Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Project Life 2013: Volume 3 ( in video)

Happy New Year's Eve! I wanted to start this post today by thanking so many of you for reaching out to me yesterday and congratulating me on making the Paper Bakery Design Team. My e-mail box was flooded with well wishes, as well as on various social media sites. It was so sweet of you, and it really meant a lot. It even made me tear up a little bit. I appreciate your support and encouragement so much!

I had planned to have a 2013 Project Life in review post down for you today, but then the flu/ sick bug hit me, and yup that did not happen. I did  however, get my video uploaded to You Tube. Yup I sure did! I shot this video earlier in the week (before I got sick,) so I am glad I have that to share with you today. This Project Life video covers from August 26th 2013-December 22nd, 2013.

Please keep in mind that this is my first video, and I do need to make some changes for my next one. I need to get the video in focus a little more, and try to talk a little slower. I will be honest though, I have always been a fast talker, and moving to North Carolina did not help with that one bit, LOL. It's just who I am I guess. Also, yes, I shot the video in purple snowflake pajamas, and I just might have to again. ;-) If you have any questions regarding the video do not hesitate to ask here or in the comments section of the video on You Tube. My You Tube channel is listed under Toni From and I would love it you would like to subscribe. I will be updating the right side of my blog soon with all of my correct social media links, including You Tube, but in the mean time here is a link to the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bh7PPRConI

I hope y'all have a Happy New Year, as for me, I will be taking my Tylenol PM and going to bed early.

xoxox

Toni

Monday, December 30, 2013

Some Exciting News and a Layout Share "The Calm"

Happy Monday! Can you believe it is almost the New Year? We are still listening to Christmas music over here, but are starting to wean ourselves a little bit, but I still have no plans to take down Christmas decor until after the New Year. I am going to have it all down and put away before I go to bed on January 5th however. I work best with a deadline, and I don't want to get stuck looking at a dead tree on Valentine's Day. Might kind of ruin the whole romance of it and all. ;-)

I have some very exciting news to share with y'all, something I have been just dying to tell you, but have just received the go ahead to tell. Here is the news:


Yup, I am on the Paper Bakery Design Team. I am so excited to have been chosen and so very humbled to work with such talented ladies. I will be working with the Capture 365 kit, which is their version of a pocket pages/  daily scrapbooking kit. You know how much I love Project Life, so this is such a perfect fit for me! If you have never heard of Paper Bakery you can find a direct link to their blog HERE.

Onto other news…. I have a layout to share with you today to go along with a challenge over at Paper Issues. The issue this month is Shiny and New. I interpreted this challenge by using lots of shiny gold elements, paired with traditional Christmas colors of red and green found in the Basic Grey 25th and Pine collection. I am just loving gold this season and I do not see that ending anytime soon.  I am still in love with layering and splattering mist here and there. Of course sequins are a must for this layout, especially shiny gold star sequins. I love these so much! I also used my Silhouette on this layout to cut out a background mask with repeating hearts. I sprayed that with Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Gold Lame.

The Calm




I am so thankful that you stopped by today. I will be back later this week with all kinds of scrappy (and non- scrappy things to share.) Tomorrow (Tuesday) you can expect to see a Project Life blog post discussing what I did for Project Life 2013, and where I see Project Life heading for 2014 and beyond. I am gearing up to finish my third year of Project Life and getting really excited to be starting my album for 2014 very soon.  I also have made a video (yup, you heard me right,) doing a walk through of my third album for 2013. I will let you know as soon as that is available for watching on You Tube. I will also let you know where you can find me on You Tube, in case you wanted to watch it. :-)

Let's talk the new year…anyone else working on anything Shiny or New? Are you loving on Gold and sparkly embellishments? What about drippy mist? Sequins? Any fun plans for New Year's?

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

Friday, December 27, 2013

#40days40bags

I hope all of your had a magical and blessed Christmas. Our day was wonderful, very special and peaceful as well. I am venturing off of the game plan a little bit, I had planned on showing you the rest of my December Daily pages today, but those will have to wait until next Friday since only about 1/2 are complete at this point. In the meantime, I am starting a new challenge today (well yesterday actually, last night to be more accurate.) I would love it if you would join me.

