So, how does this Project Life thing work?

It's been fun conversing with my buddies, both in the flesh and virtually, regarding what we want to "do" with our Project Life purchases.  A couple of interesting things have surfaced.
Those of us who are "old school scrappers" find the repetitive nature of the cards to be limiting.  We had to remind ourselves to expand our creativity as far as we wished---use embellishments and letter stickers and such.

• The last time I did PL, I worked with entire double-page spreads.  This put the "creativity pressure" on me to make them cute or dramatic...definitely unified.  This time, I am attempting a Project 365 picture-a-day.  At first, I thought, "I have lost my mind!"  However, it has freed me beyond belief.  The unity comes in the random nature of the photos.  It's just...life!  If I see something that deserves more than that, I will expand it to its own page.  
• Those who are newer to scrapbooking look at this and are a little intimidated.  We have established that some monthly "Project Life" dates will be needed (and fun!).  However, as a seasoned PL-er, I know exactly how easy Becky has made this, and, with a little help, the newer scrapbookers will get the cadence with very little instruction necessary.
• The journaling is also intimidating to newer scrapbookers.  That's where the wordless or practically wordless cards come in.  Look cute with no pressure!  I have a sample below.
• I am not using my printer, if I can avoid it, for photo printing.  I learned that fading occurs over time, depending on the ink, the paper, the storage area...so many variables.  So, I am sending a week at a time to CVS.  Why not wait until I have 50 photos and get the "deal?"  Because we are talking about less than $3 a week for photos that I know will last.  Also, I need the more immediate visual of my page.  That means some planning that is different from normal.  I took some pics of the process rather than the finished product for those who need to see a way to attack this.

I felt like the journaling needed to take precedence.  I cannot recall what day of the week it is, much less what happened on that day.  So, I did the journaling first, knowing what pics I would pair up. I put Post-Its in the areas where I wanted certain photos.

Note the divider.  A. I love chevron, therefore, it was an automatic score!  B. I love that it was not month-dependent.  I am starting at the end of March, so the divider says "March-April."  You don't even need to use it to state months.  Brilliant to keep these blank, Becky!

Journaling need not be paragraphs of correct grammar.  It is about thoughts.  I like the addition of cards that allow you to jot a few words about the photo.  I also appreciate the small nature of the cards.  If you have more to say, use the folded cards.  Or, you might see in the future my branching out to little flip pages that I have seen on Pinterest.  I used the date stamp that was included with the original PL a few years back.  These are also available at office stores or craft stores.

An anchor is important to me.  I like the larger cards with several lines where I can do a brief summary of the week.  I might not do this every week, but the option is there.

Here is a sample of a treated photo.  Now, if you are new to photo documenting or scrapbooking, do not make this your goal.  This added time to the process for sure.  However, I wanted to allow you to see how I was connecting pictures, dates, and journaling.

I did not put the dates in a consistent place, because sometimes the white would be on top of white in the photo.  I am OK with the inconsistency.  That's huge for me to even type. :)

When I get the photos, I will show the whole shebang.  

Project Life, Edition 2, Begins

Oh happy day! Look at what came my way today!

Quite hard to contain my excitement.  Of course, I broke in the Cameo.  What a beautiful machine.  Truly.  I only experimented, nothing major.  But I tell ya.  Instant love.

I spent most of my evening working on my cover page for Project Life.  You may recall that a few years back, I participated in the original launch of PL.  If you thought I was excited then, you have NO idea how excited I am now.  Back in 2010, Becky Higgins started with one album kit (now called the Cherry Edition) and an idea: make archiving life easier and more accessible to everyone, especially working moms.  The kit came with page protectors, journaling cards, title cards, a date stamp, and an album.  The cards were printed on one side, unless they were the folded journaling cards.  I loved the album, and I cranked out a ton of pages.

Now, Becky's idea has, well, exploded like Mt. St. Helens.  She has many, many styles to chose from, the introduction of mini albums, page protectors for vertical AND horizontal orientation, and everything is pieced out.  She has partnered with American Crafts, and not has a line of pens (which I purchased and have already fallen in love with) as well as the partnership with AC Digitals, which carries her many designs for PL in digital format.  The album set I purchased is called the Blush set.  I also purchased the AC Digitals Midnight album graphics.  I love the chevron nature of the Blush album, and most of the colors and graphics are up this girl's alley.  However, some of the cards just are not.  So what follows is a hybrid version of PL, and I am super excited to share.

Part of this layout's concept was borrowed from this wonderful cover page I pinned on Pinterest.  I loved how she used individual pics of her family members in the 3 x 4 spaces (which, if you are doing this, size your cards to 2.9 x 4...that's what actually fits in the sleeves).  I found a file with a rounded .png frame and recolored it to white (I will figure out how to create these on my own, but for now, HELLO Internet!).  I used Petunia Bounce font to write the names on each pic.  This will probably be the font I use throughout, as I love it so.  I treated the photos using Rad Lab.  I pledge my Photoshop neophyte love to this filter arrangement.  Do check it out if you are not so sure how to treat your photos to make them print beautifully. And yes, there's an app: Pic.Tap.Go.  I used the full fledged Rad Lab as I took my pics with what I lovingly call "Bertha," my Nikon D60.  My pic was snapped by my 16 year old!  Yeah, Ig!

The "bits & pieces*" card came with the Blush cards and is recommended for the first page (it's printed on the back of the card). I hemmed and hawed about this one, but I really like it as part of the finished page.  The card beside it is from the Midnight Edition.  I typed in "Three Hundred Sixty-Five, Two Thousand Thirteen, Two Thousand Fourteen."  Yup, I am going to try to do a photo a day.  We shall see how ambitious that might be.

On the bottom of the page, I used some cardstock from the Midnight Edition.  I cropped it to 4 x 6 in 300 dpi and found the parts with sayings that really fit best.  Then I printed on white cardstock.  The last card was part of the Blush Edition and is recommended for the first page.  I added some Amy Tangerine Thickers (recent purchase!) with our family name.  At first, I left it blank, but I felt the name was important.

Whew.  Can you say "overthought?"  From this point on, I am hoping it's not going to take me this long.  The title page is always my tough area.  I tried to get some yellow in, but it just did not blend.  Love the gray and blue.  It works well for me. :)

HSN and Unexpected Spring Snow

Little did they know that...

a) it is Spring Break for many a teacher-crafter

b) Central Illinois was getting 9 inches of snow thus keeping many of us homebound

...or did they?

Who is the "they" of whom I speak?  Home Shopping Network and their band of wallet-sucking bandits, that's who.  So, yes, I purchased the Blush edition of Project Life, and the Project Life Pens.  The pens were not a "splurge," I sure did need them.  Then, low and behold, they were selling the Silhouette Cameo.  The what?  This...

And you could spread out your payments interest-free.  The price was not necessarily better.  Just the idea of not plopping all the money down at once.  

Let is not forget AC Digitals, the company that decided that they should offer a sneak peek at the Midnight collection in digital.

So now that I am broke, I thought I should actually craft!  So, I wrapped up a page in my Ali Edwards One Little Word album.  Recall that my word for this album is "strength."  This page contained nine different song quotes that in some way related to my word.  I mixed stamps and my own writing, and copied Ali's design a great deal.  I pulled out some Hero Arts and Making Memories alpha stamps and remembered why I fell in love with them all over again.  I also tried to keep the red theme going throughout.

My choices:

1) raise your glass if you are wrong in all the right ways  ~Pink~

2) I am beautiful no matter what they say words can't bring me down  ~Christina Aguilera~ 

3) better stand tall when they're calling you out, don't bend, don't break, baby, don't back down ~Bon Jovi~

4) we will run and not grow weary, for our God will be our strength ~church hymn "We Will Rise Again"~

5) set up high I'm strong enough to take these dreams and make them mine ~Creed~

6) I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down ~Chumawamba~

7) don't give up ~Peter Gabriel~

8) baby dry your eyes, save all the tears you've cried, that's what dreams are made of, 'cause we belong in a world that must be strong  ~Van Halen~

9) smile though your heart is aching  ~Nat King Cole~

This Just Purchased

Yes, indeed, I am leaping back in to Project Life.  One word: Chevron.  Three letters: HSN.  Despite my multiple, unfinished projects, I shall be getting the Blush kit here in about a week...although the reality of working on it will probably not surface until May when a LOT in my life has died down.

I also bought the Project Life pen kit, as I am in dire need of some good journaling pens.

I need a twelve-step program.

This Weekend in Crafty Land

First, a card. This one is for a couple who is welcoming to children into their lives after much waiting!

I used mainly Stampin' Up! products.  The elephant is from Die Cuts with a View.  The sentiment is from SU! Warm Words.  I used Cuttlebug's French Dots embossing folder, which I have not used in quite a while!  The baker's twine did the trick, as did the button.  I used SU! White craft ink for the stamping on the card, and AC's white gel pen for the border.

I also worked a bit on February's entry for my Move More Eat Well album for February.  Here's January/February side-by-side.  Eleven pounds down.  And yes, there's my weight!  Yikes!

I finished my exercise calendar for January.  It's really nice seeing the workouts over the course of a month.  Used some SU! stickers for a little pop.

Journaling and February's "one thing" wrapped up the month.

Interesting...I cropped these with my iPhone, but the cropping did not seem to keep.  Ah well.

Portrait of the Non-Painter Branching Out

As I play catch up on my One Little Word album from 2012...or, I mean, as I continue my relationship with my word, strength, Ali suggested that we break out some painting and explore collage.  She made a very cool video of herself going through the process which, I must admit, made me less intimidated that when she first suggested the process.  Collage done well kind of escapes me.  I am sooooo linear.  Collage is soooo all over the place.  And Ali Edwards puts it together in a way that looks completely planned.  That is talent.

