project life ~ february 2014

Hello and we are back with Project Life 2014.

Today being the last day of March, I thought it was high time I shared what February looked like...

Feb starts on the right side of the album, so a single page if you will. As my approach to memory keeping is always a priority in my life, the format itself seems to ebb and flow a bit. which is o.k. with me. I have to change things up a bit every once in a while.

supplies: Chic Tags Good Tidings Icons. One Little Bird Calendar Cards. Heidi Swapp: Clear Stamp Big Day; Best Day Ever; DCWV Striped Mat Stack; Project Life Black Journaling Pens.

 So for the first week of Feb (week6)  I focused on the snow and cold. Remember when the U.S. was socked in with frigid temps? Well, this was that week, and we had it too. I am sort of weird about snow photos...so I simply made the whole week about those photos.

Week7 is a couple of pages of life going on. This was the weeks of great sickness in my life...LoL...and so the photos are also limited. But from my view from the sofa I was able to grab a few and document. Also included on the right side is a traditional layout that I posted here.

supplies: Maggie Holmes Flea Market Chipboard. Heidi Swapp Hello Today 4x6 Mat Pad. Studio Calico Kit 6x6 paper (my stash). jmpgirl designs die cuts: heart; love. Heidi Swapp Mixed Company Ephemera. Heidi Swapp Dreamy 6x6 Paper Pad. Heidi Swapp Mixed Company 6x6 Pad. Studio Calico Heart Wood Veneers.

Week 7 continues and includes the traditional page I did for my first Chic Tags assignment. The right side is an 8x8 layout telling more of the story of what went on while I was sick.

supplies: Heidi Swapp: Dreamy Dreams Come True Paper; Dreamy 6x6 Paper; Stencil Set Heart; Stencil Set Brackets; Sugar Chic Banner Delights; Vintage Chic Mini Tags; Dreamy Word Jumble Stickers; Serendipity Tab Stickers; Hello Today Chipboard Stickers; Color Magic Resist Alpha; Color Shine: Citron; Mint; Teal.

I will share details of this 8x8 layout in another post.

As this moves into Week 8, I am still recovering from this illness. It just would not let me go.

supplies: Heidi Swapp: Paper: Mixed Company, Sugar Chic, Serendipity; Color Magic Paper Goods; Hello Today Glitter Stickers Teal; Clear Alphas Teal; Color Shine: Mint, Teal.

So here again, photos were really at a minimum. But what I do love about these three little instagrams that I printed here for the page, is how much story that they do tell. The power of photos. The power of photos and the written word.

Week 9 is the introduction to our Community Bible Experience we are apart with some families from our church. This has become a very meaningful activity for us and I am happy to have captured it's start with these random photos where we met that first week. No products were used here save for a piece of card stock and a Thicker number to signify the week on the One Little Bird Calendar Card.

You can see I utilized several different sized pocket pages this month. Just really trying to use what is in my stash. Plus again, changing up the format a bit.

The left side pocket pages utilize the same supplies as above. Lots of Heidi Swapp as I was keeping this month cohesive with colors. The pockets include a family photo that has become my big priority once a month this year. (for us...that's an big accomplishment).

The right side 8 1/2 x 11 traditional layout was part of a Chic Tags assignment and is my title page for our March weeks. Details can be found here for that layout.

Love this process. It is definitely a work in progress. But it can be as simple or complicated as one makes it. This month I think was a combination of simple and complicated both. And I really love that mix up.

maya road & chic tags part 2

Hello again friends.. Is it spring break in your parts? It is here...and a little spring like door hanger to share with you today.

This is another project done for the Chic Tags & Maya Road blog hop happening all week long. And since making it my girlies have snagged it for their door. We are really trying to usher spring into our lives in these parts.

This little wall art starts with a piece of burlap fabric I had in my stash. A piece of Chic Tags pattern paper from Good Tidings Frost was adhered to the top. Then I took the Vintage Wood Tiny Rulers and made a little canvas out of them by gluing them together. Pretty happy how that turned out.

More Chic Tag paper, the Happy Place Bliss pattern, was trimmed, notched and distressed. That was used as a mat for the photo. Using the Maya Mist Sea Green as the color, I added it to acrylic paint and painted the little clip that holds all that together. The heart from the Love Words Mini Chipboard Set was also painted with the mix. The heart was hung from the Ampersand Clip (i think those were my favorite) with a bit of vintage string. A Chic Tag Vintage Note Stamp journaling tag was tucked into the back and a Maya Road  Vintage Pearl pin through the string.

