2020: Word of the Year ♥

Hello 2020!

I am convinced I must have been Cinderella in my past life.

Yes, I married my prince charming :)

And while I occasionally wear glass slippers wish for a fairy Godmother,
I know that I'm very VERY blessed ♥

But here it is - nearly midnight on the first day of the new year -

and I'm already watching the clock nearly strike twelve!

I do love the freshness of a new year ...

 the clean slate, the chance to start anew.

There's a certain magic in knowing the next 365 days of the year

can be anything you want them to be.

Every year,

 and for the past 8 years here on my blog,

I have a Word of the Year that becomes my 'mantra.'

It's one that inspires me, and often nudges me,

and reminds me to grow as a person on different levels.

 

The funny things about my Word of the Year

 is that I don't choose them. 

They always chose me ♥ 

My husband wanted to go to midnight mass on Christmas Eve this year.

 I find that a lot of my funniest thoughts happen when I'm sitting in church.

{You might remember this year when I was daydreaming in church

and I got my WOTY ... loud and clear!}

This year - as righteous as holy water - there it was again.

I was on my phone sitting in the pews, lost to the latin prayers being said,

and took a quick scripture quiz on what my WOTY could be.

After 20 or biblical questions, it was the exact word I'd been contemplating!

:::: cue the angelic music and rays of light ::::

And I just knew.

I said it out loud for a couple of days,

trying it on for size.

And, unlike most of my clothes, it fit.

Bloom.

 By definition, bloom, as a verb, means:

 to mature into achievement of one's potential;

to flourish in freshness or excellence;

to shine out.

I'd been thinking of this particular word

because there is so much growing I hope to do.

As a wife.

mom.

grandmother.

steward.

daughter.

sister.

friend.

crafter.
writer.

It's more than just living - growing - in the moment ...

it's thriving, reaching, exploring, soaring!

Bloom.

On a creative level, my hopes are to carry this into my card making.

In order to bloom best, I'm also giving myself the gift of creative freedom.

If the 'one a week for 52 weeks' didn't work,

I'll just adjust the way I set out my potted self to grow :)

This is, after all, a wonderfully FUN journey of paper, stamps and ink!

What do I have planned for this year?

This!.

1. There's room for leftovers!

For this card series, I'll create a card with anything left over

from a crafting session.

Goal: Try to keep/use as many bits and pieces as I can in a creative way
and add them to a card.

2. Carded, Twice.
The world needs us - now, more than ever.
We're big on recycling ~ in our home, as volunteers locally helping to clean up our waterways, previously in classrooms.
Goal: Finding ways to reuse an item of a recycled nature on a card!
Items will be used, not tossed, on CARD + for the second time (Twice!)

Waste not, Want not!

3.  Grab it and Add it!

Don't you love having a stamp set with 8-10 stamps on it?

And then sometimes we use ........ one stamp.

In this series, I'll create a card by GRABBING a random stamp set

and ADD on as many stamps as I can from the set on to one card.

Goal:  Once a month,  using a different stamp company/set.

4. A grateful he(art)

Becoming an Oma to my darling granddaughter, Alice, 

has gifted me a love I could have not imagined.

She is the greatest treasure and my sweetest joy!

Seeing life through her eyes has given me a sense of grace and beauty

that I want to carry over into everything ♥ 

Goal:  Reach into my joy jar and pull out a word at random

and create a card based on that one little word ~
this will be a quarterly project!

In addition to these, I'll still continue on with The Project Bin design team,
the CCEE Stampers challenges,
 my One Plus Twelve card challenge for the second year,
 the 3 Musketeers, the Ready Set Go

 and Hot Mess Success challenges and the Crafters of Faith card groups.
And my newest venture, Stamp What? as created by my son
to use my 'old dusty Stampin' Up stamps'
 and he'll surprise me by choosing which one!

So, while I don't have a Jaq or Gus and I can't wave a "bibbidi-bobbidi-boo",

I'm excited to see what 2020 holds!

"Have enough courage to start and enough heart to finish." 

- Jessica Yourko

I always believe there's room to grow.

and thrive. and reach. and explore.  and soar.

I just hope I'm on time for it!

Happy New Year!

Big hugs, bigger blessings ♥

~Kelly