My Simple Little Life

Rethinking things

I invite you to follow me here: my Tumbler page

It's pretty obvious for the (possibly 3?) people that follow this blog that I've been horribly negligent of it lately.

Also, lately, I've been trying to think of ways that I can save time (or better manage it). I've already made a few changes. I'm laying off Word with Friends (I will finish my current games) and I'm going to do the same with Draw Something very shortly. I'm DVRing a show I love that's on once a week at 11 p.m. and I'm skipping any others that are on after 10 p.m. (How many episodes of House Hunters/HH International do I really "need" to watch???) I'm trying to get to bed earlier (hence cutting out the games which keep me up later than I'd like) which leads naturally to getting up earlier - something I really love for many reasons, extra hours in the day not being the least of them. And, in addition to all that, I'm considering giving up this blog.

Gasp.

I do have a tumblr account which I think may meet my needs at this point in my life.

Why do I have a blog? That IS the question I've asked myself and here are my answers:

1.  It's been important to me to have a place where I can have a catalogue of my scrapbooking/art pages and the photo album feature in this blog - which is why I switched to typepad - very much fulfills that purpose.

2.  I love sharing photos. Photos of my family, of where I live and of what is going on in my life.

3.  I seem to enjoy blathering about my life. I admit it. This blog is not deep, controversial or very thought-provoking. Not that I don't have deep thoughts, or controversial thoughts. Not that I'm not highly opinionated about lots of things. But my choice has been to be only positive here and to be careful about venting or spewing which may offend friends or family. Don't wanna go there in public. I know some people do and I know this in itself is actually a controversial issue. For me, I have chosen to have this be a positive, uplifting place. The downside, however, is that my writing really amounts to a "what I did today" sort of diary and, frankly, it just ain't that exciting. I enjoy it, don't get me wrong. But It's not really enriching anyone else's life. I ask myself, "is it necessary (to me) to do this?".

4.  I have wanted exporsure in the scrapbooking community and I've wanted to participate in events and communities that require a blog.

And so, what happens to all those things if I give up this blog?

1. and 2. I have a "pro" (i.e. unlimited) flickr account. I can put all my photos there in nice little collections and sets. I haven't always put everything in there. But I'm going to start and I may transfer everything in there eventually. I just consider it a way of backing up all the photos that are important to me. Plus, I can share them with friends and family if there's an event - or anytime! AND - I can post all the photos I want on tumblr! :) And even some words - not tons, just some. Which leads me to...

...3. I don't need to blather. I don't have time (nor do I want to take the time anymore) to blather. Now that I'm investing time in art journaling, I can blather all I want there - OR I can express what's really on my mind - no holds barred. (and I do)  Disclaimer: I am NOT implying that anyone else that has a blog is blathering. I'm only referring to myself. And, speaking of which, I read a LOT of blogs. This is perhaps another area where I may want to consider cutting back. But not yet.  :)

4. I'm completely satisfied with the amount of exposure I've had in the scrapbooking community. I'm completely satisfied with the publications I've been in. (Like, WOW!) I don't feel the need to participate in any more challenges, blog hops or scrapbook communities. I feel like I've done that - and it was GREAT - but now I'd really rather spend the extra time in my art room creating. Period.

So, check out Tumblr if you never have. It's cool. I can very quickly add photos and even a little written content. Or videos or music. The quickness is what's appealing to me. Whenever I think about blogging, I always think I need more time than I have and, therefore, I skip it altogether. I think Tumblr will provide me a place where I can just throw something down quickly and easily.

So, if you're interested in following a more compact version of me (ohhhh, if only I could be a more compact version of me, but that's another story....), I invite you to go to my tumblr page and then "follow" me (by clicking "follow") there. And I hope you will.

I'll keep this blog open until my subscraption (ha! an amusing typo - I'll leave it) runs out... (Yes, typepad costs $$$ - one more reason to let it go.)

Blessings.

(whew! already I'm feeling a sense of pressure lifted...)

Create - I'm all about it

My unsatiable appetite for creating in my art (formerly "scrap") room continues raging on. (I do want to mention that just because I'm now calling my "scrap" room an "art" room doesn't imply at all that I'm not scrapping anymore. I'm just doing "more" than scrapping!) Having said that, I must admit that I haven't scrapped much this year. But I want to! I have several photos sitting on/near my desk - out of the way of flying inks and paints - waiting for my attention. And I'm participating in True Scrap 3 this weekend and expect to be overflowing with inspiration from that!

But, right now, I just can't stop feeding the mixed media monster! And I'm okay with that!  :)

I want to re-post the tags I've made so far in Tim Holtz's Creative Chemistry 101 class. The previous photos weren't all that great. But first, let me say, this is a class chock-full of hard core in.for.ma.tion! I have learned SO much about things that I've owned and have used (or haven't) but of which I didn't really fully comprehend the possibilities because I didn't really understand what I was dealing with in these products. (I'm talking distress inks vs. archival inks, alcohol inks, blending solution and so on...). I can't recommend this class enough! I'm almost hoarding the lessons because I want to be able to give them my absolute full attention. I actually had to replay two entire videos for one lesson because I was rather distracted when watching them the first time. Well, okay, it was more like very tired. But, whatever. I watched again so I could really absorb. And the nature of the class is that you can come back and do the lessons all at your own pace. Love that.

