Continuing on the thread of using what I have on hand, I had two sheets of Fabriano Artistico Watercolor papers. I had one sheet of hot press(smooth surface) and one sheet of cold press (rough surface). You will see what I did with them over the next few weeks. I haven’t bound them yet and have no idea what I will do. For now, I am just focusing on creating.
So here’s the first set:
The full text reads: Believe in your dreams even if no one else does.
This is another with Julie’s face stencils. I used pan pastels and my fun new stencils.
And here’s the next page:
The full text reads: Always surround yourself with love.
I used acrylics on this page.
And here’s the next page:
I posted this one a few weeks ago for Julie’s stencil hop, too.
The full text reads: It is ok to feel broken. You are not alone.
I used pan pastels on this one.
And here’s the next page:
The full text reads: The key to happiness is to look for what’s right in your life.
I’ve been wanting to use this stencil for quite some time. This one is all pan pastels.
Well here we go. That’s the four for this week. More coming next week.
This morning, as I woke up and started writing my journal, I realized that I was still feeling a bit off. Nothing specific was wrong but I felt out of sorts. I spent half the page writing about how I was feeling unprepared for December, frustrated, tired, worried, etc. I wrote that I hoped my December Daily would put me in the mood. I whined and whined.
Then I stopped.
I wrote that what I needed to do was to “slow down.” I wrote that if my goal for 2012 was to savor, I might as well start right now. By whining, I was wasting this very moment. I wrote that if I couldn’t do it for one month, I was surely not going to be able to do it for a year.
“Be quiet,” I wrote. “Calm. calm. calm.” (I laugh as I type this because seeing it repeated like that makes it sound not calm to me!) “Today I start to officially savor. Great way to welcome the best month of the year.”
And then my mood shifted.
David was making lunch for both himself and for his brother. He’d asked me if he could and I told him he was welcome to try. He was so excited to do something that I usually consider a chore. His delight made me happy. He did it all and did it wonderfully. I was proud of him and joyful to see him proud of himself.
After I dropped off the kids at their schools, my good mood persisted. I did my daily tasks, tackled work problems, drove to work, went to the offsite, came back home, put up the Christmas decorations outside, put the kids to bed and wrote my newsletter, all in a good mood.
I am smiling as I write this.
Almost nothing changed since this morning. I still haven’t done the many preparations I make for December. I am still behind and tired. But the difference is that I changed my lens. I am not looking at it through grouchy eyes anymore. I am letting it be. I am savoring the good. I am having faith that things will work out and that if they don’t, I will adapt.
Because you know what? I always do.
So instead of torturing myself ahead of time or reprimanding myself for being behind, or whining, I chose to pick up a different way to look at things. I believe we all look at the world through a lens. Sometimes it’s rosy and other times it’s gray. Sometimes it goes back and forth in a day. But almost all the time we have the choice. We can pick up the lens we want.
We have a lot more choice than we might like to admit. And today, I chose to let the gray one go. I chose to let myself off the hook. I chose to stop whining and start savoring.
And, today, it made all the difference.
I know Ship Breaker won awards and it was also highly recommended by several friends. But I found it hard to get through for some reason. I didn’t feel a lot of connection to any of the characters and maybe that played the biggest role in my not caring too much for the book. I find that I need to connect with at least one character if I want to care about the story.
I know it’s a series and I have the other books. It was pretty violent and I decided I needed a break before I read the others so I haven’t tackled them yet.
However, I do think I will.
More illustrations and some girls.
Sunday :
Monday:
Tuesday: (step by step)
Wednesday:
Thursday: (this one turned out odd.)
Friday:
And Saturday:
And there we go.
Daily Sketching is a weekly project for 2011. You can see a detailed post on my steps here.
I know we’re still over a month away from 2012. However, I generally use the time from Thanksgiving to New Years Day planning for the next year. I am already mentally done with 2011 and ready to think about the new year. And the first thing I like to do is choose a word to represent the theme for my year.
