Project Life Week 18, 2012

I'm returning today with Week 18 my Project Life.  I needed to do some catching up quickly so I'll share my tips for getting my pages completed in way less than my usual 2 hours.  I'll recap my best time savers at the end of the post.

Here's my 2 page spread.  When you look at the spread, at first glance you can tell that I definitely kept  layout scrappy (embellished and fancied up).  This can present a real dilemma though if you get behind and just want to catch up quickly.  Last year I opted to catch up one week by simply sticking in photos and writing on my journaling cards.  That was perfectly fine but that particular week definitely looks different from all my other weeks.   I like the scrappy look and really want to do that on each layout.

So what I did to speed up this week's spread was to add detailed embellishments to only a few of the inserts.  On the rest of the inserts I filled up the pockets with full size photos, no journaling cards and a few simple labels or stickers that I typed on.  

So overall my layout looks evenly embellished...but by using fewer embellished inserts I saved a ton of time.  You can see that every 3 x 4 slot was filled with a 3 x 4 photo....no detailed journaling cards.  Also, someone asked in a previous post.....I print my photos at home and the white border is created by selecting that option in my printer settings.

Here's some of my 4 x 6 inserts.  This was a fun week because I began carrying Washi tape in my shop. It's become a favorite go-to supply item for my cards and scrapbooking.  So easy to grab a roll, rip off a piece and adhere it on the inserts.  Plus I love that it adds no real dimension to the inserts.

Here's on the inserts that I embellished with a fun butterfly.  It's very dimensional with the covered button so it's not very often that I'll add this much dimension to my pages.  I really wanted to showcase this pretty photo collage so the embellishments really draw the eye to this insert.

Very simply done, I added Washi tape, cardstock stickers and typed labels right over a photo.

More of the same here.  Looks scrappy but took hardly any time at all.

More Washi tape, a typed Grid Label from my shop, a snippet of a cardstock border sticker and Studio Calico wood veneer hearts.

Another insert that I got a little more detailed with.  Charlie tore into some of Jordan's flowers that she wanted to plan.  I thought the little girl standing amongst the flowers (paper by Crate Paper) was a cute addition.  I added more Washi layers, a typed label and a decorative brad on top.

On the left page of my layout I chose to use the (4) 3 x 4 slots entire for photos from my flower beds.  I could have opted for an insert page but this saved lots of space and time.  I didn't need much journaling but thought the Kraft sticker letters spelling our "flowers" kind of tied all the photos together.

Here's a detail shot of that embellished butterfly.  I'll be doing a mini tutorial on how to create your own layered embellishment soon.  You can use on your pages, cards....or if you purchased my Summer Cottage mini scrapbook kit you can make one for the cover.  Stay tuned.  :)

A recap of what worked this week.  Sticker labels.....some of my faves are from October Afternoon and Crate Paper.  Here I took one sticker, cut it in half and used it on two different 3 x 4 inserts.  Be careful if running through a vintage typewriter, the letters will smear.

Washi tape.  Again, love it for adding colors and fast layering. I've been having fun with adding 2-3 washi tape layers and then adding a chipboard title over that.  Stitch over the title.  Fun stuff!

And again, try embellishing only a few inserts with your favorite supply stash....then leaving the rest of the inserts with only typed labels, etc.  Still scrappy but way less time.

Labels, labels, labels.  These are simple office labels that I ran through my typewriter than added a date stamp.  I now have two styles in my shop of the larger size....Grid Labels and Notebook Paper Labels.

And that's it for Week 18.  I'm getting there, slow but sure.  Would love to hear some of your best time saving tips too. :) 

Shop news:

I'll have re-stocks and brand new paper sacks up in the shop this week.  I'm waiting on some new Washi tapes too so I'll hold off and see if those arrive tomorrow or Friday.  I have a brand new item too, perfect for packaging up your favorite goodies.  I can't wait to see if any of you remember this old fashioned item.  I'll keep you updated via Twitter and Facebook and back here on the blog on when I'll be adding new items.