It's here! My 2014 Project Life book has arrived

My 2014 Project Life book arrived this week ... all 140 pages of it ... and I wanted to share my excitement. It's always so fun getting a book in the mail and seeing IRL that all those hours spent playing in Photoshop (which I enjoyed every minute of BTW!) have paid off and seeing so many of my family's memories documented in such a tangible way!

BTW .. once again Blurb did a fabulous job with the printing. It makes me more excited    (impatient?) because I've got 2 more books that I'm waiting to receive - hopefully this week - that I sent off to print after this book!

Happy Sunday everyone!

One for the record books ...

Ahhh ... the joy of a completely unscheduled holiday weekend; I can scrap whenever the mood strikes!

Page created using: 

(1) Audacious Designs: Competitive Spirit (pennant pieces)

(2) Lisa Sisneros: Glad 2BA Grad

(3) Karla Dudley Designs: Jumbo Sentiment Cards (time), Noted (tag) and Take Note (heart)

(4) Katie Pertiet Designs: School Mates Kit (clock)

(5) Splendid Fiins: Mist Masks

FONTS: Tiza, Sign Painter, Traveling Typewriter

True Story | City Coyote

I was happy to have been able to get such a good photo of this coyote that was hanging out in our back yard a couple weeks ago (we live in the suburbs!).

Materials used: (1) Paislee Press: Diptych; (2) One Little Bird: Click, (3) Agnes BIro: Coffee Stains; (4) One Little Bird: Retrospective (journalc card); (5) Karen Funk: Enjoy the Journey (ink spatter) (Inspired by a layout on Gallery Standouts a couple weeks ago ... I just wish I could credit the actual artist!)

Really Mom? Just really!

Playing around in Photoshop tonight. This is not a smiley photo ... obviously ... but it shows the occasional (not often) teenage girl attitude. Embrace life right now, right? I love this girl - occasional attitude and all! She makes me laugh!

Materials used:

1) Julia Makotinsky: Dreams of Love; 2) Scotty Girl Designs: This Year 2014 Flairs; 3) Anna Aspnes:  Sketchy Loop Da Loop; 4) Cilenia Curtis: Changes (doodle); 5) Sweet Caroline Studios: Snap Click Repeat (wordart)

Who's the finder of all things lost? I am! I am! (Krafting with Karla at Scrapaneers)

You know how you run across funny comics and sometimes they really hit close to home? Well that's what happened with this comic, so of course I had a scrap a page with it! It's real life now ... definitely something I think the kids will remember about life at home when they get older!

Also ... I'm taking Karla Dudley's self paced Krafting with Karla class at Scrapaneers. What fun! It's definitely a chance to learn from the master!

Materials used:

1) Karla Dudley: Life 365 papers and stamp sheet; 2) Karla Dudley: KD Statuesque font; 3) Karla Dudley: Painted Edges; 4) Karla Dudley: Clear Essentials No. 1 (acrylic heart); 5) Mommyish: Stylin #91 Chipboard and Emboss Styles; 6) Splendid Fiins: @ the Office Paper Pack No. 1 (file tab paper); 7) Comic screenshot from Nick Mom

Whale Watching ... playing in Photoshop

I took about a zillion photos during our whale watching excursion this summer. Since I had a hard time paring things down and cutting out photos, I've got a super busy page to share ...

I love PS and blending and masking photos!

Materials used:

Anita Designs | Seaside Serenity

2015 Project Life | Weeks 1 and 2

2015 Project Life has officially begun! Let the memories begin ...

Materials used:

Week 1:

Materials used:

1. Just Jaimee: Storyteller 2015: Hunter The Collection

2. Just Jaimee: Storyteller 2015: Month 3x4 Pocket Calendar Cards

3. Just Jaimee: Storyteller 2015: Mega Tag + Label Pack

Week2 (lots of this and that):

Splendid Fiins: December 2013 kit, Fauxlaroid, Wishi Washi, 3x4 Look at This Journal Cards, Love Yooo Frames

Just Jaimee: Storyteller 2015 Hunter, Storyteller 2015 Month 3x4 Pocket Calendar Cards

Katie Pertiet Designs: Capped Winter

One Little Bird: Stay Tuned Journal Cards

Sahlin Studios: Currently Cards

Mye De Leon: Blush 2x2 Journal Cards

Sabina's Creations: In the Making Elements

Mini Books for Christmas Photos and Cards (can I call it a hybrid project?!)

