Perfection is so Overrated Especially when Compared to Having so much Fun

Yes, super-long title this time. I like having fun with my titles.

This layout is for Write.Click.Scrapbook’s April Gallery. The theme is to scrap those not-so-perfect photos. I couldn’t find photos less perfect than these if I tried. Photo booths fascinate me and I love them. I love all these photos so much. So I am really glad I had an excuse to scrap them.

Journaling Reads:
I have long been a fan of photo booths, I cannot pass one without taking photos. I am not sure what it is that I love so much about them. Maybe it’s just that the photos are so very imperfect that you just let go and truly enjoy yourself. Make silly faces and just have fun.

All products are The Girls’ Paperie.

April 1, 2011 | Layouts, The Girls' Paperie, WriteClickScrapbook | 2 comments

2011 Priority List and Goals – March Check-in

I thought it might be a good idea to review my goals at the end of each month and see if I am still making sure to prioritize them. I also thought this would be a good time to shift, adjust, add, take away as needed. So here we go. This is the list I posted on January 1, minus the few I deleted in Feburary, with status updates for March.

Family
1. Read and do workbooks with David daily (Project A Book A Week with David).
We’re on a roll here. We just found a series we really like and we’re reading our way through it for now. But I love all the books we’ve read in March, too.

2. Take photo of full-family and write updates weekly (Project Us Right Now).
Still going strong. I have scrapped so many of these already, too. This project makes me so very happy.

3. Write a daily diary of us + gratitude (Project Daily Diary)
So far, so good.

4. Start a family night where we all play games or watch movies together (Scheduled for Sunday nights 6pm)
We’re still doing this as well. We’ve played mostly math games and dominoes this month. David looks forward to them each time so I am really happy we’ve decided to do it.

5. Sign up for a mommy/me class with Nathaniel (this still needs to be scheduled)
Amazingly this still hasn’t happened. But now that Jake’s schedule is about to change, I might have him sign up for it.

6. Schedule minimum bimonthly date nights with Jake
We’re doing well on these. Date nights rock.

Health (Project Healthy For Life)
1. Do a combination of walking and running daily, work your way up to 5K a day
So far, so good on this one, too. I’ve exercised at least 2.8 miles every single day in March for a total of 86.8 miles.

3. Do strength exercises 3x a week
I still haven’t started this. I will likely start it either mid-April or post June once I’ve reached 3.1miles which is going to stay steady.

4. Track exercise+food+sleep+water using the fitbit
I am still tracking sleep and exercise. And paying strict attention to food.

5. Get minimum 7hours of sleep every night and 8 on the weekends
I am mostly doing well on this still. 7-8 hours most nights!

6. Eat at least one serving of vegetables daily and chicken/fish 3 times a week
Doing well on the veggies. Not eating enough protein.

7. Walk at least 8500 steps a day and work your way up to 10,000
I am doing ok on this as well. Not as high as I would like but now that the weather is getting better, I might add a 15-minute walk to my days which will take me to the 10,000 point, I think.

8. Walk/Run a 10K
This is still a November goal 🙂

9. I also want to work on the coffee+graham crackers intake but not sure of the plan here yet.
Bleh. I decided to put this goal on hold for now.

Art + Photography
1. Draw and paint a portrait six days a week (Project Six Portraits a Week)
This project is on hold for now but I did actually draw one portrait for my art journal.

2. Art journal weekly (Project Weekly Art Journal)
So far, so good. The weeklong daily is definitely my way of doing this for now. I love it to bits and do not want to do anything else. It fits me almost perfectly.

3. Sketch something small daily (15-30mins)
I didn’t do well on the sketch daily goal. I made a total of 7 in March. I am aiming for two sketches a week in April.

4. Go on a Monthly photo excursion alone or with a photo buddy
Amazingly I am not doing well on this. Not sure why. I will try to schedule some ahead of time now that the weather is more promising.

5. Write weekly extended photo articles on my blog
I am not sure I want this. The idea is not appealing so for now I am not doing it. I have been writing my thoughts in general though and I do like that.

