Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Project Life: Week 4

Project Life - I am really loving this project. Week 4 passing means January is almost over - where has the time gone?I am very happy with how this spread turned out - I think it has a good balance of photos, journaling and supporting elements. I tried not to put as many digital elements on my photos this week so I could use a bit more of my scrapbooking supplies this time.

And here's a closer look at the left-hand side. I love the photo of Liam "helping" me with laundry - aka sitting in the laundry basket. I also love the laundry subway art next to it (where to download it is listed below). I dusted off my tab punch this week - I forgot how much I love that thing.

And now on to the right-hand side. I love this side of the spread. This is the first time I used a Design C page protector. I like it more than I thought I would. I am happy that I've chosen to mix up my page protectors between Designs A, B, C, D and F. It seems that a lot of Project Lifers stick to just one but I like having the variety and versatility of the mix! Favorite things about this page are that I found out that the Paper Loft alphas which I used for "home brewing" go very well with the Turquoise kit. And I have three sheets of them so that's good. And I love the portion about Baby Genevieve - the "As Seen On Facebook" card is awesome (will definitely use it again) and that I was able to size down the email! The QR code on the birthday journaling card takes you to a You Tube video of Liam with his smash cupcake.

Here's a run-down of supplies used this week...

The Memorable Seasons Sketch-a-thon is almost over!

Hello all! There are still a couple days left in the Memorable Seasons Sketch-a-Thon before the Last Scrapper Standing contest starts, so be sure to head over to the forum now to get cracking on some great sketches!

Here is my final sketch challenge for this year's sketch-a-thon. For today, I chose a sketch from Jenny Evans of Creative Scrappers. Now, I know most of you have heard of Creative Scrappers with their weekly sketch challenges. I really liked the layers and cascade of embellishments in this single photo sketch from Jenny.

And here's the layout I created using my January Design Team kit featuring Little Yellow Bicycle Winterings! I adapted the sketch to fit my 5"x7" vertical photo. And by the way...for the sake of full disclosure...this is not my photo. This was taken by the Mt. Hood Meadows professional photographer. He posts his photos for digital purchase on Meadows web site. I did get this same shot (it's actually on my "Wonderful" Conditions layout) but it was with my stinky iPhone with no zoom. So of course I wanted his photo too!
(Supplies: Little Yellow Bicycle Winterings papers, stickers and vellum accents; Bazzill cardstock; Making Memories chipboard; Hero Arts brads; Kaiser Craft paint; Ranger crackle medium; Colorbox inks; Zig Writer pen.)

I can't wait to see what you all do with this sketch! Please remember to create a new layout for this challenge. Also, make sure you post your layout in the Memorable Seasons gallery and leave a link to it in the January 29th challenge thread in the Sketch-a-thon forum by January 31st.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Last Scrapper Standing Contest!

Do you enjoy the TV show Survivor? Well, at Memorable Seasons have our own take on the show. It's called The Last Scrapper Standing and we want all of you to join us here on our little island for a 6 week adventure that will cause you to scrap your sandals off!

The Design Team will issue you a challenge every Friday starting February 8th; you will then have until the following Wednesday to get your layout loaded to the gallery and linked back to the appropriate thread. On Thursday all of us on the island will vote for our top 3 favorites, and depending on how many entries we have entered on week 1, a percentage of those will move forward to next week. This will continue until week 5. The last week only the Design Team members (aka The Jury) will vote on the top 3. The layout which receives the most votes will become our Last Scrapper Standing.

So what if you are voted off or what if you don’t want to join in the contest, no problem, because every week anyone that participates in the challenges will be eligible for a random prize drawing!
So we encourage you to invite your friends and spread the news because this promises to be the event of 2013, right here on our own little island at Memorable Seasons. So who is ready to be challenged?

See you Friday, February 8th!

Rules:
  1. You must be available to play all of the weeks to participate in the contest portion of our challenges.
  2. All layouts must be newly created for this contest – based on the challenge issued that Friday.
  3. No late entries will be accepted.

Friday, January 25, 2013

More with Little Yellow Bicycle Winterings

So, I showed you on the first of the month two layouts and two cards I created using my Memorable Seasons Design Team Kit featuring Little Yellow Bicycle Winterings. Then, I also issued two challenges so far during the Memorable Seasons sketch-a-thon and used my Winterings kit to create my two sample layouts for these challenges. And I still have one more challenge to come on the 29th with yet another Winterings layout. So, have you kept count? That's five layouts and two cards I made with this kit! But...that's not it. I still managed to squeak out four more layouts using this kit and all were for other design team member's sketch-a-thon challenges. So that's a total of NINE layouts and two cards made with this kit - I am amazed at how far these gorgeous supplies got me! And today, I am sharing those other four layouts I made...
  (Supplies: Little Yellow Bicycle Winterings papers, vellum strips, chipboard and stickers; Bazzill and EK Success cardstock; The Paper Company vellum; Zig Writer; EK Success snowflake punch.)
(Supplies: Little Yellow Bicycle Winterings papers, chipboard, stickers, journaling spot and vellum border strip; Bazzill cardstock; unknown white brad; Studio Calico wood veneers; Zig Writer pen.)
(Supplies: Little Yellow Bicycle Winterings papers, journaling spot, chipboard and stickers; Bazzill cardstock; Hero Arts snowflake brads; unknown white brad; DMC embroidery floss; Westrim Crafts stamps; Zig Writer pen; Joann’s embossing powder.)
 (Supplies: Little Yellow Bicycle Winterings papers, chipboard, stickers, journaling spot and vellum accents; Bazzill cardstock; DMC floss; StazOn ink; Zig Writer pen.)

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Project Life: Week 3

Another week of 2013 gone which means another Project Life spread complete! This week's spread ended up being very photo-heavy. We honestly didn't have a ton going on this week until the weekend, so I found myself taking photos of the everyday and they didn't really require a ton of explanation with journaling. So, I chose to tell most of the story with the photos...

And here's a closer look at the left-hand side. The upper left photo was actually taken with my DSLR and is the only photo on this spread that was not taken with an iPhone. The weather report was a screen capture off my iPhone. The font on my journaling card is CK Becky.

And now we have the right-hand side. I changed the group photo to black and white because it isn't a great photo and is pretty grainy - the black and white seemed to help with that. I had two photos from the fish market I wanted to include but wanted them to take up only one rectangle so I did a sort of picture-in-picture setup with them.

Here's a run-down of supplies used this week. Of course, there's my Turquoise Edition Project Life Core Kit. But, the only thing that actually came from the Core Kit on this spread is the title card background. Other supplies from my stash include Studio Calico wood veneers and kraft heart stickers, a Creative Imaginations sentiment sticker and washi tape from Queen & Co and My Mind's Eye. Since my spread was so photo-heavy this week, I went with a lot of digital overlays and filled in with two filler cards I also downloaded. So here's my list of digital overlays and printables...
This week, I decided to send Melissa from A Vegas Girl At Heart a thank you email for all her awesome Project Life freebies. I just wanted her to know how much I appreciate her generosity because I don't foresee completing a single PL spread without at least one of her freebies on it. 

And I am still LOVING this project. Can't wait for next Monday so I can work on week 4!

Saturday, January 19, 2013

A Beautiful Life.

She truly lived a beautiful life. Dicki was my mother's best friend. She was like a second mother to my brothers and I when we were young. She was a part of our family. So, when she passed away in December from an illness that overtook her in July, and at the young age of 55, we felt like she was taken from us much too soon. But, as I reflected on her life as we drove to the church for her funeral, the first thing that popped into my head was, "she truly lived a beautiful life." Then, as if to confirm what I already knew, at the luncheon later that afternoon, Dicki's son, Kostas, said "she lived a beautiful life" in his eulogy. I also remember reading the poem on her prayer card and the first line - "smile, because she lived" jumped out at me. And I did just that - I smiled through the tears.

This is the hardest layout I have ever scrapped. I've scrapped about loved ones who have passed away but for some reason, this was the tough one. I think it's because it hasn't even been a month since her passing. The wound is still fresh. But, I felt this urge, this need, to scrap this now. So, despite how hard it was, and the tears shed while doing it, I made her tribute page.