Are you looking for something quick and fun to do with all the Christmas photos and cards you received this year? If you don't want to store them in an envelope or *gasp* throw them away you could make a quick mini book for them. This is my 4th year of making mini books for my Christmas cards/photos and I love it! 

All I had to do was design a simple cover using Gennifer Bursett's Be Joyful mini kit at Pixels & Co. (You could even just use a pretty Christmas card or photo as the cover too). After I printed the cover at Costco I glued it to thin cardboard (just so it's a bit more sturdy), punched holes in the cover and photos/cards and bound it all together with jump rings. I still have a box of ribbon from my paper scrapping days so I added some ribbons too to jazz it up a bit (and to use some ribbons!).

 

For the Christmas letters, I just folded them up and put them in an envelope and clipped the envelope to the jump rings too. It's a really quick project!

Can I even call this a bit of a hybrid project?

For more ideas, here are the books I made for the previous 3 years:

Time for a new Timeline & Blogger Header

Well ... I suppose now that the Christmas decorations are down and packed away, it's time to update my Facebook design/scrapbook page and my Blogger header with something fresh and new! I used Just Jaimee's April Storyteller Kit to create the headers.  I was going for bright and cheerful! Remember, scrapbook kits aren't just for scrapbook pages you know!

Hey ... BTW, if you want to visit and "Like" my Facebook design page, you can find me here. I post my pages and designs and occasionally offer up template freebies to share as well.

Have a great day!

Watch Out! There's another driver on the road!

My daughter got her drivers permit in November ... and I've got to tell you, she couldn't be happier. She LOVES to drive and she's doing really well! I'm going to pat myself on the back too. Typically I'm not the person you want to be a driving instructor. I get far too nervous. BUT ... I've been doing great with Lauren. I don't know if I've relaxed since my son first got his permit 3 years ago or if she's just doing so well. Either way ... I've driven with her far more often than I did with my son when he was first driving. Yay Lauren! Yay me! (I'm not great at being an instructor yet, but I am BETTER!)

And yay Just Jaimee for your awesome Storyteller Collections that are just so fun to scrap with!

Materials used:

JUST JAIMEE | June Storyteller 2014, Doodled Page Borders + this and that from April 2014 Storyteller

Carpe the heck out of this diem ... (Just Jaimee's Storyteller 2015 Hunter Collection)

Yup. An actual layout about me. Weird, right?!

I made this page using Just Jaimee's Storyteller 2015 Hunter Collection for a January challenge at The Lilypad for Storyteller subscribers. The challenge was simply to create a layout with a white or gray base paper and that base paper had to take up 80% of the background. That's about it for the challenge. As you've possibly noticed, often I use lots of colors and patterns for my backgrounds so this was a change for me. I've got to say though, it was fun! Just Jaimee's collections with all the paints and other awesomeness made this page come together pretty quicky. :)

I'm going to add ... thanks to my daughter to wandering the beach with me and snapping photos. She and I were both snapping photos like crazy. It was great!

#Selfie: The Girls! (Just Jaimee's Beautiful Like Me kit)

Created with a kit "Beautiful Like Me" that Just Jaimee available at The Lilypad today! It's on sale too!

I love this photo. My niece snapped this selfie of "the girls" at her 16th birthday party. I jumped in at the last moment because I just KNEW she wanted me in the photo! lol!

December Traditions | The Album Covers!

This is it! I thought I'd share the album covers that I created for my December book. It's officially done now I'm super excited!

