Friday, January 22, 2016

Balance -Why it's my One Little Word


I enrolled in a class by Ali Edwards called One Little Word on New Years Eve. "Balance" was the word I chose, or shall I say, the word chose me. Why? I guess my word and I will find that out on the journey we are embarking on.

So now the journey has begun. What does "Balance" look like? It looks like a meditating yogi sitting on a cushion free from stress right? Or does it look like a mom, a wife, a designer, a business owner trying to figure out how to do it all, do it right, and do it on time? That's where balance comes in.

Balance means finding that intricate measure of taking care of yourself, others, and all the other "life" stuff in between. It means having pizza when you are too tired to cook and say "Hey it's ok". Or maybe it's taking a day in your pj's in your studio playing with paint and stencils all day and not feeling "guilty" ( ohhh that word makes me shudder).  Maybe, just maybe , are you ready for it? Saying "NO" once in awhile ( now that's a tough one for me).

Balance comes easy when I'm sitting out at the cabin in my cozy chair, sipping tea and watching the sunset. Things seem so simple, so easy, and my life there is in balance. But then the day comes when you have to pack up and come back to the "city house" as we call it. When we open the door, that's when I need to bring "balance" in my life again. I'm really thinking I should move to the country where life is just balanced with little effort.

Balance is about accepting who you are, and that means digging. Digging deep. That's what this year is about. Finding out who I am, being ok with it and learning to love me, limitations and all!!

But I have questions!!! And this year on my journey I will be working on answering them. It's about hope, prayer, willingness and observance. It's about balance!(there's that word again). Laughing and crying, praying and being thankful, walking and dancing in a field of wildflowers, being a mom and being a friend, you get the gist.. I strive to be "enough". An amazing quote I read today from Krista O'Reilly

What if I never really amount to anything when I grow up – beyond mom and sister and wife. But these people in my primary circle of impact know they are loved and that I would choose them again, given the choice. Can this be enough?

I'm learning, slowly that I am enough, I will be ok, I will achieve balance in all
aspects of my life.  

Now a few projects I want to share:
This is my One Little Word Binder Cover.
My symbol for the year is a bicycle.
Bicycle = Balance
I shared some of my binder pages in the post

This is a page I did in my Bible Art Journal
from the prompts at Art By Erin Leigh
where she does Faith Art Fridays.



Thanks so much for stopping by. I love reading your comments and I appreciate your scrappy support! Have a wonderfully happy scrappy day! Lynn

Bicycle Image by: wall.alphacoders.com

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Documented Faith - January Week 2 and 3

Documented Faith January Week2 by Lynn Shokoples
 Good Morning! Today I am sharing a few more pages from my Documented Faith journal. Doing the art journal pages and the prompts are just too much fun. I not only get to study the Bible readings, but I also get to practice new art techniques. Win, win right?
Documented Faith January Week3 by Lynn Shokoples

Documented Faith Word Prompts by Lynn Shokoples
 Since I'm doing this in a daytimer, I have lots of blank pages, so I thought I would do pages that focused on the monthly words. So the top photo is January and February. The pages below are March and April. More art journal fun right? I just can't resist, lol.
Documented Faith Word Prompts by Lynn Shokoples



Thanks so much for stopping by. I love reading your comments and I appreciate your scrappy support! Have a wonderfully happy scrappy day! Lynn

Monday, January 11, 2016

One Little Word - January

One Little Word January Page by Lynn Shokoples
 Hi! Today I'm sharing another project I have on the go for 2016. I came across the One Little Word Class by Ali Edwards on New Years Eve and couldn't resist! I had already picked my word which is "Balance" and am excited to work on bringing this word into focus for 2016. Balance is definitely something I need in life!
One Little Word January Page by Lynn Shokoples
 I had bought this little album at Michael's a few weeks ago.. just because, lol... no reason, it was cute, I would find a use for it, lol. When I saw how Ali did her album I was all geared up for black and white, simple, graphic! Well.. as I discovered if you don't know what your "Style" is, you will soon find out when you try something else. I discovered I can't do ONLY black and white. I need that touch of color! And I'm also not simple.. I like doo dads! Stamps, cards, stickers, pens.. I just feel compelled to do it! But that's just me, and once again I tried to slow down, breathe and just go with the prompts and take my time.
One Little Word January Page by Lynn Shokoples
 So these are the first few pages. I'm excited to see what comes up next month. Do you have a word for 2016? I would love to know what it is! Now onto the next project...the cover for this binder.. who knows where that will take me.. (Update: I scheduled my post and then figured out the cover, so I thought I would show you it... simple but yet shabby, lol)

One Little Word Binder Cover by Lynn Shokoples



Thanks so much for stopping by. I love reading your comments and I appreciate your scrappy support! Have a wonderfully happy scrappy day! Lynn

