Project Life 2016

Project Life 2016 | Weeks 36 & 38 Feat. Pink Paislee Moonstruck!!!

November 8, 2016

Hi there! Today I have two separate layouts to share with you and I thought I would just combine them into the same process so we can get things done! I am sharing Weeks 36 and 38 in my 2016 Project Life album. Have a look at my process here:

Let’s begin with Week 36, which I created in the Project Life App using the Project 52 cards available in the app. I then embellished on top of the printed layout, using Pink Paislee Moonstruck.

I used the date card for this week and then embellished using one of the floral ephemera from the Moonstruck pack.

I had a combination of colors in my photos for this week, and a set color scheme from the Project Life cards. The Moonstruck collection pulled all of these colors together beautifully!

This bloom is one of the flowers we have planted out by our mailbox. Some days we aren’t sure if it is making it or not, but then it surprises us and gives us a pretty bloom.

One of my favorite things about my husband is that he is a great baker. He loves to make biscuits sometimes, and this was a great opportunity to include that in our album. Also, he is using a ramekin to cut the dough circles, and my mom used to use those ramekins when she made her biscuits. Definitely a full circle.

I have to say that the cork elements in the Moonstruck collection add the loveliest texture and just a sparkle of gold. I don’t use a lot of cork, and last time Pink Paislee released cork elements I did not get them. I regretted that, so this time I did buy them!

I made a traditional layout about this photo already, and then I also included it here. It is one of my favorites.

Ok, on to the right hand side, which is Week 38. Did you notice in the process video that I kept thinking it was Week 40? It is a miracle that I stamped the date correctly! Ha!

This layout was created using the Timeless Memory Pocket Monthly digital collection available at The Lilypad. I always save my digital elements in Dropbox and bring them into the Project Life App just like a photo.

I think my favorite thing about this week’s layout is how the border color coordinates to well with the Moonstruck elements and the journal cards. Lots of beautiful color here, and I love it all!

The photos I included on this layout were some quick snaps we took on one of our walks around the neighborhood. Our neighborhood is still being completed, so we have construction around us and the landscape changes sometimes. Where we are standing for these photos was the ending of a side street on that day. The next day all that was removed and a through street is being created!

For this filler card I felt like the pattern was bold and so the embellishments should be very minimal. A gold title and simple butterfly is all that is needed.

A little journaling here, and a cat photo of Nico. I love having a place for these random photos that might otherwise just get left on my hard drive.

One more photo of the two of us and this layout is complete.

I am so happy to be able to share these layouts with you, and I am so thankful that you are following along with me on the journey of 2016. See you soon!

~Theresa

Project Life 2016

Project Life 2016 Week 34 | Using Your Kits!!!!

November 1, 2016

Hi and happy November to you! Today I am working on Week 34 in my 2016 Project Life album, and sharing how to use your kit supplies! Have a look at my process video here:

This is the layout I created today. First it was created in the Project Life App using journal and filler cards that were part of the Memory Pocket Monthly available at The Lilypad.

The layout itself was printed on my wide format Epson printer here at home in 12×12, on matte photo paper from Staples. I used matte photo paper this time because I knew I wanted to use some paint with the rose image on the right hand side.

As soon as I saw this lovely rose I knew I had to use it on this layout. I absolutely did use mixed media and Tim Holtz distress paints on matte photo paper and love the results!

The embellishments on this layout are from Freckled Fawn’s October embellishment kit. The stamps are from my Gossamer Blue October Life Pages kit, designed by Bananafishstudio.

This side of the layout is about our son Addison’s 13th birthday. Close-ups of the cake are a necessity!

And also necessary: photo of him blowing out his candles. The arrow and word circle layer beautifully here.

This card only needed a simple arrow, almost pointing to the candle photo. I absolutely love the colors in this kit and love how it is subtly moving my album into a fall direction!

