Saturday, June 28, 2014

Project Life 2014: Week 4

Time to share Week 4 of Project Life! This is probably my favorite 2014 spread so far...with Week 3 being a close second. I think I just really like the mix of photos on this one. And, this is the first time I've used the Design K (right side) page protector and I really like it! Although I don't use Instagram, so I don't really have readymade square photos, I have plenty of photos I can crop to fit the square pockets. We had a really wonderful Saturday this particular week and seven of the pockets on this spread are from this day.

And here's a closer look at the left side. The FaceBook status printout (center top) details the highlights of that awesome Saturday. I also love the photo of Liam, Ollie and Scout taken on Cannon Beach that day; I got super lucky grabbing that shot. The Oregon Zoo pocket is a scan of a photo booth picture we had taken at the zoo and I just reduced the size. 

The photo caption on the picture of Liam and Scout was inspired by a challenge over at My Scraps and More to use the word "daily" somewhere on a layout as well as an everyday photo (which there are several on this spread). I absolutely love three of the photos on this page - the nighttime photo of downtown Portland, the Oregon coast shot when we were hiking in Ecola State Park and the photo of Ashley snapping away on Cannon Beach. All three of these shots were taken on that magical Saturday. The screen capture of the Google map shows my lovely "casual drive" I took around the Portland metro area during our house inspection while Liam took his afternoon nap. 

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Project Life 2014: Weeks 2 & 3

Hi everyone! Today, I'm sharing a couple of Project Life spreads I made using my Jade Core Kit and a bunch of fun Elle's Studio and Studio Calico products from the Frosted Designs store! These have got to be two of my most favorite manufacturers to turn to when working on Project Life. Why you may ask? Well, first off, they make lots of relatively "flat" embellishments which are best when working with pocket-style page protectors. Second, they make lots of stuff that is perfect for scrapbooking the "everyday." And third, their products coordinate so well with many of the Project Life Core Kits out there! Are you thinking about starting Project Life and want to get yourself a Core Kit? If so, check out the beautiful Azure Core Kit available in the Frosted Designs Store! I'm thinking I may have to pick up this kit for my 2015 album!

Now, a bit of a disclaimer that I've shared with you all before. I am waaaaay behind in Project Life. But, you know what? That's okay! I keep a Project Life planning journal where I jot down notes each day and then at the end of each week, I write up my weekly recap and create a folder on my computer for each week where I save the recap and any photos I want to include on that week's spread. I also have an expandable file where I keep any mementos I plan to include in my album. So, by staying organized this way, whenever I do have the time to go back and work on Project Life, it makes assembling a week's spread a breeze...no matter how long ago it was.

Now onto my first spread I'm sharing today - Week 2 of 2014. It's a combination of my Jade Core Kit, printables found online and Elle's Studio and Studio Calico goodies from the store. Each of my Project Life spreads contains four key elements: (1) a weekly title card that is consistent in design each week, (2) a weekly recap card created on my computer using the same font, (3) at least one "filler" card that is light on photos and text to allow a place for the eye to rest and (4) several cards from my designated yearly Core kit to keep my album cohesive.
And let's take a closer look at the left side. I am in love with the Project Life photo overlays and used one here on the photo in the upper left. I added the circle die-cut sentiment on top of it for a little something extra. Oh, and those Printshop wood veneer hearts? LOVE. A new favorite product!
And here's the right side of the spread closer up. I really love both the kraft Polaroid frame and the 4x6 "Good Life" tabbed card on this spread. They are both part of the Elle's Studio Everyday Moments Bits & Pieces pack. I also really love the quality of the Elle's Studio alpha and number stickers - I picked them up in kraft, teal and dark gray!

Now it's onto my second spread of the day - Week 3 of 2014. Besides the four key elements mentioned above that I include on each Project Life spread, I also have a tendency to gravitate towards "hybrid" scrapping when working on this project. I have a decent collection of digital overlays and such that I'll add to my photos in Photoshop Elements before printing. But, I always try to make sure the majority of my page contains traditional scrapbooking supplies because they have the depth and texture that no digital supply can ever match. 
Here's a better look at the left side of my page. How perfect does that "Today" tag from Elle's Studio match my weekly title card? Talk about a happy accident. Again, I am loving the Project Life overlays. Here I added a caption on top of the overlay using the Elle's Studio alpha stickers.
And here's the right side of Week 3. The Elle's Studio Everyday Moments Bits & Pieces pack is chock full of some seriously cute, versatile die-cuts! Both the good stuff tabbed hexagon and pink star circle on this page came out of that pack. Oh, and the Studio Calico Thataway plastic stars I used on both sides of this spread are the perfect finishing detail for Project Life - a pop of color and a flat embellishment! The center column of professional photos taken of our house during the selling process really shows where I utilize digital overlays. "Let's Sell This Home!" was added to the photos digitally. 

