year, I am amused at how many of the same words were on my list this year, too. Here was the list I tinkered with for months:

brave
calm
quiet
shift
shine
true
present
now
breathe
celebrate
light
still
listen
open
center
moment
unlock
guide

Like last year, I resisted my word this year. Even though present kept coming up, I just didn’t like the way it sounded. I didn’t like how long it was, how many e’s it had (when you’re a scrapper, these things matter!) and it just seemed too bland.

But no matter how much I resisted it, it kept coming back to me. And after I finally decided to stop pushing back so hard, it felt completely right. It was going to be my word for 2013 and that was that.

One of the things I love about the word present is that it has multiple meanings:

Right now: This is the first meaning of present that resonated with me. Being in the right now. Not thinking about the past or the future. One of the things I hear often in the meditation I listen to is how there’s no suffering in this moment. And how a lot of it is either about the past or the future. So if you stay in this present moment, you can reduce suffering a lot. And I’m all about reducing suffering, especially in 2013.
Right here: The second meaning of present that really resonates with me is having presence. Being here. While I am playing with my kids, actually playing with them and not also doing email or talking on the phone. Or even thinking about anything else. I think one of the strongest ways I can show my love for them is with my attention. Actually being there for them. And doing the same for each thing I do. Being here. Paying attention. Not numbing, distracting. This is sort of like savoring but in real-time.
The gift: The final meaning that resonated with me was the idea of life being a present. The days I get are a gift. The days I get with my family are a gift. The days I get as a healthy person. The days I get to do art. The days I get to read and write. So much of my life is such a gift. Not to be squandered, not to be taken for granted. Not a moment to waste. I love the reminder of these precious moments being a gift.

Like last year, I changed my blog banner on my site and bought myself another ring with my word on it. I am still wearing the savor one as well since I am not ready to let that word go yet.

And there we are. The year of being present.

Like last year and the year before, I also made my Priority List for 2013. Just to remind the idea behind this is:

I was listening to The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and one of the things the author mentions is managing our time and how we spend much of it doing what’s urgent instead of doing what’s important. As in, we’re often reacting instead of thinking ahead and calmly acting in the direction of our dreams and priorities.

So I decided it would beneficial for me to make a “Priority List”. A list of goals and people I want to prioritize during the year. This way, when an opportunity or request came my way, I could check my list and make sure it is aligned with my priorities before I accepted it. It’s easy to lose sight of things and take on projects that end up eating a lot of my time and not making me fulfilled. If I had my list to look at each time, I could keep what’s important at the forefront of my mind and make sure to prioritize it.

Here’s my Priority List for 2013:

Family
Health
Work
Art
Celebrating
Reading
Gratitude
Learning
Belonging

Like last year, these are not in order. Yes, most of the time my family comes first. However, there are times when work takes higher priority because it has to for a brief time. Or sometimes I might choose to exercise even if my son wants to play at that moment. These priorities are fluid for me. They are all a part of me and I want to make sure I value them and dedicate time to each. I also want to make sure I turn down anything that doesn’t line up with one of these.

The list is similar to last year but not exactly the same. And like last time, I know you could make everything fit into one of these categories but, in my heart, I know what these mean. And I know when something comes along that doesn’t fit. Above everything, I want to stay true to my gut. I’ve made the mistake of doing something that will look good and make others think well of me before and it was a lot of heartache for me and so I want to listen to myself more and trust my gut and know that if I turn down something that feels wrong, other opportunities will still come my way and I will know when the right one is there. So I will have faith in myself and in the universe.

And I will prioritize the important.

And there we are.

Here’s to an amazing 2013: The year I will be present, in the present and remember the present it all is.