You searched for 2013 word of the year

2013 word of the year

January 14, 2013

Whew! That’s me breathing a sigh of relief that 2012 is behind me. It was a tough year for me. Sadly, I can’t say that any one big thing happened, it was just a bunch of little things that happened or never happened.

You may remember my post from last year about my word for 2012. Little did I know when I pledged to be resolute for the year that I would be challenged from every direction.

My goal for 2012 was to be resolute in pursuing my dreams and staying the course. It was challenging but I’m glad to say I’m as convinced as ever that I’m on the right course. I’m proud to say that despite many personal and professional challenges in 2012, I stay resolved to pursuing the purpose God has for my life. Ironically, it was the challenges that have helped me see I’m on the right road. I mean seriously, how many great dreams have you seen that came easy? Most often, great dreams or God dreams, require you to have a great resolve to accomplish them.

Because my word for 2012 seemed to challenge me so much, I was very cautious as I prayed about what my word for 2013 would be. I didn’t take the task lightly. I soon came to realize that pursue was the perfect word for the new year. It really does make perfect sense when I think about it. In order to pursue something, you really should have a resolve that it’s the right thing to go after.

Webster’s dictionary defines purse as:

1.to follow in order to overtake, capture, kill, or defeat

2.to find or employ measures to obtain or accomplish

3. to proceed along.

4. a. to engage in

b : to follow up or proceed with

There it is. My goal for 2013 is to pursue all those things I’ve resolved in my heart are for me; joy, success, peace, and most of all love in every area of my life.

Stay tuned because you’ll see big things happen with me and Madelyn Ridgeway Events this year; I know it. You’ll see things materialize that have been in my heart for a long time. Things I have to share with the world and make it a better place.

Love y’all,

2013 word of the year Read More »

2014 word of the year- pt. 2

January 7, 2014

My 2014 word of the year is focus, building off my 2013 word which was pursue. In part one I gave a brief summary of what pursue meant for me in 2013 and why words are so important whether we know it or not. Today I’m sharing what focus means specifically for me in 2014.

For me focus means: letting go and not focusing on what’s not important, things like:

Excessive social media. I can only speak for me in that while I find social media entertaining, it’s not only a time drain but it can also be a bit of a Debbie Downer. Studies have shown that while intended to bring people together, social media can actually alienate people and make them envious of other’s lives. I’m not saying it’s all bad but for me, there definitely needs to be more of a balance.
Other people’s opinions of me and what I do. There will be no more holding back who I am and the things I love because I sense it makes others around me uncomfortable. That’s called an unhealthy relationship when you can’t truly be yourself or share your likes with those close to you. That means it’s time to take another look at the relationship.
Stuff (unnecessary material possessions)
Learning to say no more. This is a hard one for me y’all. In the past, I’ve said yes to a lot of things that were not necessarily bad but were not the best use of my time or energy. Because of my need to please, fit-in, and be “in the know” (just being transparent here), I’ve taken on things that I know weren’t a good fit for my life and because I took them on for the wrong reasons (see above) they became life/time drains and kept me from pursuing what was really important.

Focus also means more :

Time seeking God about His plan for my life and family. Not just doing what I think is right anymore.
Creating and sticking to a schedule. My days are usually not very organized which can be a disaster for someone who owns your own business and works from home
Writing more handwritten notes & letters. I love sending and receiving handwritten notes. It’s not a must that people send them to me but I do enjoy receiving them. There’s something so intimate and loving about it. I want to pass the love on.
Nurturing the relationships, people and things most important to me.
Pushing past things that have held me back in the past like procrastination, fear of failure, and self-doubt.
Learning something new. I’m probably most excited about this one! I love learning new crafts. I’ve pledged to take another photography/styling class this year to improve on my ability to photograph tablescapes and creative ideas as well as a calligraphy class simply because I like it and I want to write more letters & notes!

I’m putting some of these goals out there not just to fill a blog post but also for accountability. If you see me slacking in an area, ~~call me on it~~ remind me of my promise to stay focused this year and beyond.

What about you, do you have a word or resolution for 2014 ? I’d love to know what it is!

2014 word of the year- pt. 2 Read More »

My 2014 word of the year

January 6, 2014

Y’all I’ve got to admit, when I wrote the post for my 2013 word of the year, I had no idea what kinds of things I was opening myself up to pursue! Here is a quote from my post last year

Stay tuned because you’ll see big things happen with me and Madelyn Ridgeway Events this year; I know it. You’ll see things materialize that have been in my heart for a long time. Things I have to share with the world and make it a better place

Words are a powerful thing, y’all; whether you know it or not, our words create (or tear down) our lives. I love a quote from one of my favorite speakers that says “where you are today is a direct result of the words you spoke a year ago”. 2013 proved this to be true in so many ways.

When I wrote that post, Shaffer and I had discussed me leaving my job to stay home but quite frankly, it seemed like it just wasn’t going to happen; between two surgeries, great opportunities at work, multiple family deaths and a second, growing family business, we started to think we’d missed it. We had prayed and truly believed we were on the right track but the little seeds of doubt started trying to sneak their way in. This is where the rubber meets the road folks, this is where it becomes faith and you step out on the water to walk! On April 12, 2013, I left my full-time job of almost 10 years to go after what matters most to me.

In the beginning I felt like a fish out of water. Not having a job to go to, reports to file or a boss to answer to, felt really awkward to me. After after about a month, the pendulum swung and I was over the moon with all the “extra” time I had; I did lunch with friends e-v-e-r-y day then ran to pick the boys up and home to get dinner started. I quickly realized this wouldn’t work. I eventually settled in to somewhat of a routine and dug my heels in to really pursue those big dreams of mine and make great things happen. All the work paid off when I launched the new Madelyn Ridgeway Events in November to great reception and enthusiasm!

It’s only the beginning and I look forward to more good things to come in the future which is why I chose focus as my 2014 word of the year. Webster’s defines focus as:

– to bring to a focus or into focus: to focus the lens of a camera.

– to concentrate: to focus one’s thoughts.

That’s what 2014 is about for me; continuing to to pursue big things while making sure I focus on what’s important. Join me tomorrow for part 2!

Photo courtesy of Shay Cochrane Photography

My 2014 word of the year Read More »

Scotty Russell- Hand lettering workshop

January 5, 2016

It’s my pleasure to introduce all of my readers to the Lettered with Love, hand lettering workshop instructor, Scotty Russell of The Perspective Collective. Scotty took some time to answer a few questions about his life as an artist and tell us a bit about what we can expect from the workshop experience. BE SURE TO READ ALL THE WAY DOWN FOR A LITTLE SOMETHING SPECIAL!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m a Waterloo native and have been drawing for well over 20 years. Art has always been a way for me to express myself and I have a passion for creating and teaching others.

I label myself as an illustrative lettering artist as I combine detailed illustrations along with hand lettering. It helps give my work that extra depth and provides a narrative to the viewer that solely illustrations or lettering can’t always deliver.

How did you first become an artist and get involved with hand lettering.

I can remember drawing way back to kindergarten — I was quite a wizard with the crayons. 🙂 I was constantly trying to draw my name and other peoples names in different styles growing up so I guess you could say I was doing hand lettering early in my life.

I officially became obsessed with it late 2013 and early 2014 and devoted a lot of focus to studying and deliberate practice. I rekindled my love for working with my hands and started to drift away from doing everything digitally. Hand lettering allows you to appreciate that human imperfection that a computer can’t give you.

Many people see hand lettering and think calligraphy but the two are not the same. Can you tell us the difference(s)?

Calligraphy is the art of writing while hand lettering is the art of drawing lettering. Calligraphy is a single pass of the pen/tool to write as a form of art. It is more perceived as decorative handwriting.

Hand lettering is much more focused in the drawing process where you begin with sketching, revisions, inking and sometimes digitization depending on the final purpose of your work.

Hand lettering is becoming more popular, why do you think there has been such a resurgence in this art form?

