One Little Word for 2013: JOY

Mixed Media Canvas in Progress

I have been a big fan of Ali Edwards for years. She constantly is a source of inspiration - and always reminds me (and all of her blog followers) that it is really important to document our every day life. The story matters. Words matter. Several years ago she introduced an idea - One Little Word - as she was contemplating a new year.  She challenged all of us to figure out what ONE word would be our focus for the next year. If you would like to read Ali's blog about ONE LITTLE WORD 2013, click here

I have loved doing this for several years.  Some years it is really clear what my word is supposed to be...it is jumping up and down waving its arms to get my attention. And some years, like this one - it is more of a whisper...a whisper that I might have missed if I didn't pay attention. As I've been thinking about it for a few weeks - I think my word for 2013 is JOY! Not exactly certain what all of that will mean for me - but it feels right...so I am going with it. 

I do know that JOY is different than HAPPINESS. I think "happiness" is more based on our circumstances. I am happy when I have a clean house, a bowl of chocolates and a new project to work on. I am happy when I get a sweet note from a friend. I am happy when I have clean sheets on my bed and I can crawl into it while they are still warm from the dryer. The list is LONG of things that make me happy...and I feel blessed by each and every one of those things

I think JOY is an internal thermometer that measures our CONTENTMENT. It isn't tied to our circumstances. JOY comes from my faith in God. JOY comes from giving my very best to a project that matters. JOY is giving with no thought of what we will get in return. JOY can happen even when I am not necessarily HAPPY with my circumstances.

I am sure that I will learn a LOT more about JOY over the course of 2013. Hopefully, we can have more conversations about it throughout the year. To help me remember to focus on JOY, I am making a mixed media canvas to hang in my studio. It is still in process but you can get a little glimpse of it up at the top of this post. As I was creating the letters J-O-Y for the canvas I decided to see what would happen when I stamped and embossed OVER crackle paint. I try and remember that there is ALWAYS time for some creative play - particularly when I am working on a project that I want to inspire me for a whole year. So - I thought I would invite you into the studio to see what happened when I worked on the grunge board letters.

I ended up with this really fun effect...that looks like old porcelain. I had one of my YouTube friends tell me that in pottery/vintage porcelain - this crackle effect is called "crazing." I call it crazy wonderful!

Would you like to see how I got this "crazy distressed porcelain" effect? You can watch a tutorial here or on YouTube.




So do you know what your ONE LITTLE WORD will be for 2013? I'd love to hear what it is!