She's Showing Off!: She's FOCUSed!

I am so proud of me!! I didn't start Ali's class yet for One Little Word. (It's ongoing and there will be a project each month to emphasize or bring attention to your word and allow it to inspire you.) I didn't do the Bitten by the Bug challenge. I didn't do Emma's Throwback Thursday challenge either! So why am I feeling good about NOT trying these new things that I was looking forward to and setting up a blog so I could participate? Because I am sticking to the project at hand, my 2010 Review Mini Album, and NOT starting something else until I finish the current task. I am FOCUSing! AND further more, I am enjoying the process -- not just rushing to get it done so I can play with something new.

The 2010 Review album is something I have never done, but I can definitely see it becoming an annual project. I am using an 8x8 album and I chose 4 3x3 photos for each month. I am doing a 1.5 x 6 strip of journaling for each month that may (or may not!) co-ordinate with the 4 photos. In addition to the 12 monthly pages, I did a 2 page spread of the books I read in 2010,

a two page spread of some of my favorite crafting projects, and a two page spread of my favorite photos of ME!! I even tried something new (for me) on that layout by using the strips of journaling that Debbie Hodge talked about on her blog last week. So now I am through with all of the pages EXCEPT for the monthly journaling strips. It would be sooooo easy to put it aside and explore a new project, but I know I would never get back to it and never complete the "words." It is those "stories" that make scrapbooking different from filling photo albums with pictures and pretty papers. And unfortunately it is those stories that I tend to neglect. (That is what card-making is for -- getting to play with pretty papers and my cricut and pretty embellies without any journaling!)

Anyway, the point of today's entry is that I really have stayed on track... I have avoided the temptation to just dabble in an assortment of endeavors and am actually finishing something. This sounds like I NEVER complete a project and that is certainly not true. However, completing a project for ME (not a gift!) that doesn't even have a DEADLINE,,, Yeah, it is a big deal. FOCUS!

Some of my favorite 2010 projects: