Project Life – Week 44

November 21, 2012 | cristina

Still catching up on posting the latest weeks up on the blog. This is the week when I started being current again: Week 44. 🙂 It was Halloween week.

I started with some digital journaling cards by Digital Design Essentials and then just added some of the grid journaling cards, both in 3×4 and 4 x 6 size. I cut down the 4×6 to 4×4 to fit in the pockets on the right side. The photo pocket pages I used are Design F and the 3×3 design by We R Memory Keepers.

My color scheme was orange, black and pink. Nice for Halloween! I used some cuts that I made with my Silhouette digital cutter.

Here are the detailed shots.

I think this title card was perfect for Halloween week. 😉 Spooky but not scary. 🙂 The “beware” card went very well with the journaling, since we had a rough day indeed that day! The title was cut from a paper from the Crate Paper Snow Day collection. I bought it a couple of years ago and it is much thicker than the papers they sell today! It gave me some trouble cutting in the Silhouette. 🙂

Each year I put together a calendar for our families (I’ve been doing this since 2009!) and have them printed by Artscow because you just cannot beat the value. So in September/October I’m usually cranking out all the calendar toppers to place my order before Christmas gets too close. 🙂 I got my calendars and they turned out just great! I added piece of the shipping slip on the journaling card, along with a stamp by Ali Edwards stamped with Ranger Tim Holtz Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink Pad.

Here I used a handy stamp alpha by EK Success.

Lots of instagram shots are finding their way into my album! 🙂

Stepping Stone alpha stamp (numbers) by Studio Calico/Hero Arts.

I bought my mom’s Christmas present! I added the sticker that came with it on my card, along with a picture from the website, and I used a snowflake stamp as a border to go with the Christmas theme. 🙂

I’ve been adding more full size pictures in my Project Life album, and I love it!

I love cutting vellum in my Silhouette!

I love these 4″x4″ slots – perfect to fit instagram photos!

After cutting this pretty snowflake out of vellum, I needed to make it stand out, so I sprayed a journaling card (cut down to 4×4) with brown mist.

Here I combined some letters cut with the Silhouette and Studio Calico alpha stamps.

And that’s it for Week 44! 😉

Project Life – Week 43

November 20, 2012 | cristina

This was a fun week to put together. I mainly used 3×4 and 4 x 6 Grid Cards, with some memorabilia from the week added in. All the little embellishments and stickers I used are from the fabulous Fact & Fiction line by Basic Grey.

I had several pictures this week (we went to the pumpkin patch, as you can see ;)) so I made an insert using the Design H pockets (I recommend the small variety pack to have a few different insert designs on hand). Here’s what the album looks like with the insert page turned.

And here’s a closer look at the front and back of the insert.

For the left page I used a Design C Photo Pocket page.

And for the right page I used a Design F Photo Pocket page. Lots of orange in the photos this week, but I love how the blue of the sky pops out! 🙂

In Instead of having a full pocket dedicated to the title, I just added the title to a large photo.

We have apple trees in the backyard, and deer love apples. 🙂 This adorable deer jumped right in our backyard and it was so funny to watch it eat the apples! Can you see it in his mouth? 🙂 He gobbled it up in one piece! 🙂 Too cute.

This fabulous “hello there” tag is from packaging of an order from Paper Coterie (see a few cards below) – I thought it was perfect to go with the picture of the deer! I loved the colors too, so I matched the red and blue in the rest of the spread.

I bought this stamp just because of the adorable deer, and it was perfect for this card! 🙂

DH and I are big Dancing with the Stars fans, and we vote for out favorites. I always make sure we take screenshots of out votes to that I can include them in my album. I think it will be fun to look back at these, but who knows? Maybe we won’t even remember who these people are.. 🙂

I’ve been holding onto this card by Marcy Penner (Hello Forever) for a while.. I got it in a class kit from Studio Calico, and I used it here because the blue matched my color scheme. I love the look!

Here’s my order from Paper Coterie. Again I added part of the packaging – it was so well designed that I wanted to keep it. That’s why I love Project Life so much!

I split this picture into two pockets, along with the heading. The date stamp is the smash one.

