Project Life, 2015: Layout 2/Use IT!

I've been getting photos and digital files organized to try to streamline my layout completing process.  8 hours later I have completed another 2 page layout! LOL!!!

I was very lucky to win a subscription to Just Jaimee's online store at the LilyPad.  I love her kits...her style just appeals to me so much! The kit I used for this layout, "Hunter" has such bright cheerful colors...so reflective of my own personality.  LOL!!! I wish...  You can see the kit HERE.

Anyway, included in her kits are pocket page templates.  And guess what??? They include SQUARED corners. I almost swooned when I saw that. And, I thought...how great is that....I need to USE THESE! I'll just plop a few photos in and have these layouts done in NO time.  Of course that is NOT the reason...Jaimee's templates are fabulous but they are FULL of layers which I naturally had to play with! I had the best time! And am pretty happy with my results!

Here is the 2 page spread:

These layouts sure make my daughter's and my piddly iPhone photos look so great!

Here is the left side for closer inspection:

And here is a closer look at the right side:

And I am done!

Wahooo...Woot! Woot!  (Donna, I'm going to catch up with you!....not!)

Happy Crafting!

Project Life 2015: First Layouts

I posted earlier today the first layout I had completed for Project Life 2015. Since I had a little time this afternoon I went ahead and completed the right side of my two page layout using Traci Reed's January 2015 kit.

And without further ado...here it is:

 I think it works out just fine with squared corners (my big dilemma for 2015) and my new slightly larger templates are a bit faster for me to work with.  Besides the Traci Reed elements and papers I used a few templates from the Lily Pad and Lori Whitlock.

Here are both pages side by side:

What can I say?  It's a start!

Happy Crafting!

Project Life, 2015

So the first thing you ask is "Susan, have you finished Project Life for 2014 yet?"  Well, of course not...it is a work in progress! But 2015 has begun and I'm already behind so thought I'd whip up a layout or two in no time spend hours and hours trying to figure out how I'm going to do Project Life for 2015.

I don't know anyone who has completed Project Life 2014 except for Lynn of Horizon View. Way to go, Lynn!

I tend to complicate things.  The easier way would be to continue Project Life for 2015 in the same manner I did 2014.  But no...I want different.  I get bored with the same look so have thought about trying to change some things up.

My biggest decision (and this just sounds so silly!) was whether to continue with rounded corners or try to find some squared corner templates.  After much searching I couldn't find the type of template I wanted so decided to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, and make my own.  One thing that has bugged me about the digital versions of the 12 x 12 layouts is that because they ARE 12 by 12 the slots are not sized for the cards that are digitally created for PL.  My wise friend, Donna, of 365 Days of Donna said that's probably because many people print out the cards to do a physical (as opposed to digital) PL.  Well, I get tired of resizing everything so I had the brilliant idea to make a slightly larger template with true 4x6 slots for the bigger cards and just slightly less than 3x4 slots for the smaller cards.  It isn't perfect but I think I can live with it and it seems easier for me.  And by doing squared corners I don't lose edges. 
For example...look at this card from Just Jaimee:

It has squared corners.  If you corner round you end up with something like this:

The OCD in my is bugged by that.  I'm hopeless....
So, I think for 2015 I will do squared corners and give it a try.  I did complete one layout last night and this is what I came up with using Traci Reed's January kit.

I have toyed with the idea of placing paper behind my slots and have a few versions like the one below saved out:

The other change I am making for 2015 is not to do week by week layouts.  I will focus on months instead.  I found in 2014 some weeks I had a ton of pictures...and some weeks I had few.  So by not going week to week I will have a little more flexibility, I think.

But I'm still not sure...

Heheheheh!

But, at least I started!

Happy Crafting!

You've Got This!

I made another card with the very cute little Tiny Heroes set by Mama Elephant for a special young lady.  She's a blond so I made this one with lighter hair with my Copics.  My friend, Cyndi, told me my coloring was getting better and I told her that's only because these images are so teeny! HAHA!

I also used the frame die from Sew Fancy...also by Mama Elephant.  The paper is From Lawn Fawn and to make the blue sky...well, I simple used some Distress Ink on one of those little round blender thingies. 
I just love this set for and that it has both little super heroes that are girls as well as boys!

Kristina Werner shared a video last week where she watercolored some custom envelopes.  I loved what she did so much that I thought it would be fun to try.  I don't have my WRM punch board with me (the easiest way to make envelopes of just about any size!) so I used my Silhouette to cut some out (the second easiest way to make envelopes!).  I used standard 80 lb watercolor paper. Kristina's method is to use frisket masking fluid or resist fluid to write the name.  Then you let it dry...watercolor over it (done with Distress Inks) and then remove the dried masking fluid.  I made several but I wrote the address on the others before I remembered to take pictures so I don't want to share those here.  I love the custom look and I think the recipients will get  a kick out of seeing their names on the envelopes in a more artsy way.

This was the first one I did....and I think I got a little better with the masking fluid and the watercoloring for the others but you won't get to see those! Sorry...!
 The idea is simple to follow and no two will ever be the same...

Happy Crafting!

A New Love Affair!

I have had a very open love affair with Hero Arts for many years now.  It began when I went to a CKU (Creating Keepsakes University) Convention many years ago...like 10? I had signed up for a class taught by Jennifer McGuire...had no idea who she was...and she used Hero Arts stamps and we learned kiss stamping.  It was so much fun and I began a wild affair with HA!

It's been a great 10 plus years and although I have an new love...I will remain loyal to HA, as well.  There is plenty of room in my heart for HA and my new love.

What or who is my new love?  Mama Elephant!  Oh my gosh...how I love those stamps and dies!  So darned cute and it is taking great restraint to NOT buy out the whole store! 
Check out a card I made with Mama Elephant's Tiny Heroes Set:

Is this not the cutest little card?  I just love that tiny super hero...and the super hero doggie!
Here is the stamp set:

and the coordinating dies:

and lastly, a set of some miscellaneous dies called Sew Fancy that can be used for matting or borders, etc.:

The little x's on the card base above are actually little debossed x's from the die.  Too cute!

I am away from home right now so my supplies here are limited...I used Salty Ocean Distress Ink to make my background and ink up a messy sky and clouds.  I colored the little girl and the dog in with my Copics. I had no foam tape on hand so I used a couple of stacked glue dots.  They didn't work great but did add a tad of dimension.

I'm in love...I think Mama Elephant has a winner on her hands!

Happy Crafting!

Lists! Lists! Lists!

We all have our ways of keeping up with our ever growing supplies. It wasn't difficult when my papercrafting supplies all fit into a small box but now...?  Well, let's just say there have been too many times I've bought something I already had! My friend, Cyndi, and I are always giving things to each other that we've bought only to realize we already had!

I have previously mentioned how I use Evernote to keep up with some of my supplies...obviously I don't keep lists of paper or "consumables"...but inks, dies, stamp sets...well, I'd prefer not to buy those again and again!  I thought I had blogged here somewhere how I had mine set up but I cannot find a post so I probably did not! I did see where some bloggers were using Evernote so if you're interested you can Google it.  I believe I had read this post first...which got me interested.  You can see it HERE.

I won't go into my whole set up on Evernote but here is a screenshot from my phone of my Stamps Notebook. I can search by manufacturer and also by tagged words such as "thank you", "happy birthday", etc. It does take a while to set up but is very helpful once you get started.

 

If you click on an individual stamp set you would see something like this:

 I also have a notebook for dies:

I have Evernote set up and linked on my laptop too which makes the entry of new items very easy.  And then it all syncs up nicely.

Like I said...it is time consuming at first...but now when I add to my collection I just include the new item and it's easy peasy and pretty fast.

Anyway...yesterday I wanted to take advantage of the Michaels Buy One get One Half Off on their Copic pens.  I have the Copic color charts and lists but dang...I still occasionally buy one I already have.  So, I was looking in the app store (I have an iPhone) for a Copic app and sure enough or as we say in the south "Sho'nuff!" there was one.  After downloading it I was able to easily input the markers I have.
Here are a few screenshots of the app:

Since I collect Sketch pens I have that checked so that I don't pull up the other pen types.
After you click "Done" above it will take you to this screen which shows all of the color families:

You can see the total number of pens in that color family (far right) and how many pens you own.  As you can see I like Blue and have 11 blue pens.
Then if you touch one of the color families it will take you to this:

You simply tap on the color you have and it pops up and gets "colorized".
Or you can click on "Stock" and it shows only those you have like here:

Slick, huh?

And lastly if you click on Browse you can look at the colors...although I'm not sure how true the colors are.

I'll have to check that out...

There is also a store locator to find Copics.

This app is free for iPhone users...just go to your app store and search for Copic if you're interested.
For those with Droids there is good news as the app is available for you, too HERE.

And the good news?  Yesterday I only bought one Copic I already had! Cyndi...do you need B00? ;)

Happy Crafting!

And a Very Belated Happy Valentine's Day to You!

Oh my....I so meant to post yesterday to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day but the day got past me.  My Valentine was here with me and we were able to spend a nice day together doing a hike and going out for a nice meal.

A friend of mine got a Tiffany necklace.  I as jealous of that.  No jewels for me.  LOL! 

But I did make a few exploding box cards for my kids from a file by Lori Whitlock which I found in the Silhouette store.  I think they are so cute and were so much fun to make.  I think Lori does and amazing job on her files...they always go together perfectly!

Here is the first one:

I used BoBunny papers....love the frogs and ladybugs and other little critters!  Isn't it adorable?  Look at that folded envelope.  So sweet!

My friend and fellow creative person (she is über creative...amazing what she does!), Debbie, was here with me for a few days and she enjoyed making one, too.

Here are two other versions...the one Debbie did is on the right:

So much fun!  On to the Silhouette Store to see if they have one for St. Patrick's Day! ;)

Happy Crafting!

MIA!

Well...my goodness...I've been MIA.  Missing. In. Action.
Like many of you I've had lots of things going on! All good...all good but they've kept me away from posting.
I am at the beach for my "annual winter sabbatical".  This is the third year I've headed south to be near the water during the month of February...I love being here this time of year.

I love a winter sunset....and one over the water is just spectacular to me.

I've been here two weeks but just a couple of days after getting here my daughter and grandkids came down for a nice long stay.  It was so much fun (and so busy and noisy) having them here and we enjoyed some nice days with moderate temperatures and some fun on the beach.  You can see 2 of the kids in the photo above.

I did bring a few cardmaking things to work on and managed to get a few cards done.  Before coming here I went through my old Simon Says Stamp cardkits and picked a few to "finish out".  What I mean by "finish out" is that I try to use up as many supplies as I can that were included in the kits.

 The cards above were inspired by a card from Kathy Racoosin.  I love the fun shelves and books on them.  And I love the little parts like the file boxes and alarm clock and apple that can be used to build the scene.  I used Ranger distress inks and Hero Arts inks for my cards.
Here is another card with the same set:

Again, it is was great fun to build my little scene!  This card was inspired by one created by Nichol Maguourk.

Fun set!

Happy Crafting!