2013 Blog Highlights and Year in Review

I wasn't planning on doing a year-end review of highlights from my blog because I find it difficult to put together and write. But then I realized that I like looking at all my blog posts from the year to remind myself of what I've been up to creatively, and I like having the year-end roundup posts to look back at later on. So, here's a quick list of my creative highlights from 2013:
1. Paint Party Friday and Glue it Tuesday - I enjoyed participating in both of these memes this year, even if I didn't participate every week. They were great reminders to pull out my art journals and actually work in them.

2. My Photographer's Eye - I created this series to pair my photography with my writing. I enjoyed it, and I want to do more of it in 2014.

3. Storytelling Sunday, A Simple Moment and Tea with Abi - I loved how each of these memes gave me the opportunity to focus on my writing skills.

 

4. Passport to Art - Bernice offered this free class, and I loved putting together an art journal which documented my life-long love of travel and its influence on me.

5. Kelly Kilmer's Dry Art Journal class - I enjoyed creating an entire art journal without paint and using so much of my patterned paper and collage sheets.
6. Finding Your Voice Workshop - I learned so much in this workshop about the type of photographs I want to take and what I want to write about, as well as what I'm not yet ready to write about. The photo comic at the top of today's post came from that class.
7. Look Up//Look Down - a wonderful weekly, year long photo meme sponsored by Helena, which I actually managed to complete!
8. Photo-Heart Connection - a monthly practice where I reviewed my photos and chose the one which most touched my heart. I loved this!

9. I also loved hosting the 2013 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt and look forward to doing it again in 2014!

10. Finally, my blog friends rallied round to sponsor Clara and I when we ran in the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon to raise money to fight leukemia and lymphoma. I consider this the crowning achievement of my entire blogging career. And I owe it all to you!
And while I'm at it, I thought I'd include the family highlights letter I put in my Christmas card this year:

v  Paul’s cancer (diagnosed in July, 2012 while on vacation in Spain) is in remission.

v  Henry’s senior year at HMBHS includes a soccer championship, a final year of baseball with kids he’s known since little league, graduation and a fabulous senior trip to Costa Rica.

v  Clara gets a new dog – Aria, a 40 pound mutt, joins JJ (cat) and Gypsy (dog) in the menagerie.

v  Maria and Clara complete the San Diego Rock’n’Roll Half Marathon, raising $7,000 with Team in Training to fight Leukemia and Lymphoma.

v  Paul’s consulting firm, CTP Planning and Economics, continues to grow

v  Henry heads off to the University of Oregon where he is fully embracing the Duck experience. He plays Club Soccer, rushes a fraternity (Sigma Chi) and survives rain and snow.

v  After spending her freshman year at Oceana High School, Clara returns to Half Moon Bay High School where she becomes a cross-country standout. Her team qualifies for the State Championship meet, and we spend Thanksgiving weekend in Fresno.

v  Clara’s interest in animals leads her to volunteer at the Peninsula Humane Society where she and Maria walk dogs once a week. She will also raise chickens and sell eggs in 2014. 

So, that's what I was up to this year on my blog and in my life. What about you? Do you post a year-end review? If so, leave me a link  so I can go visit.

OLW: Paramount, April 2013

Every year, I choose a "one little word" on which to focus my intentions.  This year, I chose "paramount."  You can read more about my choice and the project by clicking on this link.  When I chose the word and through much of the first few months of this year, the word was necessary to save my sanity.  Things in my life were so unsettled and difficult that I needed to keep focused only on the essential in order to get through each day. Now, as things in my life have gotten more settled, I am trying to hold on to the power of my word to keep me focused on those things which are truly important.  
Like spending time with family. 
For the last few years, I've gotten tickets for the four of us to attend a San Francisco Giants game during opening weekend. I almost forgot this year, but I'm so glad I didn't. The team gave out Championship Rings to all attendees, and we each put ours on for this photo opportunity. When I look at this photograph, I am filled with gratitude. I am grateful that we were all able to attend . . . grateful that we have come through this rough time in our lives with our family intact and together, enjoying an annual tradition. Grateful that I have kept focused on what is paramount. And resolved to continue doing that for the rest of the year.
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How are things going with your One Little Word?