This year, I decided to share my word and my projects with you early in case one of them tickles your fancy and you like to do it, too. It also gives me a chance to get organized earlier. So as we wind down 2011, I will be sharing them with you. (I will also do recaps for my 2011 projects.)
I really struggled with my word for next year. As I thought about my projects and what I wanted next year to represent, here are a list of words that I considered:
- mindful
- grateful
- slow
- calm
- enjoy
- present
- joy
- thrive
- pay attention
- appreciate
Gratitude has been a big theme for me since 2009 and I loved the idea of putting it upfront and center. But it wasn’t enough. I felt like I really embraced my word for 2011 and I wanted the one for 2012 to be just as powerful. While gratitude is a powerful concept, I felt like I was already embracing it and I wanted to challenge myself more. The second theme in my words was about being in the present more. Being more aware, noticing things, slowing down, paying attention. If you read my blog regularly, it’s easy to guess that this is a big challenge for me. I am pretty type-a and I am result-focused. So I don’t always pay as much attention to the process as I would like to. I liked the idea of challenging myself to purposefully slow down. And the last theme I noticed was one of embracing joy. Thriving, appreciating happiness. This is another challenge for my usually self-critical and worrying self. I am often anxious and tend to focus on the negative. So, seeking joy would be a welcome improvement.
I liked all three themes of gratitude, mindfulness, and joy. I didn’t want to give any of them up. So I kept searching and searching.
And I finally settled upon: savor.
Savor.
I like that the one word somehow combines all of my themes. Savoring something often implies slowness and calm. It implies joy and appreciation. And even gratitude. I considered other words like bask that didn’t have heavy food-implications. But savor felt just right.
So savor it is.
To keep my word upfront and center this year, I already changed my blog banner. (If you’re reading this in email or on an RSS feed, come take a look.) I also started a new project called The Savor Project (more on this on Thursday) and I ordered two little rings.
They are both from the Cinnamon Sticks shop. It’s the heart stacking ring and the silver stacking ring. I ordered two the silver ones a few years ago. One of them says “Karen & Jake” and the other one says “David & Nathaniel” and I wear them on my left index finger all the time. I will now add the heart and the new silver (which will say “savor”) on top of the two I have. I haven’t received them yet but will take a photo and add it here when I do.
Following on my tradition from last year, I also made my Priority List for 2012. 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 2012:
* Family
* Health
* Work
* Art
* Storytelling
* Reading
* Self-Reflection
* Learning
* Community
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 2012: The year I will SAVOR each moment.
for this week, i started with very little. just a bunch of color and pattern:
And I added slowly little bits here and there but it still stayed pretty chaotic with no central image.
here is the left:
here is the right:
And here’s the filled page:
It ended up pretty simple, too.
I decided this would be the end of the weeklong project for now. I am doing something a little different for 2012 and I wanted to get an early start on it to test it. So that’s my project for November and then December means December Daily so I need the creative time for that project. I’ve loved this project and might bring it back later. Let’s see.
Weekly Art Journal is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here. And you can find out more about the weeklong daily journaling here.
I know I haven’t written an evening post in a while and I apologize. I decided I wanted to take time off for Thanksgiving and be with my family, rest, etc. But I hadn’t fully planned on it, which is why I didn’t mention it sooner. Alas, it is what it is.
I did write up a lot of new posts coming in the next few weeks which talk about my plans for 2012. I picked my word and my projects for next year. Of course, they might still change but I am pretty attached to most of them. I am continuing some of my favorites from this year and adding a few new ones. Some challenges. Some to honor my word. I haven’t done a full-year-lookback yet but I feel like I’ve done a lot of service to my word this year. I don’t know if I will actually follow through but, for now I am planning on doing the OLW album with Ali next year. I think it’s a good way to pay even more attention to my word. And the one for next year (as with the one for this year) is near and dear to my heart and will need a lot of “keeping it in the forefront.” Much more on my word coming tomorrow.
