Look What I Made

Project Life 2014 | Week 1

Yay! A new year! I always love a fresh start. I think I've said that before but it's true. I am very excited to embark on another year of Project Life. It's by far my favorite hobby I've ever had. This is my 3rd year and the enthusiasm has not worn off yet. This year, I'm changing up my page protectors to use up some the extras I had laying around. I will continue to document weekly (Monday through Sunday) add inserts as needed. Okay, okay, enough. Here are my pages.

As I mentioned, I'm using up page protectors this year so each week will have different pocket styles. This week it's Design D (the back side of my title page) and Design E. It's fun to mix them up but it's also kind of hard. 

Here is the left side. I started my 2014 album mid-week on January 1. I was in Chicago for the first few days, so I focued on that for the most part. I've said this before but I mean it, I want to incorporate more of my own designs and doodles into my album. I drew the bottom middle grid paper with some black cardstock and a white gel pen. I love how it turned out and need to remember to do it more often.

Another example of me incorporating my handlettering. This quote from my 4 year old nephew probably won't be funny to anyone other than my family but, at the time, it was the funniest thing we'd ever heard. It's still pretty funny. Anywho, I drew it on a 3x4" card. It was a card from a Studio Calico kit that I know I'll never use. Thank goodness for the grid pattern on the back.

I am changing up my date cards this year. For the past two years, I've used the top left 4x6" pocket for my date card. I was sick of it so now I'll just make one on the fly each week.

Here is the right side. Design E is kind of a challenge to work with. The pockets are each 6x6" so anything you do is pretty large. I made a grid in Photoshop with some iPhone photos – sidenote, my iPhone is older than my nephew in the picture. :( 

The top right pocket is using my favorite Dear Lizzy paper and a little bit about my One Little Word this year. Being the first week and all, it felt like it was a good time to put it in the album.

I printed two Instagram photos at 6x6". I printed these at home but have also used Persnickity Prints in the past. I had to enlarge these a little bit to make them larger and didn't see any drop in quality, FYI. I felt like 2 large pictures from when I got back to Austin were fitting. I'm excited/nervous/feel-a-lot-of-feelings about starting a new year in a different city. The first few months felt like vacation, now it's like, oh right, I live here.

That's my first week! Almost done with week 2. I'll probably share later this week or next. 

 

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See all my Project Life posts here.

 

Project Life 2014 | Title Page (Version 2)

So.. I don't normally do this, but I re-did my 2014 Project Life title page. I really hated my first attempt. I don't know why but I just hated it. I finished up my 2013 album this weekend (for the most part) and finally cracked open my new binder and couldn't even look at it. How dramatic, right? But I figured such a strong reaction meant that I should redo it. 

I think the biggest problem was that I had used up a bunch of scraps to throw together my original page. This new one was a little more thought out and designed. I purposefully chose each paper and embellishment and now, my title page is much more me and represents my style right now.

I kept the yellow/gray/gold M*B card from my original page and used that as my jumping off point. I added in black & white to make the yellow pop even more.

I was also very inspired by Geralyn Sy's title page with the 2x2" pockets. I wasn't in the mood to hand-sew (and don't have a sewing machine) so I adhered the tiles to a 4x6" card. Actually, they probably around 1.75x1.75". I used one grid for me and one grid at the bottom for Billy. 

I finally used my huge Pebbles roller stamp to create a repeating pattern with the word #newyear. The 'Hello' card from the 'Midnight' PL Kit so the card kind of reads 'Hello New Year'.

Here are the bottom pockets of the page. As I mentioned, I liked the (smaller than) 2x2" squares so I repeated that here. I replaced the bottom row of squares with a banner and some gold glitter Thickers. The 'DOPE' wood veneer card is a Two Peas Exclusive. I think the word dope as an adjective is hilarious. 

MUCH BETTER. I am really happy I re-did my title page. I found myself looking at it over and over again. It's much better to love something you made than to be repulsed by it. That's what I always say. I think I'll end on those words of wisdom.

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See all my Project Life posts here.

Project Life 2013 // Week 44

Playing catchup here. Week 44 of 2013! Back to my normal, colorful self too! 