This and That . . . (sketches, freebies and a winner)

I finally had a chance to do two things I've been wanting to do for a while: have a artist's date devoted to sketching and start on Alisa Burke's Sketchbook Delight, Part 2 class, which I purchased quite a while ago. So far, the class is focusing on everyday objects and trying to capture them in a somewhat realistic manner.

It's fairly difficult, but I'm enjoying it! 
I also just received two styluses to use with the Paper 53 app for the ipad and purchased the enhanced creativity pack.  This has given me the opportunity to create digital water color pictures.   I'm facing a pretty steep learning curve with the app, but I'm willing to share my first attempt - a picture of our cat, J.J.

I admit it's pretty goofy, but I'm posting it so that later I can see how far I've come.   If you want to see some fantastic Paper 53 drawings, check out this post on Alisa Burke's blog. It's definitely something to aspire to.  These projects are part of my 2013 intention to finish some existing classes and projects.  Anyone else knocking some things off your to do list?
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There's a couple of other interesting FREE things I wanted to bring to everyone's attention:
Strathmore Paper just announced their line up of free 2013 Classes.  I took a few in 2012, with mixed results, but they're free!  You can sign up at this link.
If you've been enjoying my "dry" art journal pages, check out Kelly Kilmer's blog (here).  She shares a lot of information about doing this type of collage. 
If you're looking for some art journal inspiration, check out this free workshop (21 prompts on the topic of "get lost") offered by Artsyville.
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Finally, I've been remiss in announcing the winner from my 2013 Blog Plan and Give-Away post.  The winner is Carolyn of the Mess, Muddle and Fun blog. I am looking forward to creating a custom package to send her.  Thanks to everyone who commented and gave me feedback on my blog. It seems like eclectic diversity is what you all want; so that's what you'll keep seeing! 

OLW Necklace and Product Review

For 2013, I selected "paramount" as my One Little Word on which to focus. To give me a tangible reminder of the word, I decided to order a necklace from Lisa Leonard.  She has designed a special OLW necklace each year for the last few years.  I loved the one I bought for "health" (this style) two years ago. While the design for this year is very cute, it turns out that "paramount" is too long it!  So, I dove into her site and found the design above, which allowed my long word and also allowed me to add four heart strings (one for each  member of my family).

I really love the uniqueness of my necklace and  how it captures what is paramount to me. This necklace is pewter and larger than some of the other necklaces, so it has a more informal feel. I won't wear it everyday (like I did with the health necklace, which was much more delicate), but I love having it.  I also want to mention how wonderful the customer service is with Lisa Leonard. When I ordered my necklace, there was an offer for a % discount if I signed up for the newsletter. I signed up for the newletter but didn't get the discount. I added a note to my order asking why the discount wasn't applied. I got an email very quickly correcting my total!  The necklace arrived in cute packaging and included a complimentary desk calendar designed by Lisa. So, count me as a happy customer.  Has anyone else bought a OLW necklace from Lisa Leonard or any other company? If so, please share you experience.

Blog Plans, 2013 (and a give-away)

