I Heart Lily Bee and a Scrapbook Layout Share

Now that I am all caught up on Project Life, home responsibilities, and what not I am back to making layouts, and I am in love. My favorite way to spend a cool fall day is walking outside, making layouts, and holiday crafts. I have had time to do all three this last week and am super excited about it.

Today I have a layout to share with you, using all kinds of goodies from Lily Bee. I am playing along with their October Layout Sketch Challenge as well as using their free monthly digital files designed by the super-talented Nicole Nowosad. Since I love a good challenge, I even took it a step further and decided that I wanted to try to use papers from a variety of Lily Bee collections (including some older items.) I used items from four different, yup 4 different Lily Bee collections and I just love how it turned out. I have found that I can mix and match Lily Bee collections very easily together because of the small repeating patterns and beautiful color schemes. You really get a lot of versatility with these types of papers, and I am a gal that loves to use her scrapbook products.

Here is what I came up with:

Supplies Used:

• Lily Bee Pinwheel Labels and Cherry Blossom Paper. Sweet Shoppe Licorice Whip Paper. Destination Camera and Postcard Paper. Persnickety Sky Blue Paper
• Buttons: October Afternoon, My Minds Eye, and others from stash
• Studio Calico Snippets Veneer
• My Mind's Eye enamel dots
• American Crafts glitter tape in Peacock and white card stock.
• We R Memory Keepers Washi Tape
• Punches: Martha Stewart
• Thread 
• Glue Dots

What have you been creating lately? Have you tried incorporating many different scrapbook lines from the same manufacturer before? I really enjoyed doing this and will definitely be doing this again. I like the challenge. I would love to see what you have been creating, just leave me a link below. 

Thank you for stopping by today.

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

Project Life 2013: Weeks 42 & 43, October 14th - October 27th

It's the end of October, and three years in, I am still LOVING this project. I love that Project Life allows me the freedom to just slip photos in and tell the stories. I love that I can make it fancy, or keep it fairly simply, and that I finally have a spot for memorabilia. Thank you Becky Higgins for designing Project Life.

Now that I am all caught-up for 2013, it is just so much fun. No more hours and hours editing and selecting photos, I am now down to one hour a week tops for all of that. This includes photos I edit and print out for layouts as well. It usually takes me about an hour to put together each of my spreads, but this week it took two hours for each spread (I put it together with friends and there was lots of talking involved, so no complaints from me.)

Week 42: Fairly ordinary week around here, I finally got a picture of one of the doe's that likes to hang out in our backyard. I love that this has become a regular occurrence this fall. Lots of photos around town, an Instagram photo I fell in love with, pics of Isabelle's school, and part of a bag from World Market. Aren't their bags just the cutest?

Supplies Used:

• Studio Calico Antiquary Project Life Kit
• Studio Calico Marks & Co Project Life Kit "Everything Here is Wonderful"  SOLD OUT
• Studio Calico Front Row Project LIfe Kit "We Were Here" card   SOLD OUT
• Studio Calico Antiquary Card Kit (extra paper)
• Project Life Cards by Kinsey Wilson
• Ali Edwards Digital Brushes Pound Everyday Life
• American Crafts Thickers Kensie Font/ Robin's Egg blue
• Versafine ink in Onyx Black
• White shipping tag/ Studio Calico shop
• Twine from Stash
• Pocket cut file designed by Marcy Penner/ Hello Forever
• American Crafts precision pen in .03 nib
• Date Stamp by Pebbles
• Yellow/ Orange Washi tape-Freckled Fawn
• Memorabilia-World Market bag

Week 43: A little bit of a different spread for me, only one picture is of a family member, and yes the teenager actually cooperated for a photo. The rest of the photos this week are birds, other nature scenes, and food. I love that Project Life allows me such awesome flexibility like this. Saturday was a dream day for me, full of lots of bird pictures and I was so excited that they cooperated for their impromptu photo shoot.

