Project Life, 2014: Week 9

Happy, happy Sunday!

Today I am going to craft.  I truly am.  My friend is coming for a few hours to play with me so I will actually leave my laptop up here and not be tempted to work on PL and will get my hands inky and dirty instead!

I promise....

But for now we will venture into Project Life Week 9.  The kids were back in Atlanta so my pictures are a mix of a few FL ones but mostly of the kids at home in Atlanta doing regular kinds of activites.
Taylor is not seen much this week.  Guess she was in hiding.  :)

Here is the full two page spread.

I used the Just Jamie March Storyteller kit. with a few templates thrown in from Tracy Larsen and Lori Whitlock.
One thing that is great about digital is how you can adjust the whole template to suit your needs.  For example, this week I had the two photos of David on his daddy's back.  Well, I didn't want to separate them with the 4 3/4 cards that are across the center so what I decided to do was remove two of the smaller cards and make one 4x6 cards.  Perfect!

And of course the sunset week card was done with an Ali Edwards brush/digital stamp.
I love, love, love the photos of David falling asleep on his daddy's back while his daddy was reading the story to him.  That is one tired kid! LOL!!!  And another funny part to me is the position that his night time story gets read to him! LOL.  His daddy is kneeling at the end of the bed and David gets on his back.  Too funny!!!

My son in law is a good daddy who loves his kids and totally participates in the night time routines!

<3 him.

Here is the right side:

The bottom right photos of the boys in their baseball uniforms is a template from Tracy Larsen that I tweaked.  I made the two right photos larger and then cut the individual photo of David out in an oval, did an outline stroke in black of about 5 pixels to set it off a bit and dropped a shadow behind it.  That's the good thing about digital is you can so easily change things and adust size...color...whatever!  Love that part a LOT!!!

I love the wood veneer look of the Today Was Awesome card.......I just dropped a solid paper behind it and then added a paint thingy and the camera to spiff it up a bit.  So easy and fast.

and that's it for today....

Happy Crafting and Happy Creating...however you choose to do it!

Project Life, 2014: Week 8

Well, I just keep cranking these pages out, don't I?  I keep dangling the possibility of dabbling with some real paper and ink but I just keep on putting these digital pages up, don't I?  Sorry...but when you're on a roll...you're on a roll! :) 

So I completed Week 8 last night which covers a week in February.  You will see another sunset shot.  I probably took 1000 sunset pictures at the beach. I am truly obsessed with trying to catch the perfect sunset.  They are all so gorgeous and awe inspiring.  Not my pictures...but the actual sunsets.

I decided to use something different for the week card this week instead of doing the landscape card that I am so fond of.  This made for a bit more work but I am happy with the result.  I used a template from Katie Pertiet and a photo of the kids on the beach.  Just a bit different but it worked.  I used the February Traci Reed kit and templates, too, from Tracy Larsen and the Lily Pad and Lori Whitlock. 
Really, I don't recall all I used.  I probably should keep a list. LOL!  Maybe on Week 9. 
LOL!

Here is the two page spread:

And here is a closer up version of the left:

Now that I look at it I realize it all looks so simple but this took me hours! LOL!

Here is the right:

Happy Children...happy Omie....pretty sunsets...happy Omie....

On to Week 9....and Week 33...and all in between!

Project Life, 2014: Week 7

Well, I thought I'd throw up a card here today instead of a Project Life layout but, alas, I don't have any cards to share!  It's about time my hands start feeling some paper and get messy with some inks and dyes.  Maybe today...

But I've become addicted to getting my Project Life for 2014 done.  After months of procrastinating I decided to jump in and now I am just obsessed with trying to get back on track.  Oh...Thanks, Niki and Donna!  Sheesh.

But, really....I'm loving it...and I sit in my family room with the tv tuned to the US Open...so I keep an eye on the cutie, Grigor Dimitrov, and see what tennis prowess he is demonstrating.

He is cute...don't you think?

My all time favorite, Rafael Nadal, pulled out of this tournament because he has a wrist injury.  So sad... 

Anyway, on to Project Life....and here we have Week 7.  That covers the period of February 9-15, 2014. 

I was into my second or so week at the beach and my daughter and grandkids came down to stay for a few days.  They just love being down there, too...and we have a great time.

Here is the left side:

I love Donna's way of doing her week cards.  She found the creation of the week card sort of annoying so she decided this year to use a landscape photo for her week card and overlay some brush work.  I like hers a lot better than mine but this is what I came up with.  I used an Ali Edwards brush that I found HERE.  I just stamped it in white on the photo and reduced the opacity a bit.  It was a simple way to identify the week but leave the beauty of the photo intact, I think.  And boy oh boy, do I love a winter beach sunset.  They are just different.  And there is a scientific reason,  of course.
If you're interested here is the reason...if not skip on down!

First, a lesson in the colors of the rainbow: Blue light has a short wavelength, so it gets scattered easiest by air molecules, such as nitrogen and oxygen. Longer wavelength lights -- reds and oranges -- are not scattered as much by air molecules.
During sunrise and sunset, light from the sun must pass through much more of our atmosphere before reaching our eyes, so it comes into contact with even more molecules in the air. Much of the blue light gets scattered away, making the reds and oranges more pronounced.
During this time of year, weather patterns allow for dry, clean Canadian air to sweep across country, and more colors of the spectrum make it through to our eyes without getting scattered by particles in the air, producing brilliant sunsets and sunrises that can look red, orange, yellow or even pink.

Interesting, huh? 

Back to the layout...I used an Ali Edwards brush for the bottom right photo as well.  And the top right photo and journaling card were done with Katie Pertiet's Pocket Splits 1.  These templates are so wonderful for photo and journaling!  Love them...although they are a tad time consuming to use!  LOL...if there is a simple way to do it I am going to find the harder more complicated way.  Overkill.  But it's fun, right?

I used the Traci Reed February kit for my papers and embellishments.

And here is the right side:

The top right card has another Ali Edwards stamp...and the card was a template from Lori Whitlock.
And lastly, the "Wonder" stamp was from Katie Pertiet.

It was a fun week.  Life is good.  Project Life plugs along (at a snail's pace....but it's getting done!)

Happy crafting and keep creating!

Project Life: Week 6

Week 6...this Project Life layout for Week 6 covers the period of February 2-8.  Some Project Lifers do their pages from Monday-Sunday of a given week so that they have both weekend days together.  That makes sense to me.

I do things that don't always make sense but I prefer to do my pages Sunday-Saturday.  I'm retired.  Every day is a weekend day to me so I'm good with the calendar Sunday to Saturday thing.  I never did like calendars at work that started on a Monday.  Just another one of those OCD qualities....

LOL!

So here is a Sunday to Saturday week for me which I am calling Week 6.
I was in Florida at the beach and the little kiddies were here in Atlanta.  Thank heavens for iPhone photos, though... I prefer a "real" camera but my daughter who is the mother of the 3 little active ones is lucky to generally have her iPhone with her and can whip it out to snag that photo.  She just doesn't seem to use a "real" camera often any longer.  It works for her...and I get the photos so it works for me.

I used the February Tracy Reed kit with a template by Tracy Larsen .  I didn't have tons of photos for the week (well, I did but most were duplicates....I mean, I must have taken 574 photos of the sunset!) so not many collages here....but that's ok.  This still does show where we were and what we did during the week.  And that's what Project Life is all about.

I love brushes also called digital stamps  (I use Photoshop Elements) and the versatility of them. Easy to change the size...the ink color...the opacity.  Cool beans!

Digital is easier.  It still takes me a while to do it...but it is much easier for me to get things just right and the way I like them.

Here is the left side:

And here is the right:

Project Life, 2014 Week 5B

More Digital Project Life dilemmas....Some weeks I may have more photos to use that what would fit on a standard 2 page spread.  How does one handle additional photos.  My personal Project Life Guru, Donna Gibson, of 365 Day of Donna prints out insert pages and then uses smaller page protectors to insert her printed pages in.  I was hoping to get my pages printed out in a photobook (or 2) this year and wondered how insert pages could be handled.  Donna directed me to another blogger who actually does photo books....has "insert pages" printed directly into her book and then cuts away (with scissors) the part she doesn't want to keep.

Ok, that made about as much sense as mud.  Let me see if I can find the link.

Yep...here it is:
http://familybees.blogspot.com/2013/10/2013-project-life-book-one.html

You can more clearly see how she printed a "half page" and then cut around it to make it look like an insert page.

I love the look but the idea of cutting up my printed book gives me the heebie jeebies.  Plus, being the frugal one, why would I pay for a whole page to cut half away?!  But I love the idea and maybe some other time!

For now I will just make extra pages.

So here is my 5B...where we had additional happenings that week that needed to be mentioned.  Get it?

And mostly that additional happening was I went to the beach for my annual several week stay.  :)

I used items from the Just Jamie August Storyteller kit.  I love it.  So fun...and so easy to work with!  I love that she includes a lot of digital stamps in her kit that just work so well to liven up a layout!

