Project Life, Weeks 42-43 and a double digi page

It's hard to believe I've completed over 40 weeks of this Project Life thing. I moved the huge album holding the first half of the year onto a shelf in our living room, and I love just seeing it there, knowing I have so many memories and little moments captured. My boys are growing and changing so fast I can't keep up, and being able to look back even a few months is precious. I really do love this project!
Now, on to the good stuff :)

Week 42

Quite a few digital cards and a couple tags made it onto this week's spread. Digital elements from Essential Everyday by Traci Reed and Studio Basic, and Seasons Change by Traci Reed and Kristin Cronin-Barrow. Paper supplies from Studio Calico, Gossamer Blue, Scraptastic, Cocoa Daisy, and more. 

Week 43

Week 43 was not a fun week to live through, but it was fun to scrap! The True Story cards and printables by Traci Reed were perfect for documenting both the good and bad parts of our week. The title card by Scraptastic matched the colors perfectly, and I just added a few wood veneer pieces here and there to finish it off. Love how cohesive the whole spread and insert are (contrary to my usual, throw-everything-I-love-together mishmash!). It was a hard week emotionally, but I'm glad I captured the details. I suppose we'll laugh about it all later, right?

Double Digi Page

Just for fun! I scrapped this two-pager with some of Traci Reed's Digital Scrapbook Day releases this past weekend! I'm so excited about Christmas, I turned on some Christmas music, poured myself a mug of hot cider, and dived headfirst into all the pretty holiday stuff. This is my first attempt pairing a "regular" page with a pocket-style page and I'm thrilled with how it turned out. May do more of these!

365Unscripted - December 4x6 Collages
365Unscripted - Slipins 2
Naughty & Nice Collection

That's all I've got today, but I'll be back soon to share some of my 30 Days of Gratitude, Project Life-style. It's pretty much taking over November in my PL book!

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!

Project Life, Week 38

Between sickness, Week in the Life recovery (anyone just need a break from "documenting" after that intense week?!), and regular life stuff I fell a couple weeks behind in my Project Life album. I decided I really hate that feeling! I had also run out of photo paper at home and had to wait for a sale to print the photos I needed to catch up. Still waiting on a few, but I did finish Week 38.
This current week should be interesting to document, most of my family is sick, and we've had one calamity after another all week. From car to lawnmower, wedding ring to chair, things are breaking left and right. It's crazy! How do you document no-good-very-bad weeks? I'm not even sure I WANT to remember!
But moving on (or back?) to Week 38 now...

I chose to use mostly Gossamer Blue for this week, especially since I finally had an opportunity to use the travel-themed stuff from August's Life Pages kit. Josh graciously let me go to a CKC scrapbook convention Friday and Saturday, and it turned into quite the adventure! I ended up staying overnight in the hotel room of some ladies I met at the crop (not nearly as creepy as it sounds, I promise!) and we had a hilarious, fabulous time staying up way too late!

I really love that 4x4 Extraordinary Photo card - it was part of the printables for September's Life Pages kit (most of the stuff on the left side is from September's kit). Isn't that Traci Reed (who designs their printables, among other things) so talented?! 

I also figured out a way to use the cute 4x6 overlay. I think they're adorable but really struggle with actually using them in my spreads. If you have any ideas or examples, please share in the comments! 

Surprise! I hid an adorable photo of my boys, when they were actually being sweet to each other for .2 seconds instead of fighting, under that Extraordinary Ordinary Photo card! That pink tab is attached with a glue dot to the card and to the plastic page protector, letting the card flip up. Super simple.

And that's another week in the book! I'm waiting on a 99-photo order from Shutterfly to finish weeks 39 and 40 (most of those photos are for my son's baby album - I did not take 99 photos in 2 weeks!). Hopefully by early next week I'll have those weeks posted and be more or less caught up again!

