Welcome to Project Life 2012 | Week Four.

Playing catch-up the last few days as I get back into the swing of everyday life after attending CHA.

As I was working on my week I was remembering how I’m not trying to tell “every” story in this project. Sometimes I scratch the surface and sometimes I tell longer stories. And sometimes, as I found out, I can focus on a theme.

A big thing that definitely came up this past week was an overall theme of adventure. Anna got her first library card (hello adventure), Chris took the kids sledding (hello adventure), I traveled to Anaheim (hello adventure). It was actually a new way for me to look at documenting the week as a whole – choosing a specific theme to emphasize vs. focusing on the everyday stories.

I’d encourage you to try it one of these weeks. As you look back at the end of the week or as the week evolves, what seems to emerge as a theme for the week? I definitely found it a nice way to bring it all together today and it helped me solidify which stories I wanted to tell.

Here’s a look at Week Four:

I’m still loving the Sharpie pens mixed with a finer pen for my journaling.

I’ve had those awesome Jenni Bowlin Days Of The Week stamps sitting on my table for way too long. Super happy to get those out and stamp them right onto the photo using StazOn.

The insert this week is an American Crafts 6×12 divided page protector.

I played around with my Silhouette and some new 4×6 sentiment boxes that will be available next week from Designer Digitals. I loved how the first set of 3×4 Hello Life Boxes worked as a “see-through” element and wanted that option for the 4×6 size.

I’ve also got two more sets of the 3×4 Hello Life Boxes: Volume 2 (months) and Volume 3 (available tomorrow – includes more words like he, she, you, us, etc).

I added an Avery Adhesive Clear Plastic Label along the outside.

I used an American Crafts Precision Pen to write on the photo below the Hello Winter Word Art (added to the photo before printing).

You can also see where I’ve got a sticky note to add some journaling that’s coming from Chris about their adventures sledding this past weekend.

Added a little Jenni Bowlin #2 along the edge of the top right photo. Yellow arrow is from Studio Calico.

That photo on the bottom actually happened on Monday night. Most likely I’ll start this week with a photo or two from my Anaheim adventures.

SUPPLIES | 2012 | WEEK 4

Click on the images to link to the products.

Last week I finally got around to installing the PostalPix app on my iphone and uploading my photos for development.

I still think it’s hard to beat opening up en envelope full of just-developed photos.

I’d read about PostalPix online and my sister has been using them to print her Instagram photos. She’s doing Project Life this year (I can’t tell you how excited I am about that) and she sent me the above image a few weeks back. She put them in a divided page protector from We R Memory Keeper’s multi-pack of page protectors (also available at scrapbook.com). Love that size.

Installing the app was easy. Choosing the photos I wanted to upload was easy. The shipping was quick.

I was super excited when I opened the envelope. I ordered about 20 photos and overall they looked great (a couple were dark but I’m pretty sure it had more to do with the Instagram filter I chose).

The only thing I was surprised about was the weight of the photo paper – it’s definitely lighter weight than traditional prints. But other than that, they are awesome and I’m excited to include them in some upcoming projects and will be ordering from them again.

A NOTE ABOUT PHOTO DEVELOPING

I was sad to learn that scrapbookpictures.com closed their doors last month. They were a great source of professional quality photo prints and I’ll miss their service and attention to detail. These days I print the majority of my photos at home on an Espon Stylus R2000. For the times when I don’t print at home I’ve used and recommend Persnickety Prints (a company that understands scrapbooking) and Color Pro Inc (a blog sponsor and a company that I especially like for printing on canvas or other specialty prints).

Four new products available this weekend at Designer Digitals.

First up, So Totally Happy. Companion to Life In Pictures and This One.

Rooms Of A House

366 Days

Outline Life

Hope you have a great weekend!

Welcome to Project Life 2012 | Week Three.

It’s really hard to beat having a pile of just-printed photos.

My routine these last few weeks has been to print all my photos on Monday (my weeks go Monday to Sunday). I look back over the photos taken in the past week and hit print on whichever ones I like best (or whichever ones catch my attention).

Some of these in the photo above didn’t end up making it into my spread this week. I’m thinking I’ll just add them to next week.

Here’s a look at Week Three:

Being a birthday week I expected to have at least one insert to accommodate the number of photos. I ended up with two as you will see below.

