There is so much going on over at the Art House Co-op these days. Their mission statement is "We build art projects and communities". I first learned about them when I checked out The Sketchbook Project.  You can find details on that here:  The Sketchbook Project
Now they have a wide variety of projects such as The Meal 2013, The Encyclopedia of Workspaces, The Print Exchange, Letters from Your Childhood, Things Found By Accident (a photography project) The Memoir Project, a handwritten collection of true stories from individuals from around the world.
There are several more as well.  I think that anyone could find something that would appeal to them.  If you are looking for a way to exercise your creative "muscle) Check out their projects site here Art House Co-op Projects
Check out the deadline dates for signing up as these projects are open for a limited time.

Liberate Your Art postcard swap

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Liberate Your Art Postcard Swap 2013

Kat's Eye Studio has just announced sign-ups for this year's Liberate Your Art postcard swap.  Click on the link above for all the details!
Basically you create a piece of "art" - it can take any form - take a photograph of it, place it on a postcard and mail it out to the world.  After sign-ups are complete, you'll receive the names of 5 people to send you art to.  Its super easy.  I found postcards at the office supply store that have one side that is sticky and you just place your photo on it, address it, write a brief note (if you wish) and drop it in the mailbox.  There are a lot of other ways to mail your art and Kat will provide more information after you sign-up.  I've signed up - I hope you will too!

Mixed Media piece for my 2011 postcard

Project Life Week 1

Week 1 left side

Week 1 right side

2013 Week 1 Project Life and Project Real Life

Project Real Life started last October and about 2-3 weeks into

the class it felt like it was something I should do at the

beginning of the year rather than the end.  

I didn't have the time to really put into the class anyway so

that worked out well.

So here I am starting Project Life 2013 with 

Project Real Life. 

Another great reason for doing this now is I don't have to have a third year of snow and bird pictures filling the first 2 months of my Project Life album!

 Project Real Life is a Big Picture Class (BPC) by Becky Higgins.

The first week's theme is Begin with the End in Mind.

What I have in mind for 2013 is to complete things.

Finish books, fill empty picture frames, do all the little things

on my "to do" list for the house, finish projects, finish classes, and more.

I originally was going to have "Complete" as my One Little Word OLW) for 2013 but 

it felt too limiting.  With further reflection and research into various words

I chose "Seek".  More on that in other posts.

Nothing fancy here.  More journaling than I usually do which is a good thing.

I did some stamping on the date card.  Added two fortunes to the date card from fortune cookies we had on New Year's Eve.

I numbered the journaling cards so that the reader could follow the story.

I added a journaling card with my OLW word and definitions.

The quote card and theme of the week cards from Project Real Life 

are in the layout as well.  

I'm using bits and pieces from 2 different year's Project Life supplies along with an extra album I ended up with. 

I'll eventually add my goals sheets from Project Real Life in between Week 1's pages.  For now I'm using them as I work on Week 2's materials.  

Did you set any goals or intentions for 2013?  What are they? 

One Little Word - January 2013

Here's a look at how my One Little Word (OLW) pages are shaping up for January.  I mostly stuck to Ali Edwards' instructions for the prompt.  All the materials I've used I had on on hand.  They include:
Close To My Heart's My Acrylix stamp set "Atomic Caps" for the word "SEEK" on each of the cards.  I had some trouble figuring out how to include the other words on the cards since mine were much longer words than Ali's 3-4 letter words.  I used Creative Memories Mini Alphabet stickers that I've had forever and changed up the colors to match the kraft cardstock and the Cranberry ink (from Close To My Heart) on the word "SEEK".  The washi tape is some I got in a SMASH pack.  I had some problems with that as it did not want to stick very well on the cardstock.  I've heard that's a problem with washi tape.  I used Close To My Heart ink "White Daisy" for the months on the kraft cardstock. For the months I used Close To My Heart's Nov. 2012 Stamp of the Month "Capture the Date".  My color scheme developed from the kraft cardstock and the washi tape I had on hand and built from there with other materials in my stash.  That's how its worked in the last 2 years as well.  Other than the page protectors and album I've never bought anything specifically for OLW.
For the print paper I had DCWV's Tradewinds Matstack tucked away.  It was another purchase made just because I like the look of it.  I do have to say though that I don't have a lot of print paper on hand so my choices were limited.  Even so this paper really spoke to me.  I originally had pulled some of Tim Holtz's papers out for this but once I saw these there was no question this was the right one.
While this isn't finished yet I'm going to set it aside for the week and revisit this next weekend.  In the meantime I need to find or take a photo of myself (never one of my favorite activities).  I want to sit with my word for a few days.  I'll probably add more thoughts to my month cards.  I'll be looking through my stash more - I think I have a key somewhere I'd like to add to the one print card.  I'm not a fan of butterflies or birds just because they are everywhere(...gasp...I know its such a big trend...but up to this point butterflies/birds just haven't done anything for me) so I don't think I have any of those but I'll check to be sure. They certainly would work symbolically for my word "SEEK"
So that's it for now....Are you doing One Little Word or a variation of it for 2013?  Please share....