I added a label done with my DYMO. And that’s it for Week 43! 🙂

Project Life – A Change in Attitude

November 20, 2012 | cristina

{my first album for 2012. I switched to a second album starting with Week 25. :)}

On Catching Up..
I have recently changed the way I approach my Project Life album, and I’m excited to be sharing more recent pages soon! Before the summer I fell back with my PL, and even though I heard advice from several people who had been able to catch up by working on the current week and then working backwards, I stubbornly refused to work current, and kept working chronologically. Since I use different type of protectors, I didn’t want to be locking in the design of the previous week by working on the later one. (how stupid is that?? 😉 But I kept at it for months!)
The problem is that once you’re behind, you don’t really have a strong motivation not to fall even more behind. You’re already behind, so what’s another week going to do? The result is that I let an entire month go by without completing a weekly spread! So a few weeks ago I decided to give this new approach a try: work on the latest week, and work on the older ones at the same time. It has been going well so far: I started with Week 44, then caught up with Week 43, and completed Week 45 on time. I haven’t finished week 46 (last week) yet because I was away on a business trip, and I’ve been super busy since I got back, but I have about half the pictures printed out already.
My mom is arriving later today for a 2 week visit, so I will likely fall behind again, but I want to keep up this method because I know it will help me get caught up faster.

Style Change
One thing I noticed when I compared the albums of scrapbookers I admire with mine is that I have so many photos in mine that I often have to make collages to fit all the pictures. Collages are great, but I love having bigger pictures in my album. So I’ve been moving towards larger pictures, even if it means I need to add an insert. I’ve added an insert for the past couple of weeks, and even though it will make my album bulkier in the end, it makes me happy.

What Next?
11 months in, I’m still excited about this project, and I cherish my album dearly.
I will keep doing PL in 2013 as well. I have too much fun stamping in my album to give it up, but I have simplified my style (I don’t try to color match as hard as I used to) and I make extensive use of the 3×4 and 4 x 6 Grid Cards. Another common theme I noticed in the pages I admire is that all of them have a white border around pictures, so I think I will start trying that look in 2013.
Photographing and blogging my pages is a huge time commitment, but it’s a good motivator too, so I plan to keep doing that as much as possible.

What’s your approach with Project Life?

Happiness Lives Here

November 20, 2012 | cristina

There’s a new kit at Digital Design Essentials, and it’s currently on sale for only $2, so grab it while you can!

I love these colors! Here’s my page. We are so blessed to see deer in our backyard – it’s certainly one of the reasons we love living here so much.

Credits:

Happiness Lives Here kit and Happiness Lives Here alpha by Digital Design Essentials

Font: Traveling Typewriter

Have a great day!

Project Life – Week 25

November 19, 2012 | cristina

Well, it certainly has been a while since I shared Project Life pages here! Let me pick up from where I stopped, Week 25. This was back in June. It was a quiet week, filled with little everyday things. DH was gone for part of the week.

I had a few pictures I wanted to include, so I used some of the photo collage templates by Designs by Lili – they come very handy for Project Life! I used photo pocket pages Design A and Design C.

I used a variety of pretty stamps this week, along with some tags from Elle’s Studio.

Here are the detailed shots.

For the title I used an alpha by Basic Grey, a tag and a stamp by Elle’s Studio. I used VersaFine toffee ink, which has a warm, lovely mustard color. I used the usual Smash date stamp.

I used some digital word art by Jenn Barrette to complement the silly pictures we took at Red Robin. While I was taking a picture of DH, I noticed that the Red Robin statue looked as if it were perched on DH’s shoulder, so I made him pose for a couple of fun shots. 🙂

The journaling card on the left is by Valorie Wibbens, while the stamp I used on the right is by Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday – one of my favorite sets ever!

I love all the stamps by Amy Tangerine, and the latest one, Ready Set Go, is no exception! I used it to depict the fact that DH drove back home, and the fork+knife will come handy for all my food pictures. 🙂 The Technique Tuesday Days of the Week stamp by Ali Edwards is a must have for Project Life!

It’s no secret that I love bunnies. 🙂 I love this October Afternoon Woodland Park stamp!

Another great stamp set by Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday in this card and the following.

I also used an exclusive alpha stamp by Studio Calico.