So, here are the 6 tags I've made so far. Tim has provided convenient printable labels to adhere to the back of the tags you make so you can recall the technique used to make said tag. Awesome!

blended distress inks with water splotches. Cool!

making a "watercolor" image with stamp(s) and distress ink

inking a non-absorbent surface (like a craft mat), spritzing with water and then picking up the results onto a blank tag.

stamping with archival ink over blended alcohol inks. wow! this was my first time really playing with (and understanding the potential of) alcohol. Amazing! The photo doesn't do it justice...

archival inks with distress inks - I so get it now!

this was to be about reverse stamping with embossing folders, but I didn't have any reverse stamps. But I got the idea anyway - and love the results. i also extended the technique a bit by sanding the embossed image a bit to make it stand out more.

I'm so excited about adding these techniques to my arsenal. I see possibilities for both art journaling and scrapping and card making.

Speaking of art journaling, here are the two latest spreads I've completed:

All my tendencies to be wordy are very apparenet in this spread! To make the background, I cut a bunch of squares and then cut them in half to form triangles and then lined up a few rows of triangles and sprayed ink/mist over them. Then I carefully lifted them and moved them on across the page, spraying a different color of ink/mist. After a while the colors began to blend and bleed it made a very interesting background. I ended up using a few of the sprayed triangles on the pages. I then did some doodling in the triangles at the far right, as well as masked and inked a clock image several times.

And here's the latest spread I completed:

For this spread, I marked off lightly with pencil a grid of approximately 4"x4" squares across the page. I used acrylic paint and stamps on the left side to fill in a bit and then watercolored each grid with a different color. I then filled each square with either journaling or I made a mini-canvas, sometimes overlapping two squares. I doodled in some faux stitching between the squares.

I've started another spread now, of course, and I decided to go with the black gesso background again. This time I'm painting in little houses all along the bottom (haven't left a ton of room for journaling, actually) and I'm going to play with each little house, decorating it with doodling and paint and little details. Should be super FUN!

Since I have a free afternoon before me (yay!) I'm going to go for a walk and then MAKE myself sit down and take an hour to read. Chris doesn't get home from work til 8 p.m. and I'm making a glorified chicken caesar salad for dinner, so I've got LOTS of time (double yay!) for that and playing in my art room. I really should continue the purge I started in there. In fact, I was talking to my sister-in-law this a.m., who spent the night last night, and she thought it would be an awesome idea to donate my purged (all good) items to the arts/crafts room at the retirement village she lives in. I was wondering what to do with it all. I didn't want to toss it and so much of it is really beyond my granddaughters and I didn't want to mail it (holy postage!) so that seems like a wonderful solution that would help us both! So, I must get to work on that, as well. But, probably not today...

Finally, I leave you with my two favorite photos from Easter. The whole set of photos can be seen at my Flickr site, here.

heaven.

I'm an Artist

At least, I feel like one. I have greatly neglected my blog and I'd said that I was going to blog more often. Well, there's only so many hours in the day, so many days in the week, right? After I've done the essentials around here (i.e. granddaughter care, personal quiet time, managing committments, meal planning/prep, exercise - most of the time - eating, sleeping, personal grooming, etc.), after all that, I sit down to take one of the several online classes I'm in and/or to hideaway in my art room to do "homework" and whatever else we artists like to call "work" but, in reality, is the most wonderful, joyful kind of play. Ah, I'm in love. My head is swimming... And I don't mean to imply that creating art is not essential. For me it is. But, I don't live by myself on a secluded dessert island, so I must practice balance. :)

I've now completed Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's "30 Days in Your Journal". If you are at ALL interested in art journaling, I can't recommend this online class enough. Julie has such a fabulous laid back (and often humerous) teaching style and makes everything easy and do-able. And I love the fact that this is NOT a huge investment of time each of your 30 days (and I did NOT do 30 consecutive days - another great thing about the class is that it's self-paced.) In fact, Julie emphasizes trying to get your art journaling (using her technique which involves journaling for many days on one progressive spread - like in my photos, below) done in 10-15 minutes a day. You will learn a LOT and you'll embrace "the mess" and toss out the idea of making "mistakes". You can find info on this class on her blog, here.

So, as I said, I've completed her class now and I'm art journaling ON. MY. OWN. Wow. I feel like I'm flying! I'm so thrilled. I will definitely continue using her technique of journaling (about 5) days on one spread - at least until I fill up my current book. But I also feel totally confident (so MUCH more so than pre-class) about going back to my faith journal now and doing singular spreads there. In fact, I'm really looking forward to doing that. So, yes, I will be joining the ranks of those who have more than 1 art journal going on at a time. I'm an artist, I tell ya!

Well, here's the last spread that I did "in the class". Julie started us on the first day of it and then we were on our own after that.

