Project Life - Week 45

This was election week. I went with a red (mostly) and blue theme. :)

I added an insert because I had several instagram photos this week and I wanted to include them all. I have the hardest time leaving out pictures, because they usually tell different stories, they aren't just the same shot in many copies, and using inserts is ideal for me.

Here's what the spread looks like once you turn the insert.

On the left page I went with two full pocket pages with some added journaling.

I used the Design C photo pockets for the right page. And here are some detailed shots.

I used the 6x6 paper pad from the Basic Grey Fact&Fiction line from JoAnn's - I love this line! The alpha stickers are by October Afternoon. I love little alpha stickers, they are just perfect to title my Project Life pages!

Two instagram photos and a screenshot from my Dancing with the Stars votes.

I used the Studio Calico Stepping Stone alpha inked with Colorbox pigment ink to title this card, and took a screenshot of the election results from a news website.

I took a picture of the die cuts in the Fact & Fiction line. So cute!! I cut out the "happy" with my Silhouette, and colored it with a marker.

I used a little tag by Elle's Studio and a piece of a grid card to add journaling to this photo.

I had plenty of space on this photo, so I journaled straight onto it with an American Crafts pen.

The 4"x4" of the Design I insert are perfect for an instagram photo + some journaling. :) Instagram has certainly changed the way I document my everyday!

I cut out the red and white pinked circle with the Silhouette.

The red heart was cut out of vellum with my Silhouette, and I colored it with a red marker.

This wasn't an instagram photo, but I cropped it square anyway. ;)

I rarely use black&white pictures, but I do love the look - I just have to remind myself to try it out more often!

I wore a pretty outfit to a concert but DH didn't want to take a picture of me, so I took this shoeless self shot to at least have something to remember it by.

And this is all for Week 46! :) My mom has been here for the past 10 days, so I'm a bit behind: Week 47 is halfway done, and as soon as my mom leaves :-( I will get back to working on it. And December is starting soon - I can't wait to put some Christmas goodies to use in my album! ;)

Document Your December and Black Friday at The Lilypad

Yesterday was Black Friday in the U.S., the day for crazy sales and holiday shopping. Last year (for the first time) we braved the crowds and went shopping at ~6am, but this year I decided not to. We're too busy, and didn't really have much to buy. Instead, I did some very rewarding online shopping, followed by a quick dash to the mall at 10 AM - we visited 3 stores and didn't have to fight the crowds. ;) But hands down, online shopping rocks. And the sale that is going on at The Lilypad on all Christmas and winter products is perfect to gear up for December Daily!

I successfully completed a December Daily album in the past two years, so I know what works and what doesn't work for me. This year I decided to combine the December Daily album with Project Life (I wouldn't have enough material and motivation to keep up with two albums at the same time!), so I'll be using the Project Life concept (document the little things, use photo pocket pages) but in a mini album format. I am using an 8.5"x5.5" binder by Martha Stewart from Staples. I chose this size because it's perfect for hybrid, and I'm all for saving paper when I print. :) In 2010 I made all my foundation pages of the album ahead of time, because I was traveling in December. In 2011 I didn't, because I was home and wanted to have the freedom to choose the design based on the photos I had for each day. This year, I will also go with the freedom approach :), but since the holiday products that have already been put in the store are so tempting, I have done a few pockets already. :) Here's what I used.

Last year I started the tradition of our Elf on the Shelf, and I am excited to bring him out again this year. The tree went up yesterday, so I have a feeling he'll make an apparition soon. ;) Here are a few other goodies I've used so far.

It's no mystery that I love deer and reindeer (and glitter too! LOL), so these cards by Paislee Press had to go straight in my album. :) Here's a peek at the pockets I've made so far.

Credits:
A Christmas Tradition by Jenn Barrette and Valorie Wibbens

Christmas Journal Cards and Ephemera: Trimming the Tree by Sahlin Studio

Peace and Love word arts by Little Butterfly Wings

Pocket Stuffers no. 2 by Valorie Wibbens

Press cards no. 18 by Paislee Press

The Serif's Sister font by Heather Hess

Reindeer paper from Kitschy Christmas by Jenn Barrette and Sahlin Studio

I will be rearranging my pockets around once I start actually working on the album, but I think I'm off to a great start! :)

Thankful

So much to be thankful for this year, and this season especially..

