I'm not as behind on Project Life as it seems, I'm just behind on blogging it. :)
Here's shot of the two page spread:
A closer view of the left side:
On this side I used some journal cards I got at Target, as well as a lot of Comfort Cafe and other papers from Stampin' Up!. There's a little menu excerpt I have of a restaurant with one of my favorite meals since I forgot to take the picture of it. There's also a quote from my son during our restaurant visit and a verse that's keeping me sane right now. There's also a pic and recipe for my favorite new Pinterest recipe snack.
The title card uses some letter and number stickers (I inked the 10), soft suede cardstock (Stampin' Up!), and some blue wood paper I got at Hobby Lobby. The ribbon are scraps I had around and I wrote the dates with a journaling pen (Stampin' Up!).
Here's an overall view of the right side:
On this side I had an e-mail with a sub notice (I started subbing again and this was my first new assignment). I also have a pic of me and Panera shennenigans with my friend Kristina, some Hebrew lettering my son is currently obsessed with, a little rain cloud to show my son's first baseball game of the year was rained out, a folded up sheet on which my youngest daughter wrote her own name, a quote I am using to stay motivated to exercise, and a Dr. Seuss story my son made up at school and brought home.
For my son's little book I made a little pocket with a doily so I can slide the book in and out of the sheet protector if I want. Almost everything on this page uses Stampin' Up! stuff. The papers, buttons, etc... except for the peeling blue paint woodgrain paper and the washi tape.
You read that right. Why? Because I'm letting my demonstratorship go. I know some of you are shocked, but this is a decision a long time in the making (several months) and my downline was forewarned a while ago. I honestly thought December would be my last month but my order for wedding invitation supplies put me over the edge to stay active.
So you're asking why? Let me be clear, I LOVE Stampin' Up! I am NOT leaving because of any angst with the company. I still highly recommend it as a job for stay at home moms, or for crafters who want a discount. The starter kit alone is worth signing up for!
I have just felt God leading me in other directions lately for work at home. You may have noticed me posting about educational items. I have a Master of Science degree in Curriculum Development and was a teacher before I stayed home with my kids. I'm going to be doing more of that as far as work goes.
I WILL still be stamping! I WILL still be paper crafting! I WILL still be blogging my projects and keeping my Stampin With Alicia Facebook page going. Nothing changes there. You just won't be able to order from me. :) I will be a customer and stamping for my own purposes, not teaching classes and holding workshops.
I've had some people who knew I was dropping ask for a recommendation for another demonstrator. If you know my downline member Elizabeth Turley, you can contact her for orders. If you don't know anyone, I highly recommend another member, Vanessa Hughes, and you can order from her online store here: http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/vanessahughes/
It's been 10 yars for me as a demonstrator. I will miss the free demonstrator idea magazines, forums, and Convention and Leadership a ton. I will miss group meetings and such. But I am excited about this new venture!
If you know, or are, a teacher or homeschooling parent, check out my Facebook Page and online store for downloadable resources! (Just FYI, in the 7 short years I taught, I received not only my Master's Degree, but also 2 teaching awards! This isn't an out-of-the-blue thing. I really am qualified. ;))
I know it's hard to believe this, but it's not Project Life that I'm behind on, it's blogging it! We are currently starting week 18 and I've done through 16 and have most of 17 done too. I just get lazy with blogging it!
To catch up a bit on the blogging, I'm going to share the next few weeks less in depth and more than one week at a time. If you have specific questions about the pages you can comment below and I'll get back to you. :)
So week 7:
Week 7 was Valentine week and my hubby and son made it extra special for us girls.
I deviated from my coordinating stash for some more Valentine-y colors this time. I found lots of red and pinks in my stash and used that stuff.
I got shots of the kids Valentines we made for school and used a flower from the boquet my son gave me.
We had a fun family Valentine time at Chick Fil A and my middle kid (Raegan) started level 1 in gymnatics. She rocked her first week.
On to week 8:
Here's a shot at the left side:
Week 8 included a new preschool teacher for Raegan (hers got really sick), and preschool registration for my youngest. I also included some artwork from my youngest (a piece I cut out) and a conversation she had with her dad about it. Also, Raegan (after 1 week in level 1 gymnastics) was invited to join the TOPs program!
