project 365

it seems everyone, i mean EVERYone is doing or has done one of these. i've halfheartedly done a picture-a-day project for a couple months in the past but quickly burnt out on the whole routine. however, since the advent of the iphone and subsequently, instagram, i find myself taking a picture a day without even really trying. so...i join the throngs. there are a few of my own idiosyncrasies though. i am coupling this with a project life binder that i will complete throughout the year. and if that weren't enough, i'm keeping all my photos within one theme: gratitude. we're almost twenty days into january and i have almost twenty days to show for it. i won't be posting all of my project 365 photos on here but some will make an appearance. this is a sampling of the first twenty-ish days (slightly out of order)...

this project was inspired by a few lines from one of my favourite songs (and pictured in the first shot up in the top left corner):
       i am frightened by how easy it can be to live so long going from one things to the next thing to the next until months have gone. and you realise you have really not done anything at all. and you fall asleep believing you've just climbed so you could fall. and i don't believe that who i am is something i can find. it's whoever i create with what i do with all my time. it's WHO i choose to love with all my heart and strength and mind. and whether i believe that what i have is really mine. i want to live with wider eyes, there's far too much to see. i've been longing for the freedom that is waiting silently in the life that's just beyond the small perimeter of me.

here's my list of things i'm thankful for...so far:

this good day. sleep. freedom. books. amazon gift cards. color. knitting (and knitted hats). family of five. daisies and sunshine in january. daily bread. reading kiddies. sunrises. love notes from my son. smash books. cookies. a boy and his duck. play dates. frosty mornings. this city.

on a rainy, january day...

elijah and i just came in from a very successful puddle stomping session. our feet got soaked (despite the protection of boots), our fingers turned numb very quickly (from fishing snails out of the puddles) and i wondered why i spent time on my hair this morning. but we're warm and cozy now with bellies full of soup and bread. a fun activity for a dreary day.

have you heard of project 365? it's kind of the "in" thing in the scrapbooking world right now. the basic version of it requires you to take a picture a day for 365 days. i did a mini version of this last year. and i seriously considered going full fledged with it this year. there's lots of great reasons to do it. the most obvious is just simply the fact that you will have a recorded moment for every day of the year. that's pretty cool. but it can also help you improve your photography skills, stretch you creatively and teach you to look at everyday moments in a different way. these are all great things. however, i knew that, while it would be cool to have a picture a day at the end of it all, i most likely wouldn't be able to keep it up with a newborn. so...i settled on an alternative. and i'm pretty excited about it. i posted a calendar right next to my computer where i am bound to see it at least once a day. in each little square, i write a tiny tidbit from our day. most of the time, these tidbits are pretty begnin. sometimes, when i'm feeling less than creative, they can be quite boring. but other times, these tiny morsels of anaya life serve as a memory springboard and they help me remember the pieces of a much larger, more precious story. examples are as follows:

1 january 2009: went out for chinese food to celebrate the new year.
8 january 2009: elijah fell asleep in my arms. will this be the last time he does that?
17 january 2009: bike ride over the "big bridge".
19 january 2009: family walk to the park this morning.
and today's: blissful rainy day. perfect for puddle stomping.

sometimes i will have pictures to go along with my tidbit (like today). but most of the time, i won't. and that's okay. these will be organized by week into an album where i can add photos and layouts as they get printed/completed. hopefully, at the end of 2009, i will have a fat scrapbook/journal of our year. i'm excited about this. for me, this is easier than a photo a day (i know that sounds weird coming from me). i'm not worried about being creative; i'm simply documenting our day in a few words. if i forget a day, that's okay because most likely, i can remember back even if it's been a couple days (i've already had to do this once). it's not like a photo; you can't go back in time and redo that day just so you can take a picture. this is going to be cool...i can feel it.

may: day two.

the calendar page for may.
(i realize i never posted april's page. i'll do that someday)

april: day eight.

the latest mess.
decided to move my scrappy goodness to the dining room table.
even though it's a disorganized eye-sore, i get so much more done down there than i do in my dedicated scrap room.
not quite sure why.
maybe because i can work with elijah playing along side me?

an ode to the park...and some creations.

elijah and gavin, just chilling

it may look like elijah's sharing with noah but really, he's making a not-so-happy sound as noah grabs the toy from e's death grip.

e helps gavin turn the wheel, while lyndi helps them both.

one of us has to monitor e and n's play time...it was shannon' s turn this time.
true story: once e got those two cars in his hands, he turned around, launched himself into shannon's arms with a look that said "save me!". we just busted up laughing...

e and i have been spending quite a bit of time at one of the local parks lately. we meet up with our friends shannon and noah on most tuesdays and thursdays. sometimes lyndi and gavin join us too. the park we go to has a great play-structure designed for the littler guys (the sign says ages 2-5 but our boys have figured it out quite well, thankyouverymuch) surrounded by astro- turf...which is FABULOUS. no more worrying about who's eating the bark, what has peed/pooped in the bark, what appendages will get splinters from the bark...etc. etc. etc. can you tell we don't appreciate bark very much? i suppose it's not technically bark...it's more like wood chips but still...it seems to be the filler of choice for most parks around here. so i suppose we like this park because of its lack of bark.

e loves climbing all over the play-structure, finding puddles in the picnic area (or other edible things...*sigh*...we're working on that), trying to figure out how to turn on the drinking fountain, playing/eating the dirt in the horseshoe pits and running hither and yon all over the place. it is such a great outlet for him...he nearly always falls asleep in the car on the way home (and considering the fact home is only a five minute drive away, that's saying something) and sleeps for hours once we get home and he gets put in his bed. he loves playing with the other boys and their moms...though he's still not the greatest fan of noah sometimes. noah is...ummm...well...let's just say...noah likes whatever toy elijah is playing with the best. so...occasionally that will cause some conflict. (ya think?) but typically, once e finally gets his hands on a toy he actually wants to play with, he just takes off in his own independent little way and usually ends up playing with the toy on the picnic tables. he's funny that way. and he's getting better at dealing with noah...which basically means ignoring him. :D hopefully soon, they'll both get the idea of sharing and playtime will go much smoother. maybe we should just stop bringing toys to the park? hmmm...there's an idea.

been working on some things lately. and have a lot of half-finished projects lying around...but a few things have actually gotten done! fabulous. below is a picture of my st. patrick's day "mobile". i say "mobile" because it's not technically a mobile at all...it's just shamrocks hanging from our light fixture. but i can pretend it's a mobile. it's not creative in the least...i just glued two shamrock doilies together...but it's colorful and fun. i realized after i'd glued them all together and hung them up that i should have folded four of them and made a three dimensional shamrock...but what's done is done...i'll save that idea for next year.
it's funny...i don't really even like st. patrick's day that much. i'm definitely not irish...and i'm not a fan of going out and getting drunk on green beer...i was just looking for something bright and cheery to hang over my kitchen table. and when i discovered this little shimmering doilies in all their cheap glory, i figured they'd be perfect. and they are. cheap as they were.

this picture is horrible, but you get the idea

i also just hung my easter banner that i've been working on for the past couple weeks. in all actuality, the banner probably only took me a couple hours total to put together...however...i get sidetracked easily...so it has been sitting half done for much too long until just yesterday when i put it all together. i hung it up today and it's quite festive. it slightly clashes with my shamrocks...but i guess that's what happens when you have easter in march.


i cannot claim the idea as my own however. i found it in the march issue of creating keepsakes magazine. when i saw it though, i fell in love and knew i had to make one of my own. i thought about making a bunch and selling them in my etsy shop (which is coming, i promise!) but the whole "easter in march" thing really dented my plans. however, there's always next year...right?



one last little tidbit from the anaya household...elijah has learned how to make the "indian noise". you know...the one where you quickly cover and uncover your mouth while making noises? yeah...totally hilarious. especially when he's all alone in his playroom doing it. i can't help but smile. love that crazy little monkey.

just ten days late...

so...you're probably wondering where my march calendar page is, right? right. considering the fact that here it is, march 10th, and i haven't posted it yet. well, there is a good reason...and it's not because i've been enjoying february's page so much that i couldn't bear to put march up (though there is some truth to that). no...it is something different entirely. a little history first: the calendar i'm using this year is a making memories 10x10 blank calendar...i've told you that before. well...the thing is, the workable surface isn't exactly 10x10 due to the rings holding the calendar together...the canvas actually ends up being about 10x9.5...give or take a millimeter or two. or three. because of this, i've pre-cut 12 sheets of white cardstock down to 10x9.5 to use as my starting point. well, when i was beginning march, the paper somehow got turned around...so now it's 9.5x10...which means it doesn't really fit the calendar page. *sigh* when i first discovered this (on march 1st), it really annoyed me. so i did what i usually do when something annoys me...i left it alone. it sat on the floor of my scrap room for about a week. then i realized i really actually used my calendar and i was tired of guessing at the date. so...i put my annoyance aside and tried to figure out a remedy to my problem. there was no way i was going to redo the page...and i couldn't trim it (you'll see why in a minute)...and it looked really weird on it's side...so...what could i do? i just stuck it up there with a 1/2 inch hanging off the top. and yeah...it bugs me...but it's really not that noticeable. i'm the only one who ever looks at it and march doesn't last forever.


so...there it is. big, fat, glaring mistake and all. at least now i know i'll triple check that i have the page facing the right way before i start working on my subsequent pages.

now that you've seen the page...you're probably wondering what all that writing says. right? right. it's actually the lyrics to one of my favorite songs. and because i'm such a nice blogger...here they are:

Your wind is mighty...it bends the backs of trees
it moves among the fields along these california streets
we've come to know as highways...they can take us anywhere
but all we know is where we're going and how fast we're getting there
the world outside my window is shaming me again
with the things i haven't seen cuz i've been writing about them
the sky's a waiting witness to the truth i would possess
but i've forgotten all its mystery in my quest for second best

i want to live with wider eyes...there's far too much to see
to think of nothing else but where i've been and where i'll be
i've been longing for the freedom that is waiting silently
in the life that's just beyond the small perimeter of me

Your rain is mighty...it weathers mountainsides
it raises these rivers til they look a mile wide
and i think that i have crossed them on a bridge a thousand times
and haven't even seen the rivers from the corner of my eye
i'm frightened by how easy it can be to live so long
going from one thing to the next thing to the next til months have gone
and you realize you have really not done anything at all
at night you fall asleep believing you've just climbed so you could fall

and i don't believe that who i am is something i can find
it's whatever i create with what i do with all my time
it's who i choose to love with all my heart and strength and mind
and whether i believe that what i have is really mine

i want to live with wider eyes...there's far too much to see
to think of nothing else but where i've been and where i'll be
i've been longing for the freedom that is waiting silently
in the life that's just beyond the small perimeter of me.

beginnings. day one.

note: for some reason, my spell checker isn't working and i KNOW i spelled some words very wrong. my apologies.

two blogs in one day. that doesn't happen very often. but...i have good reason (and no, that reason isn't because elijah is napping). the reason is because today is the first of february! what kind of reason is that, you ask? it is a perfectly good reason...it's actually almost a reason within a reason. or two. that makes no sense. anyways. i promised to share my new calendar page on the first of the month...so here is february's page!

this one was so fun for me...only because i NEVER get to scrap with pink. and for that reason, i've been stashing all my pink paper and perephinelia away for such a time as this. too much fun. i actually spent way more time on this layout than i normally would...simply because i was having so much fun. the lines between the squares are actually stitched by hand, which took most of the time because i am a very slow at handwork (as martha calls it!). the fun felt pieces came in a kit i got a while back and i've been saving them for such a time as this...don't they just make the page! love the finished look they give the page. anyways. i'm blabbling...sorry. if you want to know more or what brands of paper i used or any of that...please feel free to ask.

my second reason for posting again is to share my new february project. i've been inspired by so many people who are doing a picture-a-day photo type projects. some of my favorites can be found here and here and here. some are doing year long projects and some just one month...which is what i decided to do. i usually lose steam with really long-term projects but if the first of march comes along and i'm on a roll...i might just keep going. we'll see. anyways. here's today's photo.

it's the pile of books on my nightstand. i should note that this is only one of the piles that graces various furniture in my bedroom...but this one is my favorite. the top contains the books i'm currently reading (or will start soon. which reminds me...i need to renew a couple...)...then the rest of the pile consists of my favorite crafty books/mags that i refer to on a regular basis. the bottom half of the pile is in constant flux...i'm always (usually) adding to the pile and sometimes taking them back to the bookshelf in my "mess" room. i love the possibilities of this pile. it makes me happy.

more tomorrow.

calendar.

i mentioned briefly in my previous post about my 2008 calendar. i bought this making memories calendar with some of the birthday money my mom gave me. it wasn't a big purchase...and really, it was almost an afterthought. you see, i like alterable, do-it-yourself calendars but to be honest, i was a little burnt out on those kind of calendars when i purchased this one. i had been working on my mom's annual christmas present calendar and just really didn't think i'd be able to summon the creativity to actually do one for myself. but...it was only 8 dollars so...on a whim...i added it to my shopping cart. and when it came in the mail...i found myself getting excited about it. but also a bit intimidated. the calendar is completely blank. no idea book, no paper/sticker/die-cut kit like the ones i usually get my mom, nothing. just the calendar to do with as you wish. the lack of structure threw me a bit. i had no idea where to begin. so i set it aside, hoping for a smashing idea to come my way.
then, a few days ago, as i was thinking about goals and going through some piles of scrapbooking paper that i had tucked away in a corner of my "mess room" to save for later, i came across some really cool cork board paper (by karen foster designs) and that gave me an idea. why not make my calendar page bulletin-board-esque and post some of my goals on it as a reminder? inspired, i got to work. and although the finished product was not exactly what i'd originally envisioned, i still like it. maybe even better than i my original idea. i was also able to finish both february and march's layouts in the same creative spurt (though not on the same day)...i'll post those here on the first of each respective months. i'm excited about this project...to work on it throughout the year, to see where it takes me and most of all, come december, to look back at it as a finished album of my year. good stuff.