I am sooooooo excited for tomorrow! December 1st means one thing ... the start of Journal Your Christmas with Shimelle!
I'm all ready this year. I have my numbers ready as I've already shared:
And now I've completed my album cover:
I've got all my Xmas stash in a basket and I'm ready to go! Eeeeeek!
To my great excitement my "Christmas in a Box" kit arrived from Shimelle this week. It was packed full of goodies and I just couldn't wait to start preparing my album!!
This year I am using a 6x8 D ring binder from Simple Stories and a selection of the page protectors that go with it. I love the grungy, vintage look of the Simple Stories Christmas collections and had some leftovers from last years kit. To these I added Shimelle's kit and some new Simple Stories elements. The overall look of my album this year will be muted reds and greens with the occasional bit of pink and blue. There will be Kraft card stock, but there will also be the odd burst of a more vibrant shade of those colours to make it still feel exciting. I want it to match but not in an OCD way!!!! I like texture and vibrancy and really don't like just using one collection. I like to mix it up a bit!
Anyways, today I did my date labels for the album.
These numbers are good to go. I may add additional embellishment like gems etc depends on now I am feeling each day and how they fit with the page.
These are made using Red labels from Jenni Bowlin, Countdown stickers from Simple Stories' "Handmade Holiday" collection and American Crafts seasonal ribbon.
This evening I have started cutting up papers to go in my divided page protectors. These are also from the "Handmade Holiday" collection by Simple Stories. I've inked the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink. These lovely elements are double sided. I may not use them all, but I wanted to go ahead and cut them out and ink them to save some time:
I like to be extra organised for JYC. I've learned in the past that I fall behind unless my kit is all to hand and easy to get at. So this evening I am going to start that and get it in a basket ready to come out on December 1st!
I don't like to prepare my pages too much in advance as I really like to create something that matches my mood on the day, so other than the numbers and journalling elements I won't prepare any more now... other than pawing over my lovely stash as I lovingly organise it of course!!!
This year has been an amazing year for me! From October last year onwards I was in a very dark place and feeling very down and lost. Slowly I have re-found myself and feel strong once again. I feel like Me again! And what is one outcome of this?? Halloween decor!!!!!
Last year I didn't decorate, which is just ludicrous for me as All Hallows is so special to me.
It is Samhain, the Celtic new year and that is the spiritual Path I follow, so of course it's special to me!
I know pumpkins aren't a tradition Samhain thing, but they are part of our Halloween culture (and anyway, they just look to damn great when carved not to include them!!!)
Here are some snapshots of my day (taken with Hipstamatic app on my iPhone, the film is 'Float' and the lens 'Roboto Glitter'. It is my fave spooky look!) I can't wait to scrapbook these!!!!
Well, in the end I whacked the heating on, drank lots of water and surgically attached my nose to a box of tissues so I could scrap!
I'm glad I did as I made two layouts and will move on to the next prompts today. The three layouts I used actually did use the B side as the main side so I unwittingly followed prompt 2 too!!!
Here are my pages:
Despite finishing work at 2pm today I haven't done a lot with my afternoon yet. I have a bit of a cold coming and feel all run down and drained :0(
I've spent some time curled up under a blanket with my cat reading blogs. I've now downloaded prompt 2 of Shimelle's Scrapbook Remix class. Before I think about the though, I want to make a list of things I want to do from prompt one (using the Garden Variety collection as a starting point):
* create a page using 2 colours
* create a page using 3 colours
* create a page using lots of colours
Not sure how much of this I'll get done today!
Before I get out from my cosy blanket nest I'm going to read prompt 2 and add the to do list from there here too!
Prompt 2 is great- B sides!
* recreate a page of my own I love using B sides
Other suggestions include the use of washi tape, stamps and mixing collections by the same designer. I just wish I had enough energy to scrap :0(
Ok, so I'm in my craft room and I have prompt one from Shimelle I've decided to use the "Garden Variety" crafting kit from Cosmo Cricket. Shimelle is using "Sunshine and Happiness" by Bella Blvd but I don't have that collection. Her tip is to use something sunshiny to follow along with this prompt and this set from Cosmo is certainly bright and cheery!!
I have had this crafting kit for a few years and have made quite a few ages from it. That said, there are still quite a few full sheets and lots of scraps left so here I go...
And here is the finished page! A disaster with a blunt cutter blade lead to the happy accident of deciding to distress the edges of all the papers. I like the look! It's something I used to do a lot but haven't used this style for a while.
... that I can achieve the things I plan if I make sure I stay clear and focussed on the outcome.
... that I love how art makes me feel!
... that I can do paint over art journaling pages:
... that I am a strong woman. I knew this already, but it is good to have a reminder!
... that I am a RED on the Insights profile,
... that I admire the Head of our Service even more than I thought
... that when I feel completely exhausted and broken, if I find a few minutes for creative time, I will feel refreshed once again.
... that you can't win every battle and that early nights are important when your body tells you so.
... that art should not be rushed
... that yoga makes me feel better even when I'm under the weather
... that I have let go, I am healing!
... that keeping my home clean and tidy is good for me on so many levels! It is not a chore!
... that fast food makes me feel yucky!
... that a lazy day with Keiron is the best kind of day there is!
