Daily December 2011....supply storage

Hey there, it's December 1st and we all know what that means. We go into panic mode because the house isn't decorated, the tree's not up and we don't have gifts purchased, right? Um, well that too but it also means that it's time to start working on those December Daily albums! I've got my album ready to go except for the front cover. You can see my basic pages from Days 1-14 in this post and Days 15-31 in this post. You can also see the December Notebook that I created to keep little notes in here.

I'll be working on my December Daily album on a work table down in the Craft Department. I always try to keep this spare table cleaned off for special projects like mini albums, Etsy kit assembly, sewing projects, etc.
The photo below reminds me of my Holiday Inspiration Stations that I assembled for each and every little occasion. I love making assembling those and I've used that same method to assemble my supply basket that I'll be using for my DD. All of the extras from the Holiday Journal Kit from my Etsy shop, the DD kit from Studio Calico, stamps, journaling cards and more are all tucked into a wicker tray.
You know I love my little tins so I gathered up a bunch to keep things sorted. Here I've used a bread tin to hold Elle's Studio journaling cards and tags, Echo Park notions, Crate Paper embellishments from the Peppermint collection, tags from my shop and more. Can you tell I love the Small Clothespins? I use them all the time to clip together little goodies.
Here I've got a tin full of chipboard accents from Crate Paper + a jello tin filled with Washi tape. If you purchased one of my Holiday Journal kits, you got a sampling of Washi tape to use on your album. Behind I've got all my chipboard alphabets, sticker alphabets and stamps all lined up.
In these cute Christmas tree tins I've got all kinds of small goodies that I didn't want to get lost in the shuffle. There's brads, buttons, punched shapes, tags and more. I'll be using a few items from my regular stash too that I'll just grab when needed.
I'll be keeping my Daily December album in this vintage letter tray near my stash of supplies. Here, I'll drop in photos and little collected items that I want to add to the album.
I'm so excited to start the holiday season now. We'll be decorating the tree and house this weekend. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. :)

Project Life Calendar System...

I'm very excited to hear all the buzz about you all taking the plunge with Project Life. When you first get your supplies, you might be wondering how to start and how to keep it all organized. One of the best tips I can give is to get yourself a calendar system going. Make this the very first thing you do before you dive into your Project Life supplies. I still like to use a paper calendar system but if you prefer to use your phone/computer calendar, feel free.

Why is a calendar so important? Let me be a prime example of why you need one. I got 17 weeks(over 4 months) behind this year, starting in May. This is the second year that I got behind around this month. There was a pattern developing. We got busy with the end of the school year, track, graduations, my birthday, Mother's Day, Spring plantings, etc. I don't want to continue this pattern in 2012.

My calendar was so critical to me getting caught up. I used it to track down the big events and to check if I'd written any little notes, quotes, etc. Sure enough, I was able to piece together bits and pieces....enough to fill all the gaps for those missing weeks with photos + stories. You can read all about getting behind + getting caught up in this post. Knowing that those dates and little chicken scratches helped me so much, I knew that I wanted to start off 2012 with an even better system of keeping track of my Project Life happenings.

So here we go. This is my plan for 2012. First I bought me a new calendar from Target. Shopping for a new calendar is pure heaven. I can't tell you how happy I am to get a new one each year. I had a smaller version for 2011 (you can see in the getting behind post linked above) but it just wasn't big enough. For 2012 I'm going with this full 8.5" x 11" version.
This calendar has a monthly/weekly system of pages. I plan to use the 2 page per month pages as my family/work calendar. Pretty typical...appointments, sporting events, birthdays, parties, etc. These main events will be a great reference for each Project Life week. From here I can highlight what the main event is for any given week.
The 2 page weekly pages will be the guts of my Project Life. There are lined blocks for each day of the week....starting with Monday which is one change that I will be making for 2012, instead of a Sunday start date. I like the idea that my Project Life albums flows with my calendar.
If you zoom in on the above photo, you'll notice a dashed line that divides each daily block. I added this in myself by using a stamp from the Button Boutique stamp set and Enchanted Evening ink. I found it was the best color match for my calendar.

