currently...


it's semi back to normal around here and it feels good.  the snow has melted and the temps felt like spring this past week.  lots of outdoor fun wearing flip flops and jeans and that's pretty awesome to me.  it's amazing how some sunshine can lift your mood and spirit, you know.

i've been meaning to do a "currently" post for some time, and here i sit with my coffee as my kiddos watch some sunday morning cartoons, so here goes...

watching this saturday night live clip over and over.  justin timberlake just makes me giggle.

listening to passenger's let her go over and over.  it also happens to be drew's favorite song and he gets so excited when it comes on the radio.  he loves that a "boy" is singing and he wants to sing like that when he's a "big guy".  sounds good to me.  mama will support you.

loving pure barre classes to the moon and back.  seriously in love.  i've been going about 4-5 times a week for the past four weeks.  i made it 6 times this week.  slightly obsessed and crazily sore, but it's such an amazing workout.  just can't stop.

wanting to make more and more mini books.  again, i have mini book issues.  i love them.  i love to make them and hold them.  planning on making a digital book of anna's art soon through artifact uprising.

signing up for ali edwards' "hello story" class this time around.  i missed it last time because i had so many other obligations, but i really want to join in this time.  i love how ali teaches.  she's pretty amazing.

eating this salad over and over again.  the pine nuts and goat cheese....mmmmmm.

getting lost in paige evan's lovely blog.  love her photos, love all of their adventures, love her amazing way of making patterned papers rock!

what about you?  what are your "currents"?  link up here if you have a currents post on your blog!!

happy sunday!





fold out mini book

we are going on day three of being "snowed" in.  we technically could have ventured out wednesdsay morning for a little while, but no one could really predict what was going to happen and when so we just stayed put.  we're hoping to make it to a valentine's day party today if the weather warms up enough to melt all of that ice out there!

i've tried to find a little quiet time in my craft room (i.e. quiet time consists of my children too...) everyday for my sanity.  i did manage to put together this fun little mini book inspired by nicole reaves' "mini book mini workshop" at studio calico.  i love making minis and this one was super fun.  plus, it's always fun to use supplies as soon as they arrive on your doorstep....you know...when they are still super new and super fresh.

the outside book is roughly 4.25x4.25 and each page is 8x12.  nicole's technique for assembling the book is pretty awesome and i'd never made a mini like this before!!  

here's a look at my mini...


12 on the twelfth: february pictures




another 12 on the twelfth is in the books.
and again, it was an "out of the ordinary" day for us.  we stayed in our pajamas most of the morning.  we baked cookies and muffins.  we sang song after song from the frozen soundtrack.  hubby and i had way too many cups of yummy coffee.  we waited for the snow and couldn't pull ourselves away from the doors and windows when it finally started.  the kids played in the snow for about 5 minutes before they were too cold and wanted to come in.  i made a mini book.  we had cups of hot cocoa with mini marshmallows.  and we made valentines.

our day.  captured and recorded.  that's all that matters.
did you play along?  i'd love it you'd link up below!

12 on the twelfth...february


it's the twelfth of the month so that means i'll be snapping away today.  i was so hopeful for an "ordinary" day to document, but go figure....schools are cancelled, play dates are happening and we're all still in our pajamas.  oh well....that's our life.

i'd love for you to play along with me!  i'll have a link up here on my blog tomorrow if you do get around to taking and uploading a few photos!

xoxo

diy heart gift bags...

it's officially february.  let the valentine's day crafts begin!!  

i'm kind of obsessed with glitter and hearts....and making crafty videos, so this weekend i made these sweet little heart gift bags for my daughter and son's preschool teachers.  they are so easy to make and oh so cute!  we can't wait to fill them with heart shaped goodies!  :)



here's a quick little video (2 minutes) showing you how super easy they are to make!  i've included some additional notes below, so check those out if you want to make your own!
enjoy!


so fun, right??

some helpful tips:
*the heart template is cut out on contact paper using my silhouette.  you could easily use a heart punch on contact paper.  i set my blade to a depth of 2 and a speed of 2 and double cut my hearts.  contact paper comes with a paper back.  i removed this and placed the sticky back of my contact paper directly onto my silhouette mat.  a super easy way to make a sticky template or stencil.