The Challenge: #40Bags40Days started by Becky Novacek on Instagram. It basically consists of purging and donating 40 bags/  boxes of items in an effort to simplify and organize in the process. I don't know about you, but starting a new year with some clean and freshly organized spaces is the best! I love organization, so this challenge was so up my alley, and since it was on my to do list for January anyways, I figure why not start a few days early.

I will be purging way more than the 40 bags, I am going to guess and say at least 60. I already have 4 bags/ boxes and have just started. I am donating about 95% of what I am purging, but I am selling a few scrappy items and a few larger items in the garage for extra cash for some home items we would like to purchase/ need for storage pieces. These include:
  • Dresser/ storage table for front entryway-this will be thrift all the way, some paint, new hardware, and some cool legs…I have a vision, but need the money and the right piece first.
  • Shelving for family room-Home Depot, Lowe's or Container store. Still deciQ\,M.//.,ding that.
  • Mirror for over fireplace mantle, or make something??? 
  • Other projects: To be decided later in January when we see how much we have made from the selling process and if we have any money left over. 
Here is the list of areas in my home I will be organizing and purging over the next 40 days
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These are my first four boxes/ bags of items to donate
Thanks for stopping by today, I will be back next week with all kinds of scrappy and non-scrappy goodness to share. Here is the schedule...

Monday:       Layout share
Tuesday:       Project Life, looking back at 2013 and planning ahead for 2014
Wednesday:  New Years Resolution
Thursday:     40Days40Bags Update
Friday:          December Daily Part 10: The rest of the album

So who's joining Becky Novacek and I and purging some stuff? 40days40bags anyone? You can follow me on Instagram (link is on the right of blog.) I would love it if you would tag me and show me what you are getting rid of. Also before and after shots are the best. I will be sure to share a few of those for you next week, and there will be some on Instagram throughout the week as well.

Happy Organizing,

xoxox

Toni

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas

I just wanted to pop in and wish you all a very Merry Christmas. I am so lucky to have met so many wonderful people online on this little blog of mine. I appreciate you being here and consider you all friends. Thank you for making this such a fun place for me to be.

Wishing you all a Blessed Holiday,

xoxox

Toni


Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Project Life 2013: Week 51, December 16th-22nd

Happy Tuesday readers and Merry Christmas Ever. I am up with a quick post today and some pictures. Can you believe it is almost Christmas? Regarless, I am up with some scrappy goodness, another Project Life post. 51 weeks in the books for 2013, and I am still loving this project!

Full Layout:

Left Side

Right Side

Thank you for stopping by today. I will be back on Friday with some more December Daily pages.

xoxox

Toni From

Monday, December 23, 2013

December Daily 2013: Part 9, December 19th and 20th

Happy Monday fellow blog readers. I am back today to share a few more December Daily pages. This is the first year I have completed this project (well technically it isn't completed yet, but after 20 days in the books, I feel confident saying I will finish it all at this point.) I am just loving putting this album together. I love that I can just pick one or two photos per day and focus on those stories on a smaller scale. Of course, I can always include more, but I am trying to keep this album actually contained in the album and not too bulky.

Let's shift focus now though, and look inside the album some more, shall we?


December 19th

I used another awesome free printable by Gillian Nelson on this day.
December 20th


I used an office supply tag in between the pages to obtain my journaling for 
December 20th, love how that turned out!

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I have some new followers and commenters and I just wanted to say thank you so much. I appreciate you all being here and sharing this little spot of blogland with me. I will be back tomorrow with Project Life week 51 to share with all of you. I hope to see you then.

xoxox

Toni

Friday, December 20, 2013

December Daily 2013: Part 8, December 17th and 18th

I am back again today with two more December Daily pages. At this point in the month things are sure getting more hectic, you will see that my pages are very simple, and I love them just the same. December Daily is about capturing the memories, not about designing the "perfect" pages. Although, I fully admit that I like getting crafty with it when I have the time, and I really do enjoy looking at others gorgeous December Daily layouts. What I have learned with an ongoing project like this is that it is important to remember that if you want to be successful you have to be okay with quick and easy some of the time. Don't play the comparing game, just go with it and have fun!

Now let's see some pictures shall we.

