Project Life 2015 – Week 18

Subtitle: Don't forget the small stuff!

I’m keeping this post short and simple (unlike my pages). No time for a lot of writing, because I’m about to hit the road again. Well, actually, I’m about to hit the air. =) This time I'm flying to New York City!

Here is my two-page spread for Week 18 of my 2015 Project Life/pocket page album:

main kit used: Hello Cutie, a newsletter freebie* by Amy Wolff at The Lilypad

main source of word art: Ali Edwards

Here is a closer look at the left side of Week 18:

Here is a closer look at the right side of Week 18:

Oh, how I love the Project Life style of scrapbooking! If I were still doing an event-driven scrapbook, I probably wouldn't have used a single photo on these two pages. No big event worthy of scrapping took place this week, BUT lots of little things happened that I want to remember. 

Because of Project Life I'm recording the big stuff and the small stuff. You know what? I imagine it's the "little" things that my kids and grandkids will most enjoy seeing when they're older. Conversely, I'm fairly sure my kids will not be enamored with the zillions of photos I have of them opening presents on their birthdays and Christmas.

Thanks, Becky Higgins, for teaching me that everything about life matters, and for giving me a means of documenting it all.

Thanks, blog followers (all several of you), for stopping by! Enjoy your life and record it! ALL lives are worth recording – that includes of aspects of your life. 

(Some photos are blurred for privacy.)

*Many designers offer freebies suitable for Project Life albums via blogs, newsletters, fan pages on Facebook, and such. Google to find them and sign up to get the freebies.

Project Life 2015 – Week 17

Subtitle: How to make pages without embellishments

(In other words, making pages using the Project Life method . . . sorta)

Here is my two-page spread for Week 17 of my 2015 Project Life/pocket page album:

main kit used: Bloom by One Little Bird

Most word art is by Ali Edwards, whose stuff is available here.

Let me address the subtitle first. Here’s the back story (as it's cool to say now): I have a ton of photos for this week (nothing new there). And for some reason I feel compelled to tell the story behind every single photo I use.

After drastically narrowing down the number of photos to use, I opened two copies of Template A* (one for each side of this week’s two-page spread), added the photos, and told the stories. Then I sat back and looked at the two pages.

Look at them above. There is no room whatsoever for any embellishments, like flair or washi tape or fancy labels or flowers . . .. I guess technically the arrow is an embellishment, but no elements were added just for decoration, which is my definition of an embellishment.

What do you know?! I did this week according to the basic Project Life method, which is to put photos and cards into pockets (on physical pages) or onto templates (for digital pages), and then add journaling. Okay, I did the basic PL method with overkill. Major overkill. That’s just my style. I did save time by not using embellishments.

If you want to get more pages done in less time, use the PL method with fewer photos and less journaling than I did. In other words, don’t copy my style.

Here is a closer look at the left side of Week 17:

Here is a closer look at the right side of Week 17:

A side note: Bloom, the kit I used this week, included almost no embellishments. No money wasted there. =) Bloom doesn't have a lot of color either, just pink, orange, and gray.

Thanks for visiting my blog, and thanks in advance for any comments you leave. Enjoy your life and record it! ALL lives are worth recording.

(Some photos are blurred for privacy.)

Template A is available here for free!

It’s NOT about the bass (or the words)

Subtitle: Facts vs. stories

Is Meghan Trainor’s song stuck in anyone else’s head? I sing this chorus a number of times each day:

So catchy. And annoying.

For scrappers it's not about that bass, and you know what? It's not even about the words. Folks, it’s all about the stories. I’ve had a hallelujah moment.

For as long as I’ve been scrapping, even before I went 100% digital, I have always journaled a lot on my pages and encouraged others to do the same.

I admire scrappers who take stunning photos. But sometimes they make pages of photos with few or any words. With all due respect, to me they are making what I call coffee table books.

