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Looking Forward: on Changes, Hopes, and Birthdays

Good morning! Welcome back to WCS, and our last day of looking forward. This is Amy, and I’m looking forward to a cold but sunshiny day.

On Tuesday, I wrote about Neil Gaiman’s wishes for the New Year, and how I always meant to use one as a long title for a layout, but I hadn’t yet.

So then I thought, self, why not just make that layout right now? Since it’s a January thing to do, I went ahead and did it! Here’s the layout:

I decided to go with a bright color scheme both to brighten up the black-and-white photo I’d printed and because it matches the wrapping paper on the gift (even though you can’t tell!). The fonts I used are Art Brewery, Courier, and Marista, with Evelyth Icons for the banners and Veneer Extras for the ampersands (that ampersand is one of my favorite dingbats ever). I kept the embellishment very simple, just a few rectangles of patterned paper, because the title is so colorful and active.

My son Jake’s birthday is December 30, so when he gets a year older, he also literally starts a new year. I’ve never written about that, but this year—when he turned 18—seemed like a good one. His upcoming year will bring him so many changes, so my deepest hope is that he will hold on to who he is when everything else is different. When I finished writing the journaling, I thought I don’t know if I’ve actually said any of this to him. So I went and found him—he was at his computer studying for a psychology test—gave him a hug, and told him what I was feeling. He likely thought I was a little bit crazy, but on the other hand, after 18 years hopefully he’s used to his mom gushing!

I think this quote would work well not just for a New Year’s birthday, but for a birthday at any time, since birthdays tend to make us look forward.

Happy scrapping!

Looking Forward: Documenting Goals (and Progress)

The new year brings new opportunity, a time to reset, restart, take stock, and look forward. For me, part of looking forward is setting goals. My word for this year is “lighten,” a word that both encompasses my goals and helps me stay focused on them.

Lighten: 1. to reduce in weight or quantity; 2. to lessen the load of or upon; 3. to make less burdensome or oppressive; alleviate; mitigate; 4. to make less wearisome; 5. to cheer or gladden

My goals include losing some weight by eating more whole (lighter) foods and exercising regularly, clearing out the clutter throughout my house, using up what I have, purging what I won’t use, and reducing the amount of stuff coming in. These goals apply to my scrapbooking as well: purging my supplies, assessing my unfinished projects, planning new projects for the year ahead, and being more deliberate with my purchases. One of the things of which I’m taking stock is my kit subscriptions. I have unused kits piling up and really need to scrutinize my plan going forward. Another area is general purchases of supplies. I often buy digital or physical sets of pocket page cards when I really like only a few of the cards, leaving the rest to pile up. I plan to use my digital skills when possible to create a similar look or design my own custom cards.

I’ve started an album to document my word, these goals and progress made, particularly my weight loss/fitness journey. I’m using a 6x8” album with mostly pocket pages and incorporating supplies from my stash of kits as well as creating custom cards. I created the following general color palette, at least for the start of the book.

Having a color palette or swatch helps in keeping the colors consistent when creating pocket cards that will be used in the same project.

Here’s a few cards I created in Photoshop that use my word and a Brush script font that I love (Bonjour). My definition card and 2016 card were inspired by the work of Christine Herrin. I’m a fan of her script lettering!

 

I know that to be successful at making progress on my goals, I can’t try to do everything at once. I’d get overwhelmed or frustrated and give up. My plan is to focus on a few things each month. To aid in planning and keep myself accountable (and admittedly, to have something to add to my album), I created a 3x4” calendar card with space to write my goals for the month.

For January, my goals to record on this card were to eat healthier by eating more whole foods, cutting out refined sugar, wheat, and diet soda, to drink more water, and to clean up the kitchen each evening. For February, I want to continue working on those goals and add the goals of incorporating exercise in my daily routine and finishing at least one unfinished scrapbook project.

How are you planning to document your goals and progress this year? Have any plans to DIY projects as part of your goals? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Happy Scrapping!

