Five Things

A Week of Giveaways, Day 5: Knit-O-Rama

  

You know I love to knit. And I bet you could guess that I have too much yarn in my stash! So that's why today I am giving away a knitting book (yet to be named), a pair of needles, and some yarn from my own collection (I call it a collection so my husband won't expect me to actually USE it).

All you wannabe knitters, this is your chance! Leave me a comment and tell me how often you want me to post on my blog:

A. Every day

B. 4-5 times a week

C. 3 times a week

Tell me the truth now, don't just say "A" because you think that's what I want to hear! I WANT THE TRUTH (and yes, I can handle it).

A Week of Giveaways, Day 4: A Cozy!

 I know that Snuggies have taken the world by storm -- but this is even better! It's a Cozy, from St. Eve! Sized for kids 4-6 and in a bubblegum pink, the Cozy is a blanket with arms (like a long robe) that your little lady will adore. Callie wears hers non-stop, and here's one for you! All you have to do is tell me which of the following you'd consider from me:

A. More Layout a Day challenges

B. eBooks (like from Ella, but published by me)

C. "Guides" (like eBooks but shorter)

D. Other online classes

E. Scrapbook/craft kits

F. Audio version of Snippets

G. Hard copy of Snippets

H. Retreats/in-person classes

I. Other?

BONUS! Have you wanted to join the Layout a Day challenge but just weren't quite sure if you could hang with us? Well, today, I'm giving away TWO free passes on the Write. Click. Scrapbook. blog! 

A Week of Giveaways, Day 3: It's All Too Much

How often do you tell yourself, "IT'S ALL TOO MUCH?!" Based on my current series about purging, you know I'm right there with you. And my love of organizing and desire to bring order to my life has resulted in not one but TWO people giving me copies of this book by Peter Walsh:

It's an awesome book, and I want to share one (gently used) copy with you. So leave me a comment telling me whether you'd like to see:

A. More videos

B. More audios (podcasts, anyone?)

or C. Just blog posts from me. 

Contest closes at midnight on Wednesday - more giveaways coming up!

A Week of Giveaways, Day 2: The Happiness Project

The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

Oh, how I wish I'd written this book. But I didn't. Ah, such is life. I can still read it... and you can, too! In fact, it's this month's book for the ScrapHappy book club at Goodreads. Come join us, it's free!

You can also win a copy of Gretchen Rubin's book by leaving me a comment telling me how you found out about this blog. Don't remember? Make something up. Creativity counts! But hurry - this giveaway is open only until midnight Tuesday. More to come tomorrow!

More One Little Word Projects

These are so fabulous, I have to keep sharing!

From Rebecca, who says, "I made a simple little digiscrap "Layout" (for lack of a better term) and posted it on my blog and printed it out to put on my desk!":

 

Karen made this adorable mini-album about her word for 2010: Intention. See the rest of the book on her blog.
 

I was cruising around the web and discovered this beauty on ScrapYoga's blog. Her word is PRACTICE:

Nanciquilts put hers in the banner on her blog (click over to see -- I couldn't figure out how to copy).
 
Erin created this GORGEOUS canvas... she's so multi-talented I may have to pull my hair a little bit:

 
What have you done with your One Little Word?  

5 Reasons You Need a Retreat

1. You're tired.

2. You're overwhelmed.

3. You don't know what comes next.

4. You're scared about the future.

5. You're excited about the future but you don't know how to act on your dreams (Put me in this category!)

"Retreat..." Aah! The very word brings to mind mountain cabin escapes, seaside massages, and long evenings in the bathtub, my only company a tubful of bubbles!

But I've got something even better to tell you about: The Virtual Retreat from my darling friend Jennifer Louden.

If you don't know Jen, you should. An Oprah guest, Body+Soul columnist, and author of a series of best-selling books, Jen is the queen of self-comfort, literally! Her site, comfortqueen.com, is a host of strategies, tools, and must-haves for women who desire to create a more self-determined, authentic, joyful life (and who doesn't want that?).

Jen has put together a weekend-long virtual retreat that will allow you to touch base with your truest self, recharge, and kick 2010 off with unbelievable energy. And the best part? You don't have to leave your house! The entire weekend is conducted virtually -- and it's recorded so you can revisit the lessons you've learned over and over again.

I am so NOT a "woo-woo" New Age person, who believes in chakras and Tarot readings. And Jen isn't anything like that. Though she may ask you to get in touch with your body, or examine your "shadow comforts," it's all very real and very grounded. And her guests are nothing short of amazing:

Patti Digh, author of Life Is a Verb: 37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful, and Live Intentionally

Hiro Boga, expert in creative entrepreneurship

Gail Goodwin, motivational and inspirational wonder woman

Christina Baldwin, author of Life's Companion: Journal Writing as a Spiritual Quest

Bill Baren, productivity expert and personal coach

And many more!

The retreat takes place the weekend of Feb. 12-14 (and you can revisit the retreat as many times as you would like!).

Check it out here. Watch Jen's video and see if you think this might be the right thing for you to do. And let me know if you sign up -- I'll "be" there!

Untitled from jennifer louden on Vimeo.

Scrapbookers Help Haiti

 

Please excuse how tired I look. This is the day I went to the gym at 5AM (and the employee didn't show up to unlock it). I was a wee bit exhausted!

Purging - Tips from a Reader

One of my readers, Kelli, commented that her family gives away 25% of their possessions every fall. Of course I was immediately intrigued and sent her five (!!) questions. Here are her very thoughtful answers on downsizing your possessions:

Here are my questions and Kelli's responses:

1. How and when did this tradition start?
I started purging as soon as I moved out of my parent's home. It was something my Mom had us do as children so it was easy for me to continue it.

2. How do you calculate what is 25%? Is it 25% of everything, or do they have to give away 25% of their shirts, 25% of their books, etc.?
Calculating about 25% can be tricky when you start, especially if you have a lot of stuff. For younger children, it's easy to have them set aside a specific number of toys to give away. You can scan their collection and provide a reasonable number.

For older children, such as my 14 year old, I give him several boxes and tell him they need to be filled with giveaway items. As he has gotten older and his treasures have gotten smaller (think video games vs. castle sets) the boxes have also gotten smaller.

For myself, I have a good idea of what I've collected over the past year and feel good about what I'm willing to part with. If you are just starting the process, it may be good to start with a specific category, such as books or clothes. I try to purge 25% of all my stuff because there are some categories I don't want to trim down, like books.

3. What has been the result of this process on your household, possessions-wise, and emotions-wise?
Emotionally it has been very positive in the end. There have been moments when one of my children didn't want to choose any of their beloved toys but then they are filled with pride when they see how happy they've made another person.

Possession-wise, it's hard for me to see if there is a difference. It's something I've done all my life and so I have nothing to compare it to.

4. What do you do with the belongings?
We give our items to local survival centers. My family was homeless a few years ago and several organizations (even those I had previously donated to, both materially and financially) wouldn't help us because before I lost my job I made enough to not be considered low-income. The local survival center helps anyone who asks and they provided us with food, clothing and accommodations. I'm happy I'm once again in a place to give back.

There have been moments when we selectively give items to someone specific. The past few months, my son's best friend has been coming to our house to type his schoolwork on one of our computers. We have several computers in the house and one wasn't being used very often so my son asked if he could give it to his friend. Granted, it's not part of the normally scheduled purging but we'll let it count come August :o)

5. Any hints on parting with possessions?
The best advice I have is to pack everything that you are going to give away into boxes and put them in your basement or attic. Then, a month later, actually get rid of the stuff. If you realize during that month that you cannot live without something that, in the excitement of purging you thought you could live without, then take it out of the box. This isn't about making you miserable and blindly getting rid of stuff. If you love it, keep it. If you don't, learn to live without it. If you can't, then perhaps you love it more then you thought :o)

Hope this helps!