Credits:

Hello Gorgeous papers and Hello Gorgeous elements by Mari Koegelenberg

We Were Here elements by Paislee Press

Good Harvest by CD Muckosky

Thirty Days of Gratitude by Little Butterfly Wings

Font: Strangelove

I hope you are all having a lovely time too!

Project Life - Week 44

Still catching up on posting the latest weeks up on the blog. This is the week when I started being current again: Week 44. :) It was Halloween week.

I started with some digital journaling cards by Digital Design Essentials and then just added some of the grid journaling cards, both in 3x4 and 4 x 6 size. I cut down the 4x6 to 4x4 to fit in the pockets on the right side. The photo pocket pages I used are Design F and the 3x3 design by We R Memory Keepers.

My color scheme was orange, black and pink. Nice for Halloween! I used some cuts that I made with my Silhouette digital cutter.

Here are the detailed shots.

I think this title card was perfect for Halloween week. ;) Spooky but not scary. :) The "beware" card went very well with the journaling, since we had a rough day indeed that day! The title was cut from a paper from the Crate Paper Snow Day collection. I bought it a couple of years ago and it is much thicker than the papers they sell today! It gave me some trouble cutting in the Silhouette. :)

Each year I put together a calendar for our families (I've been doing this since 2009!) and have them printed by Artscow because you just cannot beat the value. So in September/October I'm usually cranking out all the calendar toppers to place my order before Christmas gets too close. :) I got my calendars and they turned out just great! I added piece of the shipping slip on the journaling card, along with a stamp by Ali Edwards stamped with Ranger Tim Holtz Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink Pad.

Here I used a handy stamp alpha by EK Success.

Lots of instagram shots are finding their way into my album! :)

Stepping Stone alpha stamp (numbers) by Studio Calico/Hero Arts.

I bought my mom's Christmas present! I added the sticker that came with it on my card, along with a picture from the website, and I used a snowflake stamp as a border to go with the Christmas theme. :)

I've been adding more full size pictures in my Project Life album, and I love it!

I love cutting vellum in my Silhouette!

I love these 4"x4" slots - perfect to fit instagram photos!

After cutting this pretty snowflake out of vellum, I needed to make it stand out, so I sprayed a journaling card (cut down to 4x4) with brown mist.

Here I combined some letters cut with the Silhouette and Studio Calico alpha stamps.

And that's it for Week 44! ;)

Project Life - Week 43

This was a fun week to put together. I mainly used 3x4 and 4 x 6 Grid Cards, with some memorabilia from the week added in. All the little embellishments and stickers I used are from the fabulous Fact & Fiction line by Basic Grey.

I had several pictures this week (we went to the pumpkin patch, as you can see ;)) so I made an insert using the Design H pockets (I recommend the small variety pack to have a few different insert designs on hand). Here's what the album looks like with the insert page turned.

And here's a closer look at the front and back of the insert.

For the left page I used a Design C Photo Pocket page.

And for the right page I used a Design F Photo Pocket page. Lots of orange in the photos this week, but I love how the blue of the sky pops out! :)

In Instead of having a full pocket dedicated to the title, I just added the title to a large photo.

We have apple trees in the backyard, and deer love apples. :) This adorable deer jumped right in our backyard and it was so funny to watch it eat the apples! Can you see it in his mouth? :) He gobbled it up in one piece! :) Too cute.

This fabulous "hello there" tag is from packaging of an order from Paper Coterie (see a few cards below) - I thought it was perfect to go with the picture of the deer! I loved the colors too, so I matched the red and blue in the rest of the spread.

I bought this stamp just because of the adorable deer, and it was perfect for this card! :)

DH and I are big Dancing with the Stars fans, and we vote for out favorites. I always make sure we take screenshots of out votes to that I can include them in my album. I think it will be fun to look back at these, but who knows? Maybe we won't even remember who these people are.. :)

I've been holding onto this card by Marcy Penner (Hello Forever) for a while.. I got it in a class kit from Studio Calico, and I used it here because the blue matched my color scheme. I love the look!

Here's my order from Paper Coterie. Again I added part of the packaging - it was so well designed that I wanted to keep it. That's why I love Project Life so much!

I split this picture into two pockets, along with the heading. The date stamp is the smash one.

I added a label done with my DYMO. And that's it for Week 43! :)