The concept behind the One Little Word class Ali Edward's offers fascinates me. Pick a word and use it to help shape your year. Learn about yourself, grow and accomplish through a relationship with your word. So this year I decided to give it a try.
The first thing that I learned is that picking a word is hard! There are so many choices and, because I am me, I was sure I could find a perfect word. I was really about 90% sure that I was going to use "intent(ion)" because I wanted to to focus and make intentional choices about where I was going. But it also didn't seem quite right.
Then I explained the class to my husband - he generally teases me about my "crafty endeavors" and complains about the time and money. But not this time. He listened and immediately said "FORGE." I asked why - he said he didn't know but that the word popped right into his head.
So I did a little research and it turns out that this is the perfect word for me.
Here is my title page - I am using a wonky heart on its side throughout my album to represent an arrow and a strong heart (somehow both seem relevant to my word in my mind).
I used the back of the 3x8 title insert to document the story of how I chose my word. Writing it down made me wonder why my husband thought of this word - maybe I will figure it out this year. Carson Riutta inspired the use of the floral paper for my definitions page - I loved it when it came in a kit but had no idea what to do with it. But I love it for this project.
The next page is titled "The Year Ahead." I used Ali's prompts but retyped it so that I could use a consistent font throughout my pages. And I printed it on a piece of pale pink cardstock (the smooth side), and of course couldn't reisst adding a few embellishments.
I love this quote that Ali provided (in her handwriting) in the class materials. I printed it on a piece of vellum I had been hoarding from the Studio Calico Atlantic collection.
The next page talks about the reason why I chose this word (a little different than the story of how I chose my word) and includes a quote that speaks to my word. I also included a photo of me (taken on December 30 when I finished work for the year.) Including a photo of yourself was one of Ali's prompts and might have been the hardest thing for me.
The next pages talk about things I am trying to bring into my life in 2016 and things I am trying to let go of this year. The page beside it begins to document my intentions for the new year.
The last page related to the prompts is the rest of my intentions. I include a photo I took on a weekend away with my husband when we were sitting by the fire just being together here - one of my biggest things to work on is transitioning back to being a couple as our last child gets close to moving out. We have been so busy being parents for the last 23 years that we have forgotten how to be "two."
A 3x8 insert next to it includes a list of action items for the month. The action items were my own addition. After I finished the prompts I felt like I had document very aspirational thoughts and nothing very concrete. I think I will make better progress if I have some very specific things to work on written down.
On the back of the action items I printed a quote Ali Edwards shared on her blog at the end of the year about changing your ending - it seemed like the perfect way to end the January pages.
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This post got long and wordy - thanks for taking the time to read it. I am planning to share my pages each month and hoping it helps keep me on track this year.
Hope you have a great Tuesday
The first thing that I learned is that picking a word is hard! There are so many choices and, because I am me, I was sure I could find a perfect word. I was really about 90% sure that I was going to use "intent(ion)" because I wanted to to focus and make intentional choices about where I was going. But it also didn't seem quite right.
Then I explained the class to my husband - he generally teases me about my "crafty endeavors" and complains about the time and money. But not this time. He listened and immediately said "FORGE." I asked why - he said he didn't know but that the word popped right into his head.
So I did a little research and it turns out that this is the perfect word for me.
- to make
- to move forward
- to build connections
Here is my title page - I am using a wonky heart on its side throughout my album to represent an arrow and a strong heart (somehow both seem relevant to my word in my mind).
I used the back of the 3x8 title insert to document the story of how I chose my word. Writing it down made me wonder why my husband thought of this word - maybe I will figure it out this year. Carson Riutta inspired the use of the floral paper for my definitions page - I loved it when it came in a kit but had no idea what to do with it. But I love it for this project.
The next page is titled "The Year Ahead." I used Ali's prompts but retyped it so that I could use a consistent font throughout my pages. And I printed it on a piece of pale pink cardstock (the smooth side), and of course couldn't reisst adding a few embellishments.
I love this quote that Ali provided (in her handwriting) in the class materials. I printed it on a piece of vellum I had been hoarding from the Studio Calico Atlantic collection.
The next page talks about the reason why I chose this word (a little different than the story of how I chose my word) and includes a quote that speaks to my word. I also included a photo of me (taken on December 30 when I finished work for the year.) Including a photo of yourself was one of Ali's prompts and might have been the hardest thing for me.
The next pages talk about things I am trying to bring into my life in 2016 and things I am trying to let go of this year. The page beside it begins to document my intentions for the new year.
The last page related to the prompts is the rest of my intentions. I include a photo I took on a weekend away with my husband when we were sitting by the fire just being together here - one of my biggest things to work on is transitioning back to being a couple as our last child gets close to moving out. We have been so busy being parents for the last 23 years that we have forgotten how to be "two."
A 3x8 insert next to it includes a list of action items for the month. The action items were my own addition. After I finished the prompts I felt like I had document very aspirational thoughts and nothing very concrete. I think I will make better progress if I have some very specific things to work on written down.
On the back of the action items I printed a quote Ali Edwards shared on her blog at the end of the year about changing your ending - it seemed like the perfect way to end the January pages.
This post got long and wordy - thanks for taking the time to read it. I am planning to share my pages each month and hoping it helps keep me on track this year.
Hope you have a great Tuesday
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Beautiful and inspiring work. Great stuff you're doing with your word. I love the colors and your embellishment choices, too. Really awesome. This is my 3rd year doing the class. Michelle t
ReplyDeleteWow, it looks great! You've put a lot of thought into it and that's great. Lovely job!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great start to your album! This is my 5th (?) year choosing a word and I've yet to ever create anything to go with it. But this year I'd like to start...
ReplyDelete