Do people still use that term? Hold on while I check the bastion of all 21^st century knowledge. Yes! Wikipedia. Here’s what it says:

A coffee table book is an oversized, usually hard-covered book whose place is for display on a table in an area in which one would entertain guests. Pages consist mainly of photographs and illustrations. Since they are aimed at anyone who might pick the book up for a light read, the analysis inside is often more basic and with less jargon than other books on the subject. Because of this, the term "coffee table book" can be used pejoratively to indicate a superficial approach to the subject.

Oops. I didn’t mean to insult coffee table books, but “light read” and” superficial” are not words I want used to describe my scrapbooks. I want them to be way more personal and memorable than that.

I’ve always encouraged fellow scrappers to include at least some of the basic 5 W's – who, what, when, where, and why – on their pages. However, I’m starting to realize you can list all of those details, and yet not tell the story.

Look at these photos:

Who: Graham and Peter

What: looking at giraffes

When: March 08, 2014

Where: the zoo in Jacksonville, Florida

Why: Graham spent her spring break in Jacksonville with the Jacksonville branch of our family.

That was really dull, right?

Read this blog post by Laura Zhu about the 3 Fs of journaling:

Considering the facts *and* feeling behind these photos, here’s a rewrite of the 5 Ws above:

Graham spent her spring break (6-14 March 2014) with Blake, Elisabeth, Peter, and Evie in Jacksonville. When they went to the zoo there, Graham couldn’t get Peter to the giraffe exhibit fast enough, because she’s hoping he will one day share her intense obsession with giraffes.

If I had used several photos of Graham, Peter, and the giraffes on a scrapbook page, I might have journaled more about her strange obsession. But what I have above is sufficient and an improvement over just the facts.

Summary: We should record our lives with photos and stories, not just words, but stories. A picture might be worth a thousand words, but it is worth even more when accompanied with words that tell a story.

Question: How have I followed Ali Edwards’ teachings and used her products for years, while her basic message (Tell your STORY!) went right over my head??

Amplification: When I say Graham is obsessed with giraffes, I am not kidding. Last night she, Peter, and I saw the touring Broadway production of The Lion King. The giraffes were among the first animals to appear on stage, which caused Graham to burst into tears.

Does this make you cry?

It's what made Graham cry (the first time) during The Lion King. To be honest, I simultaneously burst into tears, too. What in the world? I have no idea. I guess it was the bigger (much bigger)-than-life stuff, right in our faces (we were on Row 3, center aisle) with the thundering African-inspired music. It was just amazing.

Want more help with your storytelling?  Look around Ali Edwards’ blog for information and inspiration. And consider subscribing to her monthly Story Kits.

Above all, tell your story! I'm all about that story, 'bout that story, 'bout that story, . ...

Project Life 2014 – Week 12 | right side

Here’s a closer look at the right side of Week 12:

This one is hilarious to me:

Blake and Elisabeth take these brackets (seen here taped to a door) very seriously. Nothing like an uninformed two-year-old kid dominating the family contest.

I used to waste a lot of time on Facebook. Now I waste a lot of time on have switched my allegiance to Instagram, because I like its focus on photos.

Also, for the most part, my Facebook friends were already my friends in real life. In contrast, I didn’t know most of the people I follow on Instagram until I discovered them on Instagram (or they found me). 

I’ve really, really enjoyed getting to know people from all around the world, such as Jennie and her husband Oscar who live in Sweden and who are the parents of this cutie:

Funny thing: Sometimes when I'm looking through my Instagram feed and see a photo of Molly, I think she is my granddaughter Evie, except Evie's mother Elisabeth doesn't usually write in Swedish. Okay, she never does.

Side note: I always wanted a daughter named Molly after my mother's mother's mother. I had a daughter, but we named her Graham. Long story.

It’s a good thing we have lots of chairs and sofas:

I’ll end with my favorite spot on this page:

Surely you’ve seen the YouTube video entitled “Charlie bit my finger.” (If not, it’s here.) It's had over 700,000,000 views. That’s the first thing I thought of when I saw this video of Peter and Evie. I love my grandkids!