Be sure to check out the blog hop going on all this week with a chance to win Happy Place collection from Chic Tags.

maya road & chic tags blog hop

 

Hello friends...

This week Maya Road and Chic Tags are blog hopping it up all week. Today on the Chic Tags blog I had a chance to share a few projects.

Can you tell I am doing a little catch up in this little guys album? Afraid I have not been telling his story as much as I would like. But this story right here...it's one of those that is so right where he is right now.

Maya Road sent over several products to play with. This included their Maya Mist in Sea Green. Love Words Mini Chipboard Set and those awesome ampersand clips.

The chipboard was super easy to spray and the Maya Mist left a subtle effect of color. The Chipboard Set was put to work creating a little title for this layout. Stencils were also used to add color to the chipboard hearts and I loved how that turned out.

I am a little addicted to coloring manila tags at the moment. And the mist did a beautiful job doing just that. The Kraft DIY Stickers were also fair game for the mist and a stencil. And of course plenty of Chic Tags and that cute cute '3' from the March Kit added to this little boy layout.

Be sure to check out Chic Tags blog today and all this week for a look at how more of Maya Road is partnering with Chic Tags this week. There may or may not be a little giveaway too. Go sign up for that!!!

till next time...

hello #cute

hello friends...

i have been in a bit of a catch up mode of late with my kids stories. while i continue to love project life and telling our bigger story, there are so many individual stories that are in my heart that have to be shared and added to their own albums.

so here is a little story of this little guy and his love for the weekly library trip. a story about how all grown up he is about having to look at everything. check out all the board books. and then find that one book that is his check out of the week. and then the need to work the kiosk all by himself. ah...these are treasured moments that will pass away so quickly.

so i felt the need to use the new Switchboard from Pink Paislee with all the 'hello' greetings and heart Ephemera and put it to work on this page.

i found that the Georgia Peach Color Shine is a perfect compliment to the oranges found in the Switchboard collection. stenciling and colored tags were added to pop that color.

also, Navy Color Shine works great to add to the navy already found in the papers.

having already made a few layouts with Switchboard, for me it is a great collection for more boyish themes. even though there is plenty of floral embellishments to be found, i keep leaning to boy. isn't that funny how colors can do that to you? i will have to break out and challenge myself to something more feminine. stay tuned.

o.k...so this set will be shipping very very soon to stores and online shops as well. hope you found some inspiration for Switchboard here today.

hello spring break...

good morning lovely friends...

it's spring break here in the rockies. and while there was snow on the ground yesterday and far from daytona beach temperatures planned for today, it is still a needed break nonetheless. we have activities planned here to get us out, to visit friends, and even maybe an diy project or two.

this time of year has made for lots of birthdays and parties and many more on the horizon. i am always needful of a little gift for some occasion.

So today over at Pink Paislee I am showing off the paper from Hello Sunshine and made a gift topper that I love. For more details, please be sure to check out my Paper Play Gift Topper post and perhaps be inspired to make your own.

Till next time...

chic tags march kit

Yesterday on the Chic Tags blog Amy shared a few projects showcasing this kit from March. Fun fun kit. The March Exclusive Kit has great spring appeal. The colors host that fav of mine right...sort of a mix between mint and teal. I am loving it everywhere.
Here is one of my contributions:

 I kept this layout fairly straight forward. It will be the title page to my March section of our project life album. This is in keeping with my pursuit of monthly family photos. Wanted to create a layout showing us all together.

The 3x4 cards are so great. And the 6x4 camera card was perfect for a mat for some of my embellishments. March was die cut on my Sizzix Eclips and kept white. I liked the subtleness of that choice.

Love those Polka Dot Wood Veneer Numbers. They play great against all the color of the kit. Plus, the Mint Color Shine was a great match up to the blue-greenish hue in the kit.

I encourage you to grab this kit. At 16.99 it's almost like an even 17 dollars...and since today is St Patricks day, I think it's a sign.

more stencil projects

Yesterday I shared about the free project sheets available on HeidiSwapp.com. Free for the taking.
Today I just want to share some up close photos of the other card I did for that little mini class.

I adore that Butterfly Stencil Set...and you may or may not be seeing a lot of it this spring. It is just so beautiful. Stencil it up. Add another layer of stencil. Then stamp on it. oh...and then don't forget to layer it with other elements. It is just a beautiful image.

