sugar chic meets project life

 Welcome to Project Life...
weeks 7 & 8

I am so happy to share these weeks today here with you.
These pages are showing off what can be done with the new Sugar Chic Paper Pack from Heidi Swapp.
Now let me just say...
I don't do paper packs...
for a few reasons...
usually there are too many of the same pattern to a pack.
And then all there is is the paper.

What I absolutely love about the Sugar Chic Paper Pack is that there are only two of each pattern.
The first half of papers are beautifully glittered...yep. Glitter. Love.

plus...
each pad contains an alpha sheet, embellishment pages, journal card pages! there are TONS of extras in each pad. the tons of extras really make this pack so very special.

So for more details on how I used these supplies plus other embellishments from Heidi Swapp be sure to go over to her blog and check it out.

But if you are new to ProjectLife,
then I would like to share a couple of things I do all the time with my project life layouts ::

One thing that is consistent right now is to keep each week to a single page. It is just what works  with the busyness of my life. I still love creating memories in the traditional layout fashion, so I don't want to spend all my time on just project life.

Also, each weeks layout has a calendar of the month. There is always a tag about what week of the year that week represents. And a date is included on a journal tag as well.

Another thing I do is keep my pages thematic by way of color.  And that is where Sugar Chic was so perfect for these weeks you see represented here. The pack is diverse enough to play up two different color stories which I love. Even though the two pages are different weeks, and different colors, they play each other up and I think that is very inviting.

I am pretty big on using what I have. As I began this year's book I realized there was quite a big number of the 6x4 pocket pages unused in my stash of page protectors. This year's book will utilize this format.

I can create what looks like 3x4 pockets as needed. Seen here is a journal card from the Sugar Chic Pack that has the corners rounded on one side. The right side photos is the same way. It is just one way to add variety even though all my pockets are 6x4.

There are a lot more details at heidiswapp.com. 
Now go, create pretty stuff with your ProjectLife today.

project life 3 & 4

Welcome to Project Life 2013

 Well hello end of the month of February.

week 3 & 4

Although it is the 25th...the month ends in just a few days...
and just where has it all gone?
Life has been so utterly busy of late.
Many projects and assignments due.
And what a week last week was with all the happenings with Heidi Swapp and Michaels. The media team is so excited for all that has happened with that event. It has been such a fun ride!
But I have not forgotten project life.

week three

Nope...cannot forget Project life..
O.K...so I have fallen off the Bright Ideas class that I started at the beginning of February.
And I have fallen off keeping up with the blog the past few weeks.

week four

But project life stays on the front burner.
I say that as week's three and four are just now posted.
Those spreads stayed fairly basic. And neutral.
Had to keep it doable while in the middle of a busy project schedule.
But that is one of the beauties of this kind of project.
One does not have to do double page spreads.
One does not have to even do a single page spread.
One can simply do a single page, 8 1/2 x 11 traditional layout and call it good, if one needed.

weeks five and six

After keeping the first four weeks very basic and neutral in tone...
i needed some color.
A combination of new Amy Tangerine + Allison Kreft for Echo Park (love her stuff), plus a sprinkling of Simple stories was just what was needed.

week five

Oh...and did I mention finding some Maggie Holmes stickers and Glitz Design washi tape? A new favorite.

week six

Heidi Swapp's Valentines Digital printable was perfect even before Valentines Day. Just print and trim and they are versatile enough for any time of the year.

O.K..I am laughing here...forgot to add the photo of the little mr. to the "crazy love' tag.
So glad one does not have to be perfect to post these things...

This side for week six was a single event. Our annual Grand Prix racing event. The girls  designed thematic cars, and the mom made team shirts for the fam. The photo of all the trophies for the event did not fit the mood of the page. So I slipped it into a glassine bag so it could still be apart of the weeks photos, but not mess with my colors. See what I'm sayin'?


So how are you keeping up with your projectLife?
Would love to know what is working for you.

project life wk 1 & 2

hello february.
loved january.
busy.
productive.
dream worthy.
it was a great month.
can't believe we are now entering the second month of this year twenty.13.

and yes.
yes i do participate in project life.
who knew?

so happy today to share weeks 1 & 2 with you.
week 3 is in the works.
but had to take a back seat to a few other projects right now.

so for today...
let's talk 1 & 2.

if you are new to project life here, here is a bit of what i do for every week.
i always have a larger photo (if possible) of the two year old. it is almost always in one of the top pockets. i absolutely adore tracking his life with this weekly photo.

i always have a pocket designated for the date and week.

i used the studio calico 3x4 calendar card to designate the month of january. i sized the png down in photoshop elements, and kept it light grey. i just liked the very subtle font color. i will change it for future months.

another thing i do is keep to a congruent color story. i am totally loving grey...still...

so grey tones is what i kept with for this first month...

these pages are very mellow in tone, but i hope it's the photos that really tell the story in the first place.

often i will add a traditional layout insert to tell a story.

my thinking was that this photo did not really fit with the story. but it was an important photo to me. my daughter and her very good friends. i so love these girls together and am thankful for their relationship that it deserved it's own place in our family's story.

it is always good for me to pull out my favorite embellishments and paper and just play. hmmm...maybe that was what i was really up to.

now go...
if you are on the fence about projectLIFE, i cannot encourage you enough to jump over and join this amazing journey of story+photo.
hope you will follow me as i keep up with projectLIFE 2013.

project life 2013

  welcome to project life 2013...

i love fresh starts.
and project life is another fresh start for me.
this will be my third year creating this album.
as i have said before...this project is a committment...
but one that is well worth the effort.
i love. my family love. my friends love looking over these books.
i keep these albums out and very accessible.
so we are looking at them all the time.

the first inside cover page is a hybrid or sorts.
the pattern paper was created using RhonnaDesigns stamps and fonts.
the family photo was the inspiration for the color.

the silhouette cut of 'our life' was made using the Bebas font and was inspired by what Adrienne did here on her cover page. i was even loving that diagonal paper too. you'll see how i did that.

for the upper right polka dot paper i did this::
opened a 6x4 document in photoshop elements.
i kept it white.
i then opened the polka dot stamp texture from the TexturesBrushKit .
i stamped the document with a grey color.
i printed out on textured white cardstock.
it looked like this::

ignore the clock. decided not to use.

arrows and hearts from studio calico + arrow clips and binder clips + notched paper and labels and words add a bit of detail to this page. i love embellishing like this.

the gold paper was made the same as above except when I created the 6x4 document, i then filled it with the gold color and stamped it with the honeycomb stamp from the TexturesBrushKit.
it looked like this when done::

the paper shown in the lower left pocket was made from Rhonna's new InstaPOP fonts and stamps.
again, another 6x4 document was created in photoshop elements and kept white.
then i added the png image from the InstaPopKit.
before adding it to the 6x4 i changed the color.
it looked like this when done::

finally i made the black and white diagonal pattern by adding the SpookyPrintablePaper to the 6x4 and then tilting the pattern.
it looked like this when done::

it's like making my own pattern paper. love the flexibility of this.

the tag was made by adding the png image from the InstaGoalsKit.
i added it to a blank document.
printed that out on copy paper.
then i taped the manila tag over the image.
and ran it back through the computer again.

and that little guy is just about as fun as that black&white stripe.

so glad for this project.
so glad for what it means to my family.
so glad for the habit created to make it happen every week.

i hope if you have discovered this project life concept of documenting your life that you find it as fulfilling as we do.