A New Year :: My One Little Word for 2013

The start of a new year is so refreshing, it's the dawn of a new period in time. New Year signals the opportunity to wipe the slate clean and bring a fresh approach to the time ahead. Of course you can do this at any time during the year, but New Year for me is a sign that I should take time to reflect on the years that have passed and think about how I want to shape the time ahead.

For me, it's about hanging a blank calendar on the wall ready to be filled with new opportunities, creating the year I want. Whether it's a change I want to make, new experiences I hope to have or new things I would like to achieve, it feels that there really are endless possibilities to come in time ahead...This is what I love about a new year. 

I love making lists. Taking time to write a new year resolutions list is something I always do, as it's one of the most important lists of my year! This list isn't rushed, isn't ticked off in a few weeks and is never thrown away. The changes or goals set will help shape me and my life ahead. I love to keep my new year resolution lists from years gone by to see what hopes and dreams I had each year. It makes me smile when I see how the list changes over time.

During the past few weeks I've spent time thinking about my list for 2013. With the rush of Christmas, New Year and the first week back at work over, I've had time to think. We have had endless cloudy days and lots of rain, so a welcome return of clear skies has brought with it a little more clarity in my thinking. I have taken a little longer than normal to think about what I truly want for the year. Last year I managed to kick start my creative goals with a list of what I wanted to do in 2012. I achieved so much more than I thought I would, you can see a little summary here.

...This year the list will be a little different...

In September I discovered scrapbooking. I have been making a few cards on and off for a while and I started looked at a few blogs for papercrafting inspiration and supplies when I came across scrapbooking. I was drawn to the beautiful way that people track their memories using journalling, patterned paper and photos. Over the past few months scrapbooking has manifested itself for me as a way I can reflect on my day to day, a great way to journal about my memories and is a fun way to use the photos I take. I signed up for a few online classes, shopped around for tools and paper supplies, read inspiring scrapbooking blogs, and listened to papercrafting podcasts. I feel that scrapbooking is such a great way to track your everyday memories, so I decided to start Project Life as a way to scrapbook and I'm really enjoying it.

The discovery of scrapbooking has brought with it a new way to think about how I write my resolutions list. This year I hope to use the notion of choosing one word to help me shape my year ahead. If you haven't heard of it take a look at this post by Ali Edwards. Ali Edwards is a super talented scrapbooker and a big name within the scrapbooking community. Ali runs a year long online class called One Little Word run by Big Picture Classes. One Little Word is about picking a word that you want to be part of your life for the year ahead and beyond.

I've spent time exploring the words I could use, my favourites were focus, balance, grow and create. I took time to really think about my one little word for 2013...I chose the word 'Grow'. It really resonates with me... 

Starting this blog came from the word grow. I wanted to grow the time I spent being creative, developing my creativity and my practical skills. Grow was a key word behind the name of my blog too, The Pink Button Tree means something to me, it's not just a name. For me the word pink symbolises being vibrant, happy and full of love. The button symbolises my creativity and desire to become well rounded, practical and crafty. It's a button with four holes; one for making, one for baking, one for gardening and one for home ideas. The tree symbolises my desire to continually grow my creative skills and knowledge every day...I want to grow into a wise old oak tree passing my knowledge on through the many acorns I pass on over the years. It's the chance to plant a seed and enable others grow, so they can do something they are inspired by each day.

...I know that I have a long way to go on my journey. To grow is what I really want from this year.

Following the structure of One Little Word, I have set myself 12 intentions for the year. They are like resolutions but are statements using the word grow that I want to focus on every month. Having a monthly intention is a great way to keep the momentum and clarity of my aims and resolutions in a more permanent but relaxed way during the year.

Grow will mean that I'll be doing more of the same, developing new projects, growing my abilities, planting a few new seeds to try something new. I'm keen to bake and cook more, growing my experience of cooking so I have a wider set of things I can make. I'm planning to make more projects for our home to grow our home into an even cosier space. I constantly see things I want to try and make so I want to grow my crafty skills going forwards. I'm not setting myself specific projects I want to create this year as I think this may add too much structure, I want to see where things take me so I can grow in whatever direction things take me.

I wanted to wish you all a very happy new year. Thank you so much for reading my blog. I've been overwhelmed by how many of you have visited it over the past year, your comments and page views really spur me on. Please do leave comments as I'd love to hear your thoughts.

...So onwards with the word grow...What will be your word for 2013?

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

I have to admit it but this year I'm feeling so excited about Christmas. Seeing twinkling Christmas tree lights in windows of homes as I walk home, sampling mulled cider, and hearing Christmas music on the radio has got me into the spirit of things. This year I've decided to make a special effort to rekindle the magic of Christmas.

I hope that the countdown to the big day is full of joy and happiness, a time to enjoy traditions, and a chance to spend quality time with friends and family. I've been inspired even more than normal by doing Journal Your Christmas, a brilliant scrapbooking and journaling e-course run by Shimelle. Thinking about a Christmas manifesto at the start of December has been encouraged on the course. For me one of the core elements of my manifesto was to think about Christmas traditions and my favourite Christmas memories. I decided to try and make this Christmas even more special, by starting new traditions, recapturing old ones and creating new magical memories...

I'm rekindling the magic of making decorations for the home...I finished a Christmas cross stitch pattern from CrossStitcher Issue 244, Christmas 2011. I started this last year but never finished it. Take a look...

It is so pretty I want to make another one! I'm going to put this on display every Christmas to remind myself to take time and make things by hand and to relax.

I'm rekindling the magic of having a stocking...I'm making a stocking for Mr C and one for me too, so that we can recapture the fun of having a stocking. The fabric has been bought and over the next few weeks these fabrics will be turned into stockings, I can't wait to make them and start a new tradition of finding fun presents for our stockings.

I'm rekindling to joy of making and giving handmade Christmas cards...I've set aside time to make cards, which is something I haven't managed to achieve for a few years. I've made around 20 Christmas cards so far and still have quite a few to make! Here is a sneaky peak of what I have been creating...

I'm enjoying getting into the festive spirit listening to carol singers and sampling mulled cider and mulled wine...This weekend we've been getting festive in a local pub with a log fire and lovely Christmas tree, and seeing our friend Jo sing her heart out at a carol concert.

There are plenty more things to look forward to during the run up to Christmas...we need to decorate our home and put up the tree, see friends and sing carols by candlelight.

What are you doing to make it feel like Christmas? Are you making any gifts or decorations?