Catching Up with One Little Word® 2017

I appreciate the simplicity of One Little Word®. It's really easy to stay "caught up."  Here's February:

Last year had the same theme for the month of February.  Choose something that you want to practice.  This year, I chose daily prayer--spending 1% of the day with God.  It was a good thing to stay cognizant of. (Circle embellishments from Ali Edwards; cross from Micahels; heart stickers from Starfoam)

Since March does best as a double-page spread, I decided to use this card from the Simple Stories Posh kit as a starter. I love the message.  Embracing loving the days.

Again this year, Ali suggested a vision board that related to our words.  I chose the two scenes because relaxation and rest have been underrated in my life, except on weekends when I tend to crash. I need to embrace the need for these each day.

The final page is also from the Posh set.  I really like that set a great deal.  Lots of uses.

One Little Word 2016: Real Wraps Up

It feels like I just chose this word, and yet, when I go through this album, I realize what a lot has happened in 2016.  Holy moly.  So here is December.

I used the bejeebies out of Ali's Story Kit for this month.  Pretty much every embellishment and stamp was from that kit.  It was perfect for the prompt this month.

"Reflecting & remembering" stamp is from the Review stamp kit, as is "Life in Progress" on the flipside of the tab.

I knew I had to use A Year in Review for this spread.  I mounted it on kraft and outlined it in white Gelly Roll pen.  The back of some of Ali's 4 x 6 cards have "Story Sparks" on them, so I needed a cover.

When I did this, it helped to have the scrapbook right in front of me, especially for the feelings part.  I just lifted the feelings straight from what I was writing each month.  It was a good reflection for sure.

I think I might be addicted to these phrase stickers.  If Ali ever stops producing them, I might need rehab.

The finality of that last page cannot be overemphasized.

A close up of phrases and images that wrapped up my year with Real.

Back in the saddle again

Oh my.  It has been a very long time.  My mojo went for a vaca.  And then, BAM!  It returned.  Over the last several months, moving, school starting, and anxiety have overtaken my life.  I think I finally regained the steering wheel.  And I caught up with my One Little Word album in all happy ways possible.  Some of what I am about to show you I have already blogged.  I will link to previous posts as needed.  Some was newer.  Just recently, I finally decided (and love!) what to do with the inside of the dividers.  So, I wanted to show the months in their entirety.

This is the first month divider.  At first, I have circled the word "real," but then one of my story kids had the word in it, and another had the acrylic star.  Both were destined for my cover.

On the insides of my covers, I chose to paint the backgrounds (Ali did this on one of her months) with acrylic paints.  On most of them, I mounted a meme from my "Real" Pinboard.  I drew a frame around them as well.  I love how the tabs look from the back of the album now.

I also used some of Ali's acrylics that I got with various things in the past.  OH MY GOSH!  Compared to the other acrylic paint I had, her paint was SUPERIOR. I had Karat (not on her website; must have been an exclusive kit thing) and Timberline, and they had this amazing metallic sheen to them.  So, of course, that prompted me to order her whole set.  Many of the other acrylics I had were completely dried up, which was sad.  It's been a long time since I touched them.

I wrote about the remainder of January on this post.  Here's how the pages turned out.

February and March were discussed in this post.  Here is how they turned out.

The message on the left is from my Get to Work planner from 2015.  Each month's cover page was removable.  I thought this one worked quite well with the month's theme of "Practice."

This photo was available online around the time of Muhammad Ali's death.  I loved it so much.  I got it printed with several other memes that I knew I wanted to use through the Shutterfly app, which was offering FREE unlimited prints.  How can you refuse that?

For April, I used the image of "real" that I created for different cards.  Ali charged us with looking for our word and how it is defined in our lives.  I liked this month a lot.  I kept a list in a note on my iPhone as the month progressed when something "real" dawned on me.  The transparency sheet that I cut into 3 x 4s was purchased at Michaels.  The meme was actually one that goes with our constant conversations about selling our house and being less financially burdened.

In May, Ali challenged us to choose photos that expressed our word in our life at this time.  If you are offended by foul language, avert your eyes.  This is where some memes made their entrance.

I had some 8 x 8 album page protectors with 4 x 4 pockets from Stampin' Up, so I cut them and used them as half pages.

I had two 6 x 4s that I wanted to include, but did not have a page protector that would accommodate my needs, so I just adhered them together and hole-punched them as they were.  I am debating whether or not journaling needs to happen for some of these.  

You can't really see the pic of my boys watching the fireworks very well.  It was a priceless moment for me.

June was halfway through the year, and therefore, time for a progress check.  

This, too, was from my Get to Work planner from 2015.

I wrote extensively about July in this post.  This is close to being my favorite layout of the year.  I was freaking out in July as we crept close to closing on our house, yet we had not sold our other home.

This was also the last layout I completed for a looooooong time.

For August, Ali said three pictures, but that was insufficient to express the true chaos that was August 2016.  So I went a little beyond.

These pictures are adhered using 6 x 4 Flip Pockets that I actually purchased for my first OLW class in 2012.

I used the 4 x 3 page protector with 2 x 2" shots and some of Ali's word art.  I also used number stickers from her Stuff Story Kit. (available here for a limited time, both the digital kit and the hard copies)

I did a quick write on the back of each photo with the date and the subject.  I also used more "Stuff" stickers.

More "Stuff" stickers.  I love that Story Kit.

Ali had us look at September using three "attention" lenses: joy, pace, and rest.  She had some health issues at this time, and I was having some strong anxiety issues stemming from the move and the non-movement of our house.  I actually wrote these cards recently, but vividly recalled my emotional September.

I think October is my favorite month.  I love using song lyrics, and I love the black and white effect of this layout.  Here was my song lyric page from back in 2012:

#stamplovin

And finally, November.  This is a completely Ali-inspired page.  I used some masking with  Stampin' Up rolling stamps that I had for forever and I always seem to forget about. I also used Lawn Fawn's Riley's ABCs for the words at the tops of the cards.  I used Ali's inks for this and they worked REALLY well.

And here is the cover for December's addition.

I am really, really pleased with this album on multiple levels.