Just a note: I don't have any earth-shattering private stuff in there (it's just blather about my simple little life, ya know?) but I don't show these pages with the intention of anyone actually reading the content. It's about the visual.  :)

I was so happy to take my journal with me when we went to visit M&M in their new home in North Carolina (YAY!!!!!) last weekend. I just packed a few pens, number stamps, a tiny ink pad, a few embellies and a glue runner. All that fit in a little box about the size of a regular business envelope. Sweet. I loved being able to work on it everyday. (The key was to have the main focal art already in place beforehand - that would be all the stuff at the bottom in the spread you see above.) I added the photos after I got home and printed 'em out.

So, I'm also doing Tim Holtz's Creative Chemistry 101 class. It's also self-paced (I don't think I'd do it any other way anymore...) and I'm just now getting into the meat of it. I did the first 3 "technique" tags today and I LOVE them! (They're so much better in person.) I learned SO much just in this one day's class. Wow! So I know I'm going to love this as well.

Here's a peek at my tag homework:

I'm still working through Joanne Sharpe's Letter Love class. There's lots of homework and I can see that it's all going to be about practice, practice, practice. At the same time, I'm finding myself already putting to use stuff that I've learned in that class, as well. Here's the latest little piece I did for that class:

Last, but definitely not least, I joined the 21 Secrets Community. It is a whole community for art journalers and there are 21 teachers offering 21 workshops from April 2012 through January 2013. They're all available from day 1, so you choose where to start and then dive in - again, at your own pace. I'm SO excited about working through these workshops - my head is spinning! There's a gallery and chat rooms - like I said, it's a whole community. I haven't plunged yet, but will soon! After I decide where to start!

So, yeah, I'm feeling like quite the artist. And I'm loving it. Since I'm exercising regularly now and eating well, my energy is abounding. I even re-organized my cleaning system. All to say I'm not really going to neglect the other things in my life that are important. But I'm definitely onboard for feeding all my creative desires and dreams. And livin' up to my word this year - create!

Now, off to bed so I can tackle a new day tomorrow!

Happy St. Patty's! | Stuff to Share

I'm so happy that it's a glorious sunny day! My heart just needed it today. I'm expecting a granddaughter or two to show up any minute now, too, so happy times are ahead! :)

But I wanted to take a minute to share what I've been working on lately.

I think I've mentioned that I'm taking a fabulous art journaling class. It's called 30 Days in Your Journal. Wow. If you have any interest in that realm at all, I can highly recommend this class. It's been everything I've needed to get comfortable experimenting with different medium and techniques because I'm learning that you can't be too messy and you can't make mistakes. I tend to be a perfectionist in so many areas and I'm happy to report that I'm leaning away - far away! - from that tendency in my art journaling of late. Because of this class! Thank you Julie! Right at the moment, I just finished day 27 (out of the 30 lessons) and I'm going to be so sad when it's over...

So here's a look at the last spread I completed:

I have to say I was a wee tad intimidated by the suggestion to draw a figure. Julie gave great general instructions (in her typical laid back and humorous way) and I just went for it. And, I have to say, I'm pretty pleased with how it (she) turned out. Here's a closer look at that right side:

I ended up going sort of off on my own by the end of this spread (which encompassed 5 lessons/days) and I know Julie would be so proud. Just as parents we want to teach our children to spread their wings and be themselves as they go out on their own into life, a good teacher (such as Julie is) wants the same for their pupils - and especially in the area of art. So, I feel great that I got to a point where I felt really comfortable doing that. Yay!

I'm also taking a lettering class from the amazing Joanne Sharpe, who I just discovered in Stampington & Co.'s Somerset Studio. And she was also just featured my most favorite publication of theirs - Art Journaling. How timely! She's now teaching her very first online class called "Letter Love". This is another area that I've really been wanting to work on, so I was thrilled to discover the class. I'm only 5 lessons in and have already learned so much.

Here's the first little project I did:

(Wow! I did that?)

Joanne is a WEALTH of information. I also highly recommend!

And, rather serendipitously, my last spread in Julie's class (30 Days in Your Journal) involves making a whole alphabet! It must be the northern lights or the early breakout of spring or something, but I love it when stuff like that happens! Here's a sneak peek at the spread in progress:

 

That's all for now. My windows in the living room are open letting in the gorgeous FRESH air - my spirit is beginning to soar! The girls will be here soon. Gotta go put away the cookies I baked!

Happy St. Patty's. Speak with an Irish accent for the rest of the day!  ;)

A Quick Share

We're heading up to State College today to visit Chris's sister and her husband. I'm mostly packed. But just wanted to take a minute to share what I've been working on lately. I've still been able to get in my art room most every day. The urge to purge is getting stronger and stronger. Not because I hate what I have. But because I have SO much and it makes it so much easier to create when you have LESS to choose from - especially when you love everything you have. And, right now, I don't LOVE everything I have. I also find it tons more inspiring to have just what you love surrounding you and in sight. That's key for me. So, when the urge to purge hits its peak in a few weeks, then I will also be at my motivational peak to get my room all sorted out and reorganized. It's coming soon, because the thought of it is becoming very exciting to me!  :)

I'm so thrilled to say that I'm still finding time most every day to get in my art room and CREATE! (Create is my "word" for the year - and it is fulfilling its purpose already!). I know that this online course that I'm taking - Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's "30 Days in Your Journal" has been instrumental in getting me in there. Because I just can't wait to watch the class video each day (that I can) and then get in there and play in my art journal. And getting me in there is the main thing. Once I'm there, I don't wanna leave! And I'm also beginning to scrapbook again! Wheeee!

