Staying positive

Positivity is the word I chose as my one little word for 2012. I talked about the reasons why and some of my goals in this post. But it's now February, and I don't have much to show for it. Well, that's not exactly true.

For the past few months, I've been pinning inspirational quotes on my Pinterest board. All kinds of memorable sayings that speak to me and the person I want to be. When I have moments of negativity, I remind myself of these sayings and they help bring some perspective to what's good -- actually great! -- about my life.

I've been thinking it would be fun to start a journal about the ways these quotes have inspired me to be more positive. So I built my own Positivity Journal for a feature on the Epiphany Crafts blog. (Check out the post for your chance to win the tool I used.)

It's a pretty simple concoction of chipboard, patterned paper, graph paper (for writing on) and images from Pinterest. To be clear, I did not invent any of these quotes or create any of the artwork. I simply pinned them, downloaded them and printed them onto photo paper. Then I added some patterned paper and stickers -- 'cause that's what I do -- and bound it all together.

And to give myself a little further structure, I created some tabs for the different sections using my Epiphany Crafts Shape Studio Round 25, layered onto a tab die cut (from Papertrey Ink).

 

There are six sections, and my goal is to write at least once a month for the next six months. Each month, I'll let a new set of quotes inspire me.

Thanks for letting me share my approach to one little word. But now I'd like to hear your approach. Did you choose a word for 2012? And if so, how are you keeping it top-of-mind?

Just curious.

Dreams

Over Thanksgiving, my mom presented me with a battered folder stuffed full of my old artwork, report cards, writings, etc. from childhood. It was an interesting trip down memory lane, piecing together all the different things I wanted to be and do and see in my life...and realizing that I've experienced many of them. I guess you could say that those dreams came true. Of course, there are others that I still need to work on. But it was a nice reminder that, when you're a kid, no dream is too big.

Now that Avery is just a few weeks away from her 8th birthday -- and brimming with dreams and ideas of what she wants to do in her life -- I decided to create a repository to capture all those thoughts in her own words.

The book was a bit of an experiment. I created it by making a chipboard backing that I folded twice to make a spine. I punched holes in the top and bottom and bound with twine.

The inside pages/pockets are made from glassine bags that I folded at different increments to create a tabbed effect. The pockets are labeled: i want to be, i want to see, i want to live, i want to go.

The embellishment is pretty simple on each pocket. Just a strip of patterned paper, a strip of trim and a couple of pieces of ephemera with the label.

For each pocket, I created a small card for Avery to write on. I love that the cards show through the glassine for a hint of what's inside.

I can't wait to see what she writes on each card. And hopefully someday, many years from now, she'll thumb through it and see some dreams -- big dreams -- that came true.