hello december ~ stampin up project life

hello lovely friends...
you say, 'well it's not december yet'...
and you are not wrong.

however, today I am showin' off what I did with Stampin' Up's Hello December Project Life Collection.

This was such a fun kit to play with. There is a wide assortment of color offering in the Project Life Card Collection. I went with the kraft and black and white. I love how the neutrals played together so well with my family photos for the year.

The first double page spread starts with a sort of title page that includes a 6x4 card. I stamped 'hello December'  using a Project Life December Wonder Stamp.

And check those cork striped numbers...um...can we say adorable?

All of a sudden I am a brand new fan of the 6x8 Envelope Pages. I love these for all the ephemera one collects this time of year.

Plus a cutie little pocket on the very front that you can actually utilize or just dress it up and make it pretty. It just covers all the bases.

This second double page spread has all my favorite parts...recent photo shoot of my fam!

So this just might be my favorite of all the pages...I mean...seriously! How could it not!

O.k...let's get back to the product show here...so that polka dot washi tape...yep...I could eat it...it is part of the very generous Hello December Project Life Accessory Pack. And all the fun fun wood pieces are part of that pack too. I mean it's just so darn cute.

And my favorite 3x4 card HAS to be the 'fa la la la...' card. It just makes me happy.

So seriously, this is a really fun and versatile Project Life themed for December and all things festive and Christmasy. Lots of product is included. And I am sure it will make you happy just like it did me.

pocket scrapbooking ~ heidi swapp style

I am returning to the land of Project Life...
except that I am not...completely.

This girl here is attending a full time school for the first time evah!
and I wanted a page just for her...sharing my  excitement with her...

But I knew I wanted 'pockets', if you will, of journaling and words to encourage and lift her up.
So I took a collection of different kits and elements from Heidi Swapp's new Project Life line and simply went with a pocket scrapbooking method.
This isn't for my 'official' family yearly album...
this is a page just for her book.
And while that may seem like a no biggy for some...
for me it was a new and fresh approach to keeping my memories,
and I really love how it went.

So let's chat about what can be found here...
I took one of the watercolor cards from the Color Magic Value kits and used the Project Life stencil to add a few polkas. A Sheer Sticker was added to the page as well as some notched banners I trimmed from a journal card that belongs to the Dreamy Core Kit.

Here I advertised this girls grade with an Embossed Jumbo Number. Used the polka dot stencil for a subtle hit of color. The 'hello' is from the CM kit and was left natural because it complimented the rest of the page. Stamp is from the Numbers Stamp.

Have you discovered the Foil Pocket Pages yet? Pocket pages with clear inserts that include gold foil classic Heidi Swapp handwriting.  Talk about dreamy! This could be used plain in a pocket or backed with pattern paper like I used here from the Dreamy Kit.

Another stencil was put to work here on a journal card from the Dreamy Kit and then stamped up including that cutie date stamp Heidi released with this collection. Can you say cutie?

This page has a mix of creative qualities that took a bit more time. I mean, because I think the feeling is that pocket page scrapbooking should be quick-in-a-hurry. And it can be! No doubt. But I just can't help myself. With stencils and stamps and beautiful journal pages that I can't help but cut up (did I say that out loud), the creative in me just goes to play making even these simple pocket pages pretty stuff.

Hope you too are enjoying the new Project Life by Heidi Swapp.

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.

project life ~ january 2014

Welcome to a new week...
Sharing our version of Project Life for January here today...
i have a different vision for this album this year...
and this is probably how it will look going forward.

An album with a year's worth of stories told in order is really really meaningful to this family. So I am choosing to keep that concept in mind. Pocket scrapbooking will still be a part of this album. As you can see here with Week1. Not a lot of photos were taken, which is part of something I will be focused better on. But that does not stop the story telling.

Looking in my album you will see this as Week2. A trad scrap layout. This is the way I really really love to tell our story, with a traditional layout. The little calendar card from One Little Bird will be a themed piece throughout the year keeping our dates cohesive.

And a lot of grid layouts will be telling our moment stories, like my nephew's 16th birthday as shown here. (note to self...take the trad scrap layouts OUT of the pocket protectors before taking photos). I love me a grid anyhow. A lot of story can be told simply in this matter. All the photos are arranged to fit on an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of photo paper and printed at once. Then trimmed as one piece and added to the page.

And then back to another pocket page for Week4. Very straight forward. Not much embellishment, but some. Yet lots of journaling. and story telling.
telling our story...this is what i am really seeking, after all.

And I want to get back to telling our story. I want to keep it doable and simple. But I want to add my love of trad scrap layouts too. Hoping this year's book can be a steady telling with these concepts in mind.

How about you...
will you be telling your story this year the same way?
I would love to hear...
till next time.

project life 2014

i love how there are so many fresh starts to a new year...

As I begin my version of project life 2014, I am taking some time to re-think the process just a bit. As I look back at past books, and there are plenty, I am filled with a lot of happiness and joy at all that I have captured over the years. I love the chronological approach this provides. That is probably what drew me in at the beginning.

But I can see I will take a bit of a different approach this year. I love traditional 12x12 scrapbook layouts. Those pages really grab my heart. Those project will probably be taking up the weeks more than the pocket pages. But we will just have to see how it goes.

This year's cover page is really really simple. When you have a family of 7 it's easy to take up all the pages with photos. The most favorite way I like to begin a new year's book is with my kids portraits from that previous year. To have them all in one place like that with their ages documented just seems the right way to start a new album.

So how about you...will you do project life this year? Does it continue to capture your heart? Or will you find another way to photo. print. and document. your life?

I would love to hear from you.

till next time...