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One Little Word® 2017 | January

Welcome to the first month of my one little word® album. Today I share all my January pages with you. This is my fourth year picking a word and like the past three times January is always the most intense month because you have to cover so many different things. But it's such an important month too because you set the tone for your upcoming year.

As always I document the prompts from the class in a 5x7" album. I started with that in 2014 and it is just the right size for me (and I like when everything has the same size). For my cover I decided to recreate the pattern of one of the albums that was sold through AliEdwards.com. I stamped over and over with the words "one little word" from the 2015 one little word® stamp set (which isn't available anymore). And on top I added one of the printables that came with the class. 

I took that photo of me primarily for my 2017 Project Life® title page. But now I use it for all those projects where I need a photo of me. The photo is 3x8" and I adhered it to a 4x8" piece of paper. This way I didn't have to punch through my face. The "jan" circle is from the class and I adhered it to a gold circle.

On the back of the 4x8" page I added a patterned paper and another class printable. All printables from the class are designed for either a 6x8" album or a 8.5x11" album. Therefor I have to adjust everything to fit my size.

I found that quote on Pinterest and thought it was perfect. This is what balance is.

For my "intentions" page I made a simple mindmap. I really like this method to get everything out of my head.

And that's it for now. How are you documenting your journey with your word? Did you pick a word? Let me know in the comments. I always love to hear about how others are doing with their word.

 

READ MORE ABOUT MY JOURNEY WITH MY ONE LITTLE WORD HERE
why I chose BALANCE //

one little word® 2016: LIGHT // one little word® 2015:  QUALITY // one little word® 2014: OPEN

BASIC SUPPLIES
several items (stickers, stamp sets, notepad) from the 2017 selection at AliEdwards.com, all printables are part of the class, precision pen in #03, black StazOn ink pad, thick white cardstock from StampinUp

*One Little Word® is a concept created by Ali Edwards where you pick a word at the beginning of the year. You work with your word on a year long journey. You can find out more about the class and sign up here.

One Little Word® 2017 | BALANCE

My One Little Word® for 2017 is BALANCE.

Back in September a few words started to pop up. One that sticked with me for a few weeks was "fun". I thought I have to shake things up and add more fun, more exciting moments and more action to my life. But there were other words that were twirling around in my mind: calm, quiet, relax and easy. The opposite of fun. Nothing loud and exciting, more silent and simple. These two oposites lead me to balance. I realized that I not only need more fun in my life, I also need more calmness. I need a healthy balance between these two words. I let balance live with me for the following days and I could see how this word would work in many areas of my life. It felt right.

A few days later I ordered my salvaged word from Colleen Attera and my round talisman from Soulmantras.

So, balance it is. But what exactly means balance? This is a question I will hopefully answer in the upcomping months while working on the prompts from Ali Edwards' class. All I know for now is that this word has a lot to do with finding my inner balance. That includes working out regularly, doing Yoga at home and eating well. But there are also other areas I need to find balance. Offline time vs. online time. Balance in all of my relationships. Financial balance. Balance between finishing past projects and starting new ones. The focus is on me but I also have to keep the big picture in mind.

Like the past three years I will use a 5x7" mini album again. Nothing fancy, just cardstock for the front and back, white paper and two book rings. I will share my pages and my progress throughout the year here on my blog.

*One Little Word® is a concept created by Ali Edwards where you pick a word at the beginning of the year. You work with your word on a year long journey. You can find out more about it and sign up for the class here. 

The "one little word" word art in the photo came with the class content this year.

One Little Word® 2016 // November and December

Today I share the last two months (November + December) of my One Little Word® 2016 album. I had a wonderful journey with LIGHT this year and loved that this word was part of my daily life. Like every word I picked in the past, it'll stick with me forever.

NOVEMBER was all about answering four prompts: I know, I love, I beliebe and I learned. Whenever there is a writing process involved I just write what comes to my mind. We got invited to play with some paint this month. I used stamps from my stash to create a border around each card. Then I added a small star chipboard above the words. For my last page I used an enlarged photo of my heart talisman. It's a photo from January, but I love it.

 

DECEMBER was again about answering some prompts. First facts&feelings, than the sentence "I want to remember". Part of the prompt was to include a photo of us. The photo I used is one from this month and it really represents how I feel right now: happy and so good. The card on my last page sums up what LIGHT really means to me.