ETA: The give-away is now closed. The winner will be announced on my blog soon.
The smart-beyond-her-years Abi recently posted this about what to expect from her blog in 2013. It really got me thinking about what I have been doing with my blog in the past and what I want to do with it in the future.  I'm interested in your feed back, so read to the end and comment for a chance to win a nice little give-away.
The big conclusions I came up with are that there are three things on which I really want to focus (these are the three things that bring me the most enjoyment and fulfillment):  art journaling (including collage, painting and sketching); photography; and writing.  The first two come as no surprise, but the third . . . hmmmm . . . it was a bit of a revelation how much I have been drawn recently to those memes which push me to write.  I'm also a little sad that scrapbooking and card making have run their course a bit for me right now. I expect to get back to them some day, but for now, they really aren't paramount.
I also realized that a lot of my blog is structured around certain recurring memes. I don't do all of these every single time, but I do them enough that they've become part of my blog plan.  Here's how they break down:
Weekly Memes
Hello Monday/Peek Inside My Life (usually accompanied by a photograph or art journal page). These may not interest everybody, but I have several lurkers who have told me they read these to keep up with what's going on in my life. So, they'll stay for now.
Wordless Wednesday. I'm pretty sporadic with this meme, and it always feels a little lazy. It also draws the fewest visitors and comments.  But it's easy and a nice way to feature some of my photography. 
Paint Party Friday I love this weekly reminder to take out my paints and paint brushes. Definitely a keeper.
Monthly Memes
Storytelling Sunday and A Simple Moment.  I love how both of these encourage me to dig deep and spend some time writing.
Photo Heart Connection. This also encourages me to write. Describing the connection is as important as the photo for this meme.
Sketchbook Challenge.  Like Paint Party Friday, this keeps me on track with my drawing. I enjoy the fact that there's a monthly prompt to give me ideas.
Monthly Make and Ten on the Tenth. I've enjoyed the first as it ensures that I do something outside my typical photography-art journal-sketchbook box, so I'll probably keep up with it. The second is kind of hit and miss, but I expect I'll participate occasionally.
Semi-regular Post Topics
Class Reviews.  I always get great feedback on these so will definitely continue with them.
Class Projects. A lot of my blog fodder comes from the classes in which I enroll. I made a list of my current/future classes, and I'll be posting that later this week.
Let's Talk. I love this feature where I ask people to comment in some detail about topics of interest to me. I don't do it very often, but always enjoy it when I do. I've got a Let's Talk post ready for tomorrow (geared a bit to camera geeks, I'm afraid).
Music and Book Reviews. I do these pretty sporadically. Not sure how often they'll show up in 2013.
Annual Challenge
I love hosting the Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt and will definitely do it again in 2013.
So, now it's your turn . . . I'd love some feedback from you on what you like about my blog and whether there's anything that doesn't really appeal to you. To encourage you a bit, I'll put together a little prize package of assorted scrapbooking, photography and art journaling bits and bobs to go out to one commenter chosen at random.  I'll do the draw Sunday night.

Future Imperfect (FFF)

The Fall Fearless and Fly challenge blog, sponsored by Artists in Blogland, just posted their newest theme: future imperfect. The color prompt is yellow, and there's also a quote prompt from Friedrich Nietsche.  The prompt asks you to ponder your present/future and ask whether it can still be "perfect" even if it's different from what you imagined. The prompt really spoke to me because my present and future are definitely nothing I imagined. And they are definitely not perfect!
But, I plan to make the best of both my present and my future. One tool I will use to do so is my "one little word" (paramount), as well as my intention for the year (“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” )
As I was thinking about the prompt, the visual of a parachute came to me. I like the idea of knowledge and blessings floating into my life on parachutes. My journaling reads: "future imperfect . . . present in flux, but I am listening to my heart to learn what is paramount."
I am thinking about turning this page (or the one from yesterday) into a button for my sidebar, an idea I got from Patty of Magpie's Nest (here) . 
Come back tomorrow for Storytelling Sunday, and, in the meantime, let me know what blessings you would like to parachute into your life this year.

PPF: Paramount (2013 OLW)

Every year, for the last few years, I have chosen "one little word" on which to focus.  The idea was popularized by Ali Edwards, and I have always found it to be a valuable exercise.   For 2013, I know that I need to keep asking myself "what is truly important?" I need to not waste time and energy worrying and stressing over things that don't really matter in the long run.  This is very hard for me; it runs counter to my Type-A, all my ducks-in-a-row personality. But, as my family faced so much stress in 2012, I have come to realize that I have to make compromises and let certain things go. And that needs to be okay with me.  To keep this realization in the forefront,  I have chosen the word "paramount" as my one little word for 2013.
Paramount means "more important than all other things." And it feels just right for me in 2013. I had originally thought I was going to choose "prioritize." But that word didn't really speak to my heart. So, I used an online thesaurus to find synonyms for prioritize and then "importance". I also googled quotes for prioritize, important and importance.  Eventually, I came upon the word "paramount," and I fell in love with the sound of it. It's a pretty word. And it captures what I need to focus on this year.  
During my search, I also came across a quote which I have adopted as my intention for 2013. It is a quote from the Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
I created this art journal page with several definitions of "paramount," as well as my quote/ intention for the year and my illustration of my word. I'm posting it to Paint Party Friday. To visit other PPF participants, click on this link.
Have you chosen a word for 2013? Will you do something visually to to represent it?