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I've been returning to my zendoodling background since I began this project.  I've been mainly working on Mixed Media Canson paper using Sharpie pens and Pigma Microns.  I'm really enjoying pushing myself to try new patterns and new ways to add contrast and depth to each piece.  In the last couple of pieces, I have added some lettering components which I want to continue to develop this year.
Anyone can join in with this challenge.  The real goal is to push yourself to try something new, different, or something you just feel is outside of your current skill set. 

Hello, lovelies, and Happy New Year!  How is 2016 treating you so far?  Well, if you're anything like me, this is the time of year that we think up resolutions and changes we want to make to our lives this year.  I've never been very successful with resolutions, so for the past five years I have been choosing a Word of the Year to encourage and guide me to make the changes that I desire in my life.  I have done a variety of words through the years from play to create to flow for last year.  So I spent my New Year's Eve drinking some lovely Serena wine and choosing on my Word of 2016!

When it came to deciding on my guiding word for this year, I struggled between three different words that all felt right for a variety of reasons.  The words that I wrestled with this year were Action, Focus, and Fearless.  I decided to try out Christine Kane's Word of the Year Discovery Tool in order to help me think through my reasons for each word.  You won't believe what I found when I dug deeper into how each of these three words would effect my life.  All three of my words ended up expanding into the same ideas and changes that I want to make with very slight differences in attitude and the process in which I would achieve these changes!  Truthfully, I debated for several moments if I should just rearrange my words into a phrase and call it good enough - Focused Fearless Action!

ac·tion

/ˈakSH(ə)n/

noun

• 1. the fact or process of doing something, typically to achieve an aim (synonyms: measures, steps, activity, movement, work)
• 2. a thing done; an act (synonyms: deed, act, move, undertaking, exploit)

I felt like Action was the perfect word for the year.  I've known action was going to be my word for several months.  I have lots of projects, ideas, and stuff that I have got to get a move on in order to succeed this year!  Action would help move me towards my goals.  I knew that habits that encourage action would help me in all areas of my life.  Action would also cross-over to other areas of my life, not just art and work related, because it would help me get chores done, commitments achieved, and planning integrated into my life!  By committing to daily planning, I could determine my top 3 things that I have to get done and then through action I would work on achieving these goals and action steps in order to build upon my long-term goals for the year.  I would get more things done and stop procrastination in its tracks.

fo·cus

/ˈfōkəs/

noun

• 1. the center of interest or activity (synonyms: center, focal point, central point, center of attention, hub)
• 2. the state or quality of having or producing clear visual definition

verb

• 1. (of a person or their eyes) adapt to the prevailing level of light and become able to see clearly 
• 2. pay particular attention to

I believed that Focus was a great Word for the Year to guide me.  Focus would bring enhanced concentration on the important things that need doing every single day.  I’m trying to focus this year on really accomplishing my goals.  These goals range from developing my handmade business to expanding my YouTube, Blog, and Social Media presence.  Focus would move me towards success in batching my processes, routine creation, business development, and helping me move through my action steps with concentration on the most important items first instead of the busy work.

fear·less

/ˈfirləs/

adjective

1. lacking fear "a fearless defender of freedom" synonyms: bold, brave, courageous, intrepid, valiant

I briefly debated on Fearless.  Honestly, this was the most seredipitous of all the potential words.  I found this word in a zentangle piece that I created earlier in the year as I was flipping through my art journals.  And it made me go "Hmm..."  The reason this word felt so right was because I need to believe in what I'm doing 100%.  I need to act fearlessly and try things, experiment, and make changes when things aren’t working.  But above all of those things I have to remain fearless for the year, not allowing doubt to invade and destroy my dreams.  Being Fearless encourages taking risks daily, which doesn't allow fear to let in procrastination tendencies.  By allowing this word to guide my year, I would be braver by the end of it, and more willing to try new things, plus have new knowledge and training in new techniques from all the risk-taking throughout the year.

Know The Triggers that Stop Your Dreams

Another really helpful part of the Word of the Year Discovery Tool is the determination of your triggers that are stopping you from making these valuable changes in your life.  My three triggers are:

1. Procrastination - when something seems overwhelming, I don’t do any of it
2. Fear of Failure
3. Lack of Confidence in myself and my abilities

Basically, I get overwhelmed by everything I have to do without focusing on the most important steps and then I don’t do anything except sit on the couch and watch TV.  I'm sure I'm not the only one in the world like that right?  I struggle with the idea that anyone in the world actually cares about me, my projects, so I don’t take additional risks that would push the envelope.  I’m afraid that I will fail, even when I devote 100% of myself to something so I devote less than 10% and I still fail.