Ali Edwards/Xyron Giveaway

Yesterday I received a large package in the mail.  As always I get pretty excited when something other than bills arrive in the mail!

 Inside were the Xyron products I won in a giveaway over on Ali Edwards' blog at the beginning of December Daily.  As you can see I received the Creative Station which creates stickers (with both permanent and repositionable adhesive), magnets, laminates, and laminates with permanent adhesive on the bottom.  This is a step up from the 5" Create a Sticker that I had.  I also received a Xyron 510 in the new purple color (my old one is orange).  My first thought was to sell or give away my older items but I may keep them to hold the repositionable adhesive and keep the permanent adhesive in the newer items.  It will probably depend on the amount of space they all take up and whether its just easier to switch out the cartridges.  The other products are new to me and include the Xyron Mega Runner (have always wanted one of these), the Xyron Tape Runner and a Xyron Glue Stick.  This is also a permanent adhesive and the really cool thing with this is the fact that it is shaped for corners!  I think this will be really great for mixed media projects.  I plan to show these products in use in future blog posts.  Or you can check out the full line of Xyron products here:
http://www.xyron.com
And to check out Ali Edwards' blog:
aliedwards.com
I've followed Ali's blog for several years now and frequently leave comments both to share feedback and for giveaways (which are always amazing).  This is the first time I've won anything but I've gotten an incredible amount of information and inspiration from Ali over the years.  This includes December Daily, Photoshop, A Week in the Life, Project Life and so much more!
Thanks Ali!  Thanks Xyron!

Looking for a new or different creative outlet?

Looking for some new or different creative outlets for 2013?  Here is a variety of creative projects just waiting to get your creative juices flowing..

LOAD213 
is open for registration.  Go here for all the information
http://www.layoutaday.com/load213-time-to-boogie/
The theme for the February Layout a Day (LOAD213) is Scraphappier and will include an exclusive interview with Gretchen Rubin, the author of The Happiness Project and Happier at Home.  Lain says this LOAD is for you if you want to find more joy in the hobby you love or use scrapbooking to live a happier life.  Check out the link above - it includes information along with a code for $10 off - just through January 7th though!

30 Days of Lists  
30 Days of Lists is the encouragement and challenge to you that you CAN journal just something every day – even something as small as a list. Registration begins February 4th and 30 Days of List begins in March. Here's the link for more information on this:
http://30daysoflists.com

The Sketchbook Project
 is about leaving a legacy. It’s an outlet for anyone who wants to tell their story, have it travel the continent and then reside in a tiny NYC store front for the world to see. We already have 22,000 stories, we hope you will join us!  Here's the link for this project:
http://www.sketchbookproject.com/
And if you want to see all the projects available including photography, map, printmaking and writing projects go here:
http://www.sketchbookproject.com/projects

Let me know if you participate in any of these projects.  I'd love to showcase your project here!

So many blogs, so little time

I don't know about you but I could spend all day reading other people's blogs and websites.  There is SO MUCH out there these days.  When I first started scrapbooking there was so little - just scrapbooking magazines.  Then came books, classes, websites, blogs, Facebook and Pinterest!  I have to be careful since all the time spent on these activities cuts into my creative time.  So periodically I go through the blogs I subscribe to (I like to get my blog posts by email) and delete those that no longer speak to me.  On the other side I find new blogs and websites almost daily that I want to check out.
Here is one that I signed up for in the last week and already I'm very impressed by the material.  You might want to check out:
http://www.kaylalamoreaux.com
Her blog banner describes her blog's purpose well "Digital organization that moves you from chaos to creative flow"  I'm looking forward to more in her Photo Flow series.  Lesson Five includes downloadables for creating your own Photo Flow map.  For anyone who is a fan of Stacy Julian and her Finding Photo Freedom books/classes this is a must to check out.
In a different creative direction I also want to share something else that I received via Ucreate.  I've been following this blog for about a year. Many of my Pinterest pins come from this blog.  There is quite a variety of projects and most of them are realistically doable.  In today's email there is a free downloadable "Sewing Basics Resource Guide".  This would be great for anyone who would like to learn how to sew or for someone like myself that learned a long time ago and would like a refresher.  Here is the link to Ucreate
http://www.u-createcrafts.com/
Hope you find these interesting and of use to you.  What are some of your favorites blogs and/or websites?  I'd love to check them out.