Project Life Weeks Thirty-Six through Thirty-Eight

It's been a while right?  My mojo hasn't returned to paper quite yet, but in the meantime I have been keeping up with Project Life.  In fact, I even went back and put in some serious time on our cruise photos from this past summer.  I still have tons of journaling to do, but I am hoping to be done with that in the next month or so.  In the meantime, I have been keeping up with my weekly spreads.  I can't believe we just started Volume 3 and I have been doing this for over eight solid months now.  Whew!  Some of my weekly spreads are better than others in terms of the number of pictures I actually take.  You will see one super duper large photo split between the different pockets early on and that clearly was a light week.  But at the same time, I love, love, LOVE working on inserts for special occasions.  I put together a few for my music festival birthday celebration this past weekend. I'm not going to post all my photos because there are a ton, but I will give you the highlights . . .

 

New monthly dividers!

Inserts for the Birthday Celebration Start Here - I love Instagram!  

And that's it.  You probably noticed lots of digital work here.  I have finally found my happy place with Project Life and it involves using PSE 10 to add journaling and digital elements to my album.  It feels right and just about as *me* as anything can right about now.  I don't think I used any bit of my Silhouette here - amazing!  

Here are two quick pictures of the new monthly dividers that I put together.  I have one more to go - December and then 2012 will be a wrap!

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You Evil Pharmacist! ~ Featuring DCWV's Bewitched

What's this?  Another Halloween page?  Yep, I was in the groove last week and got two of these babies done.  This one also features the DCWV Bewitched Stack.  Can't get enough of it.  My husband decided to be an evil pharmacist for Halloween last year.  Those of you Phineas and Ferb aficionados know who we are talking about!

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My Boys - A Few Digital Scrapbook Pages

I have been drawn to digital scrapbooking lately and despite my limited skills, I am really enjoying the end result of the pages I've been producing.  I'm sure it helps that I've been using page templates from Cindy Schneider.  My goal is to be able to create one of these beauties from scratch one day, but in the meantime, I want to show you what I've been up to.

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Project Life Weeks Nineteen through Twenty-Two and Scrapbook Divider Bookmarks

Apparently this is the time of year that we Project Lifers get behind in this project.  I thought I was the only one, but every craft site I've visited recently is chock full of folks just like me - caught up in the end of school year frenzy and probably getting a bit burned out by this.  It's not new anymore!  But, I made this commitment so onward we go.  There was a week where I took like, two pictures, and other weeks where one picture just wouldn't be enough, so I've come up with this.  I combined three weeks into one week and added four inserts.  Crazy huh?  The great thing is that the rules are there are no rules so I figured out what works best for me.  As of right now I am totally caught up!  Hallelujah! 

Don't you just love that photo progression?  I adore my boys, they had so much fun doing this.  In fact, cushion diving from the table has become the new black in our household. The next week is my three in one week.  I really am okay with how this turned out.  I still got all of the essential photos in there, and as always I love an insert!

Insert # 1 - this is a Design E page - four 6 x 6 photos.  The front pockets are filled with photos from my father in law's motorcycle race.

The back covers my son's Field Day.  Yes, I'm playing with Photoshop Elements here, but I made the journaling card in the Silhouette Studio software.  I thought he had a great time, but as you can see from his journaling he thought it was just okay.  I have started to include more and more burned DVDs of videos that I'm shooting.  Let's be honest - would they ever make it out of the computer otherwise?  The video is of Field Day and some of the events he took part in.  I am sure this is going to be a hoot in another 4-5 years.  Let's hope DVD players aren't obsolete by then! 

My husband's band played a charity event the same week so the next insert belongs to him.  This is actually a WRMK insert.  My first 6 x 12 horizontal photo. Again, another DVD which will make my husband happy because he never gets a copy of these things and he will watch it over, and over, and over again.  

Another WRMK insert for my nephew's college graduation photos.

What's up with all of these WRMK inserts?  Nothing other than my attempt to mix it up and keep it fresh.  Again, easily bored here!  This last one covers my other son's Field Day.  I also played around with PSE to create a 4 x 8 title card.  I love digital scrapbooking.

