Projects for 2011 + My OLW

First off, Happy New Year! (yeah, i know i'm a week late). i hope you and yours are healthy and happy in 2011, that's certainly what i'm hoping for myself this year.

i am not one to make New Years resolutions. My philosophy is, if you want to change something, start now. But i am a lover of making goals, for instance i have my 30 things before 30 to work on. i have also put together a list of things i'd like to do locally this year and there are a few projects i want to work on in 2011.

Last year i did so many fun things but i hardly documented any of them! This was mostly because i didn't print any photos in the latter half of the year. i'm kind of mad at myself about this. i also wasn't the best at taking pictures in oh-ten, i was trying to live more 'in the moment' but honestly i missed taking photos and having them to scrapbook. Also, my printer/scanner hasn't been working for the last 6 months which was problematic and meant that i couldn't scan in my pages.

This week i did a huge order at photobox (they had free delivery and a half price offer on 5x5 & 5x7 prints). i loathe uploading and ordering photos, it's so time consuming (which is why i put it off for 7 months) but nothing inspires me more then a new stack of photos. And i ordered an all in one wireless printer. i'm so excited about this! i'm really hoping it's going to motivate me to scrapbook more because i'll be able to print the occasional photos at home, which i think will make a huge difference. i'll be able to scrap memories nearer to the time when i've made them or as the inspiration strikes for a page, go take a picture and be able to scrap it straight away!

It should also help me with Ali's One Little Word class that i'm taking at Big Picture. You can read all about Ali's One Little Word project here if you're not already aware of it. The last time i chose a word was in 2007. That word was Adventure. It helped me keep focus and i really did do a lot of adventuring that year! It encouraged me be more open to new experiences and people and it was a fantastic year.

Note to self: Make more space for word stickers in your life.

This year my chosen word in Magic. i recently asked a friend if he believed in magic. 'Magic is a gimmick' he replied, he believed in the concept of magic but realised the practicality behind it. 'i believe in magic' i said, 'it's otherwise know as love'. 'Love is a feeling or emotion, whereas magic isn't' he said. My response to this was: 'Love is much more than just a feeling or emotion. And magic is greater then trickery.' This i truly believe.

To me, magic and love go hand in hand. Love is the whole purpose of life, love IS pure magic. The connections we make with other people, that's magic. Magic is the feeling that anything could happen. Magic is excitement, possibilities, fun, adventures, happiness, the feeling of being alive, you can find magic in most things if you look hard enough. That's what i want more of in my life, i want to sparkle again. i have some fun things planned for 2011 but i really want to open my eyes to the magic of the every day. i did not love 2010 and i really want to love 2011 with all my heart, so i'm going to have to focus on making it a magical year.

The ticket/washi tape/button embellie combo in the top right hand corner of the photo was lifted from this layout of Kimberly Neddo's.

i believe in the power of words. i have certain words tattooed on my body which have great meaning to me. i have them posted around my bedroom. i constantly write quotes down and lists and goals. i read and absorb. Words have an effect on me, they inspire. i'm looking forward to inviting more Magic into my life in 2011 and the OLW class is one way of being more aware of it and documenting my journey along the way.

i'm also planning on doing a Document 2011 project, summarising each month of the year. Which will hopefully make me take more pictures and actually print them. i wasn't aware of Shimelle's Document 2010 project until a few months into the year, so i didn't partake but it's something i want to embrace in 2011. i'm super inspired by Laura's post here showing all her Document 2010 pages.

Another challenge i've set myself is to aim to read at least 26 books this year, because i haven't been making enough time to read and it's something i really enjoy. At first i thought about trying to read 52 books in a year, but there's no way i'd be able to read a book a week, so i decided to set my goal a bit lower and try for half as many, a book a fortnight is much more achievable for me. And i took the time to sign up for goodreads last night too as i've been meaning to do that for about a year (procrastinator, much!).

So, what are your plans for the new year, any projects under way? i'd love to hear about them!