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Whew! Played catch-up BIG TIME this weekend and I am right back on track.  Here we go:

week 13, left side:

week 13, right side:

week 13, side-by-side:

week 14, left side:

week 14, right side:

week 14, side-by-side:

week 15, left side:

week 15, right side:

week 15, side-by-side:

week 16, left side:

week 16, right side:

week 16, side-by-side:

Happy Monday!

I am almost up to present day: one more week to work on.

Week 11 was Disney World week! When I laid out my pages, I tried to keep lots of blank white areas for journaling and kept the photos mostly centered on the page. Then I went back and added the text, character stickers, etc. The new cards you see here (memories, the blue ‘today’ card, etc) will be available in my shop this weekend with the other BYOC products. :)

Some handy links:

Check The Box Cards by Emily Merritt
Washi Tape Frames by Kitschy Digitals
Spring Break brushes by Ali Edwards

week 11, left side:

week 11, right side:

week 11, side-by-side:

week 12, left side:

week 12, right side:

week 12, side-by-side:

Enjoy the day!

In the midst of unpacking, doing piles of laundry, taking the kids to school and dance, trying new recipes and starting to shoot sessions again, I am trying to play catch-up on my Project Life album. :) I am very happy with how colorful these pages turned out! You’ll notice I went a little crazy with the logos this week. I really like using those (Lorax, Jet Blue, Genius Bar, etc).

Colorful rainbow papers are by Micheline Martin.
Hand-drawn words and arrows are by Ali Edwards.
Orange bracketed card by Amy Martin.
Stitched cards by Val Wibbens.

week 10, left side:

week 10, right side:

week 10, side-by-side:

And because you know I just love creating spreads that contain lots of little bits all together, I put my first ten weeks worth of layouts (including the cover page) together so it is as if you were looking through my album right now. Check them out:

I released two Project Life products last Friday but never got a chance to share them here. If you are reading this entry today and missed picking these cards up when they were 20% off this past weekend, use this code, good for today only!

- take 20% off any GMD order *click here* -

code: blogreadertreat

(enter as a discount coupon)

Wishing you a super day!

I did pretty good with my self-imposed design goals this weekend. I caught up on, Blogged and scrapped my February challenge photos and caught up on four Project Life pages!

Week 8 used many of my cards (all of which can be found here). The hand-drawn arrow is by Amy.  Week 9 uses cards by Lili and Kate and baker’s twine by Amy. Can you tell I love my fellow Pad designers? :) The app square is just a screenshot from iTunes.

No new observations this time around. The only tip I will continue to stress is to keep little doodled cards close by (mine are index cards on my desk). Referring to their little notes and dates is a lifesaver when I sit to put these pages together each week.

p.s. Scanned artwork continues to make me happy.

week 8, left side:

week 8, right side:

week 8, side-by-side:

week 9, left side:

week 9, right side:

week 9, side-by-side:

Have a super day!

I finally had some time during the kids’ Winter Break to play in Photoshop (which was a feat in itself seeing as I had to make time first to edit my sessions and then fight all three kids off hourly. They discovered Moshi Monsters last week. We ended up compromising: I worked in the mornings while they each completed five simple chores and checked them off their white board. A completed list equaled computer time later in the day).

I used some of my new cards here. So happy I got to use that green one with the pink heart. Love those colors. :)

This week I especially loved the family drawing Andrew did for us (that is hanging on his bedroom door) and Emily’s hand with the descriptive words her classmates wrote about her on it. This was such a cute idea and I am so happy she brought it home to us on Valentine’s Day. She ended up cutting out 5 hearts from paper and passing them around to each of us. At the end of them circulating, each family member had a heart with words that the other 4 wrote about that person: creative, hardworking, smart, etc. Such a cute idea. Thanks Emmie. :)

week 7, left side:

week 7, right side:

week 7 side-by-side:

I have a little freebie I am offering here for the week. It will be active from now until Friday evening. If I leave it up for too long my bandwith skyrockets.

*thanks for stopping by but the freebie isn’t available any longer*

freebie offered from 2/27-3/2

If you grab it, leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you. Enjoy!

I took a different approach this week with my layouts. I wanted to try the 12 pocket page because I didn’t have many large photos (lots were snaps from my iPhone). It was a lot of fun filling in each section. Also of note: this is the first week where my two facing pages don’t match, layout-wise.

A few of the products that I used this week: a bunch of my Filler Cards for pops of pattern and color, Amy’s new Mended Cards and I thought the Facebook card was really cute (a freebie from Wild Blueberry Ink!) I’ll definitely be using that often.

week 6, left side:

week 6, right side:

week 6 side-by-side:

Have a great weekend!

I actually had these done a few days ago but they needed minor finishing touches which I had pushed aside. I really like how colorful this week’s pages are compared to last week’s. Note to self: I think I extra-love this week’s spread because it includes handwritten papers/drawings from the kids. Include more of those in the future.

