Grow With Love

{grow with love: holiday} day one

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Happy Friday!  And welcome to the first post of our Grow With Love: Holiday Edition. Crystal and I are really happy to be walking along side you in storytelling as we navigate this very special time of year!  We hope that you are enjoying the moments of anticipation and preparation and advent and all things holiday-y so far and that you’re not feeling as though the month is getting away from you yet.  I always end up feeling that way at some point during this season (usually when I’m contemplating my to-do lists).  It is my hope that this project will help me to slow a bit, to pause a bit, to go with the flow a bit more, to smile a bit more and to just soak everything up.

We’ve mapped out the schedule for our blogging {here}…and let’s not get caught up in the word “schedule” or the whole idea of it really.  This project doesn’t need to be another item on your to-do list..in fact we hope, rather, that it will be something you can unwind with as you reflect and as you walk through these holly jolly days.  Remember, this is (as are all the Grow With Love projects) a self-paced workshop.  We will blog (and hopefully inspire) and you check in when at your own pace.  The prompts can be your jumping off point for documenting your holiday in and of itself or in conjunction with any other holiday project.  We can’t wait to see your pages and process as we go along!  So..let’s get started!

Here’s our prompt for {Day One}:

This is a lay-the-groundwork kind of prompt.  It may, at first glance, seem an almost obvious or “easy” something to scrap about…like “well of course THIS is why the holiday is important to me” because the meaning we each find in the holidays is something that is so within us and so a part of our history that we don’t often give it second thoughts.  It’s just a given.

But we really want you to give this a good think.  We really want to get you thinking about what you love about the holidays.  And more importantly, why.  Because it will be the why that will help you stay focused on what you love most and really enjoy everything all the more.  This kind of foundation building can really be a game-changer.  It can turn something “unpleasant” into something appreciated for its blessing.  It can change the way you consider others’ actions and intentions.  It can change the way you consider your own.  It can help give you a fresh perspective on the “old”. It can help you re-focus throughout the busy.  It can really transform and enrich your holidays.

So..whatever it is that you think of, whatever it is that you feel when you consider the holidays, scrap about it.  Get to the meat of it.  For a lot of us, it could be our faith that guides our attitudes and actions and traditions and everything about this time of year.  For others it could be family.  It could be a whole mosaic of things that really give the holidays meaning for you.  Whatever it is, map that out.

Here’s where this prompt lead me:

And Crystal:

We hope that you let yourself get a little lost in the reflecting and have fun scrapping your own “why” and then let it guide you through the holidays..and the next prompts.  The very next of which will be coming tomorrow.  Can’t wait to see your pages!

Hope you have a beautiful weekend!  Happy Scrapping!

 

{grow with love: kids} day seven

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So we’re headed into the season of crazybusy holiday and we will be diving in to Grow With Love: Holiday this week (so check back tomorrow for the details on that), for those who are wanting to join us in enhancing our family and story throughout the advent and holiday season.

But I have to say that I’m looking forward to keeping up with the Grow With Love: Kids Edition posts to help keep me grounded in what really matters this season.  Continue to check in here on Mondays and at Crystal’s blog on Thursdays for the GWL Kids Edition posts.  And remember, this is a self paced project and you can dive in anytime.  The schedule as mapped out now, has us scrapping the Kids Edition into January so there will be plenty of time to catch up if you find yourselves getting carried away with all things holiday.  If you’re just joining us (Welcome!!!!) feel free to peek at the backstory and summary of everything-you-need-to-know {HERE}.

For now, here we are at the start of Week Four and Day Seven.  This week will challenge us to act in the spirit of YES and scrap with perspective.  Let’s take a look at today’s prompt:

So grab your camera and let yourself fade into the white noise of the day to capture something “everyday”, something candid and “ordinary”, and then let yourself consider just how extraordinary that can be.  Be deliberate in how you ponder the scene (and photos) you see.  What is the story there? ….really.  What can you learn from this moment?  What does this moment reveal to you about your child(ren)?  About yourself?  Try to shift your perspective and really put pen to paper about this everyday.  Take something that may normally feel “superficial” and dive deeper.

What I love about this prompt is that it can really become so many things to each of us.  Because we all live so many little moments that are bigger and fuller and more special than we give them credit for as we hustle and bustle through our days.  These are the things that may just fade into the backgrounds of our minds…but they will be woven together as a backdrop, the kind that gives us (and our kids) a sense of who we are, the values we hold.  They are little pieces of us, pieces of our families.  Here’s a little inspiration…

I decided to quite literally follow my Bugga around for a day, taking photos here and there as she was immersed in whatever it was she was doing.  And the photo I choose to scrap in the end was a detail shot of her soaking up a new favorite book.  A gift from nana.  It was just a regular quiet moment.  But as I considered it, and this shot, it filled me with a renewed sense of just how sponge-y she is.  It’s something we all know as parents, of course, but the import of it just hit me afresh..that she is constantly learning and soaking things in..certainly more than I do, more than my DH does..and that we need to foster that at every turn.  Because really we only “have” her for a finite period of time.  We need to make the most of every moment.  Get “in the pages” with her even more than we already do.

Getting in tight on a shot like this..cropping in camera or in your program, can really bring focus to your page and story.

Crystal captured a beautiful moment of play and interaction with her son and daughter.  And I couldn’t help but smile when I saw this amazing photograph and page.  I imagine that’s how she felt looking through the lens as well.  Mommies and Daddies of more than one child can really seize a beautiful opportunity of a stellar candid capture in a shared moment between your kids, which will lend itself beautifully to the kind of perspective we’re hoping to share on the page with this prompt.

So go forth, grab the camera and capture that candid moment and scrap.  🙂  Can’t wait to see your beautiful pages!  As always, Crystal will be blogging on Thursday, so take a peek there for Day Eight.

Happy Scrapping!  Happy Week!

{grow with love: kids} day five

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Happy Monday!

I hope everyone had a beautiful weekend!  Welcome to Week Three and Day Five of Grow With Love: Kids Edition.  If you’re just finding us, we’re so happy to have you join in this adventure-in-scrapping with us!!  You can find all the details you need to know {HERE}.  The most important thing to know is: anyone can participate with us at any time (and we hope you do!). And that no matter your scrapping medium, no matter your style, how long or how short you have been scrapping, no matter *what* — Grow With Love can help you harness your inner storyteller and bring your stories to the page.  Just let your creativity guide you throughout the process and let yourself be challenged a little and we think you’ll be really happy (and proud!) of your pages.

We have seen some amazing pages so far!  And we can’t wait to see what’s to come!

So far in the first four prompts we’ve had quite a lot of fun scrapping some history and some personality.  We will build off of this foundation into a little meatier territory this week.

Today’s prompt asks us to consider shades of ourselves that we see in our children.  Let’s take a look:

When we were developing prompts this one (and day six’s too) immediately floated to the forefront of my thinking because these days it seems there isn’t a day that goes by when Bugga does something or says something, or even sighs in such a way, that it doesn’t remind us of me.  Family, friends, they all remark about how she’s so much like me.  So I got to really thinking about that and what of myself I see in her.  What I’m happy I’ve shared with her.

In some respects this prompt could be approached as an all about me page.  In that you need to get a little introspective and reflect about your own personality and character.  And for the purpose of today’s prompt we’d like you to consider yourself fairly, not critically.  Consider those things about yourself that make you proud.  The things you feel are strengths.  When you see your little one, what of yourself do you see?

So take a little time to get reflective and then smile as you scrap those similarities, large or small.

Here’s a bit of inspiration from Crystal:

I can’t wait to see how your kiddos carry a piece of you in them too!

And don’t forget to head over to Crystal’s blog on Wednesday (note the different day due to the Thanksgiving holiday) for Day Six.

{grow with love: kids} day one

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Welcome to the Grow With Love project!  Crystal and I are thrilled to dive into this adventure with you and we hope that you will find this process meaningful, reflective, heartfelt and fun!  We had such a wonderful experience working through the Grow With Love: Marriage project together.  At different times we felt challenged, inspired, accomplished, pooped, and then inspired some more.  We hope the Kids edition will be just as fruitful!  Well, minus the “pooped” part.  I think you’ll find this version, while still encouraging and challenging at times, is “lighter” and probably a little easier to flow because in many ways, as scrappers and parents, our children are our muses.

If you’re just joining us, welcome!  Let me share a bit of the backstory of Grow With Love…

Crystal and I had it on our hearts for a long time to collaborate on a project that was something more than “just” templates…we hope it can be something fresh and different; we hope it can be so much more..a kind of fresh storytelling adventure for those who want to take it.  We hope this project not only helps us to create beautiful pages from the heart that we and our families can treasure, but reaches out beyond the page to have a tangible touch on our real lives too.

And so emerged Grow With Love, a series of 20 journaling prompts that we hope will encourage you to step out of your comfort zone a little bit, reflect on your relationships and loves, and love a little more deeply and truly.  This is not only a scrap project. This is about changing yourself and your relationships for the better.  Along with the prompts, we have set up 20 templates that you can use to document this process as we “grow with love” together.

We feel so deeply about our hopes for Grow With Love that while we are digital scrapbooking template designers, we hope that anyone and everyone who wants to play along does…be it paper scrapping, digiscrapping, with the templates, or without.  Let your creativity guide you along the way, using any products and any medium.  In the end it is our hope that you will have created a series of pages (that can become an album) that you will have poured your hearts into and that you will be proud of.  Whether you’ll be using the templates (you can snag them here and here) or not, we hope that you’ll be inspired to share your heart and stories and delve in to new creative territory along side us!

So let’s get started!

The format will be the same as last time.  Crystal and I will take turns gabbing about the day’s prompt.  So you will hop back and forth from my blog to hers, to soak up the prompt and and inspiration to get you started.  This time, though, we’ve slowed the pace a little bit, so it will be easier to “keep up” because even if you’re superspeedy 20 prompts in as many days is ummm…heavy.  lol!  Instead of sharing every day, we will share and blog a prompt twice a week, over the course of 10 weeks.  I will blog Grow With Love on Mondays and Crystal on Thursdays.

Week One: Monday 8 November (Sara) and Thursday 11 November (Crystal)

Week Two: Monday 15 November (Sara) and Thursday 18 November (Crystal)

Week Three: Monday 22 Novembe (Sara) and Wednesday 24 November (Crystal)

Week Four: Monday 29 November (Sara) and Thursday 2 December (Crystal)

Week Five: Monday 6 December (Sara) and Thursday 9 December (Crystal)

Week Six: Monday 13 December (Sara) and Thursday 16 December (Crystal)

Week Seven: Monday 20 December (Sara) and Thursday 23 December (Crystal)

Week Eight: Monday 27 December (Sara) and Thursday 30 December (Crystal)

Week Nine: Monday 3 January (Sara) and Thursday 6 January (Crystal)

Week Ten: Monday 10 January (Sara) and Thursday 13 January (Crystal)

*This is just an outline.  You can scrap at your own pace.  We will keep these prompts and posts on our blogs indefinitely for anyone to peek at and join in.*

But if you’d like to scrap along with us, please do!  Those of you who do will automatically be entered into our {giveaway} at the end of the process, eligible to win gift certificates and your pages printed in your very own 20 pages photo book!

Ok, whew!  Shall we dive in to Day One?

Today’s prompt is:


This is a good place to start getting ourselves into the frame of mind of reflection about our parenting, and about our kids.  While this prompt is pretty self explanatory, some things to consider as you take yourself back to the days before you had kids: how did you view children when you weren’t yet a parent?  Were you longing for them as long as you can remember?  Or maybe did the idea of parenthood freak you out a little?  Were you the kind of person who couldn’t resist interacting with children when you saw them or spent time with them?  Or did you cringe a little sometimes when you went out to eat and were seated next to a table with a family and a loud little one or three? (not that anyone writing this post ever had those feelings before).  Think about how your own family life shaped your ideas and feeling about having children?  How did your faith or career or friends shape your view?  How did your hopes and expectations for the future impact your idea of parenthood?  Was being a parent always in your picture when you thought of the future?

Scrap and share.

Here’s Crystal’s take on the prompt:

And here’s mine:

We can’t wait to see all your beautiful pages!  Don’t forget to share them with us in the comments.  And don’t forget to head over to Crystal’s blog on Thursday for Day Two (or right now for that matter as she’s having an amazing! contest right now).

Happy Scrapping and Happy Growing!!

{grow with love} day nineteen

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I can hardly believe we are so very near to wrapping up Grow With Love: Marriage Edition.  It’s been an amazing process with challenges and fun and lots of reflection.  We so hope you’ve enjoyed the project and that, in the end, you are left with a series of pages you can be proud of — both for the creative expression and the story you’re telling.  And hopefully even for the growth you’ve experienced along the way.

The prompt for today, Day Nineteen, helps us to begin to really put everything in perspective.  Let’s take a look:

 

I have to confess that I don’t have my page ready to share yet tonight.  It’s been one I’ve thought about a lot and have begun, but today was one of those days that just ran away from me.  So I will be back to share it as soon as I can.

In the meantime I want to give you some food for thought as you formulate your own pages.  I know that the perspective we hope you will take here may be a little uncomfortable or even a little morbid to think about, but it’s one of my most favorite processes for really journaling from the heart in an earnest and meaningful way.  Any time I consider my family, children or husband reading through my art and stories after I pass, it puts everything into perspective: what really matters?  Am I sharing that here?  What do I most want them to know? About me? About how I feel about them?  Will they see that in my scrapbooking?

And that’s what we’re asking you to do here.  Our hope is that you’ll end up with a page full of those things “that really matter”.  It’s doubtful — if you knew these word the last words you would say — that you would share the trite or fleeting thoughts and feelings of hurt and anger or resentment and ugliness.  Instead, you would probably share everything from a place of love.  I predict as you’re writing this page, you’ll find yourself left with those kinds of sentiments.  I hope you really let yourself delve deep for this one.

I’ll be back soon with my page and will actually be going back and scrapping and sharing all those I’ve not been able to yet.  Which brings me to say….even as we are bringing things to a close, you can still dive in anytime. This project will remain here on my blog and Crystal’s blog so you can start the adventure anytime.  And if you are just finding us, you can catch up on the details in Day One and then follow the prompts as we hop from my blog to Crystal’s and back.  It’s never too late to start something you will find meaningful and we would love for you to join us or catch up anytime, in your time.

I so hope that you all have enjoyed taking this journey with us!  Don’t forget to stop by Crystal’s blog tomorrow for the final day of Grow With Love.

Lots of love, and Happy Scrapping!!

{grow with love} day seventeen

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Happy fresh week scrappers!  I can’t believe we’re finally in the midst of Week Four of the Grow with Love project!  The end is in sight and that has me feeling both (admittedly) a little relieved and a little sad.  It’s been a journey in creative expression, in deep personal reflection, and in growth and hope in my marriage.

If you’re only just finding us please know that this project — at it’s heart — is meant to be one that you can complete in your own time and in your own way.  So ultimately there is still time to dive in and join us.  You can learn the back-story and the details of the project by reviewing the Day One post and then following the prompts with each new day as we hop between my blog and Crystal’s blog.

Before we dive in to today’s prompt, I wanted to take the time for a wee logistical note.  Crystal and I have been thinking about prize eligibility.  Originally we had mentioned that in order to be eligible for the “grand pooba prize” of a custom photobook you would need to use the templates AND the prompts.  Anyone would eligible for the gift certificate prizes (no matter if you used the templates or not).

BUT as this project has progressed, we’ve decided to change that a bit.  We understand that these pages we all are creating are, more than anything, story driven and our templates may not always fit the direction you want to go (I know they haven’t always done so for me)…we looove to see pages with the templates we’ve created, but ultimately we care more about the journey we all are taking.  And we are really excited about anyone playing along as they want to..and so we’ve decided that anyone who completes all 20 days of prompts will be eligible for the prizes, including the custom photobook.

Okeedokee, now on to today’s prompt.  Today is Day Seventeen. And this prompt is a lighter one that can be a lot of fun as we look back on special date night moments.  Let’s take a look:


For this one I had fun recalling many special and fun date nights shared with my husband, and ultimately in the end I landed on what’s kind of emerged as our “regular” date night.  It’s not as “flashy” or BIG, but it’s become really important to me.  So I scrapped about our sushi nights.  And decided to kind of mirror the stacked composition of sushi itself with my design.  Something simple, but it suits what I was going for.

Hope you have fun remembering your date nights!  Or maybe even scrapping about your longing for them.

And don’t forget to swing by Crystal’s blog tomorrow for Day Eighteen!

Happy Scrapping!!

 

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