Project Life 2014 – Week Seven

Here is my two-page spread for Week Seven of my Project Life/pocket page album:

For Week Seven I used February 2014 Storyteller Collection, a digital kit by Just Jaimee:

Here’s a closer look at the left side:

Here’s a closer look at the right side:

I’m looking at these two pages, and I’m thinking I LOVE the Project Life/pocket page style of scrapbooking. If I seem slow on doing these pages, I was even slower when I did traditional (paper) and digital scrapbooking.

My hang-up was designing each page; in other words, figuring out what to place where. There are lots of design rules to follow to give a layout a good “flow.” A properly designed page goes with the way our eyes naturally take in information when looking at a page.

That’s intimidating to me. All I want to do is put photos (lots of them!) and words (lots of them, too!) on pages to record my memories. Then I want to add some stuff so I’ll feel creative. But I don’t want anyone to throw up when they look at my pages because the design is discombobulating.

With Project Life, I don’t have to design. I just put photos, words, and stuff in pockets. Actually, since I’m digital, I put it all on pocket spaces.

Besides the kit shown above, I used this stuff I used to make these pages:

• digital template - left page: Project Life Template A (get it FREE here)
• digital template - right page: Project Life TemplateW
• “week” stamp and “six” stamp: Ali Edwards
• date stamps: Digital Design Essentials (Gina Cabrera)
• photo-collage templates (some have been modified): Tracy Larsen
• QR code maker
• word art on top of animal photos: Rhonna Design app
• “On VALENTINE’S day”: freebie from Smitha Katti (See my PL FREEBIES board on Pinterest here for more freebies.)

Fonts used:

Thanks for visiting!

PS. As I'm trying to get caught up on my pages, I am shortening my blog posts by not showing every pocket. Is this working? Can you still see the photos okay and read the words? If not, let me know. 

PPS. Isn't discombobulating a great word?? I can't think of the last time I used it. It just popped out of my brain as I was typing. 

Project Life is the super-simple method of memory keeping created by Becky Higgins. Put photos and cards into pockets on pocket pages. Add journaling and/or embellishments on the cards. Put the completed pages in an album, and you’re finished (unless you enjoy overkill as I do!). Project Life can be done digitally or physically.

Project Life 2014 – Week Six | left side & right side

Here is the situation. I’m terribly behind on this year’s Project Life album. It’s causing me stress. I don’t like to be behind, and I don’t like to be stressed.

In the past, quite a few ladies have said they, too, were behind and didn’t know what to do. I always told them to start with the most current complete week (one where all seven days are over; not the literal current week, which is still in progress). Scrap it, and then, as you have time, go back and scrap the missed weeks.

That was really lousy advice, at least for the OCD. I can’t do the most recent week, then go back to earlier weeks, then come back to the present when another week is complete in real life, and so forth. That just is not orderly and tidy! I would lose my mind.

I’m all about tidy. Yesterday I had brunch with friends in one of their homes. We all got up to leave at the same time. The next thing I knew, I was going around the table, pushing in each chair that had not been pushed in by whomever sat on it. You can be sure I left the chair backs parallel to the table. I don’t even have to think about lining stuff up. It comes naturally.

By the way, I’m a really good house guest! I leave everything in its place, including stuff I didn’t use. =)

So, I can’t go back and forth from the past to the present on my scrapbook pages. Also, I am easily distracted and can’t stay on topic (such as scrapping), as evidenced by the chair-aligning story above. Obviously, I need to find some way to go faster on my pages.

For a while I’m not going to do detailed posts about each page each week. I think you’ll still be able to read the pages, though. I’ll still give credit to the designers for their materials I use, and I’ll still list the fonts used. But I won’t show and comment on each spot.

If you have questions, please leave them in the comments below or email me.

Here is the left side of my two-page spread for Week Six:

Here is the right side of my two-page spread for Week Six:

Here’s the stuff I used to make these pages:

• digital kit: Plus One by Amy Tangerine
• digital template: Project Life Template A (get it FREE here)
• “week” stamp and “six” stamp: Ali Edwards
• date stamps: Digital Design Essentials (Gina Cabrera)
• photo-collage templates (some have been modified): Tracy Larsen
• “Sweet” word art: Penny Springmann
• “Beautiful Dreamer” word art on top of small photo of Evie: Rhonna Design app

On to Week Seven!! Thanks for visiting my corner of the blog world.

Project Life 2014 – Week Three | page three

Here is the third (and FINAL!! Yes!) page of my three-page spread for Week Three:

digital kit: January Storyteller - Collection by Just Jaimee; digital template: Project Life Template A; get it FREE here

Top row – left spot:

“Together” word art: Gina Cabrera; date stamps: Gina Cabrera

This photo was taken right before I walked out the door of Elisabeth and Blake’s house to go to the airport. I looked dazed, Peter was hyper, and Evie was zonked. It’s exhausting to do this back-and-forth mess to spend time with our out-of-town family, but it’s worth it.

I think we should have had a family farm or something. Maybe way out from civilization?  Then all the kids would have stayed close to our home and family, because they would have been needed on the farm.

But each had talents and interests in other areas, and each had to pursue his/her dreams. Peter and I gave them roots, but then they took wings. That was unexpected. I suppose it’s okay; none of us know a thing about farming.

