Sunshine & Creativity

One Little Word – February Prompt (OLW Blog Hop)

I just love that February was all about pictures. One of my cameras goes with me everywhere, even if it is just the one on my phone. When I was looking through my pictures to pick out the ones I wanted to use for this prompt, I noticed something. Joy, smiles, things I love. There seems to be an extra emphasis on people in my photos right now. I am enjoying being with my friends and family. I am enjoying just living our day to day life.

For this month I picked out the 10 pictures that I think captured how I used my word in February. There are smiles and funny faces, goofiness and relaxation. I really think that even amid all of the craziness of work and planning the wedding and starting to think about house hunting, I did a good job of stepping back and enjoying the little things, grabbing onto the day to day. If I’m being honest I usually hate the month of February. It’s cold and gray and even though it is the shortest month of the year it always feels like the longest. I didn’t feel that way this year. That may partially be because the weather was so bizarrely different than normal, but I think it was also because I chose to be happy. I chose to work through the little annoying things and come out on the other side with a smile. Trust me, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses, but life never is. Like I say in my journaling below…I’m enjoying life as it comes with all its little ups and downs along the way.

Here are the two pages I am using for my February Prompt:

Page 2

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I’m going to try to update a little more regularly this month. Right now, the next stop on your journey is Rebekah’s blog ( http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/ ). Happy Hopping!

Here is a list of all the participants in case you get lost along the way:

Margie http://xnomads.typepad.com

Melissa S http://blog.mshanhun.com

Sharyn http://LaVieEnChic.com

Kimberlee http://scrapsandsass.blogspot.com

Jill http://jillconyers.com/

Cheri http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com

Cindy www.cynthiacrysdale.com

Jenn www.studiojenn.blogspot.com

Monica http://scrapinspired.com/

Catherine http://myview-catherine.blogspot.com/

Naomi http://poeticaperture.com/

Jamie jmpgirl.blogspot.com

Coley www.coleybelle.blogspot.com

Melissa C www.smudgetime.com

Donna http://holimess.blogspot.com/

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

Veronica www.veronicanorris.typepad.com

Heidi D http://mommy.heidimdavis.com/

Lisa http://backtoallen.com/category/one-little-word/

Nikki www.inkyart.com.au

Devon http://www.youhadmeatneurotic.com

Amanda http://scrappnbee.blogspot.com

Brooklyn www.everysnapshot.com

Kristina http://hrinspirationfromthe403.blogspot.com/

Jen R http://jenritchie.com

Kara http://iwannabemewhenigrowup.blogspot.com

Eydie www.whatwecreate.net

Ruth http://suburbansahm.blogspot.com

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

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

Cindy http://seriousplay.typepad.com

Kaylea http://www.myscrappylife.com

Dawn G www.sunshineandcreativity.com

Rebekah http://istampscrapcraft.blogspot.com/

Becky www.becky-handforth.blogspot.com

Orange Gearle orangegearle.blogspot.com

Katrina www.katrinasimeck.com

Jo http://www.mrsbeee.blogspot.com

Nicky Www.seejanebake.blogspot.com

Beth www.thesingularlyordinary.blogspot.com

Kelly http://mindingmynest.com

Tere http://terecontodomicorazon.blogspot.com/

One Little Word – January Prompt (OLW Blog Hop)

So my year is going to be a little crazy. Pete and I are getting married in May. We’re going to Hawaii for a two week honeymoon. We’re planning to buy a house basically right after we get back this summer. Then comes the fixing up the house, moving to the suburbs, settling into a whole new routine…and anything else that may happen that we don’t really know about yet. I decided that I wanted to pick a word for this year to help me focus through the craziness. I’ve never done it before so I wasn’t really sure what to do with the word once I picked it, but I wanted to try. Enter Ali Edwards’ One Little Word class at Big Picture Classes (see the little blog banner on the side for a link to the site). I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Ali Edwards’ work, her process, her vision. I’ve followed her for years through magazines and blogs. She did this class last year on BPC’s website and I decided I was going to sign up this year to help me on my journey with my word.

Picking a word was sort of a challenge for me. With all the things I knew we had ahead of us I was tempted to use calm or simplify or peace but those didn’t really get to what I wanted. After a few weeks of wrestling with words, it hit me. I wanted to ENJOY this year. I wanted to make sure I enjoyed every crazy, busy moment. I didn’t want to rush through it and look back and think “Wow, I did all that.” but not feel like it was fun and exciting. When things get crazy and stressful sometimes it is hard to remember why you are doing them in the first place. With all these big important amazing things happening in our lives this year I didn’t want that to happen to me. So ENJOY is my word for 2012.

How am I doing so far? I actually feel like having the word in my mind has helped me already. When I get a little bit crazy or stressed it kind of pops up in my head and makes me step back, take a deep breath and look at things again. I do feel like I am enjoying life more, letting the little things go, having fun with day to day life. I know its only one month into the year, but I am really glad I chose to do this. I also loved working on the January prompts from the OLW class. It helped me really figure out what I wanted to get out of my word this year.

Here are some pictures of my title page and January prompts:

Title Page

January Prompt

I’m looking forward to continuing my journey with my word, Enjoy and I’m very proud of how I have been able to use it in my daily life so far. I can’t wait to start on my February prompt!!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. As you might have guessed from the title of my post, I’m participating in the One Little Word blog hop. The next blog on the list is Katrina ( www.katrinasimeck.com). I’ve also included a complete list of all of the blogs at the end of my post in case you get lost along the way. Happy hopping!

