Sunday Scrapbooking: July Project Life

I have loads of Project Life spreads to share. These are from July when a certain baby turned one and we threw him a pirate party.

Since my talented sister, Gem, was taking the photos I kept the layouts simple to just keep the focus on the stunning photos.

These were some of the first spreads that I did and I didn't have much product so I just tried to find any black, white or red cards from the few part kits I had.

This stamp was a great find in the £1 bin at Hobbycraft and I used it for a lot of the small touches at the party - like the napkins and signs on the buffet table.

I used wrapping paper and some of the larger Project Life cards to fill these bigger pockets. This is my least favourite size to work with but I had purchased the variety pack and these are what I had left to work with! 

Again stamping was the main embellishment and I used it to provide minimal journalling to enhance and tell the story of the day.

The front side of the top layout and a similar approach. I included the invite to tell some of the details of the day.

Lastly the helium balloons which helped everyone to find our house as we had just moved a month prior to the party. 

A close-up of the smartie cookies which were a hit on the day - again thanks to my talented sister Gemma.

So that is my Sunday scrapbooking shared and in the meantime I will bask in smugness that I have actually managed 23 days of blogging in a row. What have you been creating lately?

Workspace Wednesday: Favourite Product

So I turned to the #blogvember guru to help me stay on track with blogging every day in November. The prompt was your favourite product right now. Since I am no fashion or beauty blogger I shied away from sharing any fabulous make-up or beauty products. (Let's be honest half te time I use Johnsons baby shampoo as it's all we have in the house and whatever moisturiser is on special at the supermarket!)

So in my crafty time lately I have been loving my Heidi Swapp Interchangable stamp. It is perfect for adding a little sentiment to project life cards or adding embellishments to layouts.

I have mainly been using it just to stamp on a card but have also stamped and then cut around it and added it to a layout with a pop dot to add dimension. I can imagine embossing the image wod work quite well and you could even try stamping in a different colour if you don't mind getting too fiddly with it.

At first I wasn't getting a perfect image, but then I found this video and found the tips very helpful. 

What is the one crafting product you are loving lately? What is the one you could not love without? 

Cake smash step by step layout

So what is more shocking - that I have blogged every day in November so far or that I produced an actual scrapbook layout?

Bit of both I guess. But I had some time on my hands (umm...not really) and love, love, love this photo from the Baby's first birthday (which I still need to blog about actually!) of his cake smash. He really got involved. I love the pose and the wrinkled nose and the conviction of this shot.

He is his mother's son for sure.

I was also inspired by the gorgeous layers on this layout and so I cracked out a 12 by 12 pad and got building.

I started with this bright yellow polka dot print as it reminds me of the sunshine that day...

I built some layers with other papers and washi tape and a day of the week sticker.

I repeated the date stamp and the 'SO SWEET' stamp in alternate black ink and coloured ink.

I inked all of the edges to make it pop and built some more texture in with the wood veneers.

I added the photo with pop dots and built some more layer by cutting the sentiment out of a 12 by 12 sheet.

I added a banner and the number 1 in blue polka dot - both cut out from one of his birthday cards.

There you have it a layout created in about thirty minutes and I might be reverting back. Or switching it up a bit more. After all you can't create such impressive layers in Project Life can you?

Five Thoughts on Project Life

1) Washi tape is everything

2) Repetative stamping is a simple and effective way to embellish 

3) Cutting up 12 by 12 papers makes great cards as you never get enough of the big ones in a kit

4) Orange, grey and black is a great colour combo

5) Simple is best

Sunday Scrapping

So it seems I am alone in attempting blogvember (yes apparently it is thing and this is the hashtag) but I am not alone in feeling like blogging is decreasing. I get it people are busy and haven't got time. Perhaps it gets frustrating if not many people are commenting and some people are in it for the numbers game and want to get good 'stats' but I blog because I enjoy it.