6. Figure out for once and all if I want an etsy shop and what will go in it
no progress here still.

Scrapbooking
1. Create one layout a week just for me
I’ve been doing this. Sort of…

2. Do monthly The Girls’ Paperie layouts
Done done done.

3. Do monthly Pink Paislee layouts
I am all over this.

4. Do monthly Creative Therapy layout
Did several of them, all the way to July.

5. Do monthly Write.Click.Scrapbook layout + write one more week during 2011
Did all of them up until July.

6. Successfully teach all four scheduled 2011 classes at Big Picture Classes and the one I am a part of in Masterful Scrapbook Design
So far so good on this too. Still in the middle of teaching Finding Your Way.

7. Aim to do 5-6 guest design spots or classes (that I teach) this year
I was a guest for My Creative Scrapbook kit club for March. Between this and the two last month and the four classes, I met this goal already.

8. Submit to one magazine a month (maybe, I can’t decide if I want to do this just yet.)
I submitted in February and one layout got picked up but didn’t work out in the end. March didn’t happen. I will try for April. Not sure if I like this after all.

Reading
1. Read a book a week (Project A Book a Week)
2. Read one book with David each week (Project A Book a Week with David)
Both of these are going great.

3. Regularly attend both book clubs
I’ve sort of decided I might not want this anymore. One of them I still attend but one I might move to only attending occasionally. Still pondering this one.

Writing
1. Write at least one long thought/idea oriented blog post a week
I did well on this for March. Wrote quite a few.

2. Write one new class (if you have requests, please share)
3. Write one downloadable pdf for my site or etsy (if you have requests, please share)
I still haven’t done either of these.

4. Write+email a newsletter each month
Doing this so far! Next one goes out in a few hours 🙂

5. Possibly do NaNoWriMo (not sure of this one…)
We still have quite some time till November thankfully!!

I decided to add one more here mostly because it’s been so beneficial during January.
6. Journal at least 5 times a day. Even if just for 15 minutes a day.
I am still working on this. I am doing the art journal each night but I also decided that for April I will commit to long journaling at least twice a week.

Learning
1. Learn to draw and paint portraits (Project Six Portraits a Week)
On hold for now.

2. Take 5-6 online classes this year
I’ve already taken 8 this year. I believe I have no problem meeting this goal! I took Christy’s class in March. Taking her next class in May and taking Soul Restoration II in June. I will likely add more.

3. Learn to write an iPhone/iPad application (sort of out there but achievable – let me know if you have an app you want)
Ah. Still didn’t make any progress here.

4. Learn how to make a stop-motion movie
No progress here either.

Community (This is a particularly hard one for me.)
So this area was a struggle for me last month and I decided it might be best to revamp it. Here’s what’s left now:
1. Do a weekly-open house for Nathaniel’s moms group
Woot! I did this and it’s been a lot of fun!

2. Invite guests over for dinner at least once a month
We had a guest just last week. It was wonderful.

3. Go out to breakfast/lunch once a month (to work or elsewhere)
I have this scheduled for tomorrow, does that count?

4. Reach out to people I admire more often (leave more comments/send emails)
I’ve still been doing this in the form of offering help and will continue to do so.

And that’s it for March. Overall, I think I did pretty okay especially considering how stressful work was. Let’s see how productive April is.

March 31, 2011 | Personal | 2 comments

Daily Diary – March 31 2011

Most of today was busy with performance evaluations at work. Which are absolutely no fun. To be even more precise, I hate doing them. But, alas, they had to get done so I buckled down and did them. Then I pushed another Beta because we had that ready. And the day was pretty much over. While I worked, Nathaniel played with the pencil case I recently gave him (for like a minute, but now he owns it of course):

He loves the zipper and putting things in and out.

And seeing them in there.

Then it was time to get David. While I waited for the bus, I drew two more angels. I am really enjoying them for now and playing and experimenting. When David cam home, I tried to get him to pose, but I was unsuccessful.

So I took some photos while he talked.

I cannot believe this stunningly beautiful (and kind and generous and loving) boy is my child. How lucky am I? Today was a big day for Daddy so David and I made a sign for him. I drew the letters and he colored.

Nathaniel wanted to be a part of it too, of course.

He’s my other stunning boy. I can’t believe I got lucky twice!

So finally I just sat him on the chair so he could watch his big brother color.

He sat there and watched with great interest for the most part. And I think David liked having him there, too.

When it was finished, we hung it up (in my extremely messy crafting area) for Daddy to find when he got home.