ONE LITTLE WORD Feb 1, 2012 Blog Hop

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

Veronica http://www.veronicanorris.typepad.com

Cate www.lifebehindthepurpledoor.com

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

Week 4 – 52 Captures Challenge

From a High Angle

This week I knew exactly where I wanted to be when I took my photo. It was just a question of getting the right light and being in the right place at the right time. So here it is…an early morning shot of one of my favorite streets. For some reason I just love the light in this photograph. Actually most everything about this picture makes me smile.

Week 3 – 52 Captures Challenge

Something Red

I carried my little point and shoot around all week last week to try to find something red that I wanted to photograph. Maybe it’s because it’s winter and everything just feels so grey, but I could not find anything red that interested me. And then it came to me…I wanted red to mean warm. What’s warmer than soft fuzzy socks and a fire? So I put my fuzzy red socks on, asked Pete to make us a fire and plopped myself down in front of the fireplace. I experimented with angles and placement of my feet and just started taking pictures. I ended up putting my feet on top of a couple of stacked throw pillows and working my abs to hold myself in exactly the right spot to get this shot. AND I LOVE IT!!! It feels warm and red and perfect for what I wanted.

Week 2 – 52 Captures Challenge

Clouds

The theme for week 2 of the 52 captures challenge is clouds. This week the weather did not cooperate with my theme. The beginning of the week it was beautiful and warm and 100% completely sunny. Then overnight on Weds the clouds rolled in. So we had completely grey skies followed by lots of snow followed by more completely grey skies. That made it really difficult for me to catch a picture that wasn’t so dismal that it was depressing. However I do have some beautiful pictures of snow covered trees and streets and sidewalks Sadly that wasn’t the challenge.

I took several different pictures to try to find something I liked. I took them all with my point and shoot because the sun is still sleeping when I leave for work right now and back in bed already when I get home. I just couldn’t justify carrying my Nikon with me on my commute. I settled on the one above. I kind of like how thee pop of color from the street lights is in contrast with the grey line of the clouds at the top of the picture. Plus I look down at this view every morning as I am waiting for the train in to work. There’s something about this picture that just feels like home…

Project Life – Title Page

My hope for the year is to post our Project Life Pages every Monday. Those pages will be documenting the Monday to Sunday of the previous week. I’ve decided I don’t want to break up the weekends, so our week will start on Monday. As you might be noticing today is Tuesday, January 10. Let’s just say I’m not hitting my target for the first week. But that’s ok. I am just getting started and learning how I want to do this, what my process is and how long it is going to take me each week.

So baby steps…today I finished our title page. It’s pretty simple. I used the Cobalt kit’s title page cards right out of the box, though I did move them around a bit and throw in an Ali Edwards brush with a chipboard arrow. I also wrote in a quote that I love from one of the Inspiration Peak emails I receive on a regular basis. The Ali Edwards brush is from her digital kit Hello Life Brushes and Stamps. The naked chipboard arrow was just something I had in my closet of supplies. I inked the arrow with a ColorBox chalk ink, I’m honestly not sure of the color. I used a navy Zig Writer journaling marker to add the writing to the cards (0.5mm).

So here it is, enjoy! (And I need to learn how to take better pictures of the pages…another goal for the year)

Week 1 – 52 Captures Challenge

Self Portrait

So the first prompt in the 52 Captures Challenge is self-portrait. I picked up the pretty Nikon D3100 that my fiance gave me for Christmas in 2010, took the hanging full length mirror off the closet door in the guest bedroom and walked around looking for a place to take my picture. I settled on a spot in the hallway and sat on the floor. I then proceeded to take 104 pictures. Yes, you read that right – 104. Now to be fair to myself, I’ve never really taken my picture in a mirror before so it took me a while to get the hang of it. That was probably about 35 pictures. After I learned my science lesson for the day (the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of refraction) I was able to get my whole head into the shot every time. After that I just kept moving the camera up and down to get to the angle I wanted. I am HYPER-critical of myself and I don’t usually enjoy the way I look in pictures. Even when I was looking through all of those pictures I still had a really hard time picking out one I was comfortable putting out there for everyone to see. I’ve got to let that go. Baby steps…

This is one of the two pictures I ended up being happy with at the end of the day. So here it is…the picture for week 1. 51 more to go

Hello Interweb World :)

This year I’ve decided to set myself a few goals. I believe I’ll be a happier person if I can make creativity a bigger part of my life so all of these goals have a creative aspect. Here they are in no certain order:

1) 52 Captures Challenge – This is a 52 week photo challenge that has a prompt for each week. I’m doing it with a group of people on Facebook. A friend from college posted a link to it on her page and I was intrigued. I’m planning to post my picture here each week. They are “due” on Fridays, so I’ll be putting one up each Friday. (Though the first one will be a bit late since I am just getting my blog up and running today.)

2) One Little Word – I decided to take this class this year. It’s an online class on BigPictureClasses.com that is taught by Ali Edwards. I have admired Ali Edwards’ work for years now and am excited to be taking this journey with her and the other people in the class. I’ll tell you more about my word and the class in my first “One Little Word” post.

3) Project Life – I’ve been thinking about this one for a while. I am usually a 12 x 12 paper scrapbooker. I love making 12 xx 12 pages, but for me they take a lot of time and it’s very hard to just sit down and get day to day things scrapped. It’s very important to me to take pictures and document daily life. I’ve decided to use Project Life to do this. I’m hoping to do it on a weekly basis and will post each week here on my blog. My goal is to post every Monday.

So really the reason I set up my blog to begin with is to keep myself accountable to my goals. I know I won’t be perfect and I may not get everything posted exactly when I want to, and that’s ok. I’m just going to try my best to get as close as possible. Thanks for taking this journey with me!

Dawn

Sunshine & Creativity

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