I added this divider line because I noticed that I was having a bit of a dilemma with my current calendar. There was no separation between my daily to do lists and my Project Life information. Everything was a jumbled mess. Now I have 2 separate sections for each. My to do lists will be jotted down on the left side of each daily block....and my Project Life information can be written on the right side of the daily block.

The type of information that will go on the Project Life side includes the photos I took on that particular day + what camera the photos are stored in, any quotes or funny story lines that I want to remember, special events, memory joggers, etc. The more you write down the better off you'll be. Remember, don't get too busy with the Project Life process that you forget to actually get out there and make the memories.
So now when I start a Project Life weekly spread, I'll gather up my calendar, photos & collected items and head to my Project Life table where I keep all my supplies. I tuck my calendar in behind my supply items so I can reference it when needed. It really is an essential tool...just as important as my paper trimmer, adhesive, etc.
I'm very much looking forward to my 2012 Project Life albums.....a new calendar, new Project Life products to work with, an organized work area that I'll be sharing soon.....and maybe a local friend that might be joining me with Project Life. Stay tuned because I'll be sharing how I plan to store collected items (like school papers, tickets, packaging, etc) + a peek on how I store all my supplies + my favorites items to work with while getting scrappy with my pages. I've recently learned how to use the InLinkz thumbnails (by request) so I'll have lots of fun links to share.

Note: All of my Project Life topics will be listed in the Page at the top left corner of my blog....called Project Life Topics. This page will list blog posts that contain specific topics that I've covered. All of my Project Life weekly updates can be found by looking for the Project Life 2011 label under the LABELS section of my blog on the left hand side...just scroll down. You can also find the updates under my Archive listing below the LABELS section.

Plain Jane Notebooks...

Hi there, hope your week is off to a good start. We woke up to a very chilly 19 degrees today, brrrr. Now that Thanksgiving is over, our thoughts usually turn to the winter season. For me, I can never have too many little notebooks to jot down my holiday happenings.

Today I have some Plain Jane Notebooks that I'll be offering up in the shop. They measure 4.25" x 5.5" and are stitched down the middle. Covers are Kraft cardstock that can be embellished any way you wish.
Inside there are 10 lined pages with scalloped edges, 4 grid pages and 2 green ledger pages. The kit comes with the embellishments shown below.
Here's a little sampling of how easily you can decorate a notebook using the kit contents and a few supplies of your own.
I first splattered my notebook with Mister Huey White spray mist then added a few strips of LilyBee patterned paper. I created a notched flag from an Elle's Studio journaling piece. Tied snowflake accent and clip were assembled from the kit.
These would be great for little teacher/neighbor gifts, keep one for yourself or perhaps you have some little ones at home that could use a winter project.....try using a notebook as a mini scrapbook or perhaps their own version of a December Daily with some leftover photos. Hope you enjoy. Kits will be up in the shop today in limited quantities.

Coming up soon:

Daily December postings, including my album cover + supply basket

Project Life updates, including my progress report on catching up

The beginnings of 2 quilts

Printer reviews

Plain Jane Notebook Kits Small Clothespins Kraft Cardstock Christmas Note Tags

InLinkz.com

Project Life Week of June 26-July 2, 2011

Hi there. I'm back today with another Project Life update. I'm almost caught up with my 2011 pages. I've been working primarily on catching up in my spare time so I have lots of weeks to share with you. I'll be changing things up a bit in December with some holiday tags, cards and my December Daily journal. Plus I'll be quilting like a woman on a mission. Stay tuned!