So, first up, is my latest scrapbook page. I haven't done anything digital yet this year. But I think that's because I'm getting the Studio Calico kits every month and now I just can't wait to play with all that yummy stuff!  :) This layout is based on a recent SC sketch:

This page features a photo strip (that I cut apart) from my PhotoBooth app on my iPod. I just love these pics and it reminds me of what a fun time I always have with my friend, Teresa. Love her! (And love the play on a word in the title...)

And here are some pics of my most recent art journal page ("page three" I like to call it, because, well, it's the third spread in my journal...)

Here's a little close up of both sides:

I just realized that I haven't yet posted  "page two" of my art journal. Here are some shots of that completed spread:

If you'd like to see all my pages in one place, you can access my flickr set here.

Well, the phone just rang and a rush of panic went through me because I thought it would be Chris telling me he's done at the office and on his way home. It IS a little early for that, but I panicked because, well, I am NOT ready! Mostly packed really means NOT packed. So, off I go to get that done!

Happy weekend!

oh, to create!

It's been another deliciously quiet week. I've also still been under the weather, but it hasn't been enough to keep from getting in my craft room every day. Yay! Today I just want to share what I've been doing.

First up, I mentioned in my last post that I had started Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's "30 Days in Your Art Journal" class. And, can I say? Finally, FINALLY, this class makes me feel like an artist! :) Julie's teaching style is very casual and laid back (and she cracks me up a LOT) and just SO excellent. I really feel like I'm learning something. The concept of putting 5 different journal entries all on one page is new to me. But it does make the process not only take less time but, it makes it seem a little less intimidating. This class is just exactly what I've been looking for to further my knowledge AND experience in art journaling. I have hope!

So, here's a look at my first finished spread:

 

 

I'm super looking forward to diving into today's lesson - as soon as I'm done posting this!

Something else I did this week was begin digging away at the layers of "schtuff" on my art desk, opening, tossing, putting away, whatever was necessary. I got my desk cleaned off and, staring at some beautiful new papers, I was totally inspired to do a - gasp! - scrapbook page. Actually, I think it's kind of sad that it took me til the beginning of February to a scrapbook page done. But, well, it is what it is.

Lack of time has not diminished my desire to scrapbook one little bit. And now that I'm having a little more time, I will definitely be doing more of it. Digital as well.

This is a full-on paper page I have to show you and I used, for the majority of it, Studio Calico's December kit, Brooklyn Flea. I also used a piece of Girl's Paperie paper (the tiny floral), some Glimmer Mists, one of Ali Edwards' Technique Tuesday stamps from February on the tag ("heart" you) and the flowers are from Sassafras Lass.

 

 

I made the journaling strips from some "Smash" journaling papers using my own typewriter.

It felt really good to make that page and, as I have more new papers stashed away, I will definitely be making a lot more!

I think I've begun the long, tedious project of purging some of my scrap/art room supplies. I'm just going to do one little section at a time and try not to make it a huge ordeal. Um, yeah.

Right now, though, I'm off to art journal!

a sun-shiny day

Sunshine. A free day ahead of me. What could be a better thing to wake up to? I don't know, because that really rings my chimes.

I started it off (after a day of juice fasting yesterday) with my beloved a.m. coffee and quiet time - prayer, bible reading and bible study. I sooooo love it when I don't have to rush and today I could really take my time. I'm preparing right now to teach our ladies bible study group from church on the 15th. We've studied various books over the years, but right now we're studying THE book and my heart is singing over it! We're studying the book of Phillipians with no agenda or timeline. The portion I'm preparing is Chapter 1, verses 12-30. Meaty.

All of us in the group have also been challenged to memorize Phil. 4:4-8. So - here goes (I promise I'm typing from memory - it just wouldn't be right to cheat, especially when it comes to the bible, now would it?):

Rejoice in the Lord, always! I will say it again - rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble...

and that's how far I am. Awesome verses, by the way!

After being down with a cold for a few days last week, I was very glad to get back to exercising. I'm doing the Wii 30-day challenge as a kind of re-entry into the exercise world. Taking a "comfort food" day last week (i.e. all the worst stuff picked up and brought home from the Cracker Barrell drive-through, like Chicken and Dumplings, Hash Brown Casserole, Mac and Cheese, Fried Apples, not to mention a huge candy bar) wreaked total havoc on my "eating well" plan. Boy, did it ever - and the scale showed it this morning. But, I'm not going to let that upset me - I'm just learning from it. For instance, Clean Eating actually put out a "Clean Comfort Foods" magazine and I'm going to actually READ it and put up a few things from there for next time - even though I haven't been sick in a year. Still.

