I’ve been giving some thought to other things I’d like to accomplish this year. I wrote the first things that came to mind in my art journal, but as I thought about it more, I realized that there are still things I think need some improvement in my life. Here’s a longer list (the journaled goals listed first):
* Be kinder- I’m a very sarcastic person and I feel like my sense of humor is sharper than it should be. I’d like to work on being a nicer, kinder person.
* Finish NaNoWriMo 2011 on time- I thought 2010 was the year I’d finally make it, but I got to about 16k words and lost steam. 2011 is going to be my year though.
* Be creative everyday in some form- I include pretty much anything in this goal. Writing and photography count as well as painting, journaling, or other paper crafts. I’ve decided to participate in Julie’s 10 minutes a day art journaling challenge so that should help.
* Submit work for publication- I’m a little vague about this one because I’m not sure where this year will take me. I assume that my something will be a piece of work, but I’ve also toyed with the idea of submitting articles for publication in non art magazines. Just as long as I get over my fear of rejection and give it a try, I’ll be happy.
* Blog at least 2x a week- Pretty self explanatory. I need to be better about communicating with people and blogging is one way to do that.
* Take more photos- I got a digital SLR camera in the early months of 2010, but instead of using it as much as I dreamed I would, I found that I took less pictures than ever because getting it out of the case and attaching the lens is prohibitive. It feels like the moment is gone by the time I get it set up. I am going to work on over coming that feeling. I don’t aspire towards pictures every single day, but at least once a week would be much better and seems attainable for me.
* Become a hometown tourist- Due to the military and contracting jobs being a huge part of my adult life, I haven’t had very much control over the places I’ve ended up living. It’s my intent to try to find the beautiful, touristy, and interesting things that are offered in the place where I live. Wherever that ends up being.
* Live vividly** and appreciate all my blessing for what they are- I have had a rough couple of years in my personal life, but I’ve also been blessed to experience things I never have before. I have found the man I want to spend the rest of my life with. I have the most beautiful, funny, amazing kids a woman could ever hope for. These are all wonderful things that I want to acknowledge in some way.
* Become part of the art journaling community- I have become a virtual hermit. I want more than anything to change that. I want to be more active in the community I see happening around me online. I read blogs and follow more Twitters than I can count. I know people are meeting up and finding friends that share their passion for creating beautiful things. I’d like to share in that as well. I just need to overcome my inclination to lurk and start being more social.
* Learn to crochet a granny square- Doesn’t seem like it should be that hard, but I haven’t been able to figure it out yet.
*Finish my NY Remains of the Day journal- I have everything all sorted out, pictures are printed, the basic structure is already done. All that’s left is to sew the embellishments on, add the photos, and journal. So why haven’t I accomplished this yet? Did I mention that this has all been done since I took Mary Ann’s class last year? If that’s not lazy, I don’t know what is.
I spent another nap time working on my journal. Although I had spent well over my 10 minutes just picking, editing, and printing the photo I wanted to use for the page. It’s nearly all done now, but I’ve still got a little more to go before I feel like it’s really done. Here’s a couple of pictures I’ve taken during the process.
I work in a moleskin sketch book. The pages aren’t especially thick so I usually glue down some scrap paper to give me a thicker page to work on and it gives me a subtle background texture to work with. Today I decided to use an idea I saw on Julie’s blog a few weeks ago. As is painfully obvious, the pages warp and buckle like crazy due to my liberal use of Mod Podge. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I like the texture, truth be told. And for added texture I used my sheet of bubble wrap again to add gesso dots. It pulled some of the left over purple paint from yesterday’s page. I liked that too.
This is pretty close to complete now. It’s a layout about my son, Trev. The post it note was a note that he left for me and the hearts on the left page were cut out of a page he painted. Everything else is just an assortment of scraps I found on my desk.
**I’ve never really done Ali’s One Little Word project. I don’t plan to do anything this year in an official capacity. However, as I was making up my goal layout in my art journal my choice to use the word “vivid” struck me as right. What an awesome concept. To live life deliberately and seek out every opportunity to do things bigger and brighter than you might otherwise. I want to look back at a year full of Technicolor memories. A vivid 2011. I can’t wait.
Just found your blog this morning as I was drooling over the entries in Art Journal Every Day. Love your ideas. Love your emphases. Love the word VIVID.
I feel like a found a new friend.