I am focusing on the color red as much as I can in this album, which again branches out from my "comfort palette."  I decided I would use a taupe color as the base of my "petite canvases."

I started with sponging some red over one of the cards and that became my focal piece for the page.  Then, I looked at stamps and embellishments that would tie in to the theme of "strength."  Here's what I came up with. (pardon the iPhone quick pics)

This canvas incorporates a few collage elements.  Ali used a variety of stamps, an area that I definitely can cover!  One of the things in my life that seems to put a dent in my armor of strength is death.  For whatever reasons, the death of significant people in my life has led to a constant battle with depression for me.  So, I knew one of the canvases had to have that as its theme.  

One of the canvases represents the idea of being strong in the face of public ridicule and judgment.  It focuses on the idea of measuring up, a type of reminder to me that measuring up to everyone's expectations is an unattainable goal. A strong person creates her own unit of measure and stands by that, regardless of the thoughts and opinions of others.  

No page is complete without some mention of seizing the day.  For this canvas, I used rub ons, stickers, stamps, and paint.  Some days, I feel too tired to even seize anything but my pillow.  Seizing the day means overcoming anything that might anchor me in another spot besides where I need to go.

Serenity has always been synonymous with strength to me.  True peace, true calmness, comes with the inner strength to block out the things that keep one from being serene.

Here is the tale of rub ons that made me want to scream.  The saying is perfect.  The rub ons...not so much.  They drove me crazy.  They would not adhere, and when they did, parts of the letters would break off.  Lots of elbow grease to get these on.  The center one from Stampin' Up! went on like buttah.  I think the saying speaks for itself as far as why it got such a prominent place on the page.

Love the symbol of a tree as far as strength is concerned!  Think of all a tree must endure.  Right now, it is in the single digits outside.  During the summer, it can reach up to 100 degrees.  A tree is out there, no matter what, and survives a great deal of changes.  The Bloom Where You're Planted rub on is a reminder that strength comes in accepting what is and making the best of each situation you are given.

I knew I wanted to get embossing in the page somewhere, as I love the texture, and I have several embossing folders that exude strength, like the one that made this pattern.  I see strength in calmness, so this card worked very well on the page.

I had to use a chevron pattern somewhere on the page, as it's a very strong, linear pattern.  I created a canvas about  friends to remind me of the importance of friends in holding me up when I need it.  That also is something that needs to be reciprocated, and I need to offer them strength when they need it.  I talk to my pals on the phone, and text them often, so I added the little red phone.

I believe that each mistake made in life is there to serve as putty to make a person stronger, not weaker.  Allowing myself to make mistakes is something I did not always do, and I still fight with that idea of things being less than perfect.  This canvas reminds me of the strength of continuing on and learning after mistakes.

Here is the final page (sorry for the cruddy lighting).  I think it's cool to look at as a unit to see how the page works and balances in the scrapbook.  Thanks, Ali Edwards, for pushing me a bit outside my comfort zone. I really loved the process of creating this and the thoughtfulness it required.

Scrapbook Surge

For whatever reason, Winter Break seems to bring out in me a "scrapbook surge."  Perhaps it's the extended "time off?"  Perhaps it's the idea of a brand spanking new year?  Who knows?  What I know is that it is better for me than any drug.  I feel like I could work all night on scrapbooking when the surge hits.

If you are a Carpe Die-hard, you may recall that I started two (allegedly) year-long books that coincided with two Big Picture Scrapbooking classes.  One, Move More Eat Well (MMEW) was guided by the talented Mrs. Cathy Zielske.  The other, One Little Word (OLW) was designed by the fabulous Ali Edwards.  I made it in good faith month after month until about March/April, when I fell off the crafty radar for whatever reason.  I have this weird idea in my head that all is for naught if I fall behind.  Really?  Tonight helped me get over that stupidity.

I blogged last night about my decision to participate in MMEW 2.0.  Then, tonight, I went to town on getting some pages done. And I love them.  

First, I had to fill the gaps from last year that made me feel like I had "failed" in the scrapbook and the goal of staying healthy.  Enter: patterned paper.

That made things feel a little less "undone."  Then, I moved on to the very easy assembly of the new year's pages.  Cathy is not using divided page protectors this year, so it's all 8.5 x 11.  I am doing a hybrid in that parts are printed and pieced together, and parts are printed right on the page.

There were several color schemes to choose from.  I chose lime and gray.  I love that the chevron pattern is this year's choice.  I am quite fond of chevron.  I tried to use my favorite photos of myself from times when I was quite happy.  I also tried to print off pictures of good foods that I enjoy eating, to prove to myself that I actually can eat something besides garbage.  Finally, I changed the spine of the album.

In OLW, I finished up April (with a May photo, but don't tell anyone...).  It included a letter to my future self.

I have a bit more to do from the month of May, but that's for another day.  Whew.  That was a lot, but it felt great!