OLW - May...

I was a little stuck on this months prompt.  I find "I am" statements a little hard to do which is one of the main reasons I left it so long to tackle.  The other reason is that I am not really a big fan of mixed media.  Don't get me wrong - I love the look, textures and everything else about it, I just can't seem to get into it.
And to be honest the only reason I decided to tackle this tonight is to try and keep my mind of my daughter and the fact that she is driving home from work tonight (I am not sure I will ever get used to it).
I re-watched the video presentation and wrote notes and points as Ali was talking.  Before I knew it I had 9 "I am" statements done.  I thought about my OLW and that made me realise that I didn't need to do the "mixed media" thing.  I simplified things so that it fitted my style.  I got out my gold color theory paint from Studio Calico and the silk screens from Magic - Story Kit and decorated my cards.  Then I stamped the "I am" from the OLW Kit and added my words and drew a simple black border around the edges of my cards.

I am clearing out. De-cluttering - making more space to move and breathe.

I am using what have - buying less and having less has got me creating more.

I am working hard to be at peace with money.  I am not there but I am getting there.

I am letting go of spending my weekends doing chores and finding new ways to do things i.e. online food shopping.

I am believing in myself and giving myself permission to be amazing - new DT opportunities

I am struggling to commit to working on my fitness and health - but still trying.

I am enjoying my job - struggling at times but learning at every opportunity.

I am tired and consuming way too much chocolate... this is unusual for me and needs attention.

I am loving my OLW this year. Sticking with the monthly prompts is making a huge difference.

Have a great weekend.

Love me :-)

OLW - April prompt...

Firstly I need to say that this is the fourth month and I am up to date.  I am really proud of myself.  I usually bomb out about February, last year I didn't even start it - lets move on!!

At first I struggled with this prompt and just kept putting it off and putting it off.  I think I was trying to make it way more complicated than it needed to be.  Yesterday I sat down and chose some photos that spoke to me.  I didn't really think about "the why" too much.  If the photo spoke to me then I figured it must mean something.  Once they were printed I sat a just looked at them for awhile, trying to decide if they worked for me.

This is what I ended up with:-

sharing my thoughts on each photo going top to bottom, left to right

1.  I have struggled with my weight for a few months but since using the "myfitnesspal" app things are slowly changing.  I kept coming up with excuses about counting calories etc but in the end that's just what I have to do.

2. Money is a big issue for me this year but I am trying to stay positive and although these next few months will be tough I am able to make some better choices that will make good changes.  Focusing on my word this year has really helped with this one.

3. De-clutter is my favourite word at the moment.  I am spending a lot of time on this right now, sorting, clearing and moving stuff.  I am feeling a little hemmed in but doing this is really helping.

4. I am making an effort to be organised so that I have more creative time.  I also really wanted to work on my blog, so again being organised is giving me the time to do so.

5. I have also found that being organised and being sensible with money I am enjoying the good things.  I am really enjoying this and I am going to continue to work on this.

6.  Spending time figuring out what I want and going after it.  Being me and hanging out with people that allow me to be me is making a real difference. 

7. I am also working on being spontaneous and just doing something because its there to be done and not worrying about what else I "should" be doing.

8.   I am thoroughly enjoying the #myselfiescrapbook project that I found on Instagram.  This community is so supportive, caring, creative and fun and has allowed me to be even more creative.

9. Getting orthotics has made such a different to the pain in my feet, which has made it possible for me to get back into exercising.

Continuing to work on my OLW and this class is keeping me focused and making big differences.

Looking forward to next months prompt and thankfully it's only a few days away.

Have a great week

Love me :-)

Minimize your wardrobe - part one...

I have been following along with a little project called #myselfiescrapbook and one of the main contributors to this project is Julie from How I Sustain. While reading her blog I came across some posts she did about Minimizing your Wardrobe, you can find the first post here.  This really got me thinking and inspired.  I had wanted to get my wardrobe into some kind of order for ages but it always seems like such a huge job and so I put it off.
Julie broke it down into several weeks and each week had a different task to accomplish.  I continued reading and the more I read the more I wanted to give this a try.
When I was reading the first challenge which you can find here, she mentioned that her body had changed over the years and not because of anything bad, just because things had happen like having a baby etc.  This really hit a cord with me.  I have had four different jobs in the last two years (I was actually doing three at once for approx 12 months but that's a whole other story) and I had different clothes for each one. But now I am doing one job so all the clothes I had for the other jobs I really didn't need any more.  My problem usually is that because they were too good to throw away or, the big one, I will fit into them again soon, you know, the minute this diet thing kicks in, so I was always reluctant to throw them out.  Julie's post made me see things very differently.

My OLW for 2015 is FREE.  One of the things I wrote down at the beginning of the year was that "I want to be free of clutter so that I have space to move and breathe".  This challenge fitted perfectly with my word and was just another reason why I had to give this challenge a go.

This is what my wardrobe looked like before I started.  It doesn't look that bad but I have to push with all my might to move the hangers so I can put things away.  But as Julie said in her post, I have so many clothes but I never seem to have anything to wear.

So today was the day I chose to tackle Challenge #1 If it doesn't fit, get rid of it.

I dived in.  Okay, to be completely honest it took a while because I was struggling with the whole "if it doesn't fit" thing.  But the reality was they didn't fit and even though I liked them, they just didn't fit.  Right now I am just going to tackle my wardrobe, as in hanging space.  My drawers etc will wait because I don't think I can handle to much of "this doesn't fit" thing.  Mind you it made me stick to my healthy eating plan today LOL!

This is my first pile of clothes to go.  When I stood back and looked at this pile I noticed a pink shirt.  It made me laugh because I don't really wear pink so what was I thinking when I bought it.

Although this photo doesn't really look much different to the first, just getting rid of those first few things has made so much space in my wardrobe.  I left the empty hangers as a reminder of all space I have created already.

On reflection

What seemed hard at first got easier as I went along.

I was able to see that even though I liked them, they didn't fit so I wasn't wearing them anyway.

Some of the things I took out (like the pink shirt) wasn't my normal style of clothing, which made me realise that I should stick to my style.

I know it sounds a bit silly, but I felt lighter straight away.

There are probably a few more things that could go under this category and that's ok - little by little, as the week goes on I can just pull things out as I find them.

Off now to count my calories for the day!

love me :-)