Scrap Your Story Challenge :: you are my favorite color

It all started with an idea and some white card stock. 

And it's probably one of my favorite LOs ever.  I love it when my vision actually turns out exactly like (or even better than ) I expected!

This week at Scrap Your Story, we are all about STITCHING.  This was not difficult for me, since I am obsessed with machine stitching!  This week I machine stitched, but I also hand stitched (something I don't do quite as often).

First I added some chalk...next some machine stitching. Let me tell ya, it was SO MUCH FUN to add the stitching.  I matted my photo with some Amy Tangerine vellum (purchased at Michael's -- Recollections "Signature" pack), and some regular vellum.  I used more of the Amy Tangerine vellum for my title, then traced around it with a pink Sharpie.  I actually did the trick again where I wrote "favorite color" with my finger on my iPad, and then used my Silhouette Cameo to cut it out. "You Are My" is April's Studio AE stamp set from Ali Edwards.

I actually did a practice page with this one before starting. I didn't want that page to go to waste, so I used it for several items on this LO. First I used Amy Tangerine's Yes, Please template and hand stitched a flower (totally fun, right)? I cut it out and popped it off the page with pop dots. I also used some of the practice page to write my journaling on (cut it and hid it behind the pic -- just pull the yellow washi tab).  There is a stamp set with the same Amy Tangerine collection, and I used the flower stamp on that practice page, cut it out and added a little colored pencil to it before gluing it on. Added some washi tape and sequins and I was finished. I cannot tell you how much fun this was to pull together!

Here are a few closeups!

"You Are My" is a new Ali Edwards stamp!

I also linking this up with Paper Issues.  Their current issue is all about using instagram photos! You have until April 20th to link up!

I'm headed to my friend's wedding this weekend!  It's local....it's outside....and it's been raining hard for what seems like weeks and weeks.  Cross your fingers!

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.

~ mini gift ~

A few weeks ago I took engagement photos for a friend and her fiancé.  It was stressful, but also quite fun!  I got a few good ones out of the hour and a half, and she was happy, which is all that really counts!

As a gift, I decided to stick a few of her favorites into a minibook.  I was going to use her wedding colors, but decided I would stick with fall colors since they were such a part of the photos.  One of my (and her) favorite photos is this one :

I bought two ampersand stamps from Elise Blaha Cripe (along with a few other stamps from her store) and used circles and ampersands throughout the book.  This was a bit of a challenge because there was no journaling.  I don't know them as a couple all that well (I mostly just know Amber), so I didn't feel like I know enough about the two of them to journal, and Amber isn't a scrapbooker, so I didn't want to just leave some journaling spots (not sure that would be a "gift", if that makes sense). So I found some "love" quotes and printed those out for the other side of the page.

Hambly screen print overlay on the front and back of the book.

Thanks for stopping by!

~ my assistant ~

Washi love.
Amy Tangerine love.
B. love.
(not necessarily in that order)

Everything is linked below except a couple of the washi tapes (couldn't find them online), Elise Blaha Cripe's THIS stamp (which I love, but couldn't get the InLinkz grabber to grab it), and some little patterned paper scraps that I used between the washi tapes!

~ pink sand ~

I did this one for the June Color Challenge at Club CK!  As soon as I saw the challenge, I knew what photos I would use. Colors: Green, Pink and White -- perfect for a green turtle sandbox with pink sand!

B's favorite color has been pink since she could talk!  So when my mom saw the pink sand, she had to get it.  Gotta love Grandmas!

I used mostly the April Scrapbook Circle Kit :: Daydreamer.  Full list of supplies at the end of the post and I'll point out my "new stuff" (per my non-manifesto) as I go!

 {New stuff number 1: stitching in a circle}

 {New stuff number 2 & 3: using a mask, using spray mist}

I had so much fun making the little piece of the layout below!!  First I used my cricut to cut the letter B out (Plantin Schoolbook cartridge).  I used pink paint and painted the cut out B, but the leftover square was the fun part!  I used paint and alphastamps (linked below) and stamped uppercase and lowercase B's all over the square.  Then, I decided to mist that piece as well (it was just a bit too....boring without it).  FUN and unplanned, which is more fun.
{New stuff number 4: using paint on a layout}

Interesting fact: for the journaling block I actually used the piece of cardboard that the Amy Tan fabric stickers came on.  I loved the orange grid so I went with it! Speaking of Amy Tangerine, did you see her new release?  Delicious!

You may notice that I used quite a few buttons from my stash.  Well, this is what happens when you are focused on working, and not paying attention to your two-year-old play....

Those circles in the middle are the tops of the containers that the buttons were in, sorted by color.  Don't you bet she had fun?

Hope everyone has a fun, safe, 4th of July celebration!

..::non-manifesto progress::..

stamped on washi :: zig zag stitch in the middle of straight stitch :: circle stitch :: paint on a layout :: spray mist :: masking ::

Supplies: (also various buttons from my stash)