Project Life, Weeks Two, Three, and Four

In my effort to catch up, I'll cut down on the monologue this time :) - just a few brief comments and notes after each week's pages about what supplies I used. 

Week Two

Lots of photos this week, as we celebrated my son's 4th birthday party! I used quite a bit from my Seafoam kit this week, along with a few cards & embellies from the Studio Calico Project Life January kit. More of Lili's photo collages. And washi. You won't see a week without washi. I even worked in some digital washi on the 4x6 collage in the bottom left slot of Week 3's left side.

Week Three

Lots of pictures again. My parents were visiting over weeks 2 and 3, and we did a lot of fun activities. My life isn't usually so exciting. I was excited to use that adorable "Hello My Name Is" card this week (from the SC January Project Life kit), for my son's actual birthday. 

Week Four

I used an insert for the first time this week! Walgreens came out with a new app (or at least it's new to me), Printicular, which lets you select images from your Instagram feed and print 4x4 matte photos in one hour! Pretty much changed my ever-lovin Project Life, uh, life. I really like the quality and feel of these 4x4 photos, although I'm not always thrilled with the quality of their regular 4x6 prints.
A friend in my Project Life Facebook "support group" sent me a goodie envelope packed with journal cards, tags, etc. and I worked in a couple of those this week, along with my regular stuff.
Wow... goodbye January!

Project Life, Set-up and Week One

So I decided, again, to get over my guilt and resurrect this blog. I want a place to post my Project Life pages, because I LOVE doing them and I want to talk about it!
No pressure on myself at this point, no big plans - just my own little corner of the web to share my crafty adventures.

My Project Life Setup

Cover Page

I know everyone has a different basic "plan" for Project Life, and I figured this is a good place to start. I'm using the Seafoam core kit, big pack of Design A page protectors, and a WRMK 12x12 Aqua album. 

I also subscribe to the Studio Calico Project Life kit. I've known since last fall that I wanted to start this project in 2013, so I jumped on the waiting list waaaay back when it was first announced (early November maybe?). I love getting a coordinated set of supplies every month with fun embellishments, matching alpha, and cute journal cards. 

Week 1 spread

I also usually work in a little hybrid fun each week, whether that's a whole journal card(s) or some word strips, tags, or other embellishments I print and cut out. I usually use Designs by Lili's photo collages to arrange my pictures, and sometimes I add a digital stamp or embellishment on a photo before printing. 

Most of my printing is done through Walgreens, I love the 1-hour convenience. I also print some at home, on my little photo printer. For hybrid stuff I use the awesome Epson Premium Matte Presentation paper. 

Week One

I decided to start with Monday, December 31st, to keep a full week together. Plus it was fun to document how we "closed out" 2012!

For my cover page and Week 1 spread, I used cards and embellishments from the Studio Calico kit and Seafoam, plus a couple other pieces of paper from my stash and digital items I printed. The NYE card uses Designs by Lili's Photo Collages 4. My favorite cards are the pieces I cut from my kids' art project! Oh - and lots of washi. I love washi tape. 

The potty people on my cover page are spritzed with various spray inks, and I designed my own little "you right now" cards for each of my kids. If I ever get a decent photo of me and my husband, I'll add that somewhere. 

So that's week one! I plan to catch up my blogging by posting a few weeks at a time until I'm current. 

World Card Making Day

I couldn't not make cards today, since it's World Card Making Day! Paper Issues on Facebook also inspired me to blog and share my creations.
My mom is visiting this week, and we enjoyed time together today, including a trip to Michael's and Hobby Lobby (one of my favorite mother-daughter activities!). I fit in a little crafting time before supper, and this is what I came up with:

So I'm still a little obsessed with washi tape. That's okay, it's awesome. The top and bottom card were created mostly with Simon Says Stamp's May 2012 card kit. And did you notice the pretty glitter clouds on the middle card? I used Mod Podge for those. Holds the glitter perfectly without shedding!
Now I'm off to enjoy the time with my mom! Happy crafting!

Currently...

Photo Collage template by Designs by Lili

Currently, I am...

• Reading Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness and Satisfy My Thirsty Soul by Linda Dillow.
• Writing in my new planner from Paper Coterie.
• Playing Chefville on Facebook, and Words with Friends on my iPhone.
• Watching Vampire Diaries on Netflix, and season premieres of my favorite shows this week. 
• Trying to be patient, and remember that God created my children with their own unique personalities, and He chose me to be their mother.
• Cooking another Pinterest recipe, Crockpot Pizza. Definitely a success!
• Drinking a Coke my hubby brought home for me. So sweet of him!
• Calling my mom, the WIC office, and my therapist.
• Pinning these Whole Wheat Pumpkin Spice Latte muffins, this pretty Twinkle, Twinkle card, and the cutest DIY Instagram-inspired necklace.
• Tweeting about contests to win craft supplies or pretty things. Which is pretty much the only thing I use Twitter for nowadays. 
• Crafting in my Smash book, documenting our family trip to Indiana. A little hybrid, a little washi tape, lots of journaling on little note cards.
• Scrapping a page about Riah and my dear friend Ashley's daughter Grace meeting and becoming friends, and how I wish we lived closer. 
• Doing too much, never enough, cooking, cleaning, dishes, laundry, cuddling kids, playing blocks and trains, being a mom. 
• Going to the grocery store, to counseling, to the park.
• Loving my family. So intensely, dramatically, sometimes frustratingly, but always loving them. 
• Hating how I always blame myself and pile on the guilt. 
• Re-Discovering the joy of crafting with my hands, creating jewelry and papery stuff. 
• Enjoying my son Avyn's language explosion, and his sweet, affectionate personality. 
• Thinking about some advice I've received, and how perfect it is. 
• Feeling tired, as usual. A little introspective. Sad about some things. Excited about new opportunities.
• Missing my sister so much. She left Wednesday to go home and start a new job, across the country, and I don't know when I'll see her next.
• Hoping for some time to reconnect with Josh this weekend.
• Listening to an awesome Pandora station my sister shared with me, full of my favorite worship songs.
• Celebrating Josh's birthday on Friday. 
• Smelling coffee in the morning, every morning. Somewhere along the way I developed this habit that I have no desire to break. 
• Thanking God for a precious two weeks with my sister. For my husband, who isn't perfect but who tries, and talks to me, and loves me unconditionally. 
• Considering the future of my blogging and scrapping. Big thoughts, but just tumbling around in the back of my mind right now.
• Starting a new job, working part time in the Childcare ministry at my church. 

My post today was inspired by a challenge issued by Ali Edwards, and I thank her for the inspiration to document a slice of my life right now - and I challenge you to join in!

Living the Length and Width

Today, I was inspired by Ali Edwards' post for the Big Idea Festival over at Big Picture Classes. Here's the quote she shared by Diane Ackerman:

I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.

This resonates with me from the angle of fully appreciating the stage of life I am in now. Rather than trying to simply get through it, or longing for some hazy better day in the future, I want to live the full width of my life right now. The highs, the lows, the sort of boring, everyday in-betweens.

My life is full of everyday-ness. It's so easy to impatiently look ahead, to anxiously anticipate the next "big event" - visiting family, going to the museum, MOPs meetings, etc. So I just "live the length" of the days in-between, trying to hurry them along, and miss out on all the precious "little" moments each day - the width of my life.

Like this moment, when Cai decided to blow bubbles out the door since I wouldn't let him outside to play (it was muddy from recent rain). Avyn loves bubbles, and soon joined him, exclaiming over each round of bubbles. I stopped writing to capture this sweet moment, so rare now - usually they'd rather fight and argue!

Something else Ali said really hit home for me, too.

When I'm sad or angry I'm letting myself feel it fully and when I feel on cloud nine I'm letting myself experience that amazing joy and really basking in it. And I'm taking care of myself along the way. - Ali Edwards

How often do we skip taking pictures or recording memories of the sad times, the frustrating days, the times when you want to wring your kid's neck? Personally, I'd rather gloss over those moments in my life, get through them and never look back. But I think that's cheating myself out of a legitimate, inescapable part of life - and maybe cheating myself out of a lesson God wants me to learn.

I created this layout for another Big Idea Festival challenge this week (Cathy Zielske's "Get Real" challenge). It documents a not-very-fun memory, but it's real. It's what happened, like it or not.

As a mom, I think I have the hardest time with that last sentence - "taking care of myself along the way." It's too easy to let that slide, to feel guilty about doing something fun that's just for me. Or even doing something necessary that's just for me! At the end of the way, I'm often too tired to think straight, let alone focus on delving into my Bible study or soaking up a good book.

This is an area I've been wrestling with for a while. I've discovered (well, admitted) that I'm prone to allowing crushing guilt to take over my life. But the old saying is so true: "If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!" When I take the time to care for myself, I care for my children better. They love having a happy, relaxed mama! I'm not talking about regular manicures, hour-long bubble baths every day, long weekend excursions with girlfriends, or just frivolous time-wasting. I'm talking about intentional, specific, purposeful taking care of myself. Feeding my soul, taking care of my body and mental health. It's important.

And that's all the soul-searching I can manage for today! Are you participating in the Big Idea Festival right now? I'm finding so much inspiration, and hope to share some more with you soon.

Cards and Cooking

Hi, welcome to August's post! This has been the summer of the sickies - nonstop doctor appointments. Of course Avyn always provides more than his fair share, but the rest of us contributed too. In between playing taxi service and nurse, I've enjoyed experimenting in the kitchen and in my craft nook. Although digital scrapbooking still gets the lion's share of my creative time, I found that I really missed the hands-on papery stuff. So this summer I dived back in, dug out my paper supplies, and played!
I especially enjoy making cards that I can send to my family and friends. I get the fun of making them, and then the fun of giving something special and handmade! Win-win! Here's a few from the past couple of months:

Everyday Eclectic by Echo Park, Ranger Stickles in Silver and Tim Holtz Distress Stickles in Broken China, baker's twine

Simon Says Stamp May card kit

Random letter stickers, paper, and buttons from my stash; washi tape from Mindy Mae's Market

Hybrid fun! Second Chances and This is Me ATC backgrounds by Design by Tina, printed and mod-podged onto card base. Washi tape and old chipboard letters from my stash.

Lime Rickey 6x6 paper pad by Basic Grey, washi tape from Mindy Mae's Market, baker's twine from WRMK, Tattered Angels glimmer mist

Now for the cooking part - I tried out a new recipe yesterday that seems to be a huge hit with the kiddos. It's based off of these Toddler Muffins. I made one version almost identical to the original with a couple substitutions for ingredients I didn't have, and one version wheat/dairy/egg-free for Avyn. These came out so super moist, and Cai actually scarfed down three before I put on the brakes! He'll never know they're so healthy...

Ready to pop in the oven!

Toddler Muffins (regular)

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar, or to taste
2 large bananas, mashed
1 (4 oz) jar baby food squash
2 carrots, grated
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oat bran (I used plain old-fashioned oatmeal)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (I used cinnamon)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 24 mini muffin cups or 12 standard muffin cups (mine ended up filling about 16 muffin cups - the amount will vary based on the size of your carrots and bananas and any substitutions you make).
In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Mix in the mashed bananas, squash, carrots, and eggs. Stir in the flour, oat bran/oatmeal, baking soda, pumpkin pie or other spice, and salt until just combined. Spoon the batter equally into the prepared muffin cups.
Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack. Store at room temperature for up to two days, or freeze.

Toddler Muffins (Top 8 Allergen-free)

Ingredients
1/2 cup coconut oil (or other butter replacement)
1/2 cup brown sugar, or to taste
2 large bananas, mashed
1 (4 oz) jar baby food squash
2 carrots, grated
1/4 cup applesauce

1 Tblsp ground flaxseed mixed in 3 Tblsp water (or replace the applesauce and flaxseed with your favorite egg substitute, enough to equal 2 eggs)
1 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur gluten-free multi purpose flour)
1/2 cup gluten-free oatmeal or oat bran
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (again, I used cinnamon)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 24 mini muffin cups or 12 standard muffin cups (mine ended up filling about 17 muffin cups - the amount will vary based on the size of your carrots and bananas and any substitutions you make).
In a mixing bowl, cream together the oil and brown sugar until smooth. Mix in the mashed bananas, squash, carrots, and egg substitute. Stir in the flour, oat bran/oatmeal, baking soda, pumpkin pie or other spice, and salt until just combined. Spoon the batter equally into the prepared muffin cups.
Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack. Store at room temperature for up to two days, or freeze.

I plan to bake up more batches before our cross-country trip in a couple weeks to take for snacks. They also seem to freeze well. Delicious, and a great way to sneak veggies into my picky preschooler's diet! I hear that other veggies work well in this, too. Try different baby food varieties or fresh squash instead of jarred, etc. And if you find a particularly great combination, let me know! 

A Wallet Album for Daddy

I'm so thankful to have a husband who appreciates my crafting endeavors! To thank him for being such a fabulous husband and father, I wanted to make him a little wallet-sized mini album he could tuck into his car glove box and pull out whenever he needed a "family fix". Heidi Swapp posted an adorable Father's Day wallet album on her blog which totally inspired me. Mine's not nearly so elaborate, but I sure had fun with the paint!

Here's a photo of the album base after the first couple coats of paint, and then an Instagram I snapped while stamping. I used Making Memories Specialty Glaze in Silver and Emerald, which I've had for years and don't think is available anymore, Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Weathered Wood and a reinker in Peeled Paint. The black acrylic paint is from Michael's. No idea where all the stamps I used came from. Most of my craft supplies are old, since I'm just getting back into paper crafting and simply don't have money to buy new goodies! Oh well, the old stuff still works fine!

I printed my photos on my home printer, 4 on a 4x6 sheet of glossy photo paper. Kept my embellishments simple and flat so they wouldn't add bulk once the album was folded up. Mostly washi tape, some from Mindy Mae's Market and some from the Simon Says Stamps May card kit (that I WON from an Ali Edwards giveaway, how cool is that?!). I also added a couple word strip banners from the same kit. The only other embellishments I used was a Break Time tag from Chic Tags and those cute twisty-ties (from I have no idea). 

Here's the finished album:

The front - painted a manila tag and stapled it to the album. Wrote the sentiment with a white Uniball Signo pen. The flap tucks under the tag to keep it closed. 

The back, all unfolded.

Ta-da! All opened up!

A few detail shots. Sorry for my horrid photography skills!

The back, where Cai helped me write each of the boys' names. 

Josh loved it! It's the perfect size to tuck in wherever and show off a few favorite photos of his wife and kids.

I'm posting this as part of Simon Says Stamps' July 16-22 No Rules Challenge. I sure enjoyed looking through all the other creative entries, some people are SO talented!