See y’all later!

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

• “week” stamp and “eleven” stamp: Ali Edwards
• date stamps: Digital Design Essentials (Gina Cabrera)
• QR code maker: www.qrsuff.com
• various word art: Ali Edwards, Kerri Bradford, Penny Springmann

Project Life 2014 – Week Six

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

For Week Six I used Plus One, a digital mini kit by Amy Tangerine:

I thought I had fun doing Week Five. That was nothing compared to the joy I experienced doing Week Six! It’s probably not normal to get so excited about a digital scrapbooking kit, is it?

Amy Tangerine is astonishingly creative. This mini kit consisted only of 3x4 and 4x6 cards – no embellishments or stamps or smears or anything else. 

Although I modified some of the cards a bit, I basically used them as Amy designed them. They look like I’ve added stamps and embellishments and such, but they are part of the cards.

You would think I would have made these pages quickly, since I only used cards and photos. Didn’t happen. I am looking for my Project Life scrapping groove. (And looking and looking.)

It is helping a bit to have made some global (as in, going across all my pages, not all across the world*) decisions. For example, last year I decided to standardize my week cards in 2014. This year every week card will . . .

• feature a landscape photo,
• fill a 4x6 horizontal space,
• be in the upper left corner of the left page of my weekly two-page spread,
• include the word “week” and the number of the week made with word art by Ali Edwards, and
• include stamps by Gina Cabrera for the dates of the week.  

Whereas last year I stewed over the pesky week card for hours each week, this year I can whip out those suckers in a matter of minutes. The rest of the two pages does not come together so quickly, but I'm working on that.

There are two other time savers I’m employing this year that I also did last year.

• (except for very rare exceptions) I always use Template A (page protector Design A). Therefore, I know I need stuff to cover eight horizontal 4x6 spaces and eight vertical 3x4 spaces.
• I always use one kit. I might add word art or a few embellishments, like arrows, but I don’t bring in papers or cards from other kits.

Next post: Details about and close-ups from the left side of Week Six.

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.

Thanks for visiting!

* If you're a Project Life/pocket page scrapbooker, you do know this method of scrapbooking is happening all over the globe, right? Materials are being translated into other languages and even being designed for those who are not English speaking. Workshops are being held all over the world. Please pass the word to your friends and family who have not yet joined the bandwagon. Encourage those who are PLers in their efforts, even by leaving comments on or "liking" their pages. This is important stuff, people! And it's fun, too!

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 two

Here is the second 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:

font: Colagorate-Regular

On Monday evening Blake, Elisabeth, and I each separately realized Evie looks a lot like her brother did at this age. I found a photo of him, and we compared them.Yep. They look alike.

Top row – right spot:

font: Geared Slab; 6-photo collage template: Designs by Lili

Peter is a busy boy.

Middle row – first spot:

Text and embellishments on photo: Rhonna Designs

I took this photo and the one two over with my iPhone. I embellished them on my iPhone and saved them to my Camera Roll before I posted them on Instagram.

Middle row – second spot:

Middle row – third spot:

Text and embellishments on photo: Rhonna Designs

Middle row – fourth spot:

font: Geared Slab; “LOVE this” word art Digital Stamps from February Storyteller Collection by Just Jaimee

This is my ~favorite~ photo on this page, because my child is holding his child. When I was holding Blake when he was a baby, I never thought about him holding his baby one day. The circle of life goes on, and it warms my heart.

This photo is also my favorite on this page, because this is real life. The addition of a baby to a family is a gift from God. But life must go on. In this case, it meant Blake had to continue studying for the Florida Bar Exam he’ll take later this month. He only needs one hand to type and scroll anyway.

A good thing (I hope) about me going to stay with Blake and Elisabeth right after Evie’s birth is that I could join them in playing Pass the Baby. Many hands make light work [Southern expression adopted from the 1300s in England], unless you’re talking about broth making, in which too many cooks spoil the broth. I just mixed metaphors. Don't tell my former high school English students.

