EMBRACE - OLW - January

I am really loving One Little Word so far.
Here is my completed title page with the definition on the back

and here are my intentions/actions pages

Check out my blog in the next week or so for an updated header for the new year!

One Little Word 2013

First of all - Happy New Year!!

This year holds many big changes for me.  I am planning a wedding, and my Fiancé is moving to another province. This means along with getting married this year, I will be in a long distance relationship, I may be looking at selling our condo, moving, finding a new job etc. With all of these changes comes adjustment. Generally I don't make New Year's resolutions, but with the challenges I am going to face this year, I have decided I could use a little direction.

Every year around the end of December on the Studio Calico message board (and others) there are many discussions about Project Life and One Little Word as these projects start at the beginning of a new year. I am still undecided on whether I will continue Project Life this year (I am no where near done 2012). I have decided though to take the Ali Edwards class - One Little Word. I have heard lots about this class in previous years, but the idea of it didn't really sink in. Basically, you choose one word, and keep that word in mind throughout the year.

From Ali Edwards:

I began a tradition of chosing one word for myself each January – a word that I can focus on, mediate on, and reflect upon as I go about my daily life.

Can you identify a single word that sums up what you want for yourself in 2013? 

It can be something tangible or intangible. It could be a thought or a feeling or an emotion. It can be singular or plural. The key is to find something that has personal meaning for you.

One little word can have big meaning in your life if you allow yourself to be open to the possibilities. And here’s one thing that is totally interesting: sometimes a word will pop into your brain and it will not make any sense to you right now. Give it some time. Let it percolate a bit. I have often found that our hearts speak to us in very unique ways. Maybe this is a word you need to hear but just aren’t ready for it yet. Again, be open to the possibilities.

I am hoping that my word will help shape this next year and provide a constant amongst all the changes.

So you are probably wondering - What is my word?

After much deliberation, and many words floating around in my head, I have decided on:
I hope to EMBRACE the changes happening in 2013 and have a better year for it :)

Have you chosen a word for this year?

....and I'm Back!

Thank you for all of your kind comments on my last post. With time things are slowly getting better. I am learning to take care of myself better. I will get through it.

Today, I spent a lot of time purging my supplies and cleaning up my scraproom area. Finally it is finished, and I even managed to finish a layout that I started in March.

My clean room:

And the layout:

I started this layout during our stay at Steve's family's house in Edmonton. I just uncovered it today and decided to finish it. The colour blocking was inspired by Stephanie Dagan at Studio Calico, and the Silhouette cuts are from the Cut it Out class also at SC.

TFL!

Where I Have Been...

There have been many changes happening in my and my family's life over the past 6 months. In May I stopped scrapbooking and therefore blogging. The month of May held two huge life events, each on the far opposite ends of the good/bad spectrum. Generally, I have not shared much of my personal life on my blog, but I believe that these 2 events warrant a mention.

 May 1 - I got the call that I had hoped would never come, but worried about every time the phone rang. My Dad, had suffered another massive heart attack. 4 years before it was a miracle that brought him back from the first one. The call was the same as when it first happened, it was late at night, he had collapsed, was unconscious and the paramedics were working on him. Both times someone was home and the paramedics responded very quickly. The first time I was very hopeful and within a few minutes received another call that they got his heart beating again. Much of that night was spent pacing back and forth down the hospital halls. It was a long road to recovery, we spent almost every day of the following month at the hospital. The stress of everything was definitely helped by the continuous revolving door of family members over that month. His prognosis went from never waking up, to not being able to move, to not being able to speak, but he surprised everyone and had an almost full recovery. This time, while the phone call was the same, the feeling was different. I could feel it in my heart that it wasn't going to be ok. The second phone call confirmed my feeling - My Dad had passed away at only 59 years old. I felt like I should have been at the hospital pacing the halls, hugging family, and hoping for the best. And while a lot of time was spent grieving with family in the days following, it wasn't the same as the "revolving door" at the hospital. No one knows the right things to say and the responsibilities are so much more. But, with the support of my friends and family, life is getting back to a new normal. I miss him more than words can describe. He would have been an amazing grandfather and I am so sad that he never got the chance.

Love you Dad!

May 10 - I had stayed home from work because I was having a really hard time that day dealing with the death of my Dad. I spent most of the day laying in bed. Steve came home from school at around 2:30 and laid on the bed with me in an attempt to cheer me up. We were talking, Steve was making silly jokes, it was helping. I didn't really notice when Steve got up and was rooting around in the closet. We were still talking, so I thought nothing of it. When he climbed back into bed, I rolled over to face him and continue our conversation. I can't even remember what we were talking about. Before I knew it he had a ring box open in his hand and he asked me to marry him. I started crying and giggling, I didn't know how to react. Not because I didn't know the answer, but because I was so happy. Of course I said YES!! He had been holding on to the ring since Easter waiting for the right time to pop the question. He felt awful that he didn't do it before my Dad passed away, but how could he have known. My Dad would be so happy! The proposal totally wasn't what I had expected, but that's what made it so great. With Steve's problem of not keeping Christmas presents a secret, I thought I would have seen this coming from a mile away.....and if you can believe it, I was at the mall with him when he bought the ring and I didn't know a thing. I can't wait to marry the love of my life! Well I guess I can.... until July anyway.

With the help of family, I spent a lot of time leading up to my Dad's memorial collecting photos and stories of him. I put together a scrapbook/guestbook for people to look at and write messages at the memorial. This left my scrapbook desk covered in remnants of this book, including photos of him. It was very difficult to clean up, and therefore it sat like that for a few months. Now with wedding planning thrown in the mix my desk is a disaster of fabric swatches, paint chips and invitation samples. I would really like to start scrapbooking again. I think it would help me with all of the stress I have been having. But, I don't know where to start. I am going to try to clean up this week and do a major de-stash. Maybe a clean slate is just what I need. Hopefully you will see some new projects from me soon :)

She's Crazy - TLP Hybrid Layout

After much experimenting, I finally finished my first hybrid layout for the CT over at The Lilypad.
I used the April BYOC which I loved, and worked perfectly with my Rosie pics. I tend to not do such busy layouts, but I loved all the patterned papers from Jenn Barrette, and the doodles from Lauren Grier were so cute! ...and well, the layout is titled "She's Crazy", so I did want it to be a little crazy.
TFL!

Digital products used:

Project Life - Feb 14-28

Yes, I am very behind. But since I am doing it month to month, I am only counting this as 1 month behind.

Here is my spread for the last 2 weeks of February

I'm a Guest Creative Team Member @ The LilyPad!

 I am excited to announce that I have been chosen to be a Guest Creative Team Member over at The Lilypad. Now you may be thinking, why am I doing a guest spot at a digital scrapbook site. Well, here's the exciting part - they were wanting to get some Hybrid creative team members and lovely Shanna (from SC) emailed me asking if I wanted to try it out. I've never done anything really like this before, but I have been playing around with my Silhouette Studio and am going to be using the Print and Cut feature a lot in the next little while. Looking through the Lilypad store I am loving so much, and wishing a lot of the things could be paper products and not digital...but with printing it out and my Silhouette I should be able to make it work. Watch for another video tutorial coming up soon, and cross your fingers that I can figure this hybrid thing out :)