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Always Up To Snow Good - BoBunny

Always Up To Snow Good layout by Lynn Shokoples for BoBunny featuring the WhiteOut Collection
 Good Morning!! Today on the BoBunny Facebook Page I'm sharing a layout I did of my two little monkeys that are "Always Up to Snow Good". The Whiteout collection was so fun to use! All those sparkly embellishments, OH MY! And so many fun little pieces to tuck here and there. I could have played with this one all night, but had to stop, lol... Hope you can pop by our facebook page and say hi!! Have a good one... until next time!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I love reading your comments and I appreciate your scrappy support! Have a wonderfully happy scrappy day! Lynn

BoBunny Supplies:
Patterned Paper: Journey, Exhilarating, Arctic Rim, Adventurous/WhiteOut
Stickers: Combo Stickers/ WhiteOut
Noteworthy: Whiteout
Double Dot Jewels: Aqua

Friday, January 8, 2016

Documented Faith - January

Documented Faith January by Lynn Shokoples
 Hi Everyone! So here is a fun crafty story. I had made a cover for my Documented Faith Journal, using a colorable calendar from Costco,then went out of town. Came home so excited to start, grabbed my journal and the cover falls off! What? I used Yes Paste and it didn't hold! Guess the cover was too shiny. A learning experience was had, now on to Plan B!! I got out the gelli plate and got to work. Cover...done! All the pages in the journal...gellied! So here is the finished product.
Documented Faith January by Lynn Shokoples
 Now what to do with the inside? I needed an idea that would last for all 52 weeks. So I added an extra challenge to the project. Come up with an art page every week, yes every week for the year. So Pinterest here I come! I picked one idea that caught my eye, using squares and started playing. I wanted fun and funky.. always wanted to try a smash style journal! So with some paper and glue and the print out from Stephanie at Documented Faith, my page came together quite nicely, and I was so happy with the outcome. It took me a moment to realize I didn't have to rush, I didn't have to "finish" it by 5:00, I could take my time, have fun and just worship and do some art. So that's week one... so until next week....
Documented Faith January by Lynn Shokoples

Documented Faith January by Lynn Shokoples

Documented Faith January by Lynn Shokoples
 
Thanks so much for stopping by. I love reading your comments and I appreciate your scrappy support! Have a wonderfully happy scrappy day! Lynn

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Pray - Documented Faith


Pray Bible Page by Lynn Shokoples
 Good Morning! Happy Thursday to everyone! This year I am picking a few things to do for the entire year. One year it was a photo a day! Last year it was tracking my food for a year! This year I have chosen several projects. One is the weekly prompt at Documented Faith. The other project I have chosen is One Little Word by Ali Edwards. I was out at the cabin this last week, so I was busy planning how I was going to organize these two things? What kind of binders? Maybe journals? Yikes... I'm still planning! But what I did do, was take the prompt for the month of January at Documented Faith and did a page in my Bible. I couldn't do it on the page from the reading for this week because I already had journaled there, so I picked a verse from Thessalonians. The word for the month is PRAY! I will post some pages from my journal when I have it all ready.

Now on to "One Little Word".. have you picked a word? Mine is:
I will post some pages from the class as I dive in to those this week! I'm so looking forward to the year and doing something new for 365 days! ( A side note... I still take a photo a day and track my food! I guess after a year, it just becomes part of your day, lol). So cheers to 2016 and new adventures!



Thanks so much for stopping by. I love reading your comments and I appreciate your scrappy support! Have a wonderfully happy scrappy day! Lynn

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

A Little Love And Lace - BoBunny


Love and Lace Cards by Lynn Shokoples for BoBunny

Love and Lace Cards by Lynn Shokoples for BoBunny

Love and Lace Cards by Lynn Shokoples for BoBunny
 Good Morning!! Have you seen the new Love and Lace Collection from BoBunny? Such rich and wonderful colors. And the best part...it's not just for Valentines Day. Here I made a Birthday Card for my Mom and one for a wedding we have coming up. My favorite thing for making cards is the 6x6 paper pad. It's great for adding layers or even fussy cutting for added embellies! Oh gosh...and don't forget the Noteworthy package... more embellie goodness! It's such fun adding things! I hope your all having a wonderful day!!! Until next time....


Thanks so much for stopping by. I love reading your comments and I appreciate your scrappy support! Have a wonderfully happy scrappy day! Lynn

BoBunny Supplies:
Patterned Paper: Forever, You and Me/ Love and Lace
6x6 Paper Pad: Love and Lace
Stickers: Combo Stickers/ Love and Lace
Noteworthy: Love and Lace
Stamps: Sentiments Stamp
Blossoms: Wildberry Daisy
Dies: Ornate Frame,Nested Fancy Frame