The right side is mostly from a school concert. My son's second grade class and a 5th grade class did a Beetles concert at the PTA Founders' Day. It was cute. He was the best octopus in Octopus' Garden. :)
I have a new product in my teacher store to celebrate with your class or homeschool kids.
This upcycle art butterfly is just one idea in 27 pages of Earth Day awesomeness!
Product Description
This 27 page document is filled with ideas and instructions for a variety of Earth Day acitivities ranging from acitivites and art projects to worksheet pages.
This unit contains the necessary elements for: -Earth Day vocabulary devlopment (word bank and ABC order) -Grocery Bag messages (requires planning ahead) -recycle sort (categorizing) -trash monster campus clean up (one option requires planning ahead) -Graphing Earth Day -Earth Day Pledge streamers -Cause and Effect pracitce -Upcycle art – might need to plan ahead to gather materials -Earth Web – whole class physical activity -Environmental word search
Keys are included for necessary pages and photos of student samples as well as photos of real life items for vocabulary development.
Several of the ideas have more than one option for execution.
You can get this in my Teachers Pay Teachers shop here:
for only $3.50! There's more than enough here for a whole day's worth of activities! Buy yours now so you have time plan ahead! Earth Day is less than 2 weeks away!
I finally got into my office to retake the pictures that were lost on my computer! Expect about 5 weeks of Project Life to be posted in the next week or so. :)
This was a week of highs and lows.
We had the Super Bowl, a rare glimpse of hail (at least rare in my neck of the woods), some great foggy weather, and one of my daughters is experiencing some great success at gymnastics.
On the other hand, we also STILL didn't have our fixed microwave, and there was a large manhunt on for the killer of a local law enforcement officer.
Let's get a closer look at the left side of the spread:
My title block was large this week. I had orginially intended to put the Super Bowl info at the bottom of it, but when I had finished it and was getting ready to add the football part, I decided I liked it the way it was. I needed some open space.
So for the title block I used some Kraft cardstock from my local scrapbook store as the base. I don't remember who made this but it has a nice worn starry look on it. I've used it for a lot of things. The typewritten paper is from Stampin' Up! and it's called First Edition Specialty paper. I also used some Basic Black cardstock from Stampin' Up! and the brown striped ribbon is retired but also from them. I die cut the number six twice with my Sizzix Big Shot (also available through Stampin' Up!) and I cut it out of the First Edition paper and a scrap of Brushed Gold cardstock (Stampin' Up!). Die cutting letters and numbers is a great way to use up scraps. Those newsy looking letter stickers are from Creative Imaginations and I stamped the dates in white craft ink from Stampin' Up! with my Smash date stamper.
For the Super Bowl card I used an old scrap of retired Stampin' Up! paper that looked old and notebooky, along with some retired sports stamps. I mounted the lined paper on Basic Black cardstock, stamped the sports images in Early Espresso ink, and wrote with a Basic Gray Stampin' Write marker (all Stampin' Up!).
For the Week in Review card I used one of those preprinted cards I keep using that I have no idea of the source. :) Next time I pick some up I'll pay more attention. Again I used my Basic Grey marker and a scrap of retired Basic Black striped ribbon.
For the fog picture I used a scrap of the Comfort Cafe paper from Stampin' Up! for that blue herringbone pattern piece, and I wrote with a white Signo gel pen. I have to say, it's not my favorite pen. I've bought two thinking one of mine was just defective, but they seriously have issues staying consistent while writing. I'm on the look out for a better white pen that can write on photos and cardstock and I'm open to suggestions if you have one!
On the bottom I have a picture of the hail piling up on my car. I have another pic below this one so I adhered this picture over the top with washi tape. Here's the pic below:
If you flip up the picture of the car, this is what you see. The kids loved watching the hail "jump" on the trampoline.
On to the right side of the layout:
I didn't have a picture to show that my middle child (older of two daughters) was moved up to level 1 in gymnastics early. I put her notification slip from her coach in with a sticker and explantion since I didn't have a pic. The gymnastic sticker is from Recollections. I put it all on Midnight Muse cardstock (Stampin' Up!) and wrote with a silver pen.
I used scraps of the Comfort Cafe paper to add a little interest to this simple photo that shows the ongoing saga of the microwave. I journaled along the bottom with a Midnight Muse marker. One of the reasons I love Stampin' Up! products so much is because I can get patterned paper, solid paper, ink, markers, etc...all that match completely!!!
