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 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, 2014: Week 20 Baseball

I decided to do an extra two page spread of my grandson's last spring T-Ball game.  I actually came across these photos after pretty much finishing the regular 2 weeks spread and I just didn't have the energy to redo what I'd already done.  Solution? Make 2 more pages!

I used a kit from Traci Reed called True Story. I searched online for some baseball kits but none that I saw were what I thought I needed so I went with Traci's kit.  I loved that the main colors were red, white and blue.  That worked perfectly I thought!

Here is the 2 page spread:

This was a very simple and quick set of pages to do.  No complicated templates to work with!

Here is a closeup of the left side:

It was just so darned cute seeing these little guys in their baseball uniforms.  American as apple pie!

Here is the right side:

So sweet...I love it!

And that's it for today.  Short, sweet, and to the point!

Happy Crafting and Keep Creating!

Project Life, 2014: Week 20

As I work on these pages I am reminded how full my life is...as well as my grandkids.  We are all so very blessed!

Here is the 2 page layout...I always like showing the pages side by side so my readers can get the effect of how they will look when they are printed. And it helps me, too...to make sure that things look relatively balanced!

I used Traci Reed's May kit. I really love these colors...so spring-like.

Here is the left side:

I used some Ali Edwards brushes or stamps for the "week twenty" and "so love these moments".  I applied a Just Jamie style over it from her March kit to gave it sort of an acrylic or plastic look. I don't use styles often enough. It always seems like so much trouble! LOL!
Here is the right side:

I love the photos of Wade with his daddy (my son in law).  He's such a good and involved daddy and loves his children so much! He is total hands on and works hard at his job so that my daughter can stay home and raise their children.

Get a load of the icing-less cupcake in the center.  That's Taylor's handiwork! LOL! 

You gotta give that kid a lot of credit! 

And that's it for today!!!

Project Life, 2014: Week 18

Well, after the hoopla of the wedding the week before things got down to nice quiet week of a school program, a visit to the Atlanta Zoo, a baseball game, my birthday (!)  and other fun things!

I used Traci Reed's May kit because...it was May! Silly....

Here is the 2 page layout:

This week went a little easier because I didn't have hundreds of pictures to sort through and edit.  LOL!

Here is a closer look at the left side:

That's my Granddog in the upper left photo. She's a very smart Border Collie and belongs to my son and his wife.  She came and stayed with us for a week or so while they were on their honeymoon. Such a good girl...and she gets along great with our little princess, Isabella.
Here is the right side:

Even though they aren't the greatest pictures I love see the photos of David singing with his classmates. So cute!

Today was such a beautiful day here...we had such gorgeous weather. It was a fun day of tennis.  We had our season beginning matches today and I think my opponents had a particularly good time if you know what I mean! LOL!!!  Oh well...yep we lost but it was fun.

That's it for today...hoping to start on week 19 tonight!

Happy Crafting and Keep Creating!

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 43

I have been looking at ways to become more time efficient (READ: DO IT FASTER) approach to Project Life. I doubt many people other than Donna Gibson and myself spend 12 hours doing a layout! Donna says it takes almost that much time to just pick her photos out! Ok, I made that up but I bet I'm not far off!

Donna is an über talented digital scrapbooker...and so GOOD at her Project Life layouts.  She was on the 2013 Becky Higgins Project Life creative team and rocked her pages week after week.  You can check all of her stuff out HERE. She has a great writing style, too...so much fun to read her blog so if you haven't headed over there before I say you need to give it a whirl!

So...she has been tutoring me in ways to do PL to speed things up.  I misunderstood, of course...and went from spending about 6 hours doing a two page layout to basically doubling that.  But that was my fault... 1. I didn't fully get what she was saying...and then the lightbulb came on.  and 2. I insisted on cramming 26 photos into this week's layout which is nearly impossible.  But I did it! LOL!

Here is the two pager:

 I used Traci Reed's October kit and I love the colors of it...perfect for Fall!

Here is a closer look at the left side:

 

I got some cute photos of little Wade this week...was so happy about that.  Such a sweet little boy.  I love that kid!

And I used the same old template selections for my photos I have in previous weeks.  And some I tweaked the way I wanted.

Here is the right side:

 

There are 17 photos there...count 'em! 

I'm worn out doing this faster approach!  LOL! I know it will be easier the next time, though, as Donna gave me some great tips.

Happy Crafting! I'm taking a break!

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 14

I really haven't done much paper crafting lately and I really need to get into my room and make some cards.  I did make a sympathy card yesterday but didn't even bother to take a picture of it as it is my "go to" card and you've probably already seen it before!

So I spent my evening with laptop in lap watching a bit of tv and working on my Project Life layout for week 14.  And I got it done! 

I used Traci Reed's April kit and I love the colors.  So up my alley!

Here is the 2 page spread:

I love all the snippets of color.