Looking Forward: Hopes for the New Year

Being the mom of two teenagers, one emerging adult, and one tween, I find that I do a lot of looking forward. I have to, because that is the direction my children’s gaze is turned. So much in their future is tantalizing: graduation and college and careers, church service and adventures and (eventually!) marriage. So much of their future is the focus of my worries: how do I help them make the right choices, survive their mistakes, find the path that’s right for them? When do I guide them and when do I let them walk forward on their own.

So I’m pretty much in love with our topic this week!

I decided I had to make a layout about my 16-year-old son’s experiences on New Year’s Eve. Or maybe it’s more about my experiences with my son on New Year’s Eve. I have a tradition of asking whoever’s still awake at midnight what their hopes and dreams are for the upcoming year, but when I asked him, he didn’t want to play. (He was despondent over his plans falling through.) So I guessed his wishes, and then he started to laugh, because I was exactly right!

It’s hard to see it when you’re 16 and something feels like a disaster, just how wide with possibilities the world is. In my journaling I wrote about the bigger things I hope this year will bring him. The journaling was inspired by Neil Gaiman’s writing; many New Year’s Eves he writes a wish and shares it with his readers. (You can read some of them here.) (I’ve been meaning to use one as a long title for a layout, but I haven’t done it yet!) Alas, I can’t write like Neil Gaiman (who is one of my favorite writers) but his thoughts helped me shape mine.

My tradition of asking about upcoming hopes is one I undertook intentionally. I wanted to give my kids (and me, really, because I always share mine with them, too) a space for thinking about what is really in their hearts. There is a difference between hoping a thing can happen and making it happen, and I believe that verbalizing the hope is a way to build a bridge toward acting on the hope. But I realized this December 31 (or maybe it was in the wee hours of January 1) that I’ve rarely written down their hopes. I’m so glad I thought to this year!

How do you document your looking-forward thoughts and goals?

Happy scrapping!

Looking Forward: Today

Hello lovies! This week, we're going to talk about looking forward to the year ahead: our hopes, plans, goals, dreams, etc. Did you make a list of goals this year? I realized the other day I did not so today on my blog, I'm sharing a post about my goals.

Along with my goals, I've also been thinking about my "one little word" for 2016. So many people find inspiration and motivation in choosing a word for the year. I want to find that too! Once I decided on my word, I wanted to document it somehow. I didn't really have any photos to go along with my word so I made this non-photo layout. I hope it inspires you to a) think about what you want to accomplish in 2016, b) make a page without a photo sometime and c) document what you're feeling inside so you can look back on it later and see how far you've come.  

Here's my layout documenting the word I chose which is today. I used Echo Park's Creative Agenda collection which perfectly fit my page since I want to be more focused on my creative work this year. 

 

 

Here's the journaling in case you can't read it:

I have been thinking deeply about the life I’m living; what is working and what is not. Some days I am the most productive person I know. Other days I drift a bit. I am either ambitious or aimless. After much contemplation, I’ve come to realize the reason. It is simply that there’s always tomorrow. Too often I put off ‘til tomorrow what I should do today. Until the day that tomorrow won’t work and then I always get it done. Always. I find a way to get everything done and breathe a sigh of relief. But living in a cycle of procrastination is not healthy.  

After considering this carefully, I decided to choose a “one little word” for 2016 that would help me break this cycle. I struggled to find exactly the right word but I continued to hope that one would present itself to me. Then as I was sitting in church last Sunday, I sensed the words “be present in this moment.” I cleared my mind and concentrated on the profound beauty that was in front of me: the choir, the orchestra, the stirring sermon and the lovely tradition of it all. It occurred to me later that what I need to focus on is today. I must forget tomorrow and think only of today. I must look at the 24 hours in front of me and say, “How can I use this time wisely?” Whether it’s snuggling Caroline, working on a class, making connections online, cleaning and organizing my home or editing a podcast….I want the things I do to be done on purpose. I will be present and productive today. 2016 is full of possibilities and I’m going to make every day of it count.