December Traditions | Album Front Cover

Materials used: MYE DE LEON | Merriment papers; JUST JAIMEE | Storyteller 2015 glitter styles

December Traditions | Album Back Cover

Materials used: MYE DE LEON | Merriment papers & smears; KATIE PERTIET DESIGNS | Christmas Carol Snips; KATIE PERTIET DESIGNS | Loosely Labeled No. 4; KATIE PERTIET DESIGNS | Postage Frame Clusters

December Traditions | Feeling Nostalgic

I had an idea to make a couple pages for my December album to showcase photos of my kids when they were little. Oh my. As I glanced through old photos I felt incredibly nostalgic.  I enjoyed myself so much! So, to share the joy I experienced, I included as many old photos on these pages as I could. I don't think there's any need to tell a story about a particular photo - just look and remember and smile!

December Traditions | Catch Up! (adding some REALLLLLY old photos!)

I'm taking a look through the pages I've created for my December album and am thinking about what else I want to include. I decided to include a page of old photos from when my husband was a kid and my Christmas card wall ... because I LOVE my Christmas card wall during the month of December.

Christmas decorations are going down today so that means the next project will be to design a cover for my Christmas card book. I love that there's always a project on the horizon!

Materials used: Christmas Card Wall

Materials used: MYE DE LEON | Merriment & Peppermint Winter; JUST JAIMEE | Storyteller 2015 Glitter Styles; CRYSTAL WILKERSON | Merry & Bright (epoxy); QUEEN OF QUIRK | Sitting Pretty (Border)

Materials used: Unzen Christmases Past

Materials Used: MYE DE LEON | Merriment & Peppermint Winter; KATIE PERTIET DESIGNS: Photo Clusters No. 34; CREASHENS: Hello (border stitching); JUST JAIMEE | Storyteller 2015 Glitter Styles; QUEEN OF QUIRK | Sitting Pretty (Border)

December Traditions | New Years Eve & catching up!

We're having a quiet Saturday (and I'm putting off taking down Christmas decorations until tomorrow) so I'm making a dent in my December/Christmas traditions album. My goal is to get this book sent off to print at Blurb this week too so I can get it back in my hands and check it out IRL! I can't wait!

(By the way ... I have no idea why the above photo appears so brown. It's got a grey background like the rest. That's so odd!

December Album | Our Gift Opening

Materials used: MYE DE LEON | Merriment and Peppermint Winter; NANCIE ROWE JANITZ | Festive Borders

December Album | Chef in Training?

Materials used: MYE DE LEON | Merriment and Peppermint Winter; JUST JAIMEE: 2015 Storyteller Styles (glitter and stamp); JENNIFER LABRE | Sugar and Spice (chef hat)

December Album | New Years Eve Family Photos

Materials used: MYE DE LEON | Merriment and Peppermint Winter; KATIE PERTIET DESIGNS: Postage Frame Clusters No. 1; NANCIE ROWE JANITZ | Frosty Fun (borders; JUST JAIMEE | 2015 Storyteller Styles (glitter & stamp)

December Album | Celebrating New Years Eve

Materials used: MYE DE LEON | Merriment and Peppermint Winter; KATIE PERTIET DESIGNS | Photo Frame Clusters No. 2; MOMMYISH | Hipster New Year (Keep Calm card); KIM BRODELET | Girls Time Out (girl friends); DESIGNS BY DANI | Time Flies (champagne glass & bottle); NANCIE ROWE JANITS | Frosty Fun (border); JUST JAIMEE | Storyteller 2015 Styles (glitter & stamp)

FREEBIE template

Earlier today I posted the album covers I created for my 2014 Project Life album. I used the calendar page design for the album covers for both this year AND last year's project life books. It might just become a tradition for me! In the event anyone else likes this design, I decided to make it into a template that I'd share with you for FREE! Click here for the download link.

If you like this template and would like me to share more templates for free, please let me know!

Enjoy!

2014 Project Life | Front and Back Album Covers

This is it! I've created the front and back covers for my Project Life album so the weekly documentation of the happenings of my family's life is officially complete. I love Project Life!