Here is the left side. I spent Monday of this week in NYC, and the rest of the photos are just some details from home. We had a fly incident this week. So gross.

I love the Amy Tangerine/Dear Lizzy roller phrase stamps. I find myself unable to use just one phrase at a time. The text was written with this silver pen. It's awesome.

This is also the week I created my '7 Days of Thankful' insert for this spread. I used a 9 pocket baseball card sleeve to write down a few things I was thankful for this week. 

Here is the right side. A few more details from home. 

I wish I had more to say about this week! It was just a regular week. I used bright colors and lots of leftover letter stickers. I've got a couple more weeks to share, then I'll get to my 2014 album!

PS - I'm on the Paper Bakery blog today. Check it out!

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See all my Project Life posts here.

 

Project Life 2013 // Week 43

Still working on 2013 over here! Here is week 43, the first week of November and the week I ran the New York City Marathon.

 

I used this photo of the trees in NYC as my color scheme. At the time, it was still pretty warm and summer-like in Austin so I was super happy to experience a real fall day in New York. The trees were so colorful! I pulled out green, yellow and orange papers to get myself going.

Here is the left side. All of these photos were taken before I left for my trip. I took some photo throughout the week of myself at work using the TimerCam app on my iPhone.

An overhead shot of my pasta dinner the night before I left. Carbo-loading is fun! Next to that, I just included a gold Martha Stewart leaf as a filler card. I also used these leaves in my December Daily album. I really like them.

I also included a picture of Billy working from home one night. I wanted them to go along side the pictures of me working. Chances are, I'll never get Billy to take a self-timer shot of himself at work, so I tried to be sneaky and get one myself. Although I am so not sneaky. I'm a total klutz. 

Here is the first of the 2 inserts I included. I used an 8x10" protector for my race bib. The blue ribbon was handed out at the race expo in honor of the Boston Marathon. I wore it during the race and decided to put it here. It has a pin in the back with a clasp, I stuck it through the page so the ribbon is sitting on the outside of the plastic. One thing I always do is save the saftey pins on my bib. I love that detail for some reason.

Here is the second insert. The pictures are from my mom (top) and from my sister (bottom). I plan to type up or write a little story about the race and stick it behind my bib. Haven't done that yet though.

Here is the back page of my insert. It's a trimmed down Design E page. The hardest part of this race was definitely the early wakeup call and long wait. I put number stickers showing the time I left the house (5:03 am) and one from right before the race start (10:47am). UGH. Then, I ran for 4 hours and 50 minutes haha! What the heck is wrong with me?!

 

Here is the full right side of the spread. It's mostly pictures from the trip, but I included a picture of my nephew since it was his birthday weekend. I stole that picture from my brother's instagram.

I took these photos while I was traveling. The top one is from the airplane at takeoff, the second is from when I was killing time at the Atlanta airport. 

It's true. These cupcakes were amazing. My mom, niece & I stopped into this bakery/coffee shop after the race expo. I could go for one of these right about now!

And here is the full layout without the inserts. Just to show how I incorporated all the colors together. I like this spread a lot. It's a little different for me. I've been doing that lately. These colors are more muted (for me) and not as bright. I still prefer my bright pages but am always up for trying new things. Especially with this weekly project! I need to change things up to keep myself interested.

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See all my Project Life posts here.

Project Life 2014 | Title Page + Plans

Happy New Year! I love new years and always appreciate a fresh start. Since we moved to Austin back in October, I sort of feel like that was my fresh start. I really made a conscious effort to break bad habits (or start good ones) and because of that, don't have too many resolutions this coming year. I guess I just resolve to 'keep it up'.

I will continue to do Project Life in 2014. I love it a lot and enjoy the weekly digest of our life and getting crafty with it. I am still traveling for the holidays but whipped up a quick title page before I left. I wanted to have it done so that when I'm back, I can just dive in. I'll be perfectly honest, I hate making title pages. I don't know why they are so difficult for me, but they are. I only made one title page for my 2013 album. All the other title/end pages are blank. I really don't know if I'll ever go back and finish them.

I had a few scraps on my desk that I thought worked well together so I created this opening page while I was still in my groove. I plan to put photos of us on the blank 6x4" cards, but I'll do that when I'm home. It's simple, but bright and colorful, and more importantly - finished.