And last but not least - my monthly dividers. Now, I ordered all of my Project Life supplies early enough that I didn't get caught up in the mass hysteria once everything was sold out.  I did, however, have my eye on these scrapbook dividers and they weren't available until this past April.  I waited patiently and ordered a pack as soon as they were stocked.  When they arrived, I was a bit underwhelmed.  I thought they were going to be the decorative set that came with last year's kit.  So, I stuck them in the album, unadorned, and thought I would get around to jazzing them up at some point.  A few days ago, I was checking out Becky Higgins blog and I came across this post. Ooooh, I could just use snippets of my favorite 6 x 12 photos that I love!  But then I got to thinking, I really want these to be bookmarks to divide months so why don't I just go ahead and make bookmarks.  Sounds good to me, something new (which I am desperately in need of) and an excuse to play around with a bunch of of my new digital kits.  These are the bookmarks that I've come up with. I printed these out on Super B Photo Paper.  Yes, I know I didn't need to use photo paper, but truthfully it's the only paper I own large enough. These babies measure 3 x 12.125.  I printed out two copies, one for each side of the bookmark, and was able to get three full sets on one Super B page.  So, I actually feel okay about using my photo paper.  What do you think?

This is what one looks like inside of the album.

So that's it!  Caught up, on schedule, right on time.  I used a ton of different kits here, too many to name, so if you're interested in any particular one, please send me an email and I will get back to you with the information.

Thanks for stopping by!

Project Life Weeks Sixteen through Eighteen

I spent my National Scrapbooking Day getting caught up with Project Life.  Sometimes I title the weekly cards by Week No, and sometimes not.  As I was designing the last few, I couldn't believe that we are already up to Week 20!  I have been doing this for almost five months! It's also become increasingly obvious that I won't be able to fit the entire year in one album.  I picked up a second one and I am going to try my best to keep the year in just two albums.  But then again, if there's a story to tell . . .

Those of you who are regular followers know that I have ever so slowly been dipping my toes into the digital world.  It's probably more apparent with these last few weeks of Project Life than anywhere else.  I actually designed the last two Weekly title Cards in Photoshop Elements instead of my usual Silhouette Studio.  Photoshop can do some things Silhouette can't and there's always the issue of Silhouette crashing when you are working with one too many digital papers.  What you see is really just the result of me playing around and feeling my way around the software.

Week Sixteen

I am a big fan of inserts.  Especially the 6 x 12  size.  I just like an over sized picture! This week I used one for a photograph of my son's school project.  He worked really hard on it and I was very proud of him.  The back of the insert is a photo collage of him working on the project with his Grandmother.  I used one of Cathy Zielske's photo templates to create it.  Those are so worth the few dollars they cost.  It's so much easier to drag and drop and mask than to create my own from scratch.  I also used an oversized photo in the later part of the week.  Sometimes you have to do what you have to do to fill those slots up (I was incredibly light on photos this particular week).

Week Seventeen

I created this week's title card (and the next week's as well) in Photoshop Elements using K. Teague's This Life digital kit.  I could have created the exact same card using the Silhouette Studio software, but I am really trying to get the hang of photoshop and the only way to do that is to use it.  Also, it does have the advantages of being able to add shadows, bevels and other some other things that aren't available in the Studio software.  I also added a collage that I put together using an IPhone app called PicFrame. It's a great app - you can make square or 4 x 6 photos, there are a ton of background papers, and other effects. I am going to try to use it more.  

Week Eighteen

There are two 6 x 12 inserts in this week!  What was I thinking?  That I needed to display all of these pictures and include this DVD of my son presenting his project to his class.  His presentation was truly a sight to behold.  This 6 x 12 insert is actually a cut down Design E page.  I wanted to be able to put the DVD in a pocket without disturbing the other pictures.  The day after the presentation everyone dressed up as their presentation characters and they had a parade.  My son of course is dressed up as John Henry.  As you can see, his hammers are in motion.  That was very important, I was told.  The next insert is a true 6 x 12 insert and that covers the trip my boys and I took up to their Aunt's house to do some planting.  In case you missed it, I made my first ever digital page using pictures from that same trip.  You can see that post here.  I love the big 6 x 12 photo of my baby!  Again, I am nothing but a sucker for over sized photo.  The back of the insert is another I created from a Cathy Zeilske template.  Instead of using three photos, I decided use one of the photo spaces for my journaling.  I imported some digi paper from Lori Whitlock for Echo Park's This & That Charming set.  I wish some of my other favorite companies would make their collections available digitally (are you listening My Mind's Eye?).  

So that's it.  Three more weeks in the lives of my family. Project Life is moving along, moving along. 

Recipe:

Software:  Photoshop Elements 10, Silhouette Studio Designer's Edition

Digital Paper & Kits:  K. Teague's This Life; Lori Whitlock for Echo Park's This & That Charming, Lori Whitlock for Echo Park's Note To Self; Echo Park's Orchard Lane; Cathy Zeilske's 6 x 12 Photo Templates; The Sweet Shoppe's Monsterific; Silhouette Studio Shapes

Stickers:  Amy Tangerine Wanderlust and my stash

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a fantastic Sunday!