I have to say that I’m really loving the Clementine journal cards. I feel like there is more space to write compared with last year (and I feel like I’m taking advantage of that so far).

We began our week with a dusting of snow (and that was it – just a dusting). On the top right photo I added a Hello Winter Brushes & Stamps (“heart snow”) by cutting it out with the Silhouette and then stapling it with the Tiny Attacher. On the bottom left photo I added some word art from my Sibling Brushes & Stamps. The photo of me and the big white balloon was a self-portrait for the February One Little Word prompt.

I also included one Instax Mini photo out of front door into the snow.

The first insert for this week uses the Design G Page Protectors. I decided to use this entire insert for things related to Simon’s birthday.

On the kraft piece of paper are the names of the kids Simon invited – he and Chris worked on the invitations together.

I used my Silhouette for two more things. The January frame is from the Hello Life Boxes Vol.2 package and the number 10 card is from my 3×4 Rounded Number Corner Cards package. Behind the #10 card I added a piece of Hambly Studios 12×12 Overlay Moustaches.

That “big day” date stamp is part of the new Dear Lizzy line from American Crafts (love it).

On the back I included a pirate napkin from the party. On top of the napkin I added Moss Notched Corners Labels from Paper Source and journaled about the party right on top.

I blurred the faces of the kids faces who attended the party.

The second insert is a We R Memory Keepers 8.5×11. Love this treasure hunt that Chris came up with – especially the part about the notorious pirate George.

On the back of this second insert I included the cards he received and a copy of the invitation.

After all that I really love how this page is just a bunch of words and photos. Photos + journal cards + a few little labels to identify photos. Love how this can be anything you want it to be.

SUPPLIES | 2012 | WEEK 3

Click on the images to link to the products.

Three new products are now available from me at Designer Digitals.

Hello Life Boxes Vol. 2 (to go along with the original Hello Life Boxes).

Routines And Rituals (used in my PL2012 | Week Two)

Everyday Photos

Have a great weekend!

Welcome to Project Life 2012 | Week Two.

I’ve got a free “one little week” download for you today that includes both a PNG and a Silhouette file (both are included in a zip file – for more on downloading go here).

Click here to download One Little Week.

Enjoy!

Here’s a look at Week Two:

Lots and lots of photos this week.

Sometimes it leans heavier one way or the other (more or less photos) and I tend to just go with it. My Mom was here with us from Tuesday through yesterday helping me paint my office. It was a big job and I’m so thankful she was here to help.

I used my new Rituals & Routines word art set (“Tuesday Ritual”) on the bottom left photo. A Jillibean Soup Corrugated Heart is on top of some word art from my For The Love Of Love word art package. The little flag on the top photo is from Elles Studio.

For the insert this week I used a Design D page protector and cut off the outside pockets (I like when the inserts are smaller than the main pages for the week).

I loved doing the little 4×3 photos (tutorial available here) and including a couple vertical photos. I almost never take vertical shots (just not how I look through the lens) but since my Mom was here she shot a few with my camera. The photo of the crab I took with my iphone.

I really want to include a few more “peek through” elements like the one I did on my title page for 2012 throughout the year. The Silhouette works great for that – I was able to cut out this word element and stick it right in the pocket (download it for free at the beginning of this post).

The fact that you can’t read it from the back doesn’t bother me at all.

You might also notice that I placed two, 4×3 photos on one 4×6 canvas and added that into one of the vertical pockets vs. cutting them all out (and a good option for someone like me who takes more horizontal than vertical photos).

An Avery Self-Adhesive index tab along the edge of the insert. I don’t add these every time I include an insert, but a lot of the time.

Notes From Today tag is from Elles Studio.

SUPPLIES | 2012 | WEEK 2

Click on the images to link to the products.

With my office a giant mess due to painting I decided to do a digital layout the other night using my Simply AE | Remember This layered template.

JOURNALING | We spent New Year’s Eve 2011 down at the beach with Grandma, Grandpa, Katie, Peter and Paolo. There was lots of good food (Anna especially liked the fried clams that Grandpa caught and cooked), wine and drinks for the adults, walking on the beach, seeing the lights at Shore Acres State Park (twice), watching movies, and Simon spent a lot of time working on his Death Star lego. It was really nice to begin the new year surrounded by people who love us so very much. And you know who loves the two of you so very much? Me. I’m thankful everyday that we get to share our lives together. I’m thankful that we get to learn and play and grow and experience life together – all of it – the really awesome times and the times that are quite a bit more challenging. What I want both of you to always, always know is that you are loved so very much. I’m excited about what the future holds for us. There are so many adventures to be had right here in our own backyard and beyond. I’m looking forward to learning lots of new things with both of you in 2012. Here’s to a brand new year full of possibility and lots and lots of love.

SUPPLIES

Click on the images to link to the products.

If you’re interested in learning more about digital scrapbooking check out my Getting Started page for links, tutorials, and free downloads.

I also wanted to share two new products that went up this past weekend at Designer Digitals:

First up is an updated Photo Calendar for 2012. I’ve done this product for the last couple of years (started back in 2009) and always love when I see people using it. It’s a cool way to document a 365 photo project or simply to create a layout that focuses on a specific span of time.

I’ve packaged up my Thankful Thought 4×6 overlays and completed all the numbers up through 31. I’ve had a few requests to make these available as a set for people interested in documenting (a great creative practice) a series of thankful thoughts over the course of a month. Set includes overlays numbered 1 through 31 plus a blank overlay for customization. The package also includes a 4×6 rounded corner rectangle for masking your photos.

Hope your Monday is off to a great start!

Welcome to Project Life 2012 | Week One.

In the comments of another post yesterday someone asked if I was using planning sheets for Project Life. I don’t use any planning sheets but it did remind me of the Daily Sheets I made for Week In The Life last year and wanted to include that as a link today as something fun to add to Project Life from time to time. You can download those for free here.

HUGE NOTE | I don’t treat Project Life the same as Week In The Life. Week In The Life is super detailed and intense in terms of documenting our life with photos and words for seven days in a row. I have no intention of bringing that sort of intensity to Project Life (and I didn’t last year) – it’s just not sustainable. SMALLER NOTE | I’m working on setting a date for Week In The Life 2012 (thinking late spring).

For me Project Life is an overview and a week-at-a-glance and a long-haul project (meaning it’s necessary to pace myself). It’s not a place for all the photos I take each week or for me to record every single detail of our lives. It is a place for me to jot down little bits of life, stick things in pockets, and tell stories. Some weeks those stories are super, super short and other weeks I’ll add longer stories like you’ll see included today.

Check out Monica’s post about her perspective on Project Life. It’s real and beautiful and encouraging.

Here’s a look at our Week One:

I have to say that I love that the journaling cards are just a bit bigger in this collection vs. the ones I used last year. Super happy with the Clementine design.

This week I’ve included both a 6×12 and an 8.5×11 page protector as inserts.

Word art on the first page of the 6×12 comes from my Twenty Twelve and Your Love digital packages. The 6×12 Words And Photos Layered Template package is available here. I designed this set because last year I really liked including longer stories from time to time in my album. Most often those stories originated in posts from my blog. By creating a template I’m simplifying the process for myself and can simply copy and paste the text into the template and add a photo.

Here’s a how-to video that will walk you through the steps of working with the 6×12 Words And Photos Layered Templates in Photoshop Elements:

6×12 Layered Template Tutorial from Ali Edwards on Vimeo.

The tutorial is about 27-mins long. It goes through all the steps and I spend a bit of time at the end talking about how I set up the files for printing.

The paper you see running through my printer is Epson 13×19 Ultra Premium Photo Paper. I put the two 6×12 pages onto one 12×12 canvas before printing (I show how to do this in the video tutorial above).

You can also set this up as a 12×12 JPG file and upload to a printer such as Persnickety Prints or Color Inc if you don’t have an oversized printer at home.

Another great tip if you don’t have an over-sized printer – you can run larger sizes through your regular-sized photo printer. You could get 11×14 photo paper and cut it down to 8.5×14 and run it through your printer (select Legal Size paper). I used to do that when printing larger sizes of journaling to put on 12×12 layouts before I got an over-sized printer.

Here you can see both 6×12′s on the one page:

I trimmed them down to size and stuck them in the page protector. Loved including that longer story.

Digital word art on the back is from my Thank You Friend package.

The second insert this week is something I tweeted about right before New Year’s. It’s a great little interview sheet from teachmama.com and can be downloaded here.

I stuck this one in and the more I look at it the more I think Katie probably painted it and not Anna.