Thanks so much for stopping by! If you've chosen a word for this year, I'd love to hear about it. Please share in the comments below!

 

Out with the Old: Clear Your Desk & Make A DIY Scrapbook Kit

Hey Scrapbookers!  It's Katie Scott.

I'm excited to start fresh with my scrapbooking in 2016.  I had a challenging 2015 and didn't get to do much scrapbooking over the fall, so the supplies out on my scrapbooking desk seem stale and uninviting.  Here's what I did to clear my desk and make a DIY scrapbook kit to set myself up for more inspired scrapbooking in 2016 - give it a try and see if it helps you to feel ready to scrapbook:

1. Clear Your Scrapbooking Table: I cleared off my desk completely and put a new paper liner on it.  By taking everything off of my desk, I have a fresh slate and I will only put things back on the desk that I know I really want there.  Even if my desk doesn't look like this again in 2016, it feels good to have it cleared off right now.

2. Put Your Completed Layouts in Albums:  I keep a stack of completed layouts - it was long overdue for me to put them in page protectors and put them into albums.  While this process isn't always my favorite part of scrapbooking, it does allow me to take stock of what I have done and seeing all those completed layouts is inspiring.  The video link below includes a review of the layouts that I put away in to the albums on my Ikea shelves.

 

3. Put Away Any Supplies That Are Out: I find it useful to keep some things out that I use over and over for scrapbooking - like paper trimmers, adhesive, scissors, and basic tools.  But I seem to accumulate a stack of stuff - like papers, letter stickers and embellishments - that don't seem to get put away; taking time to put these items away helps to completely clear the decks.  Even if you don't organize all of your supplies - try to pick one category of items, like dimensional embellishments and wood veneers, and get them into order.

4. Make a DIY Scrapbook Kit:  I like to use an embellishment pack or a piece of patterned paper as my inspiration for creating a scrapbooking kit from my stash.  I try to pick supplies that are the newest to me an mix in some older product to help me feel excited and productive.  Then I make some scrapbook pages!

 

I made a video of my clearing the decks scrapbook process which includes a review of a big stack of layouts I completed in 2015: 

 

I hope that you will give this clearing the decks and creating a kit process a try - if you do make a kit, please leave us a comment with a link to a photo of you kit - I would love to see it!

:) Katie Scott.

 

 

Out with the Old: help!

Good morning! It's Marnie. Here to discuss "Out with the Old." Here is the trouble. I am a terrible hoarder of hobbies, friends, clothes, and all things memorabilia. When Jenny suggested the topic, I said yes! And then looked around and thought, "Oh, no! What can I kick out of my life?" Because that is me. Someone who takes a scrapbook topic and creates a situation to scrapbook about. Because I don't have enough undone pages, already. ;) 

And I realized, that I have spent the entire 2015 trying to declutter and get rid of things in my home. But I wasn't ready to talk about that yet. The mere fact of doing is a bit overwhelming for someone who invests emotionally in everything. hmpf and sigh. So I went looking for something that has changed. And I found a birthday! Hooray! In with something new without emotional baggage. :)

So here is out with 7 and in with 8!

How about you? anything you are holding on to? Please tell me I'm not the only one!

xx

marnie

Out with the old: Stitchery

I have been a cross stitcher since I was in third grade, much longer than I have been a scrapbooker. I'm drawn to a few types of patterns, first classic samplers, which I put together on a sampler wall in the guest room:

Next, Noah's Ark samplers, which I keep with a few Noah's Ark craft figures in the living room:

And finally, garden patterns, which I mostly keep in my bedroom:

 (Side note: it's really hard to photograph framed cross stitching behind glass!)

