Project Life Catch Up

I'm still working on getting these pages done. I just keep reminding myself how "worth it" it is at the end of the year to have that album. I've just got one week to work on and I'm up to date. I'm hoping just doing the one layout per week is going to be easier. Here they are:

Supplies:

From AC Digitals: Page Templates and Becky Higgins Turquoise edition.
From Designer Digitals: For the Love of Days Journal Cards by Ali Edwards, Be Bold Journal Cards and Week In Review cards by Cathy Zielske.
From Snow Moon LLC on Etsy: Date Stamp.
From Scrapbookers Inner Circle: album and page protectors.

A Pep Talk For Anyone Who Needs One

Love this kid. Isobel saw this at school and shared it at home. I just had to share it here.

Use Your Stuff Challenge #76

Today on the Use Your Stuff Blog Joy challenged us to do a layout based on this sketch:

I am all about sketches. I love to use them for my layouts. I did this page of a trip down to the lake on a grey and windy day in December:

 

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful day!!

Finish It Challenge

Hey! Look at me. Two challenges in a week? What is going on?

I'm really enjoying these challenges. I've always been hesitant to participate because I didn't feel like I had the time or I didn't feel like finding a project to fit the challenge, but it's really working for me right now. Too often, I don't give myself permission to scrapbook because there's laundry to do or errands to run. But when it's for a challenge, I make myself do it.

Over on the Scrapbook Nerds Forum a challenge was posted to finish off a project that's been laying around. I pulled a page out of a magazine and had this layout ready to go before I even took the pictures. And then I stalled. It was a messy page with mist and paint and a stencil cut from vinyl on my Silhouette. I'm a lazy scrapper and it just seemed like so much work.

Well, I got it done and it didn't take nearly as long as I thought.

(Also, I figured out how to scan a paper page and stitch it together - another thing I've been putting off!)


Before
(these supplies have been gathered for over 1.5 years)



After
Much better!

Use Your Stuff Challenge #75

This week on the Use Your Stuff Blog Barb challenged us to do a project about a pet or using pet projects. We have 2 cats here and I had no problem coming up with a page for our boy Shadow. He's a lovely cat who will do anything to be carried around. I'm glad both Meredith and Isobel can now carry him because it frees me up for more scrapbooking!!

Here it is:

Project Life - Weeks 5 & 6

I cannot stress enough how much I love this project. Having an album at the end of the year that really shows our day to day life and what we were doing – the boring stuff as well as the exciting stuff – definitely appeals to me. But at the same time, I can’t stress enough how important it is to keep up to date. Something I have not succeeded at this year. Officially we’re in Week 10 of 2013 and I’ve only just completed the pages for Weeks 5 & 6. Yikes. That is not a good start to the year. I’m noticing that if I’m behind in my pages, I lose my focus and stop taking as many photos. Everything seems to go downhill if I’m not on top of things.

That said here are the pages I’ve just completed. Fingers crossed, I’ll have more up here soon.

 

Week 5 - left page

Week 5 - middle half page - front

Week 5 - middle half page - back

Week 5 - right page

Week 6 - left page



Week 6 - right page

Supplies:

From AC Digitals: Page Templates and Becky Higgins Turquoise edition.
From Designer Digitals: For the Love of Days Journal Cards by Ali Edwards, Be Bold Journal Cards and Week In Review cards by Cathy Zielske.
From Snow Moon LLC on Etsy: Date Stamp.
From Scrapbookers Inner Circle: album and page protectors.

 

 

Use Your Stuff Challenge #74

This week on the Use Your Stuff challenge blog, Lynne challenged us to create a project with White Space. I don't often do pages with a lot of white space, but I really love the look of them. This is my page for this week:

These challenges are really helping me dig into my stash, use what I have and get some pages done. Why don't you join us?

Use Your Stuff Challenge #73

This week it's my turn to post a Challenge over on the Use Your Stuff Blog. We're deep in the middle of winter here in Ontario and we have had piles of snow. I love winter. It is probably one of my favourite seasons but even I am looking forward to sunny warm days so I thought a summer themed project would be good.

I did this page (my apologies for the poor photo - I really need to learn to scan these) of my girlies at the beach one day a couple of years ago.

Use Your Stuff Challenge #72

This week over on the Use Your Stuff blog, Joy challenged us to celebrate the importance of family. I did this page, celebrating my wonderful husband. We started dating close to Valentine's Day back in 1988, so it felt appropriate!

Announcement

I am  very excited to share that I am now a Creative Team Member over at the Use Your Stuff blog. The blog hosts a crafty challenge every week. The challenges are for anyone who is inspired to participate.

Here are the details.

Every Monday someone posts a challenge in the hope that it will help you use some of your stash and inspire some creative projects.

The project you create can be anything you want it to be - a scrapbook page, a card, a home decor item, a mini book or even a quilt.  All you have to do is link your project at the bottom of the challenge that you are participating in. It's that simple.

There are some very creative ladies over there. I hope I'm up to the challenge. I hope to see you there too!!

Use Your Stuff Weekly Challenge

For the first time, I am participating in the weekly scrapbooking challenge over on the Use Your Stuff blog. You should check it out. They post weekly challenges to get your creative juices going. It’s a great way to jumpstart a project and help you to “get out of the box” and try something new.

This weeks’ challenge was to use Red, Pink and one other colour on a layout. I chose white as my ‘other colour’. While the layout is a lot pinker than I had hoped, I’m happy with it. It’s one more layout done and ready to be added to the album.

 

Project Life - week 4

Here are my PL Week 4 pages.

 

Same supplies as the last time.

 

Thanks for looking. Have a great day.

 

 

Week 4 ~ Left Page

 

Week 4 ~ Right Page

 

Project Life Notebook (yes, it's a Moleskine)

Anyone one who knows me knows I love a good list. (That list is even better if it’s recorded in a Moleskine notebook, but that’s another obsession for another day!)

I remind you of this post here and then my later post here.

That was a couple of years ago and life got busy but I still have lists on the go. Lists of things to do around the house. Lists of books to read. Lists of scrapbook pages to do. Lists of craft projects. Lists of things to get done around the house. (and on and on and on) Those are my ‘big picture’ lists. I also have my daily list of things to do, things to buy and what we’re eating for the week. Then there’s the list that doesn’t stop running around my head of the things I don’t do. That’s the worst list. The fruits and veggies I didn’t eat. The exercise I didn’t get. The friend I didn’t call. That list I don’t write down!!

I thought I would take this opportunity to share that list again. It seems to help me be accountable and get some things on it accomplished. This is my general things to do list. Perhaps I’ll share another of my lists on another day but what I’d really like to do here is revisit this one in a few months to see how I’m doing. Here it goes:

Tune up Meredith’s flute. This is a tough one. It’s hard to pry it out of her hands.

Complete 2013 Project Life album. I'm already on my way with this one!

Sort and organize all my computer files. My computer blew up in December and hasn’t been the same since. They are files missing, files where they shouldn’t be and files I don’t recognize. It all needs to be sorted out. I’m thinking the easiest way might be to make the jump and get myself a Mac Book.

Redo the blog. I’d like to change things here up a bit and include some buttons and a bit more information.

Get my email address set up on my own domain. It’s so much faster than my current provider.

Plan out some scrapbook pages. I did not manage to complete a single page from 2012. That has to change.

Move all our videos to a private channel on YouTube so we can watch them easily. Apple TV make YouTube so much more accessible.

Do our NYC album. I can't wait to go again!

Do the album from our summer 2010 trip. This one needs to be a priority.

Paint the sunroom, mudroom, powder room, office and maybe the playroom.

Actually take all the online classes I’ve paid for.

Try some She Art and Art Journals. (You can see more local Art Journaling here)

Tile the backsplash in the kitchen.

Figure out what I want to do when I grow up. This one is a tough one. I’ve been working on it for a few years now!!

That’s it. I don’t think I’m going to get it all done in 2013 but a girl can hope. I promise to do my best to do as much as possible.

Of course, I do have all those books to read and craft projects to do. They may take priority over some of the things here.

What about you? Is there anything on your list?

 

Scrapbook Nerd is in the House

What an exciting day it is today!!

The new online scrapbooking store Scrapbook Nerd is open.

I've already shopped and placed my order.

What about you?

Project Life - Week 3

It’s Week 5 of the New Year and I’m not doing too badly with my Project Life album. I’ve completed the pages for Week 3 and the photos for Week 4 are waiting in their folder. I just need to put them together.

