My New Favorite Way to do Project Life...

Hey there friends!  I have another week of Project Life to share. 

It's the week of September 10 - 16, 2012...

 This week was a mix of Michael's sobriety anniversary, scrapfest, and everyday stuff.  Life has been very busy lately!!!


Left side closeup...

 Ephemera here includes the black square Scrapfest sticker in the top right corner.  It was stuck to a bag of freebies that we all received at the event.  I have to say that Heidi Swapp is an absolute delight!  The girls and I attended her crop on Friday night, and I also took her memory file class; and I was so impressed with her.  She is super funny and down to earth, and just a really nice person.  The theme of Heidi's crop was "Sprinkle it with Fabulous!"  A highlight of the crop was the special "Sprinkle it with fabulous" donut hole bar - how fun is that!  There were cups of donut holes, and frosting glazes and different kinds of sprinkles to top them with.  I can't eat donuts, so I substituted potato chips, and it was super yummy! 


 Closeup of right side...

On the middle left hand side is an iphone photo that Michael sent me when he received his 18 year medallion.  I cut it out with scissors and glued it onto the 10 of hearts card, since the 10th of September is his sober date.  The cute little frog sheet music piece on the top left, is part of the October Afternoon miscellany pack.  It worked perfectly to complement the photo of the frog that greeted me from the other side of the front door one night.  On the bottom left is a photo from the Heidi Swapp crop at Scrapfest.  Notice how the wall behind Lynn and Anne looks like the sky?  It's actually patterned paper from October Afternoon.  I cut the ugly cluttered wall behind the girls, right out of the photo, and replaced it with the patterned paper.  Before the girls sort of faded into the background, and I wanted them to stand out more.

I have discovered that my new favorite thing to do with Project Life, is to take a whole week to focus on it, and do a number of spreads in a row.  It has made the whole process even more fun!  I always enjoyed it, but this week I wasn't in a hurry, so I was able to take more time, and put more detail into each spread, and I LOVED that!  I think I will start doing that on a regular basis!  I still have a couple of spreads to do, so watch for those to come within the next day or two.

Oh, and by the way, did you know that Lain Ehmann is planning to host a free scrapinar all about Project Life on October 2nd?  Check out all the details here!

Thanks for visiting and I will see you again soon!

Project Life Update - September 3 - 9th...

Project Life is still FUN!!! This is so amazing to me.  I am usually the queen of switching systems, but there's something about this format that is so fascinating.  I love filling the little pockets, and I love the way it tells the story of our life in a visual and colorful way.

Here's how the week of September 3rd thru 9th turned out...

Closeup of left side...

 since the big news of the week was our getaway weekend (which started on Friday), I chose to sum up Monday through Thursday on one journaling card (middle left with the butterfly).   Everything else on this layout is about our trip to the Rocky Mountains. Ephemera includes the ticket for our Stanley hotel ghost tour, and the tag from Michael's Estes Park sweatshirt purchase.

Closeup of right side...

Ephemera on this side includes a Rocky Mountain National Park postcard, and business cards from the Estes Park Scrapbooking store, and the Mexican restaurant we ate at.  The tiny little elk and deer above the Rocky Mountain Memories business card, are actually stamps that I bought at the store.  Aren't they just so cute?!  I am going to love using those!

How's your project life going?  If you are doing it this year, are you still liking it?  Do you think you will continue next year? 

Thanks for visiting and I will see you again soon!

Yearbook Committee...

This is my last project for Noel Mignon's Back to School Crop.  It's the Yearbook Committee assignment, which was to use a school photo on a layout.  I chose to use Michael's 9th grade school photo...

Here's how it turned out...

I used my Noel Mignon Summer Wind kit for this one.  Instead of painting the title right on the page, I chose to paint it on white cardstock, and then cut it out.  I wasn't sure how the word Academy would fit on the page, and I didn't want to mess it up!

I really enjoyed taking last week to just focus on one thing (layouts for the crop).  I think I am going to focus on one thing per week more often and see how it works. 