AND, I got out for a walk on this glorious February day. Right now I'm getting used to walking just the driveway round trip (that's 1/2 mile total). It's getting easier all the time. I still have a bit of a limp left over from the hip replacement, but it's only been 5 months. I know it will work itself out.

I also met my new neighbors as I was out. They have 3 kids (a 7 y/o boy and 4 y/o twins, a boy and a girl). It will be different having someone there. But a good kind of different...

And, finally, I've started a new online class called 30 Days in Your Journal given by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, who's work I've always loved. And this is an art journaling class. I've been SO driven to get into art journaling the past year or so. And I've made some attempts. I think it's one of those things where I see, it LOVE it, but I just can't quite make what I love come out of my head and onto the paper yet. But, I'm getting there. Here's a page I started a while ago - I had done the background and loved it and then just recently added the words:

That's beginning to get where I want to get to.

But this class! Wow! I can tell already that it's going to be AWE.SOME! Here's just a little bit of what I've done so far:

Both of those are my own improvisations on the particular technique being taught on this day. LOVE how they both turned out. Here's a shot of the whole 2-page journaling spread:

I think there's another 2 or 3 days of technique/teaching before this particular spread will be done. I can. not. wait! I'm just so excited about this class. Every day that I have a bit of free time, I will be running to my next (online) class. (Yeah, luckily I don't have too far to run!)

All of this fits very nicely with the "One Litte Word" that I've chosen for this year - CREATE!

Well, one more thing. I just want to share a fun little photo collage I made (using Picasa) from our latest Friday visit with Maggie (she comes here while her mom and dad are working on Fridays). Chris got to romping with her on the couch, and then the floor, and she was ALL giggles. SO adorable!

(click image to make larger)

And here are a couple more from the day:

peek-a-boo!

 

One of the first questions she asks me when she comes in is, "can I play your iPod?". I just hand it to her and she can turn it on, find the folder she wants on the page she wants and then the program she wants. She plays games, looks at videos, looks at photos, finds kid's books, etc. I try to limit her time on it, which she doesn't like, but I don't want her to be a total nerd. She IS a total genius, though, and that's okay...  ;)

That's enough for this sun-shiny day! It's time to make (a healthy!) dinner!

 

One Little Word Blog Hop for January 2012 | New Year, New Word!

Welcome to my blog! I assume you are here for our 1st monthly blog hop for One Little Word 2012. Just in case you have no idea what I'm talking about, head over to Big Picture Classes to learn all about One Little Word.

You will find a complete listing of blog participants at the bottom on this post. You can continue on in order from here, which will take you to Cate's blog, or you can jump in anywhere you please!

I'm excited for a new year and a new word! My word for 2012 is CREATE!

I chose this word simply because I want to create MORE. What, you might ask, do you want to create more of, Jan? Well, thanks for asking. I want to create more scrapbooking layouts - both paper and digital, many more art journal pages, I want to take more photos and I want to spend more time blogging. I just didn't spend nearly the amount of time on these things last year as I would have liked. I don't value them any less than lots of the other important stuff I do. But, you know, I think we get the message sometimes that spending time on hobbies, creativity, art, expressing yourself - whatEVER you want to call it - I think we get the message that spending time on those things is selfish. Not to mention that in our fast-paced world there is so much pulling at us. SO much. I realize that these things - that are an ESSENTIAL part of who I am - are NOT going to happen unless I purposefully make time for them. And I just know that having chosen the word CREATE this year, I will definitely be more likely to make that happen. It's as simple as that, yet...

...the exciting thing that I've found about One Little Word is that focusing on just this one little word this year will most likely lead me to expand upon at least my conception of what "create" means for me. And I love that. I'm open to it and I'm looking forward to it. The journey begins here.

Here are my pages for the January assignment. First, let me introduce you to - moi:

(click on any image to enlarge)

I'm getting a lot of mileage out of this photo - I'm also using it for my Move More Eat Well class at BPC with Cathy Zielske. Hey. You get a good photo and you go with it...

And here's my "opening" canvas for January:

Just used some chipboard letters and a little piece of paper for masks and then spritzed with spray inks for this. Quick and easy!

Here's how that looks in my book:

I also participated in the One Little Word class last year and so I am using the same album as last year and just continuing on. That presented me with an empty space on the left (the back of last year's last page) and I filled it with a printed-out wordle I made:

You can create one of your own at www.wordle.com. Get yourself a list of synonyms that you can cut and paste when you get to wordle. Once there, you can customize the font, the color and the design. It's super fun. The only way I could see to print out what I made (you can't save it off site) was to do a "print screen" and then open it up in "paint", crop it and save that as a jpg image. Let me know if you'd like further help with that. But, anyway, go play!

So, next up are the canvases we created using Ali's templates. Here's a photo of all my little canvases. (I used the same small 9x9 page protectors that we used from last year. Was I supposed to? It seemed the templates provided were too large to fit, but I shrunk it enough to fit, at any rate...) (I will post individual photos of each canvas just after this photo...)

Creating these little canvases was my favorite part of this month's assignment, for sure. Here's each individual canvas. I used the four unprinted canvases to represent the four areas of creativity that I want to spend more time on this year. I'll add some descriptions under a few of the cards, below:

I want to spend more time blogging. My poor, neglected blog. I apologize and I'll make it up to you.

I'm DYING to do more art journaling. This little card is one of my most favorite things I've made in a long time. I just love the whole mixed media/experimental/playing process so much. I want more!

Look! I made a tiny little scrapbook page! I SO want to scrapbook MORE!

And I want to take more photos. (This one, by the way, was taken on my recent trip to AZ. It's Lake Montezuma which my son lives right across the little street from. It was so sweet waking up to and watching the sun set on every day.

So there you have it. I'm looking forward to the challenge of creating more time to create more stuff! Thanks for stopping by. Hope you find much to inspire - and even challenge - you as you continue on the hop.

Here's the list of participants:

Margie        http://xnomads.typepad.com

Sharyn       www.lavieenchic.com           

Jill              http://jillconyers.com

Lynn          www.crafty-creativity.blogspot.com

Jenn          www.studiojenn.blogspot.com

Carmen      http://www.carmenpaulsorthner.com

Marilee       http://rose-brier.blogspot.com      

Kristina      http://hrinspirationfromthe403.blogspot.com/

Cindy C      http://www.cynthiacrysdale.com

Kelly          http://mindingmynest.com

Cheri          http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com

Amanda      http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com

Cindy         http://seriousplay.typepad.com

Brooke       www.everysnapshot.com

Naomi        www.poeticaperture.com

Melissa      http://www.smudgetime.com

Karen         http://breathenowsmile.blogspot.com

Melissa S   http://blog.mshanhun.com

Devon         http://www.youhadmeatneurotic.com

Donna        http://holimess.blogspot.com/

Dawn          sunshineandcreativity.com

Katrina        www.katrinasimeck.com

Sam           http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com

Monica        http://scrapinspired.com

Kimberlee    http://scrapsandsass.blogspot.com

Missus W    http://mrswookieswanderings.blogspot.com/

Kaylea        http://www.myscrappylife.com

Nikki          www.inkyart.com.au

Erin            http://erinsparkes.typepad.com/optimstic-fascination/

Jo              www.curlyscrapbooker.blogspot.com

Coley          http://coleybelle.blogspot.com/2012/01/focus-word-for-2012.html

Beth           www.thesingularlyordinary.blogspot.com

Veronica     www.veronicanorris.typepad.com

Jamie          http://jmpgirl.blogspot.com/

Monica B     http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com/

Lisa            http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog

Rebekah      http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/

Jan             http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com <---YOU ARE HERE

Cate            www.lifebehindthepurpledoor.com <---GO HERE NEXT

Stephanie    www.scrapworthylives.com

Orange Gearle http://orangegearle.blogspot.com

Tere             http://terecontodomicorazon.blogspot.com/

Junelle        http://yesandamenblog.blogspot.com/ 

Ruth            http://suburbansahm.blogspot.com

Becky         www.becky-handforth.blogspot.com

 

Helloooooo, January! | Ten on Tuesday

Okay, I think I'm finally caught up - at least with all the *important* stuff! Whew! An unbelieveably busy holiday season almost immediately followed by a 9-day trip to AZ makes for LOTS of back-paddling, running around and mayhem in general. I'm sort of in shell-shock that it's the 24th already! There's SO much going on, so much to write about, so much I'm doing. But rather than bore you with all the gorry details, I'm going to borrow from my friend, Debra Blakely, and do a "Ten on Tuesday" list. Ten things (yes, I'm limiting it to 10, but I warn you - women are like spaghetti!) that are on the forefront of my brain right now. Here goes:

1)  We had an awesome visit to see our son, Matthew and our daughter-in-law, Martha in AZ. We did lots of catching up, eating (Martha's a chef and Matthew ain't a bad cook neither!), dog-walking around the lake, shopping of all sorts, venturing out, spade playing, sunset watching, BB shooting (Matthew got the Daisy Rifle from "A Christmas Story" for Christmas and now, of course, we want one, too) and more. I did bring my big old SLR digital Canon, but I also had a lot of fun taking pics with my iPod and especially using the Hipstamatic app. Here's a little collage of my fave photos:

(click image to view larger)

I just about full-on lost it as we drove away to return home - it had been a year since we'd seen M&M - but the only thing that saved me from heaving sobs was knowing that they are in the process of moving to North Carolina. They should be there by March. I know that's still a whole day of travel, but we won't have to make plane reservations, we can bring all our pillows, the camper, a cooler, whatEVER and we WILL see each other more often. Plus, we'll all be in the same time zone. That's comforting!

2) It wouldn't be a proper post if I didn't brag on my granddaughters. E continues to love school, willingly do any kind of activity we have planned, be the best little mommy to her little sister when we go places and just charm us. Yes, she has her silly moments, but she IS 7.5 after all! And Mags...well, being that she's 2.5, things are constantly changing with her. She is growing physically - and verbally! Her vocabulary seemed to just quadruple while we were gone. Where she spoke in mostly 3 word sentences before, that girl can hold an entire conversation now - and that's with just herself! We first noticed this when we phoned from AZ, but, wow, she has really become quite chatty! And, she's starting to cop a bit of that 2 y/o attitude. She's definitely testing the boundaries and using every bit of the power she thinks she has. I find it very amusing, for the most part. Her parents - probably not so much. We had the girls overnight this past weekend and we always prided ourselves on our ability to get Mags down for naps and overnight sleeps. Well, no more! She quite brilliantly came up with every possible detour to laying down and shutting her eyes - all in tearful hysterics, of course. Chris fell for it, but when I took over, though it took a while, I was able to talk her down successfully. You just can't let a 2 y/o win. Know what I mean?

Here's my favorite photo of them from the holidays:

 

3) I've decided to stop with the photo challenges and maybe even the scrapbooking challenges. NOT because I don't want to take photos or scrapbook, but because I have an endless supply of projects running around in my head at this point just wanting to be brought to fruition. And also because I'm taking two online year-long workshops (at Big Picture Classes - One Little Word and Move More Eat Well) which each involve an on-going album AND...

wait for it...

...I'm doing Project Life this year! PL encompasses taking lots of photos and documenting your everyday life, but in a weekly format. So, I figure I don't really need any prompts to get me scrapping or photo-taking. I've got plenty to keep me busy. I'm loving PL so far - AND I'm even all caught up! My conundrum this week is that it's a wonderfully quiet week, but, therefore, not much to take photos of. Maybe I'll do some around-the-house stuff.

4) Speaking of my continued (and never fading) LOVE of scrapbooking, (paper and digital) and art journaling, I'm eagerly anticipating the release of the March/Spring Issue of Stampington and Company's Somerset Digital Studio. Because I'm going to be published in it! Wow! I just think this is a superior publication full of amazing artists and to be included among them, well, I'm really honored. I can't wait til it comes out.  :) 

5) Just when I thought we maybe - MAYBE - might get away without any big snows this season, we get 5" dumped on us this past Saturday. Well, I know it could be much worse - and half of it is melted now. We didn't even get our 1/4 mile long driveway plowed because for one, our plow guy is no longer plowing and for another, we just wanted to see if we could tough it out since it's supposed to remain fairly mild for a while. I'm still crossing my fingers that after this melts that will be IT! C'mon early spring!

6) After the holidays and then our trip to AZ, I was SO anxious to get back on the healthy eating bandwagon. And this past Sunday, I did my first juice fast. I decided that I'm going to fast with juice just one day a week. It costs so much less that way and I still think it will be beneficial. Sort of like a clean out from the past week and a jump start for the new week. And, can I say? Since I've been avoiding sugar, junk food and fast food since we've been home for a week now - I have this funny feeling. I think it's called "energy"!  ;)

7) I made a point of walking around the little lake (and by little lake, I really mean pond) just across the street from M&M's house in AZ every day that we were there. It was just what I needed to get my exercise mojo going again. I was looking forward to getting out to walk on my driveway (as I said, it's a 1/4 mile!) but the snow/ice has put the ki-bash on that idea. BUT, I've got my Total Gym back in place after the holidays AND I started the Wii 30-day challenge (sans running) and it's all going really well. Hello, muscles! You ARE in there! I'm sure this is also helping with the energy level and the fact that I'm sleeping really well lately!

8) Chris got us tickets to see Iona in Allentown, PA in June. It's at a really small venue, which will be totally awesome. We have almost every album of theirs. They're a Christian/Celtic band. SO cool! I can NOT wait for this. And, since the concert's on a Tuesday, looks like we'll have a little overnight getaway. As it should be, for it will be a BIG birthday for me that week, as well as my 37th wedding anniversary (both on the same day, by the way). I'll be expecting lots of presents.  :)

9) Ohhhhhh, Downton Abbey! I am so head-over-heels in love with this PBS series. I just can't get enough of it. It's got everything a good period piece should have: engrossing plot, exquisite clothes and sets, gorgeous cinematography, romance, suspense and impeccable acting! LOVE!!!!!

10) Why is it that the second I strip down, ready to hop in the hot tub out on my secluded deck that a) I get a phone call and then as soon as I hang up, b) someone knocks at the door. Pfffftt!

Happy Tuesday!

One Little Word Blog Hop | December Assignment | 2012 Announcement

Welcome to my blog for our final blog hop for our 2011 word assignments from the One Little Word class at Big Picture Scrapbooking. Maybe you've been wondering what this has been all about. Then read my post and follow the hop and you'll get a great idea of how it works. And, NOW is a great time to choose YOUR "one little word" to concentrate on for 2012 - and then I highly recommend the class given by Ali Edwards, the founder of "One Little Word". It will keep you thinking about your word all year long as well as inspire you to go deeper and even, possibly, change you life a little bit (or a lot!). I've really enjoyed this class and it has been instrumental in getting the most out of the word I choose for 2011 - FOCUS.