Bottom row – left spot:

font: Arial; “the LITTLE moments” word art: Penny Springmann; 2-photo collage template: Tracy Larsen

This week, like last week, I spent a good amount of time staring at Evie. I put her on my lap and my feet on Peter's Brio train track (sorry, Peter), and I just stared. 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

My kids' Instagram streams provide lots of good material for my Project Life pages. The sign Conrad photographed on a pole in his neighborhood . . . hahaha!

Next post: Details about and close-ups from page three of Week Three. Thanks for stopping by! Happy weekend, everyone!

Project Life 2014 – An Insert!

Week Two of my 2014 Project Life album was about Peter and me being in Jacksonville, Florida, to meet Evie, our newest grandchild. Week Three was about my second week in Jacksonville and about me returning home.

Moving right along, I was ready to work on Week Four. (Yeah, I know in real life it’s probably Week 13 or 14.) While sorting photos, I found a bunch of photos of Graham that should have gone in Week Two or Three. No way was I redoing either of those weeks. Inserts to the rescue!

Here are the 6x12 inserts I made with stuff related to Graham:

Here is a closer look at the front of the insert:

font on the top: Attic; digital template for the front: Project Life Template A (cut in half vertically)

Front, top spot:

8-photo collage template: Designs by Lili; embellishments on photos: Rhonna Designs

Suffice it to say Graham did not starve while Peter and I were in Jacksonville. She stayed home with the dog and cats. Various friends stayed with her. They all love to cook and eat.

Front, second row:

square cards: February Collection by Traci Reed; embellishments on first and third cards: Rhonna Designs

Front, third row:

embellishment on top of photos: Rhonna Designs

I use Rhonna’s embellishments a lot when I take photos on my phone for Instagram. I like her embellishments so much that I bought many of the sets on her website. Now I can add them to my Project Life photos, too.

Front, fourth row:

font: Arial; word art: Ali Edwards; 4x6 card: February Collection by Traci Reed

Have I mentioned Graham is allergic to cats, particularly Mister Bucky? It's a good thing she's not allergic to Ellie Mae, because Ellie Mae is usually found glued to Graham's side.

Back of insert:

background paper: April Collection by Traci Reed

Graham is in charge of social media for the University of Memphis RUF group. RUF stands for Reformed University Fellowship; it’s our denomination’s college campus ministry.

A few weeks before this article appeared in the Memphis daily newspaper, Graham was interviewed over the phone for about an hour. The actual article was long. It was on two different pages.

In the olden days, pre-Project Life, I would have saved both of the pages. I kept a “memory” folder for each of our five kids for each year they lived at home. I have kept one for Peter and me for each year, too. I have a lot of memory folders.

Now I’m putting things like this article in my Project Life albums. Whereas I kept whole newspaper clippings in the memory folders, I don’t always need the whole thing.

For this article I went to our newspaper’s website, found the article, and used the Snipping Tool found in Microsoft Windows to “clip” out the parts I wanted to save, including the newspaper banner, the article title, and the photo used with the article. Here is a closer look at those parts:

I also clipped the part of the article that mentioned Graham. Here it is:

I put these items together on a 6x12 blank document I made with Photoshop. I also added a background (a paper by Traci Reed) in accordance with my scrapbooking motto: leave no space blank. 

When I'm ready to have this insert printed, I'll put both 6x12s on one 12x12 page and upload it to Persnickety Prints. Then I'll sprint out to my mailbox to await delivery of the page, because Persnickety Prints is that fast.

I'll cut the page in half, and put the two halves back to back in a 6x12 Project Life page protector. As I said earlier, this insert will go between Weeks Two and Three. 

I love having my pages printed individually instead of in a bound book, because I can go back and add inserts at any time. I can also redo pages when I find I've made an error. Yep, my OCD will insist I pay to have the whole page reprinted.

Next post: Details about Week Three. Thanks for stopping by!