I am a quick and prolific stitcher, so I have many that I have not yet framed, like this one, which I imagined framing in two circular mats, sans cat hair, which seems to be on it now:

I also have many classic samplers unframed, like this one, which will go in the guest room:

And many small Noah's Ark patterns like this one:

And then in 2002 I stopped cross stitching when I had kids. With my sons constantly on my lap, I couldn't imagine needle crafts. The lighting was so poor by the time they were in bed, I just put it away for a while. Recently, though, I realized the lighting at my sons' taekwondo dojang was excellent, so I pulled out and finished the pattern I stopped stitching when my eldest was born:

Then I picked up another, a Halloween pattern, that I finished quickly:

Somewhere in here I also made a few geek patterns I picked up on Etsy or in other places. These patterns were so simple I could finish them in a day:

This next one is in my husband's cube at work:

So why am I mentioning this? Now that my boys are bigger, and I have found a well lit place I will be in for a few hours every week all year, I am dedicating myself to picking up my stitching habit again. My goal is to stitch between 3-6 patterns by the end of the year. In addition, I want to frame 3-4 patterns that I have already made. My longer term goal is to design a classic sampler pattern myself based on Star Wars; instead of a house, I want the skyline of Mos Eisley, and the verse "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy" along with the phrase "Home Sweet Home."  I haven't found one I like to purchase, so I'll have to design it myself!

Thank you for stopping by today! I hope you set goals for revisiting hobbies you have set aside but intend to go back to.

Out with the old: My Books on the Nightstand

Hello! This week we'll be writing about letting go of the old and welcoming in the new. Today I'll talk about my nightstand.

I used to work in a bookstore, so I collected and read a lot of books. I've been in a book club for a while. I'm also a book addict, picking up books I see on sale that I like. As a result, I ended up with over 30+ books on my nightstand. Ouch. This is especially tough for me because I'm an English teacher. When I'm grading papers, the last thing in the world I want to do is read to relax. So my bookstand has been...well, booked! for a long time. Since I listen to the podcast Books on the Nightstand, this has been killing me. I have a huge To be Read (TBR) list, but I feel I can't start it until I lower this pile. Hence my resolution, which I started last year: reducing the pile.

Here's one thing about goals: studies say you are more likely to achieve your goals if you write it down and tell someone. So I scrapbooked my piles and my plan. Here's the page, using materials from Simple Scrapper:

I made a list of the books I'd read from the pile this year and listed the ones I wanted to read next. I didn't make my goal of reading them by the end of the year, but guess what?  I am now reading The Days of Rondo, which, if you look closely, is third from the bottom. YES! I should finish this goal by the end of February and read the rest of the pile by summer.

So what's next for me? I went through my TBR list last fall and made this page, using a kit from Scrapbook Circle:

I have many more books on my list, but I look forward to reading these the most. Hooray! Nothing like achieving a goal.

Thank you for visiting today! I hope you'll come back tomorrow, when I'll share another hobby long neglected that I am dedicating myself to dusting off and returning to.

Happy New Year Day 4

Hi! It's Aliza here again.I hope your new year is off to a good start!

Today I have another layout for you inspired by the word "year." But instead of the word year, the year itself (2016, that is) features heavily in the title as well as the story. Because a little over four years ago, we received my son's high school acceptance letter. At the time, I was shocked when I read, "Welcome to the class of 2016." Because that number 2016 just seemed too close for comfort. And now it is here, which means my son is actually going to graduate and move out and on with his life. I used the photo of my son reading his college acceptance letter to support the story. 

This theme, will probably fill up a few more pages before the year is through.

Happy New Year | Day 3

Hello! I'm back again with another new layout inspired by the word "year." I'm a list maker, so each year I naturally sit down and write out some goals for the year. I decided this year to make a layout using my list. My list includes some classic goals as well as just some tasks I'd like to complete throughout the year. I've never been one to make resolutions, but I love a good list of things I'd like to do.

The layout was inspired by this pin. I created a cut file and raided my scrap drawer. And here's the final result.
Fun, right!? I love the party garland look that fits the new year theme so well.