I created these pages using Just Jaimee and Mommyish's freebie 25 Days of Freebie's Year in Review kit which you can still get for free on their blogs here.

UPDATE: This kit is no longer offered as a freebie on Just Jaimee and Mommyish's blogs. You can purchase now purchase this awesome kit here.

2014 Project Life | Front Album Cover & Intro Page

Materials used:

JUST JAIMEE & MOMMYISH | 25 Days of Freebies Year in Review blog freebie kit; JUST JAIMEE | 2015 Storyteller Styles Epoxy; KATIE PERTIET DESIGNS: Wire Rimmed Alphas No. 3

2014 Project Life | Back Album Cover

Materials used:

JUST JAIMEE and MOMMYISH | 25 Days of Freebies Year in Review kit; JUST JAIMEE | Storyteller 2015 Glitter Styles

2014 Project Life | Weeks 52 and 53 (Happy Dance!!)

Happy New Year everyone! I'm doing a happy dance as I'm typing this. My 2014 Project Life pages are officially DONE! I just need to design my front and back covers and I can send my book off to print. Yahoo!!

Week 52 Materials used:

JUST JAIMEE | June 2014 Storyteller Collection; JUST JAIMEE | Eye Candy Frames; SPLENDID FIINS | Photo I Didn't Take Journal Cards

Week 53 Materials used:

JUST JAIMEE & MOMMYISH | Year in Review 2014 Blog Freebie

December Traditions: various (Foosball, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, etc.!)

I've got lots of pages to share with you today! As I'm documenting the big family Christmas gatherings for my December Traditions album I feel like I'm the queen of multi-photo layouts!

Here are closeups of the two page layouts ...

Materials used Friendly Foosball Competition:

(1) Merriment and Peppermint Winter by Mye De Leon; (2) Photo Clusters No. 34 by Katie Pertiet Designs; (3) (border) Frosty Fun by Nancie Rowe Janitz

Materials used Unzen family:

(1) Merriment and Peppermint Winter by Mye De Leon; (2) All Done Up Frames No. 5 by Katie Pertiet Designs; (3) (my family) Random Words by Katie Pertiet Designs; (4) Festive Borders by Nancie Rowe Janitz; (5) (border stitching) Hello by Creashens; (6) (bookplate) Labellevie by One Little Bird

Materials used for Christmas Eve pages:
(1) Merriment and Peppermint Winter by Mye De Leon; (2) Photo Clusters No. 31 by Katie Pertiet Designs; (3) Doily Edgers December No. 1 by Katie Pertiet Designs; (4) Yuletide Clusters by Katie Pertiet Designs (5) Readymade Borders Christmas No. 2 by Studio DD; (6) Frosty Fun by Nancie Rowe Janitz; (7) (stitching) Hello by Creashens; (8) (journal card) Wish Come True by Mye De Leon; (9) (journal cards) Be Joyful by Gennifer Bursett; (10) Holiday Word Strips by Katie Pertiet Designs; (11) Linen Buttons Christmas by Katie Pertiet Designs

Materials used for Christmas Day pages:
(1) Merriment and Peppermint Winter by Mye De Leon; (2) Transparency Clusters No. 2 by Katie Pertiet Designs; (3) Buttoned Up Holiday by Katie Pertiet Designs; (4) Worth Repeating No. 20 by Katie Pertiet Designs; (5) (stitching) Hello by Creashens, (6) Festive Borders by Nancie Rowe Janitz, (7) Under the Mistletoe Journal Cards by Anita Designs; (8) (Dec 25) Sentiment Cuts by Lauren Reid

December Traditions | Gift Tags using Old Family Photos

I got an idea from Pinterest to use old family photos as gift tags. I loved the idea! It was definitely a hit. I definitely wanted to wanted to include some of the old photos in my December traditions album!

Materials used: (1) Merriment and Peppermint Winter by Mye De Leon; (2) Open Up Frames No. 2 by Katie Pertiet Designs; (3) Floral Overlays by Jodie Lee