And another quote I love related to the collection of stuff...

"No one goes to Hades with all their immense wealth"-Theognis

The best things in life aren't material and remembering what's really important to you can help you part with the stuff.

Thank you, Kelli, for your insightful and open-hearted comments. You have definitely inspired me to let go of more STUFF!

5 Reasons for my Massive Change

 Image from 416style 

If you haven't heard the news already, let me be the first to tell you: I have chosen to leave my position as CEO of Ella Publishing. As you can imagine, this is a big change for me -- and one that has kept me up at night more than the mouse situation in our old house (and you know that's a lot!). Because I don't want to avoid the elephant in the room (haha!), and because you're 5000 of my closest friends, I wanted to give you the story behind the story. Here's why I'm now business card-less:

1. Parenting. Starting a new business is like having a baby. And when you already have three kids (four, counting the hubby) at home, it can be near-impossible to balance it all. Online companies are 24/7 endeavors, with no time off for good behavior (in fact, the better you are, the more you have to work!). With my kids at the ages they're at, they still need me, thank goodness. I don't want to skip this time, spending it on the computer and plopping my kids in front of the TV so I can answer one more email (at least, not on a daily basis!). I want to soak in this time and enjoy it fully. 

2. Pocket Change. When Angie and I started planning Ella (almost a year ago!), I had no clue I was moving to Boston. We were happy and settled in California, and life was good. Then my husband got transferred, the economy tanked, and we ran into unexpected expenses (private school, anyone?). The need for a regular paycheck has become more pressing (in other words, critical!). While the potential is there, the regular salary is not. 

3. Personality. I always thought I'd be a good consultant -- someone who swoops in, tells a company how to do things, gets them started, and then swoops out. I adore analysis and strategy and planning... and I'm not so hot about the follow-through. Once things are up and running, well... let's just say, I have a short attention span. 

4. Passion. I'm a writer, first and foremost. I can "do" the financial projections and the reporting and the details of the back end of running a business, but the whole time, I'm thinking about the next thing I'm going to write. Now I will actually have time to write those blog posts, articles, books, and essays I've been dreaming up (she says as she spends the evening on the couch watching 13 Going on 30 with her girls)!

5. Purpose. I'm so lucky in that, while I do have some financial responsibility to my family, I don't have to report to a cubicle and be chained to a J-O-B in order to keep my family afloat. I want to spend my time doing that which I feel I was uniquely created to do. I feel like I owe it to my family to use the time away from them doing something I love. 

I hope this doesn't sound flaky. This has been a huge decision for me, one that I haven't entered into lightly. It's taken a lot of thought and a lot of prayer. I know it affects others besides me, but I also know that Ella is in good hands with Angie. And that each morning, I can greet the day with excitement about what's to come. And you can't beat that. 

One Little Word - More Ideas

I got some great comments in response to my post on One Little Word last week. Here are some of my favorites:

Kate created this gorgeous piece of art for her 2009 word:

 

She kept it near her desk throughout the year as a visual reminder of her word. She says, "This year myself, my husband and my son have chosen words, so I will do a bigger piece. And I will scrapbook this Awareness piece in the next couple of days with a page about the word and how it helped me."

Stephenie put together an AWESOME slideshow (in more ways than one!). Check it out on her blog (scroll down to 12/30). She inspired me so much that I'm working on my own slideshow!

 

Christina ordered this card for her 2010 word, Peace. She found it on Coolmompicks. She adds, "I'm also choosing a verse for each of the twelve months to have as a focus. January's is Col. 3:15: Let the peace of Christ control your heart."

J'adore this magnifique frame by Anne. (She is French so I get to drop sophisticated phrases in my blogging when I talk about her.)

 

What about you? Got any creative ideas?