It's Good to Be Home Scrapbook Layout

Who loves making similar kinds of layouts again and again? I do (she says waving both hands in the air like a crazy person.) I have thing for bits of patterned paper, always have, always will. Patterned paper was and will always be my first love (at least when it comes to scrapbooking supplies.)

I have another layout to share today. This one was created using bits of patterned papers from the Studio Calico Far Far Away Kit. I think I may have actually incorporated fourteen different papers for this layout--a new record!

This layout was super simple to create, which basically sums up all of my scrapbooking these days. If it takes longer than an hour to finish the bulk of it, it's just not going to happen.

I love grid designs, and simple clean lines on my layouts. Every layout I create is about the story and what I want to remember from the photographs I choose, the embellishing is the icing on the story-telling cake. I also have a thing for stars and wood veneer, so yeah most of my projects incorporated most (if not all) of those things and I am perfectly okay with that. I don't have to re-invent the wheel to have fun, I just have to be me to enjoy the memory-keeping process. A few strategically placed embellishments, some stitching, some white space, and BAM.....completed layout!

Do you have any repeated techniques or supplies that you love to use again and again? Are you a story teller as well? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Thank you for stopping by today. I will be back soon with another layout to share. Have a fabulous weekend!

xoxox

Toni

Three Layouts using the Studio Calico Carolina Moon Scrapbook Kit

Happy Saturday!

Just popping in to say a quick hi and to share three layouts I made with the Carolina Moon Scrapbook Kit. I used largely the kit, a few embellishments here and there, and some papers from the Crate Paper Craft Market collection (for the pink layout.)

I had a lot of fun making these, and felt like I am getting my groove back, and having so much fun.

Thanks for looking,

xoxox

Toni

Project Life 2014: Week 35

Happy Tuesday! It's time for another Project Life share and I am so happy to have another week finished in my album.

I have to be completely honest though. I was feeling very discouraged this past weekend, when I realized that the six weeks I was behind on in September (has now turned into 8 missing weeks in my album.) Gasp. Yes, really. I had a goal to be caught up by October and it did not happen. This left me feeling so incredibly frustrated and kind of upset with myself.

And then....I thought about it. Really thought about it.

This is my fourth year of doing Project Life. My 2011 albums are a little hit and miss, but I have tons of memories documented. My 2012 albums are almost done, and my 2013 albums are complete. I also have everything finished for the first half of 2014, so why was I being so hard on myself? Why do we always focus on what isn't done instead of rejoicing in what is?

For this reason, I am stating that I currently have 37/45 weeks complete with photos and journaling and I love it. My family and I look at these albums All. The. Time. These albums are shown to friends and family members, and you know what? I all that time of sharing memories, not one person has ever pointed out a missing week. I am the only person that gets hung up on that.

If you are "behind" on your Project Life album. Just stop beating yourself up. Any documentation is better than none.

If you are documenting anything (no matter how small) that is awesome. If all you ever do is 1 Project Life layout in your life. That is awesome. Scrapbooking matters. Our memories matter. Anything towards this goal of documentation....matters.

Now onto week 35

Supplies Used:

• Various Studio Calico Project Life Kits (including Sandlot-sold out)
• Studio Calico Sandlot 4x6 paper pad (sold out)
• Back to School Card Set by Shanna Noel (sold out)
• Elle's Studio Back to School Cork Shapes
• Printable labels by Hello Forever for Studio Calico
• Becky Higgins Project Life Design A page protectors x2, and one Design A cut in half.
• Basic supplies: Fiskars paper trimmer, Tim Holtz scissors, tiny attacher, Versafine Inyk in Onyx Black, Pebbles date stamp, American Crafts dot to dot roller, and American Crafts Precision Pen .03 nib.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, I appreciate you being here.

xoxox

Toni

Project Life 2014: Week 43

It's Tuesday and that means it's time to share some more Project Life pages. I have just one week for you today, but I am super excited that it is a current week.  I have been making lots of progress in my Week in the Life album and once that is finished I will share that and get back to catching up on Project Life.

This week I tried screen printing using the small star screen in the Studio Calico The 

Underground Project Life Kit. I used gold acrylic paint and a white piece of cardstock 

sized 4 x 6 inches. It is a very fun technique, and I highly recommend trying it. All you 

need is paint or mist, paper, and an old gift card to move the paint around.

