Project 52 Cards - First Month Done

Hard to believe January has come to an end already! Here are the cards from the past couple of weeks:

You can see the Week 4 card here.

You can see the Week 5 card here.

Moving forward, I have decided I will no longer "force" my husband to pose for pictures. My Project 52 Cards continues (we both enjoy it too much to stop! ;)), but I won't have the weekly photos here on the blog.

After the excitement of a car accident I was involved in yesterday (not fun, I tell you! - but no major damage and no injuries, so at least that's good), I am hoping for a more quiet rest of the week. I do have a busy schedule, though, and a very long list of things I want to scrap with this week! The February BYOC is coming out this Friday at The Lilypad and it's absolutely delicious! In the meantime, make sure to stop by tomorrow for a huge collab.

Quick Card

I made a quick card last night, inspired by my heart garland - it features lots of hearts and sewing.

Credits:

Lost Without You by Jenn Barrette

When I finished sewing the hearts to the card, it felt a bit empty, so I added some splats of paint - not sure that I love them, but it was too late to go back! ;)

And yes, that's my Project Life album used as a backdrop - I was working on it last night. Almost done with week 4, but it's not likely that I'll have pictures to share for at least a day or two.

Hearts Garland

Yikes! I spent the whole morning helping out DH fixing some cabinets in the kitchen to the wall, and I was itching for some crafty time instead! I still have to begin my Project Life spread for this week... In the meantime, though, I made a heart garland with Jenn Barrette's new kit, out today:

I printed out 8 different patterned paper on Epson double-sided matte presentation paper, cut out some hearts by hand, and sew them together with my sewing machine.

It turned out so cute!! I made 6 strands of 8 hearts each. The only problem is that they tangle easily, so you need to keep the strands separate once you've made them. I hung 3 to the new cabinet in the kitchen, and I will probably put the other 3 on my bulletin board.

When I have some spare time (yeah, sure.... ;)) I plan to punch out a few shapes from double sided paper and create garlands to use to decorate gifts.

With the paper leftovers, I made some confetti.. and I feel an addiction growing! I will likely find an use for them in my Project Life album.

ETA 2.4 - This project was featured in the MSA magazine.

Free Kit Anyone?

Are you a fan of Sahlin Studio? If you like her page on Facebook, you can get this awesome kit for free!!

A very sweet gift indeed!

Project Life - Week 3

I'm very excited to share week 3 of my Project Life album! Once again, though, I have to apologize for the poor quality of the photos... I have no natural light available (it's a gloomy, rainy day here) so this is the best I could do. Unlike the previous weeks, this week I didn't have time to work on my album on Wednesday night, but I worked on it Friday night instead, then finished up Sunday evening. The process was very smooth.

Here is a closer look to the two pages:

Unlike the past two weeks, the design of this week was not inspired from a card; I got the color scheme from the breakfast picture and went from there. It was fun to see how the yellow recurred in subsequent pictures as well - I swear I wasn't looking for it on purpose! :)

I did however draw inspiration from a card for the little banners here. :) Having barely mastered straight stitches, freehand sewing does not come too easy to me, but I think it turned out well enough! ;) I stitched down the leftovers from the banner to embellish two cards on the right page.

I didn't use any cards from the Clementine kit this week, since my color scheme was pretty unique. But that's OK. I had some of the digital bits already printed out, and printed out more to match. I went with DH to Lowe's yesterday and stopped to pick up a few paint chips. It was just perfect to fill up one of the pockets (top right)! :) I also got all excited when I saw some bigger paint samples, because it looked like they were 4"x6", but in fact they are more like 4"x5.5"... annoying, but I'm sure I'll find a good use for them. :)

Supplies:
Today paper pack and Today Journal Cards by Valorie Wibbens
Good Life tag by Lauren Reid
Digital washi tape from This and Thats by The Tattered Pear
Becky Higgins Project Life blank journaling cards
Smash date stamp K&C company + Tim Holtz distress ink
Mr. Huey mist
Pens: Micron 03 + Faber Castell
Washi and fabric tape from InTheClear

Puppy Love

What a busy weekend I've had! Nothing major, just some shopping with DH and then finishing week 3 of my Project Life (pictures to come tomorrow, I do not have the energy to take them tonight), but I am exhausted! I am not ready for Monday to be almost here. :-/ Anyway, this weekend I also played with the new releases by Jenn Barrette:

Isn't this kit adorable? ;)

And these cutouts are so cool! Here's the card I made with them:

Have a good start of the week! I'll be back soon with pictures of week 3. :)

Happy Birthday TLP!

The Lilypad is turning 5, and there's a whole weekend of fun planned to celebrate this birthday!

There are many games and challenges going on in the forum, with lots of chances to win prizes! I am hosting two challenges. The first one is the Kiss the Frog challenge, which is lots of fun and my personal favorite (I won a Kiss the Frog contest a few months back, became a Guest Polly... and the rest is history! ;)):

And then I'm also hosting the Polly Match Game, which is really fun too:

There are 12 baby pictures and you have to match them to the correct Pollys. I had DH try it last night and he only got 3 out of 12... (one was me)!!! :-D But I'm sure you'll do much better than that! :)

I also made a page for another challenge in which we have to scrap about what happened on our birth date (day or year). I scrapped about the date:

Credits:

Newspaper Print Papers by Jenna Desai

Newsies papers by Jacque Larsen

News to Me Alphabet by Rachel Young

Everything else from Wicked Smart collab by The Lilypad designers

Fonts: The Serif's Sister by Heather Hess and The First Day of School by Heather Hess

ETA: Woot!! I got a GSO today for this page!!

Do check out the birthday forum for more fun games, including Make a Wish giveaways! And there are chats and speed scraps too! But that's not all! There's a FREE kit for you too!

Just like TLP on Facebook and you'll be able to download this gorgeous collab! I hope to see you around this weekend at TLP!

Today - The Collection

Mari Koegelenberg has a new collection out today and I am so excited to share it with you!

It is chock full of great bits and pieces to make your P365/Project Life come together much more easily! My favorite parts are the arrows, the days of the week, and the journaling cards. But I love it all!! :) Last year I fell behind on my Prohect 365 and I have over 20 weeks that haven't been scrapped yet. So I decided to get back to it in my spare time and get as much done as possible, and here's my Week 33:

Credits:

Today collection by Mari Koegelenberg

Font: CK Noah

Here's a closer look:

This was the week we were in Alaska, and luckily I had all the photos already edited and ready to go.

It feels so good to have one more week done for my P365/2011 album!

Getting Ready to Party!

Yikes, I am so late posting this! I am running a bit behind this week, getting ready for the birthday celebrations at The Lilypad! ;)

I haven't even had a chance to work on my Project Life yet, yikes! But for today I want to show two products that are 50% off - such a great deal!

Here's my page (only 2 pages left for my mom's spring visit album!!!):

Credits:

Simple Scrap Templates no. 3 by Emily Merritt

Best Friends by Jenna Desai

Project Life - Week 2

It's time to share week 2 of my Project Life album! The process was very smooth for me this week as well. I worked on the spread on Wednesday night - figured out the design and printed out the first few bits. Then during the weekend I printed out the rest of the stuff. I didn't finish on Sunday though (still had a couple of photos to print out), but I had my photos picked and edited, and was just waiting to have a couple of photos for this week ready to print out (I have a weird mania of not wasting paper ;) ).

While I love how my spread turned out this week, I really hate the pictures I took of it - I didn't have any natural light available, and this is the best I could get. It is so frustrating! Here is a look at the individual pages:

Like last week, the design+color scheme for the whole spread was derived from a card I made this past week. (actually, this time around I made the card after designing the PL spread) Great way to optimize my time! This week I was able to incorporate more of the Clementine kit: both of the blue journaling cards on the left page are from the kit, as well as the blue one at the top right on the right page.

I printed out the date with the date stamp as usual, but I used a pink Tim Holtz distress ink, to match the color scheme of the page. I like how it turned out! Here is a little scene I love:

This week I even included 2 inserts (just regular 8.5"x11" protectors). I found a fun printable with a few questions about the past year and hopes for the new year (I pinned it here if you're interested), and I thought it would be a cool thing to include in the album. It's supposed to be for kids - there's also an adult version, but I figured I had better chances of having DH fill in the kid version, and I was right! I didn't even have to insist to have him fill it in! So the first protector has his questionnaire on the front and mine on the back. The second protector has an admission letter I received and on the back a character sheet.

Yikes, I cringe at how bad these pictures are. I hope to have better luck next week with natural light!