This is my space. My chance to share what I am up to and what I am creating. So without further ado I share a layout. Poorly photographed but made with love. Yes I still sometimes scrapbook. 

You may remember that I did monthly updates on my little baby for the first year of his life. They are still some of my favourite posts to look back on and I did photo shoots of him each month to go with them. But also because I knew I would scrapbook them at some point and I am almost done and so I thought I would share a month with you.

I used a 12 by 12 paper pad so that all of the papers coordinated already and it took some of the guess work out of it.

The other great thing about this paper pad was the cut apart tags page and O layered these up at the bottom. The glasses and mustache works perfectly for a layout about a little boy. 

I embellished with the cute Studio Calico wood veneer stars which are making their way onto every layout recently. They are so adaptable. 

The journalling is hidden as there wasn't any space for it and the layout already looked very busy. The other convenient part was that my blog post provided the journalling so I didn't have to cast my mind back five months!

I used Crate Paper wooden pegs and American Craft chalk board stickers to add some dimension and interest. Thanks to my sisters for some birthday parcels bursting with craft goodies. Apparantly the TkMaxx in Hull is quite a treasure trove for crafty bits - who knew? 

What have you been creating lately?

Catching up on a month of Project Life

As we are into those busy summer months are you finding yourself behind on your Project Life?

Is it now becoming a drag because your behind and want to catch up?

Are you struggling to motivate yourself?

This is the situation I was in and I was seriously behind as June was the house move and so all of my crafting supplies were packed up as we waited and waited for exchange and completion.

However I resolved to get July done in two days...yes that is right two days.

So during nap times and in the evenings I pulled my four boxes out and let it all spill out onto the lounge floor and I got to work. I found that I had to have a routine / process to get it done and so I thought I would share that with all of you. 

* Please excuse the poor quality photos - the big camera gave up the ghost and my mobile isn't that great, but I figured it was better than nothing right? *

1) It starts with the photos. I know this is for most of us the boring / time consuming task that holds it all up. For this month in two days I just ordered a whole wallet of pictures from the free prints app. They're free and so if I don't use them all it doesn't matter, but it gives me more choice. For the next month I have got organised and sat with post-its, a notebook and a tablet with all of my instagram pics in front of me to plan each layout. This is a better way to do it as you already know what photos you need and they can all be the right way up to fit in the wallets too. 

2) With my wallet of photos I spent an hour just trimming photos and filling the pockets for the month of July.

3) Add any bits and pieces that you have hoarded for this purpose. This has been my goal recently to use the little business cards and napkins that I keep - for me this is one of the main differences between Project Life and regular scrapbooking that you can include the little bits and pieces and not worry about it ruining your overall layout. For the above layout, which documents his first pair of shoes at Clarks, I included the receipt and the appointment card.

4) Limit your supplies. If your like me and you've accumulated quite a few sets of Project Life cards try to limit yourself to one of two collections. For this spread I used mostly Jade and some Studio Calico cards I had leftover from kits. This narrows down the time spent sifting through your collection. I go through and pick out about 10-20 which would match with the colour scheme (my colour scheme is usually determined by the colours in the photos) and then just pop them in the remaining pockets and try not to overthink it.

5) Journal it. This is when blogging regularly or tweeting / facebooking/ instagramming can help as you may already have captions and journalling available to you. I have just journalled on one of two cards and the other cards were chosen to make it pretty - like the floral card below.

6) Last step, and this is optional, but for me an essential as this is often the part that I appreciate and enjoy the most of the process - the embellishements. I did limit it with just a few stamps, letter stickers and bling. For the most part I tried to work with the cards and picked journalling cards with prompts, phrases and words which worked with the photos. For example in the third layout for the month it was all about our house move and so I used journalling cards with pictures of houses on them.

So quick recap...

1) Fill the pockets with photos....

2) Select suitable journalling cards... 

3) Journal and embellish your page in a simple fashion...

4) And repeat with remaining photos for the month...