For one of the middle smaller pockets I just made a little embellishment area. I used scraps of First Edition specialty paper, and scraps of ribbon and crochet trim, an antique brad, and stamped in midnight muse with a flower stamp (all Stampin' Up!).
Another small pocket included a screen shot of a text from a friend that was in the children's church area with one of my daughters. I used more of the same kraft paper from the title block and the blue herringbone from the Comfort Cafe paper collections.
I mounted this picture on more Midnight Muse cardstock and use a piece of flowered ribbon I got on clearance at Michael's. I journaled with the white gel pen again. My poor hubby, he's had two neck surgeries and just can't bounce around with the little ladies. :)
For the last quarter of the page I kind of put the smaller slots at the top and the larger one at the bottom together in a sort of mini-page area to make it all go together. I was documenting a police officer in our city being killed and a manhunt for a cop killer underway. As a LEO wife it was a tough few weeks around here. The paper in this corner is from Karen Foster and the police stickers are from Creative Imaginations. I put a scrap of black paper across the pocket with the badge, similar to how the officers wear their badges when they've lost one of their own. I used a black Stampin' Up! journaling marker to write "manhunt" on a pic I snagged from online.
My friend Liz is getting married this year and I was blessed with the opportunity to make her wedding invitations for her.
She wanted a kind of vintagy feel to them and this is what we came up with. The outside is wrapped with a doily sleeve. I got a big pack of them at Smart and Final. Everything else I used in the invites is from Stampin' Up!.
I can't believe I forgot to get a picture of it with the doily sleeve off but the front of the card! I'll upload one to my facebook page later. The wrap is from crumb cake seam binding, a keyhole punch with their names on vanilla cardstock, and tied on with linen thread. Those little tags were so easy. I just used the small return address label setting on my word processor and it put 80 on a page in just the right size to punch.
The base of the invite is crumb cake, 12x12 cardstock, cut in half. I used smaller pieces of the crumb cake to put pockets on the sides for tucking info into (like registry and reception info). I sponged the base with the doily die cut cut with my big shot and white craft ink.
I printed the wording on vanilla cardstock and mounted it over the early espresso that covered the middle portion of the invite. The espresso was on the crumb cake when I sponged those doilies so you can see a bit of a frilly edge sticking out under the wording.
Simple postcard RSVP stamped with Hello Doily and printed with their names, white craft ink run along the edge over soft suede, just to age it a bit.
Same treatment on the other side of the post card. That "post card" stamp is from the Winter Post stamp set that is now retired.
And the envelope is the last part.
I stamped and inked the edges of the envelope the same way I did the post card. These were a slightly shimmery vanilla envelope I picked up at Staples. The bride had a friend (or maybe it was her father?) make address them with caligraphy and they were awesome.
This was a fun week. I got time with a girlfriend, my son got an award at school, life was good. :)
The colors were all over the place in the pictures so I mostly went with blue papers and embellishments because the blue popped out of the photos the most at first glance.
Above, on the left half of the layout, I have the title card, a piece of my daughter's artwork from school, the week in review, a silly pic of my son wearing my boots to take out the compost, my husband teaching my son to tie a tie, and a couple pics with a dog we got to watch for a few days this week.
On the right half we have a few images from my son's award ceremony at school, a shot of our Valentine envelopes, and some silly pics with my friend Tess.
For my title card I shopped my stash and got this calendar card that was part of a Beau Chateau side notes set (I think) from Stampin' Up! I just circled the week and wrote in the dates. The blue floral paper is part of the Comfort Cafe paper from Stampin' Up! that I put in my Project Life stash when I built my own kit at the beginning of the year. I put some crochet trim and vanilla tafetta ribbon scraps on as well. Those are also both from Stampin' Up!
This is a piece from a watercolor paper my daughter did at preschool. I couldn't fit the whole paper and I didn't want to add bulk by folding it up and putting the whole thing in the pocket, so I cut a pocket sized piece and just used that. I had wanted to put this in here because she's just such a good artist and creative person. The card I used for the journaling was from a Smash tablet with those little journaling cards. I attached it with washi tape along the top so it could be flipped up and you could see the whole picture. Like below:
The top left and center of the watercolor is where you'll see the watermelon I journaled about. I nearly died laughing when I asked her why she put brown in her watermelon and she said it was starting to rot.