Ask Someone Close to Help with Your Word of the Year

Even after having completed the Toolkit, I couldn't decide between my three words.  Especially since, it was clear that except for some minor differences, I wanted the same end result between all three.  So I read it to my husband.  Everything that I had written!  Without telling him what the three potential words were.  Then I asked him what my word was.  The funniest part of this whole experience was that the first words out of his mouth were,

"Well, I know one of your words is Focus.  And I think that's the one you need to use this year."

And then we had an hour long discussion on exactly why that was my word.  So don't forget to let your friends or family help you if you're still stuck on a decision!  Sometimes, they know you better than you know yourself.  Other people can often see the things that we have put blinders on about or even things we are just avoiding.  And your best friends and close family are the people who will usually call you out about it!

Add New Habits to Help Embrace Your Word

So this year I'm going to try to incorporate these 5 new proactive habits and practices as a means of supporting embracing the word Focus more fully, because just choosing a word isn't enough.  Your word is not a magic pill to fix everything that is wrong in life.  Your word is simply a guiding force that you can use to bring about change, big or small, that you feel you need this year.

1. Daily Planning Sessions
2. One act of Fearless Creation Daily (more on this next week!)
3. Focusing on the top three action steps to complete my projects
4. Daily writing - tuning into myself, my feelings, and how I’m moving towards my goals
5. Prepping materials for projects in order to complete projects, but break down everything into actionable steps that can be scheduled into the day

I would love to hear what your word for the year is and what changes you are going to make to incorporate and live with your word this year!

Since the beginning of July, I have been participating in a fun challenge by Rhomany's Realm called #onebookjuly2015.  The premise of this challenge is to use one book (planner, journal, etc) to simplify and pare down to basics in how you plan, journal, art journal, or whatever else you include in your planner/journal.  I also took part in this challenge last year.


Last year this challenge completely changed the way I viewed a planner.  I really enjoyed and looked forward to playing around in my book each day (for the most part).  I actually stuck with the habit that the challenge created for almost three months, until the typical crazy retail holiday season started (all of my life seems to break down no matter what habits are in place from October to February due to work).

Now, a year later, I am returning to the challenge of #onebookjuly2015.  Some things have changed, and some things remain the same.  I am using a moleskine blank journal that I have been using since April (it was my birthday present to myself).  I have mainly been using it as a bullet journal and brain dump book.  I took Rhomany's advise and simply started with a month at a glance hand-drawn spread of July, and also a week on one page for all the weeks in July.  I included these items because I wanted them together and I didn't want to have them spread throughout my book for the month when I decided I needed them.  Plus, I use these areas of my planner to track stuff that goes on throughout the month, not only for things like appointments but also memory keeping type stuff.


So far my only issues with my #onebookjuly2015 is how mishmash messy it is.  For some reason it's driving me crazy.  I do keep an index page, but I cannot be bothered to look up where my grocery log is, for example, and instead have to flip through all 150 pages in order to find something.  I think this is why I always want a ring bound solution, but I hate having to hole punch all of the pages.  I am trying to figure out a way to create sections or color code/lifemap or something in the last 50 or so pages that are left in my book, because I think that would help a ton.  Or maybe I'll just do that in the next book.  I do like just flipping the page and starting another idea, but when I want to come back to a note or topic its a bit of a pain.  It almost makes me want to try a fauxdori with several books...maybe that would solve my issues?


My other issue is my pen choice.  I chose a sharpie pen, because I love them.  But I always break the nib.  I'm on pen number 4, because of this!  ARGH!  I wish I could find a nice fine point, permanent pen that doesn't have a metal tip, because I either smoosh it or break it.  Frustrating.


Finally, I need someone to just kick me in the butt and make me work in my journal.  I have had such a horrible time getting back into the habit of sitting down with it daily, or even looking at it daily!  I do really enjoy writing daily, but ever since I started the Artist's Way in November and fell off the wagon back in February, I simply haven't been able to make myself write with any kind of routine or habit.  It actually creates bitterness and anger just to think I have to write today.  Not sure why...but yeah.  That's definitely something I need to continue to work on and figure out!


I have also been using watercolor here and there in my journal.  I love the little pops of color and being able to just paint and play around.  It encourages me to doodle and create sections on my page, like borders and frames.  I haven't done too much with the watercolor, just whenever I start to get bored with all the black pen!



Another thing I have really enjoyed this time around has been #letteritjuly.  I have been able to get some artsy time just playing around with lettering and my watercolors through this fun Instagram challenge.