Besides planning for next year, I spent a lot of my four-day weekend reading (two book club books: Winesburg, Ohio and Angle of Repose), sketching, art journaling, thinking, and being with family, of course. I also started my drawing class this week. It’s called I Heart Drawing and it’s by the wonderful Jane Davenport. It’s excellent so far. And I signed up for two more classes (yes, I can’t stop!). One is Christy’s 12 Ornaments class and then the other is for next year. It’s Body Restoration by Melody and Kathy. I loved both of the Soul Restoration classes and have no doubt I will love this one, too. Melody’s way of thinking and teaching resonates with me. I think that’s the trick with taking classes: finding a teacher that just does it in a way that speaks to you. (and knowing what that is, of course!)
I also signed up for a local class for next year. I think I need to get out more and this class is on Monday nights at a local collage so I will have to leave the house each Monday night. It’s on Willpower and by the author of this book. I expect it to be both useful and interesting. It should hopefully give me some stuff to write about here, too.
I haven’t written my December newsletter yet and cannot decide if I will continue them or not. If you’re subscribed to it, let me know your thoughts. This is not a quest to get compliments, I would love to know the truth since they are time-consuming. Feel free to email me if you don’t want to leave negative comments on the blog.
I am also not ready for December yet. I feel like I haven’t spent enough time planning my calendar of activities. I am not even excited about December Daily yet. Just feeling behind, I think. It’s ok, I keep telling myself. Everything will fall into place. It always does.
My class starts in two days. If you’re on the fence, I recommend you take it. I don’t think I will teach it again. Chances are very low. I am excited for it. This is one of my all-time favorite classes because it applies to every single person, not just crafters. And if you do the work, I have absolutely no doubt it will change your life.
And there you go, that’s a completely random update from me. Much more coming this week, I promise.
This is the one of the projects I did for Pink Paislee for November.
A few weeks ago, we went to a local park/zoo as a family. It was a sunny day and the kids ran around and had fun. By the time we were ready to leave the park, I felt grouchy and tired. I just wanted to get home.
But the kids were still having fun and they took their time walking out of the place. After a few steps, I realized they were falling behind and turned around to tell them to hurry up. What I saw was my six-year-old and my two-year-old holding hands and walking from one corner to another slowly and touching each of the painted footsteps on the ground. They were laughing with so much joy that it melted away my frustration and reminded me that magic of life is in these moments.
That’s the focus of this layout.
The full title reads: Thank you for teaching me to slow down. You make life worthwhile.
And the journaling says:
On this particular day, I was tired and ready to go back home and frustrated that you two were taking so long. But then I heard all your giggles and turned around to see you were holding hands and touching each dino footprint on the ground and laughing every single time. It’s moments like this that remind me I need to slow down and appreciate life more. Thank you, my boys.
Details:
David says:
I gave this story five stars because I thought each story was interesting and funny.
I thought it was funny that Super Duper drove into a ditch and the kids had to rescue him. I also liked the part where he arrested the bad guys by making the skunk go on the bag of money. The doughnut machine not shutting down was funny too. And it ended up being lucky that the bracelet got lost in one because it gave them an idea of how to get all the donuts sold. It was so neat how the donut machine worked and how it flipped the donuts over. The one with the yarn was also funny because the lady ended up unwinding pieces of her own dress to win the competition.
My favorite part of the book is when they built all the houses and couldn’t tell them apart because the sign builder fell asleep.
