Project Life: July Layouts

So, August is halfway over. I am definitely feeling it. August is a sad month. Summer is coming to a close, and I can’t help but feel like I didn’t enjoy it the way I usually do. I don’t remember the last time I sat by a pool with a summer beer or fruity mixed drink. I’ve got that summertime sadness (oh, ohoohoh).
As much as I enjoy the crisp weather of fall, I am stressing about the passing of time.
ANYWAY, a new month means last month’s Project Life layouts.

Only two major things happened in July: My friend Tracy’s wedding and our trip to Virginia.
So this was a short month of layouts, only really focusing on those two things, with a spread for random photos I took throughout the month and didn’t want to leave out.

 

I’m pleased with this layout as a whole, because I incorporated both the Sunshine core kit and some Studio Calico cards and embellishments. A particular favorite is the diamond wood veneer…perfect for a wedding! I also trimmed some portrait style photos down to 3x4 so they would be used in the layouts without adding more pages. I rounded them, which made them smaller, but I love the way they look. Sometimes, the pictures tell more than a journaling card can.

Out of this spread, only the grid card and heart card on the left are from the Sunshine kit. The title card is from the Summer cards and the rest are from various Studio Calico kits. I love the way it looks.
I’m also super pleased with the vertical page on the right.

Left page is ENTIRELY Studio Calico and I love it. The Thickers I used on the top left photo are from an Amy Tangerine collection, but everything else is SC. I love adding Thickers to photos. I also love my sister.

More small photos in the journaling card spaces. Love it.

Finally, the random moments that didn’t fit with the other layouts.

Ending with the vertical layout means starting with a vertical layout next month. That stresses me just a little bit.
I feel like I’m getting the hang of it, though.

Also, I’m still trying to find the best way to photograph my layouts. So many bloggers do it and they turn out great, but I end up with a lot of glare. Hopefully, I’ll find the perfect balance of light and background soon.

Scrapbooking On the Side: Instagram Album

As you know, I love me some Project Life. My passion for all things Becky Higgins, Project Life, or
embellishment-related (like a Studio Calico membership…more on that later) is at an all-time high.
It feels like forever since I’ve worked on my album, but May ends in just a few days, which means my pictures are prepped for printing and I’m excited to finally utilize some of my Instagram-friendly pocket pages this month.

And speaking of Instagram, Brad got me this great We R Memory Keepers Instagram album and pocket pages for my birthday and I finally got around to making my book! The inspiration is 100%% from TracyXO at The Single Girl’s Scrapbook. If you’re not reading her blog, hop to it! Her layouts (and her scrapbooking motivation) are inspiring!
A while back, she made an album focused on the IG hashtag #fromwhereIstand. I loved the idea, so much so that I began to lust after the album and wanted to make one of my own. I was ready to even go through and find any of my feet photos…but then I realized that my most used hashtag has got to be #NOTD (nails of the day). Those who know me know how much I love nail art, and I loved going through my IG feed and finding my favorite nail art.

These mini albums are adorable. When I picked mine out, I got it in one of those bundles on Amazon (where you save money by purchasing related items, in this case the photo pockets to match). There are various colors.

 
 

What I did/used:
We R Memory Keepers Instagram album
1 pack of 4x4 photo pages
1 pack of 2x2 photo pages
We R Memory Keepers IG card set in Indian Summer
4x4 photos (printed off of the Walgreens app straight from Instagram)
2x2 photos (printed via grids on PostalPix app straight from iPhone)
Fiskers Paper Cutter to separate the 2x2 photos

This project just took about 2 hours to do. Unlike my Project Life layouts, this is more photo heavy, with less journaling and even embellishments. For the first time ever, I wrote on the actual picture, something I’ve seen done multiple times but was always a little scared to do. I think this was the best way to try it.

I love the idea of doing this and having a little book that documents my nail art. This month has been pretty low-key in terms of my nails. I spent over a week with naked nails and, in fact, they are actually naked now. I truly love nail art and nail polish, but sometimes the inspiration isn’t there or my nails just need to breathe. As I get older, I know that other things will become priority over nails and so it will be nice to have something to look back on, as nail art has undoubtedly been a definitive part of my life for the last few years. Life is truly about the little things.