I do hope you've enjoyed this little peak into my journal for July.  I have definitely learned some new things about myself and how I work during this year's challenge.  Hopefully, I will be able to take these lessons and continue to practice and tweak them as the year progresses.  I have also recorded a flip through of my book so be sure to check that out too!

The first challenge create a layout - easy!

The Stash Bash Challenge

Two weeks ago (Sept. 17 - 21) I participated in the Stash Bash challenge hosted by Simple Scrapper (Jennifer Wilson).  Stash Bash is all about organizing, purging, and then using your scrapbooking products.  This class could not have come at a better time for me, because I am in a fullblown organizing mode.  I want to get my computers in order and the photos on them backed up to CDs and printed!  I'm also trying to get our space a bit more 1 year old friendly (which means the stuff that we've just moved up as she's grown needs to be put somewhere more secure where Momma can still use it!).  So with all of this in mind, I decided Stash Bash was for me!

My Scrapbooking Spaces

My bedroom space before Stash Bash

I have three spaces that I consider my "scrapbooking area".  There is my desk in our bedroom, which I am trying to decide if it will be my computer area (and GTD/planning area) or a video recording area (to replace the current one that I struggle to use).  There is a workstation in the living room that I use to stand and create the vast majority of my scrapbooking layouts.  This area quickly piles up, because I'm often working on stuff here while my daughter is awake (so I have to chase her around frequently).  There is also a storage cabinet in this area that I use to store my paper, stickers, and new purchases.  Finally, I have a recording area shoved into a little corner of a storage closet.  The lighting is not the greatest and I have very little room to maneuver.  In an attempt to win a free spot in Stash Bash, I put together a pre-Stash Bash video tour of my current creative spaces. And they were a hot, hot, hot mess!  I haven't been able to scrapbook or do videos or anything really creative in months!!

Digital Photo Organization

This is a look at my folder structure before Stash Bash

I really wanted to focus on my computer and digital photos for this challenge.  My folder structures were a hot mess, as I just tend to dump everything into my downloads folders.  The only thing that I try to keep organized is my photos, especially since I started Project Life.  So I have year and week folders for all of my photos for the last two years.  There are four years worth of photos on the computer that I decided to work on, so 2011 and 2012 are not organized by weeks.  I don't have very many photos from these years, because I wasn't very good about getting the photos off my phone back then!  Through Stash Bash, I was able to delete a ton off the computer that I no longer needed, as well as cleaning up my folder structure.  I also separated out blog stuff and, using an idea of GTD, created folders for my current resumes and current projects with an ! in the front.  The special character (!) keeps it at the top for me, which makes it easier to keep track of these things.

This is one from one of the challenges where I deleted 1.26 GB from just my Downloads folder!

I also started to work on tagging my photos in iPhoto to make them easier to find when I am looking for specific stories or photos.  This would have been awesome to have done before I started the process of printing photos for Atty's baby book.  I also think it will be nice for Christmas gifts to have a better way to find photos quickly.  Now I just need to continue tagging my (3000+!!) photos with the new tagging structure that I decided on.

A glimpse at my current tagging structure.  Separated into categories (year/season/people/holidays/location/other photos)

Creating Layouts

Another challenge that I enjoyed working on was the "Bake Sale", where you make pagekits for 5 layouts in a certain amount of time.  I decided to work on some of the Easter photos that I have been procrastinating on and I love how these layouts turned out.  What I love even more is that these layouts are finally done.  I have been stuck on Easter photos and trying to decide what to do with them for almost 5 months!  5 Months and I haven't been able to move past these darn photos!
*Details under each photo - collage of kit then layout final

1st Easter

 For 1st Easter, I used some dylusion pink and Heidi Swapp pink sprays to give it a soft, shimmery effect on the doilie.  Plus I used a really old paper pieced flower basket from my stash and that cute little stick girl stickers from ages ago!

Dyeing Easter Eggs (left)

This page uses products that I specifically bought to scrap these Easter photos.  I thought this watercolor wash paper worked perfectly for the process of dyeing eggs, and I also used a diagonal of clear sparkley buttons to draw your to the photos.  I also fussy cut some Easter eggs from a piece of patterned paper that I used for some accents on these two pages.

Dyeing Easter Eggs (right)

I did most of my journaling on this side of the spread to tell about Atty's first experience with dyeing Easter eggs.  I also used a really, really old shaker egg that I received in a swap years and years ago.