If you are doing your project digitally, have you been printing your pages? I have! I never print my layouts in a timely manner but I changed that a few weeks ago and am happy to say that our Project Life album is always up-to-date! This means, kids along with other family (including my 92 year old Grandmother) have enjoyed looking over recent memories so the time and effort has totally been worth it. :)

week 5, left side:

week 5, right side:

week 5 side-by-side:

The page on the right uses one of my new 4×6 photo templates, perfect for including more than one picture or a picture + journaling in a 4×6 spot. Check them out HERE (20% off through the weekend!)

Enjoy the weekend! As for me, I have three shoots to begin editing, one gallery to finish up and a 3rd grade science fair board to put finishing touches on. I also must find time to dive into book 2!

Finally! I had to keep putting this week’s pages aside because there were lots of little things I wanted to include and I didn’t have a good chunk of time to sit and blueprint everything. I did have my index card sketches though and those are quite handy!

Not many new things were observed or discovered this week. I would probably just mention that:

- Sketching your pages on an index card, scrap of paper, receipt, what have you, is a really good idea. I start them at the beginning of the week and they really help me when I sit to decide which pictures are going where. I just keep adding to it all week, tweaking as needed.

- I mixed and match fonts a bit more on these two pages and what do you know: my obsessive-compulsive brain didn’t explode. My layouts also didn’t self-combust so really, you can’t break any rules here. Just do whatever works for you! Don’t feel you need to stick to all one font.

Week 4, left side:

Week 4, right side:

Week 4 side-by-side:

I’m thinking this coming week will be the week that I add in a fun 6×12 insert of some kind.

And with that, I have a bunch of newborn sessions to edit and Blog. Happy Groundhog’s Day! 6 more weeks of Winter according to Phil but I am not even sure New York has had a Winter yet…

Week 3 is done, yay!  It took me a little longer to put together this week’s spread because 1) I didn’t work on it throughout the week, a tip I mentioned being helpful in my last post and 2) I added more bits and pieces to these two pages. And this feels good to me. It’s basically just like scrapping now, only everything is arranged neatly into a cute pocket. ;)

Observations from week 3:

- I most likely will not work on my weekly pages a little at a time like I originally thought. That was before I committed to a digital project. Now that I am completing these pages in Photoshop only, it’s easier to work all at once, like a layout. I am enjoying doing the bulk of the page in one sitting and then going back and adding little bits and pieces to finish it off.

- Don’t forget to check your cell phone’s photo album! I originally uploaded my two-page spread to Facebook and then remembered I had a decent (if not totally blue because of the iPhone’s flash) shot of my husband and I out together that I wanted to include. My Target shots from this week (see below) are both from my iPhone too. Cell photos are totally acceptable!

- I ordered 6 pages last week from my lab and forgot about edges! I used to always add a thin border to my layouts pre-printing in case anything got cut from the edges. I forgot with my Project Life pages and I have to say, I didn’t like the result. I was missing the little clear stitching around the top of the pockets. I went back and figured out a good format. I took my 12×12 white paper that I’ve been using behind the pages and placed that on a 12×12 canvas. Then I re-sized my flattened layout to 11.5″ giving me a nice white border once I placed it on the 12×12 canvas. They look so much better after printing now.

- I changed up my template this week. I had seen a template that I liked but didn’t have a digital version. I asked my friend Valorie to create one for me so it would match the others I have been using. It doesn’t appear to be available for sale yet, but you can check her other templates and digital work HERE.

- Freebies are being offered in the digital world constantly. Keep my Project Life pinboard bookmarked if you are looking to find some! (If you need an invite to Pinterest, send me your e-mail. I warn you now though, it’s beyond-addicting).

Week 3, left side:

Week 3, right side:

Week 3 side-by-side:

Tomorrow is the last day of Week 4! I may just get to work on my layouts since I already have my blueprints sketched and I need a break from reading & napping on this rainy day.

There. I said it.

Last post about this. Swear it. Until 3 days from now.

Kidding.

I hope.

I knew all along this was going to happen. What can I say except that I apparently enjoy torturing myself for a few weeks before making a final decision.

Who knew I was going to eventually say “Project Life, 100% digital!” by week 3? C’mon. I secretly did.

I used to paper scrap. I had every gadget known to man and I lived in a much smaller space than I do now. I was over-the-moon when I stumbled on digital scrapbooking and realized I didn’t have to live amongst scrapbooking tools anymore. Well if I am being honest, those weren’t my initial thoughts at first. At first glance I thought digital scrapbooking would be cold, sterile and lifeless. I was so happy to be so wrong. I have been a digital scrapper since 2005 and I have never once looked back.

Sure I enjoy the occasional hybrid project. Make that very occasional. I thought maybe I would enjoy it for Project Life 2012 but at every turn it looks like I was making this a digital project despite my best efforts for it to be otherwise.

Lets investigate this theory further:

Exhibit A: I was using overlays on my photos. Not that this has to be a sign that you are digital but it’s another Photoshop step. Exhibit B: I was arranging all of my journaling cards in Photoshop and then printing. Exhibit C: I was creating digital mock-ups for the Blog. Why? Because I like making added work for myself as is now apparent. And I like working in Photoshop. Please see Exhibits A & B. I even went so far as to journey back to 2009 and begin to scrap those daily photos in digital format. Finally last night I had an epiphany of sorts. It involved sending my husband out for a mocha frapp with lots of whip because I was craving A- chocolate and B- whip and then sitting at my computer to finally come to terms with what I was trying to push aside for the past 2 weeks:

Project Life 2012 shall be digital. The end.

