How I got started with 'project life'

How do i start, where/when do i start; do i start now or last month, last year.  How do i print photos, what size, how do i create collages?...honestly i had so many questions about starting i was a little   overwhelmed. I knew i wanted to do it as a way to make the most out of photos stored on the lappy and phones and to get our stories onto paper; reserving 12x12 layouts for the pictures that deserved their own space.

So i did what i do pretty well and procrastinated (read - researched) via Pinterest. I already had the mignight core kit and design a protectors from the becky higgins project life range, so i started looking for layouts with that collection.  This starting point expanded to similar coloured layouts to whatever took my fancy.

In January this year I decided my starting point would be August 2014. This month was full on for me, with my health and early arrival of my 2nd blue bundle of joy.  Whilst some stories and photos will have their own 12x12 page, there were many photos to share in between. The journaling was my therapy, capturing my thoughts and memories, along with the stories from my family during this time.

I collated my photos from various sources on to my lappy and via picasa selected what would feature this month and began printing. Progress! 

Working with the midnight kit and some other bits and pieces from my stash; I put together my first project life layout - working just one page at a time with no plan or rules; and this is the result:

I love it and I'm hooked! 

Don't read this as it all just fell into place and I did it 15 minutes - hell no.  This page alone probably took me all night. I quickly realised I needed to be more efficient with my time scrapping if this was going to work for me.  Less time choosing supplies more time actually scrapping - that age old battle!  Which has become my current focus but that's a post for another time.

My biggest tip for starting project life is to pick a starting point and just start and see what you come up with.  It doesn't have to be picture perfect or current it just has to be there.

If your reading this - thank you for stopping by
xx

brand new

My first scrappy work in quite awhile.  Last year just got...well busy.  Pregnant, working full time (from home); and trying to do it all.  I promptly got reminded that I am not superwoman and in the process this beautiful little being emerged into the world from his cocoon - so very precious.

I went with the true, tried and tested 1/3 method with the placement of large papers and I believe I was drawing inspiration from Wilna with the using as many embellies as possible and matting white cardstock onto patterned paper. From memory the entire layout is mainly featuring the Maggie Holmes Open Book collection (love love love).

This layout has a special place in my heart.  I love the use of the flowers and leaves, giving a delicate feel to the page dedicated to my newborn son.

If your reading this - thank you for stopping by

xx

love cherish & adore

Been out of  scrapping action for a little while, busy with my home business and messy office - which is where i scrap.  I realised that I've missed this so I've cleaned up my work space and i'm joining in this month's colour challenge set by kreative koncepts.

the challenge:

This time I grabbed a photo from parents wedding 50 years ago!  Ohh they look so young :). Grabbed some papers that had a pink influence and some embellishments to try and work the theme; and some inspiration from Pinterest although my finished layout looks nothing like what I had started out to create :)

my attempt:

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xx

I will love you everyday forever...

I'd like to start by thanking the person on Pinterest who used these words (title) on their layout - whilst I'm sure it wasn't the first time those words have ever been used, i knew that one day I would create a layout with those every words for each of my children as they come along - so here's a page for my first born.

The design inspiration has been kindly provided by scrapfriends with their January 2014 sketch challenge # 21.  Whilst I didn't use all the elements within the sketch my interpretation was to blow some water colour around in the background; add some horizontal elements with rubons, washi tape; cluster some frames I made with scrap paper with other frame like stickers and finish off with my title made with my cameo.  

I had a little internal conflict with filling in open area on the right of the paper and adding some journaling (which is important to my layouts) however in the end I was happy to leave space open, balance the page out by adding the title to the lower right side.  And in the end the title was all I needed to say on this page - I think they are very powerful words and I didn't want to lose their impact.

the challenge:

my attempt:

And now I'm finally happy with this photo and it's layout.  I have pulled it from a page that I did in my early scrapping days (last year) and I never liked it (& was falling apart) so now it's been recycled and I love it.

If your reading this - thank you for stopping by
xx

Love these moments

This post is for the current colour palette challenge with Scrapfriends.  Although I thought I'd end up doing a Christmas themed layout given the traditional Christmas colour palette, I ended up doing a family photo from Mother's Day in 2012.  Looking now at the bunch of embellishments I got out to do this layout - I think I might have to do another one, I wonder how long mr 3 will sleep for this afternoon...

I had started by playing with my new CAMEO (LOVE) and painted the heart shape with watercolours - thanks to Wilna Furstenberg cut file and inspiration from her art class #2; then I painted a blackboard background page and discovered I didn't have chalk to go with my original idea.  I then pulled out some supplies that would go with the colour scheme and checked out what printed photos I had - then it just came together instantly - love it when that happens!

It was fun using the word "moments" from the pinkpaislee artisan words pack, which I coloured with gelatos - just lovely!  definitely will be using these again! 

And YAY!  one more photo done and in my album instead of stuck inside my laptop (& back up) not getting appreciated!

Anyway here's the details of the challenge with Scrapfriends - check them out for your next layout inspiration...

The challenge:

My attempt:

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xx

Fun with Lip Balm

My little one has a fascination with lip balm (along with the rest of the contention my handbag - I'm sure like many others toddlers).  I tend to buy the round blistex lip balm rather than fancy coloured ones - not good at staying in the lines.   I was in the front yard preparing the garden bed for my new roses (love) and I noticed him with it and didn't think much of it - as of course he couldn't get it open, so I took some snaps of his cuteness and continued on with my work.  Then due to his unusual quietness I noticed that in fact he could open it and had painted his face with it - leaving a holey dirty mess in the pot - one look and I knew it had gone past the point of no return - it's all yours kiddo!

So here I've attempted to apply this memory and photos to the latest Scrapfriends sketch challenge # 20

The challenge:

 

My attempt:

One again it took me a little time to get my head around this one, trying to get the idea of 'copying it piece by piece' out of my head, rather trying to just use it as inspiration and put my own spin on it - takes my brain awhile to start the process but once I got a roll on it came together quite quickly.  

My interpretation was that circles were the main design element on 1/3 of the page with a textural background - so I tried to apply that concept to mine rather than the actual pieces on the sketch.

As the photos are always my focal point I wanted a fairly neutral colour scheme with just a pop of colour - using blue to match my photos.  So I stuck with black & white and a dash of earthiness with the cork stickers and background paper, etc.

This layout was created using a mix of watercolour paint, roller & cling stamps, rubons, enamel dots, washi tape ( of course) giant rhinestones and stickers.  I am beginning to get out of the safety zones of only using things from the same collection - yay!

If your reading this post - thank you for stopping by

xx

Cards

As many fellow scrappers have before me, I've started making the odd card using my scrapbook supplies.  Here's one I made recently for a friend of mine - there's something about it which really draws me to it - maybe the black and white stripes maybe the gold thickers - just works for me...

If your reading this post - thank you for stopping by

xx