This is one of the most hilarious gifts ever: Addison received two of these adorable horse heads! He loves them, and we loved seeing him try them on. We were dying laughing, all together. What a great memory!

I absolutely love these photos of us around the dining room table, having our private family celebrations. These become iconic, in a way, and you guys have heard me talk about how our rooms are the backdrops for our memories. I am ever so thankful that they will have these documented memories.

The left hand side is a collection of photos from the week that I simply love. This project is, every week, the place to bring all the random photos and bits of life into context. I began with the date card here.

The journal card with the hearts is created in the Letterglow app using the glitter heart digital elements included in the MPM kit. I simply brought the hearts into a blank canvas and repeated it for the pattern.

Both of these photos of Natalie and me were taken at her Open House at school. She is a few years younger than the others and is the last one in elementary school. I am so excited for her to be on her own, in a way, and to have a few years to be her own person at school.

This card was so much fun to create! I used the puffy house from the Freckled Fawn kit and then I stamped the ink splatters from the Gossamer Blue stamp set. Awesome!

I am also in love with this wood grain card. What a lovely creamy brown that ties in beautifully with the browns in the photos and the embellishments.

And here, another iconic photo that I try to capture each year before school starts. Every year they get taller compared to the door and the siding on the house. Document your children’s growth in this way, any opportunity you can. It may feel like the photos look the same each year, but the progression will reveal itself in time and they become a treasure.

Thank you for following along today! See you back here soon!

~Theresa

Ali Edwards Story Kit, Project Life 2016

Project Life 2016 Week 35 Back to School Part 2

October 28, 2016

Hi there! Today I am sharing Part 2 of my Week 35 layouts in my Project Life album, these are the pages I created for our girls. Have a look at my process!

Up first is Emberlynn, who is 11 and going into sixth grade. This is her first year in middle school and I know she is going to rock it! (And she is!)

I love these simple stars scattered across the negative space on the photo. Now, granted, you have to be careful doing this so it doesn’t look like “sticker sneeze,” but I think it’s ok with stars. A few word strips at the bottom help ground the embellishments.

Underneath is one of the title cards, with more word strips and stars.

This is a photo I took of all four of them sometime that same week. Since they leave at different times of the morning now, it’s impossible to get a photo of all four on the first day of school. And who says you have to take one on precisely that day?

For Emberlynn’s initial and number I overlapped some of the card boundaries. I love crossing those lines and allowing embellishments to go across the page sometimes! (Most of the elements used in Emberlynn’s layout are from the Ali Edwards Cheer Story kit.)

Up next is Natalie, who is now 9 and in fourth grade. She is still in elementary this year!

For Natalie’s page I used elements and cards from the Ali Edwards Read kit. I adore the colors in this kit and they coordinate perfectly with her shirt in the photos.

Underneath I added this filler card, which is a patterned card that I brought into Letterglow and then added the digital word art on top. Then I added a little bit of journaling and the date.

We totally had a dance party in the car while we were in the car line at drop-off. I adore her enthusiasm and joy!

These two filler cards only needed journaling and star stamps! Love that simplicity!

And then her title card, with initial and age. I also added a few more word strips to carry the words down the side of the letter n.

That is all for today! Have a great weekend!

~Theresa

Ali Edwards Story Kit, Project Life 2016

Project Life 2016 Week 35 Part 1 | Back to School

October 27, 2016

Hi there! I have some back to school layouts to share with you today! Have a peek at my process video:

So if you follow me regularly then you have probably seen in the past that I like to create layouts that highlight each of our four children, and I tend to repeat the same style of layout and then embellish each individually. Creating the layouts times 4 is a time-saver, while also allowing me to create a love note of sorts for each one of them. Today I am sharing the boys’ layouts and tomorrow I will share the girls’ layouts. Here is Addison’s:

I created the layout itself in the Project Life App using the digital journal cards from Ali Edwards’ Story kits. Earlier this week I shared how I create my own cards as well, so if you missed that scroll down a bit to find that tutorial!