• Studio Calico Antiquary Project Life Kit
• Project Life Cards by Kinsey Wilson (#'s 1-7)
• LifeLovePaper Watercolor Cards "feeling"
• Everyday Cards by In A Creative Bubble Card "Right Here Right Now and "Remember This Moment"
• Studio Calico Antiquary Card Kit (extra paper)
• Wood Veneer Ampersand Card by Two Peas in a Bucket
• Ali Edwards Digital Brushes Pound Everyday Life, Week in the Life Circles, and Messy Daily Lines
• Versafine ink in Onyx Black, Hero Arts Wet Cement Shadow Ink
• Watercolor Set from Michael's
• White shipping tag/ Studio Calico shop
• Twine from Stash
• Project Life Stamp Set designed by Marcy Penner/ Hello Forever "Captured, Important"
• American Crafts precision pen in .03 nib
• Date Stamp by Pebbles
• Star Washi tape-October Afternoon

I have linked this Project Life post over at The Mom Creative. This is a great place to find tons of Project Life inspiration each and every Tuesday. You can find Jessica's most recent Project Life post HERE.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I will be back tomorrow with a layout share, I hope to see you then. What have you been working on lately? Anyone else working on Project Life? How is this year going for you? Any other projects? Anyone else decorate for Halloween yesterday? Yup, I sure did, LOL. Have a happy Tuesday.

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

Cards from World Card Making Day

I realized earlier today that I never shared the cards I made for World Card Making Day. Are there any other card makers out there? Did you make some cards for World Card Making Day as well?

I love card challenges and it is always so much fun to participate with a bunch of other card makers. Everyone did such a great job following along with the Studio Calico challenges. Without further ado, these are the cards I made this year.

Happy Birthday-this one if for my best friend (hope you don't see this Natalie, if on the off chance that you do, just don't tell me okay?)

Products Used:

• My Mind's Eye chalkboard paper
• Polka dot paper and gold dots from Studio Calico Antiquary card kit
• Happy Birthday to You sentiment Studio Calico Antiquary card kit
• Green seam binding ribbon
• Hero Arts mid-tone shadow ink in tide pool and grape juice
• Colorbox white frost ink

Anniversary Card
Products Used:

• White watercolor paper and watercolors to create the ombre 
• Stamped pears, sentiment, and green patterned paper-Studio Calico Antiquary Card Kit
• My Mind's Eye red enamel dots

 Thanks-this will end up going to Isabelle's music teacher
Products Used: 

• Patterned Paper, gold dots, and button- Antiquary Card Kit by Studio Calico
• Thanks gold rub-on by Pebbles
• Twine-stash

Thank You Teacher-this one will also go to Isabelle's 4th grade teacher
Products Used:

• Patterned paper, pumpkin and sentiment stamp-Studio Calico Antiquary Card Kit 
• Chalkboard paper by My Mind's Eye
• Ink-Colorbox white chalk ink and onyx black Versafine ink for pumpkin outline

Call Me Maybe-I will send this to a friend, to remind her to call me, subtle huh?
Products Used:

• Studio Calico Bubblegum September add-on card kit
• Pebbles From Me to You Chips
• American Crafts glitter thin glitter tape in brown sugar

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I appreciate you being here and leaving a comment. What have you been creating lately? Anyone else getting excited to start holiday crafting and card making? I sure am and forcing myself to hold off until after Halloween. 

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

October, currently.

