Memory Planner - Project Life style

Scrapbooking the everyday is a practice I have been trying over the past year or so.  I am drawn towards a hybrid of Project Life-style scrapbooking (with divided page protectors), traditional and digital layouts.  

For 2013 I have tried to keep a weekly track of daily happenings. I am still trying to find a way that this system works for me.  I started off the year with the 6x8 format, I like the idea of not having a lot of slots to fill when I do not have a lot of pictures or content.  But as the seasons change & more events are scheduled, it's a question as to if I want to go to a larger format and how I want to incorporate my “regular” scrapping of events. 

No matter how the project evolves, one thing is for sure...it's easy to fall behind in printing out pictures and remembering everything that happened!  I use a Google doc to keep notes about the weeks, what happened, and the stories I want to tell.  But generally I am going back to it and filling in weeks past, so a lot of details are lost.  I live my life one-day-at-a-time, so the little happenings, the aha moments and the not-so-great moments are significant to me.  My environment always shapes my days and weeks as well.  So I wanted a more tangible place to keep everything.  I tend to take pics with my iphone and my dslr.  I use different storage cards.  So if I get a few weeks behind, I forget where it all is!  I’ll hear a song 5 times in one day and think "this is the song of the day", I should include lyrics in my scrapping.  But if I don't write it down I’m trying to remember “what song was that again?”  So my solution is a simple, fill-in-the-blank sheet planner.  I have tried mini notebooks, but they tend to be a hassle.  I find it way easier to be stuck carrying around a folded piece of regular old printer paper with me than anything else.  It can easily be moved from work bag to purse then filed onto desk with other project life stuff.  A big part of this too is sometimes the days don’t have a lot going on individually, but there may be an event or single theme that somehow represents the whole week.  This will help be a reminder and keep on track.  Also, I need to keep track of where the pics I take end up.  You could easily use this format electronically, but for me, creativity flows better with physical pen to paper.

If you would like to try my planner here is the link to a pdf version:

Memory Planner - weekly

Happy <3 Day

I have never been that big on celebrating Valentine's day, but I've realized it is a nice way to slow down and show the one you love some extra special attention! And any excuse to have a nice dinner out, glass of wine & dessert works for me!

For the card I was inspired by this card I pinned by Debby Hughes. 

I used the same circle die-cut from Papertrey Ink {here} and added various patterned paper circles.  The candy jar stamps are from Clear & Simple Stamps here and colored with Prismacolor markers.  The sentiment is from Love Songs stamp set by PTI. The ribbon was to cover up an oops! {some schmootz got on the front of card from workspace} I don't like when that happens, but I try to embrace the imperfection {like this post}so I added the ribbon and some rhinestones.  I like everything in 3's, so this card reflects that...3 jars, 3 types of pp, 3 rhinestones.

One thing I made for my sweetheart besides a card this year was this little folio where I wrote a poem.  I once was told to be a true Renaissance man {person}, not only do you have to be immersed in various arts and intellects, but you must have been the subject of someone else's love poem.  In talking with my significant other about the concept of Renaissance man he said no one had ever written a poem about him {at least that he knew?!}  So I decided I would do so and complete his title of a true Renaissance man!

For this project I used a folded 8.5x11 piece of cardstock {Papertrey Ink} and wrote my poem by hand on a piece of graph paper inserted at the fold.  I used my new Amy Tan roller stamp to add "love love love Feb 14 2013" at the bottom of the poem.  

On the left are letter stamps from Technique Tuesday and the graphic was created with Papertrey Ink's Heart Prints & All About You stamp sets. I also punched with a small heart punch {fiskars} and washi tape from Crafty Steals.

For the front cover I clustered various embellies from my stash---->Jolee's hearts, washi tape, rhinestones, American Crafts ribbon, striped die-cut transparencies from BasicGrey, and the cardstock sticker from Creative Imaginations Love Struck line found here.

Hope you all get to share in a lil love this Valentine's day!

Project Life 2013

^^This is what has been going on around here.  Was able to get out to get some pretty snow shots this past weekend.

Journal cards compliments of Cathy Zielske here

I have been attempting Project Life in my own way.  I never thought it would be something that I would like to do, but I find I am enjoying recording these stories, and day to day happenings.  I am using Simple Stories 6x8 format to keep it simple for now.  At first I thought I would just use one photo a week, but sometimes it requires more.  I'm trying not to get caught up in the embellishment and just do basic photos+words.

Because I wanted to use the page protector flipped I needed to seal the bottom slots somehow, so I used simple washi tape.  To keep with that, I used a small heart punch on the washi tape to add some heart confetti to the outside of the page protector over the photo of my nephew.  I didn't know if it would work {punching from tape} but it did!  

Mini hearts punched from washi tape, BasicGrey sticker alphas

Unfinished pages, but easy to keep up a little better with this format

Love an opportunity to add text to photos

I've thought about color themes for this album.  At first I decided to go with this gray/white/mint theme.  But I realize just sticking to this may not work, so then I thought well maybe I will use other bright colors to compliment the gray/white and let it represent different seasons.  Still thinking about this.  If I do that it will be yellow (spring), coral (summer), and gold (fall).  

I am trying to not have it be so planned out {besides the one size page protector that I'm using (& loving!)}  Also, I'm already "behind" which is no big deal.  I'm keeping track of the stories and working on the weekly journaling in a google docs file and putting photos into folders.