Today was Jake’s last day at work. Our lives, schedules are about to change. For the better. Endings mean new beginnings which are equal parts scary and exciting. Here’s to ours!

Tonight I have no plans. It’s kind of odd, but I feel like doing nothing and not in a bad way. I have some work coming tomorrow and a bunch of commitments this weekend so I will take this quiet evening, do a little of my daily art journal and maybe make some plans for April and then just rest the rest of the night.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that Jake’s last day is finally here. It’s been a long time coming.
2. I am grateful for accomplishing a bunch at work and feeling like things are rolling forward.
3. I am grateful for another month of daily exercise: 86.8 miles in March. Not bad.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that i built a castle with blocks with my friends {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I did my workbook.
3. I am grateful that i made a sign for daddy.

March 31, 2011 | Daily Diary - 2011, DPGallery | Leave a comment

Some More Sketching

Since March is going to be over tonight and since I’d “planned” to sketch every day in March and since that went out the window pretty quickly, I wanted to share with you the few sketches I did make that I hadn’t shared so far.

If you’ve seen Alisa’s sketches, you can see these first two are really trying to be like her. (Unsuccessfully, I might add.)

I love the color but the shape doesn’t speak to me in these. I can tell you they didn’t turn out like the way I saw them in my mind/imagination.

And here’s something totally different. I made this angel for my weeklong art journal last weekend and I couldn’t stop thinking about her so I made another one last night. There’s something about her I love.

more of those to come I am pretty sure.

And that was it for March. Quite sad but that’s where we are. I do have plans for April. I really really want to work on this still. I am not ready to give up.

March 31, 2011 | Art, Sketching | 4 comments

Random Thoughts Part 4

I’ve been thinking a lot lately again and like before I originally thought these would end up as individual posts but I can’t seem to find the time (or more like motivation) to sit and write it all out so I am going to try this quicker version instead.

Here are part 1, part 2 and part 3.

14. Looking for the Quick Fix. This, too, has been on my mind a lot lately. We seem to have grown into a society of people looking for the quick fix. Learn Japanese in 24 hours. Become a master programmer in a week. Blah blah. These are not possible goals. Things take time. Dedication. Work. Becoming a master takes time. To me it’s a contradiction in terms. Trust me, I’d love to wake up tomorrow morning and be a master artist. Someone who can draw beautifully. But it’s not going to happen. Most of the people you see as “overnight” successes are people who are obsessively putting time and effort into their passion. Painting night and day. Writing for hours on end. Drawing again and again. When I study a new language I study for about 4-5 hours a day for months! Months. Gladwell famously mentions in his Outliers book that you need to dedicate 10,000 hours to something to master it. Break that down. An hour a day would get you 365 hours (ok 366 on leap years.) at that rate, you’d reach 10,000 in 27 years. If you do two hours a day, it’s still going to take 13.5 years. And when was the last time you put in two hours a day, every single day, into anything? I am a big proponent of “what you pay attention to blossoms.” And attention = time in our society. There are many things that are faster today. Like finding the meaning of a word or the original book a movie is based on, etc. You can google just about anything. But you still can’t shortcut life. If you want to be a good artist, writer, sports player, musician, programmer, physicist, you name it, you need to put in the time and the effort. Not just empty time either. Meaningful, purposeful time. Studying it, observing, growing, learning. I truly believe that. When I get frustrated with my sketches and how elementary they look, I remind myself I’ve put in maybe 10-20 hours so far. That’s 0.2% of 10,000. I’ve got a long way to go. Sometimes I need more perspective to bring me back to reality. It’s always about perspective. It also reminds me that where I spend my time matters. Very much.