Listening to my dog breathing deeply under my feet.
Breathing in and out, in and out.
Smelling eggs from breakfast.
Resting after a long wall this morning.
Reading blogs and e-mails.
Shivering a little at the drop in temperature.
Using blankets, warm socks, and sweaters.
Drinking pumpkin spice coffee.
Savoring the exquisite taste.
Thinking of projects to do.
Cooking and meal planning more.
Holding Eric's hand in the evenings.
Enjoying our children's personalities and quirks.
Dreaming of Christmas and crafting.
Organizing all of my Christmas scrapbook goodies.
Pinning way too much to my December Daily board.
Hearing the bluebirds and finches chirping outside.
Watching the birds eating at my bird feeder.
Cleaning the bathrooms.
Clearing away clutter.
Making lots of donation piles everywhere.
Feeling like I need to have less stuff in general.
Sorting scrapbook layouts into various albums.
Rearranging them into color-order.
Smiling at them all lined up on my shelves.
Laughing out loud at the Christmas tree already fully decorated at our mall.
Realizing that it might be a little too early for that.
Painting a few picture frames.
Putting together a fall wreath.
Packing up the last of the fall decor we won't use this year.
Dreaming of the holidays, family, warmth, comfort, and the miracle of Christ.
Humming Christmas songs everyday.
Being present and keeping myself accountable for my goals.
Using my Arc planner like it's going out of style.
Writing lists in multiple colors and fonts and smiling.
Feeling productive, content, and so alive.

Wishing you all a gorgeous day today. It was very cold in North Carolina, I woke up to 37 degrees and frozen car windows. I think that means it's time to start parking in the garage very soon.

xoxox

Toni

Project LIfe 2013: Weeks 39, 40 & 41, September 23rd-October 13th

I have been a little MIA in blog land lately. That is largely because of Project Life. I have been editing, printing, and compiling all of my missing Project LIfe weeks for 2013. I am happy to say that they are all done. Yup, I met my goal...to have all of this finished by Tuesday, October 15th. I have EVERY SINGLE WEEK of Project LIfe for 2013 completed...all the way through week 41 (October 12th.) I am so excited and so glad that I did all of this BEFORE the holiday craziness is upon us.

This Project Life Catch-up Plan all started on September 9th with THIS post when I realized I was missing 13 weeks of Project Life (and that didn't include current weeks.) I made a plan and just stuck to it, approaching this one week at a time. I will be completely honest, I had moments of frustration with the volume of photos to compile, edit, and print, but I did it. I edited photos in increments of 1 or 2 weeks at at time and then did my pages (my favorite part.) Then I patted myself on the back and repeated the process again and again and again and again until it was all done. It took 5 weeks, but words cannot express how proud I am that I accomplished this goal. 

I found that by listing out all of my weeks of Project Life, and not just the missing ones, I was able to realize just how much WAS accomplished and man, did it feel good to hi-light each and every week I finished during this time frame. Let's review that visual checklist again shall we...I sure want to.

*Volume 1 : FINISHED   
First Page for Volume 1
Week 1
 Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5 & 6
Week 7
Week 8-9
Week 10 & 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
Week 17
Last Page for Volume 1

*Volume 2: FINISHED
First Page of Volume 2     
Week 18
Week 19
Week 20 insert finish (50% done)- is going to be a traditional scrapbook layout instead
Week 21
Week 22
Week 23
Week 24
Week 25
Week 26 
Week 27
Week 28
Week 29 and 30
Week 31&32
Week 33
Week 34
Week 35
Last Page of Volume 2

*Volume 3 : CAUGHT UP TO CURRENT WEEK  
First Page of Volume 3
Week 36
Week 37 (Week in the Life)
Week 38
Week 39-
Weeks 40 &  41


All of the aqua hi-lighted weeks are weeks that I completed during this time five week/ 35 day time frame. This amounted to 21 weeks/ beginning or ending pages. Just picture me right now doing a happy dance and smiling from ear to ear.

Today I am sharing weeks 39, 40, and 41 with you. I still have a lot of weeks to share, and am trying to figure out the synchronization of video camera, tripod, I-video, and hoping to have a Project LIfe video completed by the end of the month. I think it will be easier to show all of my pages this way and a good excuse for me to work on my video editing to boot! I have three albums so hopefully I can keep the video under 20 minutes...here's hoping anyways. 

