Every year around this time, we find ourselves making resolutions, setting goals and exploring changes to better our everyday lives. Upon researching the Top Ten New Year's Resolutions made each year, I noted that many of the goals below, seemed to always make the list. And believe it or not, you can incorporate your beloved hobby of scrapbooking into helping you to achieve each and everyone of them.
Allow me to share some examples of how you can reach your goals and have fun scrapping too!
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Make Healthier Choices
Eating better and exercising more are both noble goals, that can lead you to an overall healthier lifestyle. So why not use your papercrafting skills to make your very own Diet and Exercise Journal, to track your efforts and progress! I made the diet and exercise journal pictured to your left using a hybrid template by Biograffiti. This template made my journal super easy to design and customize, but you could just as easily design your own, using your favorite paper or digital supplies. And the best thing about making your own Diet and Exercise Journal...it gets you excited to get going on the work that lies ahead.
Whether it be taking a class to learn a new skill, or trying out a daring new style--giving something new a try can have a very positive effect on your new year. Assuming that "your something new" has nothing to do with your crafting, then at the very least you'll have new memories and experiences to adorn your scrapbook pages with. But if you decide to explore a new scrapbooking technique or style--or even a new craft all together--you'd be surprised how it can jump start your creative mojo. This year I'll be participating in Peppermint Granberg's New52 Challenge to help motivate me to try new things more often--as well as, taking a couple of classes from Karen Grunberg focused on exploring and embracing my own personal scrapbook style. Up until now I've always focused on learning new techniques and exploring different styles, so this will be an exciting change for me!
More Family Time
Spending quality time with my family has always been very important to me. I used to think that my crafting cut into this time, but after looking at all of the wonderful crafts I've created for my family to enjoy, I have since realized that my paper crafting helps me to carry out this goal.
Like the handcrafted magnet board pictured above featuring all of my sons favorite animals, or the hours spent just looking at scrapbook pages with my son, your scrapbooking can also translate to fabulous family moments.
Get Organized
Organizing can be a very overwhelming task--one that never really seems to end. Just like scrapbooking, there is a process to it, that differs for each person. Bringing a bit of your own personal style into your organizing could not only make the experience a less daunting, but it might also inspire you to better maintain the end result. And using your scrapbooking talents may be the perfect way to achieve this goal in style! Whether you decide to use your digi skills to make some fun labels or you use your leftover scrapbook supplies to dress up some of your storage containers--adding a bit of personal flair can help infuse a bit of fun into the project, while making the end result that much more amazing!
Make More Time For You
When was the last time you put yourself first? With families and jobs and commitments and aspirations--who has the time, right?! However, many of us still make it a goal each year, to create more time for ourselves. Now wouldn't it be great if as scrapbookers, we could "make" extra time for ourselves? Unfortunately, I haven't found the secret to creating more time with my glue runner or paper trimmer--but I would encourage you to use these tools to create both opportunities and reminders to make more time for yourself.
Now that could mean creating a mini album with a few tools to help you to relax and focus on you--or that could mean simply scheduling your time to scrapbook or do as you please into your day--rather then relying on the occasional free moment.
Give Yourself a Makeover
Giving ourselves a makeover is one of the easiest and most common ways we aim to improve ourselves each year. For some reason we've convinced ourselves that the right haircut could change our lives. While this often isn't the case, sometimes changing something this simple can improve the way we feel about ourselves and put us in the right frame of mind to channel our renewed energy towards our other goals.
While I wouldn't recommend using your decorative scissors to give your hair a trim...there are countless ways that your craftiness can contribute to giving yourself the makeover you desire. Whether you want to makeover your craft room, or your blog, your wardrobe or even your style...your scrapbook savvy can surely contribute!
Start a Journal
Keeping a journal can be beneficial in a number of different ways. Some of us may find it therapeutic, others use it as a way to keep a personal record, and still others use it as a method of keeping track of ideas and thoughts. However you benefit from your goal to keep a journal, your craftiness can both contribute to you efforts, as well as benefit from them. You can use your scrapbook skills to design your own journals or to add a bit of character to their pages. And then when it comes time to tell your stories on your scrapbook pages, you'll have your thoughts and stories at your hand.
Good Luck with your 2011 goals and hopefully your crafting skills can not only help you to become more excited about reaching your goals, but also help you to carry them out!