Here's my two page spread. By the color scheme, you can tell I was near July right? I had some very fun papers from My Mind's Eye that I wanted to dig into.
Here we are right in the middle of those hot summer days. Lots of softball, swimming and hanging out with friends.
Plus some regular appointments that we add into the mix.
My main dated title block uses patterned paper, an Elle's Studio journaling piece and letter stickers. The star is chipboard that I misted with Mister Huey white + a little shine.
Some journaling cards. The left uses MME paper + a journaling sheet from a Smash journaling tablet.
Here, the left side has a simple journaling piece from Elle's Studio + a chipboard piece from Studio Calico.
Another journaling sheet from a Smash tablet with sticker letters to spell *nerds* + a simple journaling card that has been cut down to fit onto a patterned paper piece.
One more week down in the books. Feels so good to get caught up a bit. We're off to a chili supper tonight with some good friends. The kids will all be playing the Wii while the adults have a good time of their own. Nothing like getting together with friends that make you laugh! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Project Life Week of June 19-June 25, 2011

Another week of Summer in the album. I got caught up on 3 weeks yesterday so I think I'm down to 8 weeks behind. My new goal is to now be caught up by the end of November so that I can work on the girls' quilts during December. I'm working quickly and am determined to reach my goal. I'm seeing some very inspiring traditional layouts and am itching to start working on some of those pages too.

So here we are with today's spread.

The left page.

The right page.
For my main dated insert, I used an unfolded journaling card from the Amber Project Life kit. I mixed things up a bit and used Jenni Bowlin's days of the week stamp set. Love the look of the big, bold days of the week.
Very simple journaling inserts with vintage typewriter journaling. Flag stickers from LilyBee, round journaling accent from Elle's Studio.
Chipboard butterfly from Studio Calico with twine and button, Mister Huey mist and Bic Markits title in yellow.
Russel + Hazel grid sticky note with patterned paper snippets and a simple Amber journaling card.
Elle's Studio journaling card, more patterned paper flags and a Studio Calico sticky note.
A pretty typical week of Summer. Softball, family, fun and games + ice cream!

Holiday Happenings

Happy Thanksgiving to all my US friends. Hope you have a wonderful holiday. We pick my dad up from the airport on Friday. So thankful to have him home after 25 days away.

I'm also starting lists for Christmas. There are lots of elderly friends in our community that are ill or are recovering from an illness at home. I've decided that instead of adopting a family this year, the girls and I are going to take treats to all our country neighbors and visit a short while. I thought this would be a great project that my mom would like to join in on too. I'll be gathering up new recipes to try + I'll also be making holiday tags which I'll be sure to share later on.

Project Life.....on getting behind, getting caught up

Edited to answer questions:

1. The Canon Selphy is designed to use camera cards that fit directly into the unit. I do not print directly from my cell phone to my Selphy. You can however hook your Selphy up to your computer, email your photos to your computer (or if you use Apple products with iCloud, I believe they transfer automatically)....and then print to your Selphy from your computer.

2. Thanks for sharing the ohlife.com link. Looks like it sends you email prompts that allow you to write in some journaling. Pretty neat.

3. The green calendar I used is from Target. I got a new calendar from Target that I'll be sharing in a post soon. I'll be showing you how I use my calendar to keep track of photos taken, notes, etc.

4. The days of the week stamp that was asked about is from Ali Edwards' collection from Technique Tuesday.

Hello everyone, I hope your week is off to a great start. I have had tons of comments about how excited you are to start Project Life. I'm so excited for you for a couple of reasons. One, you will never regret getting those photos into albums. Secondly, it means that I get to be even more inspired by your Project Life pages.

I recently divided my pages for 2011 into two albums. I think this will be the norm from here on out ever since I decided to get *scrappy* with my PL and add embellishments, additional layouts, etc. My #1 album with pages from about January-May is complete. As you can see below, I have pages and pages of photos + stories from every week of our life. How awesome is that!? I have this album sitting out in our family room and I'm amazed at how family & visitors love to thumb through it. That's our goal right, to have our albums completed and ready for everyone to enjoy?
With that said, raise your hand if you're behind with your Project Life pages? Me, me, me. Don't feel badly, even the most devoted Project Lifers are going to fall behind at some point. We're busy...life happens.....we have job & families to take care of....the world keeps on spinning. Today I'd like to share with you my process for getting caught up. For me, the summer months get extremely busy. For the past 2 years, I've noticed that May is where I start getting behind with my PL pages. So far behind that at one point I counted 17 weeks that were not completed. Yikes! I'm down to 10 weeks now and am working diligently to be caught up with 2011 by the time 2012 rolls around. Is it possible to get caught up? YES!!!