Dicki loved both flowers and the beach. And this particular photo - taken down at their beach house in Florida - happens to be my mom's favorite photo of her. So, I started thinking about flowers and the beach...and remembered I had a couple sheets of paper and a sheet of stickers from Webster's Pages Seaside Retreat collection. I pulled those supplies out and immediately knew that they had been sitting in my stash for months only to be used for this specific layout. Then, as I glanced at the sticker sheet, I saw what confirmed this to be true...

And here is the layout I created. My mom's favorite photo of her. Her prayer card. Her obituary. And a photo of the dried roses my mom took off the sprig on her casket (placed under the vellum, under the title as a sort of title spot). And I feel like I did Dicki proud with this. I know she'd love it.
(Supplies: Webster's Pages vellum overlay, paper, red alphas, stickers and sparkler flower center; Basic Grey purple script alphas; Prima flowers; Bazzill cardstock; StazOn ink. Inspired from a sketch by Wendy Antenucci for the Memorable Seasons Sketchathon.)

Friday, January 18, 2013

The Memorable Seasons Sketch-a-thon is in full swing!

If you are looking for some scrappy inspiration, come check out the month-long Sketch-a-thon happening over at Memorable Seasons!

Today is my day to issue a sketch challenge and I chose a sketch from Karan Gerber of Sketchabilities. I love how detailed her sketches are and how she always provides a great variety! And, like today's sketch, most of them showcase multiple photos!

And here's the layout I created using my January Design Team kit featuring Little Yellow Bicycle Winterings! I changed up the placement of the photos and embellishments a bit to accommodate my horizontal focal photo.
(Supplies: Little Yellow Bicycle Winterings papers, stickers and vellum accent; Bazzill cardstock; Jillibean Soup tiny alphas and twine; Making Memories chipboard; unknown white brads; Studio Calico Mr. Huey’s Mist; Signo gel pen; StazOn ink.)
I can't wait to see what you all do with this sketch! Please remember to create a new layout for this challenge. Also, make sure you post your layout in the Memorable Seasons gallery and leave a link to it in the January 18th challenge thread in the Sketch-a-thon forum by January 31st.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Project Life: Weeks 1 & 2

Yay! After spending the first half of January just getting organized for this project, I got my first two weeks done last night. And I am so happy with the way they turned out and I am already IN LOVE with this project! 

So, first up is Week 1...
Again, I am using Becky Higgin's Turquoise Edition still available on Amazon until everything switches over to American Crafts. I also purchased some of the Turquoise Edition digital elements available at AC Digitals. For continuity throughout the album, I plan to use the Core Kit on every spread and recolor as many of my freebies that I can to match the colors of this kit. Additionally, I plan to use the awesome weekly title word art that I downloaded for free from September Blue. You can download them too if you go to her 1/08/13 post. She made them to match the Seafoam Edition, but I am just recoloring them to match the Turquoise Edition. On each spread, I am also going to record the start and end dates of each week with my library stamp.

And now let's look at each side of the spread individually...
Based on these first couple weeks, I see myself including a 4x6 card of typed journaling that summarizes the week on each spread. Placement and orientation of this card doesn't really matter to me but it think it's something I'd like to include each week. For this particular week, I include my week title and dates directly on the summary card. All the digital elements on the photos on this side came from the Turquoise Edition digital kit with the exception if the M-Monday which came from A Vegas Girl At Heart and everything on the exersaucer photo I did myself. The 2013 chalkboard printable came from Lil' Luna and the calendar printable came from Finding Nana. I recolored it to match and I plan to include each of her monthly calendar printables on the first spread of each month (I already have all the rest for the year).
On this side, the first thing I'll point out is the New Year's subway art from eighteen25. I recolored the original grays to match the blues of my kit. I kept the gold though because I thought it was festive. All digital elements were from the Turquoise Edition kit. The pennant flag on the Packers picture is the same one from my title page from A Vegas Girl At Heart. The label on the photo of all my Project Life stuff is from Creativity Prompt.

And now on to Week 2...
Again, I used my Core Kit, the weekly title art and my date stamp. This week I made a separate title card and a separate weekly journaling card.

And here are the individual sides...
The vegetable paella card was easily assembled in Word. The little Monday flag on the photo of Liam all bundled up and the Polaroid style frame are from A Vegas Girl at Heart and I think the frame around the pork is as well. The "Love This" burst and journaling card are both from the Turquoise Edition digital kit.
Now, my favorite thing on this page is the "video". All you do is use a QR Reader App on you phone (you can download these for free), scan the QR square and it takes you to a YouTube video of Liam. So cool! Here's the tutorial from Traci Reed on how to this and also where to grab the journaling card. The date label is from A Vegas Girl At Heart and the frame around the bath photo is from Persnickety Prints and the rest of the digital elements are from the Turquoise Edition digital kit.

So there's my first two weeks of Project Life! I can't wait to put together Week #3!

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Project Life: Organization, Planning and My Title Page

Well, I finally jumped headfirst into the world of Project Life - a scrapbook system and concept designed by Becky Higgins. Most of you have probably already heard of Project Life by now, but if not, you can read about it on Becky's site here.  I would have liked to have started it last year, but with our unforeseen circumstances with Liam's premature birth, I knew there was no way I'd be able to catch up or keep up with the project and would have caused myself more stress than good. So this year was the year to start!

First thing first though...GET ORGANIZED. Yes, I am anal-retentive and I have to be organized before starting any sort of big project like this. So I spent the first half of January getting organized and I thought I would share my process. Buckle your seat belts!

Step 1: Get the supplies.

Now, you can definitely do Project Life from what you have in your stash. That is not a problem. Also, there are a ton of free printables for Project Life out there on the Internet. Just hop on Pinterest and run a search for Project Life. It could take you days to go through it all. I was lucky enough to receive all my Project Life materials as Christmas gifts. Now, many companies are making Project Life type supplies - Echo Park, Simple Stories, Studio Calico, etc. - but I decided to stick to the original and purchase Becky Higgins Project Life products. I debated back and forth between the new Seafoam Edition and the older Turquoise Edition and finally decided on the Turquoise Edition figuring it will be discontinued first and I can always get the Seafoam for another year. I got the Core Kit, the coordinating 3x4 cardstock pack and 4x6 cardstock pack as well as the 3x4 and 4x6 packs of standard grid cards. I also downloaded the digital embellishment pack from AC Digitals that coordinates with the Turquoise Edition so I could use them on photos before printing.

Now the one supply that I feel is necessary that may not be in your stash is divided page protectors. Again, many companies are making these type of page protectors, but again I decided on Becky's products. I got several packs of five different configurations of 12x12 protectors, a pack of 6x12 protectors, a pack of the 12x12 big envelopes for storing memorabilia and a pack of the small variety pack of protectors.

Albums are also an important part of this project. Again, any album will do but I got two of the Becky Higgin's black albums and also received the monthly dividers that coordinate with the Turquoise collection. You can find free binder label printables for Becky's albums all over the Internet, including on her own web site, but the ones I used can be downloaded here from A Vegas Girl At Heart.

Something else I decided to do was dedicate a 12x12 Crop Hopper pocket of supplies from my stash to Project Life. I have no problem diving into this pocket for my traditional scrapbook pages as well, but I thought having these supplies in one spot was beneficial considering I'd be working on this project every week.

Step 2: Corral all your supplies in one spot.

For me, the solution to storing all my Project Life-specific supplies was simple. I purchased a simple white milk crate from Fred Meyer. Cheap, portable and durable - perfect.

Step 3: Put together a planning binder.

Again, I purchased the cheapest, simplest option - a standard 1" 3-ring plastic binder (but green of course!)

Then I filled the binder with copies of these weekly planning pages that can be downloaded here from All Things Alicia. I checked out several different ladies' planning pages (again, run a search on Pinterest) but decided that Alicia's made the most sense to me and my organization methods.

And I also included these awesome insert planning pages from Marcy Penner. She made them for all the different Becky Higgins Project Life inserts and I downloaded the ones for the inserts I had. If you are interested, download them from Marcy's web site here. (Note: From this point forward, I will be using pencil to plan this out to help make it easier when I decide to switch something around).

In addition to my planning binder, I also have a place in my Evernote App on my iPhone for Project Life. This is where I can jot down notes in case I am out and about and then I add them to my binder later.

Step 4: Organize your digital files (if you have them).

I have a Project Life folder on my computer and in that folder are subfolders for planning, journaling cards, labels and spots, overlays, brushes, etc. All the digital files and printables I have, except for the Turquoise Edition digital files, were all downloaded for free from various places. Some of my favorites are A Vegas Girl At Heart, Persnickety Prints, Smiling Colors, September Blue, Creativity Prompt and Becky Higgins own freebie site! Also, you can find links to more freebies on my Project Life Pinterest board.

Step 5: Create a Planning folder on your computer.

In my planning folder, I have the weekly planning and insert planning PDF files for easy access in case I need to print off more. I also have a folder where I have saved articles with tips about completing Project Life. Then, I also have a folder for each week where I keep the photos I plan to use, that week's title word art, word documents with journaling and any other digital files I plan to use or include.

Step 6: Think through what other supplies from your stash you will use weekly for Project Life.

These are the supplies in my stash that I see myself pulling out each week for Project Life. But, I still want these in my regular stash for use. So I made a sort of sub-stash of these supplies where they are kept in my room. Meaning, I separated out these cards of twine, these rolls of washi, etc from the rest of that supply.
I also created a list that I keep in my binder of supplies to consider pulling out. Here's that list if you're interested...
  • Green corner rounder
  • Library card date stamp
  • White cardstock
  • StazOn ink
  • Stamps
  • Wood veneers
  • Sequins & bling
  • Die-cuts
  • Stickers
  • Rub-ons
  • Punches
  • Washi tape
  • Twine
  • Stickles
  • Paper clips
  • Bingo cards
  • Ghost embellies
So there you have it! How I got organized and how I plan for Project Life. I hope you found this information useful.

And now, to present to you my title page for my 2013 Project Life album!


I really used Emily Merritt's title page as inspiration. The large 2013, the black and white photos, the state outline, a quote and a pennant flag with our last name on it all were inspired from Emily's amazing page. I almost used her 2013 title card (which you can download for free if you like her Facebook page) but decided at last minute to use Smitha Katti's 2013 title art freebie which you can download yourself. I recolored Smitha's art to match the Turquoise Edition. I created the I {heart} Oregon card myself by finding a JPEG of this image online (it's a sticker you see all over the place), recoloring the heart (the original is a darker forest green) and adding the turquoise frame around it. The quote is a printable I found somewhere online and cannot remember where now. But I thought it was perfect for my title page. The original file's background was gray so I recolored it to match the Turquoise Edition. The little pennant flag printable on the focal photo was another freebie from somewhere I cannot recall. Sorry!

Stay tuned for my weeks one and two spread tomorrow!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

My first challenge for the Memorable Seasons Sketch-a-thon

Hello all! I am so excited to be presenting you with my first sketch challenge for the Memorable Seasons Sketch-a-thon!

Now, you really didn't think I was going to let you get away without at least one double-page sketch, did you? So here is this awesome two-page sketch from Becky Fleck of Page Maps. I love how this one allows for one large focal photo, five supporting photos and still has lots of room for journaling.

And here's the layout I created using my January DT kit - Little Yellow Bicycle Winterings! I am still playing catchup with Project 12 and I love how this one turned out. Subtle winter touches but more focused on the warm, family feeling of the Winterings collection.
(Supplies: Little Yellow Bicycle Winterings papers, chipboard, journaling spot, stickers and vellum accents; Bazzill cardstock; unknown ribbon; American Crafts Thicker alphas; DMC floss; Sakura pen; Ranger Stickles.)

I can't wait to see what you all do with this sketch! Please remember to create a new layout for this challenge. Also, make sure you post your layout in the Memorable Seasons gallery and leave a link to it in the January 9th challenge thread in the Sketch-a-thon forum by January 31st.