Numbers Story Kit ~ Zip It!

One of our all-time favorite things to do as a family is to travel together & one of our favorite experiences has been to go on the Ziprider in Icy Strait Point, Alaska.  We've been on it three times now & it is always a thrill!  Last June, we were able to share this experience with our best friends and although my sweet friend Steph was pretty nervous about it, she went with us anyway.  I was so proud of her for doing this, even though it really was way outside of her comfort zone!

For my page today, I used the Ali Edwards Number Story Kit for the journaling & filler cards.  I did my journaling on the computer and printed them out on the cards.  I also used the Messy Circles & Surprise Story Set for the stamps on the page.  The big red letters were left over in my stash from the Ali Edwards December Daily kit.

Check back tomorrow to see how the experience turned out!  

You won't want to miss it ;)

Studio Calico ~ New Year New Chances

Good Monday Morning Peeps!  I have another new page to share today using the January Studio Calico Kit called Roman Holiday.  I love the bright pops of color in this kit paired with the grays and blacks.  The other thing I love about the Studio Calico Documenter cards, is that they are double sided.  Now the one drawback to that is I often like both sides... however, they have digital versions of the cards for about $5, so it's an easy affordable way to add to the monthly kit.

For this page, I let the products guide me where it was going.  I didn't really know what the subject of the page was going to be until I started placing the cards.  I'm happy with the layout and I thought the black and white photos really fit the page with the pop of pink.  In addition to the Studio Calico products, I also added several embellishments from the December Hip Kit Club.

Enjoy your day & thanks for stopping by!

My Twenty-Seventeen Cover

 Hi Friends & Happy Friday!!!  So happy to share another Project Life layout with you today.  This layout features products from the Studio Calico Roman Holiday Documenter Kit.  I'm in love with the colors on this kit & the quality of the products is OUTSTANDING!

The photo above is a little more true to the real colors of the kit; unfortunately, the I couldn't get a shot of the whole page that was in focus, so the color of the photo below was edited to brighten it up.

All of the cards and elements are from Studio Calico Roman Holiday Documenter Kit with additional items from the December Hip Kit (gold & blue stars); Heidi Swapp (puffy stickers); Simple Stories (enamel dots); and My Mind's Eye (gold mirror hearts).

My favorite square is the one in the middle with the saying, "Working my happiness like it's a full time job".  That's my motto this year ~ LOL!

Review Story Kit ~ Family Year in Review & Some News

Earlier this week, I shared the year in review pages for my kids and now I have our family layouts completed as well.  As a scrapbooker, it's always hard to pick photos for a review page & stick to just one story per month.  You'll notice lots of band & travel related things {because that's what our family does}.  :)

I stitched my two photos together to show the double layouts together side by side.  The majority of the cards & embellishments I used were from the Ali Edwards Review Story Kit, but I also used a few things from the Numbers Story Kit as well.  I'm super happy with the results.

Here are individual pages shown so you can see more of the details.  I typed out a quick one line photo description for each month and attached it with my Tiny Attacher (one of my favorite new tools). 

I love the embellishments in this Review Story Kit ~ cork numbers, chipboard elements, the month puffy stickers and the awesome Project Life cards.

Exciting News!

After 10 years of being on various cardmaking design teams, I have decided to switch up my creative path and focus completely on my scrapbooks for my crafting time.  I'm excited to see where this path takes me & I'm looking to taking some classes in photography, graphic design and storytelling.  I don't know if this will ever be a career path, but I'm looking forward to just improving my skills and creating for ME.   Thanks for being part of my creative journey & I look forward to sharing more here on my blog and on my crafty Facebook page like I've always done.

Project 52 ~ Week #4

Good Morning!

Each Wednesday over the last few weeks, I've been sharing my Project 52 layouts with you.  I have so many projects going right now, but I'm having fun experimenting with how I want to document 2017.  At some point, I will figure out what is working and want to continue with long term.  In the meantime, using the Project Life App on my tablet, is a super easy peasy way to document the everyday life of our family.

Last week was all about Matt... mainly because we were the only two home and we were pretty busy with his activities.  I used the Currently Kit in the Project Life App for the cards with various overlay kits within the App as well for the days & comments.  

At some point I'll be printing my pages... just waiting until I have a bunch stored up to save on shipping.  Once I have them, I'll trim them down the center to display them in my 6x12 album ~ which is why you may notice I work from the top loft 2 boxes down and then continue on the right side down.