This card really went together simply. If you make any of the projects from this stencil event, be sure and link me up. I would love to see what you do.

And then don't forget to share your creation with someone. We all could use a little encouragement by way of a note in the mail.

Have a beautiful weekend.

happy spring stencil inspiration

So did you see this announcement yesterday on HeidiSwapp.com?
She pulled together several stencil ideas from the Media Team and made available project sheets for each one!
For free!
Just follow this and you can click on the images to download one or two or all of them!!!

Now I will not go into all the details here, as you can download how I did my cards...but I wanted to share some up close details with you.  If you follow along much here at all, you know what I think about cards...I love them so much. Little canvases of creativity ready to share with someone who needs to hear of your gratitude, your love, or that you hope for a quick recovery.

This color combination has been a friend of mine this late winter. I love that Navy Color Shine with almost anything. It is truly a must have color for this spring.

This card is made of up lots of layers as I continue to love the interest that it creates. You have to know...I try to make these projects flat...it just does not work for me.

The new stencils, which this little mini class is all about, are so. fab.u.lous!!! They have this addictive quality about them...really they do.That Mustard Color Shine sitting on that Navy and acrylic paint...fun fun technique!

Be sure to head over to the blog to pick these project sheets up by way of download.
And tomorrow...a little bonus Saturday post...I will be sharing the other card I did for the project.

Have a most wonderful Friday.

sketch it out...

On Sunday over at Chic Tags, Carol posted the Sunday Sketch It Out sketch challenge. A couple of us girls took to the challenge ourselves and posted a couple of takes on her sketch.

Today I wanted to share what I did with her idea...cause like my girlies (see yesterday's post), I love me a good sketch too...

For her sketch I grabbed an old photo from my stash of un-documented photos. (Do you have a stash of photos like that?) This one goes back to 2012. But it is one of my all time favorite photos of all these guys, my kiddos and their cousins, celebrating that baby's second birthday. I love this photo as it represents a simpler time for us all. Now that those older ones are, well, older...we are not together as a big family as we once use to be...so I relish this memory right here.

School House Lessons was used as the base of my layout. Then I chose other monogram patterns like Good Tidings Peppermint and Happy Place Bliss as a base for the photo. I love to mix these collections up. Then a few tags were used around the photo to add pops of color as well as words and places for stamped images...

...like the Good Tidings Photo Topper...

...plus a Happy Place Phrases tag, a Mini Tag (picture perfect), a Mini Icon (heart with house...so cute), plus a Frame Tag to be home to my title.

Keeping it simple with a monochromatic palette made for a great base for this layout. The pops of color added fun interest. The hidden journaling allowed plenty of room to share my thoughts. And it makes me happy to have this 'older' photo documented and remembered.

Hope you enjoyed Carol's sketch and are able to play along too. Join the sketch challenge and and be entered to win a fun Chic Tag grab bag. Details here.

creating with kids...

so...you may or may not know this about me...
and I know I am not alone,
but I am not this fabulous-over-the-top-doing-these-amazing-pinterest-inspired-creative-projects-with-my-kiddos-kind-of-mom...
the perfectionism in me comes out and i just can't enjoy it.
so if you want to enjoy a wonderful blogger who CAN craft with her kid, you have to visit my friend Kim Jeffress...she totally rocks the creative-mom-to-fabulous-boys-creativity.

So, when my turn came up to do the Kids Kreations post for Pink Paislee, you may or may not have heard me whine about it...o.k...maybe a little...

But then I remembered...

...my younger girls LOVE to do card sketches. They saw a sketch laying on my table one time, and took right to it. They were creating away and adding their own ideas and embellishments...
they loved it...
i loved it...
it was a win win time.

They loved a pattern to ignite their thoughts. The sketch was direction for their minds that gave them ideas, but still left room for them to be plenty creative. I think sometimes we expect our kids to be creative just because they are kids, and that is true, but then they get a little older and a bit more self conscious of what they are doing, and sometimes need a bit more guidance. Sketches and patterns do that for them just enough to get them started. I love watching the process.

So today, over at Pink Paislee, I share more of the process as the posting designer today. I share my girls at work plus a look at the sketch we used that the above card is based on. O.K...so I may or may not had to play with that sketch myself. But I got nothing on those girls. Hoping you too might find a little jumping off place for creativity too. For you, or for your kids.