Project Life: Week 17

IMG_8255

I am really hoping to take some time this summer and update my Project Life photos. For now, here is Week 17. I rarely use the same core kit two weeks in a row; however, this new Stampin Up Project Life kit is one of my all time favorites. I absolutely LOVE it. A week of baseball, Teacher Appreciation shenanigans, a rare date night, and more baseball ❤

IMG_8256


Summer Bucket List 2015

summerbucketlist2015

Constructing our family Summer Bucket List has become one of my favorite summer traditions. This year, I went with a texture and chalkboard theme. I plan to use the clips to attach photos of our adventures. There is a small envelope in the bottom corner housing a few of our activities that didn’t fit in the clipped tagged area. Looking forward to a summer of fun, laughter and adventure. I also made a small portable version of our bucket list to carry with me in my me & my BIG ideas The Happy Planner. I love summer ❤

happyplannersummer


Project Life 2015: Week Eight

I typically place photos into sleeves as I print them. Then, as I find time, I go back and add the journaling and embellishing. As I sat down to work on Week 8, I noticed I hadn’t placed any photos on the left side. Not a single one. I immediately considered the week a wash; however, I had a few stacks of the boys’ school work and artwork sitting behind me and I decided to use the scanning app on my phone. I scanned the pieces of work, printed them on 4×6 matte paper, and LOVE the result. In fact, it might just be one of my most favorite Project Life layouts to date. Kid-made art makes my heart happy…

IMG_5193I loved the frame journal card and knew I wanted to work with it, but the pink background didn’t match my color scheme. I cut out the frame, printed this scanned picture as 1 x 1.5-ish, and it turned out super cute. I plan to do something like this monthly to help alleviate the stacks and stacks of kid work I keep (and have no idea what to do with).

IMG_6582


December Daily 2014: Moments 11 through 20

Moment 11: Not sure what I’ll put here, but it will go inside or on top of the bag…loving the blue/gold/wood veneer combination.
dd11Moment 12: will likely put cards/notes from my students in the bag or possibly a photo/journal card for a separate moment…lots of flexibility within the album.

dd12Moments 13 and 14: I plan to add photos of the boys’ class parties…

dd13and14Moment 15: the boys’ handwritten notes, drawings, and words really complete the album for me. I have incorporated cards in order to keepsake their thoughts/memories…

dd15Moment 16: more of the boys’ artwork/words…

dd1617: space to journal/add photos…not sure what will go here quite yet.

dd17Moment 18: space to add a photo and journal what we are doing “currently”…

dd18Really inspired to use my washi tape stash for this project and loving the outcome:

dd18bMoment 19: will likely use for the boys’ schoolwork and/or Santa Letter. You can also see the backside of the confetti pocket. I found it a lot easier to use an Exacto knife, slice along the top border, place the goodies inside, and use washi tape to close. Half the time it takes to hand stitch a pocket closed and almost the same final look.

dd19Moment 20: entirely devoted to the boys’ artwork and words.

dd20


December Daily 2014: Moments 1 through 10

I thought I would take some time to share my December Daily foundation pages. For the most part, beyond the placement of the numbers and pocket pages, I have no real plan set in stone. Instead of daily moments, I will focus on overall moments throughout the month: if one day produces three moments, awesome, if another produces zero, that is okay as well.

foundationdd

My opening pages focus on my WHY of the project:

ddopeningpage

As you will see throughout the album, I am using a mixture of pre-made journal cards, the ones that came with the Ali Edwards December Daily Kit and handwritten, list/journal type pages. For the opening WHY page, I loosely made lines with a pencil. Journaled my why, erased the pencil lines, and added embellishments. Simple but love the outcome.

ddwhy

I started to list all of the items/photos/moments I hope to capture in December. As I was doing so, I decided to turn the list into a filler page. A fun, colorful, alphabet page followed…

page1dd

alphadd

Moment 1: will focus on our tree. Ty’s drawing will serve as a reminder to take a black and white photo of our set up. I will use the drawing in the album elsewhere in the end.

moment1dd

Moment 2: will focus on the boys’ multiple lists and letters to Santa. I will place them in the bag…

moment2dd

Moment 3: undecided. Will be receipts or tags maybe? They will go in the bag with possible journaling outside…

moment3dd

Moment 4: love how the boys’ wrap each other’s gifts. I plan to incorporate photos of their wrap jobs here.

DD4Moment 5: a good example of the loosely penciled in lines. I didn’t want them perfect. I will journal and then erase them. I plan to list our favorite holiday shows and movies here.

dd5

Moment 6: undecided, but this year’s December Daily inspired me to finally use up some of my washi tape stash…

DD6Moment 7: forgot to photography…will add later.

Moments 8 and 9 will focus on the boys’ basketball. The 9 is adhered to a clear Project Life page divider. Loved the hint of green it offered to keep with the blue/green/red color scheme of the double page layout.

dd8and9

Moment 10: another list, this time our favorite family holiday books.

dd10


Project Life 2014: Week 28 With me & my BIG ideas

plw28-3This week’s Project Life layout was inspired by one of my favorite me & my BIG ideas paper pads. Combined with simple thick handwritten lines and journaling, it was a quick, fun layout to make.

plw28Sometimes a weekly layout highlights one or two main events from the week. This week, both boys attended basketball camp: Tyson’s second year and Jake’s first. I wanted to capture both of their experiences and tell two different stories.

plw28left

Carrying over a similar square + journal line theme to make the whole layout cohesive:

plw28right  Love, love, love this paper pad…inspired to make more of my own pocket cards.plw282


Project Life 2014 Week 27: Using Project Life to Document Our NYC Trip

NYCPLDuring our week in NYC this past summer, I carried a large envelope in my travel bag. I used it to collect ticket stubs, flyers, receipts: anything that I thought would help make my Project Life layout more interesting. When I got home, I uploaded photos, took out all the collected goodies and went to work…I ended up with a regular weekly layout + 2 inserts.

PLNYClayoutI purposefully used a calendar as my weekly title card to help summarize/document our week. In trying to keep the inserts to a minimum, I knew I’d lose some photo space and all our activities may not make the final cut. However, the calendar card allowed me to capture everything in one spot.

plnycleftRight side with inserts. A yellow pocket houses our game tickets and receipts from the boys’ souvenirs.

nycplrightRight side without inserts. I tried to find one photo per day to capture our adventure. Lots of ticket stubs. I love ticket stubs: they tell a story all their own.

plnycright1A close up of the calendar card. The preview photos from my Costco order were the perfect size:

PLNYCcalendar2


Project Life 2014: Weeks 24, 25, and 26

Week 24

Used the new Heidi Swapp Project Life core kit this week. Loved the bright colors and fun fonts:
plw22_edited-1Tyson’s last week of school, Jake’s first week of summer break, and my last few days of the school year:

plw23left

Keep those movie ticket stubs. One of my favorite non-photo additions to Project Life:

plw23rightWeek 25

Another Heidi Swapp Project Life kit, this time the gold and blue mini kit. Swoon. Love the colors and font so much. Our first official week of summer break: gym time, craft time, and lazy mornings…

plw24a Week 26

Prepping for our NYC trip, new chucks for me, ninja training for the boys…

PLweek23_edited-1


A Grateful November with me & my BIG ideas

mambithanksboardIn the past, the boys and I have done Thankful Turkeys and Grateful Trees for the month of November. This year, I wanted to do something different and something with the whole family. I LOVED the me & my BIG ideas leaves the second I saw them. I also knew I wanted to something where each of us could write down a daily gratitude. We have used popsicle sticks and mason jar before with our Boredom Buster Jar, but I wanted to incorporate them into this project as well. I decided to use mini bags as the focal point, with the intention of trimming them down and transferring to my project life or making them into a gratitude mini album. One bag per person:

mambithankcollage

mambibags

And a jar of popsicle sticks and Sharpie waiting for November 1. I love capturing the boys’ handwriting and look forward to having various pieces of their daily moments to keepsake…it can be one sentence, one word, one doodle. Ultimately, I am looking for one memory or gratitude a day from all of us.

mambithanksJoin me for a Grateful November!!


Project Life 2014: My Workspace

IMG_3238I have received a few questions on Instagram about my Project Life organization and workspace and thought I would share a few pictures. I don’t have an office or permanent workspace, so everything is more or less portable as I work in the dining room. It overlooks the boys’ playroom so it’s perfect. 

IMG_3229I like to have everything out and visible, or as past experience has proven, it doesn’t get used. In my immediate workspace: a bamboo silverware tray that houses my favorite core kits, roygbiv’d by kit. A black wire silverware tray that houses random cards and all my sub kit cards in roygbiv order. Next to those, a white wire tray that houses most of my washi tape, again roygbiv’d. 

* Bamboo tray and white wire silverware tray are from TJ Maxx

* Black wire silverware tray and wire cupcake stand are from Cost Plus

IMG_3236Behind the card trays is a wire cupcake stand that I use to hold date stamps, more washi, and extra embellishments. I have all my favorite, or current, embellishments in a white muffin tin. Super simple set up, everything can be moved to the garage if need be. I also have two raskog carts: one houses all my sticker embellishments and the other all my design team goodies. Hope that helps!!

* Raskogs and antonius organizers: Ikea

* White muffin tin is actually a paint tray from Lakeshore Learning