Supplies:

Vintage Poinsettia papers by Sahlin Studio and Vintage Poinsettia elements by Sahlin Studio and Precocious Papers

Smash date stamp K&C company
Becky Higgins Project Life blank journaling cards and Clementine kit cards
Bunnies and snow bubble from Snow Bunny by Jenn Barrette
Stickles
Pen: Micron 03
Washi tape from InTheClear

Project 52 Cards - Another Year Begins

After completing my Project 52 Cards successfully in 2011 (I gave DH a card made by me every week of the year, and have pictures to prove it! ;) ), I am continuing in 2012 as well. Here are the first 3 weeks' worth of photos.

You can see the Week 1 card here. (I am counting Jan. 1 as one week in this case, unlike what I'm doing in my Project Life)

You can see the Week 2 card here.

You can see the Week 3 card here.

Happy Monday everyone! I haven't finished my Week 2 of my Project Life yet - still have to print a couple photos for Saturday&Sunday, but it shouldn't take long. :) So look for it tomorrow!

Project Life - Washi Tape

***warning - serious washi tape enabling ahead! Proceed with caution!***

For many months, I occasionally browsed the online shops and Etsy, looking for washi tape. I often saw some pretty rolls that I wanted, but I never took the plunge to buy anything. Until this past Thursday, when my washi obsession took on a whole new level. I found this Etsy shop through a scrapper's blog, and I felt I needed to get me some tape for my Project Life album. I compiled an essential list of the tapes I couldn't pass on, and it amounted to thirteen (13!). So, since I felt incredibly guilty about spending $60 on washi tape, I went to DH and asked him what he wanted for Valentine's Day (we usually exchange gifts). He said he didn't want anything, but (just as I'd planned!) he proceeded to ask me what I wanted - and I nonchalantly handed him over my little list of thirteen tapes. Since he is pretty awesome in letting me buy what I want, he told me to proceed with the purchase, which I promptly did. Somehow, though, when I added the rolls to my cart, I had to add a fourteenth... ;) There was a pretty purple tape that I just had to have. And I mean, when you're buying 13 rolls of washi tape, what's to stop you from getting 14 instead?

Anyway, I am writing this post because I was greatly impressed by the excellent service of this Etsy shop, InTheClear, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is developing an obsession with washi tape. I placed my order on Thursday early afternoon; she processed the order immediately, refunded me $5 for overshipping, and put my tape in the mail right away. On Saturday, I had the package in my hands already! Each roll of tape was wrapped individually in a clear plastic bag and packaged in the most adorable little kraft box. She included a darling thank you note and a cool 2012 calendar too! She put in the bag a print out of my order with pictures of the tape I had ordered so I could easily check that everything was there. And since one of the tapes I had ordered seemed damaged (the roll is not perfectly uniform, but it's still totally usable), she added in another extra one. And as fate has it, the 'damaged' tape was the purple one I had added last minute - when I added it, I debated quite a bit between two beautiful floral purple tapes, and I was lucky to end up getting both for the price of one! OK, enough talking, it's time for some pictures! Here's what I got:

Be on the lookout to see these pretty tapes in my album soon! ;)

Tooth Fairy Box

Jenn Barrette has teamed up with Valorie Wibbens to create this gorgeous kit, and it's 20% off throughout the weekend! It's available at the Sweet Shoppe and at The Lilypad.

I used it to repurpose a little box (it contained a little flashlight I won at a raffle) and turn it into a Tooth Fairy box. :)

I love how it turned out!! I am totally in love with that star paper!!

Since I don't have any kids I won't be using it as a tooth box, in fact I am already using it to hold some little bits and pieces for my Project Life. :)

ETA: I got a GSO on the MeSoScrappy blog for this project!

Project Life - Week 2 Peek

As promised in my previous post, I have a peek of my Project Life week 2 page to share.

Credits:

Vintage Poinsettia papers by Sahlin Studio and Vintage Poinsettia elements by Sahlin Studio and Precocious Papers

On Wednesday nights, DH has choir practice, from 7 to 9 PM. This gives me about 2.5 hrs of undisturbed crafting time ;) and it looks like I'll be using it to work on my Project Life this year. So far, it has worked out for me really well to work on my left page of the weekly spread on Wednesday and then finish up the right page during the weekend. After last week's experience, I started working on this week's spread directly at the computer. And with these gorgeous new papers and elements by Sahlin Studio, I knew right away what to use for my page. I haven't printed out all the pieces for the left page yet, but I do have them all thought out. In fact, I used part of it as an inspiration for this card. I can't wait to share more - hopefully Sunday night I'll have my spread done!

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday! I do have a lot of pretty stuff to share today from the new releases at The Lilypad! :) I worked from home this whole week, and allowed myself plenty of crafty time in the evenings, which was super nice! :)
First off, a gorgeous new kit by Sahlin Studio:

These colors are beautiful! As soon as I saw these papers, I knew they'd be perfect for my Project Life! (check back later for a sneak peek at how I used them in my Week 2! ;) ) I also used them for a card:

Credits:

Vintage Poinsettia papers by Sahlin Studio and Vintage Poinsettia elements by Sahlin Studio and Precocious Papers

Sweet and Skinny Alpha by Sahlin Studio

Font: Pea Pumpkin Peters

They are all digital shadows except for the flower, which is cut out and glued on. I also used the kit to scrap two more pages about my mom's visit last spring (only 3 pages to go to finish the album!!):

Credits:

Kick It Photos templates by Amy Martin

Vintage Poinsettia papers by Sahlin Studio and Vintage Poinsettia elements by Sahlin Studio and Precocious Papers

Alpha from Xoxo by Emily Merritt and Laura Banasiak

Font: Pea Pumpkin Peters

I used a multi-photo template by Amy Martin, also new today, to scrap this page. I had way too many photos to fit and the template really helped me maintain my sanity! :)

Credits:

Vintage Poinsettia papers by Sahlin Studio and Vintage Poinsettia elements by Sahlin Studio and Precocious Papers

4x6 Photo Collages by Designs by Lili

Tell Me the Story word art and Sweet and Skinny Alpha by Sahlin Studio

Font: Pea Pumpkin Peters

I also could not resist this fun, bright, adorable kit:

In the past few days, as Valentine stuff started popping up on Pinterest, I was thinking how I am not in the mood for anything Valentine yet. But then I saw this kit... and I knew I had to use it right then and there! :)

Credits:

Xoxo by Emily Merritt and Laura Banasiak

The Typewriter font by Heather Hess

For one week, the kit comes with a free with purchase add on of valentines (the piano one I used is an example) and they are just adorable! This one I chose was just perfect for DH, since his great love is music. I do plan to print it out and give it to him too!

PS: I made a new blog header last night. What do you think?

Reflections on the New Year

Leora Sanford has a new kit out today. It's all about change and it made me want to scrap a page about starting a new year.

Leora is one of the designers that do magic. I cannot explain it in any other way. I open up her kit, start putting things on my page, effortlessly, and I end up loving my page so much. It happened again with this page. It is quite different from my usual style, but I love it!

Credits:

Metamorphosis by Leora Sanford

Fonts: Pea Pumpkin Peters, CK Ali's hand

I usually avoid new year resolutions like the plague, because I hate not following through. But this year I am feeling really good about the new year. Maybe it's because I am writing my proposal and it feels so good to see the end of this PhD in sight. Maybe it's because DH and I are waiting to hear back about some interesting prospects for him and I am so hopeful. Or maybe it's because I am 30 and it's about time I made some resolutions and stuck to them! :) So, here goes. My resolutions this year are to work well, have fun crafting productively, keep up with my Project Life, lose weight and make exercise become a part of my routine. And most of all, enjoy the journey!

PL Style

I have been working hard on finishing up my mom's spring visit album. Since I had a lot of pictures to scrap, I decided to use the Project Life-type page protectors. They make it so easy to scrap many photos! Here are the two latest pages I made, using all BYOC products plus a journal card pack that is 50% off today:

Credits:

Today paper pack and Pockets no. 3 the basics by Valorie Wibbens

Good Life by Lauren Reid

You Make Me Smile journal cards by Sabrina Dupre

Word strips from Customizable Journal Cards No.2 by Designs by Lili

Fonts: Pea Pumpkin Peters, Sugar Shock font bundle by Lauren Reid and Darcy Baldwin

Credits:

Today paper pack, Today Journal Cards and Pockets no. 3 the basics by Valorie Wibbens

Word strips from Customizable Journal Cards No.2 by Designs by Lili

Only 4 pages left to go to finish this 60-page album!