I also included a 7x5 insert on this spread. I wanted to include the full email that I sent to our Portland friends announcing our intended move, but I couldn't shrink it down to fit on a 4x6 journaling card without it becoming unreadable. So, I decided I would include it as an insert. But, with that, I needed to put something on the other side of the insert, so I decided to include one of the shots of the front of the house that the professional photographer took. And actually, with the way the insert lies on the spread, and the way I included the text, using the same font, on all the house photos, it works really, really well!
And here's the spread showing the backside of the insert, with the email.

And here are a few closeups from the two spreads...
Wood embellies from the Elle's Studio Good Times wood veneer pack and a partial shot of a Project Life Overlay.

Die-cut tab from the Elle's Studio Everyday Moments Bits & Pieces pack and Studio Calico Thataway plastic stars.

4x6 card from the Elle's Studio Everyday Moments Bits & Pieces pack and the Elle's Studio kraft alpha stickers.

Die-cut sentiment from the Elle's Studio Everyday Moments Lil' Snippets Remember sheet and Studio Calico Printshop wood veneer stars.

Working on these two spreads (and my Week 1 spread that I created for the BINGO challenge) have completely revitalized my mojo for Project Life. Boy, I missed working on this project and am so happy that these fun products from Elle's Studio and Studio Calico helped spark the creative bug in me again! If you are a Project Lifer, or would like to be, I highly recommend checking out all the Project Life products in the Frosted Designs store!

Products used from the Frosted Designs store:

Friday, June 13, 2014

Project Life 2014: Week 1

I am having so much fun picking up Project Life again! Here is 2014 Week 1. I'm trying something new this year by using consistent weekly title cards and using CK Ali's Handwriting for all my weekly recap cards. I hope it will help the consistency of my album. Oh, and in case you didn't see my 2014 Title Page post, I'm using the Jade Edition Core Kit this year.

And here's a better look at the left side of the spread. I am using the Wanderlust calendar cards from Studio Calico on the first spread of each month this year. I also picked up some of the Project Life overlays for this year - love these! I used my first one here on the upper right photo.

And here is the right side of the spread. This is the first time I used one of the Jillibean Soup mini placemats - another new product I grabbed. They are awesome! I also snatched up a bunch of Elle's Studio goodies from the Everyday Moments, Good Times and Cameron collections. I love how well my Elle's Studio goodies coordinate with my Core Kit. All the die-cuts on this page are Elle's Studio. 

This spread was created as my example for my first challenge issued over at Frosted Designs! You still have a few days to submit an entry for a chance to win a $50 gift certificate from 7 Dots Studio, so be sure to check it out!

Products used from the Frosted Designs store:
Elle's Studio Good Times wood veneers
Elle's Studio Everyday Moments Bits and Pieces
Elle's Studio letter and number stickers - Kraft
Studio Calico Thataway plastic die-cut stars
Studio Calico Printshop heart wood veneers
Jillibean Soup Mini Placemats - Favorite
Becky Higgins Project Life Overlays - Set 4

Friday, June 6, 2014

Let's play some BINGO! at Frosted Designs

Hi all! I'm so excited to issue my first Frosted Designs Friday Challenge! This one is an all-time favorite of mine so I hope you like it...now, it's time to play some BINGO!

Here's the challenge: Use five items from the following BINGO card to create a project that gets you either a vertical, horizontal or diagonal BINGO. For example, if you use the far left column to get BINGO, your project would need to include flowers, die-cuts, some sort of animal, stickers and the color orange. Projects can be anything crafty - layout, card, art journal page, altered art, etc.

Here is the Project Life spread I created using the second row from the top. I've got several die-cuts, I used a stencil and mist to mask on the pink journaling card, I included a couple paper clips for my office supply, I used two punches - a corner rounder punch and scallop border punch, and I added stitching around the border of the upper right photo. 
Products used from the Frosted Designs store:
Elle's Studio Good Times wood veneers
Elle's Studio Everyday Moments Bits & Pieces
Elle's Studio letter & number stickers - Kraft
Studio Calico Thataway plastic die-cut stars
Studio Calico Printshop heart wood veneers
Jillibean Soup Mini Placemats - Favorite
Becky Higgins Project Life Overlays - Set 4

Be sure to visit the Frosted Designs blog to see how our fabulous designers tackled this challenge and to enter the challenge for yourself! And of course we have another awesome prize for you from our fabulous sponsor, 7 Dots StudioYou have until noon (Central time) Wednesday, June 18th to link up your project to the Frosted Designs blog.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

"Capture the Moment" at Frosted Designs

The new monthly kit is out and it is GORGEOUS!! The Capture The Moment kit is chock full of paper, brads, trim, flair and other goodies from the Prima "Time Traveler" collection as well as other manufacturers. You definitely have to check out this kit in the Frosted Designs store for yourself!
And with a new kit comes a new kit challenge from Brandi! Visit the Frosted Designs blog to check out the challenge and Brandi's amazing work using the new kit. You have until the end of the month to complete the challenge and link it up to the blog for a chance to win a prize from The Olde Saltbox!