I'll be back with another fun kit page tomorrow... just trying to decide which one ;)

Have a great day & thanks for stopping by!

Numbers Story Kit ~ Megan's Year in Review

I'm back again today with another Project Life layout, this time I'm using the Ali Edwards Numbers Story Kit!  Today's layout features a review of Megan's year!  {I posted Matt's page yesterday, in case you missed it}

Just like Matt's page, I used photos that we took while in Alaska last summer.  Then I shared a few things about 2016 in the journaling.  What an incredible young women my daughter is ... I am so very proud of this gorgeous girl!   In addition to the Numbers Story Kit, I also used a few Project Life cards from the January Studio Calico kit and some supplies from my December Hip Kit.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Review Story Kit ~ Matt's Year

Hi There Crafty Friends!  I'm back again with another Project Life layout using the Ali Edwards Review Story Kit!   I am loving these kits and haven't had any issues completing my goal of doing at least 2 layouts per kit.   Today's layout features a review of Matt's year!

We took TONS of photos while in Alaska last summer, so I selected a few of my favorites and added some journaling of of the big things that happened for him last year.  I am so proud of this handsome guy & what a really cool young adult he is becoming!   In addition to the Review Story Kit, I also used a few Project Life cards from the January Studio Calico kit {which I can't wait to dive into ~ oh my goodness, good stuff!}.  The only comment I would make about the Ali Edwards Story Kits, it that I wouldn't mind a few more card designs in the kit; however, I do have access to digital kit, so I can always print more.

I used my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher to add a little staple to various areas of the layout... this is my favorite new tool!

I hope you're enjoying my layouts.  I know I've shifted my focus from cards, but I felt like it was time to work on documenting more.  And... I am loving it!

Surprise Story Kit ~ Surfer Dude!

Recently, I started subscribing to the monthly Ali Edwards Story Kits & Story Stamps.  I have been so happy with not only the amazing products, but also the class materials, and the support by the amazing community that are included.  I have been part of the crafting industry as a hobbiest, a design team member and an employee for many years and I have to say, I find Ali Edwards company to be the complete package!  It's about the storytelling and making our stories more than scrapbook pages ~ they are 100% meaningful.

My goal this year is that with each kit I subscribe to, I want to make at least 2 layouts with the products ~ Project Life pocket style, full 12x12, 6x8, etc... whatever I want with photos that fit the theme.  Since I'm going to use photos from lots of different events or times, I had to give myself permission to jump around to different projects and not scrapbook chronologically ~ that was hard for me since I'm pretty concrete sequential... but it's also a little bit freeing.

For the November 2016 Story Kit, the theme was Surprise.  In the class video, Ali stresses many ways we can be surprised... both good and bad.  But one thing that really stood out to me was this quote, "Let life surprise & delight you".  I selected these photos for my page today because Matt both surprised and delighted me.  On our recent New Year's vacation, Matt went on the Flowrider many times every day.  He improved each time and learned new tricks along the way.  I love that he is a little fearless, but also a little careful ~ it's a really nice balance.  I wish I was a little more fearless...

All of the supplies I used on this page, other than the colored cardstock, the stapler & the date stamp are from the Surpise Story Kit & the Surprise Story Stamp set.  I played with this page for a while trying to decide if I should use a few black/white photos rather than all color.  Ultimately, I decided to go with color photos because Matt just didn't stand out enough in the black/white.   I stamped the "AH YEAH" sentiment & the date stamp on the title card with Earl Gray Ink by Taylored Expressions and stapled some matching stars from the kit to the bottom corner.

Photo Tip: While on our trip, I totally forgot to take a picture of the Flowrider sign.  I felt like the page needed a different image, so I did a Google search of images and found exactly the one I wanted.  It was the perfect addition to the page.

I'll admit, I should be writing in my scrapbooks more often; however, I hate my handwriting and I usually get tongue-tied with my words.  Therefore, I almost always type my journaling... I just tell better stories when I can sit and type them out on the computer.  The phrase on the bottom right photo kind of cracks me up... perfect for the wipe out!

I realize I'm hoping around a lot with different projects, but that's because I've been working on TONS of different things over the last few months.  However, it's all to reach the same goal... document our family life with photos and stories.  Are you hoping to make your stories more meaningful... check out Ali Edwards Story Kits and classes.  They are absolutely amazing!!

