:: i want to remember ::

I want to remember Brycen's cooing and smiling.

I want to remember "I love you higher than a giant (that's a lot of pounds)."

I want to remember watching E.T. as a family and Bea calling him "Poor Little Guy".

Every. Time.

I want to remember the look C. gets on his face when B. says something funny (which is quite often lately).

I want to remember that B. turns everything into an art project.

I want to remember the UNO addiction.

..:: project life : week 1 ::..

Holy New Beginnings, Batman! Project life is So. Much. Fun.

As mentioned before, my plan is to have my weeks go from Wednesday-Tuesday, and I will share on my blog on Sundays.  Yay! It's Sunday!

left

right

::This week's highlights:: WEATHER! Specifically the Polar Vortex! We missed 2 days of school due to the cold temperatures, which extended our already longer than normal Winter Break (I didn't complain)! The weather got it's own insert this week. I also started One Little Word this week, as well as another 365 attempt (both are reflected in this week's spread). We celebrated my MIL's birthday this week and I won a Silhouette Cameo from Studio Calico (Part of the 12 days of Christmas)!

::Supplies:: I used Design A page protectors for both sides.  For the insert, I used a Design G page protector, but I cut off the 2, 6x4 spots on the far right and stitched it up the side to hold the cards in. I mainly did it this way because I had the Design G on hand! :-) For this first week, I took a look through a few past Studio Calico Project Life (monthly) kits to complete the week (my January kit arrived just as I was finishing -- so I was able to add that lovely "start" badge!). Most of the cards are from December 2013, but there are a few others from past kits. I tried to stick with a red, grey, black & white color scheme. I used my Silhouette Cameo to create a see through element on my insert -- the cut was purchased from the Silhouette Store. I used stamps from several manufacturers including, Elise Blaha Cripe, Studio Calico and Pink Paislee.

::Techniques or Additions:: This week I decided to use a photo as my title card.  I don't know that I will do that all the time, but this time it just seemed to work out so I did.  I used some gelatos and a water brush to paint on a few of the cards. For example, the card was just black and white, and so was the circle stamp.

I also used Pinstripe Mister Huey's and a paint brush for the grey.  I used both the gelatos and Mister Huey's to splatter a bit of paint as well.

On the last card I have a photograph of a puzzle that my mom did.  I also included the actual newspaper behind the card.  It's not removable (I had thought I might do that, but then changed my mind). I used it like I might use patterned paper. The story is about how my mom saves newspapers for us (more on that in a different post) and how I often find the puzzles (specifically Sudoku) finished.  I love my mom and I love finding these reminders of her in my house (I don't see her as often as I wish I did)!

One last fun item I added this week.  I took some video of my daughter dancing to "I Love Rock 'n Roll" this week (she requested the song, of course). I took a screen shot of the movie to use as a photo, and I uploaded the video to You Tube.  Then I created a QR code and included that on the card, which will send you to the You Tube video to watch her dance!  Fun!  ((I will do that again, I think).

See the QR code on the bottom left?

My happy mail even made it in!  Hello Just Add Color!

Thanks for stopping by!  

:: new additions number 1, 2, 3, & 4 ::

In my last post I mentioned the fact that we have a few new additions to our family (that aren't human). :-)  Today I'm sharing 1, 2, 3 & 4.

1 & 2 | Canon 70D & a see through guitar | 

WOW!  I haven't had a chance to play with it much, but what little I have, I am in love. Under the Christmas tree, from Santa, was a very special gift for me -- a camera upgrade. It was a complete surprise! Santa also "surprised" my Soul Mate with a new (vintage) guitar. (It's see through.  He keeps saying he is going to play it naked, but I have yet to see that)!

The story : We promised not to get anything for each other.  My One True Love broke the promise and got me a camera and himself a guitar.  ;-)  Then wrapped them from Santa.  The fun part of the story -- he hid them, so I had no idea -- and when he pulled the guitar out from behind a few other presents, it was wrapped -- without the case -- so it looked like a guitar.  He said, "Wow!  I wonder what this is?" and B. said, "A SHOVEL!!!!"!!!  Love her.

3 & 4 | iPhone 5s | 

We were so over due (like a year) for new phones.  And then one of them was lost (we think in a parking lot), and so it forced the issue. The only thing holding us back, really, was a decision on a carrier (do we switch, do we stay the same).  We switched. It was a looooooong ordeal (that isn't quite over), and I'm hoping the switch is a good one. I could not be happier about my new iPhone 5S, though! Better camera, more memory, same apple love.