To get some perspective, let's start by categorizing our level of "behind".

The Moderately Behind

This is where you've kept up with your PL to some level although you have numerous incomplete pages. You may have the journaling cards in place. You may have the photos in place or stored online or waiting on your camera or camera card. You may have sticky notes in place, you may have written notes on your calendar. There are gaps but you're still hanging in there. You seek out PL blogs and pin every cool idea you find. Your interest level is definitely high. You really want to get caught up but maybe you got busy, or got sick, etc, etc, etc. This category describes me for the most part. The weeks that are not complete look like the ones below. I have dates, photos and sticky notes. I just need to carve out time to work on my pages. I'm hanging in there.

The Mega Behind

I have a few weeks where I fit into this category too. This is where ya got nothin'. No photos, no journaling....just blank, empty pages staring back at you. You may or may not have taken photos. You may or may not have written down events and dates in your calendar. You may have a few pages like this or you might have more pages like this than you want to admit. You might be feeling a little panicky at this point, like there is no way you'll catch up. But you're still excited about Project Life. You still want this method of scrapbooking to work for you. You're hanging in there.
The MONDO Behind

You've got it bad if you're in this category, my friends. ;) Your Project Life looks like the photo below. It's all still in the packaging! You haven't even fondled the cute journaling cards. You thought Project Life sounded like a great idea. All your friends were doing it. You thought it would be simple. You think Becky Higgins rocks. You have photos still in the camera, just waiting to be scrapped. Maybe you have the baby's first year that you really wanted to document. Maybe you have awesome vacation photos that you wanted to get into a travel themed album. Whatever the case, you didn't start it. Not one bit. Your intentions were good, but you're wayyyy behind. So far behind you can "see your butt in front of you" kind of behind. I'm not in this category, but I can definitely empathize with you. I know you want to make this work. I know you feel there is no way you'll even get started. You can do it, a little at a time. There is hope. Hang in there.

So Where Do You Start?

I'm going to share how I am working to get caught up so please take my advice as you wish. There is no right or wrong way to do Project Life. Whether you are just adding photos + simple journaling cards from the kit....or you're going all out and using scrapbooking supplies + photos + collected items + additional scrapped layouts.....the process of getting caught up will probably be the same. Time wise, you will definitely get more pages completed faster if you just add in photos + simple journaling cards. You might want consider that route so that you can make some major progress in a short amount of time.

Get In The Right Mindset

At this point you need to do a little evaluating. If you want to get caught up, keep on going or even just start using your Project Life tools then you've got to make a commitment. It takes time. The photos don't magically appear in your album. You've got to start carving out time to work on your album, start taking notes, start keeping a calendar, and start printing those photos in a timely manner. I suggest that you start now on the current weeks and get some pages done while they're fresh in your mind. Get a feel for how you want your albums to look. Then add in one or two past weeks. As you keep working, the gap will fill in. It's a tedious process but well worth it. As I counted down from 17 weeks to 15 weeks...all the way down to my current 10 weeks of being behind....I saw my pages fill in. I saw the stories come to life on my pages. I saw the big picture that this is all worth it. But ya gotta pay the piper, right? You must devote time to getting caught up. Just dig in. Just start. Be patient. Do you try to catch up on a full year? 2 years? Or do you just want to start fresh in 2012? That's up to you but if you make a plan, you can do it.

Use Your Calendar

You may think that printing your photos is the first step but I took a different approach. I work in a weekly format and know that there are a limited amount of spaces to fill up. If I printed all of my photos, I would have way too many to use and they may sit idle. So I started with my calendar, going as far back as I needed. Whether you just have the regular appointments and events listed....or you have made some detailed notes....your calendar will be a great starting point. Go through each month, finding the important dates + events that you want to document in your PL album. This will get the wheels turning and will hopefully jog your memory as to what you took photos of or where there might be huge gaps in your photo taking. Have a notepad handy and make lots of notes. If you have to, write down the month you are working on and then make a bullet list of each day in that month that you have a photo for. You can fill in the gaps....or just leave out those days/weeks altogether and just move on. For keeping track of your important events from now on, I'll be doing a post about how I organize a week's worth of photos & "stuff" soon.
Print Your Photos

