:: project life notebook ::

In December I shared this post, and the notebook that I would try out for the first few months of 2014.  This is my finding:

I think it would be difficult for me to do this whole project, without it!

Since the first planner went only through April, I've made my second.  The inside looks very similar to my first one -- and I used  Traci Reed's template again --  so I'll just share how I did the cover! I am super happy with it!

It all started with a bunch of random washi tape on white card stock:

You know when you are working on a project using washi tape, and there are parts that aren't used -- like you grab too much off the roll, or you change your mind or whatever?  Well, if I remember, I stick it on card stock.  When I have enough, I seal it with Matte Medium or Mod Podge or something similar (I use this).  For this project,  I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out some butterflies from this paper for my flowers.

To prep my planner, I used Matte Multi-Medium to adhere some old piano music to my covers for a background (I used a heavy chipboard for my covers). Then I went over the music with some gesso, mostly to make it a bit more subtle. I used some orange, red, and yellow tissue paper on paper torn out of a book (adhered with more Matte Medium) for the vase. I drew some lines for the "stems" and then added the butterfly flowers  ALL of that was applied to the background with more matte multi-medium to seal it all.  I went back and outlined it all with a black pen, and then distressed the edges of the book with some brown ink (StazOn) and my Tim Holtz blending tool. This was so much fun to make.  I love it when you make something and it turns out pretty much like the vision in your head!

I am in the middle of LOAD (LayOut A Day) and playing catch up with project life (I am pretty much done through April, but very behind with my sharing!). This time of year is so busy at work, so I'll only be sharing here now and again. Then I hope to be able to share more regularly again this summer!  Eighteen school days left!  :-)

I am using LOAD to work on Bea's first year of life.  Before May I had only one page of her first year!  YIKES! Here are a few sneaky sneaks.  I will share the full layouts soon!

:: hello may ::

Hello drinking more water.
Hello taking care of my body.

Hello craft re-organization.
Hello purging the old.
Hello sorting by color (awesome).

Hello LOAD514.

Hello May flowers (please?!).
Hello celebrating My One True Love.

:: my why ::

Today, I would like to share "my why". The difficult part is, there really is more than one reason for my obsession with memory keeping. There is all of that surface stuff; I love paper, I love playing with paper, scissors, glue, paint, etc.  I love getting crafty! And that is definitely important. It's one of the ways that I get the stress out, calm down, relax. And that is definitely enough of a reason. This post is meant to put into words all that other stuff; the other whys. 

My Why is because I want to remember everything. There are so many things in my life that I have already forgotten about. So. Many. I can't tell you how many times someone from my childhood as told a story, and I don't remember it at all. So, writing stuff down; capturing the everyday with photos and words is important to me. I could just journal or write it down in some way -- but scrapbooking and Project Life lets me get that "crafty" in, too.  Win, win!

My Why is because time & life moves too fast. This year I will turn 44. Yep, that's MID-FORTIES if you are keeping track. ;-)  I feel 22, maybe 23, most of the time. Whoosh, all that time as gone by and my daughter grew up, my parents grew older, I met my One True Love, I had another child. There are so many things that have happened in the last 20+ years, and I want to be able to see it, and sometimes feel it again. Over and over.  And I want my daughters to be able to do the same, see it and feel it.

My Why is because people die. I could've said that softer. I could've said, "life it short" or something like that, but truth be told, I don't feel soft about it, people die.  It seems like our family has had it's share (and then some) of people dying suddenly, and way too young. Keeping memories doesn't stop that or make it go away. However, for me, it helps me slow down, remember, appreciate. It helps me capture people and events in photos and words and keep them safe. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone except me and it doesn't really matter. That doesn't mean that I only do this for me…

My Why is is getting it all down for myself, for my family right now, and anyone coming down the road that might find it interesting.  I think it would be so cool to have something 'like this' created by my mother, grandmother, or great-grandmother.

I'm passionate about memory keeping. I keep exploring all kinds of different ways to make that happen and keep it fresh for me. What is your why? Please share, I'm totally interested!