I’m using the monthly tab dividers (should be available in February). Love their simplicity.

Word art used on the photo above is from my Outline Love digital set.

SUPPLIES | 2012 | WEEK 1

Click on the images to link to the products.

Welcome to the January 2012 Studio AE Blog Hop!

This month’s stamp is called Bring On The Love.

A nice love-themed set that can be used for Valentine’s projects or any time you want to express your love for someone in your memory keeping projects. Love is one of my favorite universal themes – always lots of stories to share about expressing love (totally not just for Valentine’s Day).

Here’s a look at the 8.5×11 layout:

Now, let me be the first to say that I wanted to experiment a bit with this layout.

The truth is that I don’t completely love it. I think it’s mainly because I stuck that hand-stitched heart right in the middle of the page and it’s totally bugging me. That said, I’m just going to put it in my album and move on. The process of playing was good.

If I was going to do it again or change it I’d probably keep the bottom portion (up to the scallop ribbon) and then have the rest be just the photo and the couple small hearts. Practice and learn!

Here’s a look at the process:

I’ve had the Pink Paislee Mistables Collection Scallop Ribbons sitting in my stash for awhile and was ready to make something happen with it.

Using both Bring On The Love and Hero Arts Clings Thank You stamps, paired with Ranger Archival Ink, I stamped right onto the Pink Paislee Scallop Ribbons. I stamped “love you so much” twice and used a bit of red line adhesive to initially attach it to the page. I stamped the text stamp a couple times along the larger piece of ribbon and then layered it up underneath the first strip.

In the photo above you can see that I layered a strip of Pinkish-Grey Stripe Tape on top of the bottom edge of the photo. Aligned with the right edge I added a piece of scalloped felt from My Mind’s Eye Everyday Fun Borders set. I stitched a zig-zag line along the edge between the stamped scallop ribbon and the photo.

The heart (yea, that one in the center of the layout) was hand-stitched using embroidery floss. Loved doing that but don’t love the placement (and little stitches are easier for controling your shape – I didn’t draw it on there first I just eye-balled it).

The other two little hearts include a Jenni Bowlin Hearts Plain Mini Chipboard Piece that I embossed with white Zing powder and a small heart cut from the 6×6 Fancy Pants Love Story paper pad and added a bit of Glossy Accents on top.

Along the bottom for the journaling section I stamped the “lots of love for you” design using silver ink from Colorbox Basics Cat’s Eye Classic Pigment Ink Queue. I tried a couple other inks with this stamp and it seemed that the chalk ink turned out the best. I drew the jouranling lines with a Sakura Pen Touch pen in silver and wrote my journaling using a Precision Pen from American Crafts.

Along the very bottom of the page I added another piece of the scalloped felt and a strip of that great heart paper from the 6×6 Fancy Pants Love Story paper pad. I used the Fiskars Scallop Border Punch to created the scallops along the pattern paper.

SUPPLIES

Click on the images to link to the products.

Be sure to check the blogs of all taking part in the Blog Hop today:

• Daniela
• Laura
• Nichol
• Sharyn
• Teri
• Jaime

As a thank you for all the comments received during the hop on all the blogs, as well as those left on the Technique Tuesday blog, we will give away two stamp sets.

One person will win Our Hearts by Ali Edwards stamp set and one other person will win our The Cupcakery stamp set. You don’t need to leave a comment on all the blogs to be eligible to win. All comments must be made by midnight  PST on Jan. 13th. Tune into the Technique Tuesday blog on Jan. 14th to see if you are one of the lucky winners.

Three new products available from me this weekend at Designer Digitals:

First up: 6×12 Words And Photos Layered Templates. Look for a tutorial on working with these layered templates (especially great for use with longer stories you want to tell in your Project Life album) next week. Simply mask your photo into the designated spot, assign your title, and type-in your story. These are similar to my Long Journalers but include layers for photos, editable text areas and editable titles.

For more on working with layered templates check out my page on Getting Started With Digital Scrapbooking.

3×4 Number Cards. These are great for adding to a digital layout, cutting with a Silhouette, or printing and adding to Project Life or another layout or project where numbers can help you tell your story.

Simply AE | Remember This Layered Template.

To view my complete collection of digital and printable products at Designer Digitals go here.

Hope you are having a great weekend!