Once you've got a little clearer picture of what dates/events you want to put into your Project Life, then start the printing process. You will need to check all the places you store photos. This may be on your regular camera card, your cell phone, online photo galleries, emails, text messages, etc. It's kind of tricky to get all of the photos and information organized from your different devices, but ya just gotta dig in and do it. Here's a tall stack of photos that I just got back from PostalPix. It's an iPhone app that you can use to order photos right from your cell phone. I also print photos at home using my Canon Selphy. You can find them online at Amazon, etc. I've also recently purchased a new printer to print some photos at home. I got an Epson Artisan 730 directly from Epson because it had an instant rebate at the time. I haven't printed photos yet, so no reviews. I'll do a more in depth post about printing photos if anyone is interested.
Sticky Notes, Sticky Notes, Sticky Notes

Yep, I love 'em. I could not do my Project Life without them. Get yourself stacks of them because you will go through them like crazy. Gather up a few good pens + markers too. Heck, make a special trip to the office supply store. Purchase some fun supplies. You deserve it. (insert enabling smiley here) See that hokey little pocket calendar? Pick up one of those too...or print a cute one. I get ones from the bank to use each year and keep it right at my Project Life workstation. You'll need it along with your regular calendar that you're going to start taking notes in......riiiiight?
Filling In The Blanks

Here's where the fun....and hard work.....begins. I suggest you claim a kitchen table or carve out a devoted scrap room space that you can take over for the rest of your scrapbooking life. Just tell the family that you need this space. They'll surely understand that eating off of tv trays in the living room is a sacrifice worth making all in the name of Project Life.

Next, get your pages into your Project Life album if you haven't done so. If you're working in a weekly format, I suggest that you write each week on a sticky note and stick that in the top left corner of the left hand page protector. For example, write down November 6-12(because my days start on a Sunday) and stick it on the page protector. Start back as early as you need to and go through the entire album with these dated sticky notes. (See my photos above to see all my sticky notes).

Now start filling in the photos that you know will fit into a certain week's worth of photo slots. Some slots will be easy to fill in because you know on your calendar that it was Suzy's birthday, or first day of school, your first day of work, etc. Those are the easy slots to fill in. For those slots that are blank, you can fill them in with random photos that you know were taken around that time frame. If you know you don't have photos to fill in the slots, think about photos that you can take to fill in....like a photo of your house, your purse contents, your messy closet, your favorite collection, etc. You don't have to have it perfect and no one is going to know that you improvised a little...or a lot.

Use your sticky notes, friends. Aside from the dated week stickies, add a sticky note on each slot where you know a photo should fit. Make little notes with dates, a few lines that will jog your memory when it comes time to journal, etc. Put a sticky note on a slot as a reminder to print a certain photo, etc. Your pages might be filled with sticky notes like mine above. That's good, you're making progress.

If there are major gaps, you might want to consider just adding in the photos that you have in chronological order and condense your pages into smaller time frames. So for example, instead of having a 2 page spread that represents one week, you might turn those two pages into a monthly spread for all of October. It's okay to do that, remember there is no right or wrong. you might like this idea so much that you may decided to make this your Project Life format. You simply highlight your favorite photos from a month and end up with handful of pages on one 2 page spread. Or maybe 4 pages per month. Make it easy for you. Don't freak out by trying to fill in those gaps. If it doesn't work, move on. Also, remember that those gaps can be filled with items other than photos. Add in school work from the kids, movie ticket stubs, napkins from restaurants, packaging tags, text messages, emails, etc. Ask your friends and family for photos too.

Once you have enough photos in place to complete a spread, start journaling. Use the simple journal cards or get scrappy, but start the journaling process. Your memory will fail, trust me. You think you might remember an event but the details start to slip. Start with some of those earlier pages so that you get them completed before all the memories are gone. But don't forget to do some current weeks too so that you capture the freshest stories.

Adding In Additional Pages

I'm just going to cover this briefly as I want to do an entire post on adding in additional pages. My same organizational concept applies for additional photos and collected items that you want to add to your PL album. I'll just show you a few photos so you can get the idea of what I do.

Here I have some extra photos of when Josey got her first driver's permit. I have more photos than what will fit in that week's slot + I want to create a traditional scrapbook layout. I'll come back to this page and work on it when I get time. But for now, the photos are slipped into a page protector with sticky notes.
Here I'm going to use one of the new Project Life divided page protectors. I've slipped in my photos + I added in some of the paper that coordinates with the completed weekly spread. I also stuck in a few embellishments that I want to use. Notice that little sticky note with the sketch? So Becky Higgins, don't ya think?
Here's some 4 x 4 photos from a day we took a country ride in our new Gator buggy. I'll create (2) 6 x 12 layouts using these divided page protectors. I've got my sticky note at the top that lists a few details I want to remember.
And here I have two different size pages that I want to add in that are totally non-related. I'm using a 6 x 12 page protector for the girls' 5 x 7 school photos + I have an 8.5 x 11 page protector for an event brochure and a few photos from that event. Notice that I stuck in a few embellishments that coordinate with the completed weekly spread. I want to make sure that I don't deplete my stash of those particular items.

And that's it. That's how I'm working to get caught up. Currently with my scrappy style of completing my weekly spreads, I spend about 2 hours per layout. However, I've been adding in a lot more of the simple journaling cards from my kits to speed things up a bit. I simply pick a week that needs completed and then I select a few papers and embellishments and get to work. I keep repeating, *work quickly here but enjoy the process*. I realllllly want to accomplish my goal of having my 2001 album completed before 2012 rolls around. That is with the exception of my additional add in pages that I want to scrapbook. I know I won't get those done but they'll be great pages to work on a crop, weekend scrapbooking marathon, etc.

Are You With Me?

So, you think you can catch up? Or at least give it a shot? Or at least get started? You can do it. Just start. And then keep working. Good luck!!

Note:

I have added a *Project Life Page* to the top left of my blog. I'm going to add in links to important topics so that they can be referenced easily. So be sure to look there for big posts, etc. My weekly layouts with photos will not be included there though. For those, you can go to the *Labels* section on the left side of my blog and click on *Project Life 2011*. There, all of my posts about PL will show up in order on my blog. I hope this will be helpful.

December Notebooks

Popping in today with a December notebook. Aside from using my regular calendar to document my December Daily happenings, I thought maybe a notebook might be nice too. My family really loves to look back on the December albums I have sitting out in a basket so I want to make this one just as special.
I'll be using this December notebook to keep track of photos I've taken, events I want to capture during the holiday season, funny little things that the girls say, etc. I'm sure I'll keep it handy with me everywhere I go. I've got a few of the kits in the shop today....with every December notebook order, I'm including a fun sampling of a few of my NOEL Notions items. :)
I used papers from the Crate Paper Peppermint collection that coordinates with the Holiday Journal I featured in my Etsy shop earlier. I also my stamp set from Papertrey called Take Note along with 2 lined, white notebooks, a large white Vintage Button and red and white baker's twine. The base of the notebook is Kraft cardstock that has been splattered with Studio Calico white mist. On the cardstock circles, I typed *December* using my vintage typewriter. List of stamped words is from Ali Edwards' Technique Tuesday stamp set. I hand notched the 2 patterned paper flags and corner rounded the stamped sentiment using my Corner Chomper.
Here are directions for how to assemble the kit if you purchased one from my Etsy shop....or perhaps you want to create one from your own stash of holiday themed goodies.

Notebook Assembly Instructions:

1. Trim 1/2 sheet of Kraft cardstock slightly longer than the notebook. (maybe 8-1/16").

2. Place 2 notebooks together and lay on cardstock. Use your fingernail or pencil to mark the score lines for the notebook spine. Note: I don't provide measurements for this because I like to hand mark the lines. Score and fold the lines, trimming off any excess you don't want.

3. Use Scor-Tape to adhere notebooks to the inside of the Kraft cover.

4. Use Scor-Tape or strong adhesive to adhere corner rounded, stamped piece and candy cane strip to notebook front.

5. Using scissors, cut notches in the 2 green strips of patterned paper. Trim to desired length and adhere to notebook front as shown in photo.

