OLW Blog Hop - My Dreams in Pictures Redux

Welcome back for this month's installment of the One Little Word Blog Hop. As the year winds down, I am so very grateful to be able to look back at all my previous posts about my word of the year, Dream. I love having the concrete evidence of how much my word has come to be an active part of my life. I love seeing where my word has taken me. And I love seeing how much I have changed and grown with the influence of my one little word.

This month, we have 14 amazing women participating in the blog hop. I've said it before but it's worth repeating. Be sure to check out all of these fabulous ladies' blogs. You will be amazed at the creativity, humor, sentimentality, depth and joy that shines through on every single page. I know I can't wait to see each and every post.

October's prompt was a return to a class favorite - using 9 photographs to illustrate your word right now. What I really enjoyed about this prompt was going back to look at February's collage after I had put together the collage for this month. It was interesting to see what inspired my dreams now compared to those images that sparked my imagination near the beginning of this journey.

Below is this month's collage. I've listed the words behind the photos underneath. Once again, I plan to make a layout incorporating these words + photos. But in my album, the photos will not have any words on them (or numbers for that matter). The numbers correspond to the written statements for each photo.

1.I dream of new directions.
2. My dreams are bright and sometimes burn with intensity.
3. I dream of the exotic, the foreign, the unfamiliar.
4. Some dreams strip you bare, exposing all of my vulnerabilities and fears.
5. My dreams, collected and savored.
6. Dreams can be mysterious, leaving only hints and remnants for me to piece together.
7. I am ready to go where my dreams lead me.
8. Some dreams are comforting, like the sun shining warmly onto my face.
9. Some dreams are a baptism, like a clean rain sluicing through my soul.

I've been thinking a lot of the dreams I had in childhood, how as a child I wasn't afraid to dream, how I didn't put limitations on my dreams. Through my recent experiences in Mondo Beyondo, I've re-connected with these childhood fantasies. Some bring me laughter and amusement, some are unrecognizable, some generate a bittersweet sense of loss, and some still ring so true. More importantly, Mondo Beyondo taught me how dream again. I mean really dream, with abandon and imagination and longing...and without practicality or limits or fear.


I am learning to let go of fear, of all anxiety as I face the future.

I wanted to use a photo enlargement to convey this re-connection to my childhood dreaming.

What are your dreams right now? Are you pursuing these dreams? I really hope so...

Next up in the blog hop is the fabulous Cheri. Check our her blog and enjoy the rest of the hop!

OLW Blog Hop

Welcome friends! I am so excited to be participating in this month's One Little World Blog Hop. There are 44, yep that's right, I said 44 participants. So be sure to check out all of these fabulous ladies' blogs. You will be amazed at the creativity, humor, sentimentality, depth and joy that shines through on every single page.

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To anyone unfamiliar with the concept,  One Little Word was first introduced to me by Ali Edwards. As she explains, "I am a fan of welcoming the new year with open arms. I love fresh starts, new opportunities, clean slates, possibilities. Back in January 2007, as a way to celebrate these beginnings, I started a public tradition of choosing a single word to focus on over the course of the year." 

I have been choosing my own word of the year since 2008, but have only been blogging about my word since last year. In 2010, I kept my focus on hope. And in 2011 my head and heart are filled with dreams. The greatest hurdle in this process for me was to make sure that I took the time to acknowledge my dreams every day. Not just opening up and admitting that I have dreams but really believing that I deserve for all of my dreams to become truth. I am taking a class taught by Ali through Big Picture Classes exploring and focusing on my One Little World dream.

Last month, we completed the title page of our album. You can see mine here. We also used divided page protectors to house a series of nine cards created with words, clip art, quotes, patterned paper and embellishments. These cards exemplified and symbolized our One Little Word in graphic detail. Again, you can see my collage here.