Here are my Week 3 pages:

Week 3 ~ Left Page

 

Week 3 ~ Right Page

Supplies are the same as previous weeks with the addition of Ali Edwards Hello Life Boxes, Cathy Zielske's Week in Review and Be Bold Journal Cards.

Project Life

. . . And Week Two is complete. Clearly, I'm still keen. I took a lot of photos during week 2. Plus, I'm only a week behind. That makes me happy.

Thanks for looking.

Week Two ~ left page

Week Two ~ right page

Supplies are the same as last week. Have a great day!

Project Life - photo a day

I am so glad to be doing a project like this again. It has taken me some time to settle on exactly how, but I think I've finally figured it out.The album is going to be 12x12 and all the pages will be fully digital.

I'm using the Becky Higgins Project Life Turquoise Album and Core Kit, along with Project Life page templates that I ordered through Scrapbooker's Inner Circle and AC Digitals.

I got the plain 12x12 protectors, as well as some plain and some pocket 6x12 protectors. My intention this year is not to take a photo every single day, but to take pictures of things in our life that are ordinary but I want to remember. There will be days without any photos, and there will be days with multiple photos. There will also be images taken from the internet when I haven't been able to take a photo. I also want to keep random pieces of memorabilia - gas and grocery receipts, movie tickets, etc. All these and any extra photos will go in the 6x12 protectors.

I've completed the Cover Page for the album as well as the pages for the first week of 2013. Some elements on the Cover Page came from Cathy Zielske and everything else from AC Digitals. On the Week 1 pages all supplies are from AC Digitals except the date stamp which came from Snow Moon LLC on Etsy.

Here is the Cover and Week One for you. I am hard at work on Weeks 2 and 3. Where does the time go?

Cover Page

Week 1 - left page

Week 2 - right page

TODAY

In an effort to blog again, I'm participating in The Simple Woman's Daybook. Because that's me. I'm simple.  HA HA.  Another idea stolen from Barb.

You can find the details here.

 

FOR TODAY

Outside my window . . . the weather is mild and the sun is shining.

I am thinking . . . I need to get off this computer and down to the market for fruits and veggies before the girls come home from school.

I am thankful . . . for a husband who supports me in what I enjoy doing.

In the kitchen . . . it’s leftover night. Blah.

I am wearing . . . jeans and a hoodie.

I am creating . . . Project Life pages.

I am going . . . to music lessons tonight.

I am wondering . . . what I’ll do while my children are at their music lessons.

I am reading . . . Fall of Giants by Ken Follett and Quiet – The Power of Introverts in a World that Doesn’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain.

I am hoping . . . I’ve made the right decision.

I am learning . . . to be happy with who I am.

Around the house . . . there are a lot of areas that need to be sorted and organized.

I am pondering . . . the next couple of months and how they’re going to pan out.

A favorite quote for today . . . Best friends are people you don’t need to talk to every single day. You don’t need to talk to each other for weeks, but when you do, it’s as if you didn’t even stop talking.

One of my favourite things . . . my iPod.

A few plans for the rest of the week . . . spending tomorrow with Isobel due to her teacher protest day.

A peek into my day . . . tea with a friend this morning, errands, laundry and a bit of scrapbooking before getting the girls from school. A nice easy day.

2012 YIOOL - Final Pages

For 2012 I changed things up a bit. Instead of doing my usual Project 365 where I took a photo a day for the entire year and created a layout for each weeks' photos I did an album based on the  A Year In Our Ordinary Life album templates that I downloaded from my copy of Jessica Sprague's Computer Tips and Tricks. The album was a quick look at the year. Just 15 photos per month. Here are my last few pages of the year:

 (October won't load - don't know why - sorry)

I have to be honest, I didn't enjoy this format as much as the Project 365 albums that I've completed in the past. This one didn't get me excited about doing the pages, it didn't get me excited about taking photos and I don't think it really gives a full picture of what our life was like in 2012. I changed the format to make things easier for me and while it did that, I think it is lacking somehow.

