*a week in the life

last week for heidi swapp i created a memory file using her new MixedCompany collection.
it's a sweet collection.
the colors and pattern are swoon worthy indeed.

and can you stand the glitter letters?
there are lots of details on that blog post as to how this project was created.
here today i simply want to reflect.

my approach to this assignment was to take a look at a week in our life.
i sort of became caught up on the #witl bandwagon.
well...just a little.

my life right now is so much about staying ahead.
being ready for the next thing.
i got a pre schooler in the house.
as well as a senior with a full time schedule of dual enrollment gone everyday. (i am not use to that)
a high schooler home part time.
and two in betweeners who are both struggling readers.

living in the moment can be at times unattainable.
let's not talk about all my creative pursuits that i love so much and keep me sane, actually.

so my approach to week in the life was to try and take a few more photos.
it was not an all out crazy mode of carrying the dslr to the grocery and capturing how much peaches were this week.
for some that is great...
for me...not so much.

our week life is based mostly at home.
eating breakfast together.
planning the rest of the week.
catching the 'baby' playing on the floor as he loves so much.
capturing my daughter doing math drills...that she loves so much (not!).
these simple, almost forgotten photos will be gold to me in a matter of a few years.

tuesday captures.
the toddler and his second breakfast with his dad who is home tue mornings.
the antics of that high schooler with her littlest brother whom she adores.
capturing huge clouds coming in that were to be the beginning of horrible floods in our state.
our tuesday lunch on campus while sissy takes an algebra class.
these are not life stopping photos.
but they are our story.

not huge captures.
but i did write.
and i wrote a lot.
i made that the priority of the day.

i should of taken a photo of the notes in my planner as i simply jotted down thoughts and happenings right when i was in that moment.

people often ask me why i bother to add all the extras.

the embellishments.

the paper.

arrows.

to me, making it pretty, ensures that people will be drawn in by the pretty stuff and take time to read the meaningful stuff.

to me, the paper and embellishments are my love added to these photos and words about people i love.

to me, life can be hard. and right now it is really hard for this family. so i take extra time to make what i can beautiful.

i can't change the world, but i can change that which is in my realm.

and i do that one day at a time.

one week at a time.

and pray God blesses the rest.

day trip

i love day trips with my family.
i love us getting out together and exploring new parts of our world.
i love when we get away from the everyday and focus on one another. laugh. eat. listen to audio books.
i love the whole experience.

and you have to know i love to then tell that day trip by way of photos + words + paper.

and layers don't hurt either. especially interactive layers like this mini memory file album on top of a traditional 12x12 page.
the layers allowed for pages for plenty of photos.

and at that point i just decided to make this week 30 of my project life album.
yep.
week 30 IS july.
don't judge me.

a larger memory file was cut down to almost the size of a square.
and then a photo stack was used inside the file to ad lots and lots of photos of our day  up in Golden CO.

i loved this day.
i loved our unexpected discoveries that day.
i love how happy we all were together.

i love that i took a photo of all my kiddos, even i did forget the whole family.
sometimes that happens.

so here is to remembering some summer fun.
getting all the photos in one place.
and to being behind in project life and calling it good.

enjoy your day.

project life ~ week.seven.

welcome to project life. week seven.

felt like i was finally finding a groove this week with putting my pages together.
so much so i almost wanted to make another two pages.

week seven continued with a pink theme with some grey thrown in there because...well...i like grey.
enjoyed these printable labels i found on pinterest this week. will be using them a lot i think.

seems i invariably take photos before finishing the journaling...

this week continued to use RhonnaDESIGNS to create the week block.
some ali edwards love circles brushes to add sentiments to journal cards.
ormolu flip flappers.
and i continue to challenge myself to use my endless supply of patterned paper that i hoard love to mat photos and words.

this page includes A Year to Follow Your Heart journal cards for a 6x4 block.
as well as textuRes bRushes to format journal cards.
more ali e digital designs.
crate paper journal cards + word art from previous WIPkits. finding those coming in handy.

this week i paid attention to what is really working for me in these pages.
sort of 'go to' formats, if you will::
*week journal block. I continue to use the week block with bullet points on the highlights of the week. i will continue this and probably change up the theme from month to month. what is a good color scheme for spring? happy to take your suggestions.

*a full 4x6 or 6x4 photo of the little mr...who by the way was 18 months this past week. i adore having a succession of photos of him every week. something i did not do with the others and now wish i had.

*borders on photos. When I look back on previous weeks, it is bothering me when I don't use a bit of a white border. For me, and this is just little o' anal me, I need a bit more separation between the images.

*design A. Wish i was only sticking with one design for the page protectors. But I have a whole box of an assortment. Feel compelled to use what I have.

*pattern paper. Love the challenge using various collections of pattern paper, yet sticking with some cohesion. I try to be eclectic, really I do. but it just does not work for me.

*2.9 x 4 journal blocks. o.k...thank you Liz Tamanaha of paislee press...she dispersed the myth of the 2.88 x 3.88 sized journal cards. This years pockets are slightly bigger...I have been messing with sizing my cards correctly for weeks now...7 to be exact. Now I know.

*journaling. Add more journaling this year. Nothing earth shattering. Simply paying more attention to the little things, because a year from now, they won't be so little, when all these people in these pics are at a totally different place in their life.

*organized. felt so much more organized this week. still not perfect. work in progress. such is my life.

*and above all...still absolutely head over heals about this project. love. it. good.

february work in progress

If you follow me on facebook, you have seen the gallery already for February's WIPkits.
(March just went live, but is already sold out, however Feb is still available, and I highly suggest.)
Which is a good thing since I am lagging behind in posting my projects on my own blog.
It's been one of those kind of months...
not for lack of nothing else to do, mind you.
I gave up bon-bons and soap operas years ago.

It felt as if it had been a long time since I did a traditional scrap project.
Felt as though I was a little rusty.
But when you look at that little boy's photo album...it is more than obvious that I have fallen off telling him his story.
ProjectLife has taken over some of that.
But I did enjoy the creative process of telling the little mr. the story of his day out on the snowy hill.
And the journal tag did indeed get filled in...
love that blue and grey together. And don't even get me started on the chevron pattern.

We have had such little snow the past few years, Since the Jan WIPkit was full of winter wonder goodies, I was so glad I had good stories to tell.
These girls and their neighbor friends were so thankful for Christmas break-time snow storm. The golf course out back was a perfect wonder land of deep snow to fill their love of this winter time activity. So happy they had these days like this just before Christmas. Perfect memories.

Birthday pics of the eight year old. Cannot believe this one is eight.
She is witty.
Gorgeous.
Vivacious.
And knows how to pose.
Love it all...even though at times it can exhaust.
I added journaling to this layout right on top of the solid pink cardstock.
The 'white' space was begging for it, plus I had something I wanted to share with this birthday girl.

Be back later in the week with a tutorial on how to construct the pattern paper flowers.

project life ~ week.six

Welcome to Project Life ~ week.six.

As I went through the weeks photos, the theme of connectedness kept coming up.

Perhaps it's my want to connect the month artistically by way of color and theme. (pink&hearts).
But that is only the creative side.
It was deeper than that as the pages and photos and words came together.

 
There was the continued connect between mr. pate and house as he works through needed projects.
The continued connect between the little mr. and his love of looking at his books.
The odd connect, if you will, of oldest teen male who is actually working through disconnecting with us as family as activities and interests draw him more and more outside our home. (Added journaling card after photo was added.)
The connect of the middlest with her growing skills in the kitchen.

I am certainly aware of the renewed connect between the man and wife of the family.
The connect of the oldest daughter and her striving for more everyday and how it always comes back around and connects to one of us in the family.
The connect between the little mr. and his surroundings. He fills entire rooms with his presence drawing all eyes to him and his adorable toddler antics.
And my favorite, the connect between siblings with laughter and shared interests and accomplishments.
Even in the midst of what is sometimes a messy life, there are such strong connections happening in our home.
Another reason I am in love with project life. It allows me to be aware. to see. to document.

With the theme of pink I continue to use RhonnaDESIGNS for the 'week' journaler. The KissMeCollection, which has received quite a work out, was employed once again to house the date and week marker.

I printed on a mini tag for the sunday photo. My dear friend, Alexandra, has a great tutorial on her blog demonstrating how to print on tags.

 
A part of a Starbucks cup was utilized this week as it was such a great graphic. It added to the theme of the photos of mr. pate and myself. Fuzzy, but taken by the 8yo...so I am not complaining.

Thanks to Pinterest I came across plucky momo. This girl has got it on with fun project life freebies.
Her journal card with the pointy finger has shown up now two weeks in a row. (Shown in the very first photo at the top of this post..but then I covered it up with a printable from the KissMeCollection...because I do that.) I just love it. She calls this one Hello Vintage .
The Today's News journaler is from her too. I am sure to use those again.

project life ~ week.five.

welcome to project life. week.five.

Someone once told me the days go by slow, the years can be slow, but the weeks fly by.
It is ever my intent to have pL posted by the middle of the week.
Although I am sticking to my predetermined schedule of having the pages done by Tuesday, a habit I continue to cultivate this year, the posting of the project is a whole other issue for me.
But alas, here it is. Hoping it instills someone with inspiration to continue to document their own story.

A theme was struck this week with it being the beginning of the month of February.
A theme of hearts & pink.
If you know me, I am not one for pink.
But rhonnaDESIGNS has me all over the pink this month with her Kiss Me collection.
As someone close to me recently described me, I am feminine, but edgy.
So the pink is a bit of a stretch for me...but I am lovin' the challenge of it, and it will continue throughout the month.
So here's to pink.

This week I am using Design B and C. Late last year the Photo Pocket Pages -Big Variety Pack was at a fabulous price. So I grabbed them up. The jury is still out as to whether I like having a diversity of sizes to work with. It can sort of throw me off when planning my photos. But I am making it work and having fun with it anyway.

I took one of the page protectors and cut it in half and used as a middle insert. I really wanted to tell the story of the snow. The two days of snow we had! which is sort of rare for us. And how much my Dad's dog loved it! and how much there was drifted in the yards. So I added those to the back side of the insert and really am glad for how it worked out.
On the front side there aren't any photos. Instead I chose to add part of the bulletin from church as the series we are in has been so engaging and life changing. There is a little mini layout (i love adding these this year to the pages...I am always thinking now of how I can add those mini's in here.) One side is the quatrefoil pattern from the KissMeCollection background kit. The other half is some word art included in the WIPkit for February. It's a gratitude quote that is completely in sync with where we are right now as a couple (mr. pate and i) and our family.