We will see how it goes.  Thanks for looking!

New Year: 2013

I like to take one day at a time, so the fact that I'm getting around to a New Year's post on the 28th of January is just about right.  It was a busy holiday season, and not only was I plagued with illness, but so was my google account, so its just about now that I'm getting started.

A few things for right now & what's to come this year...

Last year's projects...Need to play a little catch-up, complete my December album, and go back to finishing my October mini album.  Hopefully a few crops in the near future will help with that task.

Currently enrolled in Susannah Conway's "Unraveling" e-course.  A new challenge in photos+stories, trying to peel back the layers a bit.  Enjoying the strong group of women over there, so impressive and inspiring.  Looking forward to keep up with a journal for that course.

Photographs...I haven't been shooting as much.  Just Iphone photography {i know, sad, & super jealous to see much better photos on android}  Flash class coming up, hopefully that will get the creative juices flowing again.

As last year, I want to commit to blogging more...I think I managed to get at least one entry a month last year, need to work on that...

One little word...doing this as always again...hopefully will have a project/post about my 2013 word soon....JUMP (you can read about this exercise on Ali E's blog here

Project Life...I've never done the actual every week style of PL, but I am trying a mini version for myself using the Simple Stories 6x8 size and this style of page protector.  Trying to focus on one or two photos per week and block of journaling.

Organization...I'm feeling like the way I re-organized my stash not long ago isn't working as well.  I need to purge and maybe re-design a bit to make it more workable.  Also think this has contributed to the less productivity lately...


A work-in-progress as usual!

Dec {mini} pages

Left page:  3 mini instagram photos of decor, a friend's baby shower and a huge Santa figure
The journal card from Katie Pertiet at Designer Digitals
I journaled about the day's events on the back and attached with staples.
For the background I used a free png download from Ali Edwards that I changed to a gray shade and printed on vellum from her Christmas Cheer post here {love that movie too!}
Ornament stamps from Papertrey Ink Winterberry collection 

Right page:  Paper from Simple Stories Handmade Holiday collection
Stamped tag from CTMH Cherish the Day stamp set, added baker's twine
The journaling for this day will be on the tab insert in the pocket (created from the opening of the paper bag)


Really enjoying the simplicity of this project & actually able to keep up with it!  More to come...

Dec {mini} album Details

Like I said in my previous post, to capture December I decided to try a paper bag album for the first time.  I thought something small will make it easier to keep up with adding photos and stories throughout the busy holiday season.

I started with 3 regular sized lunch bags.  Before I attached them together, I added some inking by using a pencil eraser to make some white dots, then also added some cardstock to various pages to give it more stability. 

I also decorated the cover with some paper from Simple Stories Homemade Holiday collection, added some washi tape (Recollections brand from Michaels) & more stamping.  I layered the bags in every other direction, folded them evenly, then stapled it together.  I cut a piece of felt using a scalloped die to cover up the staples on the binding, which I attached with glue dots. 

I've somewhat planned out what specific dates I want to record, so I started the first few with that in mind.  The first page is reserved for December 1st, including some holiday decorating, then the next pages will be to record a visit to see Santa with my nephew. 

For the insert pages to put in the pockets created by the bags, I cut kraft & red cardstock, embellished with ink or washi tape, then added a felt tab (diecut using Nestabilities) and stapled with Tim Holtz's tiny attacher.

I prepped some supplies to have ready as I go, and keep it in my little "hope" plate nearby.  

From the top left, clockwise: labels & scalloped circles cut from kraft cardstock using Nestabilities dies, flocked punched designs, various Studio G xmas stamps, Simple Stories Handmade Holiday collection & 2 sheets of paper from BasicGrey Clippings Collection, punched stars added white ink using Papertrey Ink's Star Prints stamp set, CTMH Cherish the Day stamp set with several December images stamped in different colors and cut different ways to resemble tags, tickets, etc.

Here are the flocked snowmen.  And using a piece of paper from the SS Handmade Holiday collection, I can cut out the different text & images that were on a single sheet.

I still need to print the journaling cards from Kaite Pertiet to have handy, then hopefully it will be all about the photos & stories that happen this holiday season.

Happy December!

Countdown to Christmas

 Christmastime is here again...I can't believe I am saying that on November 30th!  It seems to have arrived earlier this year with the Thanksgiving holiday falling earlier in November.  I always start off festive early in the month and by the time the 25th gets here I'm ready to see it off & head for the new year!  
In order to not lose track of those important stories and holiday traditions I made a mini album.  The layout will be somewhat like the #DecemberDaily, but not everyday. I have never tried a paper bag album, and since I love the combo of kraft/white/red for the holidays I thought this would work perfect.  The mini size is more manageable for me to actually get a few instax & Instagram photos printed and keep up with it during the busy holiday season.  I have a few dates in mind to highlight like a visit to Santa with my nephew and something special for 12/12/12!  Also a page reserved for when I visit NYC to see the Rockettes Christmas show!  Then of course the important dates like the 24th & 25th!

I prepped as much as I could, using my favorite elements and supplies, while also building a little stash to embellish as I go.  I will highlight the details in another post, but for now, Happy Scrapping this December!

Inspiration/Supplies:

December Daily on Ali Edward's blog

Journal spots by Katie Pertiet at Designer Digitals

Paper bag album inspiration from Melissa Goodsell

Simple Stories Handmade Holiday Collection