 

READ MORE ABOUT MY JOURNEY WITH MY ONE LITTLE WORD HERE
why I chose "light" // January // February // March // April - July // August & September

one little word 2015: quality // one little word 2014: open

BASIC SUPPLIES
clear album made by jamaica makes, one little word mini kit 2016, precision pen in #03, black StazOn ink pad, thick white cardstock from StampinUp

*One Little Word® is a concept created by Ali Edwards where you pick a word at the beginning of the year. You work with your word on a year long journey. You can find out more about the class and sign up here.

One Little Word® 2016 // August and September

We have about 3.5 months left this year and I am already thinking about my word for 2017. There are a few words I am thinking about a lot lately. I haven't decided yet on a word for next year but I'm writing down those words that I won't forget them.

Today I show you how I interpreted the August and September prompts from the class*. Because I am working with a different album size (5x7) I always have to make a few changes. But that's okay.

AUGUST: For August we had to write about what we are struggling with, what we are celebrating, and how our life look like right now. For my "right now" photo I picked a photo of myself. I am really happy and love this chapter I am in. I love living my life. That photo of me represents all the happiness I have in my life right now. But of course there are also things I'm struggling with. Not everything is perfect, but I'm still super happy.

SEPTEMBER: Is all about paying attention. To find out how we rest, with which pace we go through our life and what brings us joy. I am following Ali's lead and documenting all those little joys throughout the month.

Love, love, love this quote by Elizabeth Gilbert. This printable was part of the classroom content and I printed it on a transparency.

 

READ MORE ABOUT MY JOURNEY WITH MY ONE LITTLE WORD HERE
why I chose "light" // January // February // March // April - July //

one little word 2015: quality // one little word 2014: open

BASIC SUPPLIES
clear album made by jamaica makes, one little word mini kit 2016, precision pen in #03, black StazOn ink pad, thick white cardstock from StampinUp

*One Little Word® is a concept created by Ali Edwards where you pick a word at the beginning of the year. You work with your word on a year long journey. You can find out more about the class and sign up here.

One Little Word® 2016 // April to July

I am still living with my One Little Word® light and following along the prompts from the class. To have monthly prompts really helps to re-connect with my word over and over again. Today I show you my April to July pages of my minialbum. I use a 5x7" minialbum to document the prompts.

APRIL: The goal in April was, to find out, what my word really means to me. We were prompted to add sticky notes with the words "what does light really means to me?" around the house. Everytime I came across the question, it made me think about my word. I made notes  throughout the month and I added those things that kept popping up over and over to my album at the end of the month.

 

MAY: The goal this month was to see my word through photos. For this prompt I looked through all my photos from the past four months to find the ones that represented my word in the best way. No words, just photos this time. I like that I can clearly see that my word is thriving in so many different areas in my life. I added the photos with a page protector I cut down to the size of my album. The quote from J.K. Rowling was part of a past "Mail" kit from Ali Makes Things and a perfect fit. The kit was called "light" - so perfect for my word.

 

JUNE: was all about reflecting the past 6 months while answering some questions. The photo I added to my spreads is probably one of my favorites. I was holding my small salvaged word from Colleen Attara against this beautiful sunset we had.

 

JULY: We had to pick one thing/phrase/word we want to focus on this month. My words are "embrace the moment". Because I am a memory keeper, I tend to photograph a lot. Which is totally okay and I love that I have albums full of great memories. But sometimes I tend to forget actually living the moment. All I want is the perfect photo of that moment (beautiful sunset, us drinking coffee, eating outside, working on some projects,....) and I have to get up and grab my phone or camera. So I decided that my foucs this month is on taking less photos and just enjoying all those great moments. It will be okay if I don't have a photo because it'll be in my memory. This doesn't mean that I will take absolutely no photos. I just want to remember, that not everything needs to be documented.

You can find a fun video of my January to July pages here on Instagram.

 

READ MORE ABOUT MY JOURNEY WITH MY ONE LITTLE WORD HERE
why I chose "light" // January // February // March //

one little word 2015: quality // one little word 2014: open

BASIC SUPPLIES
clear album made by jamaica makes, one little word mini kit 2016, precision pen in #03, black StazOn ink pad, thick white cardstock from StampinUp

*One Little Word® is a concept created by Ali Edwards where you pick a word at the beginning of the year. You work with your word on a year long journey. You can find out more about the class and sign up here.