Welcome to the family 1, 2, 3 & 4.

:: project life title page 2014 ::

And we are off -- 2014, and a new beginning for Project Life has begun!

I almost didn't make it (and you could say that I didn't).  My goal is publish a Project Life update here each Sunday.  It's still Sunday.  So I made it, right?  However, this isn't exactly complete.  In fact, it looked a lot like this two weeks ago!  I know I want a family photo on the bottom right card. I think I might put our names and ages on the bottom left card, and I may mess with that 2014 card a bit more.

A little stitching with an Amy Tangerine template (US) and there is a card or two from her Cut & Paste PL collection I think.  Most of the supplies are from past Studio Calico Project Life Kits. The "Find Joy In The Journey" card is actually a business card that I got with an Origami Owl jewelry purchase -- but I thought it fit PL perfectly (even the color was great)! One of my most favorite things is putting the "stuff" from our life in our book.

The 2014 card is my favorite, but I'm not sure it's finished yet either.  It's a watercolor card that was in the last SC PL kit (Life-Love-Paper, I think).  I don't really have watercolors (other than my daughter's), so I used gelatos and a water pen.  It's super easy to paint with gelatos (have I mentioned how much I love them?)! All you need is a little chunk (really small amount) and a little water. I didn't have the right color of green/blue so I made it! I grabbed a couple of blue gelatos and a green.  I shaved a bit of each of them, added some water, and mixed.  I just kept adding a little of whatever color I think I needed until I got what I wanted. It was fun.  I will paint with gelatos again. To finish this card off, I might use some small stamps in some of the little squares.  Not sure (The 2014 numbers are from Amy Tangerine's Cut & Paste Collection, I believe).

In this post I showed a bit of what I'm thinking for organization, but I'm still working on a few other things.  I promise to post photos as I get closer to what I really want for organization! I am currently in the middle (but closer to the end) of my first week of PL 2014. My week started on Wednesday, and I will be going Wed-Tues for the rest of the year (unless something doesn't end up working for me), with sharing on Sundays!  So…….that means, I will be back next Sunday to share my first week!  So exciting. I love new!

Hope to share more about a few new additions to our family (no new humans) soon!

:: a SMASHing One Little Word ::

Don't you love opening a new can of coffee? Doesn't it smell just magnificent? That's how I feel about the new year!!! :-) I do love clean slates, fresh starts, new beginnings!

It's here! It's that time again.  I am participating in Ali Edward's One Little Word for my third year. I am excited and hopeful about this new beginning.   I love the beginning of the calendar year, almost as much as I love the beginning of a new school year (with it's freshly sharpened pencils and all)!

For those of you that have participated in OLW in the past, Ali is doing things a bit differently this year. Big Picture Classes is not hosting this class, Ali is hosting it from her website. She has also added an optional Facebook page, which is a new addition that I am welcoming with open arms! Unlike the message boards, I am on FB frequently and can get updates and stay connected to my classmates. Love that (did you know I'm a fairly social person?)!

I am thinking about making a few changes of my own in the way I document my word this year. I am also taking a class from the great Danielle Taylor (AKA Scrapper On The Street). Her class is called SMASHing 2014.  This class isn't pocket pages like PL, but it's a way to document the year -- and you can do whatever you want (so it could be pocket pages if you want!).  :-)  Dani provides prompts and videos for motivation during this year long class, as well as the opportunity to connect and share with others. I think I'm going to take this opportunity to SMASH my OLW this year! I purchased the 365 style SMASH book (it arrived today -- and it's empty, clean, new, just waiting for my word). There are about three, 2-page spreads for each month (basically). Pretty much exactly what I need --  magic. I figure there will be room to use Ali's monthly prompts to make my word visible -- with a little extra space to expand on those thoughts and use Dani's prompts for further connections to my life. I have always admired those that stray from Ali's (wonderful) examples and do things like art journal or something as they get to know their word and it's place in their life. Is it going to work for me?  I have no idea. But I'm just going to leap, fearlessly into this endeavor.



Meet my One Little Word 2014.  fearless.

Happy New Year!

(the necklace is from Origami Owl, and I took the photo with my NEW Canon EOS 70D -- thanks honey!)

:: hello january ::

hello new year.

hello clean slate.

hello one little word.

hello new projects.
hello new goals.

hello 2014.

bring. it. on.