Monday, March 16, 2015

grateful :: January prompt


January prompt is done (why, it's only the middle of March after all).

I normally follow Ali's directions pretty close with just a little variation when necessary. This time the definition of my word was pretty short (three lines), so there was no way I could make it a whole opening page. I just put there a photo enlargement with my word (in Russian) and a year (2015) instead.


 Then goes the story of how I found the word. I cut an 8,5x11 page protector into 5,5x11 and secured the opening with a tab.



I know you can sew along the edge or use some washi tape to cover the cut, but surprisingly, that label holds it really well and you can't say the cut side of the page protector is open at all.


When you turn this page you can see my word in English and the part with little cards and pictures.


Another page protector cut from the top and secured with the tab.


The first task was to write out the definition of my word {GRATEFUL}. It's in English, so no need for translating here.



 Then comes the Invitation card (about the things I'd like to invite into my life). It says:

1. love

2. truth

3. patience. calm

4. courage

5. joy
Then the Quotation -- mine doesn't have {GRATEFUL} in it, it's just the reminder of what I'd love to be like:

She is clothed in strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.
Proverbs 31:25






I also decided to go black and white this year plus aqua as an accent color (as it's the color of my album, the color of this cool plastic heart from Ali's Gatherings Story Kit and, hands up, just my favorite color of all).


When you turn the page you can see the next spread:


The heart represents love (of course), and I chose pictures to remind me to:

- love God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my mind.
- love myself.
- love my neighbor as myself.



The Let Go card is about the things I'd like to let go of:

1. perfectionism

2. feeling that i'm right

3. complaints

4. anger

5. tension


 The Reason Why card is about my reasons for choosing {GRATEFUL} as my one little word this year:

to come closer to God

to soften

to fill my heart with love and gratitude


The next page is this fill-in-the-blanks:



 In what ways is this word already a part of my life?

I'm really grateful that in every situation there's always a chance to learn to love more. I'm really grateful that there's always a chance to change.
I'm really grateful for my family.
What do I want less in my life? What do I want more?

More calm. Less anger.
More funny. Less serious.
Less perfectionism.
More truth.
Less imitating. More of my own.
Less panic. More doing.
Less complaining. More embracing.
Less stuff.
More happy.
 What am I most excited about in 2015?

I'm really excited about a chance to change my character and be happier.

And scrapping tons and tons.

And starting a blog.

What do I most fear in 2015?

I fear that I won't make any layouts or albums, will just get distracted and procrastinate and plan a lot, but do nothing tangible.

I fear that I won't find my own path, that I don't have enough talent and knowledge and experience to make something interesting.





I also wrote out my intentions in Russian.


















I really love this January prompt -- it feels so good to actually write it out. Writing has always been one of the only two ways of processing information for me (the second one is a heartfelt conversation). Really, I can't figure anything out unless I write it down or talk about it for quite some time.

And which prompt is your favorite?


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