This week it's Project Life!  I've missed working on it the last three weeks, and I'm excited to get caught up again!

Thanks for visiting and I will see you again soon!

Chemistry Assignment...

I'm still working on assignments for Noel Mignon's Back to School crop, and this one is for Chemistry class.  The assignment was to make your own patterned paper background using mists and chipboard or diecut pieces.  I didn't have chipboard so I used some paper doilies.

Here's what I came up with...

I ended up doing the misting in layers with different shades of blues, greens and purples.  In other words, I first laid down three doilies randomly on the page, and misted over them with one color.  Then I picked them up, and laid down three more in different spots and misted with a different color.  I kept repeating that until I had the whole page covered.  I had no idea at the time what the topic of my page was going to be, I was just playing.

After I was done, it reminded me of a peaceful night sky; which led me to the photo of my sweet snuggle bears sleeping.

I stamped my hand-carved cloud stamps on white cardstock and cut them out; adhering them at different depths around the photo - some pop-dotted, some not. The title was hand-drawn and cut from the same white cardstock.

Noel's crops always get me thinking outside the box, and I end up with layouts I may have never done on my own.  I just love that!  I finished one more assignment for the crop, which I will share with you tomorrow. 

Now it's time for me to focus on Project Life!  I am three weeks behind, and it's catch-up time!

Thanks for visiting and I will see you again tomorrow!

20th Century History...

I'm still working on Monday's assignments for Noel Mignon's Back to School Crop - eek!  I'm behind! 

Monday's night school class was "20th Century History," and the assignment was to do a layout with a photo from the 20th century, featuring the year it was taken prominently.  Here's what I came up with...

I love this photo of us three girls (my sister Renee, mom and me).  I don't remember what we were looking at, but I do remember it was cold and windy that day, and that dad was the one taking the picture.  He was always taking photos, and we would complain, but I sure appreciate all of his photos now!

I made the layout with bits and pieces from my stash and various kits; and painted the title with india ink and a brush.

Now I'm off to work on the Yearbook Committee assignment!  Click here if you want to join in the fun!

Thanks for visiting and see you again soon!

Beginning Band Assignment...

Hi there everyone!  I'm participating in Noel Mignon's "Back to School" themed crop this week, and having so much fun!  The challenges are set up like classes.  Each day there is an a.m. class and a p.m. class, and sometimes night school.  There are games and prizes.  Tonight we played bingo and I won! 

The Monday morning "class" was Beginning Band.  The challenge was to scrap a layout using song lyrics and sheet music.  Here's what I came up with...

The papers are from my Noel Mignon "Evening Stroll" kit; and the rest is from my stash.  The colors of Noel's kits just blow me away, and this one is no exception. 

Next up is the Yearbook Committee.  The challenge is to use a school photo on a page.  Hmmm...  I'm off to work on it!  If you want to come play along with the crop, (you do not have to use Noel's kits at all) click here - it's going to be fun!!!

Thanks for visiting and I will see you again soon!!!

Lily Bee and Doodlebug Scrapfest Projects...

I'm excited to share with you three layouts that I actually finished during Scrapfest!!!  This almost never happens, since the classes are only 45 minutes long.  Sometimes you feel like you barely get started!  But these three I managed to finish during the Friday and Saturday night crops.

Lily Bee's "We Are Family" Class...
This is the class description and photos from the Scrapfest signup page...

and here's how my layouts turned out...

I changed a few details to make the project feel like my own, but mostly stuck right to the design provided in the workshop.  The class was taught by Kristen Young herself, who is the owner, founder of Lily Bee!  She is super sweet and so knowledgeable!  It was fun to meet her!

I haven't finished the card yet, but when I do I will be sure to share!

The next workshop project I'd like to share is from Crazy About Color by Doodlebug Design...

The photo in the class description did not do this project justice.  In real life it is GORGEOUS!  So many fun little details!  

I decided to do mine on the subject of the critters that come to our yard. Here's how my interpretation turned out...

