Project Life, 2015: February

Wow...life has really been happening! But Project Life has not! Card making and paper crafting have not! But busy I've been.  I promise.

I have tried to sit and work on some digital Project Life but just haven't seemed to get very far...but I'm glad to say that I finally finished the first layouts of February for my 2015 challenge and venture.

Here is the two page layout side by side:

I used Just Jaimee's Bryce Collection for the papers and elements...and templates from Ali Edwards, Katie Pertiet, Tracy Larsen, and Lily Pad.  Basically if there is a 4x6 inch template or a 3x4 out there in digi land it is probably slapped right here on my layouts! :)  I love using the templates...but I do find it can be a bit time consuming!
Here you have a closer look at the left side:

Get a load of Wade sneaking a sip of his big brother's drink! That kid is so funny!
Here is the right side:

Life at it's best with lots of photos of happy grandchildren! It makes an Omie happy, I tell you.

And that's it for today...a quick blog entry but many hours went into completing these layouts.  They are never quick for me! But I love the process...no complaints here!

Happy Crafting!

Project Life, 2015: January Layout 4

Layout #4 for January pretty much brings me to the end of January.  So on to February and then March...and by then it will be June...
I will forever be in a state of "catching up-edness".  It's a fact.
No worries...I guess what would be worse than always being behind is not taking pictures and capturing memories...especially those of my grandchildren growing up. They are very well documented kids! My husband always tells me that he has very few photos of his childhood.  I've only seen 2, I think.  He was a middle child...lots of photos, apparently, of his older brother...and than quite a few of his younger sister...but his parents didn't do quite as many of him.  That's his story, anyway. My grandchildren will know just about everything they ever did....whether they want to or not! LOL!

So here is my fourth set of layouts which, as I said, closes out January, 2015. Yay. Me.
Here is the left side...we continued another fun filled and busy week at the beach! I used Just Jaimee's Storyteller for January, 2014 for the papers and elements and assorted templates from the Lily Pad and Lori Whitlock for my cards.

Here is the right side:

We went back to Wonderworks (we had visited it last year and both David and Taylor remembered it and wanted to go back). It is a great indoor amusement park...but it is all educational! You learn about weather, physics, science and more. It is very interactive and hands on and the children really enjoy it. I highly recommend it if you have children over the ages of 3...and it's fun and interesting for adults, too. We visited the one in Panama City Beach, FL but there are locations elsewhere (Orlando, FL and Myrtle Beach, SC to name a few).
Below you can see the layouts side by side as they will appear when printed out:

Well, I only have 2 more days at the beach before heading home! I can't believe my 6 weeks are up!

Project Life, 2015, January Layout 3

I was able to get more layouts done for January and was happy with that.  And then today it became March.  Couldn't it have just waited another few days?  What is it with February being such a short month?!

So here is my two page layout using the Traci Reed January kit again (as I did for my first weeks' layouts).

I added a gray solid paper from the kit to put behind the photos and cards. 
It looks so different from the other layouts I did with the same kit as I put the bluish printed paper behind the cards and photos as you can see below.
Same kit...different looks.  That helps me justify the cost of the kit. And as much as I love Traci Reed's kits...they ain't cheap!

Anyway, back to my third set of layouts which covers mid January and up to the time I left for my annual "sabbatical" to the beach in Florida.
Here is a look at the left side:

Since I'm not doing my layouts week by week, so to speak, I don't feel the need to have title cards for each week.  I will do a title card at the beginning of each month and let it go at that.  I love Project Life and how one can make it the way one wants....it's however you want it, Girly!
I used some Lilypad, Katie Pertiet and Lori Whitlock templates. 
Here is the right side:

Mostly just fun photos of the kids....I didn't feel like I need a ton of journaling but hope I covered the bases. :) 
I did use an Ali Edwards brush on the photo of the sunset. with David and Taylor. "So Love these MOMENTS" certainly captures how special this sort of picture is to me.  Cute kids fascinated by the vastness of the Gulf and also watching Mr. Sun go Night-Night!
That's it for this period of time....onto the next one!

I am finding my 13x13 inch layout that I talked about in other posts is working fantastically well.  I am not having to spend nearly as much time resizing things....and I love that!  After I've finished the layout I resize the entire canvas to 12x12. I don't think it really matters either way but now it is resized to the more traditional 12x12. I just think it's easier to work with when it is digitally set at 13x13.

Happy Crafting!

Project Life, 2014: Week 24

I am back in the swing of PL-ing our lives. Of course I am half a year behind but I hear worse war stories out there!  I took about a month off creating layouts because I was doing other projects for the holidays...and life just got in the way...I have found that when I take a break it's really hard to get going again.  I don't know if others have that problem but I certainly do!

But I did Week 23 the other day and the mojo I finally got going helped me complete Week 24 which is here:

I used a mega collaborative kit called "Currently" from the Lilypad. It is a wonderful kit packed with all kinds of easy to use stuff!
Here is the left side:

I usually use Wade's month photo for the week card but since were a week late getting it taken I decided to just use it in the week the photo was taken.  That is probably as clear as mud...what happened is that my daughter didn't get around to taking his "month" photo until the week after he turned 8 months...so when I was going through her photos, I forgot about this one as I didn't see it in the photos for last week and I have completed those layouts and am not changing them!  That's PL for me...make it work!
Here is the right side:

I do have blanks in the card about Taylor and her doctor's appointment.  We need to locate her height and weight and as soon as we do that I'll amend my card to include that info.  And yes, I saved out my layers so I will easily be able to add in the text.  Yay, me!

I'm getting close to the half year mark!!!

And now to start on 2015!!!

But first time to get the Christmas decorations down!!!

Happy Crafting!

Project Life, 2014: Week 23

Wishing you a most Happy New Year!

Do I have resolutions for 2015?  Well, certainly.  I've already broken one but just couldn't do it today.  LOL!  I was going to walk on my treadmill a bit but we ended up going to the park with the grandkids and then my surgery foot yelled at me "I'VE HAD ENOUGH!"  But that's ok...I think of resolutions as goals...things I want to aspire to...but if I don't do them all the time...well, that's ok, too.
My big resolution is to start Project Life for 2015 on time...which means I will need to get week 1 done by January 3 as that completes "Week 1".  I will be fine. LOL!!! I did get a few photos today of the kids at the park.  I can do this...I can do this...said the little engine!

So...back to 2014.  I have finished Week 23 which you can see below:

I used Just Jaimee's Storyteller for June and a Lilpad template or two.

Here is a closer look at the left side:

And here is the right side:

 

Not too complicated...I just chose the best photos of the week and stuck them here and there.  It works.  It is done.  On. To. Week. 24.

Happy Crafting!

Project Life, 2014: Week 22 Birthday Party!

Week 22 which covered the last week of May for me posed another one of those scrapbooking dilemmas! I had too many photos for just a simple two page spread. We had a big event that week...Taylor's 3rd birthday party! I just had to do a 2 page layout totally devoted to that...so that's exactly what I did.

I used Party Pop by Melissa Bennett which has been retired. I've had it in my digital stash...don't even remember if I've used it before.

But I thought this kit with the bright neon type colors were perfect for the photos I had.

Taylor's party was at Chuck E. Cheese. My kids loved Chuck E. Cheese when they were small and now my grandchildren are continuing the tradition.  I hadn't been in many years and was quite impressed with it. Very clean, very efficient, and the staff members were all wonderful with the kids. Plus...they have COOL stuff to do! LOL! I never did get a chance to play Whack a Mole! HA!

Here is my two page spread:

 Get a load of her silly face!

Here is the left side up a bit closer for you to see:

We had lots of cutie pie kids at the party!
Here is the right side:

And that, my friends, is it for today!

Happy Crafting and Keep Creating!

Project Life, 2014: Week 19

Moving right along...getting close to the halfway mark in the Project Life year!

Here is the two page spread of Week 19:

 I used my usual assortment of Tracy Larsen, Lori Whitlock, and Lily Pad templates as well as the big overall page templates by Becky Higgins. I used papers, cards, and elements from Just Jaimee's Storyteller for May.
Here is a closer look at the left side:

Wade turned 7 months and just keeps getting cuter and cuter.  On the 4th of May...his official 7 month birthday he had no teeth...but by the end of the week one had finally broken through the gum! Poor little guy...he's had a tough time getting that tooth through!

I love the pictures of the kids sleeping. So stinkin' cute!

And here is the right side:

I love that my daughter remembered to take pictures of them at their dental visit!

And that is it for today...!

Hope you find some heat in this cold weather!

Happy crafting!

Project Life, 2014: Week 17

Week 17 was a big week in our family as my son married his bride. The entire week was spent preparing for and then hosting the rehearsal dinner so I decided to use some of the dozens and dozens of photos taken during the event and use those for my week.  I mean...we seriously did little else this week!

It was most difficult to go through the photos to narrow down those to be used.  I probably could have done a couple of layouts on the rehearsal and then the dinner but forced myself to limit my photos and choose some that represented the occasion. And I tried to include photos of all the "key players". For the most part, anyway.  I can still do a photo book of the entire evening and use more photos of the day but for my Project Life album I decided to limit it to two pages.  And. It. Was. Difficult!

I also used the Donna Gibson method and this week it worked much better for me.  After I had spent some time editing my photos and deciding which to use I went ahead and placed them on my templates.  I moved a few things around...did a few collages and then went back in and added my papers and elements. I think it really did streamline the process for me....that is to add in my photos and then slide my papers behind.   I would say it only took me about 2 hours to plop the photos in...and then another 2 hours to add the other stuff so that is a step in the right direction!  LOL!!!

But, I will say that mostly I love, love, love doing it and I love the way my book is looking!

Here is the 2 page spread:

I used Traci Reed's April kit once again....the colors worked well for this springtime layout, I thought.
Here is the left side:

And here is the right:

It was such a fun evening...I think everyone had a wonderful time and the next day was even better!

And now my progress report.  I have done about 25 weeks worth of layouts.  I didn't start working on my weekly layouts until late August so I am proud how much I've gotten done.  I may finish this by the end of the year.  Or. Not.

Next year I will NOT dilly dally!  I will keep up with it better.  Yeah. Right.  LOL!

Happy Crafting and keep creating!

Project Life, 2014 Week 44

What a fun week last week was with all the Halloween festivities for the little ones! We love Halloween in our family...the children have such a good time playing dress up.

I went ahead and did my Project Life layouts for last week.  LOL...I've done weeks 1-16...a few in the 20-30 area and now week 44.  It's getting done...just not in consecutive order which drives the OCD in me just a bit crazy.  But I'm still living and haven't chewed my fingernails off so I guess I'll manage!

Here is the spread.  besides the usual assortment of templates from Becky Higgins, Tracy Larsen, Lori Whitlock and the Lily Pad I used the That Old Black Magic digital kit by Design by Dani.  It was perfect!

Here is a closer look at the left side and my little Halloween munchkins!

And here is the right side:

I used Becky Higgins Template F for the layout above but tweaked it to fit my needs a bit and made two 4x6 cards. 

And that is another benefit of doing it digitally...you can adjust just about anything...resize...move...and this digital kit cost me a whopping $1.00!  And I can use it again and again! :)

And that is it for week 44!

Happy Crafting!

Project Life, 2014: Week 16

Another beautiful fall day today.  I will be heading out shortly for a little hiking.  I seriously could live with this type of weather all year long!  I don't need it much warmer and I certainly don't want it much colder!!! 

I finished up Week 16 using Traci Reed's April kit.  I do like the colors of this kit a lot...such pretty spring colors.  I know...I really need to be doing FALL stuff! 

Completing Project Life this year has been a challenge since I didn't start working on layouts until half of the dadgummed year had past by!  And of course I didn't take good notes or get my photos well organized.  But it is getting done!  I am looking at ways to be better organized for 2015.  Traci Reed has a PL organizer that I'm looking at...might be worth it,  you know?  You can see her system HERE.

But for now I plod along in a totally disorganized manner! LOL!

Here is the 2 week layout for Week 16

I used Ali Edwards' Hand Drawn Numbers Brush for the "week" and "sixteen" on my week card in the upper left. 
Here is a better view of the left side:

The white frame over David's picture in the middle is from Katie Pertiet and is called Thicker Inked Photo Borders No 1.  I reduced the opacity a bit so that you get that slightly transparent look.
I used Tracy Larsen and Lily Pad templates for the photos.  The large template is a Becky Higgins original, of course.
Here is the right side:

And lookie...I did some journaling.  I am a true believer in the adage that "a picture is worth a thousand words" and believe in letting photos speak for themselves but sometimes you just gotta be a bit wordy!
The bottom left "LOVE this" was a Katie Pertiet .png file from the same set mentioned above and I just recolored it to match my layout a bit better.

And that's it for today....on to week 17.  Or maybe I'll jump ahead and work on Week 40! LOL!

Happy Crafting and enjoy the day!

Project Life, 2014: Week 11

Here we are at week 11 of my Project Life/Digital Version which covers the period of March 9-15, 2014.

The two page layout side by side looks like this:

I didn't have a good landscape type card for this week so went back to creating a Week Card with some things from the Tracy Reed March kit.  The March stamp is from a stash but I can't remember right now to whom I need to give credit! LOL! 
Here is a closeup of the left:

And here is the right side:

I used Tracy Larsen, Lori Whitlock, and Lily Pad collage templates which help in the process of using multiple photos in a slot.

And that's it for today!

Happy Crafting and Keep Creating!