... to listen to my body more often! It is the House of my Soul and I should love and respect it.
... that I am truly blessed with the life that I have and the wonderful people I share it with xxx
... to accept my limitations with honesty and I will save myself becoming frustrated!
... that being organised really does help me to feel more relaxed and in control! It is worth the time it takes to organise myself!
... that it is important to understand my own values and to live by them!
... that I really should aim to be a bit less impatient! I am such an enthusiastic person, keen to do lots. And this is why I often feel overwhelmed and have too much to do!
...that only I can make myself let go! Today reinforced my lesson from the 4th! My Truth bomb email also reinforced it!! A powerful message and an important lesson I have yet to learn and apply to my life!
Here are my first flower doodles for Art School! I had a real issue over starting them!! Silly how much pressure I put on myself!! I got lots of support from the ladies on the class though and started with their comments in my mind! They aren't perfect, but then who is!
...not to talk myself into a bad day! Positive thinking and speaking really can make a difference to how you experience and day! Think before you speak, and think in a positive way!
...that self reflection is essential if I want to develop and grow. And essential to self reflection is honesty!
That old habits are hard to break and new habits hard to make! But that's all the more reason to work at creating new and beneficial habits for myself!
1. That if something doesn't work quite right, don't just accept it, but look at how you can improve it.
2. That people are entitled to their opinions, even if I don't agree with them!
3. That grazing on nuts and dried fruit really will help my energy levels at work.
4. That although some people will never appreciate me, others always will.
Lots of lessons today! Some epiphanies, some reinforcements of current beliefs. Tiring, tiring day, but worth it for this...and for tomorrow off!!!
... that if you enjoy your day, really take your time, then you will be rewarded! Time can slow down if you do. With a true heart and clear and open mind, you can enjoy your day even more, with purity and clarity of experience.
Yippie!!! Brave Girl Art school starts today and I've been so excited about it! Can't wait to see what we learn! Pop over to the Brave Girls website to find out more and join in the fun!!
I love Shimelle's Starting Points. Her latest just fit the scraps I had left from my April GoGo kit so I created this:
I stuck quite closely to Shimelle's final page as I wanted to try scrapping a portrait and landscape photo on the same page (which I hardly ever do). I like the page so may try it more often!
I am completely loving having an indoor craft room! I did love my shed, but now everything is just THERE and I can scrap after dinner and in my PJs if I want to!!!
Here are some pics of my latest creations!
I've also been enjoying some sketching practice and have done the first face I'm actually happy with!!
And now I'm off on the train to visit my best friend in Cilgerran for the week. Hopefully that will involve lots of giggles and lots of photos for me to scrap when I get back!!
Over at the Shutter Sisters website they have a One Word Project forum where they pick a word for the month and invite people to share photos inspired by the word of the month.
This month the word is DISCOVERY...
I took this photo of my Flame of Avalon candle the other night for my brief Blossoming meditation. I find I can discover a lot about myself and how I am feeling just by gazing into a candle flame!
Work on the extension is almost complete. Mom moves in furniture over this weekend and then she should be living in there from Monday.
Currently me, K, and mom are squished in teeny bungalow with all of our furniture.
I cant wait to have my own home again...and my mom safe and happy 'next door'.
So I won't be blogging until this is all sorted. Then my life (which has been on hold for a few years) can start to blossom again. Yay!
See you soon
X
Challenge 16 was to use your scraps that were left over from the crop weekend! As I haven't touched my craft space since last weekend (oh the shame!), this was easy for me!
Another Scotland photo! This is a page I could keep adding bits to! That's the beauty of using scraps I guess!!
I thought I'd submit to page for Shimelle's crop as I started it last weekend but didn't finish it.
Challenge 12 was to scrap one photo twice.
I didnt realise Kei was snapping this photo of me and I love it!!
It's my day off, and I have read the next session of My Quest this morning. It is session 8 and is focussed on LIMINALITY...moments of transition, of nothingness and yet totality.
I have been sat here with Saffy on my lap doing NOTHING. Intentionally waiting but not knowing what it is I'm waiting for. I realised that cats do this a lot. They sit, completely aware of everything going on around them, waiting... waiting for the next thing to occur.
From this my mind wandered to my photos as I suddenly was so happy with the clarity of thought I had just had that I wanted to take a photo! I realised that I take photos when I have had a moment of clarity, or am experiencing a moment of joy. I take photos to document a deep thought or story. And then...what do I do with the photos? I scrapbook them. But generally by the time I scrapbook them the TRUE story behind the picture, the clarity, the joy, is lost or diluted. Forgotten.
This photo I took quickly on my phone after the really deep, meaningful thoughts i have had today...when I scrapbook it...it will probably be about how I love to curl up with my kitty! All depth, all clarity will be lost. UNLESS I REMEMBER! So I have decided that when I DO have moments like this, when I DO take a photo that represents some moment of deep reflection, that I will blog. I will add the photo, I will write about my moment of clarity, joy, sorrow even, and I will tag it I will scrapbook this . Then when I do scrapbook that photo, it will be to tell a story that is much deeper, much more honest, and frankly much more interesting and worthy of remembering in years to come!
This challenge is to use two contrasting patterns one using 1/3 of the page and the other using 2/3 of the page.
Here is my page:
