One Little Word

Word Up # 72: CRAZY

“You have no idea how crazy I am, I should be wearing yellow Caution tape, I’m that bonkers”

        Robin Benway, The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June

It’s true.  I am Crazy.  Most days I just feel like a big ol hot mess of Crazy.  I have way too many passions, too many things on my To Do list, too many work hours and clients, too many thoughts;  dust bunnies, dirty clothes......art journals, ideas, paintings to finish, diaries, bottles of nail polish and glitter, puzzles I will never finish, flower seed packets I will never plant, travel books to places I may never see.........

Crazy is madness, yes.  But Crazy is also fantastic, magical, infatuated, intensely involved and quite frankly, more interesting.  

I suppose it can also be exhausting, but Crazy also comes with a good dose of denial!

I would love to see what Crazy means to you.

Denise

Lynn

Revlie

Ronda

and our very special guest

Jessica Sporn

Jessica Sporn is a mixed media artist and illustrator.  She is known for her strong use of color, texture, inspirational messages, and whimsical, heartfelt style.  Her artwork always contains a sprinkle of her soul.  The personal joy Jessica takes in her work comes through in the way she conveys information to others.  Jessica is a designer for Stencil Girl Products and her illustration work can be found on greeting cards for Recycled Paper Greetings, Hallmark, Marian Heath, Leanin' Tree and other greeting card companies, as well as Judaica products for Aviv Judaica.  You can find Jessica at her blog, where she often hosts giveaways, her website, and on Facebook.  

We loved Jessica's work so much we asked her to be part of the team perrmenantly!  So please welcome Jessica Sporn to the OLW design team!  We are very excited to have such a talented mixed media artist!  You can check out her video detailing her CRAZY creation here. 

Jessi Lute has decided to step down from One Little Word to persue other endevours.  We wish her well on her journey knowing she has been a big part of OLW from the beginning and will be missed. 

Do you love OLW?  We are looking to expand our team!  We are currently looking for a few mixed media/art journalers/altered artist as well as a couple scrapbook artist (traditional/hybrid/digital).  If picked to join our team, you are required one creation (art journal, mixed media piece, scrapbook layout) a month using whatever supplies you wish.  It's that easy.  To apply, play along with this word up by linking your CRAZY creations at the bottom of this post.  Then drop me an email at HelpMe@RondaPalazzari.com with your name, blog/web address, and any other online galleries links.  Please put OLW DT TRY-OUT in the subject line.  Remember OLW is about celebrating words so make sure your entries really highlight the word up.   Deadline to apply is July 14th. 

If you want to play along and create something using this word up, please share a link at the bottom of this post with the inlinkz button.  Please leave a link to a specific blog post or image on flickr, rather than a general url. Online galleries work too!  We look forward to seeing what you create (art journal, scrapbook page, mini album, etc).  We will leave the link open until July14th, midnight Mountain time. 

and if you are happy we are back, go like us on Facebook and help us spread the word!

Happy Creating!

 

Word Up #71: SURROUND

hello, hello, hello wordsters!!!

life has been a huge rollcoaster of chaos for myself and my family in the last 6 months. we have had some major changes, major shifts, some good, so not so good...all of it an opportunity to grow and learn...find strength and embrace love and the good people in our life.

in amongst all this i have felt surrounded...surrounded by love, surrounded by God, surround by little things and surrounded by beauty. that last one has been a tough one for me. i have carried a strong dislike for the province i live in since the day i moved here. this is not to say i haven't made multiple attempts to embrace and love it...but the fact is i just don't. i miss mild temperatures, the ocean and mountains...i miss flowers blooming in february. and i miss it daily, most especially in the winter when winter lasts 7 months!!

but maybe that is my test right now. to truly look around and appreciate all that i have in my life and in the current place i live. maybe our dreams of moving haven't come together because i haven't really recognized God's work in this place where the sky reaches out and on forever. i have been given an opportunity to live here. and rather then embrace it i have been looking for the fast track out of here. i am surrounded daily by incredible beauty here and it is amazing the happiness and peace that beauty can bring me when i truly look at it and believe in it...even in the face of "i dislike the province i live in". what are you surrounded by that brings you joy? happiness and peace? what has surrounded you to bring you through the darkness? what do you see surrounding you to make this moment, day, week, life the most amazing it possibly can be? share with us those things that surround you!