Supplies Used this week:

• Studio Calico The Underground Project Life Kit
• Cozy Card Set by Life. Love. Paper (Sold Out)
• Printable labels by Hello Forever
• Basic tools: Scissors, Fiskars paper trimmer, American Crafts Precision Pen .03 nib, Brother Sewing Machine.
• Ink: Versafine in Onyx Black and Studio Calico Color Theory in Clean Slate.
• Washi Tape from Studio Calico Sandlot Scrapbook Kit
• Stitched sequin and wood veneer pocket is from last week's Project Life layout HERE.

How are you coming along in your Project Life album? Are you trying any new or fun techniques lately that you want to share? I would love to hear about it.

Until next time....

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

Project Life 2014: Week 42

Happy Tuesday, and that means it's time for another Project Life share. It's hard to believe that it is almost November, and in just over two short months, it will be 2015. Crazy, isn't it? Time flies by fast, and that's just what I enjoy about Project Life. I love that Project Life allows me to look back on this past year, and reflect on the so many things I have to be grateful for. It is such a blessing in my life.

You might remember a few weeks back that I talked about switching things up to a Fall Handbook. I was so excited to try something new, but it just did not work for me. I found it very difficult to wrap my head around such a small size of album (after almost four years designing all of my pages in the 12 x 12 format.) I was spending hours trying to design pages and getting nowhere. That is never a fun feeling, so yes, I have gone back to 12 x12 and will be finishing up this year in that size. What about the two pages that were completed in the 6x8 size? Well if you were wondering, those will just be inserts now within week 39 (the first official week of Autumn.)

I am still behind in Project Life, and trying to switch up sizes, actually caused me to get further behind (instead of speeding up the process like I thought it would.)  I have discovered that focusing on the pictures and stories, and spending about 15-20 minutes (or less) embellishing is my happy place. That is exactly what I am doing going forward.

Here is where I am currently at for those that like following my crazy-bullet point lists.  :-) items higlighted and crossed off are complete.

• Week 28, July 7-13
• Week 29/ 30, July 14-17
• Week 31, July 28-August 3
• Week 32, August 4-10  
• Week 33, August 11-17 
• Week 34, August 18-24
• Week 35, August 25-31
• Week 36, September 1-7
• Week 37, September 8-14
• Week 38, September 15-21  
• Week 39 September 22-28: (Inserts completed in 6x8 size)
• Week 40, September 29-October 5
• Week 41, October 6-12
• Week 42, October 13-19
• Week 43, October 20-26

I am currently 9 weeks behind (including the week that just finished up on Sunday. Sigh. I had hoped to be caught up by now. Regardless I am still plugging ahead, and focusing on the 34 weeks that are completed and documented. I think the key is to focus on what you do have completed and be appreciative of that. I will eventually get all of this caught up. I have done it before, and I will do it again.  Stay tuned for that....

Today I am sharing week 42 with all of you. I focused largely on one big day for this week. The day we drove three hours to the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway and essentially crossed off almost everything on our Fall Bucket list.

 I included Isabelle's individual soccer team photo on this page, even though it isn't a great 

photo, I still felt it was important to include. I journaled around the photo and am happy.

I think this Studio Calico Masking Tape might be my favorite item in the kit. So great! Sewn 

pocket will show through on both sides. I used sequins from my stash and Lawn Fawn 

Sweater Weather wood veneer leaves to create this, along with my sewing machine.

I used a 5x7 insert this week, for some extra photos I wanted to blow up to a larger size. 

This is a Becky Higgins 5x7 page protector (front side)

5x7 page protector (back side)

Supplies Used:

• Studio Calico The Underground Project Life Kit  (as of 10/28/14, kits are still available.)
• Cozy card set by Life, Love, Paper (sold out)
• Flair from my Etsy store: At the Patch and Sweater Weather Flair Sets
• Lawn Fawn Sweater Weather wood veneer leaves
• Basic supplies: Fiskars trimmer, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, Nake Berkus scissors, American Crafts dot to dot roller, assorted sequins from my stash, and my Brother sewing machine.

I started posting You Tube process videos to my account a little over a month ago and the response has been fantastic. I really appreciate you following me along there and leaving comments. It has been really fun making these. I will have a new process video posted later today or tomorrow to You Tube. This one will be on the layout that you see above. I hope you like it. If you are interested in following my You Tube channel and don't want to miss any of my process videos, please make sure you are following along. You can find a direct link to my You Tube channel HERE.

*Edited to add: The direct link to this Project Life process video can be found HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I will be back tomorrow with a new layout to share using Gossamer Blue products. I hope to see you back, and until then...