I began with this great enlarged photo of Addison standing outside his school at Open House. You know what is awesome about this photo? In years to come he will go back and know exactly how tall he stood next to the bricks!

The cards on this layout are all from the Drive Story kit, along with the stamps I used. So easy to bring those digital elements right into the Project Life App!

Addison’s birthday is in late August, always right around back to school, so I included this photo from his birthday celebration. A simple label adds a little something to bring your eye to this photo.

Now the yellow heart in the circle is a digital element and also a physical element in the kit, and I love them all. This one is simply layered onto a white canvas in Letterglow, and then I stamped This Story on top.

Creating layouts in the Project Life App doesn’t mean you can’t also get messy and use your paints, as you can see here. I added his initial and his age using chipboard alphas I have had in my stash. The 13 is Ali Edwards and the a is from Hobby Lobby.

Here is Nick’s layout:

I also used a photo of him by the same brick column here, along with simple banners and a rubber shape from the kits.

I love the colors in this journal card, and even though it is designed for a list based journaling, I just journaled like normal on it. Who says you have to follow the actual prompts?!

My silly boy put the papers over his face and it made me laugh, so I took the shot and included it here. Such big personalities in this house and I love that my camera captures them all!

I didn’t have to add much to these two cards, only a chipboard frame (from the Project Life Storytelling kit) and a stamped sentiment. Done!

And here is Nick’s title card, also with his initial and age. The n is from Hobby Lobby and the 12 is unknown from years ago. All have been painted with Tim Holtz distress paints and layered with Glossy Accents.

See you back here tomorrow for the girls’ layouts!

~Theresa

Project Life 2016

Project Life 2016 Week 33 | Dear Lizzy Saturday!!!!

October 11, 2016

Hi there! Today is Project Life day around here and I am on Week 33 in my 2016 album. Have a look at my process:

I began my layout with these printed pages created in the Project Life app. I chose the Project 52 and Love Story kits available in the app for my journaling cards, and then I chose Dear Lizzy Saturday embellishments to add dimensional accents.

The photos I used for this week’s layout are from Alan’s birthday! You will recall one of the gifts I gave him this year was a mini album and he is holding that album in the lower left hand corner. Here is the left side of the layout:

In the interest of simplicity, I only added a few paper strips, a stamped image, and a rubber ampersand to the top photo.

I am in love with these black and white alphas that go with the Dear Lizzy Saturday collection! I am also loving placing the dates on one side of these date cards like this. Fun and simple!

Here is the right hand side of this layout:

I began with this title card and I was really happy to use this chipboard phrase! I have to admit that I have not done a good job of including Alan’s birthdays in our family albums, so it was fun to just focus on this event for this week. I absolutely think some weeks should be like this in our Project Life albums, don’t you?!

My journaling was short and simple on this layout. That is ok some weeks too! Also I am loving the close-up of the cake. That cake was divine, let me tell you.

I absolutely love including these moments of us around the dining room table. We aren’t around this table every night – some of us leave to go to another home – but I do hope there is a warmth of memories they associate with this place. Also, it feels really good to have a space we love that photographs well. I am a big fan of creating spaces in our home that form a beautiful backdrop for our photos. If you love your home’s environment you are more likely to take those photos!

I went ahead and used up a few of the tickets that were in the Saturday ephemera pack. I am still trying to figure out the best way to use the tiny attacher so that the staples will form properly in the back – but for now the imperfect staple adds a little detail anyway.

I love how these 3×4 cards give the best opportunities for layering on these layouts. Just simple washi tape, a fun banner, and a little bird make these cards pop.

These two have a pretty special relationship, I must say. Earlier that day they were both in my studio while I was trying to work (!!) and this moment happened. I hope all our children remember these moments with Alan and how he has surrounded them with love and support.

One more look at the layout here:

Thanks for joining me today! This was fun! See you soon!

~Theresa