I really mean it this time…!

And then I decided to throw all caution to the wind, re-do my cover page and the first two weeks and finally, put my fears aside and Blog about it one last time, even though by now you are probably laughing (or eyerolling) at my crazy ways. Hopefully if you are a potential client, you have either just decided that me being all over the creative board makes me artistic and fun or with any hope, not stumbled across this entry all together. *fingerscrossed*

So this is what I am doing in case you are still reading, still interested, still my friend despite my flawed brain and it’s inability to make a darn decision:

I am still creating these layouts 12×12. This is new to me since I am an 8×8 scrapper but I am really enjoying this larger size and since these layouts contain lots of pics and lots of journaling, 12×12 it is.

I am using Valorie Wibbens’ Pocket 3 protector. I did turn down the opacity of the plastic sleeve to 70%. I don’t want to detract from the photos plus these will be printed and slipped into 12×12 sleeves for my album, so the less on top of the photos the better.

Originally I was only using a handful of my designs to journal on each week. But once I made the decision to press on 100% digitally last night, I went back to the Pad and loaded up on all sorts of fun cards. Now I’m excited to not hold back and really use all of the digital tools available. I’ll link up as needed. I even changed some journaling cards on my original pages which you can see below. For some reason my brain wanted to categorize doing a paper album as cleaner and digital as filled with more color and overall “stuff”. I think that’s just because this medium is much more comfortable to me after all of these years.

This isn’t to say I am not still going to pull from my ginormous stash of digital supplies, because I most certainly am, but I decided to start a folder simply labeled PROJECT LIFE. Inside are all of the every day sort of supplies I could see myself pulling from most often. Here’s a little peek inside that folder.

Uh basically, I like collecting journaling cards.

I am going to print my pages through my lab, WHCC. I originally was attempting to save a few bucks by printing my 4x6s through Persnickety Prints because I did like their quality but I can’t stand the wait time. WHCC takes 2 days to reach my door. I’ll splurge weekly and order my two layouts. I am always ordering prints for clients anyway so I know I am constantly getting WHCC orders at my door either way. Might as well have a Project Life page or two in there for me.

I am still going to add ‘real’ stuff here and there. I have scanned in my kids artwork in the past and those have always printed great. I can go that way or create a sleeve since I do have page protectors here, sitting unused as it is (along with an entire Amber core kit). I might want to scan in or actually include real theater or movie tickets. Am I going to miss the ability to add in more paper ephemera weekly? No. I did think that was an interesting selling point originally but I know myself. I am much more apt to pick a cute digital card and include neat type than scribble on a french fry wrapper. I think that’s awesome if you can pull that off but I embrace my wacky, OCD qualities where everything ends up at perfect angles and neat type and stuff like that just never ends up coming to fruition with me.

And just in case you’re still with me, still interested, some of the reasons I just could not get into paper were:

I need instant gratification. Digital scrapbooking has always afforded me this luxury. As of today, I still have not received my print order containing Week 1′s pictures, and we are in the middle of Week 3. This makes me itchy and antsy and I feel like I am falling behind even though I am not. But if I am going to do this and stay on top of it weekly as I have been, I want to get everything into my album in a timely fashion.

I don’t love my printer. I confess that I may have bought it strictly because of it’s color. Who wouldn’t love a cheery cherry red printer? It’s a Canon and it’s not my favorite. So printing at home really isn’t an option because I won’t spend time on photos and journaling cards and not love the prints. And yes, I have tried instant gratification by way of Target and CVS one hour photo and the quality just is not there.

I don’t want to buy paper supplies. Been there. Done that. I don’t have the room. I don’t have the time. I really don’t even have the desire to start embellishing this stuff. So if I am going to only lightly embellish in Photoshop and print, I can’t even call that a hybrid anything. It’s a digital something, printed and that’s where I left off yesterday when I said I was confused and didn’t know what I was (in the Project Life sense. I’ve got a pretty good handle on myself otherwise.) So in that respect, I would rather just embellish in Photoshop, maybe even more so than I have been, and treat it like a mini layout, something I know I am good at and enjoy creating.

So that’s that. From Week 3 forward, I am 100% digital. I figure hey, Week 3 isn’t so bad. At least I didn’t figure this out at Week 50. Because I could see myself doing that too. =P

Here is my digital book so far. And yes, once these arrive by week’s end from my lab and I hopefully get them into some page protectors, I will certainly take a Nikon shot so you can see how these look in real life, not just coming right out of Photoshop.

(p.s. Photoshop, I love you. I wasn’t sure if I told you that today yet).

Cover Page (plus a 6×12 page over this with our last name on it, remember?)

Week 1, left side:

Week 1, right side:

Week 1 side-by-side:

Week 2, left side:

Week 2, right side:

Week 2 side-by-side:

I’m happy now. :) Promise! Times infinity. No takebacksies.

Got a Project Life to share? Link me up!

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