Onto the pages: 

Week 39: Full Layout

Left Side:

Right Side:

Weeks 40 & 41: Full Layout

Left Side:

Right Side:

Supplies Used:

• I used largely the Studio Calico October Antiquary Project LIfe Kit. This is still available and can be found HERE.
• 4 x 6 grid cards
• 6 x 6 Antiquary Card Kit paper pad by Studio Calico. This can be found HERE.
• Gold labels from the September Double Scoop Project Life Kit found HERE.
• Marcy Penner Weather Project LIfe cards (sold out)
• Edinburgh Stamp Set designed by Marcy Penner for Studio Calico (sold out)
• Digital geotag brush from the October Cutting Edge class from Studio Calico.
• Other supplies: American Crafts dot runner adhesive, precision pens in .03 and .01, fine slick writer, Becky Higgins Date Stamp, Tiny Attacher, Scissors, Versafine Ink in Onyx Black, Stayz-On in black, Hero Arts shadow inks in navy and soft granite.

I have linked this Project Life post over at The Mom Creative. This is a great place to find some Project Life inspiration each and every Tuesday. You can find Jessica's most recent Project Life post HERE.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I will be back later this week with other scrappy goodness to share. Thank you also so very much for all of those that encouraged me, leaving comments, reading the blog, and shooting me messages telling me to hang in there. I sure appreciate it. If you have any questions about Project Life please do not hesitate to ask.

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

Project Life 2013: Week 26-28, June 24th- July 14th

Just plugging along in Project Life...edited photos, printed photos, assembling pages, that is my life. I seem to spend 1-2 hours at least every other day doing one of the above tasks. *If I was caught up it would be no more than 2 hours a week** I spent a large portion of Friday night (during my daughter's slumber party) editing and printing photos. I was able to supervise somewhat from an adjacent room and still give the girls their space that way. It worked out quite well.

I am sharing my Project Life to do list with you again today. Everything in Red has been accomplished in this past week. I am on a roll, and I will definitely have everything caught up by Tuesday, October 15th. Yup I have even picked a date and I am thrilled!

*Volume 1     3 weeks left to complete
First Page for Volume 1
Week 1
 Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5 & 6
Week 7
Week 8-9
Week 10 & 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
Week 17
Last Page for Volume 1

*Volume 2     1 week left and a final page to complete
First Page for Volume 2
Week 18
Week 19
Week 20 insert finish (50% done)- is going to be a traditional scrapbook layout instead
Week 21
Week 22
Week 23
Week 24
Week 25
Week 26 
Week 27
Week 28
Week 29 and 30-photos printed
Week 31-32
Week 33
Week 34
Week 35
Last Page of Volume 2

*Volume 3    First page and two weeks to complete
First Page of Volume 3  ( I like to wait until I am at least one month into the new volume)
Week 36
Week 37 (Week in the Life)...still working on
Week 38
Week 39-some photos printed

For the upcoming week (October 1st -7th) I will be finish all of Volume 2, followed by Week 39, and then onto week 37 and quite a few Week in the Life inserts. I am also selecting, editing, and printing photos for all of the missing Volume 1 pages as well.

The following week ( October 8th -14th) I will be completing all of Volume 1, doing the current (week 40 Project LIfe week,) and completing the First Page of Volume 3.

On Tuesday, October 15th I will be all caught up in Project Life. So excited for this and I might even  have a party here to celebrate. If you have any ideas please let me know. Seriously we are going to celebrate!

Enough of that....onto the pages: Let's see Weeks 26, 27, & 28

Week 26
Full Layout

Left Side

Right Side

Week 27
Full Layout:

 Left Side:

Right Side:

Full Layout with a Design H Insert (Side A)

Full Layout with a Design H Insert (Side B)

Week 28
Full Layout:

Left Side:

Right Side:

Full Layout with a 5 x 7 Horizontal Insert (Side 1)

Full Layout with a 5 x 7 Horizontal Insert (Side B)

Project Life Is a Memory Keeping System developed by Becky Higgins. You can find out more about Project Life and memory keeping and her approach by following this link HERE.

I have linked this Project Life post over at The Mom Creative. This is a great place to find some Project Life inspiration each and every Tuesday. You can find Jessica's most recent Project Life post about "Tips for Project Life Catch-Up" HERE. This is a really great post and very helpful.

Thank you so much for stopping by, I will be back later this week with more crafty goodness. Until next time...

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni