Project Life, Weeks 39-41

Finally got all the photos printed so I could finish these weeks! Feels good to be caught up again, sorry about the long, image-heavy post. 

For Week 39, I chose to stick with mostly Scraptastic kit stuff. Although I didn't get any new kits for October due to budget reasons, I have plenty of leftovers from previous months to use up. I had barely cracked open Scraptastic's September This Life Noted kit. Since I had fewer pics this week, more of the fun cards made it onto the spread. 

I particularly love the little yellow tag I made by coloring the September kit tag stamp with gelatos, adding water, then stamping onto cardstock. It makes a pretty watercolor effect. 

Week 40 is a mix of Scraptastic This Life Noted and Gossamer Blue Life Pages kits from July-September. Got some more use out of my SC Woolf foodie stamp set (so glad I caved and bought that!). And I did something a little different this week, I was pretty short on photos plus I inserted my pages for the Big Picture Classes Pajama Party challenge in between Week 40 and 41, so instead of using a full two pages I used a page and a full insert for Week 40. After the insert comes those three special pages, then Week 41 picks up like normal on the backside of the last special project page.

The ampersand, flowers, and word stickers are leftover from my Maggie Holmes class kit from CKC. They don't really match the rest of the spread, but I just thought they were pretty :). Sometimes that's the only reason you need.

For Week 41 I returned to my good 'ole Studio Calico stash. I had bought the Marks & Co Project Life kit on a great sale for the BPC Pajama Party project, and the cards are really lovely. I actually used the back side of several cards I used in that special project for this week (I'll post those photos in a separate blog post so this one doesn't get totally out of control!). 

Gelatos again for some stamping on my title card - a little tricky to get the hang of, but I'm loving this technique. A couple diecuts a friend cut for me on her Silhouette, and a few little labels/stickers from Scraptastic and Gossamer Blue, plus my staple washi and glitter tape, and this week is in the bag. 

 

If you read any of the journaling you may catch on that this wasn't the best week in our life. Actually, it was one of the worst in recent months. Lots of sickness, things (including our car and Josh's wedding band) breaking, and general financial stress. Although I definitely mentioned all these things, I intentionally try not to let this album dwell too much on the negative. I want to remember the good times, the blessings in our lives. From the forest point of view, I want my Project Life album to convey a sense of family, togetherness, joy, and peace to my children when they look through it in the future. Even though we struggle through many weeks, even though sometimes I want to rant and rave across the page, the struggle is not what our life is about. Our life is about Jesus, about His power and provision, about our unity and togetherness in the face of trials. I try to strike a balance between portraying a realistic view and a, well, spiritually realistic view of our daily lives. 

And sometimes, it's just about recording what I want to remember, and not what I don't!