Project 52 ~ Week #2

I'm back today with more pages from my Project 52 album that I created in the Project Life App on my Android Samsung Tablet.  I used the September Skies and Project 52 Edition Photo Overlay kits in the app.  

Note: As I stated on my previous Project 52 posts, I will be using a 6x12 album to display these pages; however, after working on a few layouts, I've decided to create my pages using various 12x12 layouts in the App so I can also print them as 12x12.  Once printed, I will then cut each layout down the center to fit inside my album.  The reason being, it will give me more layout options and it will be much cheaper to print a full 12x12 print.

I'm enjoying this process so far & I've actually gone in the App to create several layouts for future weeks.  I've added weekly title blocks, journaling cards and graphics that coordinate.  They are all saved just waiting for journaling and photos to be added.

my one little word ~ explore

I'm going on a journey in 2017 with One Little Word ~ Let's go ...

As I stated recently, I signed up for the One Little Word workshop with Ali Edwards.  I'm super excited about it and for 2 days last week, I started digging deeper into my word.  My word started out so simple with the premise that I wanted to Explore my life through photos and stories in my scrapbooks.  I wanted to be more intentional about doing both.  But... OH MY GOODNESS ~ this is going to be so much more.  So far, I've already discovered that I need to do some self exploration about some things in my life.  Now that sounds like it's a bad thing or that my life is in turmoil, but it's really not.  Things are good, but I am sort of in a transition phase with my kids becoming young adults and starting to move on.  That's part of the reason that I want to document more, but it's also told me that I need to be okay with it & figure out what this new role looks like as their mother.

So as part of Ali Edwards OLW workshop, she comes up with monthly prompts.  This helps the participants keep our words in our lives in a purposeful way.   Here's how I documented my January prompts.

January Cover Page:  I have some Simple Stories chipboard dividers that I'm going to use for my album.  With the workshop, we also received lots of digital files from Ali Edwards, so I used the "one little word" file in Photoshop Elements and added the 2017.   I also stamped "january" on the tab using an older Stampin' Up set that I have in my stash.

Note: The plastic "explore" word is a custom order from Ali Edwards.  I haven't decided how I'm going to use it yet, so at this point I'm using it in my photos to keep my word front and center!

January Prompts ~ Page 1: For the first few pages, I wanted to include some graphics & phrases.  So I went Pinterest & Google searching and found these fun photos and quotes to add.  Ali challenged us to be curious about our word & to add a photo of ourselves in our books.  

Life Begins: I'm all about being in my comfort zone, so this is a good reminder to me. Photo found in Google.
One Word Card: From the AE OLW digital files & I typed my word in with Photoshop Elements then added some twine and a button.
Explore More: I found this graphic on Pinterest.
Photo of Me:  Taken within the last few month.  I added the "Jan" from the AE OLW digital files and trimmed it with a circle punch.  The "Explore" is from the AE travel stamp set.
Blessed are the Curious: Found on Pinterest.  Ali challenged us to "be curious" about our word.  What other meanings are out there for me on my word.

Here's a better look at the "Explore More" photo

January Prompts ~ Page 2: I debated about adding this page to my blog since visually it isn't very interesting, but then decided to go ahead and show what I'm working on.

The cards and graphics are all from the AE OLW digital files that comes with the workshop.  She also sells a physical kit, but I didn't purchase it this year.  I prefer to journal on the computer because (1) I hate my handwriting; (2) I tend to fumble around with my handwritten words and make mistakes... which looks messy; and (3) I write more in depth with computer journaling and it is more meaningful in the long run.  So I pulled these digital cards in to Photoshop Elements & added text/photos to them.  Then I saved them as .jpg files and printed them.  They are already sized for the 6x8 & 3x4 album pockets.

I particularly love the photo I found on Pinterest for the "Quotation" block. {click on the photo to enlarge}

January Back Cover:  I used the AE OLW Pattern Maker Stamp to stamp the words in kraft on kraft cardstock.  Then I added some pink embossed cardstock to the other side and pink/gold washi tape down the middle.  The photo is from a Pinterest search and I printed it on my photo printer with a white border.  For the final touch, I added the "love life" image from the AE Messy Circle stamp set in gold embossed ink on pink cardstock.  

So there is my January assignment... I'm excited about it and looking forward to this journey with my One Little Word.  There's still plenty of time to pick a word and sign up for the workshop if you're interested... Come explore with me!