For February, we also created two projects. First,we collected nine photographs that spoke to us of our word, in my case my visual interpretations of my dreams. These will go into the reverse of the divided page protector used n January. I thought long and hard about which concepts, ideas, wishes, fears and emotions that I wanted my photos to convey. Here's what I cam up with:

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For my second project, I knew I wanted to incorporate a photo enlargement as contrast to the various smaller images. To help simplify the concept of dreams; to see a beautiful reminder of my capacity for dreaming; and to aid in instilling the belief in me that I have the power to turn my dreams into reality; I created this print:

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Thanks for stopping by Studio Jenn! Please drop me a comment or any questions that you might have. Next up in the OLW February Blog Hop is Kathryn Lowe. Here's the link to her blog Stamping With Kathryn Lowe. Have a wonderful Tuesday - now go & do something that you love!

        PS In case you've gotten lost, all of the OLW February Blog Hop participants are listed here on Margie's blog.  

A New Adventure

My Tell Your Story art journaling class with Elsie and Rachel has sadly come to an end. I cannot emphasize enough how much I enjoyed this class. I have always been a journaler of sorts. In the past I've done several different types, ranging from simply making lists in my daily planner to creating very artsy and detailed layouts for my scrapbooks. But I had never committed to journaling on a daily basis.

And I want to.

One of my goals for this year is to do something creative every day. I find when I make the time to create I am more relaxed and productive in all the other areas of my life. But, I had been struggling to find a way to balance my need to create with the real life time demands. I love scrapbooking. And I firmly believe there is no one way to scrapbook. I am a "hybrid" in every sense of the word. I scrap with paper and glue. I scrap digitally with my laptop and Photoshop Elements. I scrapbook both 8.5x11 and 12x12 pages. I make mini-albums. But the stress of creating a layout - or even part of a layout - everyday was really overwhelming. My scrapbooking is very much a story driven process. And let's be honest, not every day has a story that I want to tell. But every day does bring new feelings and experiences that can be documented. I found keeping an art journal was really the perfect fit. I put much less pressure on myself regarding my journal pages than I do my scrapbook pages. Art journaling was easier and faster to conceptualize and complete for me. I am just in love with this direction in my creative journey.

So, I was particularly excited when of my Tell Your Story classmates Janel organized a 30-Day Journal Challenge through her blog. I love the ongoing commitment to keeping up with my art journal, and the added accountability of participating in a group helps keep me on target with my goals. The Challenge started yesterday - and I am loving what I am seeing in our Flickr Group!

Here are my first two pages.

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Evolution of Hair

So, I am currently taking Cathy Zielske's Design Your Life class online. I really love this class. The focus is on design theory and concepts and it is broken down into weekly lessons. Each lesson is demonstrated via video, handout and assignments. We've worked through symmetry, asymmetry, repetition, white space and unity. This week's lesson deals with contrast/emphasis. I used one of this week's assignments to create a scrappy page documenting some of the many evolutions of my hair.
I offer it here for your viewing pleasure.

 

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You're welcome.

Greetings from Studio Jenn

I am so excited to debut my brand new blog! You might remember my previous blog Just a Couple of Chippies that I shared with my BFF Deana. Or maybe not...since together we suck at blogging regularly.

So I wanted to start a blog that was wholly my own. A place that I could note my thoughts, but also post my crafty creations and DIY projects. A collection of things that inspire me. A portfolio of my own artistic offerings. A home for my everyday musings. An interactive journal, if you will.

I've been putting a lot of energy into scrapping lately. I took Ali's Yesterday & Today class at Big Picture Scrapbooking this past fall. The focus of this class is telling your stories using words + photos, a concept that I love. I have already been attempting to do this when I create layouts but the lessons I learned from Ali have taken my ideas to the next level. I enjoy delving deeper to tell my story. I have discovered a passion for creating that has been untapped. And I am wanting to do more like this. I want to share my art and my stories. I want to do this work as my main work. I am still exploring a way to make this dream a reality but I think it has to start with getting my work 'out there' so to speak. Here's my favorite layout from Y&T: