Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Create Your Incredible Year pimping!


Yes, I am totally pimping this amazing workbook by none other than the effervescent, luminescent Leonie Dawson!


The 2013 Create Your Incredible Year workbook, planner & calendar is an incredibly popular & useful tool to help you plan out & make happen your most incredible year in life or busines (or both!). Over the last four years, thousands of women have used this workbook with the most amazing results. It’s the best planning tool available to help you make your year your most exceptional yet!

Used by entrepreneurs, artists, mamas, creatives, coaches, teachers and women of all ages, the Creating Your Incredible Year workbooks are filled with dozens of pages of powerful worksheets & a printable calendar to help you create your amazing new year.

The first time I purchased the workbook, planner & calender was for 2012. In those inspiring, vivid pages, I began to grow as a woman, as a creative, as Mary. I did so many things I'd never done before. I dreamed and created things I'd never created before.

This year, I'm going to make it supernova!

I will be blogging about the workbook as I go along :)

I plan on using Create Your Incredible Year every single year. As long as Leonie keeps making them, I'll be there!

For 2013 there's also a Business edition, which will help you grow and dream in your personal business. I decided not to get that edition this year, as it's for women who have already established their business. Hopefully next year :)








I think the clincher for me was seeing a video about someone's experience with this workbook. As soon as I saw her pages, I KNEW I had to have it! Here's a wonderful video showcasing 2013's workbook.



It's definitely something I highly, highly recommend in your life, along with the books "Simple Abundance" by Sarah Bah Breathnach and "Succulent Wild Woman" by SARK. I believe this trifecta should be in every woman's life.

Seriously. Completely.

So are you ready to make your 2013 INCREDIBLE?


Monday, January 21, 2013

Scrapbooking - Book of Me Ideas

I hope that everyone has had a lovely January thus far. In the northern hemisphere, it is often a dark, barren, cold month with little sun. In Virginia, I enjoyed mild winters (well, mild compared to here, anyway!) and lots of winter sun. Here is not nearly as bad as other Canadian places, such as Winnipeg or Sasketchewan, but January is still my least favourite month out of the year.

But I've been making it much more enjoyable, focusing on my art and scrapbooking. I've been working on my Book of Me/Encyclopedia of Me even more, and I wanted to share with you some inspiring prompts and ideas to get your own BOM off the ground and into the hands of the future.

The BOM is great in journaling format, or in scrapbooking, or in junk journaling. Do whatever feels best to you! Don't stress for perfection. Breathe deep and relax, and let your pen or scrapbooking tools do the work for you. It will mean that much more to you and your loved ones.



Favourites:
*Foods
*Sounds
*Scents
*Place
*Recipe
*Season
*Colour (this is a fun one to scrap about. Go on a photo adventure and take pictures of things in your favourite colour, then use scrapbook papers and embellishments in that same colour!)

About Me:
*Scrap/write about your Eastern and Western zodiac.
*Your name and the meaning/origin of it.
*Then and Now (I once did a scrapbook page of my favourite things dating from when I was 10, 15, 20, and 25 years old, and included pictures).
*What Makes Me Happy
*When I'm Sad, I...
*Things That Irritate Me
*Hobbies and Why I Love Them
*What I Do to Relax
*Places I've Been
*What I Love About... (a particular season, holiday, etc)
*10 Things About Me
*10 Things I Love

Prompts:
What was your first job?
How do you deal with stress?
Things you've done that you never thought you could do!
How do you express your love?
What do you do after you've made a mistake?
Describe your worst habit.
In the silence you find:
What makes you feel sexy?
Could you be brutally honest with friends and family?
What are you thankful for?
In what ways are you still affected by childhood problems?
What rituals do you have?
I wish I were more...
I wish I were less...
Do you collect anything? If so, what?
What's the worst advice you've ever been given?
Do you own anything of sentimental value?
What is your idea of a perfect day?
In what ways do you like to indulge yourself?
What are your guilty pleasures?
What have you lied about?
What happens if you let anger and upset stay bottled up inside for too long?
What is going on at this very moment?
Describe the perfect autumn day.
Do you have holiday traditions, or are you thinking about starting new ones? Describe them.
What sound is most comforting to you?
How many places have you lived in your life? What was your favourite?
What is the most frustrating part of who you are?
When you're around too much negativity, you...
What do you deeply want from life?
Write about an old resentment or hurt.
What was your first pet?
What countries would you LOVE to visit?
Nobody knows that you...
Character traits you think others admire in you.
Your greatest fears.
What's the strangest dream you can remember having?
What stirs your soul and gets you excited?
What do you want to do this year?
Do you believe in an afterlife?
What makes you feel guilty?
What is your first reaction to a blank canvas?
What makes you laugh?
What has scared you the most?
Are you a morning person or a night owl?
What's your morning routine?
What stops you from being creative?


Childhood
What is the earliest memory you can think of?
Did you have an allowance? What did you have to do to earn it?
Describe a typical day in junior high.
Describe your first crush and how you felt around him/her.
What was your favourite subject in school? Your worst?
Talk about Christmas or other major holidays as a child.
What were your favourite toys and games?
What were your favourite tv shows?
Write about how your family celebrated your birthdays. Elaborate on any special ones.
Who was your first celebrity crush?
What did you like to do on a rainy day?
What got you the most excited?
Do you recall visits to your grandparents' home? Do you have any special memories about them?
Write about things you did and places you went with your mother.
Write about things you did and places you went with your father.
Where did you live as a child? Describe it in as much detail as possible.
Did you have any pets growing up?
Describe a favourite childhood friend and activities you did with him or her.
What could easily get you into trouble?
Favourite childhood activities.
What were your favourite places to go with your parents?
Do you have any siblings? Are you the eldest, middle, or youngest?
Write about the story of your birth as told by your mother.
What were your favourite Halloween costumes?
Did you go to summer camp? Any special stories?
What do you miss about being a child?

Marriage
Describe your wedding day.
How did you become engaged?
Write a description of your spouse.
What initially attracted you two together?
Scrap a "Versus" page about you and your spouse, showing your contrasting favourites in columns; one column for you, the other for your spouse.
Describe your first home as a young couple.
Write about the things you love about your spouse.


Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Happy 2013!

Happy sparkly, full-of-promise, blank canvas, brand spankin' New Year!!!


Miscellaneous New Year Comments

Magickal Graphics

It's a time of newness in this sparkly new era that we entered on December 21st. The entire year stretches out ahead of us, full of promise and excitement.

What do YOU plan on doing this year?

I'm not talking resolutions.

Nope.

What are you doing? Where are you going to go? What are you going to learn?

Take up a new hobby?
Do a photography exploration in a little town you've never been to before?
Finally learn that thing you've always been meaning to learn but never got around to?
Adventure by yourself, taking in new sights and having your own mini day vacation in the city or in the country? Dine alone and be fabulous all by yourself, or with friends?
Do that thing you've always been afraid of trying?
Read lots of books?
Write a book?

You can do anything this year! I believe in you!


Now it's time to play catch-up for my December Photo-a-Day challenge! We left off at the 20th, so here's the 21st to the 31st.



21 - Wrapped



22 - Warmth



23 - Bokeh



24 - 'Twas the Night



25 - Unwrapped



26 - Toy

My new Kobo Touch! The back is lilac :)


27 - Favourite Thing

Obviously!


28 - Gratitude


29 - Texture

I know, I know... third photo of my Kobo Touch! This is the fluffy, super-soft case I crocheted for it.


30 - Resolution

Yes, I call them Revolutions. I wrote down quite a few in my new journal!


31 - Celebrate

All ready to go out!

Aaaanddd I just looked at the image for this challenge, and I realised I forgot a day! I was supposed to take a picture on January 1st. Ah well, I got all of December, and that's what matters!