If you’re interested in making one of these albums, I recommended taking a look at your Instagram and seeing what types of photos/hashtags you use the most. Maybe you take photos of different coffees you’ve tried, pet photos, or whatever you love the most! Obviously, it can be random, but it’s fun to have a little book dedicated to what’s most important to you at that moment, even if it’s something seemingly silly!

P.S. While I put the album together, I took some square shots on my phone and turned it into a Flipagram.
You can check it out on my Instagram right here!

Crafty Moments: Floral Crowns

My friend Paulina and I have gotten closer simply because we love getting together and making things. She’s always been creative while I’m always trying to learn something new. We knew we wanted to have a “crafternoon” last week, but we weren’t sure what to work on. We brainstormed over lunch and ended up settling on floral crowns, something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time now. I made it mandatory to listen to Lana Del Rey’s albums on vinyl (she is the queen of floral crowns in my eyes) and we had fun making these pieces that has us hoping for spring!

 
 
 

We definitely had some wine in the afternoon. Wine helps with creativity. I’m sure that’s a scientifically proven fact.
Can’t wait for our next crafternoon!

Project Life: Month Completed/On to the Next!

I have to be honest, I’m actually kind of excited that February is such a short month. As soon as I finished putting together my January PL pages, I was ready for more! It took a while for me to finally have some time to put January together after coming back from Mexico (work has been giving me a lot more hours, which is nice), but I was a machine once I sat down with everything. Here’s a peek of January!
 
 
 

And here’s the little mess I set up for February’s pages!

My collection of scrapbooking materials has grown in the last month.
Archival ink pads, a label maker, 8 different colors of archival journaling pens, and so many stamps.
The best thing about Project Life is that you don’t really need to embellish…the cards are decorative on their own.
However, adding your own flare is one of the best parts!
I have over 100 photos for February…this should be interesting.

P.S. For those of you that follow me on Facebook, you probably saw that Becky Higgins, the creator of Project Life, regrammed a photo of my nail art, inspired by the Kraft edition core kit. Such an awesome moment!

Super Craft Sunday

So, I don’t really care much for sports. I enjoy a live baseball game or hockey game, but I’m often not even paying attention to the action and just enjoying the atmosphere. Same goes for the Super Bowl. I don’t really care about the game, but I love eating tons of wings and dips and the commercials and halftime show (if they are decent).
This year, Paulina and I decided to do some crafting while the guys watched the Super Bowl (kind of).
Paulina bought a bunch of ceramic mushrooms and we painted them with acrylic paints. Brad joined in and did a pretty awesome and elaborate mushroom house. He doesn’t really care about sports, either. I like that about him.

 
   
 

How awesome is Brad’s?
I wish I had taken a photo of our end results. Paulina made two really cool ones.

I did this purple gradient, but I ended up adding some silver glitter paint to the top and bottom of the mushroom, just to add a little oomph, so that still isn’t the finished product.

As with any craft, I get a little overwhelmed. Sometimes I have a vision, and that makes it a little easier to just go for it. Other times (most times), I have to start from scratch. But painting is such a fun, distracting activity. I made the darkest purple mixing paints and was pleased with the result. Not every item will turn out the way you want, but it’s fun to try!

Project Life: And we’re off!!

Now that a new month has begun, that means it’s time to start constructing the first month and pages of my Project Life binder! I have been anxious (in a good and a bad way) for this time to come and it’s finally here!
I’ve talked about my preparation for this pr0ject on the blog a few times so far.
You can read about that here and here.
Pictures were printed and picked up on Saturday.
The photo pages have been opened and inserted into the book.
Now, I just have to construct it!

The first thing I did was go through all of my printed photos and date them on the back.
To change this/make this easier this month, I’ve started saving them in my PLFebruary folder with the dates on the photo. It will definitely help me tell a story of each day or week.