Coming soon ideas on how to scrapbook / Project Life a big sporting event. Can you guess which two sporting events it might be?

Life Captured: A Week in the Life of Project Life style...

So I know that I keep saying it, but this is my favourite spread to date. I think the fact that I could use more of the traditional scrapbooking techniques as this page protector makes for bigger pockets. In fact it is the page protector that I have the most left of as it is a bit of an awkward size and you can't fit as many photos into it as you can with the others. But it does allow more space for embellishments and so I think this is why I enjoyed playing with it.

The photos I used were taken when I took part in Ali Edward's 'week in the life of...' I really loved 
this challenge and they are some of my favourite posts to look back on as it was one of the first weeks of just The Baby and I after The Belgian went back to work. Its a great record of his life and our daily routine at this stage in our lives. It is all the more poignant since I went back to work today (thanks for all the messages of support - it was fine and The Baby had a super day playing outside, planting tomatoes and following his little buddy F around the place! My mind is at ease!) So this stage of our life is over and we are on a new phase now.

I made the collages using the 'pic collage' app on my phone. I have an android so am more limited in the photo editing apps that I can get, but this one is so easy to make collages with and I often use it for making collages of my day to share on instagram.

I used the Blush edition Project Life day of the week cards and the journalling is hidden behind each collage. The thickers are American Craft glitter ones that I got for a steal at TK Maxx - £1 for glitter thickers yes please! Wish I had stocked up on more.

This is the other side of the layout as I could not fit five days on one page. The stamps are mostly from Studio Calico Project Life kits - love all of their stamps. I added some dimension with a bit of bling and a brad (how old skool!) 

How adorable is this scale picture? The journalling is all about how I used to take him every Monday to get him weighed as part of our get-out-of-the-house routine. Now he is far too wriggly to lie on the scales and such a faff to undress and dress again that I wouldn't put myself through it in public. So nice to remember the calmer days with this little pocket.

The other two pockets record some of our days out together like going to the Baby Rave in Leeds and to mommy cinema at Everyman Cinema in Trinity. All happy maternity leave memories. I know these memories don't stop now as we still have four days of fun a week.

Printing Instagrams at home for Project Life

I feel as though I am finally finding my style with Project Life. I love the little pockets and using little pictures the most - they are so cute and easy to fill and embellish. The folder type is design F and is perfect for little instagram pics and camera phone pics. Plus it has one 4 by 6 pocket for a larger size photo  - if you manage to use your big camera during the week/month.

I used mostly the 'Midnight' range of Project Life cards. I love this range as I find it so easy to co-ordinate and love all of the little phrases. The phrases are often the perfect prompt for journalling. I used red and yellow as my accent colours as it went well with the colours in the photos and 'popped' against the black and white tones of the Midnight cards.

The photos are a mix of days out shopping and eating out as well as including the more domestic shots of The Belgian napping with The Baby and some weaning shots too - this is where your camera phone really comes into play as you can capture the everyday moments like these. I also love the Simple Stories currently card as I was able to get in details like what we were watching and listening to, these will be the fun details to look back on and especially for The Baby to look back on. I used to love it when my parents got out their photo albums and cassette and record collections out for us to look at.  Beach Boys will always remind me of my childhood and I hope that by recording these little details Ellis will be able to explore our interests when he is older.

The main source of embellishment was washi tape, some Studio Calico flair, Studio Calico wood veneer and the stamps from the Copper Mountain kit. I also added some twine around the bottom photo and an enamel dot to add some texture.

I found this really useful tutorial on how to print instagram pictures off at home over at Callaloo soup and I now refer to it at least one a week when I want to print another batch off. I love that instaport gives you the option to print off other people's photos that you have liked or be hashtag, as we use the same hashtag for all of our baby pictures. It is a great website. 

In other news we had a lovely Mother's Day weekend here and I will share some pictures soon of the thoughtful little gifts.

How was your Mother's Day weekend?