Everything is cyclical. Hand lettering is making its resurgence because everything had switched to the digital world causing you to lose that personalized human touch. With the rise of social media like Instagram and Pinterest, it was easily shared and consumed sparking a huge rise of popularity.

Businesses are more than ever are trying to find ways to stand out amongst competition and hiring a hand-lettered artist assures you have a customized, one of a kind piece to use within branding and advertising.

What can a participant in the Lettered with Love expect to learn?

If you’ve been interested in getting into hand lettering then this class is perfect for you. I really want to educate and present the basic process of how to take your sketches and turn them into a final piece to share with the world.

First we will go a little more in depth of what hand lettering is and how it differentiates from Calligraphy and Typography.

We will also be doing an overview of the basic tools you will be using throughout the class.

Next we will pick a desired word or short quote based not he theme and focus on making thumbnail sketches of the composition. We will stress the importance of starting off small and experimenting on the fly which is impossible to replicate on a computer.

We will cover the basics of using guides and building our thumbnails into larger, finessed compositions.

Once we finalize our base graphite drawing, we will explore the inking phase as we strive to get a polished piece that we can present or give as a gift.

The overall goal is to provide you with a final piece to share as well as build the necessary skills where you can succeed in hand lettering outside of the workshop.

Be sure to visit Scotty and check out more of his work and visit his inspiring blog.

Website

Instagram

To celebrate the 2016 and the kick-off of our workshop series, I’m offering $25 off registrations to the hand lettering workshop through Monday! Just click here to register and enter the code hooray! to receive your discount. As an added bonus, if you and a friend register together, you get $30 off each of your registrations. Just email me at madelyn@madelynridgeway.com and I’ll send you the unique code for you and your co-registrant.

Lastly ……..drumroll please……………….. You have the opportunity to win a free seat to the workshop! To enter, leave a comment telling one thing you’d like to create after learning to hand letter . The contest ends Monday, January 11th at 9 pm cst. and the winner will be announced Tuesday, January 12th. If the winner has already registered, your registration fee will be refunded to you.

(limit one coupon code per registration)

Scotty Russell- Hand lettering workshop Read More »

life lesson- be free

January 16, 2013

Today I want to start a regular post on the blog called life lessons. Southerners are known for our sayings even though some of them don’t make sense to others (well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit!). Many of these sayings have a life lesson behind them and can teach us a lot if we pay attention to them. Over the years, I’ve collected a few sayings of my own from people around me that I’d like to share with y’all. I think they can offer up some pretty good advice, if I must say so myself.

First up on my list is BE FREE. Be free was created by my very on mother in response to those of us around her who were busy stressing over the things of life that we really should have been letting go (hello! I was first in line) My mom is a very matter-of-fact type lady. She’s never been known to mince words so after much pining from me about how this was wrong in my life, and this person thought this about what I was doing, and this person had certain expectations of me, my mom chimed in with “Peaches, Be Free”! I have to admit that I was taken aback at first but eventually I got it. She was telling me to let go of unrealistic expectations from others and myself. Some things are not that big of a deal. Why stress over something you can’t do anything about?

There are a lot of us who choose to take on things in our life that we should be letting go. Life really is about choosing to be free of the things that wear you down and make you less than your best. One of the things I think I love most about this saying is that it’s simple. My friends and I use it often and have even added our own hand motion to it. We put both our hands in the air in a hands-off motion. This further reminds each of us to just let it go. Choose to focus on what matters. BE FREE of all the other stuff.

What are some of your favorite family sayings? Anything you need to BE FREE of?

To remind you to BE FREE, I’m including a free download to be used on your computer desktop, iphone or iPad. Enjoy!

To download as a desktop background: Choose the link that’s the right size for your computer. Click the link and it will take you directly to the image. Right click your mouse and click “Set as Desktop Background.” or right click and save the image to your computer. Then, change the background in your computer settings.

To download for iPhone or iPad: Click the link from your phone and apply as your wallpaper OR save them to your desktop then email them to your iPhone or iPad.