Originally published on March 23rd, 2014 A ton of crafting this week... but you'll have to read my post here to get the scoop. On the other side of crafting, I received the rest of my Project Life card swaps from February. Overall, I am very pleased by what I got back. I can't wait to incorporate some of these cards into my spreads.
Archives: Cards #33
Originally published on March 16th, 2014Crafting:
- PL Swaps (easter eggs, scraps, rainbow) -- I love the use of washi tape on the rainbow cards. For the scraps swap, I decided to make pocket cards with washi tape. And the easter egg cards made use of my SU Birds of Feather DSP.
- Book of lists notebook -- Tons are people are participating in the 30 Days of Lists this March, but I just don't have the time or energy to commit to that. Instead, I thought I would create a notebook, decorate it, and then have various lists. The idea is to do a list a week (or so). I love putting my own spin on the project. I ran across this perfect little binder on clearance at Target the other day. I set about cutting cardstock and patterned paper down to the sizes I would need. When it comes time to make a list, I'll select a topic, pick a stamp set to decorate (and any embellishments), and cut a piece of white cardstock for the actual list. I love that it's ready to be used. I don't have to start from scratch every time!
- PL W9-10 -- I finished these weeks yesterday. Check out my blog post here.
- Punch Guide -- I also made a handy guide to all my punches using some random blank playing cards (from old teaching supplies). I got the idea from Pinterest and immediately put it on my to make board. This will definitely come in handy when I need to figure out the best punch to use or the relative sizes. No more digging through the drawer!
- Stamp Guide -- Making my punch guide led me to want to create on for all my stamps. I have so many now (both loose and SU boxes) that I often forget what I have. I spend way too much time digging through all of them to get ideas. So, I decided to stamp all my stamps onto white cardstock to act as a handy guide. There are separate pages for Christmas, Holidays, Sentiments, Occasions, and Misc. I'm only partially done, but this is going to be great when I'm finished.
Shopping Scores:
- Steals.com box -- During steals.com's big archive sale, I ordered a mystery box. This is what came. I'd say that 70% of the box will be used by me. The paper stack is great. I love the alphabet stickers and small tags. The chipboards will get a lot of use. The jewels will probably get use, but I need to find the best adhesive for them. The ribbon isn't my style at all and I'm still trying to figure out the best way to use the watercolor products. Overall, a really good buy.
- Target randomness -- I grabbed the 3x4 and 4x6 Dreamy sets by WRMK. I also found two containers that are the perfect size for holding greeting cards. The zebra print wasn't my first choice, but they work. And I found some great little stickers and embellishment pieces in the One Stop bins.
- Peachy Cheap -- Another daily deal site I found a few weeks ago. This time I grabbed an entire set of enamel dots from Basic Grey. I couldn't wait to use them, hence the missing dots.
- Birthday gifts -- This week I received the last of my birthday gifts from J's parents. I love the paper stacks and am super excited to use the PL theme packs. The Americana pack is even cuter in person.
- PL Swap and Sale FB Group -- I've been a part this group for a few weeks now, but most of the items don't appeal to me. I had been marginally searching for the PL Kiwi set. Ever time it came up for sale, someone snatched it up right away. I finally caught a listing at the right time. I received my 1/3 of the kit yesterday. Love love love the cards I received! I also received my scrap swap back. I'd say that over half of these cards will be used. There's only a few that don't fit my style (looking at you cowboy card).
- Stampin' Up order -- I ordered my March order early as I will not be in town for the monthly stamp club. We are doing a huge DSP share so I bought three packs to share. Plus one other member and I are buying two of the larger color collection DSPs to share so I bought the Regals. Lastly, I grabbed the 2012-2014 In color DSP as it was one sale. For my Saleabration item I grabbed the Petal Parade stamp set. I've seen some great examples to copy.
- Michaels -- Last week I grabbed the Baby Boy Mini Kit on clearance, some purple washi tape (how did I not have any purple?), and a cute little stamp set on sale. Today they were starting a huge paper crafting sale and bonus extra sale this afternoon. I had to take advantage of both sales. I was also looking to pick up some items for the mom's group Easter party next month. I managed to get most of the party items and some basics for me (white and black cardstock, trimmer blades).
Project: Somehow I agreed to help organize an Easter Party for our mom's group. The group is starting a babysitting co-op and we plan on having a quarterly social. The Easter Party will be our first big event. The original idea was just to get together and have an egg hunt, but babies aren't so great at the hunting. Instead, we are putting together baskets filled with baby-appropriate toys, shaker eggs to play with, and a few arts and crafts. Parents pay us back a set amount. We are also using the leftover money to make baskets for charity.I picked up a ton of the arts and crafts supplies today at Michaels. We are waiting a week to gauge our RSVP amount before we commit to buying the toys (we have to buy in dozen units). I hope everyone decides to come as we have some great plans! Overachiever that I am, I've already started on some of the items.