6. Trim notes and scalloped pieces to match the width of the notebook front. Stitch notes piece with sewing machine if desired. The piece in the kit is not stitched. Note: An alternative would be to paper pierce two lines if you're not into stitching.

7. Adhere stamped December circle to notebook front. Adhere notes and scalloped piece to notebook front.

8. Tie bow in button with baker's twine, leaving long tails. Adhere to notebook front using Scor-Tape or strong adhesive.

Hope you're getting ready for the holiday. I'm looking forward to a relaxing holiday.....and believe it or not...snow!

Project Life Week of June 12-June 18, 2011

Hi there, just got back from the doctor's office with Josey Posey. She hurt her wrist last night in practice. So much it made her cry which doesn't happen very often with our girls and sports stuff. So we knew it might be bad. A couple of x-rays later and lunch out with mom and dad and she's going to be fine. No fractures, just a deep bruise. Whew! Next up, we're off to watch the Jordo play tonight. Go Lady Cats!!

I'm making notes of your Project Life questions/ideas you'd like to see and I'll be adding those into posts soon. If you're interested in purchasing Project Life outside the US, please go to this link. You'll see an entire section devoted to International questions and where to order. Hope that helps. I have company coming this weekend + my mom wants to make more jelly....but after that I'll be taking photos of my PL area so you can get a good look at how I organize my supplies. I'm also working on a post that shows how I do a PL spread from start to finish. Plus I'll be showing you how I play catch up from getting behind this summer. I was behind 17 weeks! I've now narrowed it down to 11 so I'm making progress. My goal is to be all caught up with my 2011 pages by the time 2012 rolls around. I can do it!

Okay, here's today's spread from some summer pages in June. Lots of softball, basketball and volleyball going on at the same time. Plus summer veggies, green grass and a party to boot. Here's the two page spread. Notice that my color scheme this week is mostly green. I choose 2-3 patterned papers + accents that match the color that is present most in my photos. This week I chose green...green grass, green jalapenos, green cucumbers, etc.
The left page. I love creating the 4 x 6 title insert. I usually pick a phrase that defines the week. This week I used *@ our house* to signify the weekly events. This is the left page.
Here's the right page. If you zoom in you'll notice that I've added even more journaling and accents to some of the photos in the 4 x 6 slots.
For the main title insert, I used a 4 x 6 index divider card as the base then added strips of Studio Calico patterned paper, SC fabrips, chipboard letters, some SC mist and the date stamp from the Project Life kit. The chipboard letters were added to a PL journaling card. Love to add that main timeline to this insert card so that when we flip through the pages, we'll instantly know what week we're looking at. It also comes in handy if want to look up a certain time frame....like the week of Josey's birthday, etc.
Love these two journaling card inserts. The left uses Studio Calico paper that was perfect to coordinate with our house photo. I typed on a PL journaling card then added stickers, stamped hearts, strips of patterned paper and a metal tag from my shop. On the right side, I used an old library book due date page (got a whole stack from Etsy). Love them for journaling.
A PL journaling card with Ali Edwards stamps and a SC butterfly. On the right is something new I've been doing. If you work with the PL kits, there are 8 journaling slots to fill. There are filler cards that you can insert for a decorative touch, or you can add smaller photos or collected items....or you can take my lead and create a little summary insert of the week's happenings. I simply make a bulleted list using my own handwriting or my vintage typewriter. I like to use my Bic Markits here too as a quick way to make a title. Great way to use all those office supplies we're all addicted to.
More journaling cards. On the left, I used more of the SC paper + chipboard letters. On the right I used a Smash Book journaling page with a Studio Calico tag stitched on. Don't worry if you don't have much to say. Each journaling insert doesn't need to read like a page from your diary.
Lots of fun goodies on these two inserts. The #2 that represents my two reds. On the right I used a sticker from Amy Tangerine.
And perfect timing because my company is here for the weekend! See you guys soon. Oh, and the jalapeno jelly recipe that we're using is the one from the Certo box insert this time around. Have a great weekend everyone. I might not get much posted until next week. :)