HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
December 31, 2015
May 2016 bring you joy, love and lots of crafty fun!!
I can't wait to share with you all that I have planned for this coming year! Let's have fun together :D
May 2016 bring you joy, love and lots of crafty fun!!
I can't wait to share with you all that I have planned for this coming year! Let's have fun together :D
Whether you made the NAUGHTY list...
or the NICE list...
We wish you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS from our family to yours!
I've been following along with Ali Edwards for many years now, as she guides people to choose a word for the year. This word will be an inspiration, motivation and bright spot that sums up what we want the coming year to bring us.
My word this year was DO. And I 'did'! I probably took the word a little too seriously because I DID a lot in 2015! And being reminded of my word 'DO' kept me motivated and energised to keep going and to keep DOing.
In 2016, I chose TREASURE.
I hummed and hawed and had a short list that contained words like cherish and delight, but I like TREASURE because it has a lot more in it that rang true for me. I chose this theme of words because I realised how fleeting my geeklings' childhood is. I really want to try and slow down, to enjoy and really relish in this wonderful time with them while they are small. TREASURE is a great word, because it's a noun and a verb, both meaning a variety of things. Plus, I LOVE the pirate feel of it. So I can totally bring it in to my work life as well.
This is what Ali has to say to newcomers to One Little Word about choosing a word:
Is this your first time hearing about One Little Word®? The premise is simple - choose a word to invite into your life for the coming year. You live with it. You let it speak to you. You might even follow where it leads. There are so many possibilities and no right or wrong way to approach the adventure. Sometimes words have come to me out of the blue and other years I've gone looking for what it was I most wanted to bring into my life. -Ali Edwards
This year was pretty easy for me to choose a word, I knew I wanted to cherish my geeklings more and really connect with them, so it was a quick hunt to find the right word that felt right to me :D
Two of my very talented friends, Richelle from theredscorpio.com and Olivia from randomolive.com and look what they made me.
Richelle turned Olive's brush lettering into a necklace! More info on these coming soon!
Have you done One Little Word before? What is your word for 2016? Please share in the comments what you want your word to do for you next year :D
There is something so wonderful about handwriting.
A simple handwritten note has become such a sweet, but rare, treat in this age of emails, instagram and snapchat. As Christmas cards start arriving in my mailbox, I'm surprised that I can recognise the handwriting before I check the return address. It's important to treasure these notes we get and we all should make an effort to write more notes and letters.
Handwriting intrigues me. I love writing things by hand and I love the look of handwriting - neat and small, large and loopy, messy or neat, doctor-style illegiable. I love it all. There's a reason I use this font for my blog titles. Some people hate their own handwriting. If you don't like your handwriting, I guarantee there is someone that loves it, because they love you and it's a part of who you are. :D
People tell me they like my handwriting and they would write more if they had handwriting like me. Well, handwriting is like anything else, it gets better with practice. I write everyday. I prefer writing to typing, so I do it a lot. I hand wrote the draft to this blog post actually ;) So if you'd like to improve your handwriting, it's totally doable, you just need time and practice. I'm sure there are some great printables to help you, or if you can get your hand on this fabulous book by Heidi Swapp. It's an oldie but a goodie!
I get nosey when I see a handwritten list left behind in the bottom of the shopping cart I just pulled out of the cart corral. What did that last person need? What is her life like? Does she buy the same groceries as I do?
The other day on the way to the school bus stop, I noticed a scribbled note lying, wet, on the sidewalk. It started with 'n'oublie pas...' (don't forget). It made me a little sad every time I walked passed on my many trips back and forth to the bust stop. Not only was I a little worried that the person it was meant for may have very well forgotten, but also I was sad because it was wet and abandoned. With notes being such a rarity these days, it was almost like a lost treasure.
Have you ever come across a note from someone you've lost? Anytime I come across something from my mom, I get a little pang in my heart, but it makes me smile all the same. Even if it just says 'love Mom'
I've got a challenge for you! If you are sending out Christmas or Holiday cards this year, make an effort to add a little note in your unique-to-you handwriting. Or get your child to sign his name. Now, I understand that this could be a daunting task if you are sending out as many cards as I am, but at least sign your name and add a few notes to the people who you think woud appreciate it most. I'm thinking the older generations, or young children just learning to read this year. But hey, who knows, my 84 year old grandmother is on Facebook!
I plan to sign our name to the bottom of my handmade cards (I am soooo behind on getting them made!) and I plan on adding a few notes to some of the cards. My sweet friend Aimee sent me a package of goodies, including this pretty notepad below. Aimee has been my inspiration for this. She is amazing at writing letters and corresponding by mail and I want to do more of that in 2016. I alos want to improve my handettering! I love this trend :D
So who is with me? Let me know in the comments if you plan on adding a sweet little note to some of your cards this year or some other bit of handwriting. Let's do it together :D
December is such a wonderful, magical time.
Traditionally, we surround our selves with friends, family and lots of fun activities to try to push out the fact that the days are getting colder and it gets dark about 15 minutes after the kids get home from school! So of course, as memory keepers and storytellers, we want to capture all of theses lovely memories that we are making.
A lot of us do December Daily, others do Journal Your Christmas with Shimelle or some other variations on this theme.
