OLW 2015

Hiya! I'm finally getting around to share my OLW for the year. It's a tad ironic that I'm taking this long to share it. But I'm giving myself permission to not care and just go with it.

My OLW for the year is "active". I feel like I've spent too much of the last few years being lazy and a procrastinator. So I wanted something that was the exact opposite of both of those things. And "active" was the word that came to mind.

I have to say, it's been so awesome to have this word my word for the year. I feel like I've already accomplished so much in such a short time frame, simply because I've kept this word in mind.

I had fun with this white on white design. "Active" was cut with my Silhouette and is a tracing of my own handwriting. I love being able to incorporate my handwriting in other fun creative ways on my pages.

I was loosely inspired by this page of Marcy Penner's. And also, I was going through all of my washi tape and thinking I needed to figure out a way to incorporate a lot onto one page. Adding them to the bottom of these cute little white tags, seemed the perfect way to go. [The tag is by Papertrey Ink and one of my most used dies]

Although I'm not part of Ali's OLW class (but should I be? If you've signed up I'd love to hear what you think) I fully intend to commit to making this word visible in my life this year. It's been great so far and I hope that I can keep it up!

cheers & besos,

London to LA

As I type, I'm working on an the first assignment from Simple Scrapper Start Fresh class. I'm very excited about it! 

So let me share this page with you, using some other great Simple Scrapper content. This is based off of one of this month's sketches.

Products: Printshop Mini Flair, Fables Storytime patterned paper, Oh Snap Snippets patterned paper, Moon & Back Printshop patterned paper, Printshop Accent stickers

I used a whole mess of Studio Calico products to make this page about me and my friend Keely. You know my OLW for this year? Open. Yeah, that word is pretty much a direct result of this new friend.

It's weird to think about, but it's been awhile since I've made a new friend.

I have my college friends, my grad school friends, my Houston friends. Everyone's kind of formed into groups. 

Keely's part of my work friends group. She was an intern a few summers ago who came back to take on a new role we had open in the office. We weren't very close back then. But from pretty much the second she walked in the door this time around, we instantly bonded. I don't know what it says about me, but her 23 year old humor is pretty much the same as mine. We laugh and giggle a lot. Much to the chagrin of my fellow colleagues I'm sure. But she makes work fun and I definitely appreciate that.

It all goes back to the open thing. I wasn't expecting it, but I'm always open to making new friends. And because of that, I did!

[PHOTO]

We travel a lot for work. All of us do, even us junior employees. Keely and I ended up on three trips together this year, to LA, London and DC. So I had these great photos of us in front of St. Paul's in London and the other is us in the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica. I also had this photo of a club card we got at a happy hour we went to together.

I knew I wanted to use these photos together, as different as they are. And the sketch from this month's Simple Scrapper mag was perfect for it, with just a few amendments.  I decided to tilt the photos on an angle a bit. The sketch also called for a doily at the top left hand corner but instead, I decided to fold the paper back to show the awesome B side of the yellow grid. That was a happy accident really. It wasn't until nearly the end that I realized the aqua on the back was really similar to the aqua on the front. The benefits of working with papers from the same manufacturer! 

I love how the aqua looks with the yellow and just a few pops of gold and green. The paper tucked in the corner was some I knew I wanted to incorporate but didn't quite know how. And once I figured out that I wanted to fold the corner, I knew it could work there.

I like this mix of paper. Some modern. Some traditional. Some quirky. Kind of like me and mah friend.

[PHOTO]

The paper did most of the heavy lifting, so I really didn't do much to embellish this page. I machine stitched the flap down and around a few corners at the bottom. Other than that, it only took a few sentiment stickers, some tape and a badge or two to complete.

Oh! And I almost forgot the best part (and completely forgot to photograph it) but the middle photo flips up to show a few more photos from that same night at happy hour. They were screenshots of the crazy text messages we were sending afterwards. Probably for the best that they're tucked away ;)

And here I am, at the end of this post and finished with Assignment #1 for Start Fresh! I'm excited to think about what I want to accomplish this year-scrapbooking wise. And happy to dive in!

cheers & besos,

OLW 2014

I picked a word. Or maybe it picked me. I don't really know. I don't usually pick words because I never stick with them. But this one just wouldn't leave my mind once I thought of it, and I figure its a good point of focus for my year.

This year my one little word is open.

I had fun making this page using a Simple Scrappers sketch and the Studio Calico Antiquary kit that I picked up for cheap on the 2Peas For Sale or Trade Board.

I just joined Simple Scrappers and I'm so excited about it. I took Jennifer's Art + Science class at BPC and just loved her organized teaching style. She has me excited to play this year. You might just
consider joining in.

Oh and if you're wondering about my December album, I decided I want to film a quick video talking through the pages. So much easier than writing it all out. Look for that in the next few days!

cheers & besos,

OLW 2012

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2012.

2011 was a great year. A quiet year.

And just the kind of year I needed, since 2009-2010 were mainly not good years.

I feel at peace and largely content going into 2012.

I'm ready to start working on myself.

For 2012, I decided to pick a One Little Word. If you're not familiar with this concept, click on the link to have Ali Edwards explain, in the fabulous way that she does, the concept of OLW and it's meaning in her life.

This year, the word I chose is write.

I talked about my 2012 Habits a few days back, and one of those was to write everyday. That will I hope, help me to work toward my OLW.

Because this year, instead of finding out which words picks me, I'm actively going to seek this word out.

I like to write. And academically, I was very good at it.

Casually, not so much.

It's hard to find a voice that is yours, that isn't rigid or formal.

But this year I want to try.

I'm determined to make this blog better. To share more and express more.

As a naturally stoic person this has never been easy for me.

I'm not one to "join" or "share".

But this year I'd like to.

I also have a more ambitious goal of working on a non-fiction book idea that I've had for awhile now. Oh, maybe 2 years or so!

I just haven't made the time to sit down and write it.

This year I will.

Hand in hand with my word is the concept of story. In contemplating my life and this upcoming year, I want to work on cultivating my story.

And while doing so, writing it down.

What about you? Have you picked an OLW for the year? I'd love to hear your word if you did.

xxbesos

2010 OLW: Grow

Grow

The ever amazing Ali Edward's has been using the concept of "One Little Word" for the past several years. The premise: one word that you focus on throughout the year. Ali's word this year is story. My word for 2010 is "grow".

I created this layout as a bit of scrapping art and plan to include it in my Year 25 album. It's my first hybrid layouts of sorts, but I'm probably cheating by call it that. Well it was my first time to play with a digi kit!

Using Carina Gardner's amazing "I Remember When..." Genealogy Kit, I simply printed that gorgeous tree on kraft cardstock and then hand drew the roots. I then hand-stitched them using multiple colors of DMC floss. I printed an additional tree, cut out the leafy part and used it as mask for my mists. I sprayed both Red and Orange on the tree to get a multi color effect. I finished it off with some American Crafts Thickers, Basic Grey's Indian Summer patterned paper and a few Martha Stewart butterflies.

It was hard to focus on just word to contemplate for an entire year. Yet it was easier to look back and consider previous OLW's in my life. In 2008 it was "explore" and in 2009 my word was undoubtedly "family". But that was discovered in hindsight.

Now, as 2010 has commenced, its time for me to take the reins, so to speak, and become more in charge of my life and my scrapping. It's also time for me to emerge from the protective shelter of school and parents and officially grow up. Groan! {pun intended...}

I hope that you will be with me as I chronicle this journey. I'm going to try my best to eek out every ounce of life, that 2010 has to offer. And to scrap it along the way. I hope you do the same!

xxbesos

j.leija