Pages

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Project 52 ~ Week #4

Welcome to Wednesday and another weekly page from my Project 52 Album.  This week my son was the "Star" of the show!  😊 He was awarded a contract to march with the Blue Stars brass line this summer & he's pretty darn excited about it!  For my page, I used the new Project 12 - January kit along with a card from the Teen Boy kit.



Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Ali Edwards Story Kits ~ Marching Band Events

Welcome to a new week!  I didn't get a chance to get a blog post done yesterday, so I'll share 2 layouts with you today. I decided for both of these double layouts, that I wanted to go a bit minimal on the embellishments.  I had lots of photos from both Regionals and Semi-State, and wanted to include as many of them as I could.

For this first layout, I used journaling cards from the Ali Edwards Details Story Kit & digital stamps from the Drive Story Stamp. For the "Heart of the Matter" card, I changed the color of the letters to red, to coordinate with all the red in the photos and the theme of the show {Defence.les/Heart}.  On the Story Details card, I added journaling under the photo and added a pull tab.



For my Semi-State page, I again had tons of photos and wanted to include so many.  I used the grey tear-apart phrases from the 2017 Week in the Life kit with stars from the Best Story Kit.  I also used a journaling card from the digital version of the Best Story Kit.  Using Photoshop Elements, I changed the color of the star on the card to purple to match the title card & the background color to white from cream.




Thanks for Stopping By Today!

Friday, January 26, 2018

Ali Edwards Fun Story Kit ~ Grand Opening

As you can tell from my blog posts this week, I've been working on my son's band book quite a bit. I decided to pull out all of my Ali Edwards Story Kits and get them used up. I am making a huge dent in them and having a blast!

For this page, I used the Fun & Best Story Kits. In addition to the physical kits, I also have the digital version. Often times, I'll use the digital jounaling cards to add text, but for this page, I changed the colors on some of the cards in Photoshop Elements. I changed some of the colors of the stars to red so it would match my page and I changed the Awesome card to red as well. 



Have A Great Weekend!

Thursday, January 25, 2018

Ali Edwards Story Kit Pages ~ Fun, Lens, and Time

Hello My Friends! 

Yup ~ I have 3 more marching band pages today all featuring different Story Kits from Ali Edwards. My first page uses the Fun Story Kit & features pictures from Cedar Point.


For the Formal Picture page, I used the Lens Story Kit.




And for this band practice page, I used the Time Story Kit.


Thanks for Stopping By Today!

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Project 52 ~ Week #3

As you can see, I've been mixing it up quite a bit with the types of projects I've been making. While admit that using the App isn't my favorite way to scrapbook, I do love this project and I know it's the only way I would getting any weekly documenting done. If I could manage doing weekly spreads with physical products, I probably would, but I know that isn't realistic for me & I don't need one more unfinished project.

For my page this week, I used cards from the Copper Mountain & Planetarium Card Collections. No overlays today... just straightforward cards, pictures and journaling. 



Thanks for stopping by today!

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Ali Edwards Best Story Kit ~ Parent Preview

Today I am continuing on with my son's junior year marching band album and sharing a page using the Ali Edwards Story Kit called Best. All of the cards and some embellishments are from the Best kit.  Then I looked in my stash and found some other great embellishments from the Lost & Found and Bond story kits.  I also added several Taylored Expressions die, cork embellishments from Studio Calico & sticker letters Simple Stories on this page. I have so many wonderful products in my stash & I'm making it a goal to use them. 

I still prefer adding typed journaling to my pages, so I typed this on my computer and then added it to the journal card.  Sometimes I cut it out and add it & other times I type the journaling directly to the digital version of the card & print it out on my photo printer.  NOTE: When you subscribe to both the Ali Edwards Story Kit & the Story Stamp, you get the digital version free.  This is called Hybrid Scrapbooking & I love it.


Hope you have an AMAZING day!

Monday, January 22, 2018

Marching Band Pages ~ Junior Year Begins!

Happy Monday Friends!

I posted a few of the beginning pages for my son's junior year marching band album last week & now I'm excited to share a few more. I like to prepare & present these pages in chronological order because it tells the whole story and progression of the season. So first up is Drum Major camp... we were so blessed that first our daughter and then our son were named as drum majors for our amazing band. On this first very simple page, I used the teal and black cardstock and chipboard letters to match the photos.  My goal for this page was just to get the story documented.