On to the rest of the left side.
My son's job (chore) is to take out the compost. He didn't want to track down his shoes so he wore my heeled boots to do the job. Silly child. I just wrote onto an avery label and stuck it over the corner of the picture for journaling.
The shots of my son and husband doing the ties was precious to me. They were a bit dark because I was sitting facing the window so they're back lit, and I was reading on my iPad when they were doing this. I looked up and snapped a picture on my iPad, which aren't the best in quality, instead of hopping up and getting the camera and being intrusive. I made a Diptic collage with two of them and then split the pictures between two pockets with some patterned paper (which I got from a scrapbook store) so that I could fit the collage in.
Our dogs both died this past summer and we really miss them, but aren't really in a place yet where we can get a new one or two. But when my friend, April, had to leave town a few days for work, I jumped at the chance to ease her mind about her dog buy volunteering to dog-sit at our house. The kids loved Bailey and I think Bailey had a decent time too. I've seen her twice since then and she seemed happy to see me both times. :) The kids liked walking her everyday and O wouldn't stop brushing her. For journaling here I just used some Post-It tape over the side of the picture and wrote directly on that.
On to the right side:
The top two shots of the left side of this page have pics at the awards ceremony where my son got student of the month. He doesn't have the greatest smile because he thought we missed the ceremony. I keep telling him when he does performances and stuff that we are there, concentrate on what he's doing, not finding us. He was so upset when I caught up with him for pictures that he wasn't in the mood. :) I had to keep that story and I journaled that on scrap vanilla cardstock and put it over some busy space on a photograph with an old felt flower from my stash as an embellishment. The blue Dahlia on top is from Stampin' Up! as is the 1/8" tafetta ribbon I layered in there.
The bottom of that trio is just a pic of our Valentine envelopes. I made these three years ago and I pull them out each year from February 1-14th. I fill them with love notes to each of the kids (and my hubby has one too) and small treats (like sticky hands, notepads, sometimes just a note that says we'll bake together or do a Valentine art project later that day). I put one thing in each day. I put some washi tape over the side and used the Post It tape again for journaling.
I used a divided page protector with a large pocket for this page because I wanted to really give more space to my son's award pictures. Here I used some more of that weathered wood paper, some vanilla, a picture, another small picture punched with a heart punch from Stampin' Up!, and some old fiber from my stash around the bottom. The "Be the best..." is a sticker think I THINK it's from K & Co.
So my friend Tess has this business, Ditches to Riches, where she makes and remakes home decor and furniture, etc.... One day this week I got to go "pickin'" with her, which is always fun for me. At lunch time we discovered a new place we'd never heard of, Yellow Basket, and decided it sounded fun. So we took some pics to commemorate the day, in one of them we were trying to make it look like the straws were up our noses. I used a Diptic app again to make a collage and I journaled along the side. I really wanted to put the Yellow Basket image in the pic since lunch there was one of the great parts of our day, so I printed an extra picture and cut out the cup that got cut off the in the collage. Then I put it over the journaling with washi tape so it could be flipped down and you could read the journaling.
That was it for this week. I have 6 done, photographed, and ready to blog, so check back soon!
This was one of those low key weeks for us. That means that I don't have a lot of pics and I fill in with embellishments and quotes and whatever I can think of that still reflects life at the moment. After all, that 's the important part of Project Life, right?! I'm actually kind of surprised this is the first week I've had to fill in the blanks, so to speak.
The left side has the title card, a collage of a date with one of my daughters, a news snapshot of the inauguration, and a very dark picture of the package we mailed my mom for her birthday.
I had a lot of darker more natural colors this week so I used a lot of vanilla, vintagy type patterns etc..
The right side: a new recipe we loved, another broken item, week in review, pajama hot chocolate day at my middle kid's preschool, evidence that I've finally started running again, a funny quote from my daughter, and a "right now" list of life as we currently know it.
Let's get a closer look:
For the title card I used a piece of patterned cardstock I had on hand. I THINK it's MME but I'm not totally sure. It had that red glitter swirl and subtle background green swirl on it and I decided that would be a good corner to use here since there were tiny bits of red elsewhere in the layout. I stapled on a scrap of Always Artichoke seam binding from Stampin' Up! in the corner. I also printed the word "week" out on my printer and sponged it with green. The number 4 came from a dollar spot section at a craft store. Again I used my Smash date stamper.
I have a Diptic collage of a date to Panera with my daughter. Whenever I print out a Diptic it comes out square, so if I'm using it in a rectangle space ( like I am here) I just usually embellish the leftover space. Here I just used some scraps of Stampin' Up! ribbon. There's crochet trim and Midnight Muse stitched ribbon.
So the picture I took of the nicely decorated package we sent my mom came out really dark, and it wasn't dark in my viewer. That was wierd. But I just compensated by writing some description on it. I used another scrap of the Stampin' Up! crochet trim and a scrap of the Comfort Cafe paper that's also Stampin' Up!. The middle pocket here, with the yellow, is really just the back of last week's pocket. It went well so I left it. It's that same Comfort Cafe paper. The "Life in Progress" tag is something that's been in my stash for a while. It's from the tag on some clothes I bought a while ago. I liked it, and the little hook on the end, so I kept it. :)
So the microwave broke this week. The pictures I took (right before they removed it to take it to the shop) seemed dark for this layout. To tone it down a bit I put vellum over half of it, journaled right onto the vellum, and then attached it with some coordinating washi tape.
My daughter had a hot chocolate and pajama day at preschool and I forgot to take a picture of her in her cute jammies. :( I settled for the canister of hot cocoa mix and a sticker with some journaling. On the bottom I filled in with a "right now" list on one of those journaling cards I've been using from the scrapbook store. I covered the right side with some more of that Comfort Cafe paper, and scraps of ribbon and twill tape. All these fibers are Stampin' Up!.
Up in the top right I put a recipe we tried (from Pinterest). I wrote it out on another one of those lined cards and put a strip from the picture across the bottom. The Week in Review card went on another scrap of Comfort Cafe paper and a list on on a tag. I put washi along the bottom of it. On the right here I used another piece of the same cardstock that was on the title card. I put a screen shot of my Nike app over it. I'm barely getting anywhere, and I'm not getting there fast, but I am moving. :)
For the last space I used a Smash card thingy and printed out a conversation with my daughter right onto it. I really need to find a nice free font that looks like old type style for stuff like that. I call her silly little thoughts "O-isms". I also tucked a little washi tape and ribbon in the side to add light little embelishment.
So, now that I've done a week where I felt like I didn't have much to put in my album, I've come up with a few things I put in a bulleted list to keep in my work area for the next time it happens. Here are a few of what I have so far:
-weather- you can just journal, get photos, or use pics from the computer weather sites.
-recipes- a new one you've tried, or a family favorite that you haven't scrapped yet.
-things your kids got to do at school
-conversations or quotes with someone
-an everyday type of activity, like a typical grocery receipt, or picture of a typical purchase, etc...
-a picture of your planner or to-do list for the week
-right now- what are typical things that seem to have become normal, but may not be the same in a year or two?
-a piece of paper with your youngster's hand written name to compare over time, or a picture they drew or page they colored.
I'm sure I'll add more to my list as time passes. I'd love a few suggestions! Leave them in the comment section for everyone to share with eachother!
I know it's late posting, but I just needed to photograph this. It took me a while to get around to that part.
Here's the two page spread:
The left side (closer up) contains pics of two of my kids being silly with their snacks, the week in review card, the title card, more money from yet another lost tooth, a pic with evidence of our windy week, and a little Chinese New Year envelope my son brought home from school.
The right side has some self portraits my girls took with my phone. They're constantly doing that so I put a few together with my iPhone app and put them on the page. It also shows a sick little one in the car, some physical fitness things and my husband's birthday.
An even closer look at some elements:
My title card base is a chevron card from my local scrapbook store. I don't remember what brand. They had a bunch of these in assorted styles in one area and I grabbed several. :) I printed "week" on my computer and scraped an ink pad along the edges, then adhered it with washi tape. I THINK I got the washi tape at Pretty Tape on Etsy. Again, think...The 3 I die cut with my Sizzix Big Shot on Early Espresso cardstock. I tied a little scrap fiber from years ago along the side of it, then stamped the dates with my Smash date stamper.
For my "windy" pic I just drew directly on the picture with my silver Stampin' Up! marker. It's available in gold too. I drew some swirlies and wrote the words to show the windiness. We get Santa Ana winds in my area and the millions of local palm trees get all their fronds blown off. Then the city has to come around and clear the streets. I took this pic to reflect both the weather of the time and something kind of unique to my area.
One of my kids' favorite snacks are Trader Joes onion rings. These two were up to all kinds of alternate uses for them and I snapped a few shots. On the right you can kind of see the edge of a Chinese envelope. That was from my son's class. They were reading a story in language arts (near Chinese New Year) about how a tradition there is to give a red envelope with money. The teacher had given the students these little envelopes with one of those gold wrapped chocolate coins inside. He ate the coin and I snagged the cute envelope for the book. I mounted it on black cardstock since it was slightly smaller than the pocket.
The week in review card was another of those that I picked up at my local scrapbook store. I think I'll need to head back there to get more soon :) and I'll pay more attention to the maker so you can find them too. :)
I just wrote with a basic gray marker from Stampin' Up! I like bulleted lists. A lot.
On to the right side!
I forgot to take pictures of my husband and presents, etc... at his actual birthday so I managed this card to represent it. I took a pic of the leftover hot pink chocolate chip cookies we made him and the kids' gift for him. Just so you don't think it's weird, his favorite color is, and has always been, hot pink. And he doens't like cake, but he loves chocolate chip cookies. And he likes that grated parm in a can which I don't allow in the house. :) But the kids talked me into buying him some one day while we were grocery shopping. :)
I also typed (in photoshop) right onto my FIT journal from our new church series. I just bulleted my goals for mental, spiritual, and physical fitness. Have I mentioned I like bulleted lists?
The pic of my daughter on the trampoline was really just to show how they're always getting static in their hair while they jump. I had a blurry lower corner so I just wrote right over that part. :)
That's it for week 3. I have finished up through week 6 and I'll get those up soon!
Remember that you can get any of the Stampin' Up! supplies (including a lot of those fibers, crochet trim and the red patterned papers) from my Stampin' Up! website.
This is the first week I used an insert. I'm trying not to do that a lot since I know I'll have full albums, but I just couldn't decide which ice pictures to ditch!
We had done a salt/food color/ice thing that was so fun and made such beautiful pictures. I already had a hard time deleting some and couldn't really narrow things down to one or two for this week's spread, so I decied to add and insert and throw some in there. I don't remember what letter insert this is, but it's a Becky Higgins one and is 3 pockets tall.
Here's a pic of the layout with it flipped:
Here's a closer look at the title card. I just realized I didn't put the dates down, so I'll go back and add that in with my date stamper.
I don't remember what brand that paper is but the letter stickers are Creative Imaginations. Got them on sale at a craft store. I like the burlap-py, canvas-y look to them. I also used the some crochet trim from Stampin' Up! and the number 2 is die cut with Big Shot from Stampin' Up!. I used Soft Suede and Whisper White Stampin' Up! cardstock for it. I went for this look with the title card because the pictures put a lot of blue-ish color in the layout and I wanted to coordinate and balance it out.
My husband replacing a boot in the brake system. I thought it was pretty clever to mount this and journal on some ledger paper I had for my curriculum writing business. This year, so far, something costly has broken EVERY WEEK! I'm typing this during week 5 and it's still holding true. :(
During the end of Christmas break we had started this osmosis lab together. It needed time to sit to get results so this was the week we looked at it to see what happened. I put an overhead shot of the results in the same slot as an up close shot of the baking soda that formed on the string. I mounted them on Pacific Point Cardstock from Stampin' Up! to help coordinate with the blues in the layout, but ground it a bit with darker color. The paper above it in my layout is one of my kids' lab sheets.
This is a shot of the insert with ice pictues in various melting stages.
...and the other side of the insert.
There's also a page from my son's school. He's in a special language program and they study Spanish culture and holidays. This week they had 3 Kings Day and I put in his picture from school.
A picture of my son with his ice block about a quarter of the way through the experience.
I combined the "toothfairy" money with my week in review list onto one black paper for a slot. The label I put "Week In Review" on was part of a K and Company (I think) sticker sheet with various labels.
That's it for week 2. If you need any of the Stampin' Up! supplies I've listed here, everything I used in this layout is current and can be found in my online store!
