A New Year

Welcome to 2012. The busy holidays are finished for now, decorations put away, house cleaned and winter vacations finishing up. School starts next week for my kids, work started today. How were your holidays?

Come this time of year, after all the holiday hubbub, I usually feel like hibernating. A long winter's nap - a time of quiet and rest - is a wonderful blessing not only for animals but also us humans as well. I tend to go overboard with it sometimes though and end up shutting myself off from the outside world a bit too much. I am a homebody. I like my space, I like my quiet, I like my alone time. But I need to get out and be with friends too, otherwise I start to feel all the more anti-social. Rest and quiet are good things, but sometimes I need a little push to get up and move.

Have you heard of "One Little Word?" One Little Word was created by Ali Edwards and is simply defined as a word that we "can focus on, mediate on, and reflect upon" as we go about daily life. You can learn more about the origin and meaning of One Little Word here and about Ali Edwards' One Little Word 2012 class here.

One Little Word is all the rage in the scrapbooking world. I've heard of it many times over the past several years, but never jumped on the bandwagon. Well, this year I jumped. I almost always make resolutions and for the most part I'm pretty good at keeping them - or at least keeping them mindful. This time, when I was thinking of what I wanted to accomplish this year, I started to notice a pattern in my goals. I noticed that in all of them I wanted to advance from one point to the next. So instead of making a long list of resolutions, I decided to choose a word. My word is MOVE.

Move my body - exercise more
Move my brain - learn something new
Move my talent - try some new creativity
Move my soul - deepen my relationship with God
Move my heart - strengthen relationships with friends and family
Move my work - get fired up about teaching my classes new things in new ways
Move my determination - make the decisions that I have been putting off for years
Move in general - walk away from the computer and get something done around the house

credits: most papers and elements from The Daily Details by The Digichick Designers
some elements also from Emporium and Shutterbug both by The Digichick Designers
stamps are from Cluster Capers by Karen Lewis
font is Traveling Typewriter

I'd love to have you come join in my One Little Word Challenge at The Digichick.

One last little scrapbook page, here is a layout that I made for the December Artisan Notebook.

Handmade beaded ornaments and Christmas, they just go together don't they? When I was a little girl I would look with wonder at the beaded ornaments my Grandma had. She told me she wasn't the one who made them, but that she had received them from someone or bought them somewhere. I forget. But I do remember marveling at how simple beads on a pin, stuck into a foam ball in an organized pattern could make such a beautiful ornament. Years later, as a young newlywed I remembered the ornaments and thought to look for them on the internet. I never did find exactly the same kind that my Grandma had, but I did find some that I like even more from a shop called The Cracker Box. These ornaments are so intricate, so complex, so beautiful. Each one comes with hundreds of straight pins, thousands of beads, and pages and pages of written instructions that have to be followed precisely in order to make the ornament correctly. Each ornament has taken me between 25 and 30 hours to make. I made five ornaments in one year, then two more a few years later. After I had children I didn't have the time to make any more. I still have one unmade ornament kit. One of these years I'll find the endurance and willpower to make it too. The finished product is well worth the effort.

credits: all papers and elements from Sound the Trumpets by ViVa Artistry
page template (altered) from Fuss Free Paper Play by Fiddle-Dee-Dee Designs
font is DJB So Much to Say

Thank you so much for stopping by my little corner of the web.