Reading a book a week with my six-year-old son David is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.
jake
As with all of us, it was a quiet week for Jake. He went to work only Tuesday and Wednesday this week. We had a meeting with an accountant on Monday so he ended up working from home and then he was nice enough to stay around for Friday, too. He did work quite a bit, but also spent a bunch of time with the rest of us. I think the balance was just right and made this a lovely week.
karen
It was a quiet week for me, too. Last Sunday I made quite a few layouts and go ahead of my todo list. I then spent the rest of the week relaxing and trying to take it easy. Around this time of year, I make a considerable effort to slow down and think and reflect. I am now in the middle of two classes: I love drawing and She Art 2. And in a week the class I am teaching starts, as well. So, in preparation, I am trying to go through my todo list and finish off all the little items that have been sitting there week after week.
david
David had no school all week. He came with me to Nathaniel’s school twice this week and it was so nice to have him around. He’s been wonderful about playing in his room, being quiet, and keeping me company all week. Nathaniel, too, loved having him around all week, of course. He’s such a joy and blessing that we are all happier when he’s around. I am grateful that he’s a big fan of reading and models it often to his little brother. (They do quite a bit of loud stuff, too, of course but Daddy has more tolerance for that than I do.)
nathaniel
Nathaniel’s school was open until Thanksgiving Day so he got to go to school twice this week and he was thrilled about it. On Wednesday, the whole class had Stone Soup to celebrate the holiday and all the parents and siblings were there and it was quite lovely. but Nathaniel was super shy so we ended up leaving early and coming home for naptime. And, on a different note, he now says six and seven, much to my delight!
Here are some of my favorite captured moments from this very full week:
David feeding Nathaniel some of his meatballs. I just love these kinds of photos with the two of them.
Nathaniel’s still drinking a lot of water but now that we have him tested, I worry a lot less.
The boys being mischievous.
more mischief, of course.
and some choo choo time while the big boy plays on the computer.
Nathaniel loves looking through my notebooks and I love watching him as he looks.
David making faces. Not a lot of opportunities to photograph him anymore. He has less patience for it than he used to.
The stone soup table at Nathaniel’s school.
David playing in the playground while he waits for Nathaniel to come out of class.
Nathaniel and Daddy sitting and eating (or not eating, really).
My three boys. Loves of my life.
we took the family shot on Thanksgiving this week.
and there was tickle time, of course!
I never get a good photo of Thanksgiving table. But better than nothing.
Right after dinner, we put Christmas songs on and put up our tree.
Both the kids helped with much joy. I know there will come a day they think it’s lame to decorate the tree so I am enjoying these moments as much as I can.
Nathaniel, looking out at the garbage trucks.
David playing Wii. He’s gotten quite good at the lego games.
Nathaniel loves the pockets in his pants.
So does David.
The silly boys, together.
David giving Nathaniel a hard time.
and Nathaniel attacking him.
thankfully, it often ends with hugs.
as for me, I spent quite a bit of my day painting.
And those are some of the moments from our week. It was another wonderful week and I am deeply grateful for it.
Us Right Now is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.
So I think it’s finally time to admit to myself that I did, indeed, gain a pound. It’s been showing up on the scale on and off and I’ve been sort of avoiding it until now but this morning I finally just decided to acknowledge it. I know it’s not a big deal. One, two, three pounds are no big deal. But I also know that the hardest part of losing weight, eating healthy, working out isn’t doing it.
It’s keeping it up.
It’s not gaining it back. Not falling off the wagon and eating a lot of chocolate and cheese and making one bad decision after another. It’s lacing up the shoes even when I completely don’t feel like doing it. Even when it’s dark and rainy and cold. Staying on the plan is hard. But this past year was relatively painful for me and a lot of work and I have absolutely no intention of letting it all go to waste. I have no intention of having to go through all of this again.
So one pound symbolizes so much more than just what it sounds like. It means I have to pay attention and get back on the plan.
and here’s this week’s card:
Healthy for Life is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.
I rarely submit for publications. But every now and then I get lucky enough to submit and to get accepted. This was one of those cases.
My layout that I made during Ali’s Yesterday Today class in 2009 was in the July issue of Scrapbook Trends. Here’s the cover:
And here’s my layout in the magazine. A super simple one with mostly just photos and words.
Thank you for letting me share.
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projects for twenty twenty-six
projects for twenty twenty-five
projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
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