I went on a scrapbooking retreat in November and my goal was to use supplies from my building stack of unused Ali Edwards Story kits. I love using them, but had at least 8 or 10 kits still in packages because of a very busy spring through fall.  I thought it would be a great challenge to try and work with primarily these Story Kits, Story Stamps and maybe few added alphabets or embellishments.  I used the Fun Story Kit/Story Stamp on the following pages & love how they turned out.   


Again, I used the Fun Story Kit on this page and added the title using a Thickers chipboard alphabet for the title.



I'll be back with more pages tomorrow!
Enjoy your day!

Friday, January 19, 2018

Felicity Jane ~ Love This Boy


Happy Friday! 

Today I have another page to share using my Felicity Jane Reagan Kit. This is such a fun kit to create lots of different looks on projects.  I posted a Prom page last week with the same kit {click here to view}... just look at the versatility of these products!

For this page, I wanted to journal some of the things I love about my son.  This has been a fun year with him & documenting my favorite things about him at this age is so important to me.



Have an Amazing Weekend!

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Marching Band ~ Junior Year

Hi There Friends!  I've been working hard on my son's marching band book over the last few months and have a good portion of his junior year done ~ which is a good thing since he is a senior now and finished his final marching season in November!  We finally had a sunny day so I was able to get some photos & wanted to share the opening pages for the junior album.  For each of the 7 albums I've made so far for my son & daughter, I have started out with similar layouts.  I like the consistency of having each one starting this way & it's a great launching point for my creativity. 



The large group photo below is 11x17, so it doesn't fit on one page and I added the marching band show title on this page.  It was super scary and hurt my heart a little bit to cut that big picture the first time I did this, but I love the results.

Note: I found some 12x12 page protectors that are flush bound (the two are connected) so you don't see the binder rings.  Sadly, these page protectors from We R Memory Keepers have been discontinued.


For the Concord pattern paper on the page above and below, it was special ordered by our local scrapbook store.  We only really have one or two stores left locally which is so sad ~ I love shopping in stores when I can actually see, touch and feel products. 


I have a bunch of pages finished for this album that I will share very soon!  I can't wait to show you how I've used my Ali Edwards Story Kits & Story Stamps in these albums!

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Project 52 ~ Week #2

Welcome back crafty peeps!  Today I have another Project 52 page using the Project Life App.  As much as I love using physical products and would love to use them for this project, I know I would never keep up with my weekly pages, so this works out pretty well for me.

This week I used the standard layout; however, for the top right photo/card, I used the collage feature in the App, saved it and then added it in as a photo.  I'm really not sure why I don't use this feature more... it's perfect when you don't have pictures in the correct orientation.  For the kit this week, I used the Camelot Kit, with one card Planetarium Card Collection.



Have a Happy Day!

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Studio Calico Kit ~ April & May Highlights

Hello Friends!

I'm back today with some pocket pages that I made several months ago & finally had an opportunity to photograph them.  Sometimes I put off taking pictures of these pages because they are more time consuming to take out of the pockets and line up. If I would just take the photos as soon as the pages were complete, I wouldn't have this issue!  LOL!!

For this summary page of April events, I used my Studio Calico Documenter kit from the same month. I enjoyed these SC kits because the style coordinates so well with the Ali Edwards kits; however, I felt like I was falling too far behind with my kits.  After the August kit when my subscription ended, I decided to cancel it & stick with just Ali's Story kits and my Felicity Jane kits for a while.     



I don't use yellow very often, but the May Studio Calico kit was full of yellow, black and white elements.  It made for a bright, fun page.



 Have a Fabulous Day!

Monday, January 15, 2018

Felicity Jane ~ Love this Smile

Hello Friends and Happy Monday! 

I've been on a mission this past week to use my Felicity Jane kits and get some pages done!  So far, I have completed four layouts with several ideas ready to go.  I enjoy doing all sorts of projects, but working on full 12x12 layouts are probably my favorite.  I love printing large photos and making them the star of the page.  Like this cute photo of my beautiful daughter Megan. 



For this page, I used the Felicity Jane kit called Willow.  Just look at all the lovely patterns on this page!!  This was a super fun page to work on because the patterns and embellishments were all so quirky.  I did grab the "Smile" embellishment from the Caroline kit and the small bit of black/white stripe paper from the Reagan kit.


