Archive of ‘OLW / DLP’ category

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Learning To Be Intentional & Celebrating Small Victories

If you read my blog you likely know that my One Little Word for the year is INTENTIONAL. I’m trying to apply this word to all areas of my life including how I spend my money. I want to curb my impulse purchasing of shtuff I don’t need, like my 10th planner or all those art supplies that just end up being given away in a mad destash of my studio. I’m also trying to remember to celebrate my little victories when I make progress in this area. I recently had one of those occasions and I’d like to share it with you.

Ok so we all know that I loooove me some art supplies, especially when they’re  available in limited quantities on those discount craft sites! Yeah, I’m a sucker for those. Throw in a website timer to rush me along and I’m done for! Sometimes it seems to all happens in such a blur that I come to feeling like I’ve been art supply roofied and wondering “what did I just buy?”

A couple of days ago I purchased 3 sets of a crayon I was rather meh about just because the price was good and the item is new & shiny. The “limited quantities” in big pink letters only served to seal the deal. I didn’t want to miss out on a good deal, right?!

It wasn’t until after I completed the transaction that I remembered my OLW. Rather than get down on myself, I allowed myself a few minutes to sit with my thoughts. It went something like this…

  • Was I intentional in my purchase? Nope.
  • Did I really even want them? Nope, not really.
  • Why was I meh about them? I already own something similar that I think works better for me based on comparison videos that I watched.
  • Do I really think I’ll use them more than once or twice? Nope.
  • Why did I buy them? Because… Discount!

So guess what?! I did what I don’t know that I’ve ever done… I canceled my order And I felt good about it… Really good.

 

Success

I’ve heard that success is a string of small victories. I know that correcting old habits and developing new ones is a process that will take time. This doesn’t mean that I won’t be buying art supplies and other goodies, or that I haven’t since this happened. It just means that I’ll make a concerted effort to be intentional about my purchases rather than simply falling into them without much thought.

I WILL eventually learn to be INTENTIONAL before making purchases, rather than after, but for today I’m celebrating this small victory on my path to success.

One day at a time.

xo,

Belen

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One Little Word, February Practice – Seeing The Positive Intent

February’s prompt came just in time, as I’ve been learning to positively reframe negative thinking by seeing the positive intention behind people’s words and actions. This month I really put it into practice and worked on it every day.

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“Happiness is a conscious choice, not an automatic response”.

-Mildred Barthel

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For both of the mixed media art cards that I added to my February pages I used a base of layered bits of paper and modeling paste for added texture and dimension.

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“Bee Intentional”

Some paint, inks, gelatos and stamping added color and visual interest.

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I had such fun stamping my card with the little blue hearts that I decided to stamp the whole darn thing! 🙂

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As I continue my practice of seeing the positive intent I need to remember to be gentle with myself when old habits creep in and celebrate my successes when new ones prevail.

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I snapped this photo while on a recent afternoon stroll on the beach with my Beau.

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Thank you for reading and sharing in my One Little Word journey.

xo,

Belen

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Intentional – My Little Box Of Inspiration

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A while back I picked up a few kits from Art-C that contained a small accordion book and a mini tin to store it in. I thought they might be a fun and easy project so I gave some away and kept a couple for myself.

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The other day I thought it might be nice to create a little box of inspiration to remind me of my OLW for 2016. Something that I could just toss in my bag and carry with me. So I grabbed some supplies and set about to have some fun.

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I added some texture using modeling paste and a stencil then sponged and brushed on some grey, silvers & blues.

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Additional layers of magenta, more blue and my absolute favorite, Quinacridone Nickle Azo Gold helped created some great depth of color and helped the textured bits pop.

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I added some stamping, paint splatters and distressing then edged the accordion book with a black ink pad. Using my labeler, I added a few words that I want to be reminded of whenever I open my little booklet.

I did the same basic process on the outside of the tin, added my One Little Word for 2016, INTENTIONAL, and Voilà my little box of inspiration was complete.

Thank you for reading. I wish you a wonderful week.

xo,

Belen

 

 

 

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My 2016 Hybrid Version of Documented Life and One Little Word

I participated in The Documented Life project in 2014 and really enjoyed it. They changed their format in 2015 and it just didn’t really speak to me so I passed.This year however, they’ve changed it up again and they’re doing what they refer to as DLP 2016 –  The unPlanner. It’s basically a planner with mixed media elements. A winning combination in my option, as it combines 2 things I enjoy.

Since I have my 2016 planner set ups done and they’re working for me, I decided to forgo the planner aspect of DLP 2016 and instead combine it with One Little Word 2016, another year-long project that I’m participating in.

My word for the year is INTENTIONAL so you’ll likely see that often in my projects during the year.

in·ten·tion·al
inˈten(t)SH(ə)n(ə)l/
adjective
adjective: intentional
  1. Done on purpose; deliberate.

For this hybrid project I decided to use a Heidi Swapp Memory Planner. I created some mixed media style dividers and a dashboard using my gelli plate and also a title page to help me keep focus of my word.

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My intention is to take the weekly DLP2016 challenges that inspire me and incorporate them into my monthly One Little Word projects. I haven’t really decided just how much of OLW2016 I’ll be sharing her on the blog because it contains so much personal information. For now I’ll share the artistic elements.

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The Dare2B sheet is one of the downloads you get with the unPlanner project.

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A friend from India sent me a lovely mandala card so I incorporated it into my planner along with some cute clips.

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I hadn’t done last week’s DLP challenge so I did it this morning. Rather than list 10 books that have impacted my life, as the weekly challenge suggested, I focused on just one, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy For Dummies. This book has changed my life in so many ways. It has taught me how to recognize my own unhealthy thought patterns and given me tools to be free from them.It’s an ongoing process but the positive effects of this book have been life altering for me. I’ve listed some of the positive ways it has impacted my life.

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My version of this week’s unPlanner project.

Recently I’ve been spending time trying to sort out some old personal baggage and how it relates to my present day life. There have been some rough days while I’ve been working through this process. Some more challenging than others, but it’s all been a necessary step in my growth. This page is a  visual expression of my recent struggles as well as a gentle reminder to be gentle with my self.

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If you’d like to learn more about either One Little Word 2016 or DLP2016 The unPlanner feel free to check out their sites.

Thanks for reading. I wish you a wonderful week.

xo,

Belen

 

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