*after you add your glitter and it dries, apply a second coat of mod podge over the glittered hearts to seal the glitter.  this will keep the glitter from flaking off all over your house.  you can thank me later!  :)

*i used matte mod podge but i'm sure the glossy mod podge would look awesome.

*and yes...i sped the video up quite a bit. i only wish i could work that quickly!






Around Here


around here...
we've been together ALOT.  like days and days and days of "together-ness".
we finally saw some snow this past week and had fun playing around in it for a while.  
luckily it melted pretty quickly so we could go out and about.
but no preschool in what feels like forever.
a little bit of creative time here and there, but not that much.
lots of reading together and just being silly.
hello february.

an impromptu family photo shoot....

when my daughter asked me to take a picture of us this past weekend, i was giddy with excitement.  i love photos (obviously), but i'm not always the best at "getting in them".  i'm sure i'm not alone.  so with the tripod set up, we got silly and had some fun.  before long, the whole family wanted in on the fun.  even my third child (i mean, my husband).  

i want to be better about getting in photos.  about being present and a part of our "everyday".  i want my kids to see "me" throughout their life when they look back on their albums.  i want them to know that they were loved and that i was always there.

so with that, i've set yet another goal for this year!!  monthly photo shoots.  nothing fancy.  just a tripod and some willing bodies.  i challenge you to do the same.  and you don't have to have a tripod either, so don't back out that easily!!  set your camera, iPhone or whatever on a stack of books and get that timer app all ready to go.  play around and be silly and i guarantee you will have some willing participants sooner than you think.  

i set my tripod up in my craft room facing a wall that has a dresser on one side.  there's a good bit of blank wall space that catches the perfect amount of indirect sunlight at the right time of the day.  then i turned on the timer and just took picture after picture.  and i'm so glad i did.  i love every single photo.  a true memory.



so go grab your camera and get snapping!!  if you happen to post your photos onto your blog, i'd love for you to link up in the comments!  i'll be doing this every month this year, and i'd love love love for someone else to keep me accountable!!  :)

happy monday!
xoxo




project life 2013: december and my end page


it feels so awesome to have a completed project life album.  my very favorite part is looking back to the beginning of my book and remembering all of the things that had already slipped my mind.  it's a reminder of shoes that were worn, tears that were shed, joy that was had.  it's just awesome.

these few spreads cover december.  i didn't really go week by week (although it looks like since my calendar's are in there), but i did kind of group things together (before christmas, after christmas, etc.).  it made it much easier than worrying about having to fill each spot with "something" from that week, you know.  which is why i really want to try monthly project life this year.  i'm still have various spreads each month, but i like being able to move and mix around a little more.

and sorry in advance for the glare on a few of the pages.  i add a lot of stitching, flair, tags and stickers to the outside of my pages so there's no slipping things out to photograph.  this batch of page protectors were super wrinkly right out of the box, which picks up a lot of glare.

as for products, i used a variety of kits and my stash.  if you have a question about anything, just ask and i'll try to figure it out!  :)















and end pages.  i love and hate them at the same time.  it's just an extra step that i think i would ignore if i didn't HAVE a random blank page at the end.  i struggled for a long time trying to figure out how i wanted to do my page.  i knew i wanted it to be "different" than the rest of my weeks, but i didn't want to put too much time or effort into it.  

enter photo collages (my new fave).
i created each 4x6 collage in picmonkey, which is my go-to for making collages these days.  it's as easy as importing your pictures.  seriously. if you've never made a collage, try out picmonkey.  pretty soon your whole life will be a collage.  promise!

for the middle 3x4 pockets, i just trimmed a 4x6 photo in half.  easy peasy.

here's my end page in all of it's glory...


and that wraps up my 2013 album.  done!