There is a complete linky list of everyone participating in today's blog hop all the way at the end of this post.

And with that, on to our final assignment for 2011. No surprise that we were to go through our album full of class assignments from 2011 and review and summarize our experience with our word. Ali provided a sheet for journaling our summaries.

Can I say? I LOVE my One Little Word album! I love how it looks and I love everything I've put in there. It inspires me all over again to re-read it all. And it's so interesting to see how this word evolved for me. I plan on simply continuing in the same album, by the way, for 2012, with the addition of a divider page or even just a tab on the first page of my 2012 assignment sheet. But, I digress.

Here's a snapshot of my summary page:

(click image to view larger)

 

And here's how it looks in the album:

 

When I started out the year with my word FOCUS, my intention was to use this word as a means of accomplishing things in many areas of my life that I felt I didn't really finish in 2010 with my word "simplify". I felt I needed to "focus" more on these areas in order to accomplish the goals I'd set. Sounds good, right? I quickly realized, though, that to focus on too many things was resulting in a feeling of being overwhelmed and not really being able to focus well on any one thing. And, I began to realize that what I really needed to focus on above all else was my relationship with God, especially in the area of my quiet time with Him in the morning. I'd gotten out of the habit of having that quiet time with any regularity, what with all the busy-ness that was my life. I realized that just in focusing on having this time - which I spend in prayer, reading the bible, sometimes journaling and often just listening to God - I would gain the focus I then needed for whatever thing happened to be in my path that particular day. I've written in a lot more detail about this in my past One Litte Word blog hop posts. They're linked below if you care to look back.

http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com/blog/2011/02/one-little-word-bloghop-today.html
http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com/blog/2011/03/o.html
http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com/blog/2011/04/one-little-word-april-blog-hop-no-foolin.html
http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com/blog/2011/08/one-little-word-blog-hop-today.html
http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com/blog/2011/10/one-little-word-blog-hop-today-sept-assignment.html
http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com/blog/2011/11/one-little-word-blog-hop-october-assignment.html
http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com/blog/2011/12/one-little-word-blog-hop-november-assignment.html

To summarize, I realize now that God is not the aim of my focus, but the source of my ability to focus on what's in front of me that day. And I trust that God is in control and so orders my day. To put it in simple terms, I have found that I am able to better focus on whatever's in front of me on any given day by making sure that I am connecting with God at the beginning of each day. And not only am I better able to focus on what's in front of me, but I feel more of a connection to God's purposes and plans for me AND I feel a desire to glorify Him and be a good steward with what He's given me that day. A simple truth for life that HAS changed my life. (Disclaimer - I'm not perfect at this - and probably never will be, because I am, after all, human! But, because of choosing this word this year, I now realize how much I need to make this a priority - my focus, if you will - EVERY day!) Love it!

And now.........

drumroll, please.....

my NEW word for 2012 is...

(did you catch a glimpse of it in the last photo, above?)....

C R E A T E

I can't tell you how excited I am about this new word! Because MY plan is that it's going to pave the way for MUCH more activity in my art/scrap room this year! And that's the entire reason I chose it! Now, having said that, I'm fully aware that this little word may have more in store for me that I can even begin to realize right now. And that's why I'm so excited about it! I'm just excited to see where it will lead me and how my life will change because of it!

Another contender for next year was "move" - and heaven knows I need that word in my life! BUT, I signed up for Cathy Z's "Move More Eat Well" class for 2012 over at BPC and since that's an ongoing yearly class, I'm thinking that issue will be fully addressed!  :)

Here's a linky list of those participating in the hop today. I've noted where you are and where you're going from here. To simply continue on in order, click here to visit Jamie's blog!

And, before I go, I wish you a new year of abundant blessings!

Margie     http://xnomads.typepad.com

Cheri       http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com

Veronica  http://veronicanorris.typepad.com

Kara        http://iwannabemewhenigrowup.blogspot.com/

Rebekah  http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/

Sharyn    http://www.LaVieEnChic.com

Jill           http:/www./jillconyers.com

Lynn        http://crafty-creativity.blogspot.com

Monica    http://www.scrapinspired.com/

Lisa         http://backtoallen.com/writers_blog

Cynthia H http://paperpapereverywhere.blogspot.com

Lee          http://thelinarstudio.typepad.com/embracelife/

Abbey      http://athomewiththerichardsfamily.blogspot.com/

Monica B  http://questtoperfectimperfection.blogspot.com 

Nikki        http://www.inkyart.com.au

Tere         http://terecontodomicorazon.blogspot.com/

Melissa S http://blog.mshanhun.com

Nicky       http://seejanebake.blogspot.com

Stephanie http://www.scrapworthylives.com/

Jenn L      http://studiojenn.blogspot.com

Cindy       http://seriousplay.typepad.com

Amanda   http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com

Sam        http://learncreatedo.wordpress.com/

Jan          http://mysimplelittlelife.typepad.com  <-----YOU ARE HERE

Jamie      http://jmpgirl.blogspot.com  <------GO HERE NEXT

Karen      http://breathenowsmile.blogspot.com/