Top row – right spot:

font: Colaborate-Regular; 4x6 base card: Mommyish (There was a reason I used this card from another kit and by another person, but I can’t remember what it is. The kit is called Candid, and it’s by Just Jaimee and Mommyish.)

In the olden days if you wanted to fly to some place, you could often fly directly there. Not so much these days. But there is a good thing about layovers. They provide an opportunity to get food, because you sure aren’t going to get it on a plane, unless you want to pay.

Middle row – first spot:

Middle row – second spot:

font: Geared Slab

Not only did I get Peter’s “ice juice” for his naps and bedtime, I also made sure he had all his bed buddies. I let him put them in their proper places beside him, because you can’t have too much training in being OCD.

OCD can be a good thing. For example, most kids probably waste a lot of sleeping time getting everything in their beds in order. Not Peter.

 

Middle row – third spot:

“Love you to the moon… card”: Love You to the Moon… kit by Just Jaimee; hearts: Yep, That’s Life Stamp Set #2 by Darcy Baldwin.

[Don't read this part, Peter.] I might have bought the Love You to the Moon kit just to get this card. I LOVE this card!! I knew I was going to use it with my grandkids. The photo in the fourth spot was the perfect photo to accompany this card.

Middle row – fourth spot:

red heart: Penny Springmann

For obvious reasons, the above photo is my favorite photo on this page.

Bottom row – left spot:

3-photo collage template: Tracy Larsen

Air travel always amazes me. How can I be sitting in one house in the morning and in another house 100s of miles away in the evening? It’s hard to fathom.

I knew I was back home in Memphis because I was at my computer with a cat attached to my lap and it was cold outside.

Bottom row – right spot:

fonts: FunkyUncial, Simplicity

Another sign I was back home was that I found myself sitting in a theatre, watching a play. So ended another great week.

Thanks for visiting and sharing my pages with me!

Project Life 2014 – Week Three | page one

Hello, friends, and welcome to January!! Really. Sigh. Oh my goodness, whole years haven’t lasted as long as this one month.

Week One was a simple two-page spread. More happened in Week Two. It took five pages to cover. Week Three was busier than Week One, but not as busy as Week Two. So it took three pages.

I didn’t think I would EVER finish those two weeks. It didn’t help that I added an insert page to get in even more photos, like eight pages for two weeks weren’t enough.

Here is the first page of my three-page spread for Week Three:

digital kit: Storyteller January 2014 by Just Jaimee; digital template: Project Life Template A; get it FREE here

Top row – left spot:

font: Arial; “week” stamp: Ali Edwards; “three” stamp: Ali Edwards; date stamps: Gina Cabrera

I’m still using a landscape photo (landscape in orientation and in subject matter) as a title card for the week. (“Still” – haha! While I started this plan three months ago, I’ve only done it three times, counting this time.)

Conrad provided this photo. It was taken outside of San Francisco. The real question is how was it taken? Did he hand his phone to a stranger? If so, his stranger was honest and gave back his phone. That’s the best kind of stranger. (I’ll tell about my stranger another time. He was honest, too.)

Top row – right spot:

font: Colagorate-Regular; 4-photo collage template: Tracy Larsen

“YES I can” and the label under “Watch me…: are both from the January Storyteller Collection. The kit has lots of interesting elements. Unless I say otherwise, the stuff I used on this page and the next two are all from Just Jaimee’s January collection. 

Could Peter be any cuter? Look at that first photo! It's my favorite on this page. Dear Lord, may he always find such joy in the simple things of life!

Middle row – first spot:

font: Geared Slab

Middle row – second spot:

striped card: Rachel Del Grosso (Click on her name to get free striped cards, both a 3x4 and a 4x6.)

If you'd like more Project Life freebies, go to my PL Freebies board on Pinterest.

I love color, but I also love black and white. Well, I love b/w in design, but not so much in photos. I added black in several places on these Week Three pages. Then I went out and bought a black-and-white striped sweater, a black-and-white striped bag, and black-and-white striped Toms. Overkill?

Middle row – third spot:

font: Geared Slab

This week, like last week, I was still watching Peter watch television. Love.

Middle row – fourth spot:

font: KG This Is Not Goodbye

Evie received so many nice gifts for being born. This blanket was really soft and pretty. It will be a nice keepsake for her.

Here is what I want to know: Why do babies get all the gifts when they are born? What about the mother? She is the one doing the real suffering (ask me about Graham’s birth), so she should be the one who is gifted.

And why do people get presents on their birthdays? Their mothers should get the presents on that day. If it weren’t for their mothers, they wouldn’t be here on the planet to get presents. I’ve tried to explain this to my five kids for years. They’re not buying it.

Bottom row – left spot:

fonts: Geared Slab, KG This Is Not Goodbye; collage template (modified): Tracy Larsen

This week, like last week, I stared at Evie, too. Is it normal to sit and stare at one’s grandkids? I hope they don’t think I’m weird, but I am observing miracles. Amazing! Do you think they’ll think I’m weird?

Bottom row – right spot:

fonts: Geared Slab, Arial, KG This Is Not Goodbye; 3-photo collage template: Tracy Larsen; “awesome”: Penny Springmann

Before we had kids, I never was around babies, and I had no idea how much STUFF they need. Or, how much stuff the average parents buy for them. (The more kids we had, the less baby stuff we had. We realized we didn’t need much, except for diapers.)

Next post: Details about and close-ups from page two of Week Three. Thanks for stopping by!