Project Life | Week 1 & 2

Well, I can't believe it but I have joined the hundreds, possibly thousands who have hopped on board the Project Life band wagon this year. I tried it once before in 2010 but only made it through the first month and then life took over. So, I recycled that album and kit and have started over.

I have also purchased the Clementine core kit which should be here next week and have pre-ordered a variety pack of the page protectors and the new black signature binder. I will be using the original kit and clementine core kit together with product from my vast stash, including several Studio Calico kits, and some digital elements from Ali Edwards, Cathy Zielske, Marcy Penner and Paislee Press.

It has taken more time than I wish but I have finally finished week one and two and I love the results. With me working four days a week I really didn't think we would have enough going on to do a double page spread each week so I am planning on only a single page each week but am flexible enough that if there is enough going on one week I will make it a double page. Week three was a big summer holiday week for us so it is planned as a double page. I am also adding inserts in when and if I need them.

Here we go with week one and it was a quiet week at home for Ashleigh and Scott and I was back to work on Wednesday. I am trying to keep each week simple and the embellishments reasonably flat otherwise I can see the album getting quite bulky by the end of the year.

This 4 x 6 photo has been layered with an October Afternoon label for the weeks dates and some very old alpha stickers and rub-on.

I used my new Silhouette Cameo for the Hello Life 2012 and the Weekend Ritual banner. Because I am only doing a single page per week I am following Michelle Wooderson's lead and doing a 'this week' card summarising each week.

Here is another October Afternoon label, you will see lots of these in the coming weeks, and I typed my journalling with my vintage typewriter.

I also had an insert this week. You can see how it looks with the main pages below. This one is a 6x12 using a template by Cathy Zielske from Designer Digitals. The journalling for the page is on the main page and was printed on the card so I could get the whole story down.

I have plans to use the back of the insert for week two to tell the story of our trip to Waiheke Island for a long weekend.

Our week two was a busy one. The school holidays continued, I travelled to Melbourne and Sydney for work and we all went to Waiheke for a long weekend. So you can see most of my photos this week are from our time at Waiheke and I used several of the free templates from Paislee Press. I think I will be using these a lot as they let me get more photos in a week. This week I also used a 4x6 and 3x4 journalling card from Marcy Penner.

I hope to get quicker at putting my pages together each week and already have my photos organised and printed for week three and four. The plan is to have both of these weeks finished before the end of week five. I also have an insert planned for week three and my photos for that are also printed.

First December Sneak Peek

Wow, the December Harvest Moon kit is fantastic and fill of some great product for all the boys, big and small in your life.

It was a great opportunity for me to scrap the photos from my nephew's 3rd birthday which was back in March. He was dressed up most of the day as Buzz Lightyear, which works perfectly with the kit as you will see with more to come later this week.

I have about four layouts planned in my head with the kit and now I just need to make some time to play.

Here is my first double page layout which is a scraplift from the September issue of Creating Keepsakes. In addition to the December kit I added the Basic Grey red star paper and October Afternoon vintage astronaut card from the Studio Calico Paper Moon as well as a few scraps of patterned paper for the circles from previous Harvest Moon kits.

Love it and love this little boy! We don't get to see him much now he lives in Australia and we miss him.

New Scooter

I haven't had time to do much scrapbooking this last week but this is a layout from a few weeks ago using some Studio Calico kit products and again some very old product from my stash.

This layout also uses another Bite Size Scrapbooking inspiration layout, number 40. I had a little trouble bringing this one together but it has grown on me and it is another special little story remembered.

I have the new December Harvest Moon kit sitting on my desk and a page half way finished. Hope to make time tonight to finish it up so I can start sharing some sneak peeks...they have put together another fantastic kit, more for the boys this time.

Mists and Masks

Harvest Moon now has Studio Calico Mister Huey mists and butterfly mask in the shop and I thought I would share some layouts using both. I really love the added dimension misting gives to my layouts.

This layout uses a combination of the September and October Harvest Moon kits. Before I laid everything down I randomly misted the background to tone down the white cardstock a little bit. I love this collage of photos and the banner along the bottom is one of my favourites.

This one uses just the October Harvest Moon kit. I placed three circle masks on the cardstock and misted the complete page with grey and white mist then with my circle cutter I cut the patterned paper to fit in the circles leaving a frame of plain cardstock. This was one of the first photos I took on my iPhone and played with in Instagram....I do love that app.

This is an older page using a Heidi Swapp mask that I placed on the background, misted and then layered the photos, journalling and other product over, which added a fun touch to this layout of Ashleigh and her friend playing in the sprinkler. The new Studio Calico butterfly mask will give you a similar look by placing the masks from largest to smallest up the side of your page.

Here is a flower mask used on the cover of a chipboard mini album and then painted over. This is another great look and another example of the many ways these masks can be used. I made this mini album in an Ali Edwards class when she came down under to Wellington, New Zealand a few years ago....all the classes were so much fun.

I have also been learning some other techniques with mist to give you more of a paint splatter look which I can't wait to try.

{Sushi Making...}

We had a very busy weekend with a funeral, Guy Fawkes and everyday chores but in between all that I did manage to get a layout started and finished, and not just a single page but a double page spread. It came together very quickly with the use of a layout/sketch by Laura Vegas from the September 2011 issue of Creating Keepsakes and the Studio Calico kit 'Into the Woods'. 

I also used some very old product from my stash...the 'love' letter stickers by Making Memories and the chipboard and felt hearts. I always feel good when I use some of my very old, very large stash, even if it is a very small amount.


Although I find event pages such as birthdays and christmas the most difficult, I think just because of the number of photos you take and trying to narrow it down to a handful of photos to get on a page, I do love doing double page spreads. I love getting lots of photos on a page that come together to tell a story.