Jessi

Denise

Gudrun

Lynn

Revlie

Ronda

If you want to play along and create something using this word up, please share a link at the bottom of this post with the inlinkz button.  Please leave a link to a specific blog post or image on flickr, rather than a general url. Online galleries work too!  We look forward to seeing what you create (art journal, scrapbook page, mini album, etc).  We will leave the link open until June14th, midnight Mountain time. 

and if you are happy we are back, go like us on Facebook and help us spread the word!

Happy Creating!

Word Up #70: FRESH

I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a FRESH try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning. J. B. Priestley

Do you ever feel like you're in a rut?  Like you want to change something but don't know how to take that first step.  It's a bit scary and daunting but it still keeps building in you, that urge to step out of your comfort zone and try something new.  a FRESH start.  Why do we hold ourselves back?  Because it's comfortable and safe.  These things have been running in my mind lately.  Don't get me wrong, i am extremely happy in my life.  But there are things I want to do, things I want to achieve.  I am ready for that next step but sometimes i hold myself back.  It's time to see things with FRESH eyes and make a new start, to jump into something new.  I'm ready to breath the FRESH air that comes along with new beginnings.  i need that FRESH perspective that comes along with that leap.

Ronda

 

Denise

 

Gudrun

 

Karla

Lynn

 

Revlie

 

If you want to play along and create something using this word up, please share a link at the bottom of this post with the inlinkz button.  Please leave a link to a specific blog post or image on flickr, rather than a general url. Online galleries work too!  We look forward to seeing what you create (art journal, scrapbook page, mini album, etc).  We will leave the link open until May 14th, midnight Mountain time. 

and if you are happy we are back, go like us on Facebook and help us spread the word!

Happy Creating!

 

Word Up #69: HOME

"Home is where my heart is."

It is not perfect, not tidy, not like in the magazines.... But my home is my castle. I want it to be a warm, safe place. A place where there is room for friends, for people I love, for my kids and their friends. I want my front door to always be open and I want my living room to be filled with voices, laughter, love and just every day life.

I want my home to be the place with all the good memories.

This last year my home has been of great importance to me, to my kids and to some of their friends. It's the place where we can be free. We can laugh, we can cry, and we can embrace the people and the things we love. this year we have experienced how much our home means to us: to each one of us and to us as a family, to the friends and kids that feels like home.

Home ... It makes me so very happy when people feel like home in my house. No matter how imperfect,  it is still home and we love it. Our home is our castle. Our home is where the people we love are, where we create our life, where the journey begins, and the place we always can return to when we want to come home.

Gudrun

 

Denise

 

Jessi

 

Lynn

Revlie

Ronda

If you want to play along and create something using this word up, please share a link at the bottom of this post with the inlinkz button.  Please leave a link to a specific blog post or image on flickr, rather than a general url. Online galleries work too!  We look forward to seeing what you create (art journal, scrapbook page, mini album, etc).  We will leave the link open until April 14th, midnight Mountain time. 

and if you are happy we are back, go like us on Facebook and help us spread the word!

Happy Scrapping!

Word Up # 68: ALWAYS

always; (awl-weyz)

1. everytime; on every occasion; without exception

2. all the time; continuous; uninterruptedly; forever

I have to admit that I struggled a bit with a word for this time around.... well maybe a lot....lol  There are some great words out there with great meanings, but what do they mean to me? This past year has been busy... kids, grandkids, the cares of life, work.... you all know where I am coming from but I have to say that I thought so much of the direction that my kids are going... they are growing up so fast! The word that has been on my mind the most for the last little while is "always".... I hope they "always" follow their hearts... I hope they "always" follow their dreams....I hope they "always" stay true to themselves...

So what does this word mean to you? We hope that you will play along with us!!

Lynn

Denise

Gudrun

Jessi

Revlie

Ronda

If you want to play along and create something using this word up, please share a link at the bottom of this post with the inlinkz button.  Please leave a link to a specific blog post or image on flickr, rather than a general url. Online galleries work too!  We look forward to seeing what you create (art journal, scrapbook page, mini album, etc).  We will leave the link open until March 1st, midnight Mountain time. 

and if you are happy we are back, go like us on Facebook and help us spread the word!

Happy Scrapping!

 

Word Up #67: RESOLUTIONS

Hello friends! Karla here to celebrate a new year with many new beginnings. New attitudes and a chance to start fresh. 

