Happy to see so many of you entered yesterday's giveaway! While you were hoping to win a cool set of actions from Maggie Holmes, Wendy and I were driving from Cheyenne, through Buford, Laramie, Walcott, Wamsutter, Green River, Lyman, Evanston, and on to Salt Lake City. An exhausting drive that was nevertheless filled with interesting conversation.
To close out my week-o'-blogging, I'd like to post the final challenge from our adventures in Cheyenne. While at Elizabeth's house, Wendy and I were flipping through her beautiful scrapbook albums, and we were both really taken with a pictureless layout she created that detailed a handful of reminders and thoughts about motherhood. We decided to both try this approach on a layout of our own, and Elizabeth also updated hers to cover a different topic. Here goes:
This is the original inspiration: Elizabeth's "E" layout. And this layout was in turn inspired by an old Anthropologie ad Elizabeth stumbled across years ago.
This is Wendy's "W" page, and her journaling covers all the things she does to live a rich life. To brainstorm her list, she just tried to think of all the things she does that bring her happiness and fulfillment, and she turned them into second-person statements that serve as a list of rules to live by. Elizabeth now has 12 fewer W's in her scrapbook stash. Hopefully she doesn't plan to create very many layouts about Wamsutter, Wyoming.
To create my "A" layout (note: scan is crooked), I thought through all the words of wisdom and bits of advice that are important to me. My layout covers the rules I TRY to live by and the values that matter most to me. It was very therapeutic to brainstorm this list and capture it on a layout. Sorry, Elizabeth, for snatching a dozen A's from your stash. I know I personally sometimes find my vowel stickers to be in short supply! (Perhaps I'll mail you an "A" package someday soon. :-)
Taking a new spin on her original layout, Elizabeth brainstormed a list of reminders, lessons, statements, and advice that relate to being an Air Force family (which involves moving across the country every few years). The unintelligible word in the center of the layout is actually the family's initials: Matt, Elizabeth, Maddie, Gracie, Bridget! Her color palette and approach were inspired by an art piece that Emily Pitts posted on the Tumblr bulletin board:
Are you inspired? Try this yourself!
The most important thing that I took away from this week in Cheyenne is how important it is to take time to recharge yourself creatively, and how energizing it is to spend time with like-minded friends. So I encourage you to do the same! Even if it's just for an afternoon, plan a short getaway that will lift your spirits and refill your cup. And if any of the challenges this week have inspired you to scrapbook, follow that spark and get to it!
To connect with Wendy or me any time you want, join us on our blogs, The Possibilities are Endless (Wendy) and Yeah, Write (me).
Thanks everyone!
p.s. Many thanks to Elizabeth and Wendy, who deserve equal credit
for the blog posts this week. Elizabeth took all the pictures for me
AND resized them, not to mention the beautiful design contributions
from each of them. And we all helped figure out the challenges together. So this week was definitely a group effort!
