Project Life 2013...Week 29

My Project Life Week 29 is in the books.  For this week I kept it very simple so that I could catch up on a few weeks before we went on vacation.  We were knee deep in Summer activities which included trips to the lake, picking the first of the garden veggies, grilling, going to the movies, celebrating my parents' 49th wedding anniversary and getting school physicals. 

I used handmade journaling cards from my stash for any filler cards which made the spread come together quickly.  

 I used lots of my Grid Paper Labels for easy typed journaling.  Some weeks it's all about getting the photos and stories captured in a quick manner.

 I used a manila tag from my shop for the title insert along with some chipboard letters.  The starburst sticker with typed journaling is also from my shop.

 Here I used a Green Postcard Tag to create a vellum pocket.  The tag size fits perfectly into a 4 x 6 slot.  I inserted lots of price tags and clothing labels from a shopping trip for the girls.  A typed Grid Paper Label was stuck on the vellum for some easy journaling.

 New garden pickings here along with shots for the girls.

 Here I used a Large Manila Tag trimmed down for an insert with a mini Instagram photo.  I used the Beautiful Mess app for the journaling on the photo.

 A shot of our first radishes on a handmde journaling card + the weather map.

Here I took a handmade journaling card that I had in my stash and stitched on a strip of vellum to create a fun pocket.  I slipped our movie tickets inside. The Grid Paper Labels are perfect for adding journaling to the little vellum strip.  On the right I snapped a photo of the movie poster while at the theatre.  

That's it for today.  My next few weeks of Project Life will feature products from the September Gossamer Blue kits.  I'm working on photos for my Project Life planner so look for that post this week sometime.  Plus I have lots of cards to share this month that I've been creating for gifts.  See ya soon!

Stocking my stash...

It's getting to be that time of year when I start making my Christmas gift lists.  Our moms always look forward to their pretty sack of cards so this week I'm stocking up my stash of cards.  It's so cute to see both my mom and Eric's mom and his grandma tear open the sacks first thing and go through each and every card.  It's what makes stamping and card making so much fun.

So since I had all my supplies out from assembling the Happy Day Card Kits, I just kept on creating. Many of you have commented on the happy colors of this kit and mother agrees.  She saw this stack sitting on my counter today waiting to be photographed and said...."ohhhh, what cute cards, I love the colors."  Little does she know that many of these will make it into her gift this Christmas.  

So here's stash #1.  In addition to the kit items, I used lots of items that are still available in the shop.  

A nice stack of Dainty Doilies came in very handy to add a little texture to my cards.  The little strips of Studio Calico fabric strips come in the Happy Day Card Kit.  

 Grid Paper Labels with stamped sentiments also made my card making go really quickly.  The grid lines help to line up stamps nice and straight too. A little machine stitching adds fun detail without adding any bulk to my cards.

 This Aqua Stripe Washi Tape is fantastic for quick and easy cards.  Just rip & stick.  I love that you can see through the stripes on this one.

 Here's stash #2 of my cards that I'll be using for gifts.  A funny little thing....the moms seem to love the simple cards more than any fancy, heavily layered cards.  I think they like the simplicity and clean lines.

Here I used a wood veneer butterfly from Studio Calico.  I tied twine from this colorful bundle around the butterfly then added a cut strip of the washi tape.  All of the patterned papers I used for my cards today are from the 6 x 6 paper pad that comes with the Happy Day Card Kit.  It's nice to challenge yourself to use just one little pad of paper.  Limiting your choices when you want to mass produce cards is a great tip.  

 Here I made some notched little pennants from a scrap of patterned paper and the fabric strip.  Buttons from the Pastel Button Assortment are just the right finishing touch. I like to mix one white button with one colored button.

 Here I stamped my Hero Arts sentiment on a Starburst Grid Paper Label.  I absolutely can't get enough of my printed labels.  They are so easy to stamp or run through my vintage typewriter.  I know I'll be using them lots in my Daily December. I used more of the aqua stripe washi along with some October Afternoon washi from the 9 to 5 collection.  The cute girl typing is also from an OA 9 to 5 stamp set.

 The Large White Parcel Tags made their way onto many of my cards this time.  They're just the perfect size to fill up some space on a card.  I like to layer them under a horizontal strip of patterned paper & a strip of Washi tape.  Here I typed my sentiment and then added a wood veneer typewriter from Studio Calico.  It was a fun discovery to find that a strip of Washi tape fits right in the typewriter to act as paper.

 So, I've got a nice little stash built up to add to the holiday card pile.  So happy about that.  If you purchase(d) a kit and want to keep on stamping past the supplies that I included for the 4 cards, keep that paper pad out and just keep going.  I've got additional aqua envelopes and cream envelopes in the shop that coordinate with the colors in the kit.  The Mixed Greetings Card Kit is still available too, perfect for adding more cards to the gift pile.  Happy card making everyone!

Project Life 2012, Week 29...

I'm back today to share Week 29 of my Project Life.  You can visit Becky's blog today too where she'll be sharing links to some of the Project Life Creative Teams' projects.  This week was so full of fun, Summer photos and....the color red! I had a ton of photos to use so I just made room for them by squeezing them into the 4 x 6 slots as well as the 3 x 4 slots.  