December 17th and 18th
The two printable journaling cards today that were designed by the incredibly talented 
Gillian Nelson. I just love them! Guess what? She is even sharing them for free 
on her blog, you can find that blog post HERE

December 17th

December 18th

 Thanks so much for stopping by today, I appreciate you being here and allowing me to share some Christmas crafting with you. I will be back all next week again. Like previous weeks this month, I will be sharing more December Daily pages next week and Project Life on Tuesday.  If I don't see you again before 2014, I wish you a blessed Christmas and Happy New Year.

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Get Your Craft On: Felted Christmas Garland

Today I am starting a new monthly column on the blog. I will do one of these "Get Your Craft On" posts at least once a month. Something you should know about me. . . I love crafting. Not just scrapbooking, and card making, and Project Life, but just regular crafting. Home decor, hair accessories, and anything else that inspires me. Today's crafty item is not based on something I came up with, in fact, the entire project, including instructions were followed to a tee by a fellow blogger. You might have heard of her…Elise Blaha Cripe.

This project all started in October with me pinning various things made with felt to my Pinterest board. I was really wanting to make some kind of felt banner for the house, and then I stumbled upon this article by Elise Blaha Cripe for making felted garland, and I quickly switched gears and jumped on board. I just love Elise's style, and we have very similar taste in many things, so it is easy for me to get on board with just about any project she chooses. She ended up using the garland as a runner across her dining room table, and since our kitchen table is the same size and color, I knew this would also look great in our home.

I followed her step-by-step tutorial, but chose different colors for my felt. I wanted it to have some traditional Christmas colors, but also a gold-ish color and aqua, so that it would go with my home the rest of the year, (I plan on keeping this out throughout winter.) Of course felt does not come in gold, at least not on December 10th at my local Joanne fabrics, but if you do find real gold colored felt, please let me know, I would seriously buy it. Since gold could not be found I went with a soft carmel color, two shades of green (really wanted sea foam instead of lime, but again had to pick from what they had,) red, cream, and dark green. I also grabbed an aqua fleece fabric, not felt, but it still worked really well.

 felt purchased

 felt cut into strips



banner laid out on table top.

Time to complete: 90 minutes

Making this table runner went by so fast. I did the entire project (including cutting out all the felt while I watched most of "Love Actually." Don't you just love that movie.

Cost:

Thanks to a great felt sale ($5 yard) and a 20% off an already reduced items coupon. . . I got all six pieces for $4 yard, but since I only needed 1/4 yard of each…it came to $6. The string I already had on hand. I still have almost 1/2 left so I have another project up my sleeve for that. I will share that sometime in the next week or two. Just know it will be using the same felt in the same fashion, but on an entire different item. Any guesses?

Let's talk crafting. Have you been making anything fun lately? I would sure love to hear about it. Anyone else excited to see a crafty article on the blog? I know that I sure am! I will be back tomorrow with some more December Daily pages, December 17th and 18th. I sure hope to see you then.

Happy Craftin'

xoxox

Toni

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

December Daily 2013 Part 7: December 14th-16th

I am back with some more December Daily pages. You will notice that all of the events are not exactly Christmas related: A 5k run, a parade, and a very lazy puppy. That is what I love about December Daily, it does not just have to be about all Christmas. It is about celebrating the magic and embracing all that is December. I strongly encourage you to document your Christmas memories if you have never done this before. It really helps you to focus on what is important, and get to the true meaning of this glorious holiday. Alright, tangent over…now let's see some pages.

 December 14th
 Ali Edwards "Game Time" digital brush, Silhouette cut "Believe" from the Silhouette store,  
American Crafts POW Glitter Paper, Crate Paper Sleigh Ride vellum numbers, and 
assorted sequins purchased at Studio Calico.

Notes journal card from Webster's Pages/ Alison Kreft's It's Christmas Dear Santa paper.

December 15th
Studio Calico Magical numbers, kraft bag, labels by Marcy Penner, Two Peas Exclusive 
red arrow paper clip, October Afternoon Silent Night Mini Market Stickers, 
and button brad by Crate Paper Bundled Up.

