project life :: week 2

week 2 spread with insert

Holy inserts, Batman!  This is fun stuff!

week 2 spread (without insert)

Week 2 :: left side

week 2 :: right side

This week I was able to put in some "stuff", which was kinda cool!  We got a new TV, so I put the quick start guide in a pocket. We went to a concert so I punched holes in the program and stuck it, along with the tickets, in the book. Our nephew turned five, which meant this week we needed an insert! (Becky Higgins "G", which is a bit smaller, 12x10).

insert front side

I put lots of photos in the pockets on the front with one journal spot that also held the title and some tickets from Chuck E. Cheese's.  Of course I got some flair from A Flair for Buttons in there along with some alphas and other stickers.

insert back side

On the back side of the insert I also left a place for journaling. There was an injury, so it needed documented.  More flair, more alphas, more stickers.  The picture of the three of us was originally printed out (from one of the games) on a piece of paper.  I went ahead and scanned it in, resized it (it was a little too big) and printed it on photo paper before I stuck it in the book.

what happens to tickets when they go through the wash

Concert tickets went in a pocket (after one had also gone through the wash).  I used the tiny attacher to staple them in (love that little thing)!  I love that B. now says, "Hey Mom, are you going to put that in your book?"  I love it even more that she has "a book", too. What an awesome project.

The basics:  Becky Higgins "A" and "G" style page protectors, Seafoam Digital kit (printed out), the "Yes" flair is ormolu, but the rest is A Flair for Buttons.  The rest of the stuff is from my stash -- just ask in the comments if you want to know about a product and I'll look it up!

Peace, love and understanding to ya!
:-) o.g.

Confused about Project Life?  Check this out from Becky Higgins.  Check out all my PL posts here.

project life 2013 :: week 1

Week One Spread

Holy smokes, Batman! This project life thing is addictive!

Week One :: Left Side

Week One :: Right  (I will probably write a bit on the photo with the hole in the glass, but I haven't decided exactly what to write yet!  It's quite the story.

Here's the lo-down: I'm not yet satisfied with my "product", but the "project" is awesome. What does that mean? It means...

I love the idea of Project Life, or at least my idea of Project Life. I am an everyday scrapbooker. When I am motivated to document something with photos and words, it is almost always something that happens in everyday life, and almost never an "event" (such as a birthday or holiday or reunion, etc.). Project Life, as I see it, is exactly that...documenting the everyday. I especially realized that this might be for me when I did my December Daily 2012. I am loving the memory keeping part of this project.

My product isn't there yet. I think I'm not in the groove, or maybe I just haven't found my style for PL. That is OK. The project is worth doing, and I know that I will figure out the product part as I go.  In fact, I have almost completed week three, and each week the product has gotten better, or at least closer to something I can be happy with. I'm going to try really hard not to go back and fix the stuff that I don't like.  :-)  Also, I am a bit worried that I won't make traditional layouts anymore, mostly due to time constraints, and I'm not sure that this project meets my needs in the creativity department. That is totally what is adding to my dissatisfaction when it comes to the product.  I can't put my finger on what I don't like exactly other than it just looks amateurish, which is probably understandable, since I AM! :-)

A bit about how I am tackling this project: I decided to have my weeks go from Sunday to Saturday. I have no reason for this, I just had to pick a starting day and I didn't like starting on a Tuesday (Jan. 1st) so I chose Sunday. I may need to switch that at some point (maybe not until next year) so that my weekends are together.  Not sure. Did you notice that I'm already talking about next year? That is how much I love this project and it's only been three weeks. It's difficult for me to imagine not doing it...indefinitely. Anyway, so Week 1 started on Sunday December 30.  I am also attempting another 365 (photo a day) project, and sharing on flickr.  However, I am not tackling Project Life in that way.  I don't necessarily include every 365 photo in my book.  And I'm OK with that. I imagine that many of them will be included, which is cool, but not necessary.  Also I am using both my Canon and my iPhone (can't wait to upgrade the iPhone though). I do plan to incorporate quotes each week (sneak: so far they are all related to my One Little Word, but I don't know that it will stay that way). Finally, I'm looking at this as more of a "week in review" and not being super strict about having a photo or story for each day.  So far I think I actually do have a photo/story for each day, but I'm not worried about too much, it's mostly about the stories!

I am using the Becky Higgins Project Life Seafoam Core kit designed by Elise Blaha Cripe.  It wasn't available when I started, and I'm impatient, so I decided to purchase the digital kit and print from that for those first couple of weeks.  I am so glad I did that. I liked being able to start right away and not feel like I was behind from the get go. Plus, I think I may use, modify, and print cards from the digital kit throughout the year.  I like being able to change the cards a little bit before printing. Here is one example of that:

On the original the stripes were all the mustard color. I wanted orange (of course), so I changed it in PhotoShopt to orange using the eyedropper tool to pick the color, and then the paint bucket to color each stripe.  Then I decided that I wanted one stripe aqua, so I repeated the same process with aqua for one of the stripes.  LOVE the result.

I think this will help keep the kit fresh for me.  The kit is awesome. And I love it even more now that I have it in person!  I'm not sure that I will be able to use just the kit all year, though, so I will likely incorporate other papers and things throughout the year. I will probably not link every single product that I use because I want to get the blog updated and that part holds me back (just sayin')! So, if you want to know something specific, just ask in the comments and I will do my best. 

I also purchased some (digital) Project Life Templates and I'm using them to help myself organize each week.  I hope to be able to share that process at some point, but I'm just figuring it out myself, so it will need to wait!

I ordered a bunch of flair from my favorite place: A Flair for Buttons.  Shelley wrote me a nice little note, so I kept it!

This is the note hidden behind one of her cards and little baggies that flair arrived in!

This week's supplies: Seafoam digital kit (printed out). My badges are from A Flair for Buttons, and I've thrown in a bunch of stickers/labels which are mostly from Elle's Studio.  My alphas this week are mostly Amy Tangerine, and the  "January" calendar card is from Paislee Press (I will probably use one of these in the first spread of each month).  The "hello" stamp is from Target.  I stamped it directly on the calendar card, and then again on something else.  I used my 1 inch circle to cut it out of the second piece of cardstock and then use a foam square to make it pop off the page a bit. When I write on photos I use American Crafts Slick Writers. This week I also used these awesome Hero Arts/Studio Calico stamps and all of the ink is StazOn.  Then, of course, my other addiction besides flair, washi tape. The washi I used this week was Freckled Fawn and Recollections (from Michael's).

Week two is also completed, and week three just needs a few finishing touches.  Will share those soon!

Final  note: I totally thought our lives might be too boring for Project Life.  But during this week we had our window shot at (seriously, it was just a pellet gun, but this is another indicator that we need to move), we had visitors, I got tons of happy mail, we celebrated a birthday and visited old friends.  Whew!  Guess we aren't as boring as I thought!

Peace, love and understanding to ya!
:-) o.g.

Confused about Project Life?  Check this out from Becky Higgins.

~ december daily one of two ~

Saying goodbye to 2012 is AWESOME!  I am ready to say hello to a new year and new projects.

I loved December Daily so much, that I'm going to attempt Project Life.  Wish me luck.  I've decided not to share all my DD pages here because I don't think anyone wants to see all of them!  So, I will post a few here, and all of them can eventually be found here on flickr for those that are interested (days 1-15 are there now, I still have a couple of journaling spaces to finish and then I will share the rest on flickr)!

I was thinking it might be easier to share my book and process in a video.  I have things that I want to share, but I just think it would be easier in a video!  I've been going back and forth for a week or two about if it's worth it to create a video that maybe no one will watch.  :-)

Moving on...

I am excited for OLW again!  I'll share more about my word, why I chose it, and my first layout in the next couple weeks.  I'm excited that my oldest daughter will also be participating this year!  It is going to be so much fun to do this with her!


We have been super busy around here -- PLAYING (mostly building things).  It has been wonderful to be able to experience Christmas with my three year old.  It was truly magical for her, and for that I am thankful.

I wish you all a wonderful 2013!

Coming soon ::  December Daily post #2 and Project Life post #1!  (I'm not sure if I will share every week, but I would love to share my process as I begin this project for the first time).