The design of this kinda reminds me of a stitching sampler.  It gave me lots of ideas of other things you could do with a grid like this!  This one took awhile to do, but it was so much fun, and really worth it in the end!


More to come on Scrapfest!

I also want to mention that Noel Mignon is having a September Back to School Crop this week!  There are challenges, prizes and games, all with a school-related theme.  Super fun!!!  Click here to check it out...

Thanks for visiting and I will see you again soon!

Scrapfest was Fabulous and New Scrapping The Music Layouts...

I'm back from Scrapfest at the Mall of America and I'm feeling so INSPIRED!  I took 12 classes and my girlfriends and I participated in two crops and it was FABULOUS!!!

Here's a photo we had taken at the Largest Scrapbook Page in the World...

Left to right: Anne, Christina, Lynn and Me.

I will do a post all about as soon as I get things a little bit organized, but in the meantime, I want to let you know that

The new set of challenges is up at Scrapping The Music!

One thing I love about Scrapping The Music is that our design team is international.  This week our German design team member Frauke is hosting, and the song she picked is called "Rain Red Roses."  I had never heard of this song before, but I absolutely fell in love with it!  The lyrics struck me as so touching and true.  Check it out...


Here's the layout I made...

(That's me on my third birthday)

Our prompt this time around is
Do you remember what kind of music your mother/ your parents liked ?
Did you share her/their taste ?

Here's what I made:

 
Come on over and play along with us!  Click here to go to Scrapping The Music and check it out!

Oh my goodness, time is flying by...

Hi everyone!  I never intended to go this long without blogging - it's been a week - eek!  I have a good excuse tho - Michael and I went to visit the Rocky Mountains to celebrate his 18-years of sobriety anniversary!  I'm working on my project life page for last week, but it's not quite finished yet.  Here's a sneak peek of a few of the photos from our getaway...

The Rockies are a little slice of heaven for us.  It's the second time we've been there, and we hope to return again and again.

Tomorrow I head to Scrapfest, so I will be away from blogland until Monday, but then I will be back and I can't wait to share all about the experience!!!

Thanks so much for visiting!!!  I really appreciate you all!

Project Life: August 26 - September 2, 2012

Here we go with another week of Project Life!

August 26 - September 2, 2012...

Closeup of left side...

 Michael's birthday was this week, so included a photo of the birthday card I made for him.  One new thing I tried was leaving a pocket blank, so that the back of last week's card shows through.  It's the second one down in the middle.  It's an atc that my friend Linda sent me with a nice note on the back.  I think it's fun to be able to see the note.  The sweet owl calendar is a printable freebie from Owl Barn.


Closeup of right side...

I was so excited to be able to capture the details of a grasshopper on our walk!  My old camera would not have been able to do that!  I love seeing the details of his little face!  Ephemera used includes the packaging from my new watercolor journal (haven't used it yet, but the paper is super cool!); my new tiny moleskines, and a piece cut off of my york photo order.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Scrapping The Music Takes on The Stray Cats and More...

 With the September 1st challenges, we are excited to introduce two new design team members at Scrapping The Music - Jessica Sporn and Herma!  They are both regular participants and members of our Hall of Fame.  Jessica is an awesome mixed media artist and painter; and Herma is the queen of upcycling and using thrifty techniques to create beautiful layouts.  We are thrilled to have both of them joining us!

The new set of challenges are super fun! The song we are paying tribute to this time is "Stray Cat Strut" by the Stray Cats!  Here's what I came up with...

My boys Willie and Johnny are kings of napping!  They've never chased a mouse around as far as I know; but I do have to admit, they enjoy chasing the occasional bug! The little mouse skiing in the bottom right corner is my favorite part of this layout.  I found him in a thrifted children's book.  Ha.


 Our prompt this time is to scrap a song that reflects an event in your life...

The journaling reads: "When we first got together I sent you this song in an email, and it became our song."  The lyrics fit us so perfectly.  I still love that song.

Come on over and play along with us!  We'd love to have you!  Click here to go to the challenge!