Week in the Life 2013, September 9-15

I joined in again this year with Ali Edwards' Week in the Life project, even though I've been documenting our weeks through Project Life this year. I definitely went more in depth day by day this week, noting little bits of our day on Ali's daily sheets (found in her planning post) and loosely tracking our schedules. I designed my own daily summary cards, and jotted down the highlights from those daily sheets.
In addition to the cards I made, I used a hodge podge of cards and embellishments from Cocoa Daisy (coffee cards and stamp), Freckled Fawn, Studio Calico, Scraptastic, Gossamer Blue, and Basic Grey (alpha).
My favorite elements, though, came from a new digi kit by Traci Reed, Essential Everyday. I printed off several of the cards, and some tabs, word strips, and day of the week labels.

I started off strong on Monday and Tuesday, with one page and half an insert for each day. I tried to keep plenty of neutrals in my color scheme with (lots of) pops of color, especially orange and red. I'm no designer or color expert, but I like how the week turned out. It's visually busy and full, just like our lives! Also I intentionally went heavy on the photos and very light on the filler cards. 

That fun days of the week/number paper is from the Essential Everyday kit too. Definitely my favorite paper of the kit!

By Thursday and Friday, life was taking over again and I had less photos and just less to document. I used a couple "thing/environment" photos and combined these days on one page and insert. Please ignore that neon post-it tab, I use those to mark where I want photos to go as I plan my pages. They're easy to move around as I decide where everything will go. Guess I missed removing that one!

 

Saturday and Sunday each filled up one page with no inserts. I did tuck a little handout booklet behind that Lowe's card on Saturday, it was the instructions for the fire engine that Josh and Cai made. I got a little artsy and used my newly acquired Gelatos to smear some blue around that days of the week/numbers paper on the bottom right Saturday card. I also used Gelatos to sort of underline the "life is beautiful" phrase. It's a new medium for me, but definitely fun to use and add just a hint of color.

Sunday was a very light photo day, so I included a list of TV shows we're currently enjoying and a collage photo of the week's lists for the 30 Lists project I've been working on this month. I need to remember to use some of these filler ideas in my "normal" Project Life!

I'm definitely glad I did this project again. I will probably slip those daily pages into a page protector to keep them with the project, and I"m sure it'll be fun to look back and see how our daily routines, schedule, and activities change over time.

Project Life, Week 36

I finally got the last few photos printed from Riah's birthday for my week 36 layout. My baby is 2!!! Wow. I kept it simple with one of my favorite inserts, Design I, to include some Instagram and other photos I snapped during the day. I've been enjoying using the Rhonna Farrer app to add cute overlays, text, and designs to my photos right in the phone, which minimizes the time I spend editing on my computer each week. Some weeks I actually do all the editing and ordering prints from my phone - isn't technology amazing?! I do want to work on taking more DSLR pictures, though.

On the left side, I worked in a few little hybrid touches. The "letter b" collage is from the 365: Unscripted 3x4 collage cards, by Traci Reed, with a paper and letter from her recent collab Virtuoso. I printed that "Together is the best place to be" overlay (I think it's from my Studio Calico class) onto transparency paper. Paper products used include Studio Calico cards and that awesome Scraptastic "Feeling Like This" stamp. Plus my usual washi, veneer, and sequins :)

More hybrid here including the chalkboard card from Traci Reed's Mr. Mister cards, a Studio Calico freebie (polaroid picture), and the Rhonna Farrer app. And it's a little hard to see in the photo, but there's a days of the week overlay on the middle right journaling card. That's from Traci's 365Unscripted: 3x4 Transparencies 2 set. Next time I print transparencies I'll be sure to make the colors darker!

I wrote a short letter to Riah and tucked it in a little pocket behind his photo. I did the same thing for Avyn this year, and hope I remember to make that a tradition for each birthday now!

And here's the insert. I took several videos throughout the day to share with family who couldn't celebrate with us, and after some trial and error, managed to (hopefully!) create QR codes that link to those videos. I should probably test that...

Week 37 happens to be Ali Edwards' Week in the Life project, and I chose to participate again this year. I won't have it all finished until next week, but it will be several spreads and inserts. Basically I did it as a more in-depth Project Life style. I'm also still keeping up with 30 Lists, following along with Fat Mum Slim's photo a day on Instagram, and just started a class I won, Picture Everyday, at Big Picture Classes. Whew. Busy month for memory-keeping, but I'm loving it. Keeps my mind off the more depressing stuff of life, and I really need that right now.

Project Life, Week 35

We started (home)school this week, along with about half the country, and I spent an unhealthy amount of time searching for the perfect filler card to document it. A friend on my Project Life facebook group linked me to an adorable free card by Jennifer Valencia at Pixels & Co, and it's perfect. So now, I can finally share my pages.

I wanted to use that Story card, which is actually the back side of a card I used on last week's layout, so I switched things up and moved my title card over a slot. My brain is only twitching a little bit.

I played with several new stamps this week, including my August Scraptastic and Gossamer Blue ones, and a couple foodie stamps. The coffee card is one I made for a green-themed card swap. Love how it turned out!

You probably can't tell, but I attached sequins on the pool photo with French knots! Another new, useful technique. See that little mustache clip poking up? I wanted to include a funny story about Cai but ran out of room, so I tucked another card in. Here it is pulled out:

And the back reads: 
"I tried tape, and glue, and sparkling glue, but NOTHING WORKS for all that stuff!" Think I better go check my craft supplies. Cai and his imagination crack me up.

I love that kid. He takes ideas and scenarios from TV shows, and runs with it, coming up with far crazier situations than TV writers could ever dream up!

So there's week 35! I'll be back in a couple days with my first week's worth of lists for 30 Days of Lists. It's not too late to sign up if you want to join me!

Project Life, Week 34 and Transparency

No, not the bare-my-soul, no-holds-barred kind of transparency. I'm not brave enough for that. I did muster up the courage this week to try printable transparencies, though! After waiting impatiently for the box to arrive from Amazon, adding color to the 365Unscripted: 3x4 Transparencies 2 set from Traci Reed, and then a few false starts while my printer refused to cooperate, I finally had my very own sheets of customized transparent overlays.

If you find yourself with an obstinate printer, try taping the transparency to a sheet of plain white paper. Tape it very well all along the top and bottom edges (using colorful washi tape is optional, but obviously preferable). This tricked my printer into thinking nothing unusual was going on.

I love the impact these transparencies add to my photos and cards, without adding extra bulk to the album. I attached them three different ways: Paper clip, cleverly hidden tiny glue dots, and mini staples. Sorry about the glare, I still haven't perfected my in-pocket photography. If you have any tips, I'd love to hear them!

And now, on to the whole week. In addition to the transparencies by Traci (I used four of them over the week's spread), I also printed some word art and star elements from her new One of the Guys kit. The "made with love" 4x6 and woodgrain 3x4 cards, the "family time" wordart, and the plate/knife/fork cutout are from Studio Basic's Cook.Eat.Love collection. Most everything else this week is from Scraptastic's August This Life Noted kit.

Ahh that title card. I'm in love. I used gesso and watercolor techniques, along with printables, from the Studio Calico Toolbox class. An Ormolu flair and some enamel dots coordinate perfectly. The Love This Life die-cut was left over from July's kit.

I created my own coffee cup embellishment by stamping onto green paper and fussy cutting (the coffee stamp is from Studio Calico's July Project Life kit). That little Saturday journaling card is also from Studio Calico. And that wraps up this fun week! I can't wait to print more transparencies!

Project Life, Week 33 and Gossamer Blue Review

Last week, I decided to use my new Gossamer Blue August Life Pages kit almost exclusively. I also created a couple hybrid cards from Traci Reed and Ju Kneipp's new kit, Virtuoso, to accent one son's artsy adventures, and another son's messy adventures (which is so very descriptive of their personalities!).
Gossamer Blue entered the Project Life-style kit club scene in August, and their debut kit is pretty slick. A good variety of embellishments, exclusive custom-designed cards (by one of my favorite designers, Traci Reed), and a commitment-free structure. Subscribers, however, do receive some perks, like the printables that were possibly my favorite part of the kit. I adored all the little tags, icons, word strips, and more.

This month featured a travel theme, which wouldn't have been my first choice, since we rarely travel. But, it was an interesting challenge to incorporate the themed cards and embellishments in my spread, and especially with our trip to the Kiddie Park mid-week, I managed quite well. 

I like the perfectly-sized sentiments in the stamp set, and I used the circle outline a few times. I may even use the outline stamps to create some custom tags to have on hand for future spreads. 

Week 33, left side

Week 33, insert front

Week 33, insert back

I pulled supplies from all over for the insert, including digital paper by Rachel Young at The Lilypad, and a stamp (Mini Magical Moments) by CD Muckosky, also at The Lilypad. Those fun gold letterpress cards were a bonus for new Gossamer Blue subscribers. I love the bit of shine they add, even if it doesn't totally match my spread. I'm all about mixing and matching! I also experimented with stitching and watercolors this week, another technique inspired by the Toolbox class I'm taking at Studio Calico. (Ignore the blank 4x4 spot, I forgot to print one of my photos, I'll just throw it in with next week's batch.)

Week 33, left side and insert front

Week 33, insert back and right side

Week 33, right side

Gossamer Blue's kit contents are very competitive, with the "standard" 24 3x4 cards and 6 4x6 cards, plus an additional 3x4 and 4x6 vellum card, a generous two alpha sheets, plus enamel dots, label/arrow stickers, and more. I appreciate the mix of sequins, clips, washi, and wood veneers, rather than having a whole package of just one or two embellishments. 

The only two negatives, in my opinion, were the rather flimsy and almost too-small packaging holding the cards (I like to keep my cards in the protective plastic, but these were so thin they ripped quickly), and the color scheme of the sticker and alpha sheets. The colors, especially the bold blue and red, just didn't seem to match the cards. I'll definitely use them, but probably not with this set of cards. 

Overall, I'm very happy with the kit, and looking forward to September's! From the sneaks I've seen, it's even better than August!

Project Life, Weeks 31-32

Lots of hybrid fun these weeks, courtesy of the first few lessons in the Studio Calico Toolbox class I'm taking this month. It's my first SC class, and I'm really enjoying it. Week two is mixed media, so I'm guessing my next couple weeks of PL will get a bit messy! It's fun to mix things up, I have to try new stuff or I get bored. I'm sure it would be quicker to stick with the same style/theme/products/etc each week, but I just can't craft like that. I sure admire those who can, though, and end up with a beautifully coordinated book! Mine is a mismatched mess LOL!!

Week 31

This week I used primarily Scraptastic, and several of the cards were inspired by challenges for their 3rd birthday celebration. I finally used confetti in a pocket! That cute Enjoy Life card is from a recent card swap I participated in. The last 4x6 card I'm particularly proud of, I actually stitched strips of paper together - quite an achievement on my miniature craft sewing machine!

Week 32

This week I used more Studio Calico stuff, from my July Project Life kit and printables from the Toolbox class. Several of the cards I designed in Photoshop and then printed and embellished, and I am in love with how they turned out. How fun is that pie chart?! I confess, I hadn't seen the pie chart appeal yet, but I think I'm hooked now. 

I also used a fun technique from the Toolbox class on the "Sweet Sunshine" photo, by "removing" Avyn from the picture and typing the text, then popping him back on top. I really enjoy taking the time to incorporate my digital skills and supplies into my PL album. It's like including mini scrapbook pages every week!