12 on the twelfth...january pictures






whew....yesterday was way busier than i had expected.  we were out of the house most of the day and i didn't pull out my camera as much as i would have liked to capture more of the "everyday".  it was the first sunny day we've had in what feels like months, so we spent the day at the park and then grabbed a bite to eat while we were out.  it was dark by the time we got back home and all the "pretty" light of the day was gone.....  but i did manage to get 12 photos of our day.  i'm interested to see how the photos change month to month and also weekday to weekend.  

if you had time to play along, i'd love for you to link up your photos here!!  :)  i'll be hosting another "12 on the twelfth" next month, so no worries if you missed out (or you could play along on your own schedule!!).

happy monday!!
xoxo



12 on the twelfth...january


as i mentioned yesterday, i am starting up a new photo challenge for this year.  sometimes i feel the weight of project life and i love to try new things to keep the "romance" going...

today i will be capturing 12 random moments from our day.  it's an attempt to get my "big camera" out and to try and pay attention to the little details of our life.  i would looooooove for you to play along.  there's no right or wrong and it doesn't even have to be today.  do it tomorrow.  do it whenever.  no ones really going to know when the photos were taken, so definitely don't stress yourself out if today doesn't work!!  :)

drop me a comment here if you are participating!!  i'd love to check out your blog as you play along!!  i'll have a linky up tomorrow to link up (assuming that anyone wants to join in....ha!).

happy sunday!
xoxo

project life & the great debate





wow.  who knew deciding on a project life album size for THIS year would be so challenging?  thank goodness i don't have worldly decisions to make over here... 
there's never been a doubt about continuing project life this year, but how i wanted to approach the project has been swimming in my head for a few months.

i definitely think i'm a little burnt out on the 12x12 "design a" style.  yes, it is very consistent and clean looking, but the "fun" part of it was starting to wear on me.  i added a few inserts in last year and i love those.  i actually love my whole completed albums, too.  it's definitely one of those projects that's a lot of work, but so worth it in the end.

so my thought was to go smaller.  unfortunately there aren't too many options when it comes to sizes of project life other than 12x12 and 6x8.  i wanted it to still be "easy", as in slip in photos and not have to do too much altering of page protectors.  if it's not easy, it's going to go to the bottom of my to-do list and that's just going to drive me crazy.

i finally convinced myself to do the handbook size.  i have a zillion page protectors and i've made a few handbook albums so it would be a breeze, right? wrong.  i tried to do my first week in a handbook and it just didn't feel right.

so i debated going to the 12x12 and mixing in various page protectors (which i also have a zillion of).  but the size still didn't sit well with me.  and i'm pretty sure i would end up reverting back to my "design a" after a few weeks of trying to change up page protectors.

then i found a random 8.5x11 album i had on my shelf.  (key very dramatic music here) it's really my only other option at this point so i'm sticking with it.  (key celebratory music here) . i'm super interested to see marcy's album for 2014.  maybe she should create and sell albums for all of us unsure, 12x12 is too big, people!!

so after all that....here is my 2014 project life plan!!

*8.5x11 we r memory keepers album
*document monthly
*use more enlarged photos
*use less "fluff" on my photos
*add more journaling digitally
*use various sizes of page protectors 
(yes, i will be cutting down my 12x12 and i'll share more on that process later)
*use my big camera more
*document "12 on the twelfth" each month....see below



since i'm going monthly, one of the projects i would like to include is a glimpse of one day each month.  on the 12th of each month, i plan to grab my DSLR and document 12 various moments of our day.  think "day in the life" without having a camera attached to your eye all day.  super laid back. i might grab my camera on the hour every hour, or some days i just might snap away and then pick my 12 best photos at the end of day.  with this i want to:
*get a good glimpse of our everyday
*use my canon instead of my iPhone

i plan on using liz tamanaha digital templates to document our day.  her templates are beautiful and super easy to use. i may also spice it up every once in a while and create my own sectioned page protector using my handy sewing machine!!  


press plate no. 38
press plate no. 39

i'll have a link up on my blog on the 13th of each month, so if you want to play along pleeeeeease with a sweet little cherry on top, link up!!  i think it's the perfect way to capture the everyday, but not be too overwhelming!!  

so what do you think?  will you join me tomorrow??  hope so!!
happy saturday!





Around Here


we are getting back into a routine around here.  preschool, birthday parties, playing with paper, CHA deadlines and coffee.  lots of coffee.  it feels good to be "back".  i always love the holidays, but i always crave order and organization as the new year begins.  trying to remember to focus on my words "simplify, enjoy, breathe" this year.  the simplify process is underway which always makes it easier to enjoy the day to day.  trying to remember that messes are "ok" and that the kids are just playing. that my house doesn't need to be uber clean and organized all of the time (that's the hardest for me....)



december daily 2013: the collage


i'm all about collages for some crazy reason and i decided i wanted my december daily album pages all together in one collage.  so here it is!  :)

i love this book so much.  every year i wonder if i have enough time or energy to put this together during the holidays, but every year i do it, and every year it turns out to be awesome!!

how is your december album coming along?  are you all finished or still working?  you can do it!!  it's so worth it!  :)

xoxo




organizing for project life...


my project life organizational tips are posted on the gossamer blue blog today but i wanted to post them here to!!  be sure to hop on over to check out the january design team gallery!!


  I always love the beginning of the year.  It's the perfect time to go through your supplies, purge what you don't need and organize what you do want to keep.  I think I change up my organization system at the beginning of the year and several times during the year.  Moving things around and "remembering" what I have are very inspirational for me!  Most of my system stays pretty much the same….it's usually just the containers, baskets and jars that change throughout the year.


One thing I love to do is have a "catch-all" for my Life Pages supplies.  Any type of divided box or bin would work for this.  This year, I am using a mail divider that I picked up from my local thrift store.  It was a little loved and warn, but a quick coat of gold spray paint fixed that right up!

I keep most everything I need for my LP spreads in here.  As you can see, I have my 4x6 and 3x4 journaling cards from the January Life Pages kit, some of the blank journaling cards from the shop, the stamp sets from both the January Main kit and the Life Pages Main kit and a variety of other stickers, labels and alphas.


I also throw in my most used pens and my favorite rolls of washi tape.  Whenever I start putting my weeks together, I print out my pictures, grab out this box and get to work.  Super easy.



For the extra little "bits" that tend to get lost easily, I like to use this divided lazy susan.  Each compartment can hold different elements and I love that they are so visible.  I always print out the monthly printables that go along with the kits and cut them out before I start.  That way I'm all ready to go and there's no interrupting my creating process.


I also like to go ahead and cut the coordinating cut files for the month.  Having them all cut out makes it so easy to grab them and add them to my projects.


And I always have my Raskog cart handy in my craft room.  I keep all of my "extras" here.  Everything is super visible and so easy to grab as I'm working on my Life Pages spreads!

Thanks so much for joining me today!  I hope I have inspired you to get organized for your LP album!   




2013 faves: mini books

ahhhh....mini albums.  my fave!
i made so many little books of memories this year.  they really are all my favorite.  it was hard to pick for this collage.  i just love them all.  

i wish you all could come and look at these with me!!  it's always fun to share what you make with others!!


2013 faves: layouts

i am so thankful for all that this year has offered me.  i never in a million years would have imagined that this industry would open up so many doors for me.  creating is something that i have always done, but never in this fashion before.  i love this hobby and am so grateful for those of you who have visited me, left comments and given me more encouragement then you can imagine.  hugs and kisses to you all!!

so....

magda mizera posted her 2013 favorites a few days ago and it got me thinking about all that i've created this year.  to say that i've made a few projects would be an understatement for sure.  i thought about counting up all of my layouts, but then figured i had better stuff to do with a few hours.  i'm thinking it's somewhere around the 400 mark for layouts.....basically, there are just too many to count.  my goal this week is to get these babies into an album.  we shall see!!  :)

here are a few of my favorite layouts from 2013!!  i'll be sharing my favorite minis and PL spreads over the next few days leading into the new year!!


happy monday!
xoxo

Around Here


around here…..
we are in full christmas mode now.  this last week was full of present wrapping, christmas plays, cookie making and holiday cheer.

our family will be in town as of tomorrow and i am so flippin' excited! we are hosting everyone this year and i am so looking forward to having a full house and a full heart.  christmas is truly the most magical time of the year.

hope your week was fabulous.  i'll be in and out next week with a few design team posts and maybe a few pictures.  i'll be back in full force in the new year with lots of exciting adventures!
xoxo


december daily: days 8-13


sharing days 8-13 of my december daily album today.
you can see the beginning of my album here.

i'm really trying not to over-think my book this year.  i usually spend way too much time on each little pocket, but the pre-planning definitely saves me so much time.  i do have some days where i wish the pocket sizes were different or larger, but instead of trying to change anything (and waste time), i'm rolling with what i have.  and it's working.

here's a look at my days 8-13.  you can read more about how i put together my days on the write.click.scrapbook blog & as always, just let me know if you have any questions!!