When using lots of photos like I do in my weekly spreads, it's a must that I sketch out my layout in advance.  I sit down with my calendar, my Project Life notebook to sketch the layout and my iPhone or regular camera with my photos.  I just plan the layout til everything fits.  Here's the left side of my week.  

Here's the right side of my spread.  Although my week is busy with photos I was still able to use my crafty supplies to embellish the inserts.  

I know this week will be a fun one to look back on.  There are some favorite photos tucked in here, like this one of Jordan and her three best friends.  No makeup, hair all a mess and just having fun in the buggy.  Love these sweet and silly girls.  

Just some fun around the house in these photos. The girls were seeing how long their legs were and Jordan decides to bake something right in the middle of my salsa canning.  Perfect timing, Jordo.  

A favorite insert.  I like to pick on insert if there's room and get really scrappy with it.  This was the one.  I used a folded Project Life journaling card for the base then added Washi tape, October Afternoon stickers and some stitching.  I added these photos particularly so that I could look back to them next year when it comes time to make salsa.  I can see how I went about making my new recipe.  

Love this simple photo.  Remember.....the photos are what it's all about.  My shiny new jars of salsa don't need any furthering embellishing other than a little starburst sticker with journaling.  

I used some new foodie stamps from Studio Calico for these two photos below.  My favorite drink and a fun new mason jar cozy I purchased from a local shop.  Love to support the local folks when possible.  

A new/old quilt noted with a typed October Afternoon label.  

Another photo of my salsa jars + my Week in Review card using a Project Life journaling card.  

These are some photos I added to journaling cards I made a while back.  So nice to just pluck a few from the basket.

Here I used a Project Life journaling card on the left and a card I made on the right.  Love using my stamps on my inserts lately. No bulk to add to my expanding album. 

And my last two inserts.  Simple photos with just a little stamping and typed journaling.  

And that's it for this week.  How are you coming along with your Project Life?  I've kept up with my goal to finish 2 weeks each week until November.  I really want to be caught up so that I can focus on my December Daily. It's taking a lot of effort in the planning the pages, emailing photos, and printing photos before I even get it all to my scrap table.  But it's going to be so worth it.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Project Life Week 26, 2012 + October Afternoon

Hello everyone. Today I have some fun things to share with you. First up is my Week 26 of Project Life. I recently got a fun stash of the October Afternoon 9 to 5 collection which I absolutely love. If you're a fan of October Afternoon's whimsical style + you love all things office supply, then this collection is for you. Orange and aqua are some favorite color pairings for me right now so I knew I wanted to have some Project Life journaling cards using the fun OA products. These came together really quickly, just little bits and pieces here and there with a few added tags from my shop, some wood veneer pieces and some stamps.
I've decided that I like to save most of the stamping on my journaling cards for when I actually do that week's layout. So most of my cards have lots of nice white space.
I paired the OA goodies up with some Washi tape, Elle's Studio goodies and lots of machine stitching.
My Week 26 of Project Life ended up having lots of October Afternoon products on the inserts, including bits and pieces from 9 to 5 + Woodland Park.
My week started out with jury duty. I was chosen among 150 other potential jurors for a huge case in our town. It was a case that involved a small baby and I was not particularly looking forward to serving on this trial. I spent 2 full days sitting in a chair, staring at a blank wall before I was finally released. I was very relieved to go about the rest of my week, without having to spend 2 weeks in a courtroom chair.
The rest of my week was all about our usual family happenings. We were winding up the Summer league volleyball and basketball, I was collecting the best pickings from our garden, we went new vehicle shopping and my dad and I took my mom out for her birthday and a little field trip to a historic quilt barn.
Once in a while I like to mark my weeks in my Project Life album so that I can reference where I'm at in the year. This was a great time to use the new, colorful stickers from OA Woodland Park. I added them right onto a Project Life journaling card that I turned sideways. I added this to a 4 x 6 piece of OA patterned paper then stitched & added Washi, chipboard numbers and a sticker border.
One of my favorite 4 x 6 inserts showing my before and after of a salsa making session. I used a Starburst Grid Paper Label to type some journaling and then added a Studio Calico stamp.
Here I used another Starburst Grid Paper Label directly on a photo.
A handmade journaling card + a small sack which hides some journaling about the trial going on.
More handmade journaling cards with tags, stickers, and Washi tape added. I used a portion of a Grid Paper Label to add more typed journaling.
Here I took an Instagram photo that I altered with the Diptic app and cut it in half, using one half on each of 2 separate journaling cards. I typed right onto the journaling cards with my vintage typewriter. I love to add tags like the Garment Tags behind strips of patterned paper. I need to go back in and write down Jordan's shoe size and how much her shoes cost for volleyball.
More of the colorful October Afternoon sticker letters on an Elle's Studio journaling card. On the right I added stamp to a Small White Tag.
And another week is in the books. Even though I'm behind I'm not worrying about that at all. Each and every chance I get to work on a week of Project Life is just another week of memories captured for my family. Still loving the process, still chugging along.