So, what am I going to do for 2013? Well, I'm hoping to have a bit more time on my hands this year, so I am going back to the photo a day/layout per week concept. I'm basing what I'm doing on Project Life as created by Becky Higgins and following closely along with Ali Edwards and Cathy Zielske for inspiration and ideas. I know though, that in order to be successful I need to make this as easy as possible. I have ordered my album and page protectors including some 6x12 protectors to include some memorabilia and I've downloaded the Turquoise Kit and Page Templates from AC Digitals. In order for this to work, itneeds to be digital for me. No cutting, no pasting, just an hour a week at the computer, upload to Costco and voila - it's done. 

Of course, it's January 8th and I haven't started, so I'm already a week behind. Cross your fingers for me. I'm going to see what I can get done.

2012 In Review

In an effort to blog more, I have decided to steal ideas from other people. Tee hee. I’ve taken this one from Barb’s blog.

2012 in Review

1. What did you do in 2012 that you’d never done before?
Went to New York City for a week on vacation with Dave and the girls. I’d been there for business back in my career days, but never for fun. We had a fantastic time and I would not hesitate to go back again. There is so much to see and do there, I could go every year and do something different every time.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don’t do New Year’s resolutions.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My good friend from high school, Lori Ann, gave birth to a baby girl in January. I am in awe at her courage.

 

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No. Thank goodness.

5. What countries did you visit?
Just the USA in July.

6. What would you like to have in 2013 that you lacked in 2012?
Personal Time. I felt like 2012 found me constantly running from one thing to another, none of them for me.

7. What dates from 2012 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Our trip to NYC in the summer. It was another fantastic vacation with my 3 favourite people.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Hmmmm. . .  This is a tough one. I don’t feel like I really achieved anything this year. I need to change that for 2013. Perhaps working?

9. What was your biggest failure?

Exercising and eating right. I did not do a good job in those areas at all. This needs to change in 2013. I feel so much better when I eat right and exercise regularly. I need a walking buddy. Someone to motivate me to get out there and do it. And not scrapbooking regularly.  I miss my creative side and the friends I have who share the same interests.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Not really. As I get older I find an increase in weird unexplainable medical ailments that get labelled ‘normal anomaly’. It’s nice to know they haven’t been serious but annoying and frightening to go through all the medical tests necessary to rule out anything serious.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My new camera.

12. Where did most of your money go?
Everyday life, NYC, nothing unusual.

13. What did you get really excited about?
My new camera and travel. Both our trip to NYC and our planned trip in 2013 to see the Henriksson’s in Hawaii.

14. What song(s) will always remind you of 2012?
PSY – Gangnam Style – I’ve heard that one way too much.

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:
– happier or sadder? Happier – looking forward to the next few months.
– thinner or fatter? Fatter – sadly.
– richer or poorer? Same.

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?
I wished I’d done more scrapbooking, said ‘yes’ more often, taken more photos and done more things that make me scared.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?
I wish I’d worried less about things I can’t control. I wish I’d been more comfortable with who I am.

 

18. How did you spend Christmas?

Christmas Day was spent at home with my family just hanging out. Isobel didn’t even get dressed.

19. What was your favorite TV program?

I have a few favourite TV programs. Grey’s Anatomy, Parenthood, and Private Practice are my crying shows. I’ve also enjoyed Scandal, Revenge, Modern Family and The Good Wife. And recently we discovered Damages on Netflix. I actually don’t watch much TV but this list makes it sound like I do. We PVR everything we like these days. No commercials and we get to watch when we’re ready.

20. What were your favorite books of the year?

I have read so many good books. I reread The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and loved it still. I really enjoyed The Light Between Oceans. Sarah’s Key was very hard to read but very worth reading at the same time. I know there are many more but I can’t think of them. I am loving my Kobo.

21. What was your favorite music from this year?
Right now I’m enjoying Surrender by Ben Lee, Living in the Moment by Jason Mraz, Babylon by David Gray and Tupelo Honey by Van Morrison.

22. What were your favorite films of the year?
I don’t get out to the movies much. I need to change that.

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 44. We had just come back from NYC. I met Nicola for tea and had ribs for dinner at home with my family.

24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

More time, less stress, more scrapbooking.

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2012?

Personal fashion concept? I don’t think I have one. Some days I’m in yoga pants, a hoodie and no make-up. Other days I make an effort but nothing fancy. Practical and comfortable would probably describe it best.

26. What kpt you sane?

My peeps – Dave, Meredith and Isobel. They make it all worthwhile.

27. Tell us a valuable lesson you learned in 2012.
I don’t cope well with being busy.