 

After adding all of the photo pages from the big packet, I started to go through my Sunshine Core Kit to find with cards I wanted to use for my first (and last, though I only picked a couple) page. This is the most fun, but also most stressful, part. I want the pages to flow but there are also so many different designs and colors that it’ll be hard not to throw everything in and just go crazy!

Finally, I added some photos from the first few days of the year and some notes about it. The journaling cards are filled with my general goals for the year with this project and what any reader should expect to see a lot of in the book.
(Even though it will mostly be me and my family and friends.)

This is what I’ve got so far.
I have to say, doing this is making me want to have a lot more cohesive photos for this month. I think it will be easy, especially with my trip to Mexico next week! And it will help with page construction because they literally will tell a better story. Some pages are going to have a theme, such as monthly reads and nail art.

Sidebar:
This Recollections rounded corner punch might be my best purchase of the year so far.

I don’t plan on using it for every photo, but I love the look it gives.
It also helps the book flow, since all of the cards in the kit are rounded off.
I was worried that I would screw up the photos, but this awesome tool makes it basically impossible.
If you’re in the market for one, check it out at Michaels!

Project Life: Prep Time

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m planning on doing a Project Life scrapbook this year. People do them a variety of ways…a photo a day, constructing pages per week…but I decided to do it every month. I’ve been saving photos in a folder on my computer that I’ll print out at the pharmacy (no printer to do my own, but that’s okay). Once it’s printed, I’ll figure out my layouts per page and write on the journaling cards and embellish parts I feel need a little extra kick.
I’m excited and nervous and ready for the day that I get to put it all together.
In the meantime, I’ve gathered a lot of the equipment I need to get this party started.
I thought I’d show you what I have, since it’s changed since that first post up there.

Instead of the small album I initially bought, I now have a big 12x12 binder for the entire year.
I’m still excited about the small album I purchased, which I plan on using for a more isolated topic.

 

Once the big binder was purchased, a big photo back was necessary. Design A is pretty common, but since I also take a lot of vertical photos as well as Instagram photos, I purchased these additional pocket pages that will help change up the flow of the album and make room for a variety of pictures.

 

As previously mentioned, I purchased the Sunshine Edition kit designed by Elsie & Emma. I finally opened it and went through the cards and I’m in LOVE with the designs. I also got these textured cards that were designed for the same kit to add embellishments or smaller photos to. They were super discounted so I couldn’t say no!

 
 
 

Finally, I am gathering a pretty awesome collection of decorative tape and stamps. So excited about these.
The first photo is a rounded corner punch. I love the idea of rounding off some of my pictures so that it flows with the rounded edges of the card. I don’t know if I want to do it to all the pictures or not. Still, I love it!

I can’t wait to share more once I’ve started the actual project!

Project on a Whim: Bunting Flags

Like so many people, I adore bunting flags. They are the quickest way to lighten up and decorate a space.
Sure, you can buy them, but what if you want (or perhaps need, for a party) a particular color scheme or phrase?
I searched for a simple way to make bunting (I don’t know how to sew) and found this tutorial.
After that, I immediately headed to the craft store and got felt…that was the only thing I didn’t have for this project.
At .29 cents a piece, this is not an expensive craft at all. I bought 10 sheets, but I ended up using only 5.

 

I followed Lindsay’s tutorial to the tee. I made a triangle template to use for my felt, made holes with a puncher, and tied everything together with some thin yarn (I figure it’ll work as well as string and I already had it). The only difference is that I decided to add letters to the flags. I thought of a couple of things to put on it but finally settled on “Be Creative” because it’s something I want to do in any capacity every day.

 

The finished product, hanging above my bed.
I’m really pleased with it, and especially happy that I was able to do everything, the flags and the letters, with just 5 pieces of felt. I still have scraps and 5 extra sheets, meaning I can definitely make another one, maybe for Brad’s?