Here is a closer up of the left side:

I love the little photo of Wade in the top left.  Happy little boy!  The children had a busy week...baseball, horsebackriding, playing on the playground, and washing my dog! LOL!

Here is the right side:

The bottom middle photo is so funny.  Not a good picture but that's Taylor crammed into my dog's crate.  She likes to "play puppy" and what you can't see is that she has her puppy costume on! Funny girl!

And that's it for today.  After a full day of rain yesterday the sun is shining today and I am off to enjoy this wonderful Autumn weather!

Happy Crafting and Keep Creating!

Project Life, 2014: Week 13

I posted my "extra" pages for Week 13 the other day which was my trip to the Washington, D.C. area.  So now I am back to the "regular" photos for Week 13. 

During that week my friends hosted a wedding shower for my son and his bride to be.  And my daughter took her kids to a children's museum.  That gave me plenty of pictures for my 2 page layout.  I like that!  Lots of photos to choose from!

Here is the 2 page spread:

I used the True Story kit by Traci Reed.   
I love red, blue and kraft colors together.  And I love the way this turned out.

Here is the left side:

I used some various templates from Lily Pad, Tracy Larsen and Katie Pertiet.  I love the templates and I think they really add an element to a layout but they can be time consuming to use! Layer, layer, layer! LOL!  I didn't get the greatest shots at the shower but by doing the little 6 photo collage in the top right you get to see some of the guest and I could include a lot of photos in a small space.
The three grandkids came so I wanted to make sure I included them, as well. 

Here is the right side:

I absolutely love the sweet photo of a daddy's love in the top left.  Kind of bittersweet to look back and see how much Wade has grown since then. 
The kids had a great week...and my dog did, too!  She got to spend a little time away from home while I was in Washington and got treated like a princess!  She loves the kids and they love her!

And that's it for today.

Happy Crafting and Keep Creating!

Project Life, 2014: Week 35

The layout for Week 35 which covers late August was a little more difficult for me because I used a standard digital scrapbooking kit...not one that had journaling or title cards already created.  I. Had. To. Make. My. Own.  Which means...it took me a bit longer.  But still fun...except when I closed out my layout and had forgotten to save it! HORRORS!  The good news...after I uttered a few expletives...is that it was easy to recreate because I had saved out the individual cards I'd already created.

I wish I had never looked at Donna Gibson's layouts at 365 Days of Donna.  If I had never looked at her blog I would just have simply plopped pictures in the slots and added a few journaling cards.  But no...Donna makes gorgeous pages with lots of individual templates and treatments so I have jumped on that bandwagon.  But it does all look so great...and is mostly worth the time and effort!

I used Traci Reed's Little Joy kit which you can see here.  When I saw the elements included in it I thought it would be perfect for Project Life-Style scrapbooking.  And it was!

Here is the two page spread:

And here is a closer look at the left side:

I love these very candid shots of my grandkids.  They may not be portrait perfect but it does capture them living.  I especially love the one in the top left of David playing hopscotch.  Their mother does a fantastic job of getting those kiddoes outside running and jumping and playing!

Here is the right side:

Well, that is all for today! Hope you all find time for some fun and beauty in your lives today!

And Happy Crafting and Keep Creating!!!

Project Life, 2014: Week 34

I have been doing a bit of paper crafting lately but decided to do the less messy digital last night and worked on Project Life 34. 

And DARN IT!  I got messed up on weeks and had to go back and redo some of my week cards.  Thankfully I only had a few to fix!  But it taught me a few things.  1. Save out ALL layered PSD files even when ya don't think ya will need 'em again!  2. Save out ALL layered PSD files even when ya don't think ya will need 'em again! 3. Save out ALL layered PSD files even when ya don't think ya will need 'em again! 4.Save out ALL layered PSD files even when ya don't think ya will need 'em again!

LOL!!!!  It's true though....you can amend or correct a layered file but if you didn't save out the layers well, then you are going to have to start from square one.  

I did find a calendar online that gives me the weeks the way I am doing them.  Like Week one corresnponds to January 1-4.  Week 34 corresponds to August 17-23.  I know this wouldn't work for you PL-ers who do Saturday to Saturday but it works for me as I start my week on Sunday.  If you want to see the calendar it is here: http://www.calendar-365.com/2014-calendar.html

Anyway here is the left side for Week 34 and I used items from the Traci Reed August kit.

I love the blues and oranges together although I am NOT a fan of GATOR  or Auburn colors.  Go 'Noles!  ;)

Anyway, here is a closeup of the left side:

I used the Week Thirty Four stamps from Ali Edwards (this one is called Messy Line). 

Here is the right side:

I love these pages loaded with photos of the grandkids! 

In fact, I'm heading up in a while to see them!

Happy Crafting!

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!

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: 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 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!!!

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!