Welcome to this blog hop where participants in One Little Word are showing our OLW projects. One Little Word is a class and concept by Ali Edwards (read more about it here, if you are not already familiar with it) and I am doing this for the first time.
My Word
My word for 2013 is SHINE! That word is certainly reflecting (hahah) who I am. I love glitter and bling on my pages (and sometimes on myself). I can stare for hours at the moon and the stars in the night sky. And this is the year when my goal is to be the best that I can be and to do my very best in every endeavor.
There is a prompt from Ali every month. For January, the challenge was to decide 12 different ways to work with our words. One intention or action for every month of the year. Well, I am truly useless at following recipes and prompts. I know that if I decide on 12 actions, I will have changed my mind completely by March. So instead, I made a front page for OLW (above) with a lot of synonyms on it, and then the January page (below) with the theme: Shine On Me!
January Insights
Shine On Me is a prayer for the strength to cope with my heavy workload this year. I have my studies, my scrapping and my blog and my beloved Scrappypedia project. But I also want some quality time to spend with my husband, our cats and our friends.
I'm not usually a super efficient and productive person but what I have accomplished in January is amazing. I have learned to simplify, to not overdo or overthink things and to settle for 'good enough' rather than 'perfection'. And the end result has turned out better than when I wouldn't let go of a task until it was 'perfect'. Amazing, huh?
The Pages
I used the Going For Gold Kit from Scrap Stash Kit Club. It's a new monthly kit club where everything you use come from your own stash! I doesn't get any cheaper than that. lol! By the way, the February Sneak Peek is up today. :)
For the front page above, I used plenty of Studio Calico wood veneer misted with Gold Lame Color Shine from Heidi Swapp. The alpha stickers and thickers are from Dear Lizzy's 5th & Frolic, as is the golden polka dot vellum. Using only white and gold turned out to be a very elegant look. I love it!
For the January page below, I used papers from Studio Calico, October Afternoon and Webster's Pages. Brads, glittertape and alphas from American Crafts. Tinsel and letters from Pink Paislee, and some letters from Creative Imaginations.
For the journaling, I made two vellum "booklets", closed by a brad. One for Work (about my putting in all those hours of work, 16 hours a day sometimes) and one for Play (rekindling my great love for ballet, spending quality time with family members on our trip to Barcelona, having a glass of champagne - the cheap kind that still makes your spirit go all happy and bubbly - with dear friends more often than usual).
Despite the vellum being transparent, the journaling stays hidden in a way, because the writing is inside and one side covers the other.
For me, this January has been super intense and stuffed with tasks and events, but it has still been very enjoyable. OLW has helped me to stay focused and get more out of every day than I would have if I didn't have the word SHINE as a guiding beacon on my life journey. I am very thankful for that.
Now it's time for you to hop along to visit all the talented ladies in this blog hop. Next stop is Tricia!
Here's the complete list of participating blogs:
Lee <----- The wonderful organizer of this hop!
Me <-------- You are here!
Love all that gold! Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: orange gearle | 02/01/2013 at 02:03 PM
I love this! So pretty!
Posted by: Jacqueline | 02/01/2013 at 03:17 PM
Look at all that glitter! Love it.
Posted by: Marya | 02/01/2013 at 03:25 PM
Oooooh, sparkly. LOVE IT! I'm looking forward to seeing how your word works in your year. Thanks for joining in the hop :)
Posted by: Lee Currie | 02/01/2013 at 03:46 PM
I love the gold!! So perfect for your word.
Posted by: Molly | 02/01/2013 at 05:01 PM
Love your cards! They are so pretty! Can't wait to see what you create next!
Posted by: Tricia | 02/01/2013 at 06:13 PM
Such beautiful vibrant cards! Lovely!
Posted by: Ruth | 02/01/2013 at 09:18 PM
Shiny sparkly things are a girls best friend - love your little cards and looking forward to sharing your journey with you next month
Posted by: Nikki | 02/01/2013 at 11:48 PM
Oh so pretty - I like the vellum booklets, always like folded bits in bigger bits. Glad it has helped you stay focused (my word last year) and yep good enough is such a blessing unlike perfect which can be used against us.
Your stash busting kit is pretty too!
Posted by: Missus Wookie | 02/01/2013 at 11:49 PM
Bring on the shine! I love all your shimmery, sparkly, glittery goodness.
Posted by: melanie | 02/02/2013 at 02:03 AM
What a descriptive word! I love it. You're already having such fun with it.
Posted by: Karen DiPasquale | 02/02/2013 at 03:27 AM
I loved your word and am amazed to see all these wonderful activities you are doing.
Posted by: Nupur | 02/02/2013 at 11:04 AM
LOVE the textures of your project!! AMAZING!! Looking forward to following you this year!!
Posted by: Janet Carr | 02/02/2013 at 05:51 PM
Love your title page with all that gold - even with the butterflies it looks like Christmas!
Posted by: Cheri | 02/04/2013 at 07:26 PM
Can I just say that I am in love with all things scrapbooking and paper and glitter and stamps TOO??? I love your word, of course, and your cards, but I am so happy you're on this blog hop so I got to your site and now I have so much to explore here! Yay! Best of luck shining all year... I don't think it'll be a stretch for you because you clearly already do shine.
Posted by: Naomi | 02/05/2013 at 05:05 PM
Great word and LOVELY title pages! Can't resist sparkles! :)
Posted by: Sarah Stäbler | 02/05/2013 at 07:05 PM