Left side of "Decorating Lil Monsters"

For this set of layouts I had some very large photos that I wanted to really focus on, so I kept the embellishments very simple.  I used another one of those stick figures from ages past, as well as some really old egg stickers.

Right side of "Decorating Lil Monsters"

For this layout I really just played with layering pattern paper and border stickers.  I finished using up that sheet of old egg stickers and lots of fun little rhinestone gems.

Also during Stash Bash I was able to finally put away my stack of completed layouts - 73 of them!!  Most of these layouts were from Layout a Day in May.  Some of them needed journaling and such done on them, but for right now, I just decided to put them in the album.  With LOAD starting Oct 1st (!!!), I can't have this huge stack of layouts just hanging out!

Tickets, Tickets, I want Tickets!

I loved this experience.  Stash Bash was awesome, the community was awesome, and the challenges and format of the challenge worked wonderfully.  I wish I would have been more motivated to tackle some of the details of my spaces, but I decided to put most of my effort into the computer, photos, and digital realm.  I would highly recommend Stash Bash to anyone.  And, I think I might make a ticket bucket to continue with the incentive of the tickets for prizes.  I earned 30 tickets through this process, and barely dented my stash or organizing projects that I would like to continue.  Maybe 50 tickets and I get to go buy some new scrapbooking supplies or a class or something....I'm still debating on what kind of incentive would work for me!  I'd love to heard any thoughts you may have on my progress, I'm still pretty amazed at how much I was able to accomplish in 5 days.

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19

Day 20

Day 21

For this ICAD week, I wanted to keep it really simple and just do a bit of play.  I am loving the creation process of doing these cards every day, and it has been making my project life spreads come together so easy! So that's how this project is going for me so far! Check out ICAD Week One and ICAD Week Two for more of my cards. And check back next week for the fourth installment!

I want to show you my cards for the 2014 Index-Card-A-Day (ICAD) Challenge hosted by Daisy Yellow.

The challenge is basically to decorate and play with 4x6 index cards, however you desire. I am using my cards this year in my Project Life spreads for my scrapbooking albums (focusing mainly on April and May of 2014, since I am behind).

For more information on the challenge check out Daisy Yellow's ICAD section.

This week's theme is collage.  This is a picture of some of my works in progress for this week.

Day Eight

Day Nine

Day Eleven

Day Twelve

Day Thirteen

Day Fourteen

I want to show you my cards for the 2014 Index-Card-A-Day (ICAD) Challenge hosted by Daisy Yellow.

The challenge is basically to decorate and play with 4x6 index cards, however you desire. I am using my cards this year in my Project Life spreads for my scrapbooking albums (focusing mainly on April and May of 2014, since I am behind).

For more information on the challenge check out Daisy Yellow's ICAD section.

The weekly theme this week is text.  So I wanted to focus on creating some filler cards and weekly title cards.  ICAD day one prep. I used watercolor to create a rainbow effect (wet on wet). I also tried one with some number stickers as a mask. I love the bottom two.

Day One -

Todays prompt was prism, which remained me of rainbows.  I used watercolor wet in wet for background and used 1 & 6 stickers as a mask. Then using some thickers I put Apr and the brackets. I outlined the numbers with a stabilo blue marker as well as adding an outline for the whole card.

Day Two

I created a rainbow effect using watercolor wet in wet and then cut my quotes into stickers.  Quote reads " magic exists.  Who can doubt it when there are rainbows and wildflowers, the music of the wind and the silence of the stars? Anyone who has loved has been touched by magic.  It is such a simple and such an extraordinary part of the lives we live - Nora Roberts

Day Three

I used the sew easy to do my stitching. Background is another watercolor wet in wet creation. I outlined the word hello with my blue stabilo marker and then used a dark grey to add a shadow to the letters. I went back in and added hatching with a light grey inside the letters and as a big border around the card. Then I added letter stickers from jillibean soup (gumbo green) and numbers from October afternoon daily flash (white) to create my project life card.

Day Four

This is another watercolor wet in wet background. But I played with a fun process I've wanted to try for awhile. I stamped this puzzle stamp by hampton arts stamps (2002) and cut out a selection of pieces.

Then I added an outline of black puffy paint (I think its tulip brand). I also used it for the title (pieces of the week). I added some dots with a pink puffy paint to create faux enamel dots. Once dry (I let it dry overnight) I went back in and added watercolor inside the puzzle pieces. I also added my week dates at the bottom using thickers. 

I absolutely love how this one turned out.  I will definitely be continuing to experiment with the puffy paint throughout the month!

Day Five -

Day Six -

Day Seven -