I love the new year. It so rejuvinating. It's a great time of year full of hopes and new drive. With the coming of the new year we set goals for ourselves. Personal goals that we hope to accomplish. These resolutions are the catalysts for growth and inovation — confindence and happiness. They can be small like remembering to get the mail each day or big like starting one's own business. Either way, this Word Up is all about our RESOLUTIONS. 

What are your resolutions for 2013? Do you have one? Many? Turn your goals into art and join us this month by scrapping January's Word Up: RESOLUTIONS. I hope you obtian everything your seek. Happy New Year everyone and thanks again for being a part of OLW.

Now get to scrapping! I know we have! Take a look...

Karla

Denise

Gudrun

Jessi

Lynn

Revlie

Ronda

If you want to play along and create something using this word up, please share a link at the bottom of this post with the inlinkz button.  Please leave a link to a specific blog post or image on flickr, rather than a general url. Online galleries work too!  We look forward to seeing what you create (art journal, scrapbook page, mini album, etc).  We will leave the link open until January 31st, midnight Mountain time. 

and if you are happy we are back, go like us on Facebook and help us spread the word!

Happy Scrapping!

Word Up #66: JUMP

"we have to continually be jumping of cliffs and developing our wings on the way down - Kurt Vonnegut "

When I started Artifex Support (my company for Secretarial Services in the Netherlands) almost 13 years ago, I simply quit my well-paid day job.  I believed in myself and made it happen. I got a lot of criticism. I was crazy for giving up my "security". How could I believe this would work? I was "just a girl" and I would never be able to get enough clients for me to live from my own company. That only made me go "watch me and eat my dirt please". It fueled my engine even more. From my first day as an entrepreneur I was very successful.

Lucky for me I did NOT listen to other people, they seriously thought I lost my head. Why is it so different now? Why do I care now about what other people say? I used to throw those opinions in the wind and walked the other way. But not now.

I'm building REVolution while I'm also working so much for Artifex and taking care of our lovely family. But I want more for REVolution, so badly. And i'm working hard for it. But sometimes I think: GIRL JUST JUMP! leap & have faith. I have to believe more in myself. like I did back then. How can I expect others to believe in me? JUST JUMP and make it happen again :).

So what is holding you back? Why are you not jumping. Or maybe why ARE YOU jumping and how is that working out for you? Are you planning to JUMP in 2013? Will you JUMP with me?

Revlie

Denise

Jessi

 

Karla

 

Lynn

 

Ronda

We also have a winner to announce from DARE.   the random selected winner of Revlie's stunning eclectic Collection of mixed media cards is......

#7

Åshild Halvorsen

If you want to play along and create something using this word up, please share a link at the bottom of this post with the inlinkz button.  Please leave a link to a specific blog post or image on flickr, rather than a general url. Online galleries work too!  We look forward to seeing what you create (art journal, scrapbook page, mini album, etc).  We will leave the link open until January 5th, midnight Mountain time since it's holiday time.  

and if you are happy we are back, go like us on Facebook and help us spread the word!

Happy creating. 

 

Word Up #65: DARE

 "We have to dare to be ourselves,

however frightening

or strange that self may prove to be."

 May Sarton

Ahh, to dare to be oneself.  What a glorious and frightening prospect.  There are risks involved aren't there?  What if people don't really like you?  What if they think you are strange?  What if..... For myself personally, fear is what always has stopped me from taking risks, from daring to do something I am unsure of.  We don't always know the outcomes.  We cannot see the end results of all our decisions.  Wouldn't it be much safer to just not Dare?  Yes.  Safer, risk free, fail proof and yet, what are we missing?  In that instance when we Dare to dream, to risk, to fly we are really living.  If we fail, if we fall, if we are hurt, well at least we were bold.  At least in that moment we were being our true and glorious selves.  We dared to try something, create something, be something.  We were scared and yet, with courage that has said it's prayers, we DARED to do it anyway. 

What do you Dare to do? 

