One Little Word

Today many people will be thinking about their New Year's Resolutions and wondering why they don't last past the 2nd week of January!

Other people will be thinking about their One Little Word.  This is one word to give focus to the year. 

If you google One Little Word you will find a variety of websites, including:
Two Writing Teachers

Ali Edwards

Diane Marra

My One Word

I have been taking part in Ali Edward's class OLW 2011 at BPS this year.  My word for 2011 has been RESTORE as in

Freshen    recharge    recreate    refresh      regenerate     rejuvenate        repair

Renew      resuscitate         revitalise           revive       reinstate          re-establish

 And my aim was to:

Rest ~ to improve my sleep patterns

Exercise ~ with my Rosemary Conley DVD that I have used in the past

 

Spirituality ~ to restore my lost relationship with God

Time ~ to get dressed at an appropriate time ~ not later & later!

Order ~ to find order & routine in each day

Restoration ~ to take part in the Brave Girl course: Soul Restoration

 

Equilibrium ~ to find balance in all areas of life

However although I took part in the class exercises and I kept the word in the forefront of my mind (but not as often as I would have liked) I don't feel that I achieved as much as I had hoped this time last year.

And now I want to choose a word for 2012.  I've signed up for OLW2012 which starts tomorrow and it would be helpful to know what word I am going with.

Initially I was going with FOCUS.  Focusing on Faith, Fitness, Fellowship, Fun and Photography.  Cheesey I know!

However the problem with Focus for me is that I could just focus my thinking but not actually do anything!  I need a more active verb. 

I was really interested in Karen's post on her blog as she has taken the priorities she has identified in her life and set goals for each area.  SMART goals at that!  More Thoughts and Plans

So, I know what I need to do ~ once I've chosen the word (or it chooses me!)
These are the front runners:
Wholehearted: enthusiastic, unreserved, sincere, heartfelt, unconditional, total, unqualified
Action: act, deed, exploit, achievement, accomplishment, feat, stroke, battle
Achieve: attain, get, realise, accomplish, reach, do, complete, pull off
Practise: do, put into practice, live out, carry out, perform, apply, follow, observe

And which ever word I choose will need to apply to various areas of my life: Health & fitness, Faith and relationships (fellowship), Fun and Finishing projects and courses  I start.

What shall I choose?  Your thoughts are welcome.

Did you have a word for 2011?  Are you choosing a word for 2012, and if so, what is it?

2011 ~ my year in art

I have taken several online courses and been to workshops this year.  I've practised known techniques and learned new ones.  Here's just a part of what I have done this year

January
The year began with a trip to the States.  I made this book before I went and journaled as I went along leaving spaces to add the photos when I got home.

February
In February I went to two workshops taught by Tim Holtz.  This is the configurations box I did at home after learning how to do one at the workshop.

March
All year I have belonged to an American kit Club, Scrapbooking From The Inside Out.  There is an online forum where challenges are set on a particular them each month.

April
During April a group of ladies on Facebook used the challenges from Creativity Bootcamp 2010 to make an art journal.

May
I went to Art From The Heart for a weekend workshop with Dina Wakley where we made 3 mini books.  Lovely!

June
She had 3 hearts was an online art journaling course with Christy Tomlinson.  We had to ask our friends and family for 3 words which described us and here is one of my pages.

July
This month saw me at a workshop with Anneliese Bates in Derbyshire.  This is an A5 book called 'The ABC of Me'.

August
Another online art course.  This time with Kirsty Wiseman.  My finished book is nothing like the instructions!

September
I made lots of mini books to take to the States to sell at a Ladies Evening.  Those that didn't sell are in my Etsy Shop (which needs restocking)

October
A new online course this month with Paulette Insall.  This was an exercise in painting with black and white on an A2 sheet of paper.  And then adding a small amount of colour.

November
This month I took part in the Art Every Day Challenge. And managed to complete 30 days.  It was great because each day I experimented with a technique to see which ones are really my style.

December
I started a course in November with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer called 30 days in Your Journal.  I used the techniques there and combined them with Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas to produce an art journal/diary. 

2011 ~ A Year in Pictures

As we come to the end I thought I would look at what I have been up to over the last 12 months.

January
A visit to the United States included Florida, Arizona, Nevada and Texas.  The highlight was a helicopter trip with Roger, Andy & Naomi over the Grand Canyon.