Archives: Project Life 2014 -- Weeks 9 and 10
Originally published on March 15th, 2014
Week 9
Family Album: This week I decided to change up my color scheme. I put away the Seafoam and Sunshine kits in favor of the Seasons Mini Kit. I took a look at all the cards for spring and choose the pink and yellow ones. I then added some great stickers from the My Mind's Eye giant embellishment pack for some flair. Lastly I rediscovered these cute gold rimmed tags. Love the inclusion!
As for the weekly events, Arthur started solids so I had to include a ton of pics and some journaling. I love the middle eating picture. He looks so proud of himself after eating the entire bowl of rice cereal. The right hand page is all about the Arthur's first official playdate. Lots of pictures from that event plus some nice journaling to remember the day. Lastly, I added "the weather today" insert to highlight our unusual (rainy and chilly) weather on playdate day.
Supplies:
- PL Seasons Mini Kit
- My Mind's Eye die cut and sticker pack
- Random embellishments from Studio Calico kit
Arthur's Album:
Supplies:
- PL Baby Neutral Kit
Week 10
Family Album: I again turned to the Seasons Mini Kit for inserts. This time I used a variety of colors, designs, and sizes. I love the way the layout turned out! I added more of those gold tags, some alphabet stickers, a birthday sticker (for my birthday!), enamel dots, and a cute word bubble. This week's layout is busier than usual, but I'm loving it! I imagine that I will end up using the rest of the spring cards within the month.
This week was about a ton of candid shots of our family. I love the little moments I caught of Arthur being extra cute. I can't believe that this is my first naked baby butt shot! It was too cute to not include. I had to add a card for my 32nd birthday... Per usual, there was no party, but I did got out to eat twice this week (once with Pam and once with J).
Supplies:
- PL Seasons Mini Kit
- Enamel dots
- Birthday stickers
- Random Embellishments from Studio Calico Kit
- Random Alphabet stickers
Arthur's Album: I used one card from the Baby Boy mini kit I found on clearance at Michaels. Hoping to add more color in the coming weeks.
Supplies:
- PL Baby Neutral Kit
- PL Baby Boy Mini Kit
Archives: Project Life 2014 -- Weeks 7 and 8
Originally published on March 1st, 2014Week 7
Family Album: This week was a combination of regular activities, Valentine's Day, and Arthur turning 4 months. I decided to split the spread. The left side focuses on our regular activities. I used a nice orange and turquoise palette to add visual interest. Instead of adding another picture, I chose to use a 4x6 pocket as my weekly highlights insert. I didn't add much embellishment: space man stamp and piece of washi tape was all. The right side was heavy on Arthur's milestones. The red is a bit overwhelming, but I still think it looks nice.
Supplies:
- WRMK Tangerine Journalling Kit
- PL Holidays Mini Kit
- PL Neutral Baby Kit
- SU Stamp (space man)
- Random embellishments
Arthur's Album: Arthur's album is split between Valentine's Day (left side) and 4 months (right side). I wanted to create some type of balance in the spread. Other than the hearts, I didn't add any embellishments.
Supplies:
- PL Neutral Baby Kit
- PL Holiday Mini Kit
- Random embellishments
Week 8
Family Album: Somehow I completely lost the right side picture of this week's spread. Oh well. I'll get it finished soon. I kept the embellishing at a minimum. I relied on some alphabet stickers to add some interest to the track pictures. I love the visual interest of this week's page.
Supplies:
- WRMK Tangerine Journaling Kit
- Random stamp and alphabet stamps
- Camera charm
Arthur's Album: Arthur's album is missing one picture that will have to go onto the next picture order. No embellishments this week, but I did a huge amount of journaling. I am getting better at storytelling; capturing those little moments.
Supplies:
- PL Neutral Baby Kit
Archives: Cards #32
Originally published on February 23rd, 2014
Not too much crafting this week. But I did manage to finish my last two swap collections: Black + White and Scraps. Next week, I need to get back to doing my weekly Project Life spreads and do my Stamp Club HW.
Shopping Scores: So much shopping this week! I went a bit crazy, but I'm sure I'll rein myself in and not really buy anything for a few weeks.
We stopped at Joann's after the Meetup to possibly grab some Project Life supplies. Well, the location we went to (Cupertino store) doesn't stock PL. But they were having a huge President's Day sale still with 50% off stickers and embellishments and 40% off paper stacks. Plus I had a mobile coupon for 15% my entire order (sale and regular priced items). Score! I got some adorable 6x6 stacks to make PL cards and maybe some greeting cards.
Also, my two Stampin' Up orders came. Look at the huge stash! It was my hostess month for club and I went a little crazy. My extra large order plus everyone else's resulted in $80 hostess dollars! Holy crap! Here's my haul:
- Etcetera DSP
- Tea for Two DSP
- Comfort Cafe DSP
- 2012-2014 In Color Dahlia Assortment
- 8.5" x 11" Subtles Collections (Old color collection)
- 2013-2015 In Color Cardstock and Ink Bundle
- 2012-2014 In Color Cardstock
- Twitterpated DSP
- Fan Fair DSP
- Parker's Patterns DSP
- Floral District DSP
- International Bazaar DSP
- Sweet Sorbet DSP (SAB)
- Pocketful of Posies DSP
- Banner Punch (SAB)
- Hexagon Punch
- Blossom Petals Punch
- Artisan Label Punch
- Petite Petals Punch
- Merry Minis Punch Pack
- Sycamore Street Buttons and Ribbon Pack
- Express Yourself Stamp Set (Hostess)
- Perfect Pennants Stamp Set
- Six-Sided Sampler Stamp Set
- Petite Petals Stamp Set
Archives: Cards #31
Originally published on February 16th, 2014
I joined a Project Life Swaps group on FB and signed up to participate in three swaps (all for February!). The idea is that you create PL cards based off of a theme, send them to the organizer, and she sends you cards from others. I went a little overboard, creating more than I needed. So, I decided to make some of the extras RAKs for my other PL group on FB. Now I just need to get to the post office sometime tomorrow to send these packets of happiness out.
Archives: Project Life 2014 -- Weeks 5 and 6
Originally published on February 15th, 2014Week 5
Family Album: This week wanted to really bring out the fun bright colors from the photographs. Thankfully I had purchased a third of a Honey kit from an Etsy seller. They were the perfect colors to play with. After I looked at the pictures to choose from, I decided to do an entire page (well almost an entire page) dedicated to telling a story about Arthur and his new favorite toy. I love the idea of doing this type of theme pages more often.
Supplies:
- PL Honey Kit
- PL Sunshine Kit
- Studio Calico Alphabet stickers
Arthur's Album: For his album, I stuck with the yellows and grays with some fun inserts. I love the right side with the corresponding pictures splitting the page. It gives a nice mirror effect.
Supplies:
- PL Baby Neutral Kit
Week 6
Family Album: Week six was all about pink and turquoise. I had the repeating camera insert already in place from last week (other side of the flowered journaling card). it was so cute, I had to use it and ended up designing the entire spread to correspond. The left side was highlighting some pictures from our usual routine (baby playing with Sophie, Shoreline walk, crafting time). I even used a journal card to highlight my week in crafting. Nice to see a spread not completely focused on Arthur even though he is just so adorable. The right side is dedicated to pictures and journaling of the mom's group Valentine's Party. I even remembered to snap a few photos of the event. (It was gray and gloomy out, so the pics are pretty dark. And this is after lightening them up on the computer.) I forgot to add in the February calendar card at the beginning of the month. The party turned out to be the perfect occasion to use it as a Who, What, Where, When, and Why type journaling card. I then used a red design card from the Holiday mini kit to list all the attendees for the party. It's a nice way to remember who was there since I didn't get pictures of everyone. Overall, I absolutely love this layout!
Supplies:
- PL Honey Kit
- PL Seasons Mini Kit
- Random embellishments from Studio Calico
Arthur's Album: Arthur's weekly spread included more pictures of him and some highlighting of our party. I stuck with the usual color scheme, but changed up the design with the 4x6 journaling card and alternating 3x4 inserts and photos.
Supplies:
- PL Baby Neutral Kit
Archives: Project Life 2014 -- Week 4
Originally published on February 1st, 2014
Family Album: I played around with some embellishments this week. As per usual, I have the weekly highlights inserts and the weekly date insert. I added some alphabet stickers to two of the pictures for added descriptions. I really love the font of "Sophie." To help doctor up the printed inserts, I added some candy dots and stamps. A few weeks ago, I bought some partial kits (Honey and Kraft) from an Etsy seller. I can't justify buying an entire kit as I already have three separate kits. But, I can get a few partials to add some extra fun to the spreads. I really really love the bright colors from the Honey kit.
As to this week's photos, it was another Arthur heavy week. I managed to catch a few adorable smiles and some action shots. My favorite picture is my artsy shadow picture. Randomly the light from the windows created some beautiful shadows.
As it is the end of January, I filled out my monthly wrap-up insert. I loved embellishing the monthly title card with fun stickers (glittery stars). I picked my favorite 8 photo a day pictures to include. I added the each day's theme written on washi tape. Love the look!
Supplies:
- PL Sunshine kit
- PL Honey kit (partial)
- PL Day stickers
- Embellishments from Studio Calico kits
- Random stamps
- Random stickers
- Washi tape
Arthur's Album: This week's spread is very simple and photo heavy. I made sure to include our weekly highlight inserts and a little journaling about some photos. I really loved the photos from this week.
Supplies:
- PL Baby kit
Archives: Project Life 2014 -- Weeks 1, 2, 3
Originally published on January 25th, 2014
I'm starting a new weekly feature highlighting my Project Life pages. My goal is to stay on top of the weeks throughout 2014. Making these posts a weekly feature should hold me accountable. So here we go...
Many project lifers create a new album for each year with a title page, etc. I started PL in October with Arthur's birth, so mine is going to look a little different. I am hoping to keep Oct. - Dec. 2013 and all of 2014 in one album. We'll see how that goes. I decided to start my 2014 weekly spreads with the week of Dec. 30 - Jan. 5. Yes, I included Dec. 30th and 31st in Week 1's spread. I think it will help me stay organized.
Week 1
Family Album: It's another case of the missing photographs. Darn Walgreens! I hope to get them printed sometime this week, so I can add them in. For the left side, I went with a winter color scheme of gray, blue, and white. We were still in Indiana and there was almost 2 feet of snow on the ground; the colors seemed appropriate. I went back to the day by day journaling using the PL day stickers. For the right side, I wanted to highlight the start of 2014. I used three inserts from the Holiday mini kit and added some silver stars. The number chipboard stickers were from a Studio Calico kit I bought on Black Friday. I love their silhouettes. The "Explore" insert was a Google image that I downloaded. I chose "Explore" as my word for 2014, so I wanted to highlight it in this first week's spread.
I added two different inserts in this week. The first insert is my "State of the Blog" wrap up. I added journaling cards from the PL Sunshine kit and a screenshot of the home page of my blog. I love the bright colors and simplicity of the inserts.
The second insert highlights the rest of my Fat Mum Slim's Photo a Day December pictures. This was the first time I tried one of these challenges. I finished it, but learned a few lessons along the way. I used two PL Seafoam inserts as a title page and a journaling card. To designate each day's theme, I wrote on top of a washi tape swatch adhered to the photo. They look much better in person. Now I really need some more washi tape to use this technique more. (Side note: I'm missing the Dec. 31st picture. I have to get that one printed and inserted.)
Supplies:
- PL Seafoam kit
- PL Sunshine kit
- PL Holiday mini kit
- PL Day stickers
- Random stickers from stash
- Random paper from stash
- Various washi tape
Arthur's Album
Week 2
Family Album: Another week of photos speaking for themselves. I wanted to get the rest of our vacation pictures into the album. To highlight the crazy Midwest weather, I cropped a picture from The Weather Channel.
Supplies:
- PL Seafoam kit
- PL Baby kit
Arthur's Album
Week 3
Family Album: This week I tried to incorporate some insert cards other than the Sunshine and Seafoam kits. I bought some random sets and partial sets online over the holidays. I love the lighter blue and orange color combinations. I also tried to play with pattern cards instead of using just simple designs. Finally I decided to add "Week __" to the date cards. (Note: I only did this for the family album.)
Supplies:
- PL Seafoam kit
- WRMK Tangerine kit
- PL Day stickers
Arthur's Album: On the left side, I did a few journaling cards and a random insert all in yellow. I love the clean look. The right side is all about Arthur's 3 month pictures and inserts. The photo heavy right side balances the cleaner left side.
Supplies:
- PL Baby kit
Archives: Cards #29
Originally published on January 19th, 2014 Before getting to the actual crafting, I wasn't able to get my SU order for December before leaving for Indiana. I completely forget what I even ordered. I was able to collect it at January stamp club. Oh yeah, and December was my hostess month. Lots and lots of goodies.
At stamp club, we made some cute cards. It was also the start of our new 6 month round. We drew hostess months and I got February. Just in time for Sale-a-bration. Now what should I order?
On the PL front, I finally got everything organized to put together the weekly spreads for the holidays. I also got some great ideas from my Studio Calico class I joined for January. Can't wait to put some of them into my spreads. And I decided to do a monthly wrap-up page with my books read, life goals and progress, and photo a day pics. I didn't want to have to include every photo a day pic, so I thought to combine some of my features into a monthly wrap up page. Each month has one side (two months per page protector) using design F. I have room for eight photo a day choice pics. I went through and picked title, books read, and life goals inserts for each month. I tried to play with some color schemes. I plan on adding embellishments as I do the months. In the meantime, here's a sneak peek of January's page:
Shopping Scores: Lots of new things! I picked up some Project Life supplies online: G and H page protectors (for inserts), Seasons Mini Kit (had Holiday, wanted general seasons), a WRMK 3x4 and 4x6 kit (Tangerine), and some random cards from a fellow PLer (from Honey and Kraft kits). And then I went to Michael's for snail and ended up buying a corner rounder punch (mine is horrid!) and a 2in circle punch.