Welcome to the first post of Grow With Love: Letters for February!!  As I outlined in our first post of the Letters series in January…Grow With Love: Letters is a series of templates and journaling prompts inspired by letter writing that will be featured in the Artisan Notebook throughout 2011.

Last month we put pen to paper writing letters to ourselves: letters of encouragement, of determination and compass setting.  We built a kind of foundation for the year with our pages.  And now, as we step in to February, we are inspired by the mood of the month: LOVE.

There is, after all, something romantic and so personal in letter writing. And so we will let our hearts be full of all things love-inspired as we write letters to those we love…our significant others, our children, our families.  As we reflect on our relationships, we will be considering where we’ve come from, where we are, and where we hope to go.  We think you’ll find these prompts uplifting and, in the end, you’ll have some heartfelt pages that emerge as a kind of love song to those you love and hold dear.

As always, Crystal and I will share each prompt and some inspiration on our blogs each week:

Week One: Wednesday 2 February – join us on Sara’s blog: http://www.zinniasandswallowtails.com

Week Two: Wednesday 9 February – join us on Crystal’s blog: http://www.liveyourstories.com

Week Three: Wednesday 16 February – join us on Sara’s blog: http://www.zinniasandswallowtails.com

Week Four: Wednesday 23 February – join us on Crystal’s blog: http://www.liveyourstories.com

Also, as with all our GWL projects, Letters is ultimately a self-paced journey and whatever you hope to make of it.  So you are welcome to follow along and jump in at any time, using the templates or not, scrapping digi or paper, or simply just journaling or creating an art journal: whatever inspires you.  You will be able to find all our posts as we complete them listed {here}.

I am really looking forward to the prompts for this month as I have the tendency to get a little sentimental and love to reflect on the love stories in my life: with my faith, my husband, my daughter, my family, the history…and because I am basically one big Ooey Gooey Cheesetastic Love-Guided person, I feel that (as they say in the movie of the same name) “Love Actually is all around”.  And this month we really dive in to that sentiment.  But not in a fluffy-bunny and rainbows kind of way, but an authentic and heartfelt kind of way.

So let’s dive right in to the prompt for Day 5:

Right from the off I am really excited about this prompt because music and lyrics have always had a special place in my storytelling.  I have been creating pages for my daughter, inspired by music and lyrics, for two years now.  There is something that can be so powerful in storytelling through songs that I love, songs that I hope she will love too, songs that say what my heart feels.

Here are a few examples of my most favorite songs that have become heartsongs to my daughter…

This one features “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley and in this case I didn’t expound upon the lyrics because they so beautifully reflected just the message I want my daughter to hold in her heart:

“Don’t worry about a thing…
‘cause every little thing is
gonna be alright. Singin:
don’t worry about a thing
‘cause every little thing is
gonna be alright….
Rise up this morning, smiled
at the risin’ sun, three little
birds pitch at my doorstep
singing sweet songs, of
melodies pure and true
saying this is my message
to you ooh ooh…….singing don’t
worry about a thing…”

I chose a photo of her in a completely carefree moment because it suited the mood of the page.

And another where I just let the lyrics speak my heart.  This one features, “I Hope You Dance” by Le Ann Womack

“I hope you never lose your sense of wonder, You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger, May you never take one single breath for granted, God forbid love ever leave you empty handed, I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean, Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens, Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance, And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.  I hope you dance….I hope you dance.  I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance, Never settle for the path of least resistance Livin’ might mean takin’ chances, but they’re worth takin’, Lovin’ might be a mistake but it’s worth makin’,  Don’t let some hell bent heart leave you bitter,  When you come close to sellin’ out reconsider,  Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance,  And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.  I hope you dance….I hope you dance.  I hope you dance….I hope you dance.”

Sometimes there would be just a portion of a lyric that would say all I hoped to say.  Like this one, which features snippets of Coldplay’s “Don’t Panic”: “We live in a beautiful world, yeah we do yeah we do.”

And then there were times when there was a song that I love…but the entire song wouldn’t carry a meaning I wanted to be a heartsong…so I would scrap just that a tidbit (a phrase or title).  For example, here I scrapped a phrase from within the song “Northern Lad” by Tori Amos.  The song itself is rather haunting and melancholy and it’s about loss, about broken love.  But there is a brief little line in there that carries strong power I wanted to share with Bugga:  “I feel the West in you”.  The West.  Hope.  Possibility.  And so my journaling here, also brief, reflects the power of that statement to me: “I feel the West in you. In you I see hope horizons, possibility. I see the West in you”.

Other times I would share some lyrics and then journal about what they mean to me and what I hope they will communicate to her…

This one features a song by JJ Heller “What Love Really Means”.  The entire song inspires and touches me but the lyrics I share with Bugga are:  “I will love you for you
not for what you have done or what you will become. I will love you for you.”

Journaling: Dear Darling, I wish I could say that you will go through life and not ever know the pain of loss, the sting of disappointment, or the weight of guilt…but the truth is, life is not guaranteed to be trouble free.  Though I pray you always feel the deep love we have for you and that God has for you..there may very well be moments when you find yourself wondering: who will love me for me? Not for what I have done or who I will become who will love me for me?  My wish is that you can close your eyes and pray and feel the answer like a warm wave passing over you: the truth is we will always love you for you, no matter what you have done or what you become.  And so will Jesus. Always. Forever.

I’ve shared lyrics and songs from the Beatles, Van Morrison to Dave Matthews Band, Ani DiFranco to Billy Joel to Frank Sinatra to Lenny Kravitz and Ben Harper to Christmas carols and back.  Really, the possibilities for sharing your heart through music and lyrics are endless.  I found myself often creating more artistic-y pages, but this is the kind of prompt that would suit any scrapping style.  And it can share so much: personal music tastes as well as stories and hopes and fears and…emotion.  For yourself, for your child, for your spouse, for any loved one.

What songs and lyrics speak to you?  We so hope you have fun with this one!  Can’t wait to see your pages!!

Crystal will be sharing Day 6 of Letters next Wednesday on her blog.  And she will also be hosting Day 19 of GWL: Kids tomorrow.

I hope everyone has been having a beautiful week!

I am happy to share Day Three of the Grow With Love: Letters project today!  In Day One we set our compasses for the year and in Day Two we made a deliberate effort to focus on the positive foundations of ourselves.  Today’s post ventures into sharing encouragement and gaining big picture perspective.  Let’s take a peek:

Right from the off I could see how this may be a heavy page for myself.  There is a page I’ve been wanting needing to scrap for almost two years now.  But it’s one of those emotional, cathartic types and frankly I’ve been avoiding it.  Not entirely intentionally, but it was easy to scrap the other lighter things.  And so I have been.  In fact, I actually tried to think of something else to scrap for this prompt.  But this page kept tugging at me and it turns out this prompt was a perfect and timely opportunity to finally dive in.  Because this page that has been brewing is a perfect example of a “hindsight is 20-20” moment for me.

So for me, it was a bit challenging.  But then, also amazingly empowering and encouraging.  The whole process of scrapping this prompt became a reminder for me of the big picture.  And my big picture is framed by my beliefs and experiences, but it tells me that even in those moments when I feel so out of control, there is a plan (and a better one than my own).  My lesson was, to a degree, at its core: “when you are grateful fear disappears and abundance appears”.  It can be so reassuring and reaffirming to look back in hindsight and be able to discern the reasons for the tougher moments.  And to learn from them so when faced with challenges in the future I can rely on what I know is true instead of being guided solely by the moments in the present.

So, all that said.  My page looks a little dark and scary (and if anyone is familiar with my scrapping, I don’t do dark and scary).  BUT really the message for me, the process for me, and the hindsight I am communicating is…light and beautiful and amazing.  I think I may do a second accompaniment page for this prompt.  To kind of echo the beauty of hindsight.  Because two years later, things are not this dark.

So how does this prompt speak to you?  Do you have a moment, like me, that is clear to you now, but that seemed muddy once upon a time?  Or is your hindsight moment one full of humour?  Is it a “note to self”?  Think about some of the lessons you feel you’ve learned in life and trace it back to the beginning…how did you learn it?  Where does your wisdom in life come from?  What experiences got you to where you are?  Consider all of that as you think of writing this letter.

Can’t wait to see!  Happy Growing and Happy Scrapping!

Crystal will be presenting the fourth prompt for Letters next Wednesday.

Happy Sunday!

I am posting today’s prompt for Grow With Love: Letters on behalf of our dear Crystal as her home and family continue to be beseiged with the flu.  🙁  My heart aches for her knowing how horrible that can be and so wanted to lighten her load in any way I could.  So… I’m happy to bring you Day Two of the project!  You can find Day One {here} and as always are welcome to join in at any time!

Yesterday we reflected on setting our course for the year as we wrote our thoughts and hopes and wishes and goals to ourselves.  Let’s take a look at today’s prompt which will have us shifting our perspective just a wee bit more:

As Crystal and I thought about and discussed resolutions and goals and words of years past, we realized that sometimes our own journeys of seeking change and evolution and betterment fell flat.  Sometimes we would feel preoccupied with the uglier parts of ourselves we were seeking to change.  Sometimes that process even had us feeling disappointed in ourselves if we didn’t meet the goals or stick with a program or if we put too much on our plates.  So we wanted to frame these prompts in a tone of realistic expectations and in the framework of building upon the good that is already there.  In ourselves.  And our lives. And our relationships.  And so today’s prompt kind of evolved from that hope for ourselves and this project: we want to accentuate the positives not just work to better the negatives.

To me, this prompt is not meant to naive or be all “rainbows and bunny rabbits” so to speak…I approached it as a way to direct my steps in a positive line and avoid bullying myself or letting my insecurities take a hold in my thinking.  As one who has sometimes been too hard on myself and who has had difficulty seeing what others see in me, I have come to believe that edifying ourselves can be as important as edifying others.  And so it was in that spirit that I approached this prompt.  Here’s what I came up with for Day Two:

I was inspired by my own recent reflections and studies and by songs that have inspired me and by listing…so I listed 32 things for my 32 years and I incorporated some inspiring musings from lyrics I love into my own “talking to myself” journaling.  Your approach to affirming yourself or shining the light on the positives you hope to build upon this year may come in a different way..let your letter writing flow however you are inspired.

We can’t wait to see your pages too!

I do want to say again, as we get into this project more and as it is so journaling heavy… as with all our Grow With Love projects, we know these pages can be very personal and something you may not feel comfortable sharing in a gallery OR you may want to share, but do not feel comfortable sharing the words…that’s ok completely!  I usually do share my words, but some pages I like to hold the journaling closer.  We would love to see your pages and encourage you but ultimately, this is a scrapping journey for YOU.  So share as you are comforable.

Hope you have a beautiful day! Happy Scrapping!