15. Internet and blogs have brought real value into my life. I know it’s fashionable to bash blogs as a waste of time People who’ve inspired me despite not knowing them or ever having met them in person. There are people out there who share and I read and I get inspired to try things in my own life. Sometimes I succeed and discover something I never knew before or find a new passion. Sometimes it doesn’t work out but I am still thankful for having tried. But there are people who’ve tangibly changed my life. Heather is the reason I bought my first digital SLR. It prompted Jake to teach me more about photography. The camera led me to my first business. It brought on a passion I didn’t even know I had. I’d liked taking photos before but nothing like this. I learned so much about photography. Discovered a true love. I might or might not scrapbook my whole life but I will always take photos. It’s my passion and I put the hours into it, but Heather was the person who opened that world to me. She triggered it. Just by being herself. I am so grateful. Ali has inspired me in many ways but the most significant one is December Daily. Because of that album, I now always plan a million activities for my family during December. It’s become a tradition and something we all cherish so much. We owe so many of our adventures to this. So many amazing memories we will now have forever. December Daily is what triggered that for me. Ali’s pages and point of view also helped me look more closely at the everyday moments in my life. Tell our ordinary stories. This, too, has changed my life. It’s like getting to look back up on the “good old days” while they are still happening. It increases awareness, gratitude, and joy. Cathy, too, has changed my life. She is the one who triggered my “getting healthy” goal this year. Yes I am doing all the work but the trigger matters. The Nike+ made a tangible difference for me and I read about that in Cathy’s blog. Seeing her transform gave me hope. And now I have lost over 24 lbs in six months and I am the smallest size I’ve ever been in my life. More significantly I exercise every single day. With the exception of a brief hour with Heather, I’ve never met these people. We don’t regularly email or chat. But they have tangibly changed my life. If that’s not real value, I don’t know what is.

16. Self-conversation matters. I recently finished Christy’s amazing she art class and it made me realize something. As I watched her paint and stamp, I heard her say “oh that’s cute” or “i love that” often. I noticed that even if she made a mistake, she wouldn’t beat herself up about it. She’d just work with it, around it, or try to fix it. She was easy on herself. She enjoyed the process and was generally happy. When I create art, that’s not how it goes for me. I generally beat myself up a million times. I feel like I’ve ruined the piece a good ten times. I have to stop myself from stopping and chucking it away. I feel like it’s all just proof that I suck at this. It’s like I am waiting all along to be proven right that I am no good. Isn’t that terrible? Watching her made me realize that I’ve noticed others be positive, too. People enjoy the process. They build themselves up and see possibilities. I need to focus on that. Focus on patting myself in the back, cheering myself on. Being more positive. Feeling like I can do this. And giving myself permission to learn. To explore. I talked a lot about the “little girl” in my Finding Your Way class at BPC. The little one that lives inside each of us and the one who’s full of energy and hope and creativity and ideas. The one where most of the good stuff comes from. I feel like when it comes to art and mixed media I squash mine a lot and often. I am not kind to her. I need to work on this.

and there we are. that’s what’s on my mind lately.

March 31, 2011 | Art, Emotional, Learning & Education, Thoughts | 6 comments

Daily Diary – March 30 2011

Today was a bunch of work and a bunch of rest. Nothing too much really to say. When I went to get David, he was working on his workbooks so I snapped a shot.

So he gave me a smile.

Little boy was talking to me through the little hole again.

So I went there to snap some shots.

Jake and David were out riding bikes so he was sad.

I am feeling good today. For no reason. I’ve been putting off doing performance reviews at work. Those are never fun but other than that I’m actually on top of everything so I feel calm and like it’s ok to rest. I am also calm about the drawing stuff for a while. I need to make a plan but I am not 100% ready yet.

By the way, it’s almost April and the newsletter is ready. So are new digital downloads. This is where I remind you to join my newsletter. It’s on the upper right corner to join. I hope you do!

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I mailed off my layout, yey!
2. I am grateful for another relatively uneventful day at work.
3. I am grateful for people allowing me to help, it’s such an honor to get to help.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that i wrote two letters at school {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that we’re reading our book
3. I am grateful that i worked on my workbook (summer activities, today).

March 30, 2011 | Daily Diary - 2011, DPGallery | Leave a comment

A Book a Week – The Scorch Trials

I normally like to save sequels of books I liked for a time when I am in need of a good book but I decided to read, The Scorch Trials because I really needed something exciting to read while I exercised. And this was the perfect book.

While it wasn’t nearly as good as the Maze Runner, I did really like it and I am very much looking forward to the last one. I’m told he’s going to tell us all the details and resolve every little bit in the final book. He’d better!!

It just sucks that I have to wait patiently for it.

March 30, 2011 | Books Read in 2011, Literature | 2 comments

Daily Diary – March 29 2011

A lot of today was filled with frustration but then in the afternoon, I decided to take a little break and spent some time with David and Nathaniel and I am so glad I did. I feel so much better now. David and I were reading and Nathaniel was playing in the other room, each time I called him, I’d see this:

Then we went back to reading.