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

Project Life 2014: Volume I

Good Morning from (it's starting to cool off, but still sunny) North Carolina. It's Tuesday and that means it's time to share some Project Life pages.

Today I am sharing all of the pages in my first album from 2014 which spans from January 1-June 30th. I also will have a You Tube video up later today on my channel with a walk through of this entire album (if you prefer looking at it that way.  :-) You can find my channel HERE if you are interested in following along. I would love it if you would subscribe, and that way you know you won't miss anything...including any possible future announcements or giveaways (cough, hint, hint, cough.) The direct link for this video can be found HERE.

Important to Note:

At the bottom of this blog post you will find links to a few helpful tutorials and information I have shared regarding Project Life. These include topics such as; digital brushes, using Photoshop Elements, my step by step process for Project Life, and thoughts and strategies for getting caught up. I hope you find these links useful. Now onto some pages....

Introduction 

Introduction (Concluded)

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Week Four

Week Five

Week Six

Week Seven

Week Eight

Week Nine

Week Ten

Week Eleven

Week Twelve & Thirteen

Week Fourteen

Week Fifteen

Week Sixteen

Week Seventeen

Week Nineteen

 Week 20

Weeks 21 & 22

Weeks 23 & 24

Weeks 25 & 26

Back Page

Helpful Project Life Blog Posts

Making a basic collage in Photoshop Elements and adding digital stamps to photographs

My Step by Step Process for Putting Together a Project Life Layout

Tips for Catching Up in Project Life

I appreciate you being here and following me on this blog. I will be back later this week with a look at how I am organizing and preparing for Week in the Life. I can't wait! Can you believe it starts next Monday, October 27th? That sure went by fast. I hope to see you back here and until then...

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

Project Life 2014: Weeks 36 and 38

Happy Tuesday, it's time to share some Project Life pages! I don't know about you, but even four years in, I am still loving Project Life. I think what I enjoy most about Project Life is that you can change it up anytime you want. Take me for example, after over 3.5 years of working working 12 x 12 inch page protectors, I am now switching things up to a Studio Calico Handbook for the rest of the year. That means my album is now roughly 6x8 inches. I am having fun playing around in a smaller size. It is so freeing to know that I can use different page sizes, different albums. weekly pages, monthly pages, or whatever, and regardless my family and my story are documented.

If you are curious what my fall Project Life album looks like, I shared the first few pages last week HERE and will have another post up later this week showing more of my handbook. THIS is the album, I am using and I am loving it!

Week 36

This week of Project Life was created using the Studio Calico Poet Society Project Life Kit. 

I also shot a video of how I put together this layout. That will be live on 

My You Tube Channel later today. I hope you like it! Please consider 

subscribing channel, I would sure appreciate it.  :-)

Week 38:

 The left side also incorporated two cards from the Project Life app (the large date award card 

and the 3x4 journal card.) I just printed those two out and then added a few simple 

embellishments to one and some hand journaling to the other. I even added a flair 

pumpkin from my Etsy shop. You can find the

Pumpkins and Pineapples Flair Set HERE.

The right side of this layout was made almost entirely using the new Project Life app. 

I edited and printed my photos using the app and all from the comfort of my family 

room couch. I worked on this spread while my family and I watched a movie 

together. I found the app easy to use and a lot of fun. 

My thoughts on the Project Life App

While I don't plan on giving up paper scrapbooking anytime soon, I do plan on using this app to print out artwork and keepsakes that my kids bring home from school. It will be such a time saver to just take a quick photo using my I-phone, print most things at 3x4 inches, and slip it in a pocket. I have a lot of school memorabilia I need to catch up on. I will be writing a blog post sometime in November about my children's scrapbooks. This will include organizing them, and including school memorabilia and other momentos. If there is anything else you would like me to touch on in that post (or another Project Life post,) please leave your questions or ideas in the comments below.

Thank you for stopping by today. I appreciate you being here. Please make sure to subscribe to my blog so you don't miss anything. I will be having a giveaway sometime this fall, and I would hate for you to miss out on your chance to win.

If you are in the market for a smaller album or any other paper crafting products, don't forget to head over to the Paper Issues shop and use code "TONI" to save 20% off your entire order. *Disclaimer: I receive a small commission for anyone that uses my code. This is used towards purchasing paper crafting goodies that I share on my blog. That means if you use the code, we both win, and it doesn't cost you anything extra, in fact, it saves you 20% off your entire order.

Until next time...

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni