Monday, April 20, 2015

Project Life 2015 Week 13

This week, I was working with the April 2015 Pocket Kit and Glam Bag from Take 10 Kits. The colors matched perfectly with my weekly title card from my Project 52 kit! These pages are all about "happy accidents," although I was not so happy when the accidents happened! Here is the left side:


I used the stamps from the kits to add a little something extra to the Live the life... card, then colored in the stamped image with some water color. The only extras from my stash that I added to this side were the gold labels (Studio Calico), the rub-ons (Pinkfresh), the raindrop die cuts, the gold letter stickers, enamel dots, and sequins (CTMH). I also used some label stickers that I print and cut with my Silhouette. Here is the right side:


This is the side with the "happy accidents." I wanted to add the same stamped, watercolor images to some of the cards on this side, and when I reached across my table, I spilled the bottle of paint. It totally soaked the card on the bottom left of the page, along with the picture - eek! I had to trash the card, but I was able to save the picture, thank goodness! You can still kind of see the paint on the picture, but I covered it with a sticker from my Glam Bag. I also got some paint on the butterfly card, so I trimmed it down to cut the paint off, then placed it on top of one of the other cards from the Pocket Kit. I actually like the way this card turned out! The last oops was on my report card picture. I also had a drip of paint on it, so I covered that with a bit of washi from the kit and a wooden embellishment that I stamped the "like" image onto.

I just love all the bits of goodness from the April kits! Here is the April 2015 Pocket Kit:




So much goodness! And at just $10 plus shipping, they are a really great deal! I still have lots left over, that I am sure you will see in an upcoming post. Feel free to use the code take10 for 10% off your entire purchase!

Danica

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Project Life 2015 Week 12, plus an exciting announcement!

I finally finished up my Week 12 pages. This was another busy week, as I think most weeks in the spring can be, so I had to use an insert. I used my Project 52 week card, but the rest of the cards either came from my Studio Calico March kit - Odyssey, or my Paper Issues March swag bag. Many of the embellishments came from both of those sources as well, plus a bit more. I really cannot stick to one kit for my pages! Here is week 12, left, plus the Design H insert:


And the right side:


Ok, so on to my exciting announcement! I recently applied to the Take 10 Kits creative team, and I was selected! So excited to work with a creative bunch of gals and with some fun kits. My week 13 is on my desk right now, and I will be posting it to their facebook page on Monday for my first post! You can find them on the web here and facebook here.


I would also love for you to join us on the Take 10 Kits Facebook page! Thanks for looking, let me know if you have any questions about products or techniques!
Danica


Sunday, March 29, 2015

Online Crop Inspiration

Back again today, but with something a bit different! Last week, the Paper Issues team sponsored an online crop, with various challenges. Normally, I just do my Project Life pages, and I thought I would just enter the challenges with my Project Life pages, but I was inspired to get back to my roots as a 12x12 scrapper! I did enter some of my PL pages, but here are the 12x12 pages I completed this week for the challenges.

The first challenge I knew I wanted to do was for a spot on the PI design team. The challenge was to scrap myself. Earlier in the week, Kelly from PI said to take a selfie and have it ready to scrap for the DT challenge. I tried, but I am horribly awful at taking selfies, it just is not my thing! I got out the big camera, and had Ellie snap a few pictures, and wow, did she do a great job! Here is my layout with that very picture:


I used a variety of products on this layout. The background paper is by Basic Grey, from their Urban Prairie line. I have had it in my paper bag for about 4 years  - it was time to use it! The pattern was a bit bold and distracting, so I toned it down with this vellum from American Crafts, from their DIY Shop line. The papers/cards behind my photo came from the Paper Issues March swag bag. I think most of them are from Simple Stories, I Am. I used ephemera from the Crate Paper Craft Market line, plus Simple Stories stickers from their I Am line. Everything else is from my stash. 

My next page was for Jen's Sketch Challenge. Here is the sketch:


And here is my take on it:



I had fun with this one! I have had this picture of Olivia for a couple of years. I was trying out Mpix for printing Instagram photos, so I just printed all of the ones I had on my phone. I loved them, but they were so tiny, I just did not know what to do with them! This was the perfect challenge for it. I had fun picking out cards from my stash. I went with cards from the Happy core kit. I also used my new Color Theory Blush Crush mini mist to add something to the plain white background.

My last challenge was Mary-Ann's Grid Challenge. I had pinned this sketch on Pinterest from Bella Blvd.


I had more of those tiny photos from Mpix, and this layout worked perfectly for them. I loved the rainbow and paint splatter cards I had received in my March swag bag, so that is where I started with my color inspiration. The other papers come from CTMH, the Lollydoodle, Dream Pop, and Free to Be Me kits.



I had so much fun participating in these challenges! It felt good to do some 12x12 pages - I might just start including a few in my Project Life albums!

Danica

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Project Life 2015 Week 11

I am back again with another Project Life post - this time with my week 11. This was our spring break week, so we were busy, and it shows - I had to use TWO inserts! I also received my very first Studio Calico Project Life kit this week, so I had to use it for these pages! My title card is, as always, from the Project 52 kit. I entered this page on the Paper Issues Online crop for Devra's tic tac toe challenge. You can check out all of the awesome work on Facebook here: Devra's Tic Tac Toe Challenge. So here it is, week 11 left:



And the first insert:


I made this page for Lisa's Alphabet Soup Challenge.

The next two inserts, side by side:


These pages I did for two different places. For the online crop, I entered these for Jen's Pocket Page Challenge and they also work for the by the numbers link up on the Paper Issues blog! I was excited to document PI day, and when I saw that card with all the numbers on it in my Studio Calico Odyssey kit, I knew what I would use it for!

The last insert:


And the right hand page:


Whew! We had a busy week! I had so much fun scrapping with my friends last Saturday and participating in the Paper Issues online crop! Please let me know if you have any questions about products I used or my techniques!
Danica

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Project Life 2014 - Weeks 6, 7, & 8

So I think I mentioned in a previous post that I was going to try working simultaneously on my 2014 and 2015 albums instead of always being a year behind. I have done a pretty good job of keeping to that idea, although I have been better about doing my 2015 album. My original plan was to do a week in 2015, then do the same week from 2014. I got a little excited to get caught up on 2015, and did weeks 6-10. I decided to go ahead and pull out my 2014 pics and get those caught up too. Yesterday, I worked on weeks 6, 7, & 8. I combined weeks 7 & 8 because I just did not have a lot of photos besides Valentine's Day. I really did not decide to commit to true weekly layouts until about April of last year, so I was not very good at making sure I was taking pictures most days. Anyways, on to the pages. Here is week 6:


I used a hodgepodge of cards and embellishments for these pages. I had some leftover cards from a Paper Issues swag bag, so I used some of those, and I still have cards from my Studio Calico double scoop kit. I have enjoyed getting a little more creative with my 2014 pages, because I am not committed to using one kit, like the Project 52 with my 2015 kit. I had a couple of extra pictures of the girls ice skating, so I used a flip flap to add those to the layout: 

  

Weeks 7 & 8:



These two pages came together in about 15 minutes. I had so many Valentine's Day pictures! I did realize that I forgot to journal about the bottom middle picture, so I did add a label and some journaling about that one. The cards for these pages came from the Happy core kit. 

That is all I have so far of my 2014 album, but I might sneak down into my craft room later today and work on some more of my 2014 pages since I am all caught up on 2015. Let me know if you have any questions about the products I used or my techniques!

Danica


Saturday, March 14, 2015

Life Zesters March Challenge - Project Life 2015 - Week 10



If you have not had a chance to head over to the Life Zester's blog - you really should! This month's challenge is a color challenge, and when I printed my week 10 photos, I knew this was the week I would use for the challenge. My photos already had lots of pink, yellow and aqua, and the Week 10 title card just happened to be yellow - perfection!



I sorted through all of my Project 52 cards, pulling the cards with yellow, pink, and aqua. Next, I went through my embellishments and pulled the matching colors. I also wanted to add a touch of gold to these pages, so those embellishments were also added to my tray. I love how the pages turned out! Week 10, left: 


And Week 10, right:



And the two pages together:

                                          

I had so much fun participating in this challenge! I am a little sad that our spring break is almost over, I really did get a lot of crafting done, but I do have two Saturday crops coming up! Let me know if you have any questions about the products I used or my techniques!

Danica


Friday, March 13, 2015

Finally getting started on my Disney album!

My scrap weekend with my gal pals was a productive one. I got caught up on my 2015 album, and got a great start on my Disney album from our 2013 trip. I have decided to do this album primarily Project Life style, with a few traditional layouts here and there. This was a big trip for us, 11 days, so I have lots and lots of pics (2400 to be exact - eek!), and I knew there was no way I could scrap this traditionally. It took me forever to finish the album from our 2010 trip, and it was only a three day trip! Before we even left, I purchased some of the Say Cheese line from Simple Stories, and stumbled upon Project Mouse. I purchased some of their printables, and I have been working on having those printed at Office Depot. Of course, Simple Stories just released Say Cheese II, so I did get a few things from that line. It would be so easy to get it all, but I think I have enough now to scrap two or three more trips! 

On to the pages. Warning: This post is picture heavy - I got 11 pages done! Here is my title page:


I am trying to decide if I should add the dates to this page, maybe with my date stamp in the blank white circle on the bottom right??

A close-up of the Disney title. I have had this sticker in my stash since 2010, I just never used it for that album. The 2013 is from a pack of Thickers. Everything else is either Say Cheese or Say Cheese II.


The first part of my album is all pre-trip stuff. Booking, planning, counting down, etc. I started the planning for this trip in June of 2012, one full year before our trip. It was a bit of an obsession, but it was all worth it!


I added my little notebook that I took notes in during the planning phase:





I had many crafty projects that kept me busy during the year of planning:



And then the countdown. I started at 30 days. The Mickey bar, Pluto, Goofy, etc. cards were images Disney put out for people to use on Facebook. I loved them so much, I saved them to my computer, and had them printed to use in my book!







That is what I have done so far! Next, I will move on to the actual trip! I am almost done printing the cards, and have been working on organizing them. I plan to organize the album by days, keeping things in chronological order. Sahlin Studio (Project Mouse) had some super cute day cards that I purchased for this purpose. 


I will be using the chevron cards this time, but I really liked the simplicity of the black and white cards - maybe for a future trip album?!

Please let me know if you have any questions about these pages or the products I used!

Danica