Next time, I’d like to make a spacer flag but hindsight is 20/20 and I still think it’s pretty great.
I predict a lot more bunting flags in my future…

Scrapbooking: In-Between and Outside

Last week, I mentioned my enthusiasm about starting a Project Life scrapbook.
It’s all I can think about, and I’ve been lucky to score a bigger binder and a 60 page photo pack (along with the Kraft Edition core kit, for the future I hope) while A.C. Moore stays open for it’s last month. The awesome thing is, a lot of the stuff ended up being “free” compared to online prices, and I think that’s ultimately what pushed me to just do it.
I’ve decided to take it one month at a time. Some people do a photo a day or scrapbook a week at a time.
I’ve been stashing my favorite photos from the month so far in a folder on my computer titled, simply, January that I will batch print at Walgreens and construct at the beginning of February. I’m worried about remembering certain details, things I want to write on the journaling cards, etc….but that’s what the photos are for. Sometimes, all it takes is a quick look to remember the feel of the moment. So I’m not too discouraged. Nervous as heck, but not discouraged.

In the meantime, a huge part of me is dying to get the ball rolling. And sure, I’m doing something by taking pictures. But I’m not constructing anything. Nothing is coming together. That’s when I found Smash book. After work on Saturday, I walked through TJ Maxx. I was looking for some cheap and cute stationary, since I’ve also decided to start corresponding with friends via snail mail. (Like…I’m doing a lot of stuff right now to stay distracted while my life sometimes feels like it’s falling apart…save that for another time.) I happened upon a ton of these cute, pre-designed scrapbooks and fell in love. I bought the Mod Design and grabbed a roll of their washi tape and some page tabs (all of it was under $10, even with the $1 I donated to charity at the end of the transaction, proving why I love TJ Maxx and Marshalls forever). The next day, I was wandering around Michael’s craft store and saw that their Smash products were on clearance! An 80 piece set (tape, a list notebook, different fun phrases and stickers to put in the book, etc.) including another book was $6. So…yeah…I needed it. I was SO EXCITED to actually be able to start doing something crafty and scrapbook-y before I started Project Life.  And yeah…I was scared, too.

Cut to today. After cleaning a great portion of my room last week, I have photos and ticket stubs and all those good things from the past several years all organized. So I grabbed everything I wanted to use, pulled out all the craft supplies I’ve gotten so far, and sat down to start a Smash book. I don’t think I could’ve done it without the help of Lorde…I listened to her album and EP 3 times through while doing it.
It’s nowhere near done, of course. I completed seven pages, but I’m proud of what I’ve done so far.
Doing it gave me a sense of accomplishment that I can’t wait to experience when doing Project Life.
At first, I had a great fear of screwing up pictures and pieces of my life that I’ve held onto for a while. Then I realized that this was way better than hiding them in bins and boxes and allowing them to collect dust.
As I got further in, I started to actually cut some photos (reassuring myself that there are copies on my computer and/or phone as well) and get a bit more creative. It was a really fun experience, and it kept my mind off of all the junk that’s been wanting to get in there because I was surrounded by all of the wonderful things I love.
Here are some photos I took while I worked:

 

When I cleaned my room, I finally put a gift Brad got me for Christmas in 2012 to use: a craft organizer.
It’s fun to open it up and see all the goodies, and I set up at the kitchen table to spread out and work.
Coffee in the cutest fox mug provided the fuel.

 
 

Finally putting ticket stubs to good use. I wrote about the little experiences that went along with the concerts or movies, if I could. Don Jon wasn’t a favorite movie, but it was the first (and only) time I ever went to the movies by myself, so it’s something I will never forget.

 
 
 

Some of the layouts. I made sure to write special memories, my thoughts and feelings, and lists of my favorite things that I’ve shared with these people. The pet page is a particular favorite. None of these dogs are mine, but I get to play with and love them…they deserve such a big space.

I’m excited about the page holders, because it will be fun to open to exactly where I’d like to be when looking back.

Basically, I’m excited I did this. It gave me the boost I needed to realize that, as long as I dedicate myself and follow-through, I can achieve this little goal of mine. It’s overwhelming and satisfying.