The problem is that there is so much going on that adding another obligation, no matter how fun and worthwhile it can cause us to feel overburdened and stressed out.
So here are 7 tips to help you make it easier on yourself.
1. Give Yourself Grace
GRACE is my new favourtite word, I've been hearing it a lot in the past week or so, exactly when I needed it (I've been burning the candle at both ends lately and surprise, surprise... now I'm sick!). It's okay not to do-it-all, to not hold yourself up to Pinterest standards and not to be the perfect SuperMom or SuperGrandma. I'm going to let you in on a little secret: it's impossible anyway!! That doesn't mean that you shouldn't try your best, but it does mean that you should give yourself a break when you need it and not expect too much from yourself. Give yourself some grace.
2. Minimise
Who said that your December album has to be elaborate and take 3 hours for each and every page. If you have the stories recorded with some pretty photos and some fun memoribilia peppered throughout, then, that is absolutely perfect!
However for me, I can't seem to stop there ;) It's my style and the way I scrapbook to keep adding things and adding things and adding a few more things! So that's why I do the minimum during December, then, I do the elaborate bits in the new year. But, if you love to keep it simple, this may be the way for you to go!
3. Prepare in Advance
Now, if you haven't done this yet, it may be too late for this year to prepare in advance, but it's good to keep this in mind for futrue years. Or you could do a little marathon scrapping this weekend and get all the foundation pages done and ready for the rest of the month.
If you have your pages all ready come December 1, then you just need a story and a photo and you are good to go!
If you don't have your pages ready this year, then come check out the next tip ;)
4. You Can Always Do it Later
For years, I've been writing down the memories and keeping memorbilia all throughout November, December and January but not actually scrapbooking it all until Janurary or even February during LOAD. This takes off a LOT of the pressure and it's a hell of a lot more fun for me! The only downside is I can't share my pages in December along with everyone else. So this year, I decided to post photos of last year's pages on instagram. If you aren't following me there, you can find me @caravincens.
I'm also taking Alice Boll's class, 'Scrapbook Christmas... in January' which leads me right into my next tip :)
5. Take a Class
Classes are a wonderful way to join a community of other women doing the same project and struggling through the same hiccups as you. Classes are a great way to motivate you when things get stressful and keep you accountable when you feel like throwing in the towel.
As I said I'm taking Alice's class but here is a short list of one's I've taken, but there are lots of groups and challenges as well that you can join.
Ali's December daily
Shimelle's Journal your Christmas
Alice's Scrapbook Christmas... in January
6. You don't need a Story for Every Day
Sure the idea is to capture the first 25 days of December, but I don't do that. Feel free to adapt the concept to fit your needs, time, activities and creativity. I sometimes start in November, if the Saint Nicholas festivities happen early, or at the latest November 30th when my geeklings open their avent calendars. And I go right through to January 6th with Epiphany! They have these fabulous marzipan pies here, in my corner of Europe, to celebrate the arrival of the Wise Men. There's a small ceramic prize inside and who ever gets it in their piece of pie is King (what they call wiseman in French) for the day.
Now, if I did a page a day, that could be 40 pages! Every day. During the busiest time of year? NO. And what about the days where there are more than one story you want to tell. Like the day you decorated gingerbread men in the morning and got that fantastic photo of the 3 year old with his oddly decorated (and even slightly creepy looking) gngerbread man and then went skating at the city's outdoor rink, with the snow softly falling as the sun set. Do you really have to choose between these 2 fantastic stories to fit the one story a day idea? Or do you add an extra page along side the other no-so-busy days where you are actually hunting for a story, any story, to scrapbook about. And what about Chrismas day, you can't limit that to one page, I usually have 4-5 stories for the 25th alone. I know I could end up with an album with 50-60 pages!!
Not. Going. To. Happen!
I suggest documenting the stories and days that mean the most to you and take the pressure off trying to find a story for the days when fewer things happen. However! I do suggest that you document the everyday stuff too. At least once ;)
7. Scrapbook in the Little Pockets of Time
As a mom of 6 geeklings, I've gotten really good at doing things in the 'in betweens'. There are so many little pockets of time in your day, you just need to find them and use them wisely. I know that you will be waiting in line at the gift wrapping station, at the post office, the register, or where ever the lines are long! Or maybe you'll arrive early to get good seats at the school Christmas concert only to sit twiddling your thumbs for 30 minutes?
Put away Candy Crush and take along some Project Life cards and a nice pen instead. Take this time to write our your stories in your neatest handwriting or type it up on your phone to print off later (email the text to yourself if you don't print from your phone). If you will have more space in the places you wait (your car at school pick up or even a doctor's office), take along a small kit and work on embellishments or other small parts of your pages.
Capturing December memories is such a wonderful, worthwhile project and it's so fun too! Christmas and winter products are definitely some of my favourites! Every one else is sharing their pages and it is so worth it to have it all documented, BUT go easy on yourself! You know what you can handle, what you can get done during this busy month. Use this as your guide and don't overload your plate. Share in the comments below how you plan to make #decemberdaily DOABLE this year!
click to tweet:
You know what you can handle, what you can get done during this busy month. Use this as your guide and don't overload your plate.
I'm ambious and I always want to do it all! But, I know I can't. December only has 31 days, with only 24 hours each, so enjoy every moment of it, capture the best moments and scrapbook them when you can!