Denise

Gudrun

Jessi

Karla

Lynn

Revlie

Ronda

For this Word Up we have a special prize pack to give away.  One lucky winner picked randomly from the entries will win a set of 12 Whimsical Christmas Cards, 4 of each design, from Revlie's Etsy Shop Revolution. As a special treat for you, she is also offering a 10% discount!  Just use the code "Wordster" in the coupon code section.  Also she has a sale in the shop right now: if you buy 3 sets of Christmas Cards, you'll receive a free set of 8 mixed media cards.  Here's a look at the wonderfuly whimsical Christmas Cards:

If you want to play along and create something using this word up, please share a link at the bottom of this post with the inlinkz button.  Please leave a link to a specific blog post or image on flickr, rather than a general url. We look forward to seeing what you create (art journal, scrapbook page, mini album, etc).  We will leave the link open until November 30th, midnight Mountain time.  You must have your creation submitted by then to be eligible for the prize pack.  

and if you are happy we are back, go like us on Facebook and help us spread the word!

Happy creating. 

 

Word Up #64: CELEBRATE

Just a little note from me (aka Ronda) before Jessi jumps in here with her beautiful words.  I didn't know when i kicked OLW back up how much interested it would generate.  It seems the design team was feeling the same things i was feeling.  They emailed me little notes (some not realizing i had started back slowly) how much they missed OLW.  It is something special that touched all of our lives.  Well here we are again in full force.  On our individual blogs you will find details about our own creations.  Lots of us our on instagram and will be sneaking pictures of our creations.  We are still going to post just once a month with a two week window for you to post your creations at the bottom of this post.  We hope you will dig deep into the words and help us CELEBRATE the power of words.  Ronda

Jessi here.  I am so excited that OLW is back and equally excited to be designing for OLW again! When Ronda asked me to choose a word for my first word up...celebrate instantly came to mind. Funny thing is...it was coming on the back of a rough day that had been proceeded by a few rough weeks.  My husband had been laid off a job he'd had for 10 yrs and finding a job to replace it wasn't happening as easily or quickly as we hoped. On the day i was asked for my word choice i was having a REALLY bad day with my kids, things seemed to be imploding...we've all been there, right?? But through that, i realized there was so much to celebrate and that i needed to focus on those things...on the things that made me smile the things that were important, that things that i could change and control. The rest?? well Linkin park says it best, you simply..."leave out all the rest" So here i am, leaving out all the rest and focusing on the things to celebrate in my life...i hope you join us this month in sharing what you celebrate :)

Jessi

 

Denise

Gudrun

Karla

Lynn

Revlie

 

Ronda

 

If you want to play along and create something using this word up, please share a link at the bottom of this post with the inlinkz button.  Please leave a link to a specific blog post or image on flickr, rather than a general url. We look forward to seeing what you create (art journal, scrapbook page, mini album, etc).  We will leave the link open until the end of the month! 

and if you are happy we are back, go like us on Facebook and help us spread the word!

Happy creating. 

Word Up #63: UNLOCK

it seems so long ago that i created the challenge blog One Little Word, OLW for short, in May 2007.  i didn't know then that it would change the way i scrap, the way i think of words, and become something so much bigger than i dreamed.  it was a crazy, wild, fun ride with many girls whom i love and are still my friends.  i met so many lovely ladies and talented souls that when i hear their name, i still remember their first entry or a lovely creation that was so powerful.  i learned of their struggles, their hopes, their fears.  i watched all of us grow together collective, amazed at how a few simple words could change lives. 

and then it became overwhelming for me.  i was spending lots of personal money on it just to keep it running.  i know part of it had to do with my strength after Chrissi's passing but i just couldn't keep up.  i wasn't the only feeling this way either.  i know some of the girls were ready to step back but because we were friends, they didn't want to disappointment me.  so i decided it was time to step back myself and "close" the OLW challenge blog. 

but it has always stayed with me.  ALWAYS.  i love how it pushed me both creatively and with journaling.  it was art therapy.  some of my favorite layouts of all time are olw. i still talk to people who tell me it was one of their favorites too.  and with that i found myself missing it more and more.

so i decided to bring it back on a small scale. I asked my dear friend jessi who was with me since the beginning if she wanted to join me.  maybe OLW will grow and come back full on but for now...i am just happy to know there is a small version of something so close to heart alive again. it's time to unlock it and let it be.

Here's the deal.  I will post new words (aka WORD UP!) on the 15th of each month.  If you want to play along and create something using the word up, please share a link at the bottom  of this post with the inlinkz button.  Please leave a link to a specific blog post or image on flickr, rather than a general url. I look forward to seeing what you create (art journal, scrapbook page, mini album, etc). 

Word Up #63: UNLOCK

My Take

Jessi's Take

I cannot wait to see what you UNLOCK