Some fun news:

Today I am very excited to announce that I will be joining the October Afternoon Design Team along with Mou Saha and all the other talented OA ladies. I have long loved October Afternoon since their very first products. When looking through my blog projects tagged with OA products, I have steadily used their goodies on dozens and dozens of projects. Their whimsical style and wide array of products is just so enjoyable to create with. I'll be debuting my first projects on the October Afternoon website later this month. I hope you enjoy!

Let's wrap up with an awesome prize package:

The fun continues today as I have an awesome give away for Becky Higgins' Project Real Life class over at Big Picture Classes. This is going to be a very fun class and I can't wait to take part in it myself. You can read all about it below.

To enter for the prize drawing:

Please a comment on this post, telling me something you'd like to implement in your life. Do you want to have more family time, more crafty time? Do you want to get more organized? Do you want to be more a part of your community. Let me know how you would like to cultivate a good life. :) I will select a prize winner on Friday, 8am Central Time. Winner will be announced soon after.

Project Real Life taught by Becky Higgins
12-week workshop for $99
See more at the Big Picture Classes site..
Class starts 10/4/2012

Class Description:
Come join Becky Higgins for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend some time with her during the last quarter of 2012. As Becky goes about preparing for the holidays, organizing around her home and documenting her family's story along the way, she'll be sharing ideas to inspire you, tips to motivate you, and real-life suggestions on how to cultivate the life you want.
Whether you're a long-time Project Lifer or you're just now hearing about Project Life, you will love learning about the guilt-free philosophy behind this system of memory-keeping. While Becky will give you plenty to think about and do during the 12 weeks of this workshop, she firmly believes that there isn't a person that exists who "does it all" — and it should be the last thing that we expect from ourselves.

Becky's class includes:
● An exclusively-designed set of Project Life cards (3" x 4" and 4" x 6") that will not be available anywhere else!
● Access to a pre-classroom with a presentation from Becky upon registration for class
● Colorful instructional handouts with step-by-step instructions for each lesson/project
● Voice messages, slideshows and videos throughout class
● Three live chats with Becky
● Welcome notes from Becky in the classroom
● Reminder emails when the classroom is updated with new materials
● Message board to share your thoughts with your classmates
● Private posting gallery to share your work and view the work of your classmates
● Supply list with live links to product resources

More school projects.....

We're back in full swing with school now which reminded me I needed to share a few more projects I made using my 2 Squared School Kit. I used up all of my original kit making the projects I've shown here on the blog but I pulled a few extra papers from my stash to create a few more school themed projects.
I had all my goodies ready to go but realized I forgot a few people.
For the girls' English teacher, I created another bookmark using a library card, a medium glassine sack and papers from the kit.
The sticker letters are from October Afternoon and stamps are from Studio Calico. LOVE creating bookmarks from the library cards.
Next up I made 4 notebooks from a stash of notepads that I had. These will be for my four mom friends. A few of them are so nervous about having high schoolers now, I thought a fun notebook would be a nice gesture.
I used My Mind's Eye Kraft colored Everyday Fun papers from the 6 x6 Paper Pad for the notebook covers. (Edited: the papers were actually from the 12 x 12 sheets from this line). This particular style line is very thick so the papers make excellent notepad covers. For the patterned papers, I chose some of the 4 x 4 squares from the kit and trimmed them down and rounded the corners. The stamped starburst label is from the kit and they're also sold separately in my shop. Washi tape from my stash was adhered under the popped up circle. Small parcel tags from the 2 Squared School Kit were tucked under the patterned paper.
The inside notepad is just a simple lined pad from an office supply store.
And as a little extra for some other gifts I already had made, I typed on some additional starburst grid labels and stuck them on the packaging. And just like that, I was good to go.
And today Josey afforded me a great opportunity to take all the little gifts to the school. God forbid that she or Jordan would have to actually hand them out to the teachers and staff. But I am definitely needed at the school when Josey does stuff like forget her volleyball uniform. Good ol' Mom, right? It doesn't go without saying though....they get three strikes for forgotten stuff at home. After that they pay me $5 for each trip to the school. Mama needs Washi tape money. ;)

Coming up:

Project Life..

I have 3 weeks of completed layouts to show you. Plus I'll talk a little bit about how I'm going to approach the inserts I still to add.

More card kits..

These have been very well received and I'm having a blast finding just the right papers and embellishments to add into the kits. All with a little handmade flair. One of my favorite kits is coming up.

Other shop items....

It's time for the holidays to be creeping up on us. I have a few fun Halloween finds that I'll be adding into the shop. Plus I've been stocking up lots of orders for a fun shop update with lots of new items for card making and more.

Around the house...

With the new school year comes a renewed desire for me to get more organized around the house. I'll be sharing some menu planning and cooking ahead ideas. I also just had a huge garage sale. I'll tell you all about my new decorating plans for the house.

Okay, I'm off to the girls' first volleyball game of the season. Gotta run! Go Lady Cats!!