02/08/19 - My 2019 OLW

Hi there!

Today I am sharing a project I hadn't planned to make but ended up loving.

This project combines 3 things I love:

1) Being Creative

2) Pocket Pages

3) Using up stash

6 of the 8 cards (1 of the 4x6 cards has a 3x4 layered on the back of it), plus a majority of the embellishments, have been in my stash for over a year.

I mentioned before that I used to subscribe to Studio Calico's monthly Pocket Page Kit. I loved it but it was a bit pricy and I wasn't using the supplies fast enough to justify the monthly cost so after a full year as a customer, I cancelled.

Recently I joined the Elle's Studio monthly Pocket Page Kit club. The price is much lower, though to be honest, you can tell the quality isn't the same, though it is definitely good enough!

Not only is it less expensive, but I find that I like their style better...which means I use the supplies more...and even if I didn't, because of the lower cost, I don't mind so much if I don't use the product right away.

The 2 additional cards used for these pages are from Elle's Studio.

The project is literally just Pocket Page Cards mixed w/ embellishments, doodling, and a bit of journaling.

If you don't follow me on IG you don't know that Hamlet has been ill (but don't worry he is currently on the mend! Whoo-hoo!)

I have taken 2 days off from work to take care of him, because pigs getting sick is serious business, and during those 2 days, now it's 3 but today is my Friday off, I have been monitoring him around the clock.

I have had a lot of nervous energy, and in moments where he was resting, I felt the need to do something! But I didn't feel creative enough to make a scrapbook page complete w/ photos that involved my thinking of any type of major design so a Pocket Page it was!

And then when I remembered I had so many unused cards, I challenged myself to complete a project using just cards as the main element.

With all that in mind, this is what I wound up w/:

As you see it's a OLW pocket page (front and back).

I did not intend for that to be the subject of my project.

I had just intended to try to use up some of my "New Years" themed cards, and I did -

Left:

- January (3x4)

- Hello New Year (3x4)

- Start Here (4x6)

Right:

-Start, Start, Start Somewhere (3x4)

-Here (3x4)

When I placed the "Start Here" card into the bottom of the first page, my eyes immediately focused on the circle and I thought it would be the ideal place to put a word.

But what word? Hmmm.... then I thought that since the page was about the New Year, this would be a great place to introduce my OLW!

So that is how this page came to be my OLW Project.

My OLW this year is "breathe".

I suffer from depression and anxiety and have a tendency to stress out over just about everything! Towards the very end of last year I had a major panic attack and my husband literally told me "breath!". Once I took a moment to do so I did feel better...because I tend to forget to do so when I spiral out of control.  Since that day, I have been trying to control my stress and anxiety by telling myself to "breathe" and taking  few deep breaths before deciding just how much of my energy I need to invest in a situation. It does help, and so it soon came to me that this should be my word for the year. BTW - I also discovered that I have this bad habit of holding my breathe when I get too immersed in a stressful project, which is pretty much all my projects at work (sigh)... it is completely subconscious! I would be working on a project and get up to go to take a break and find myself heavily exhaling as I left my office, like I couldn't catch my breath! I did this on multiple occasions...Crazy huh?

So my goal for this year is to "breathe" both literally and figuratively.

This will be the first page in my 2019 Project Life album.