Here is a closeup of the left side and my fabulous friend, Linda...as well as my cutie pie dog, Isabella.
Linda rode down with me to the beach and stayed a few days.  I <3 her.  We have been tennis partners for 14 years!  And still going strong... :)

And here is the right:

And that's it for today, my friends...

Happy Crafting and Keep Creating!

Project Life, 2014: Week 5

I am doing a great job of getting myself all confused with what weeks I've for Project Life, what pictures I've already scrapped, etc.  And since I'm also working on a paper album for Wade's first year...well some of these pictures look (and ARE!) oh-so-familiar! 

This is a real lesson in cognitive ability.  I'm failing....LOL!

Anyway, here is Week 5:

Here is the left side:

I decided to use a freebie kit I found searching around the 'net...this one is by Allison Kimball.  It had some cute papers and these oh so fun hand drawn snowflakes.  Perfect for these snow pages!
Here is the right:

The top left journaling card was created with a Cindy Schneider layered card that took  a LOOONG time to make.  It consists of about 10 layers!  But I'm happy with the way it turned out!

And that's it for week 5!

On to week 5B! LOL...will explain that one in the next post!

Happy Crafting and Keep Creating!

Project Life Week 32

So, yes, I am jumping around doing my Project Life for 2014.  That's tough for me...the chronological scrapper, but since I started mid year...well, past mid year...I'm going to try to keep current but work on the old stuff concurrently. 

Note to self:  Don't do it this way in 2015! 

I wish I could just put photos in the slots but no....I am using templates to put the photos in and adding SCHTUFF so it is a bit more time consuming.  Still...much less than the paper version...at least for me.  I'm missing my paper, though...need to make a few cards today, perhaps.

Or clean house.  Or not.

So here is Week 32:

 One great thing about Digital Project Life pages is that they just look so clean and neat!  Everything is perfectly aligned.  I do like that!  And look, ma...no GLARE!

Here is the left side...a bit closer up.  I used the Just Jamie Storyteller August kit for the papers and embellies.  This is a mega kit that came with digital stamps and all kinds of good stuff.  I really enjoyed working with it.

 That cute little boy with the big blue eyes in the middle of the page is my friend's grandson, Logan.  He's just so cute and such a happy little boy.

I love the photos of my grandkids sleeping.  It is so unusual to see no movement with them.  

In the middle to the right I added a QR code of a very short video of David practicing reading.  I love that he's already sounding out words and learning phonics and sight words...and he isn't even 5 yet!

If you have a QR reader please watch it and let me know it works! ;)

Here is the right side:

I love pages where there are a lot of different activities.  Yay for Dropbox...yay for smartphone cameras...yay for family and friends...yay for selfies and yay for life!

And now...back to February.....LOL!!!

Happy Crafting and Keep Creating!

Project Life 2014: Week 4

Closing in on the end of January, 2014!  Woohoo!

So here is Week 4.  'Nuff said...

 

Here is the left side:

And here is the right:

I still used the Traci Reed January Collection...there is seriously so much in this kit it doesn't seem or feel repetitive...even thought I've already used it 123 times.  I did use a few Tracy Larsen templates...I tweaked the upper right one to make it right for the photos I had.  

Having fun...having fun....loving the process and the result.

Happy Crafting!

Happy Birthday x 2!

I always commiserate and complain about making boy cards. I just find them a challenge. I don't know why but I do. So I got hit with a double whammy recently when I had to make cards for a set of twin boys.  And they aren't little boys who'd like monsters and trucks...oh no...this variety was turning 30!  LOL!

So this is what I came up with to attach to a six pack of imported beers for each of them.  No Transformers, Thomas the Train or Legos for them!  It's beer.

I used some scraps of papers I had, a Simon Says Stamp metal die for the sentiment which I inlaid with a contrasting but complementary print, and some little EK Success punches for the banner.  

It was so fast and easy I duplicated it for Twin #2:

Happy and fun and appropriately boyish enough I think.

Here they are side by side.  Twins.

I would imagine neither paid a lot of attention to the card....they were probably more interested in the enclosed gift card and beer but I was happy with this boyish attempt!

Happy Crafting!

You're So Cool-Take Two!

Oh my....a second post for today!  I don't usually post twice in one day!  If you are here to see Project Life...scroll on down!

I posted a card the other day with the Ice Cream Dream stamp set from Simon Says Stamp.  It's such a cute set...filled with all kinds of frozen novelties.  I love frozen novelties...my favorite?  The Outshine Pineapple Bars.  80 calories of goodness.  Chunks of pineapple.  Yum.  I eat them. All. The. Time.  Like.Two.A.Day....  HAHA!
Here's a card I made which I colored in with Copics....cut out and mounted on some foam tape.  I love the "you're so cool" sentiment...love that hand drawn look.  Anyway, I cut the white mat and the burlap mat with a Spellbinder die.  The burlap is the paper back burlap from DCWV which I picked up on sale (yay!) at Joann.  It cuts so well....burlap side up or burlap side down.  And I thought it gave a fun look to my card.  Something different, you know?