I realized afterwards that he was playing by the stairs.

He was having so much fun I didn’t want to stop him.

We read, worked, played and then David asked if we could go out to dinner. So we all went to dinner since it was the first non-rainy day in a long while. It was wonderful and relaxing. And tonight I might actually attempt to make a layout. Or not. Let’s see if the mood strikes. I’m thinking maybe I am too tired and might just have to relax on the couch instead.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we went out to dinner.
2. I am grateful for my mom. I love you, mom.
3. I am grateful for art and inspiration.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we’re reading our book {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that we went out to dinner
3. I am grateful that we worked on our spelling workbook.

March 29, 2011 | Daily Diary - 2011, DPGallery | Leave a comment

Weekly Art Journal – Weeklong for Second Week of March

And here’s another one of my weeklong pages. This one was inspired by Christy Tomlinson’s She Art Workshop. The first thing I did in this page was to cover it with a map and then put some really washed out white paint on it.

then I added a bunch of paint to the edges and put my girl on the right side:

Here’s the left page:

and the right page:

And here’s the full page:

Sorry photos are kind of bad. My camera doesn’t like these pages for some reason. But I still love making these pages.

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.

March 29, 2011 | WAJG, Weeklong Daily Art Journal, Weekly Art Journal | 28 comments

Daily Diary – March 28 2011

Well I expected today to be stressful so I sort of cornered myself before the day even began. And I made the mistake of staying up an hour longer than needed last night which made today even less bearable. While I worked all day (or pouted) the little boy played and grabbed things off my desk.

Jake came home early to get David who was a bit sad.

And didn’t really want to have photos.

So gave me a fake-ish smile.

But then the kids played and laughed together while I broke down a bit (quite stressed today). They giggled and laughed

Then little boy played with the toy David loved as a baby and it warmed my heart to see it out again.

Tonight I take it easy and rest. I will catch up in my class and be kind to myself. And go to bed early.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that beta is out. i can breathe a bit better now.
2. I am grateful for Jake’s help and patience with me.
3. I am grateful for my kids’ laughter which always reminds me what’s most important.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that Mommy got flowers from the library – i volunteer for the library at his school {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that i watched a soccer movie with Daddy
3. I am grateful that matthew, luke and i played star wars at school.

March 28, 2011 | Daily Diary - 2011, DPGallery | One comment

Mom Said How did I End up this Lucky?

I had the honor of being the December 2010 Guest designer for October Afternoon. This is one of the layouts I made for them.

Journaling Reads:
I look at the two of you playing together on the floor, taking turns to add blocks to your structure and I wonder what I did to deserve this amazing life. These wonderful children. How did I get so lucky? You two are by far the greatest accomplishments of my life. I love you more than there are words to describe and I count my blessings each and every single day. June 10.

Details:

March 28, 2011 | Layouts, October Afternoon, Scrapbooking | 2 comments

Daily Diary – March 27 2011

I can officially say this has been a great weekend. Much art, much family time, and laughter. What more can I ask from a weekend? I did three layouts and another page in my art journal. We took family shots:

Tickled a whole bunch.

Laughed and laughed.

Then it was quiet time (though Nathaniel never did nap.) where I did art, Jake worked and David did his workbook and played on the phone. After that we went to David’s new school (he’ll hopefully be starting a new school in the fall.).

It was quite chilly but we walked around a bit.

He played on the playground.

The little one watched.

Daddy pushed him on the swings.

the little one watched some more and kept saying “me, me, me.”

Then Jake joined David and swung some himself.

We then went to grab a bit at a bagel place and came home for family time. We played Perfection and dominoes. We laughed a lot. Now the kids are sleeping and I have a bunch of blog posts to write, emails to return and then it will be sleep time. Tomorrow is a stressful day at work and this week I have an appointment each morning so it will be more stressful than usual. But that’s ok. I feel calm right now so I am just going to enjoy that.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for another full, productive and yet relaxing day.
2. I am grateful for family time. The laughter and the joy.
3. I am grateful for my husband. I love love love him so.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we went out to dinner {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that we played dominoes
3. I am grateful i get to read the lego magazine in bed.

March 27, 2011 | Daily Diary - 2011, DPGallery | Leave a comment

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