The stamped “2012” comes from another great set by Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday. I hope you’re ready for some more Project Life pages coming soon! I photographed 3 of my latest spreads and will get them up shortly. 🙂

New kits at DDE

November 18, 2012 | cristina

Here are some more pages with the latest kits by Digital Design Essentials. The first one has some gorgeous fall colors.

This kit was perfect to scrap this picture, since it matches perfectly the colors of my scarf! 🙂

Credits:

Layers of Fall kit, Layers of Fall alpha and Layers of Fall journaling cards by Digital Design Essentials

The Serif’s Sister font by Heather Hess

And this one has some very elegant patterns and colors!

I used it to scrap a picture from the pumpkin patch. I also used some journaling cards in my Project Life album, I will be sharing that shortly. 🙂

Credits:

So Spooky kit, So Spooky Journaling Cards, Upcycled Orange Alpha and These Are The Days word art by Digital Design Essentials

Font: DJB Jennifer Script

And then I used this adorable kit to scrap an adventure we had lately. 🙂

It’s fun when themed kits help to tell the story!

Credits:

A Knight’s Tale kit and A Knight’s Tale alpha by Digital Design Essentials

The Hammer Head font by Heather Hess

That’s all I have for now! I will be playing with Gina’s latest kit shortly, check it out while it’s on sale for $2!

New Team!

November 18, 2012 | cristina

Back in September, Gina Cabrera of Digital Design Essentials had a CT call. I was lucky enough to be picked, and I am thrilled to be creating for her! She has an uncanny eye for design and I love her style so much! Here are a few of her creations that I used first.

This alpha goes with the kit so well!

I love all the wood in this kit! It just makes my think of home and family.

Credits:

The Good Stuff kit and The Story Alpha by Digital Design Essentials

Fonts: Traveling typewriter and FG Jeana

And I loved this kit and the woodgrain so much that I even fired up my Silhouette to make a card:

Those gorgeous frames are a freebie, check out Gina’s blog. 🙂
I also used this fun kit that combines several of the latest trends: photobooth props, doodled frames, speech bubbles, mustaches, and more.

And check out this alpha!! It’s the perfect scrabble tile alpha! I’ve been wanting an alpha like this for like forever!

It is so easy to put together a page with such gorgeous designs!

Credits:

Photo Booth Fun kit and Scrabble Alpha by Digital Design Essentials

Font: FG Jeana

I made these pages over a month ago, and I’m happy to be able to share them finally. I will post more soon! Thanks for letting me share my excited about joining this team! 😉

Fall Favorites

November 10, 2012 | cristina

I couldn’t be happier that Mari Koegelenberg is guesting at The Lilypad this month. 🙂 She released two new products yesterday, and they’re both very versatile!

Here they are, paired with some goodies from the Nov. BYOC.

Credits:

Hello Gorgeous papers, Hello Gorgeous elements, Map It Out alpha and Vellum Pockets Set 1 by Mari Koegelenberg

Good Harvest and Free Spirit Alpha by CD Muckosky

Sprinkles v9 by Valorie Wibbens

Heart tag from We Were Here elements by Paislee Press

The Hammer Head font by Heather Hess

I have become addicted to instagram, and I love documenting my favorite things of this season through these little shots. 🙂 I only wish I had a better camera phone, since these pictures are less than 2.5 inches, way smaller than I’d like to use on a 12×12 page, and for my Project Life album.. It doesn’t stop me from using them anyway, though! 🙂

Happy DSD!

November 3, 2012 | cristina

It’s DSD at The Lilypad, the November BYOC is in the store, and two of my designers are guest designing there, so I have been busy this week! 😉 First off, here’s what I did with Mari Koegelenberg’s bits,
mixed in with a couple of other BYOC products.

Credits:

Templates: Shaped Up v4 – Banners and Needed More Stitching Bundle by Amy Martin

Hello Gorgeous papers, Hello Gorgeous elements and Block it out alpha by Mari Koegelenberg

Messy Marvin vol. 3 by Amy Wolff

The Hammer Head font by Heather Hess

I made this page for one of the DSD challenges in the forum – check them out (this is challenge #2)! Next up is a card I made with Sahlin Studio goodies and some gorgeous word art by Paislee Press.