The background paper is BoBunny Lemonade Stand papers...so cute!
Here is another view!

 

And I added some Wink of Stella Glitter to the cone which apparently isn't showing up in my photo!  But maybe that's why the cone colors look sort of streaky...they don't look that way in real life.  At least not to my eye.

:)

Happy Saturday and Happy Creating!

Project Life Week 3

Happy Saturday, everyone!  I hope you are having or going to have just the kind of weekend you want!

Here is my two page spread for week 3 of Project Life 2014.

I used the January kit from Traci Reed...it just seems the simplest to me right now...to use the specific kit for that month...all my January layouts will sort of coordinate.  I may change that up later on.  You never know what might float my boat in the future!

But for now...all papers and elements are from Traci Reed with the exception of collage templates from Tracy Larsen.
Here is the left side:

And here is the right side:

And the best part about the layouts?  I can say DONE!  :) 

So, I've done 5 weeks so far for 2014...since we are in week 33 of this year that means I am only 28 weeks behind.  That's 56 layouts yet to complete....LOL!  OK, I'd better stop thinking of it that way!!!

You're So Cool and Project Life Week 2

I have been sitting with laptop in hand working on my digital Project Life for 2014.  I am loving doing it but I do miss the feel of paper and the mess of glue and glitter and paper scraps everywhere!  (sort of...)  I'm going to try to make some time for some actual scissor, glue and paper crafting sometime soon but today is a fun day with the grand kids so we will see how much energy I have after my time with them! (usually it's not much!)

For the paper crafters I do have a card to share....but first I want to share Week 2 of my Project Life for 2014.

I used to January kit from Traci Reed and a template or two from Lily Pad for my photos.  It still takes me several hours to do these pages but it is something I can do while watching the Atlanta Braves on TV (or the Military History channel....what is it with men and the History Channel?  I mean...I like history as much as the next...but do I really have to watch re-enactments of the Battle of the Bulge again and again and again??  Of course, if it's not the History Channel then it is National Geographic and I have to endure yet another Gazelle getting eaten by a lion.  Really??? LOL!).

I diverted...sorry....

Anyway, Project Life is moving right along....

And now onto PAPER.  Here is the card I promised I'd share....made from elements from the Simon Says Stamp Card kit for August which is sadly out of stock.  The cute stamp set shown below is still available HERE.

And here is my card:

I colored the ice cream and hearts with Copics and then put Wink of Stella clear glitter over it at the end.  I also die cut a circle with some We R Memory Keepers paper backed burlap.  It cut so easily!

The sentiment "you're so cool" was stamped with Versamark and then heat embossed with white embossing powder.  Of course, you knew that.

Here is a closeup:

 

and that's it for today....hope you all have a wonderful day...and Happy Crafting!

Project Life: Week 1

So I have been on a mini-roll.  More like a limp...getting some pages done.

Here is Week 1...or the first few days in January.  I'm doing a Sunday to Saturday format...these pages are from January 1-January 4.

Woohoo.

I like saying woohoo....it sounds exactly how I feel.  :)
True.

Here is the beginning....

The above will be the left side of my page...and down below will be the right side:

I do think I have very cute grandkids. 
:)
Anyway, it's been fun doing these and these didn't take as long as some others.  I used Traci Reed's January Pocket Pages kit.  I'm getting the hang of this digital scrapbooking again. 

3 weeks down....a zillion to go!

HAHA!!!

Happy Crafting!

Project Life: Week 31

And no, I'm not current and up to date...I still need to do Weeks 1-29!  LOL!  The OCD in me is in turmoil that I have started in a non-chronological way!  I will need to make sure my OCD self gets in a nap today!

Here is week 31 done with Traci Reed's August kit.

Fun days with the kids....life is great!

Happy Crafting!

Project Life 2014...The Beginning....

....or actually the middle....let me 'splain.

I had great plans at the beginning of the year to begin Project Life for 2014.  I had really enjoyed making the physical pages in 2013 but thought that if I did it digitally it might go a bit faster.  Oh. Yeah. Right.  It probably would have gone faster if I'd gotten started....uh...months ago!

But start I have.

Finally. 

Woohoo for me.....

I'm enjoying it and it does go much faster for me but it is still time consuming.  Of course, I spend a lot of time tweaking things here and there.  LOL!  If I could just let it be...  Anyway, I haven't done digital scrapbooking in quite a while so I had to relearn how to do some things. 

It does make it easier that there are tons of kits out there that have "presized" cards for the slotted look.  I say "presized" with herkin' (thanks, Donna!) quotation marks around that because nothing fits the slotted pages perfectly and all must be resized!  But it is sure faster than trimmer edges off of real paper! 

So I will being a Project Life 2014 tab at the top of my page if you ever want to go back and see my stuff.
But for now...here is the left side of week 30.

And here is the right side:

I mostly used Traci Reed's July page kit and also some templates from Tracy Larsen and Lily Pad.

I decided I'd start at the present and then work backwards.  Or maybe I'll start at the present and go to the beginning of the year....decisions, decisions.

And then I'll have to decide how I want to get this all printed out.  Donna at 365 Days of Donna has hers printed by Persnickety Prints in 8x8 size and says the quality is great.  She then puts the printed pages in page protectors and in a 3 ring album.  Looks very cool!

Well, off to work on another week...or two....

And whatever avenue you enjoy for your creativity...whether it be cards, scrapbooking, digital endeavors, flower arranging or whatever....I hope you find time for some creativity today!

I Scream You Scream...

We All Scream For Ice Cream!
My dad taught me that saying when I was a little girl.  I thought it was so clever then and I'm still loving it.  And when the Simon Says Stamp Card kit for August included that sentiment I thought "HOW FUN!".

Here is the card kit for August...it's just too cool! LOL!

Check the stamp set out with the cute little frozen treats!

Love those bright colors...this is just a very happy kit!

I cut my sentiment apart so I could have a wider space between the top part and the bottom.  The ice cream cone was done heat embossed with white embossing powder and colored in with some water colors.  I added some Wink of Stella to the cone for a little more sheen!

 See how shiny it is?  Too fun!

 I think sometimes the card correlates with exactly how fun it is creating it.  I had fun stealing it from
Yana Smakula HERE although I now see that I took some liberty with her creation and made it my own.   Yana is Ukranian.  I love the "international-ness" of our craft and art.

That's it for today...I hope you are getting ready for lots more from this great kit because I got on a roll with it!

Happy Crafting and keep Creating!!!

Sending Happy Thoughts

I am sending happy thoughts to all of you!  Hoping this Monday finds you in great spirits!

I did spend time yesterday making a few cards which was fun for me.  I should have been out getting some physical exercise but I decided to exercise my brain by creating!  That's important, too, isn't it?

I made this card with things leftover from my Simon Says Stamp Card Kit for July which I've said is one of my favorite kits ever.  I mean...look at how great the handwritten, scripty "Sending" looks.  The little "Happy Thoughts" is just another stamp included in that set.  They were heat embossed with white Zing powder.

So great to send a card like that to a dear friend....

The typewriter is one of those Pink Paislee puffy stickers as is the little pink flower on top.  The envelope is another stamp which was just very easily cut out. 

And that's it for today...stay tuned for some wonderfulness from the August Card Kit.  :)

Happy Crafting!

Happy Birthday to You!

Three friends have birthdays today...Debbie, Peggy and Susette!  A big shout out to you...and hope you are all having a fabulous day.  Interestingly I think all are on beachy vacations.  Lucky them!

I recently purchased the Sizzix Flip Its die set at Michaels.  I wasn't too sure about the shape but I loved the assortment of round dies...some with stitching and some scalloped...that came with it.  I am a sucker for round dies that have edges to them.  It's just something you can't cut by hand, you know? 

Anyway, I needed a birthday card for a little boy and thought I'd use these papers.  After it was done I decided it's too "old" for him but maybe I'll find someone else to send it to. 

I used My Mind's Eye Lost and Found papers.I worked very hard to get the circles to line up when the card was closed.  LOL.  Ok, "worked hard" is a silly way to put it. 

BTW, the lighting in my photography studio kitchen was terrible this morning...it's dark and gray outside.  Oh well....

Anyway, this is the card and you can see the circle stuff.  I love the circle stuff.

Here is what it looks like all closed up.  My little fingers are holding it closed at the bottom but I cropped those babies out.  I'm telling you that because it looks like my little circles do not line up...but trust me...they do! LOL!

And here is the card opened up so you can see the flip side of the circle.

The problem with these flip cards is where do you WRITE?  I guess I can write on the white panel or maybe even on the backside of the card. 

Oh well...it was fun to do and I loved the circles.  OK, I'm repeating myself...

Simple to do...and very fast.  But now I need a child's birthday card!  LOL!!!

Happy Crafting and Keep Creating!