December 15th (backside) and December 16th
Basic Grey Sleigh Ride Vellum number, Ali Edwards "Happy Christmas Outline Bannersdigital brush, Crate Paper Bundled up 6 x 6 paper pad, and sequins purchased at Studio Calico.


Thank you so much for stopping by today. If you have any questions about this project please do not hesitate to leave a comment below. I am happy to help. I will be back tomorrow to share a fun project I made using felt. It could or could not be holiday related, depending upon how you see it. I will be back again on Friday with more December Daily pages. I hope to see you back here.

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Project Life 2013: Week 50, December 10th- 16th

It's Tuesday and time again for a Project Life share. 50 weeks completed for this year and I am still loving it. Mondays are my new favorite day now. Monday mornings I get the kids off to school, do some housework, look over my planner, and work on Project Life. I just love looking over our previous week, printing the photos, and deciding what to write about, what colors and embellishments to use. I love reflecting on what was good/ not as great about the previous week, and focusing on all of my blessings. It really sets the tone for the upcoming week. I just love Project Life so, so, so much!

Enough of that mushy stuff, let's see some pages…

Full Layout:

Left Side:

Left Side Title Card:

Left Side Close-Ups:


Right Side:

Close-Ups:


Supplies Used:





Other Supplies Used:

  • Number stickers-Pebbles 
  • Silhouette Cameo-"Christmas" digital cut from Silhouette store
  • Ali Edwards digital brushes Game Time and So Love You
  • Amy Tangerine Yes Please calendar date stamp
  • Holly Jolly #2 Journaling Cards by Geralyn Sy/ In a Creative Bubble
  • General tools-paper trimmer, embroidery needle and white thread, tiny attacher, American Crafts precision pen .03 nib, and American Crafts dot roller adhesive.
  • Ink: Versafine in Onyx Black, Black StayzOn, and Hero Arts Shadow Ink in Soft Granite
Thank you so much for stopping by today. I will be back tomorrow with December Daily part 7: December 14th, 15th, and 16th. I would love it if you would stop by then.

xoxox

Toni

Monday, December 16, 2013

December Daily 2013: Part 6, December 10th-13th

Hello and happy Monday! It is now December 16th and Christmas is only 9 days away. Not quite sure how that happened so fast, but it did nonetheless. I have something to share with you today before I get down to December Daily.

My daughter, Isabelle (age 10) ran a 5k this past Saturday. She competed in the Reindeer Romp with other girls from her Girls on the Run team. She did so great and I am super proud of her. She ran the entire way and finished the race in just under 34 minutes. What an accomplishment for a ten-year-old!

Isn't she just the cutest little runner ever?

Back to December Daily… ready to see four more December Daily pages today? I am really loving this project and enjoying it more and more each time I sit down to compile pictures, papers, and Christmas stories/ anecdotes that I want my family to remember. What a blessing it is to be able to document my families holiday memories.

December 10th/ 11th

December 10th

December 11th
This page has an envelope with a  pull out journaling tag. On the tag I wrote 
about this gingerbread men ornament collection. They are my son's and 
my mom purchases these for him every year. One of my families 
favorite things to unpack every year and put on our tree.

December 12th/13th 

December 12th

December 13th

Let's talk December Daily today. Are you working on an album? If so do you have any tips to share? I have found that it is much easier to work on pages 2 or 3 days at a time, rather than pulling everything out for only one day. I have also found that I do not like working on more than 3 pages at a time. I guess it is a good thing it is a daily project, or else I might be tempted to put it all together after Christmas, and then I probably would not want to do it at all. Does anyone else have that problem with larger projects?

I hope y'all have a very happy Monday. I will be back tomorrow with Project Life week 50 to share, I hope to see you then.

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

Friday, December 13, 2013

December Happenings

Like most of you, we have been crazy busy this month. There will be no December Daily post today. With the days getting shorter, it is definitely much harder to photograph crafty things for the blog, but I am working around it, at least most of the time. I spent the majority of yesterday running errands and I did not have time to photograph the new pages completed before the sun went down. On a positive note, I will have brand new Project Life pages posted on Monday morning. I would love it if you dropped by then.