Enjoy Your Day!

Friday, January 12, 2018

Felicity Jane Kits ~ Prom

Yipee!  I spent some more time in my craft room this week and pulled out a few more Felicity Jane kits. This time, I used the Mila kit with some paper from the Willow kit.  I really love how all of these kits work so beautifully together.  When I saw this particular piece of paper, I knew I needed to make another prom page because the colors/patterns are so perfect with Nia's lovely dress.  The floral embellishments and leather alpha... they are oh so yummy!



Have a Fabulous Weekend!

Thursday, January 11, 2018

Project 52 ~ Week #1

Here I go with another week of Project 52 & it's week #1... only 51 weeks to go!  LOL!  Since I was successful with using the Project Life App & a 6x12 format last year, I've decided to go for it again this year.  If you missed my post about my Project 52 Process, check it out... there are tons of details included.

To start my 2018 Album, I used a family photo from Christmas and changed it to black and white. The cards are from the Project 52 Fresh Edition and Fresh Edition Add-Ons.



For the Week #1 page, I used the new Project 12 - January Edition kit in the App along with a few cards from September Skies.  I also added some photo overlays from Project 52 Overlays and Just Add Color Overlays.


Have a Wonderful Day!

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Felicity Jane ~ Sweet Moments

Hello Friends!  As you can tell by all of my blog posts, I've been working on lots of projects ~ woohoo!  I couldn't wait to dive into my new Felicity Jane kit called Reagan that just arrived a few days ago.  



I'm not sure I would have thought to put these pretty rust & blush colors with my son's prom photos, but it totally works!  There are so many gorgeous colors in this new kit that work beautifully for a variety of pages.

Here's how I made my layout:

  • I started off with the rust color solid paper with the scallop edge already printed on it. I trimmed the sheet to 12x12 and added the beautiful floral pattern on top.  TIP: To get more out of my kit, I used a paper trimmer and cut out the inside of both papers so I would have more to work with on this or other projects.  
  • I trimmed my white textured cardstock to size and inked the edges with Memento Dessert Sand ink.  
  • I added the copper heart washi tape along the top and bottom and pulled out my sewing machine to add a zig zag stitch along the tape.
  • Using the rust paper that I trimmed from the inside of the sheet, I flipped it over and used the blush color to mat my photo. Then I added a larger white mat and inked the edges.  Using some foam dots, I added the photo to the page.
  • Now for the gorgeous embellishments!  I used the roses, tags and labels from the Reagan kit along with the striped banner and "sweet" from the Mila kit.  In addition, the white foam "Moments" is also from the Mila kit.
  • I stamped the "Prom" using Hero Arts letter stamps and the date on textured white cardstock, trimmed them to size and added the labels.  NOTE: I didn't stamp "Prom" directly on the tag because I didn't have Staz-on ink in the rust color and I was afraid it might smear.
  • Finally, I added some copper sequins to finish off the page.



Have a wonderful day & thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

{Embrace} One Little Word ~ January Prompt

This past week I started working on my One Little Word prompt for January. I've decided to for a very clean and simple look this year using the Ali Edwards pink album & 2018 OLW kit.   I also ordered this sweet little Whole Heart - Pocket Tailsman with my word {Embrace} on it from Soul Mantras.  I love it & will include it in my photos 💗




At the beginning of each year, the January prompt is all about learning things about your OLW and what you want to work on for the upcoming year.  The cards for my cover page are all from the OLW 2018 Ali Edwards kit.  I added the pink hearts and letter stickers.



I like the clean and simple look of typing up my journaling, so I also used the cards that come in the digital OLW package that comes free with the OLW class purchase.  The quote is from a Pinterest search & the pink stamped image is from the new OLW stamp set called This One Life.




Even though all of these cards/pages came with the physical kit, I did all of my journaling on the computer and used the digital cards.  Then I added more stamping in pink for little bits of color.


Depending on the prompts in the coming months, I'm sure that I'll have more color on my pages, but for this month, the focus is really on the content.



Thanks for stopping by today!


Saturday, January 6, 2018

My Project 52 Process & 2017 Wrap-Up



Hello Scrappy Friends!  This past year I was able to complete {and keep up with} my Project 52 using the Project Life App on my tablet.  The {keeping up with} part was HUGE for me!  I have tons of unfinished projects in piles around my studio, so starting another long-term project in 2017 didn't feel like the smartest thing to do.  However, a scrapbooking goal last year with my One Little Word was to take more photos and tell more stories. So... I decided to embark on Project 52.  You may be thinking... "What the heck is Project 52?  Well, simply put, you tell stories and take photos and document them on a weekly basis.

Decisions to make prior to starting this project:

1. Physical/Digital/App: I knew the only way I would be able to keep up with weekly storytelling was to use the Project Life App by Becky Higgins on my tablet because it is so quick and easy.  I take the majority of my photos on my phone & they automatically upload to Google Photos so it is very easy to pull photos into the App from the cloud to my tablet.  I have a Samsung 6S phone, a Samsung 2014 Edition tablet, and I use the Android Project Life App on the tablet.  The PL App is available in both the Google & Apple stores.

Side Note: I love scrapbooking with physical products and I continue to do both pocket scrapbooking and 12x12 layouts for other albums.

2. Number of Layouts per Week: The next decision was how many pages to do for each week ~ single or double page layout.  When making this decision, I looked at how many photos I felt like I would take each week & if I could really fill two pages. The answer was a very quick "NO" and I made the decision to do a single layout each week.

3. Page/Album Size: I didn't really want another big 12x12 album on the bookshelf so I began looking around Pinterest for inspiration.  I found some different options to try ~ 6x8, 9x12 or 6x12.   Ultimately, the 6x12 option won out, but here were my thoughts on the others...

* 6x8 ~ I ruled this one out right away because it felt too small and limiting for weekly stories. I like that size for short term or specific projects like One Little Word, December Daily & Week in the Life, but it didn't feel right for this project.

* 9x12 ~ I found this size kind of cool & even ordered an album from Studio Calico to see how I liked it.  However, I felt like working with this size in the App would be too difficult. I would have to leave boxes blank and felt it would limit my productivity.

* 6x12 ~ After seeing Kelly Purkey's weekly album done in this size, I was very inspired to think seriously about this option. Working with this size in the App wouldn't be very difficult because I could still use 12x12 layouts, as long as they could be split down the middle ~ more on that below.

4. Product Availability: Before I officially committed to 6x12, I needed to make sure I could actually get the products I needed since it isn't a standard size.  I ended up finding two different albums at my local Hobby Lobby ~ black cloth & burlap for $14.99.  I also found some on Amazon, but ended up with the black one from Hobby Lobby. The album came with divided page protectors, so the next step was to find 6x12 full page protectors. I found the Becky Higgins brand at Joanns.com last year & ordered them from her website for my album this year.

NOTE: This size can be a bit difficult to find, so I recommend that if you decide on 6x12, you buy everything you need for the whole year before you begin.

EDITED TO ADD: As of December 2018, Studio Calico now has 6x12 albums and refills. I haven't been able to find them at Hobby Lobby the last few times I've been there, but they are on the website.

5: Page Layout Options: As I mentioned above, if you decide to do 6x12 layouts, you have to pick layout options in the App that can be split down the middle. This probably rules out the majority of the 4x6 portrait options for your pictures - so keep that in mind.  Your portrait photos will be smaller in the 3x4 boxes.  There are lots of layout options available in the free packs, but I also purchased a few others.  The photo below shows my three favorite layout options: Design A (which is the default layout that comes up) and SU Design 6a & 6b which was a separate purchase in the App. NOTE: There are others that I used and many others that will work for 6x12... these are just the ones I used the most.



 Layout: Design A
Kits: Currently with Currently & Project 52 Overlays

Layout: SU Design 6a
Kit: Happiness Is Edition


Layout: SU Design 6b
Kit: September Skies, Essential Overlays - White




 6. Workflow for 6x12: Another consideration for 6x12 is how the page reads.  In a normal full page 12x12, you would "read" the page from the left to the far right.  With the 6x12 format, I decided I wanted my weekly entries to read like a book.  So if you follow along the numbers below, (1) would be the weekly title card with the week # and dates for the first entry of the week.  However, sometimes I put a photo there and used my title card in one of the smaller spots.  Next I move down to spot #2, 3 & then 4 at the bottom for the first half of the week.  Spot #5 - 7 are usually for the second part of the week & journaling.



Here's an example that shows the work flow for the week. On this page, I used the first 3x4 box for the weekly title because of the photos I wanted to use.


7. Kit Decisions: When I began this project last year, my intent was to use a limited number of kits for the entire year.  That decision didn't last long because I was already getting bored with the cards. But one decision that did work for me was to stick with one kit per weekly page (except for overlays... I never put a limit on the number of overlay kits to use).  Every now and then I would come across a card that worked with another kit and would use it, but for the most part, all of my pages only used one kit each week.

The other decision I made was that I would only use products in the Project Life App and not use other apps or programs for my pages. I don't need more choices... this project needs to stay simple so I can be successful!

8. Working Ahead: Another thing I like to do is work ahead. I started doing this so that I would have pages already done and could just pop in the photos and journaling as the week was happening.  I simply pick a kit that I like, select a layout and start putting kit cards inside. If I know an event or a holiday will fall in a particular week, I usually pick a kit that will coordinate otherwise, I just pick whatever I like.

To start a page, I usually pick one title card and fill in the week # and date range, at least one filler card and at least one journaling card.  Sometimes I add additional cards so I have choices for what best fits that week.  Of course, I've made up pages that totally don't work for the events of that week and switch out all of them, but at least this gives me a jumping off point.

Below is a photo of my folder for 2018 & the pages I've put together so far.


Here's a page I have made ahead for Week #3. I may or may not use all the cards once the week rolls around. If the floral theme doesn't work for the photos/event of week #3, I'll just use a different page & change the title.



9. Yearly Folder & Backup: I always make folders for my projects so I can quickly find a page to work on or find completed pages. I also name each page with the week #.  Below is a photo of part of the 2017 folder.

Also, once I have a page finished, I upload it to Google Photos and then save it to my computer so I have multiple backups.



10. Printing/Trimming: For 2017, I printed my pages twice during the year ~ About half-way through the year (at week #26 or #27) & again at the end of the year when Week #52 & the back cover page were finished. I wanted to print some pages to make sure I liked the format which is why I ordered in July.  I will probably do that again this year.

I order my prints through Persnickity Prints online, but you can also order directly through the App.  I have several photo credit packages that I pre-purchased on sale through Persnickity, so I always use those.  I order 12x12 photographic prints/matte finish. Shipping is very reasonable at $5.99 & the photo credits never expire.  I have been very happy with the quality and they are super fast!

The print on the left is what they look like when they arrive.  The loose prints on the right side are the ones I have trimmed & have ready to insert into the page protectors.


Here is the finished look of one week in the protectors.



... and the same page from the App that I display on my blog post.

Layout: SU Design 6b
Kit: Seasonal Snapshot 2015

I did make a 6x12 cover page for the front and back pages of my album. For the front cover I used a 6x12 layout in the App and just printed as a 12x12 and trimmed it. For the back cover, I used part of a 12x12 layout and put some random photos on the other side for printing.


  

The last thing I did for my 2017 Project 52 Album was make a 4x4 title block for the window on the front cover. I used the collage feature of the PL App and used a card from the Good Vibes kit.  It was originally in navy blue but I didn't like how it looked with the black album, so I changed it to coral.



So that's the process I followed for 2017 and what I'm planning on doing again this year.  The only change at this point is that I may not pre-date all of the pages I make ahead.

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Embrace 2018 with OLW

Hello Friends!  Today I worked on an impromptu project combining the Project Life App and my One Little Word project.  These cool calendar templates were on the Becky Higgins Blog (December 5, 2017 post) and I was going to make a quick photo calendar with them.  However, when I started looking at photos, I saw my OLW photo I put together earlier this week and thought it would be cool to put up a new {Embrace} quote each month.  This was a pretty quick project on the Project Life App Collage feature and I printed them at home on my Canon Photo printer with 4x6 photo paper. Then I backed them with coordinating cardstock and they are ready to clip up each month.

I've had this calendar stand for 3 or 4 years and each year I change out the year.  This year I also changed the bow & the clip to match the green & blue in my office.


Here are the cardstock backed calendar pages.



Below are the actual calendar pages that I made in the collage feature of the Project Life App ~ Easy Peasy!!  The photo quotes are all from Pinterest and Google searches.















Thanks for popping in today!