Storytelling

{grow with love: kids} day fourteen

January 18, 2011 By Mrs. Gleason

Happy Monday! Welcome (back) to Grow With Love: Kids Edition. So…here we are. We are picking up where we left off and I’m so thrilled to be getting us back into these posts. Crystal and I have been loving them so far and we are eager to step in to the final sequence of prompts and pages for our kids project!! If you need to get caught up feel free to head back to the beginning or catch up on the latest update post. As always we are so happy to welcome anyone who wants to dive in at any time and we hope you have fun making this project your own! Most of all we hope you find it fulfilling and thought-provoking, fun and impactful.

So let’s take a peek at what’s next. Here is the prompt for Day Fourteen:

This is a prompt that has so many possibilities for direction. I can envision many funny pages…maybe that it might be a good idea to invest in Mr. Clean Magic Erasers:

Or that there is such a thing as Toddler Math. And one of the primary formulas to remember is: giving your toddler a bit of time to herself + silence = trouble. (Incidentally please forgive the horrific photography of this linked toddler math post. It was before the days of a decent camera and before the days of my knowing anything about photography. I still don’t know much, but as you’ll see..at least there’s been progress. lol!!).

But there may also be pages brewing of a more serious tone, and that’s the direction I took with mine as I reflected on this prompt. I decided to share a “wish someone told me” about some of the negative feelings that emerge in moments of parental frustration, or sheer exhaustion…I suppose, looking back, if I was being realistic I had to expect that these moments would happen. But I think I always felt that my gooey-oozy-HUGE-never-before-experienced-unconditional kind of love would manage to ourweigh any irritations I might feel toward my child. And, in the end, it does. But the truth is, sometimes I feel frustrated. Sometimes I even feel irritated. Sometimes I let those feelings direct my mood. And then, almost immediately feel incredible guilt for having felt that way in the first place. So I wish someone would have told me this would happen. That I am not alone. That it’s rather normal. And so…my page:

I went with stark background and photoless because it seemed to suit both the wish and the insecurity of “confessing” these feelings.

When you reflect on this prompt, no matter what direction you go in..be it fun and silly or more serious..think of how your page design or template transformation can “fit” the story you’re sharing. You can set the mood with design and color as much as you can with words.

We hope you have fun with this one! Can’t wait to see your pages! And don’t forget to check in with Crystal for Day Fifteen on Thursday.

{grow with love: letters} day two

January 16, 2011 By Mrs. Gleason

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!

{grow with love: letters} day one

January 15, 2011 By Mrs. Gleason

Happy Weekend! I hope everyone is enjoying a beautiful day!

I’m really thrilled to get us started on our latest Grow With Love journey…Grow With Love: Letters. This is a series of templates and journaling prompts inspired by letter writing that will be featured in the Artisan Notebook throughout 2011. Crystal and I are really excited about this adventure and hope you will join us along the way as we challenge ourselves to really pour our thoughts and feelings in to our scrapping and journaling. Each month we will release and feature 4 fresh prompts and templates…totaling in 48 amazing pages and letters covering a wide variety of topics and heartsongs. You can find January’s offering {here} and {here}. As with each of our Grow With Love projects, Crystal and I will be posting the prompts and diving in to them with you on our blogs. This weekend we will play a little catch up and post the first two prompts with some inspiration. Then you will be able to follow along for the last two January posts as such:

Week Three: Wednesday 19 January – join us on Sara’s blog

Week Four: Wednesday 26 January – join us on Crystal’s blog

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}.

So let’s take a peek at the first prompt for this month’s Letters project:

I always feel a lot of energy in scrapping at the beginning of the year as we all often feel inspired by that fresh-start feeling of all the goal setting and reflection and optimistism and hope that comes with the new year. This prompt holds on to that energy and asks you to write to yourself about your compass for the year. Whatever that may be for you..your “one little word” or any direction-setting project you are pursuing, scrap it. Challenge yourself to get really honest with this prompt. Think and reflect and choose something you know is “doable” not just something you WANT to be doable. In a way, you are holding yourself accountable here and also setting yourself up for success by setting realistic expectations for yourself and something you will strive for in the long term…it’s an endurance thing so to speak, as opposed to a short-term sprint kind of thing.

I know for me, this kind of “shift” in my approach to scrapping my compass for 2011 resulted in some really wonderfully energizing and fulfilling introspection and conversations and prayer as I chose my heading for the year.

Here is a peek at Crystal’s beautiful page as she encourages herself through her journaling:

We can’t wait to see your pages of reflection and compass-setting! And we hope you find this process one as energizing and hopeful as it was for us!! Feel free to share here in the comments with us if your comfortable. And stay tuned for the next GWL: Letters posts tomorrow.

Happy Scrapping!

{grow with love: holiday} day ten

December 21, 2010 By Mrs. Gleason

Happy Tuesday and Happy Day Ten of Grow With Love: Holiday!! I feel as though I’ve time warped from the beginning of December to this moment because a good ten days in between was spent in complete sick-haze-couch-land and doesn’t count. I have to be honest, those days when I was feeling really terrible were a challenge for me. I LOVE this time of year. And I felt so discouraged and spent and completely devoid of the holiday spirit. So it was definitely an exercise in deliberate focus for me to stay focused on the positives…like the sound of my Bugga’s voice each morning (even when she herself was feeling yucky) discovered our little elf Rachel and her elf-y mischief or the sound of holiday tunes or lounging and watching my favorite holiday movies. We had to forgoe a lot of what we were looking forward to, but the important thing was we had each other and the whole point of this season was still there. We just had to work a wee bit harder to feel it.

