Posts Tagged ‘gratitude’

weekend inspiration.

Friday, January 7th, 2011

As we head into a weekend I wanted to share some fun ideas with you, curtesy of a few dear readers like yourself.

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{ inspired by her creative paper uses }

Rosie in South Australia didn’t have a hard time thinking of ways to use the bonus designer cardstock in her Amber Edition of Project Life. First of all, she took some “blah” magazine holders and turned them into darling-yet-functional accessories.

She also framed some of the paper. Rosie wrote: “I do this all the time. I have white frames in my hall and rotate regularly with the kids’ artwork, Christmas wrapping paper at Christmas time, quotes and sayings etc. Even fabric looks great. You don’t have to be an artist to create great looking art! And all of this costs next to nothing. I am looking forward to making cards with the rest of the paper too. The cardstock really is a great addition to the kit.”

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{ inspired by her enthusiasm }

I enjoyed a good laugh reading this email from reader Denise in Pennsylvania: “After daily checking the UPS tracking website… And by daily, I mean about ten times a day… IT ARRIVED! I just spent nearly two hours setting it up. It was two hours of bliss!”

She continues: “I was alone in the house & this was my conversation out loud:

12:43 PM: “I hear it! I hear [the UPS truck]!”

12:44 PM: *waves* “Thanks, Mr. UPS man!” (He looked at me like I was absolutely insane).

12:45 PM: Grabbed my camera and started shooting!

1:00 PM: (Started Opening)

1:10 PM: “Hey, Where are my month bookmarks?”

1:11 PM: (Opens another box) “Oh, they’re here!” “THEY’RE HERE! THEY’RE BEAUTIFUL!”

1:12 PM: “I thought I was supposed to have bi-fold journaling cards.”

1:13 PM: “OOH! There they are! Oh my goodness. This is awesome.”

1:14 PM: “This is awesome.”

1:15 PM: “Becky Higgins, I love you.”

1:17 PM: “Seriously, Becky Higgins. Your website doesn’t do this project justice.”

1:20 PM: “If I had a million dollars, I’d buy this for everyone I knew that was getting married, having kids, moving… everyone!”

1:45 PM: “Becky, I heart you & Project Life”

1:50 PM: “I LOVE THIS! I LOVE THIS I LOVE THIS!”

3:30 PM: My parents come home as I’m sitting in the middle of Project-Life-land and asks how my day is going. My response? *grins* “Oh, nothing. Just having the best day of my life.”

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{ inspired by her loyalty and awesome project-follow-through }

Karen in Wisconsin wrote: “I just wanted to share with you how much you have inspired me. Your blog is about the only blog I read and I try just about all of your ideas. I’m not one to come up with crafty things on my own BUT I LOVE to copy good ideas! I wanted to show you just SOME of the examples. THANK YOU for all your wonderful ideas!!!”

Photograph inspired by Tracy’s picture in this post (3rd one down). Announcement inspired by this post.

Inspired by this post – making your own custom coasters.

Inspired by all the spray-painting posts. For example, this one.

Inspired by the Gratitude family project in this post.

Inspired by how we organize in our home office, as shown in this post.

Inspired by a photo display in our home office, as shown in this post.

Inspired by this post about making digital invites.

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If you’d like to share your projects with me, particularly if you’ve done something outside-the-box with your Project Life kits or any Becky Higgins products, I’d love to see. Feel free to email your pictures to submissions@beckyhiggins.com.

grateful for gratitude.

Wednesday, November 24th, 2010

I am grateful that some of you were inspired to do a little gratitude project of your own this year. Here is a look at just a few of those projects. (Thanks to all who sent me pictures. I loved seeing them!)

(By Melanie Mauer‘s family)

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(By Christine Pearson’s 2nd & 3rd grade students in a small Chicago suburb.)

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(By Karen Gottspooner’s family)

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(By Kristin Russell’s family)

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(By Tina Mattheson’s family)

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(By Angela Crandall’s family)

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(By Lisa Rogal’s family)

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(By Jody Sebring’s 500+ art students in Michigan)

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On that note …

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

gratitude: a family project

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

Project: Framed poster.

Participants: Everyone in our little family.

Topic: Gratitude.

Supplies: Frame (ours is 20″ x 28″), poster board, letter stickers, pen.

This here is the very beginning of a family project that will be ongoing throughout November.

Introducing the theme: Earlier this week we talked with the kids about gratitude. I shared this thought: “Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God’s love.” (Thomas S. Monson) It’s true. When we make an effort to be more conscience of how blessed we are and all that is good in our life, we will feel greater love. And feeling more love leads to making better choices. This, of course, brings greater happiness. So really — if we could all be a little more grateful, all the world’s problems would be solved.  ; )

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Starting the project: I showed the kids this big, blank poster with one word on it: GRATEFUL (Letter stickers are “Text” chipboard letter stickers from American Crafts). Everyone was invited to think of different things they’re grateful for and then … start writing and drawing. No rules. If you’re grateful for it, you write it down. I love that Porter insisted on drawing something next to everyone’s words. I love that Claire thought of “prayer” … but only after dogs and cats. I love that Crew has a talking bubble that says “Einstein!” because that’s what we hear the most from him. I love that Diet Mountain Dew made the list (way to be honest, David). I love the misspelled words. I love that we’re doing this as a family. Most of all, I love that we’re all a little more focused on what we’re grateful for.

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Moving forward: Every day we’ll each add a couple more things. In the frame, the glass is behind the poster board, keeping everything firm and in place. This also keeps it exposed and readily available to write on any time. We will hang this on the wall soon and continue to add and add and add until it is completely full of words and pictures.

Fun twist: We didn’t do this, but it’s something you may want to consider if you do a similar project with your family. Give everyone a different color marker so it’s easier to identify who wrote what.

This is one of my favorite family projects ever … and we barely started! I began with the end in mind. I see the finished project — full of words and art as an expression of our gratitude. Seeing this on a daily basis will remind us to feel gratitude and express gratitude — in our prayers, in our actions and words, in our choices.

Feel free to share what you’re doing in your family to increase awareness of your blessings and to express gratitude. I love when we inspire each other.