Setting Goals

Hi Crafty Peeps!  I've decided to set aside some time this morning to layout my Goals for my scrapbooks this year after watching Elizabeth's video from Eternally Inspired Mama.  I've been thinking a lot about this for that last few months & I feel that setting aside time to document my family life is incredibly important & it's time to be more intentional about it.  And that leads me to my first goal...

Goal #1: Be Intentional
To me this means take more photos & tell more stories!   I've begun taking action on this already by starting several new-to-me projects.

• Project 52 - I started my Project Life weekly scrapbook.  I'm working with a 6x12 album (mostly in the Project Life App, but I have the option to work with physical products as well).  I plan on telling more stories about our daily life (from my perspective) and document more feelings about what we have going on.  This is a big change for me because for the last 10 years or so, I have mostly focused on albums for vacations, school, and marching band.  I have very little from the day to day stuff.
• Kit Clubs - I have subscribed to 3 subscription kits ~ Hip Kit Club, Ali Edwards Story Kits and I just ordered the Studio Calico kit because I think it will coordinate well with the Ali Edwards kit.  I don't anticipate keeping all 3, but I want to see the actual products for a few months to see how I like them.  Other than using the Project Life App for digital scrapbooking, my intent is to use these kits for the majority of my scrapbooking.  I love the kits for different reasons & the styles are very different, but they are all equally fun.  Like I said, we'll see if I continue with the kits all year or just a portion of the year... I guess it depends if I feel like it's a good value and I'm using the products.  I also need to use things I already have on hand... oh goodness, I have a big stash! So why subscribe to new monthly kits when I clearly have enough products in my studio? While I don't NEED them, I have to keep things interesting & they motivate me to keep up.

  

• Finish Projects - It's time to get some unfinished things done!!!  The number of unfinished projects in my studio is a bit overwhelming.  Lots of vacation albums where the photos are in pockets and they are ready to go, but nothing else is done.  I am almost finished with my Spring Break 2013 project... so excited to have completed this project so quickly.  Check out what I've posted so far here on my blog.  Two seasons of Marching Band for my son still need to be completed before he graduates in June 2018 (but my goal is to finish both before the end of this school year in June).   I also have layouts to complete in his school book.  Back when the kids were in preschool, I started albums with just a few layouts each year to showcase the highlights for that grade.  This project doesn't take long, but I just need to sit and do it!  

NOTE: I feel like I have way too many albums going right now ~ so I want to find a way to make it easy... however, I still have to figure out how to condense some of my current projects and make it more manageable. I think it's going to take some time to figure out how that will work.

Goal #2: Work on my Craft

Being intentional also includes becoming better at what I do.  I decided to set aside some time to take a few online classes this year to improve on what I'm already doing.

• Currently, I am signed up for the Ali Edwards Hello Story class & I'm looking forward to starting it next week.  I will probably take a few more after this one is finished.

• I would also like to take a photography class & a graphic design (or Photoshop Elements) class. I feel like these additional classes will help with the overall look of my albums.  If anyone has any suggestions for classes, I'd love to hear them!
• I would also like to do some video tutorials & process videos this year.  We'll see if I get up the guts to do that this year.

Goal #3: Work on Myself

Maybe this doesn't sound scrapbooking related; however, it is because that's how it all began.  Let me explain... see it started because I signed up for the Ali Edwards One Little Word project back in December this 2017 with the intention just photographing and documenting more... but it has grown into something far different {and more exciting}.

I picked a word last year, Moments and loved it, but I didn't do the workshop.  I wanted to enjoy our family moments more & document them.  The year went well, but I wanted to do more with my word going forward.  So this year I have selected my word ~ Explore!  I have already finished my January prompts for my new word and I have to say, this project is so much more than a scrapbooking project. I has really brought out a lot of me and things I want to work on about myself during 2017.  I will also be starting a bible study in a few weeks and I'm excited to see how I can incorporate my word into this study.

At this point, I will be documenting everything in a separate 6x8 mini album.  I'll have to wait and see if I continue that way each month.  I think it's a good idea to be flexible & make changes as needed.  Check here on Monday for my very first OLW blog post!

Getting Started ...
So... that's where I seem to be headed this year.  With that said, I'm not sure if cardmaking will continue to be included in my crafty goals during 2017.  Cards & stamping have been the focus of my craft life for the last 10 plus years being on design teams and a DT coordinator for several companies. Much of that changed at the end of last year and I began to shift my focus back to my first crafty love ~ scrapbooking.  I'm excited for 2017 to be a year of growth, both creatively and personally.

Project 52 ~ Week #1

I'm digging into my Project 52 album with week #1... I really hope that I have set myself up for success on this project.  Sometimes I have grand ideas for getting so much done, but this project needs to stay manageable so I can keep up and get it done!  However, I also want to make sure it's a meaningful project with photos & stories that speak from my heart.

As I did for my cover page that I shared a few days ago, I used the Project Life App for this 2-page layout for Week #1 (January 1st - 7th).  I'm not sure if I will use the App or if I will use physical PL products ... I'm just going to go with the flow.  I usually like consistency, but I also have lots of physical products that I love to use, so that may dictate where I go with it.

For the first page of this layout, I used the Project 52 Fresh Edition in the App and just added the dates and journaling.  I adore the photo of the kids at the bottom of the page!

For the second page, I used journaling cards from the September Skies (top) & Moments Like These kits in the App.  I don't use other apps out there to add words or graphics to my photos.  I think they look super cool, but I need to keep things simple, so I haven't even looked into that option.  I used photos from our vacation and then the last photo and journaling block are about the shootings at the Ft. Lauderdale Airport which happened less than 24 hrs after we were there.

So that's week #1... I'll be back with next week with the next page & some other projects I'm working on.

My Project 52 with Project Life ~ Cover Page

Hi Friends!  This year I'm starting a brand new project called Project 52 {as in doing Project Life for 52 weeks in the year}.  I'll be using the Project Life system (both the App on my tablet and physical products) to document our family on a weekly basis.  My goal this year is to be more intentional about taking photos and documenting what's going on in our lives.  I haven't done either very well the last several years, other than trips and marching band.  Some weeks may be rather boring with hardly anything and some may include several layouts... we'll see how it looks at the end of the year.

I've decided to start out with a 6 x12 format for this project rather than my normal 12x12.  There are several reasons why I selected this format...  I felt that 12x12 may be a too large and overwhelming for weekly layouts.  I didn't want to defeat myself before I even started.  I contemplated 6x8, but I don't really enjoy that size very much except for quick projects. I also looked at 8x8, but there aren't very many page protector options available for that size if I decide to do physical pages. I also looked at 9x12, but I would always have to order supplies online & wanted more options. I started following Kelly Purkey and she does 6x12 & I found an album and page protectors locally at Hobby Lobby, so I thought I'd give it a go. I figure that if I don't like it, it will be easy to switch back to 12x12. So this was my thought process for the odd page/album size.

So here is my cover page... short and sweet.  I included a favorite family photo from last year, a CAS title that states the purpose & a few coordinating cards from the Project Life App kit called Good Vibes.   I love how it pulls the same colors from my photo {which was kind of a happy accident}.

 I have the first week done, but I'll save those pages for another day!  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy my Project 52 journey for 2017!

Spring Break 2013 ~ Setting Sail

Hi Friends... I'm back today with more pages from our Spring Break 2013 album.  This has been such a fun project with a mixture of full sized 12x12 layouts, smaller 8 x 10 layouts as well as Project Life style layouts.  I love adding lots of different types of pages to my albums.

For the layouts below, I used supplies from the Simple Stories Collection called You Are Here.  This is the perfect collection to document warm weather vacation photos.

The globe die cut is from Taylored Expressions.

I added some bits and pieces of wood embellishments from the You Are Here collection and added ink to them so they would stand out a bit.

For this page, I used the Simple Stories Collection called Sunshine & Happiness.

Enjoy your day & thanks for stopping by!

Spring Break 2013 ~ Last few pages in NOLA

I'm back with the last of my New Orleans pages from our Spring Break 2013 vacation album.  I used Simple Stories You Are Here Collection for the first several pages.

We walked around the famous Bourbon Street with the kids ~ during the day!

This page features the Simple Stories collection called Urban Traveler.

This page features the Simple Stories Sunshine & Happiness Collection

Thanks for stopping by today!

Back to New Orleans ~ Spring Break 2013

After a month-long break to showcase my December Daily, I'm back with some pages form the Spring Break 2013 album I've been working on.  I am soooooo close to finishing it.  Here are some pages from our time in New Orleans before we boarded the cruise ship.

I used the Simple Stories You Are Here Collection for these pages.

Thanks for stopping by today!