Project 12 September

I've just collected my students' research papers, so I am in for a lot of reading this next month. We also enjoyed a visit by my parents and my son's birthday, so this place has been busy busy busy!

I did get a chance to work on September Project 12. Here's what I did (click the images to see them larger):

I followed the Becky Fleck sketch pretty closely. Since I've been so busy, though, I had to seriously hold myself back from adding the extra layer of hand stitching. It looked good without it, so I left it off.

I used Studio Calico's Glee Club kit, which is still available. I pulled the flowers from my stash. As usual, I added a photo.


I also realized I haven't posted last June's LO, which is annoying me for neglecting, so here it is:



I used Studio Calico's June kit Paper Moon for this; it had a lot of OA Rocket Age in it, which I loved. So fun to pair blue with such happy, warm colors.

More OA tomorrow...

Thinking about summer...

*Apologies for the delayed post. Following family tradition, the internet fritzed while my husband was away on a business trip. I got it working on every computer except the one with my photos on it. Today my husband returned, as did the internet.*

I can't believe I said this on October 2: I told my son to go put on his swimsuit and play in the sprinkler. It was that warm, despite at least two frost warnings this past week. October is lookin' good.

I suppose it's OK then, that I am working on some summer pages. Here are some recent ones (click on any image to see it larger):


This was for last week's Sketch Support single page sketch. I wanted to use two pages, so I stretched it to two. I used Studio Calico's Boardwalk kit. The flower paper included just scraps, so I did some fussy cutting and sewing to make them look fancier (and nicer!) than the scraps actually were.


Here's one from August:




This was my Project 12 layout. I used Becky Fleck's sketch. As usual, I added more photos. Again, I used Boardwalk. Loved the bright colors in it. Definitely a page about summer!

I have another two page LO about the state fair that I'll share in a couple weeks; I used a terrific two-page sketch from Sketch Support for it! And hold the presses--I got 17 photos on it. Woot!

A smaller one, this one too from the state fair:

When I saw all the photos I had from photo stands (not sure what the official name for these things is), I decided to put them together on a page. This was the last page I made from Paper Moon, June's Studio Calico kit, plus some spare Sassafras flowers. I got 18 pages out of that kit plus three add-ons. Love love love that outer space kit.

Mom, I'm sorry I spilled water on your page...

I have a shared scrap space, specifically the living room. I store my belongings by the computer downstairs, but I don't want to scrap with my back to the room there, so I scrap on a lap desk in the easy chair upstairs. My most used supplies are located there.

Based on the word "Nest" from Big Idea Festival, I made a layout about my space at the suggestion of my friend Sandra:

These are some remnants from this month's Studio Calico kit Boardwalk.

Truly, I am envious of bigger spaces, but I love scrapping while the family is around, so that little phrase sticker was fun to put on.

This nice Bella Blvd. bloom looks great with the colors. I replaced the center brad with this one from Basic Grey.

Amazingly, I have only had two layouts damaged in the shared scrap space: I tripped and fell on a page and had to replace the background paper, which was bent, and my cat once licked a photo. Bleh. Only two times, and none from my boys...until this week.

I was working on my July Project 12 page (there's a link on the top of my blog if you want to learn more about this project), and I was almost done, so the page was lying on the ottoman. I reminded my son for the umpteenth time to take his Kemps ice cream bucket, which he'd put on his head after he took a shower, to his room.

He took the bucket, walked into the living room and started swinging it around in windmills, which spilled water all over the right hand side of the page.

Every photo was ruined, as was one square of patterned paper. This isn't a big deal, perhaps, except I'd stitched the photos down.

After my son went to bed with hugs and "I forgive you, but you have to sit by me and do nothing fun while I reconstruct this page" from mom, I snipped off all the stitching and prised off every photo.

The next day, with a very bored boy next to me, I reprinted the photos and readhered them. I also restitched, which required the removal of some chipboard elements and some manual cranking of the wheel to make sure the stitches went into the previous hole. So, it took me about an extra hour to finish my page, but I did finish it. Here it is:

I used July's Studio Calico kit Mind the Gap. I had run out of many embellishments, so I had to dig into stash.


Here's the re-done page two:


I had to replace the center map paper. Truthfully, the previous one was more orange, and I like this green-heavy piece better. Not enough to redo the whole page, but I'm being glass half full.

I used up my last orange Studio Calico banner stickers for this!


The felt stars and milk cap chipboard from Jenni Bowlin have been in my stash for a long time and worked well for this page.


Repaired page 2 details.

Something fun I'm doing with embossing powder lately: speckling one or two colors of one powder, tapping off excess, then adding the main color, saving this excess. Here I mostly used AC Leaf Zing, with accents of Apricot and Chocolate.

One of my mottos is "There are no mistakes in scrapbooking, only unplanned opportunities for creativity." The same is true in life, I guess.

May 2011

I'm still going with Project 12. I was rushed to finish April's. Here it is in case I didn't post it:

On both April and May, I stuck fairly close to the sketch, though I swapped out elements and added photos. I like the colors here, and I've been using my Studio Calico kits to simplify the process, but this month's kit was really colorful and bright, and my photos aren't really. Hopefully there's not a disconnect.

Here's my May page, which I liked much better, not sure why:


I cobbled together that plaid paper with scraps basically, until I found a few more pieces of it squirreled away at Archiver's. I was so excited to find that paper, I felt like the dodos in Ice Age: "The Laaast Melon!"

The white scalloped thing is a Fancy Pants coffee filter that came with the kit. I didn't know how to use them--I didn't like them misted, and they're too transparent to put over patterned paper. I was happy to lay a circle on top, cut with my ancient Coluzzle.

I also bought an Epiphany Crafts Button maker just so I could use those fancy button holders. Now I have to make at least 19 more of them to get my money's worth.


Whoop! Here's one more! That leaves 18.

An interesting thing about those waxy flowers: I remember Studio Calcio DT members at CHA looking for embellishments to match them for a kit. It made me happy to see what finally went with those toys, which I've used up completely.

Project 12 March 2011

Easter weekend was productive for me scrapbooking wise. That was aided by rain that prevented me from gardening. Here's my page for Project 12:

I used Studio Calico's kit Into the Woods. I didn't have enough yellow paper for the outside paper, so I pieced together scraps. If you look close on the top right, you'll see it. Again, I used the Becky Fleck sketch:

I kept pretty true to the sketch, though I added stuff. I always do.

I thought the wood paper might be too dark? But I liked it, so I kept it. And don't you love my boys hamming it up in the MIA?

The die cut card the title is on had a saying on it. I wasn't ever going to use it that way, so I covered it with patterned paper. And that's me and another Jennifer at the October Afternoon warehouse sale. RAK to come...

This might be my favorite part of the page: my button sun! Some die cut and sticker and rub-on clouds.


My other favorite: The kite. I used an October Afternoon sticker, but I didn't like some of the blues on the kite, so I added paper to two quadrants. I also made the kite semi-dimensional with, well, dimensional stickers! And just for kicks, I inked around the clouds (got those at the OA sale!) and used dimensionals with those too.

ETA: Sorry, I forgot today's discount for an Ella ebook! Here's the ebook:


And here's the code for $1.00 off: PHOTOTRICKS. Good until May 15th, 2011!

Project 12 February

This is day 1 of spring break. Derick is away on business. The boys have not yet driven me crazy. Yet.

I put together a list of chores for each of us to do. Dominic finished his already. There was a carrot, but a small one, but he was very goal oriented. Another Spinjitzu for this guy! (Don't click the link unless the volume is turned down.)

Rowan is on track to finishing by next weekend. Not bad, considering the state of his room.

Most of my to-dos involve editing photos, plus dusting, which I loathe, as I'm seriously allergic to dust. I'm waiting for a warmer day I can open the windows on.

What I stated doing and crossed off my to-do list was finished February Project 12, which has been languishing unfinished for weeks. Here it is:

I used my February Studio Calico kit for this LO. I had two pieces of pink paper, and since I can't really use them for any LO but one about me basically, I decided to use it here. I messed up the punch on the right, which is why I added the bling. And though I hesitated, I decided to machine stitch along the scallop. I just hand to hand-crank it the whole time. Quite a workout!

This photo of my mom is a recent favorite. It was snowing while I took it via the extend-an-arm technique.



This "Love You" I had cut out a while back and not used. It fit well here!

For the title I used some of the cool rub-ons I got at the October Afternoon Warehouse sale. Through operator error, I goofed and left an R half-adhered. To fix it, I used a brown pen. Can't hardly tell.

It took me a while to find the proper amount and type of pretty bits to use around the layout. For once I decided before adhering (heh) which made the whole process easier.

I used this sketch (click the link if it cuts off):


Like usual, I added more papers. I also moved the title location since I didn't have enough room on the right.

A year in review

Last year I decided to do Project 12, an inspiration project by Davinie Fiero. I liked the idea of a different form of storytelling--looking at my life in months rather than just personality or events. Project 12 was wonderful, really transforming the way I look at life and record it in my scrapbooks.

This year Project 12 also made use of Becky Fleck sketches and a partnership with Scrapbook and Cards Today. I decided to use the sketches, thinking they would add cohesion to the album, seeing as how I wouldn't be using the same products every month. After the first three months, I also decided to make use of my Studio Calico kit to simplify the design process. I added to each layout with my seemingly bottomless supply of nature-themed items (trees and flowers) and stitching themed products (DMC and buttons).

Here's what I did, from January to December 2010 (click on each picture to see it close up):












Since December is the one I just completed, here's a few close-ups of the individual pages:



I plan on doing Project 12 again. The nice thing is, you can start any year. If you have pictures from a few years ago you're dying to scrap, scrap those. Can't remember the details? Focus on one thing, or go back and look at major events to trip your memory (for my December page, I scrapped the blizzard that did this). Need to alter the concept to get your pages done and fit your life? Do so.

I love scrapbooking, because I love making meaning out of my life--or figuring out the meaning, as the case may be.

I hope some of you decide to participate in something like Project 12 this year.