One Little Word 2104 - January

I mentioned here that I have joined the ONE LITTLE WORD class by Ali Edwards this year. I have been SO inspired so far! Here are the digital pages I made from the January assignments. I used the digital templates I designed for Ali and, of course, felt the need to design a mini kit for myself to match my theme of WORK with the symbol of a Bumble Bee.  Yellow, greys, black, honeycombs and bees!

I have been completing bits & pieces of the prompts since January 1st. Today I sat down and put them all together (digitally). I added an additional page because the definitions I found on dictionary.com sparked a landslide of inspiration! That was an unexpected happiness!

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FREE One Little Word 2014 DIGITAL Templates

If your a digital scrapbooker and you're taking Ali Edwards' ONE LITTLE WORD 2014 class you'll want these FREE digital templates so you can follow along with her as you digi-scrap your album this year. These files are sized at 8x5x11" and come with both rounded and square corners AND step-by-step instructions for use in Photoshop (or you can click here to see the same tutorial online).

Thanks to Ali for making these available for free!

NOTE: The tutorial instructions say 12x12" page repeatedly, but that was just for the example in the tutorial.  These templates are 8x5x11".  The instructions work exactly the same way no matter what size of template you're using. 

One Little Word 2014: My Word

If you've ever waded in the waters of scrapbooking you've probably heard of Ali Edwards.  Each year Ali encourages people to decide on a ONE word that will be there theme, goal, motivation for the coming year.  After considering a lot of words I knew in my core what my word for 2014 needed to be:

work. 

I used to think my greatest struggle in life was my weight. And now I have that somewhat under control. My second greatest struggle has now become my first. Loving hard work.

I hate work. A lot. I would even say I'm straight-up lazy, but only when it comes to something I don't want to do. I can be pretty industrious and hard working when it comes to baking, cooking, crafting, sewing, and other fun pursuits.

I know what you're gunna say, "The reward is the result." The problem is I don't really care about the result. I just want to read and watch TV and craft and let the dishes in the sink go to hell. I don't currently get satisfaction from seeing a clean sink as a job well done.

My friend, Steph, shared some wonderful quotes on Facebook last month...

“Let us realize that the privilege to work is a gift, that power to work is a blessing, that love of work is success.” - David O. McKay

By work we sustain and enrich life. It enables us to survive the disappointments and tragedies of the mortal experience. Hard-earned achievement brings a sense of self-worth. Work builds and refines character, creates beauty, and is the instrument of our service to one another and to God. A consecrated life is filled with work, sometimes repetitive, sometimes menial, sometimes unappreciated but always work that improves, orders, sustains, lifts, ministers, aspires.” - Todd D. Christopherson

I believe that hard work is a necessary trait and a way to come closer to God. I believe that in the next life we won't be just floating on clouds, strumming harps. I believe we will be anxiously engaged in a good cause. I believe that I have to come to love work, hard work, if I am going to be truly happy in this life. This is going to be a struggle.

I have signed up for an online class that Ali runs in connection with this challenge in hopes of forcing myself to be more aware of this goal.  I need to learn to love work or to work hard even when I don't love what I'm working on.  I am hoping this will bleed into all areas of my life.