All kinds of weekend things going on around here. My daughter is participating in a 5K this weekend and also has a Girl Scout parade the same morning. Later that day, both kids are having a sleepover at our house. Not sure if that is a genius plan or not, but either way a busy home does make me happy. Today I am buying a girl scout uniform and putting it all together. I am not the best at sewing on badges, I tried to use my sewing machine for it last year and ended up sewing my finger. Now I am kind of scared to use my machine to sew on badges. Weird I know, but either way, I figure a lot of hand-stitching and quite a few Christmas movies are on the agenda for today.

I hope y'all have a blessed weekend and really enjoy the little moments, because really when you think about it, life is all about a bunch of little moments strung together to make big moments. As for me, I will try not to draw too much blood as I painstakingly sew on twenty Girl Scout badges by hand. Can you just picture that image? Thought that might make you laugh.

xoxox

Toni

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Christmas Cards Using Crate Paper, Basic Grey, Webster's Pages, and Stamps by Ali Edwards

Today I am sharing my Christmas cards with all of you. These are very quick cards to put together, and the end result turned out very cute and unique. I hope this little tutorial might help some of you that still want to make homemade Christmas cards. This technique could also easily be applied to any kind of card really.

Being completely honest, I felt a lot of pressure this year with regards to putting together my Christmas cards. December had already begun, and my cards were not made yet. Normally I have the cards finished before December, so I felt like I needed to downgrade my emboss-everything on the cards plan and come up with something much simpler. Keep it simple should be my new model, because I seriously LOVE these quick and adorable cards.

To save some time and money, I decided that I would only use things I already had. I started by pulling together some supplies, mostly 6 x 6 Christmas paper pads, assorted buttons and small embellishments that coordinate, a stamp set, and also my veneer star stash and gold embossing powder. I had already decided to use Kraft cardstock and envelopes this year so I got those ready as well.


Basic Grey 25th and Pine


Alison Kreft It's Christmas for Webster's Pages


Crate Paper Bundled Up


 Crate Paper Sleigh Ride


Ali Edward's "Twinkle On" stamp set, sold through Technique Tuesday


I also used gold embossing powder on some of my wood veneer. *Make sure you have a lint roller nearby. This is my go-to tool for quick glitter or embossing powder clean up.*

  1. I started with a basic A2 card trimmed down to 5 1/2" x 4 1/4 inches made out of Kraft cardstock. 
  2. I then cut my 6 x 6 papers down to 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" and adhered them to the card front. *I only adhered the bottom half, so that I could add the embellishment and sentiment before the whole thing was glued down permanently.*
  3. I cut out vellum into 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" and tore those freehand on all four sides. 
  4. After all of the vellum was torn, I stamped one of two sentiments onto the vellum "Keep Calm and Twinkle On" or "Keep Calm and Be Merry" using Black StayzOn ink.

  5. I gave the images all a chance to dry (probably an hour or so.) I didn't want to accidentally smear these adorable sentiments and risk having to redo them all.
  6. I then began attaching the sentiment to the front of the cards along with a small embellishment using a staple. This worked very well to keep both the embellishment and the stamped vellum attached to the patterned paper.

  7. Next you have to glue the top part of the patterned paper to the card front. *Make sure everything is adhered very well.*

  8. Fill out the inside of your card to the lucky recipient
  9. The last step is to address your card, put the card in the envelope (and family photo or Christmas letter if you are including one,) and of course you should embellish the back of your envelope. I like to use stamps and washi tape.


 I ended up with 56 cards in total. Most have a veneer embellishment adhered to the front, but I also used buttons and chipboard pieces that I had left over from these collections.


*For the buttons and chipboard pieces, I first tied twine through them and adhered them onto the front of the card using glue dots.*


I really like how all of the cards are similar, yet each is unique and special. In fact, every single card is different.  I could not pick a favorite and might have taken 10 pictures of the finished cards. I decided on two different group shots to post for you, and just placed cards in front that were in different color combinations.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I loved having you here at life, scrapbook, repeat. I hope this tutorial will be helpful to you. I will be back tomorrow with December Daily Part 6: December 10th and 11th. I hope to see you then. In the meantime, do you have all of your cards finished and mailed? Did you make homemade cards this year, or purchase cards? Are you doing an online greeting instead of just forgoing the whole tradition? I would love to hear your thoughts….to card or not to card?

Happy Thursday and Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni