Welcome to my blog! And welcome to the One Little Word blog hop for August! If you aren't familiar with the One Little Word class, you can find out more about it here. There is a listing of blog hop participants at the end of this post.
And now, on to my pages for the July assignment. These are the cards I made and, for your listening pleasure, I've included links to listen to each song if you so desire! I did my cards completely digitally using Ali's mask included with the teaching materials. I chose a piece of patterned (digital) paper and masked it over all 9 cards. I then chose a word or phrase from each song and, using a large, bold font, typed it in white onto it's corresponding card. Finally, I typed the artist/song title and an excerpt from each song on each card. My word this year is FOCUS and I chose songs that spoke to me about not only focusing in general, but, in a few cases, that spoke about specific areas I am trying to focus on more, such as my relationship with God, nurturing my friendships and simplifying.
(click image to view larger)
Download 14 Somewhere Over the Rainbow _ What
Download 02 Nothing Without You
Download 07 You've Got a Friend
Download 09 Fly Like An Eagle (Radio Edit)
I never realized it until my husband brought me up the last few recordable cd's on the stack, but there's a cool clear plastic "cd" underneath all the actual cd's. I used that one here and put some patterned paper on the back and a transparency on the front that I'd printed out some music onto. The metal rimmed tab is on the outside of the page protector - strategically placed to fall to the middle of the "fake" cd and is used as a tab to open the flap. (I "un-stickied" the half that isn't adhered to the page protector.) The actual cd that I recorded my playlist on is in the bottom section, as seen below.
I. loved. this. lesson!
I didn't think I was going to at first. When Ali described her feelings about music in the classroom, it was as if she was describing me. I love music! I don't know if there's anything that really moves me more. I play the guitar and sing. We have an extensive and eclectic CD collection. I grew up in a home where when I would come in the door from school, and my mother would be playing classical music pieces on her beloved grand piano.
(Side note: I SO wish I would have paid attention and actually learned how to read music when she took me for piano lessons as a child. I regret to this day that I didn't. Instead, I just relentlessly kept learning everything and playing it by ear, so she eventually took me out of the class... But, I digress...)
To continue, my husband and I lead the music at our church every Sunday and have for years. Both of my sons play the guitar (self-taught) worlds better than I do. So, yeah. I LOVE music! It's a huge part of my life!
But, oddly, I rarely listen to it in the car anymore. And even at home, my preference is peace and quiet. Go figure. I don't know. Maybe it's because my mind is always so full of thoughts and plans and constant conversation (am I nuts, perhaps?), but I really love silence. I will sometimes put on music when I'm in my scrap room, but most often I don't. Cleaning? Entertaining? Oh, yeah, it's definitely on! But not so much most of the rest of the time when I'm home by myself.
So. I really was a little afraid of the lesson this month. I'm certainly not "up" on the current music scene. And to come up with 9 songs - especially 9 songs that spoke to my One Little Word (focus) - seemed a daunting task.
But, as I was pondering my word and thinking about all the things "focus" means to me at this point, a few songs came to me. I began typing some key words into Google and, before I knew it, I'd collected a few songs. I didn't try to rush it and get it all done in a day. So, as I continued to think about my world, a few other songs came to mind. In a few days time I had my list. And, you know what? I LOVE my playlist! There's meaning - to me - in each song I chose.
And every time I play my list - which is a LOT - it just makes me SO happy! I've even worked out to it a couple times. I really need to make another copy so I can take it in the car and leave it there.
So, thank you, Ali, for this month's lesson. It's been one of my favorites. (I think I keep saying that, don't I?)
To continue on the hop, follow this link to Kimberly's blog. A complete list of participants is just below: Happy hopping!
