Resolutions Tag Book - February

Here we are on the last day of February.... how are those New Year's resolutions coming along? They slip so easily out of mind don't they!

We posted here last month about keeping them in mind all year long by making yourself a tag book. We'll be sharing one with you every month, and would love to hear which resolutions you're working on in 2011 :)

This month's resolution for me is....

Follow your interests and study hard! Learn, learn, learn....

This year I'm having a change of career so I want to work hard and learn as much about it as I possibly can; however, this resolution also extends to my interests! I always want to keep learning new things and look forward to trying out new crafts and techniques this year :) this year already I have been using a sewing machine on a few of my projects which is a new thing for me, and I love it!

What are your experiences with your resolutions? Now that we are two months into the year have you come up with some new plans to follow? Let us know how you're getting on!

Gayle xx

New Year's Resolutions

So have you forgotten yours already? ;) I spotted this wonderful hybrid project class by Jessica Sprague, which I loved as an idea to help you keep your resolutions in mind over the year - the class gives easy print-outs for you to make your own tag book to keep track of your New Year's resolutions...



Well, I downloaded the class and loved the idea so much I decided to have a go at making my own :)

Using Basic Grey's Boxer patterned paper and number stickers I decorated 14 small green and black tags, one for each month and one each for the front and back covers. I wanted to keep a theme running throughout the book so decided to decorate using two alternate designs through the tag book.

I used the Cricut Storybook cartridge to cut cream journalling spots for the green pages, and punched patterned corners on the red paper to embellish the black pages.

I have taken photos of the book before writing my resolutions inside because I don't want to spoil the surprise! The other Scrappy Tree girls are sharing the fun and will be taking it in turns every month over the year to come to share their take on this idea, plus one of their twelve resolutions for that month. So here is my first resolution:-

I will... live healthy 90% of the time; move my body and eat well.

I find that I can very much be an all or nothing kind of person when it comes to my health - either I am entirely preoccupied with going to the gym and following my diet or I am utterly neglectful of it! This year I will be getting married in September, and while I know that nobody is perfect (hence the 10% of leeway ;) ) I resolve to make a commitment to myself to be good to my body MOST of the time. Girls, if you're anything like me it will be a relief not to beat yourself up for neglecting your health and wellbeing, so let's give ourselves the occasional break but on the whole make this year a good year for treating ourselves well :)

Feel free to share your thoughts either here or at The Scrappy Tree community, I know that this will be one that is a big issue for many of us :)

Gayle xx

New Year, New Beginnings - Part 2

Bringing you another idea for our New Year New Beginnings challenge - after discovering Ali Edwards' One Little Word over at her blog, my idea for this project was to use a scalloped chipboard album with cardstock pages inside and scrap one thing each month to tie in with my chosen word bliss.

Having had a few difficult times over November and December it can be hard to remember all the good things that happened earlier in the year, so starting with our trip to London to see a musical next weekend I wanted to make something that I could look back at this time next year and find my 'bliss' all over again!

I layered patterned paper, paper scraps and ribbon onto the chipboard and lots and lots of embellishments!

I wanted to have the themes for my mini-album on the front cover so that they were obvious but didn't take over the page.

I didn't want to make the back cover as heavily embellished as the front, but still wanted it to tie in with the same style - a metal plaque from my Secret Santa finished this off perfectly! I finished up by decorating the bookrings with coordinating ribbons.

Supplies:

Scalloped chipboard album - Papermania. Patterned paper - Creative Memories, plus scraps from stash. Ribbons from stash, blue spotted flower by Petaloo, brown flowers from stash, black butterflies and flower - vinyl stickers by Papermania. Rub-ons by Letraset. 'Life' key by Tim Holtz. 'Heart to heart' metal plate by Making Memories.

So here's a reminder of what you need to do:-

Create a project that reflects what the words New Year, New Beginnings mean to you. It can be a layout reflecting your New Years resolutions, a mini book of the past year in review, or even an ATC set of all the goals you have for the New Year. Be creative, be Scrappy and email us your results by January 13, 2010 to enter. The winner will receive the very first scrap kit designed by The Scrappy Tree team.

Email: thescrappytree@hotmail.com

Due Date: 1/13/2010

Requirements:

*You must use the title of the challenge.

* Be a follower of The Scrappy Tree.

*Feel free to ask questions here or shoot us an email.

The Scrappy Tree team wishes you and yours a Happy and Safe New Year!

Thanks for looking! Gayle xx