I used these Amy Tangerine stamps and this gold ink to create the '2014' card in the bottom right.

My plans for my 2014 album are not too grand. I have been doing this project for 2 full years now and have gotten myself into a rhythm of sorts. The only major change I'm planning is to switch up my page styles. I've been using Design A for 2years now and trimming down other styles for any inserts I include. I realized that I've collected about 60 'other' styles so I want to use them up this year. It's a mix of Design A, B, D, E & F. I'll just choose which style works best for the photos I have for the week.

Other than that, I'll just go with the flow. I have a feeling this year will be full of fun adventures and experiences, so I don't want to make too many 'rules' and restrict myself. The whole point of this (for me) is to actually do something with the hundreds of photos I take and play with pretty paper. So that's what I'm going to do!

Project Life 2013 // Week 42

Week 42! I switched things up a bit this week and stuck with a simple color scheme of black, white, gray & woodgrain. I normally pull my color scheme from my photos each week but this week I couldn't find a good scheme that worked and looked good. I like how it looks but I really think I prefer the really colorful pages I typically create. It was fun to change things up a bit though.

Supplies Used: Studio Calico Wood Veneer Stars, American Crafts Glitter Tape, Studio Calico 'Double Scoop' PL Kit, Amy Tangerine Puffy Stickers, Freckled Fawn Gray Airmail Washi & Enamel Dots, BasicGrey Capture Arrow Sticker, Ormolu '&' Badge

Here is the left side. Since our stuff arrived last week, I spend this week getting things organized and settled in. I really was determined to get all the boxes unpacked before my enthusiasm wore off. We have a much larger apartment than our last, so things have a place now. It also helps that we threw away about 1/3 of our stuff before the move. I have not typically been a very organized/neat person but I wanted to start fresh in Austin. So far, so good. I still make messes but since we have more storage and space, I find it easier to clean up. 

I have a huge closet. It's awesome. The card on the right is from the Studio Calico Double Scoop PL Kit and is what made me want to buy a partial set of the Project Life Sunshine Kit. I am so glad I did because it turned out to be one of my favorite things! 

Supplies Used: Studio Calico 'Double Scoop' PL Kit, Pebbles 'Hooray' Sticker, EliseJoy 'TODAY IS' Stamp, Freckled Fawn Gold Airmail Washi, Studio Calico 4x6" Paper Pad

Here is the right side. This week is more focused on our apartment and getting things set up. We spent a lot of time looking for and buying things for our place. I really love how it's all come together.

Like I said, I swiched things up this week. It's not my favorite week (design-wise) but I'm glad I tried something new.

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See all my Project Life posts here.

Project Life 2013 // Week 41

Another week down. Week 41! Another week of us attempting to get settled in and exploring Austin. I really like that I have these details captured because I am sure I would have forgotten those first few weeks. It was kind of a whirlwind.

Supplies Used: Studio Calico Sundrifter Paper, Simple Stories Sn@P Letter Stickers, Studio Calico Tiny Letter Stickers from PL Kit, Freckled Fawn Yellow Airmail Washi, BasicGrey Candy Buttons, Glitz Design Letter Stickers, My Mind's Eye Enamel Dots (can't find link), BasicGrey Label  | [affiliate links used]

Here is the left side. We got our stuff from the movers this week! I vividly remember feeling like I didn't even want our stuff to come. In Chicago we had so much junk. Then we moved to Austin and had to live out of a suitcase for a few weeks. It was refreshing to only have the essentials on hand. 

Here is the front of an insert I added this week. Everything we were doing in Austin these first few weeks was new, so I kept everything and had so much stuff to include. I cut down a Design E page to hold our stuff.

The main reason I chose the Design E page was that I wanted to include this napkin. We went out on Friday night of this week and talked to a few locals. One guy wrote down all these places that he thought we should check out. I thought it was really nice that he took the time to do that. The Design E pockets are 6x6" so it was perfect for this sort of thing.

On the back of the insert, I cropped and enlarged an Instagram of a mural in our neighborhood. I had it printed at Persnickety Prints at 6x12" and just cut it in half.