 

February 

Two workshops with Tim Holtz.  One with ArtsyCrafty and this one at Art From The Heart

March
The dining room table!  This represents the state of play most days during 2011!

April
A weekend in the Lake District to celebrate the 40th Wedding Anniversary of friends from college days.

May
The naughty table at Betty's in Harrogate.   We were there for a Dina Wakley workshop at Art From The Heart

June
Roger and I had a holiday in Northern Ireland.  We saw some beautiful scenery.

July
I did a photography course with Kirsty Wiseman in Birmingham City Centre and took this photo of the iron man in Victoria Square

August
Roger had an operation on his back at the beginning of August and by the end of the month was able to walk round the lake at Dudmaston.

September
A visit to Pembrokeshire and a walk along the coast path past the Blue Lagoon

October
A visit to San Diego in California with Roger.  I then went on to Florida for a week whilst Roger came home!

November
Trying out a new technique.  Come back tomorrow to see my art year in pictures.

December
Andy and Naomi in Oxford on their first visit to the UK since May 2009.  It was great to have them home for Christmas.

Happy Christmas

Wishing everyone a very happy and peaceful Christmas

Thank you to everyone who has read my blog during 2011.

Gosh ~ twice in one day

Here I am again with an update on my Art Journal/Journal Your Christmas entries for December 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th.

I've just started preparing the pages for the next few days using Distress Inks but it isn't going how I expected.  Now waiting for the Picket Fence Distress Stain to dry so I can cover up what I've already done.  Watch this space!

Tags 11 & 12

Timmy tags are over for another year! 

I think I ran out of steam for the last two and didn't have most of the supplies so here are my take on the last 2 tags.

Tag 11

Tag 12

A Morag tag and

a Timmy tag.

I went to the Solihull crop yesterday and we made this.  I say we, because Morag gave us all the die cuts, Nicki made my pine cones because I totally couldn't do it, and I assembled it with Julie's glue.  A real team effort.  Thank you everyone.

And here's my tag based on Saturday's Tim Holtz tag

Today, being December 12th, is the last day of Tim's 12 tags of Christmas.  I still have yesterday's to do as well as today's.   Come back soon to see those.

10 on the 10th ~ Christmas in Birmingham

On Thursday night I went into Birmingham City Centre to meet friends and had my compact camera with me rather than the all-singing all-dancing Bridge camera so I am really pleased with what I managed to get.  Here are 10 photos from the city centre.

1 Bells on a stall at the German Market

2. Lights in New Street

3. The Christmas Tree inside the West Mall at The Bullring.  A sneaky snap as you're not supposed to take photos inside - a security risk apparently.

4. The bull with his new Christmas jumper

5.  More decorations in New Street

6. The German Market

7. The Council House and Victoria Square

8. Christmas Roundabout

9.  Roundabout outside the ICC

 10. And coming round the other side!

Tag 9 and Journal Your Christmas

I am up-to-date with Tim's tags and my journal for Journal Your Christmas.  And it's only lunchtime!

Here's my tag 9 (and Tim's original)

My December journal is coming along.  I've already blogged days 1-5.

Here are days 6 - 9.

 

Tags 7 & 8

I didn't get any opportunity to make tags yesterday but I've made up for it today by making yesterday's one and today's.  You can see Tim's originals if you click on the links.

Yesterday's tag

I used Weathered Wood and Broken China Distress Stains and stamped over the top.  I painted the snow on the trees with white acrylic paint.   The deer are from a set of SEI rub-ons.

Today's tag

 I had to have two attempts at this as the white paint in my Paint Dabber was too thin.  I think I must have put some water in it at some point.  Then I couldn't get the lid off my pot of white acrylic paint so used Dylusions Primer instead to stamp the snow flakes.   The word is from a kit (but I can't remember which one ~ sorry!)

Tag 6

You can find Tim's original tag here.

And this is my version:

I couldn't find my glossy card so I stuck the foil to a standard tag.   I put the tag & the embossing folder through my cuttlebug and then painted the baubles and stars with alcohol inks.  I used a piece of tissue tape to finish the bottom of the tag

Tags 2 - 5

Inspired by Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas here are my variations on his theme:

Tag 2

Tag 3

Tag 4

Tag 5