We are nearing the end of Grow With Love: Holiday and despite all the busy (or all the sick) I hope that feeling of magic and warm is filling you up now! These prompts will remain up indefinitely and you can find any and all of them (as well as other Grow With Love projects): {HERE}. Feel free to dive in at any time!

Today’s prompt is another that has us considering a specific aspect of the holidays and one that can be deeply infused with meaning…music:

Even though there may be moments when I feel “tired” of hearing all the musical holiday notes everywhere we go this time of year, mostly I just love it all to bits. I looove holiday music! I am working on a page now that showcases my favorite holiday songs in a “playlist”. And it includes some that make me giggle and warm my heart (like I Want a Hippopatomus for Christmas):

a totally random pairing but song I just can’t get enough of in Bing Crosby singing with David Bowie (ummm..huh? lol!) Little Drummer Boy:

Oodles of other favorites from the Bing and Sinatra and Ella era, plus many traditional hymns and choral pieces and of course my most favorite (as in gives me the chills every single time I hear it), O Holy Night …really any version amazes me but I loove Josh Groban’s version:

ANYhoo…I could do this all night. I love love holiday music. So I’m excited to finish scrapping my music-y page while listening to some of these tunes. You can choose many to showcase, or one that is extra special to you. One that annoys you, one that uplifts you, one that takes you back to a special Christmas moment. Whatever you scrap I hope that you have fun reflecting on the sounds of the season.

Tomorrow the family and I head to the Polar Express train ride (the Grand Canyon Railroad) and I can’t wait! It will be just what we all need to get us feeling better and FULL of happy holiday spirit. I hope you and yours have beautiful days and moments leading up to Christmas!! ♥

{grow with love: kids} day thirteen

December 20, 2010 By Mrs. Gleason

Hello everyone and happy new week! Can you believe I’m actually blogging today?! Neither can I actually, as I almost wasn’t sure I’d make it. This illness has wrecked me so totally. I can’t recall the last time I was so hugely impacted by a virus, both physically and mentally. It’s day nine of the sick for me (which also hit my sweet Bugga and my dear love) and I’m only just able to peel myself off the couch for a few moments. Went back to the doctor today and they did a chest xray…which was sent off to be read to be sure of what they were seeing. I’m praying for good news and a clear film. In the mean time, I have been given some better meds and I am trying desperately to catch up on all that I’ve missed and regain all the holiday cheer I was feeling before this sick arrived.

I have missed you so and have missed scrapping and blogging and making merry so SO much. I hope that everyone has been enjoying their season and not feeling waylayed by illness or discouragement. I know that Crystal has been guiding you along the way with both our Grow With Love: Holiday and Grow With Love: Kids and I’m so grateful for her inspiration and for her stepping in when I couldn’t.

I’m happy to be bringing you Day 13 and the start of Week Seven of Grow With Love: Kids Edition. We will be taking these prompts into the New Year so there is still plenty of time to hop in and join us. You can do so at anytime, at your pace, whenever you feel inspired. Be sure to check out the main listing of postings {here} to catch up and follow along, for the backstory of Grow With Love and some wonderful inspiration.

Soo….let’s take a peek at today’s prompt shall we? It’s another “act and scrap” prompt as Crystal and I like to say and we find these ones to personally be among our favorites because they challenge us to really tangibly act in our lives. And today’s is one I have found to help guide my steps on the harder days of parenting.

So, it’s true. Parenthood is the most rewarding gift I’ve been given, but it’s also the most challenging. Sometimes parenting can be exhausting, and it can feel thankless, and it can feel like hard.work. Because many times it is. We are shaping our kids into the people they will become, we are guiding them and teaching them and that is HUGE stuff. Important stuff. And oftentimes frustrating stuff. I know I have some days where I am happy it’s bedtime. I always feel a little guilty for admitting that too, but some days…the hard days…nighttime can’t come quickly enough. It’s on these days I need to work a little harder to focus on the positives and so this prompt is helpful for me. It’s not about shielding from the important lessons or pretending life is all “rainbows and lollypops” but it is about being mindful of the power of your words. A parent’s words are heavy with meaning. Meaning that lasts. So we challenge you to take a day and let the praises be louder than the negatives..both outloud the little unsaid things you may say to yourself.

Ok..so I hope that gives you a good point to jump from. My head is feeling a little fuzzy so its entirely possible this post has made no sense. And I had better stop while I’m ahead. I will be back tomorrow though with Day 10 of Grow With Love: Holiday. And Crystal will be blogging on Wednesday.

Oooh ooh! And if you missed it…I’ve shared a freebie on the Scrap Orchard blog today as part of their advent hoopla annnnd my releases there at my guest home this month are currently 50% off (but only for a few more hours). ♥

Happy day and Happy Scrapping!

{grow with love: holiday} day five

December 10, 2010 By Mrs. Gleason

Happy Friday! I hope that everyone has been enjoying this the second week of December! I know it is a time that is extra full for everyone…with all kinds of busy. I know that I’m already feeling as though I could slow time a little bit to really relish all the moments and have a bit more time for the to do lists. And now that we are battling the sick in our house I feel that more than ever. Here’s to staying focused on what really matters and taking time to pause.

All that said, I was really excited to take a pause from the hub-bub yesterday to scrap today’s Grow With Love: Holiday post. And so without further ado here is our prompt for Day Five.

I’m really loving these “in their own words” prompts and pages lately and I love the idea of infusing MORE of my loved ones into my pages..not just me scrapping *about* them or speaking *to* them, but sharing more from their perspective in a real way. Getting them engaged in the memory keeping. So I had fun asking Bugga about her impressions of Christmastime. So here we have Christmastime with 4 year old goggles. What fun it will be to look back at this. And in fact I’m feeling inspired to revisit this very page each year to see the changes over time.