Supplies Used: Studio Calico 'Printshop' Vellum Stickers, Crate Paper Label, Uni-ball Signo White Gel Pen, Studio Calico Chipboard 'Howdy' Sticker (super old, can't find a link!), Amy Tangerine 6x6' Paper Pad, Fancy Pants Striped Paper, Freckled Fawn Aqua Airmail Washi, Studio Calico Cuppa 4x6" Paper Pad, Dear Lizzy Snippet | [affiliate links used]

Here is the right side. Lots of fun things happening.

I am trying my best to include Billy in our pages. Sometimes, he's not up for me taking a thousand photos of him so I find other ways to get him in there. Or I'm caught up in just getting the pages done that I forget. But anything I include is better than nothing. Above are 2 examples of me trying to get him in there.

And that was our week! It's fun to document and share these new experiences in our album.

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See all my Project Life posts here.

If you have any questions, please ask in the comments or shoot me an email!

Project Life 2013 // Week 40

Week 40! I have a bunch of photos of weeks saved on my computer to share here in the next couple weeks. I still have several weeks to finish up in my album as well. I'm thinking I may just do a December spread instead of each week. My album is about to burst at the seams it's so full and I'm doing December Daily. It might be overkill to try and catch up on everything in the new year. We'll see. Anywho, here's week 40.

Supplies Used: Dear Lizzy Polka Dot Party Paper, My Mind's Eye Tiny Word Stickers & Enamel Dots, Elle's Studio 'Thursday' Tag, Amy Tangerine Puffy House Sticker

Here is the left side. This was our first full week in Austin together. At the time, we were settling in but the movers hadn't arrived yet with our furniture. I tried my best to get as settled in as possible.

I love the 3x4" size. I want to use more Design F page protectors in 2014.

Supplies Used: My Mind's Eye Enamel Dots, Elle's Studio 'Thursday' Tag, Amy Tangerine Puffy House Sticker

I took some self-timer shots from my "office". I started working from home this week but since we had no furniture, I often just spread out on the floor.

Supplies Used: Studio Calico Wood Veneer Stars, Freckled Fawn Aqua Airmail Washi, Amy Tangerine Heart Puffy Sticker, My Mind's Eye 'Lovely' Chipboard Button, Basic Grey Acetate Alpha, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher

Here is the right side. More details from our first week in Austin. I went to work with Billy one day before we had our internet set up. I sat outside on the patio and worked. It was wonderful. 

At this point, I was also still training for the NYC Marathon. I took this photo on the track at Billy's school and wrote my journaling around the '4'. I love this technique. 

Another memory from this week was sleeping on the air matress. Ugh. We were SO glad to get our bed back a few weeks later. Working on the floor, air mattress, marathon training - is it any wonder my back was bothering me after all this? 

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See all my Project Life posts here.

If you have any questions, please ask in the comments or shoot me an email!

Project Life 2013 // Week 39

Week 39! This is the week that I moved to Austin, TX! It's crazy how some weeks I barely leave the house, and some weeks I move to a different state.

Supplies Used: Studio Calico Ombré Thickers, Studio Calico Wood Veneer Hearts, Dear Lizzy '5th & Frolic' Project Life Kit, Studio Calico Double Scoop 4x6" Paper Pad & Marks & Co. PL Kit

Here is the left side. I tried to keep my 'before-the-move stuff on this side of the spread. It included spending lots of time with babies & kids. 

Supplies Used: Stuido Calico Wood Veneer colored with a Uni-ball Signo White Gel Pen, Ormolu 'Tuesday' Tag, BasicGrey Candy Buttons, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher

I had spent a couple weeks living out of a suitcase at my mom & dad's house before the move. I took a few pictures of my stuff being packed up (again). My favorite technique these days is putting letter stickers right on top of the photo. It adds detail and context. Just make sure you don't cover up any important parts of the photo.

Supplies Used: Becky Higgins Design 'F' Page (trimmed down)

I cropped & enlarged an Instagram to 6x12" and included it as an insert this week. I remember wearing my chambray shirt on the plane and feeling very "Texas" haha! 

Supplies Used: My Mind's Eye Tiny Word Sticker, Studio Calico Star Sticker, American Crafts Glitter Tape

I added a few stickers to the bottom of the photo to dress it up a little bit. 'Today is the Day' seemed like the perfect sentiment. I had this photo printed to size at Persnickety Prints and then chopped it up to fit the pockets.

Supplies Used: Chic Tags Labels, My Mind's Eye Enamel Dots, Studio Calico Double Scoop PL Kit, American Crafts Puffy Heart Sticker, Amy Tangerine 'Yes, Please' 6x6" Paper Pad, October Afternoon Letter Stickers, October Afternoon 'Travel Girl' Tidbits, Freckled Fawn Arrow Wood Chips, Dear Lizzy '5th & Frolic' Project Life Kit, Studio Calico 'Thataway' Flair, Elle's Studio Tag

On the back of the insert I included a few photos from my first night in Austin. Billy greeting me with a sign at the airport (so sweet yet so embarassing!) and our new favorite place, El Patio. And next to that is the right side of the spread. There were a few leftovers from 'before-the-move' but it all works together.

Supplies Used: Dear Lizzy '5th & Frolic' Project Life Kit, Chic Tags Labels

I always seem to have an abundance of labels so I try to use a few at a time. I layered these 2 to add journaling and make the 3x4" look more interesting.

 

Supplies Used: October Afternoon Letter Stickers, October Afternoon 'Travel Girl' Tidbits, Freckled Fawn Arrow Wood Chips, Chic Tags Label, Sn@P Letter Stickers (from Michael's), Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher

Lucky me, I got to fly to Texas. Billy had to make the 18 hour drive with our car a few weeks earlier. I saved my plane ticket and made this little card. The airplane clip is from Studio Calico a while ago. It's sold out now, but they pop up there from time to time.

Supplies Used: Dear Lizzy '5th & Frolic' Project Life Kit, , Studio Calico 'Thataway' Flair, Uni-Ball Signo White Gel Pen, Ormolu 'Rise & Shine' Tag

How perfect is that gray key card from the Dear Lizzy PL kit? I also love that flair badge. The set has a cute little cactus flair that I can't wait to use. I'm going to hoard it until I find the perfect project.

This was a big week! More spreads coming in the next few weeks. 

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See all my Project Life posts here.

If you have any questions, please ask in the comments or shoot me an email!

Project Life 2013 // Week 38

Another week down – week 38. I had a lot of fun putting this week together. I had a lot of photos and had saved a lot of stuff from the week.

Supplies Used: Dear Lizzy 'Lucky Charm' 6x6" Paper Pad, Elle's Studio Limited Edition Kit, Dear Lizzy 5th&Frolic Project Life Core Kit, My Mind's Eye Tiny Word Stickers, Studio Calico Letter Stickers, Dear Lizzy Gold Letter Stickers

Here's the left side. It was one of the two weeks I lived at my parents' house before the move. Billy was already in Austin and we were moved out of our old apartment, so I had nothin but time on my hands. 

Supplies Used: Studio Calico 'Marks & Co.' Project Life Kit, Studio Calico Cork Sticker, Crate Paper Yellow Brad, Uni-Ball Signo White Gel Pen

I went through old photos one night with my dad. I found so many good ones. These were 2 that I really liked so I took a photo of the photos to put in my album. I think old photos are a good way to fill pockets when you are low on fillers or photos. 

My favorite technique right now is to put letter stickers right on top of the photo. It's an easy way to add context or journaling to a photo.

Supplies Used: Dear Lizzy Polka Dot Party 'Food & Fun', October Afternoon Travel Girl Tidbits, BasicGrey White Letter Stickers, Dear Lizzy 'Awesome' Flair, Project Life Blush Core Kit

Here's the right side. I included a photo that Billy sent me and a couple photos of my parents' house. I like these little details.

Supplies Used: Studio Calico 'Double Scoop' PL Kit, My Mind's Eye Enamel Dots

During the weeks where I was between homes, I kept an envelope in my purse to store tags, receipts, business cards, etc. Just all the stuff I collect. I didn't know if I'd use it or not but I was happy to have it all saved when I finally got back to crafting.

My mom made these cookies and I think they are just adorable.

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See all my Project Life posts here.

If you have any questions, please ask in the comments or shoot me an email!