my bloggity blog.

Will you travel back in time with me to 2012? It’s time for a look at Week 11 in my Project Life album.

This week was one of those sparse weeks that required a lot of filler cards. As you’ll see below, I actually had a ton of photos… but I needed to do a total of four pages with them… so Week 11 is thin.

Part 2, Left:

As you can see here, I used a filler card with a sweet sentiment on the top right. And along the bottom, I used a picture of my favorite planners as a journaling prompt to write about why I love them so much.

I love this paper… I want to get better at making my own shapes in Illustrator and MAKE some like this. YUM!

Part 1, Right:

The top here on the right has one journaling card and an empty spot, waiting to be filled one day—at the right time! The journaling card had some private stuff on it related to my design work for a client, so I’m not sharing a pic of that. But it was a stressful week, meeting deadlines and wrapping things up, so it still went into the album! It’s all about REAL life, right? LOL!

Below those two spaces, I did have cards for the rest of the week… including our major toy sorting endeavors:

And the dinner that followed all that work!

As well as a card that leads into the next two pages…

Part 2, Left:

On Sunday we went to Epcot and there were so many great pictures, it certainly needed it’s own spread!

Part 2, Right:

This picture of my daughter here at the top is one of my favorites. My husband captured this shot on his camera as I was ordering food (and margaritas!) in Mexico:

I love that! And the one below it where she is brushing her hair out of her face and just beaming.

My camera phone is not doing it justice… indulge me for a moment.

I feel like these snapshots are a little glimpse into the future where I can see the amazingly gorgeous woman that she is going to be. This this girl… she’s already such an amazing person.

And here are the boys! These pictures were all taken on the bridge from Future World to the World Showcase. There’s a splash pad there and we can armed with dry clothes so the kids could do this:

And then one little snapshot of a real live Nemo and Marlin that were swimming around in a tank with Dory at what used to be The Living Seas.

And that was our week! Thanks for looking!

Welcome to March of 2012! We’re moving right along now, aren’t we? LOL!

Week 9:

On this week’s page I made a title card for the month once again. I really like the way this looks in the book!

And here is one of the ONLY places in the whole album that I actually used something dimensional. Aside from this little flower here, every page consists of paper and stickers…

…and I shouldn’t tell you how many Primas I’m hording that are now going unloved. Maybe one day I’ll try a 12 x 12 layout again. (Maybe.)

I love these cards, so here’s a closer look at them. I love the bold polkadot washi here:

Week 10:

Can you tell that I loooooove sewing on my pages? It just finishes the whole look of a card more often than not.

I love how simple and easy this red card was. Red paper, half a Smash tab = Done!

I also really like this two-photo card. At time I have struggled with what to do with two photos on one 4 x 6…

And that’s the beginning of March! Thanks for looking! And if you have any questions about anything, please feel free to ask! I’d love to hear from you.

Here are some snapshots of Week 7 and 8 from my 2012 book.

Week 7:

This week included Valentine’s Day, where my daughter made us breakfast in bed:

Here’s a close up of one of the cards for this week. My son had grabbed a piece of notepaper and had drawn this scene from Lego Harry Potter. It was the perfect size to actually put into the album as-is:

Here’s a picture of my daughter that I would not have captured if not for the revelation I had back in Week 3:

Some cards from the right-hand side:

You might notice that there’s still an empty spot under my picture… I have the picture, I just haven’t actually printed it out. (It’s of my couch.) I decided not to let that stop me from sharing this week and moving on. LOL!

Week 8:

Love how this “sweet” card turned out…

Thanks for looking!

Outside: It is currently a chilly 61° outside, although it is brilliantly sunny with deep, deep blue skies. I’m not trying to be sarcastic when I say that it’s chilly—it is chilly! If it weren’t for those gorgeous, clear blue skies, I’m guessing it would be 51° outside today. The kids went outside for a bit but it didn’t last long with the sun going down… brr! We’re all in shorts and flip flops around here and can’t take that kind of weather.

Reading: A lot. o_O

7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess: Just read the last page last night. All I have to say is that God has used Jen Hatmaker has changed my heart forever and I love her for it. Looking forward to picking up the study guide to be sure that I put this new heart-change stuff into practice! The last thing I want is to hear and not do…

MWF seeking BFF: Picked this up on a whim because it looked cute and the premise certainly resonates with me.

Community: Taking Your Small Group off Life Support: Reading this because a) I like Mars Hill; b) I’m going to be helping with a woman’s small group next month and c) Travis had it on his bookshelf.

The Hobbit: Reading this for ladies’ book club. And because I never have and always have wanted to.

Nurture: Give and Get What You Need to Flourish: And… reading this because it’s the book for our small group.

Eating: Nothing. Trying not to snack as much this month…

Drinking: Coffee, sweet coffee.

Cooking: Spaghetti Squash “pasta” with sauce: a mix of [grass-fed] meat, zucchini, onion and green pepper with a bit of vodka sauce. Mmm!

From the Mail: Super excited about this new curriculum! ::squee::

Hoping: To find a pretty table runner for my pretty new dining room table. Or make one. You know, in my “spare” time. LOL!

Around the House: There is always clutter. Yesterday the kitchen was almost totally clean. Today, it’s covered in baking dishes, cutting boards, housecleaning supplies from Target and mail. Gaah! I can never win at this game!

Crafting: I’m in to the month of October with my 2012 Project Life album. (YES!) I’m also currently working on trying to literally get some of my art journaling painting into the hands of digital scrapbookers. I painted this this week:

Trying to figure out the best way to use it, though. Not as easy as doing this all in Photoshop! Who’d-a thought?!

Pondering these words: Because… well… ouch.

That’s all for today! Off to get that squash out of the oven. Mmm—MMM!

How about you? What are you reading, pondering or crafting?

I took some pictures on my phone yesterday and then played with them in an app called snapseed. So far, so good–I think I like it!

So, let’s get back on track with looking at Project Life 2012!

It took me until December to actually work on my title page. (For 11 months, it looked like it did here…)

Here’s what it looks like now:

Yay! Done.

And now, for Week Six! Here’s the left side:

Right:

And we took a trip to Disney that Saturday, so it got it’s own two and a half page spread:

Left:

Right (with a 6 x 12 insert page):

The backside of the insert page (not done yet–needs journaling!):

And right:

Sorry that one’s blurry! Still figuring out how to work my apps. LOL!

And there you have it—Week Six!

Ten things I’m thankful for right now:

ONE // Pinterest. It’s amazing what a trip to Pinterest can do for my design mojo. I just about thought my mojo had up and abandoned me for good… until I started regularly scanning Pinterest every morning!

TWO // My Keurig. I’ve had my Keurig for a month now and I love it as much as I did on the first day we bought it. I don’t like how much K-Cups cost. Blah! But I love my little filter thing.

The unexpected perk from getting a Keurig: I’ve been drinking tea like a mad woman! I haven’t really enjoyed having a daily cup tea for maybe 11 years now. The last time I was this excited about tea was when I first moved up to Pennsylvania when I was engaged to Travis. We would have a cup together every night. Well, now that I can have hot water at the touch of a button, there’s no barrier to my making a cup! For the last few weeks, I’ve used a cup of tea at night as a replacement for that evening snack I always used to crave!

THREE // Trader Joe’s. Last September, Sarasota got a Trader Joe’s. I was on Cloud 9 from the moment I heard the news. Getting to shop there weekly is just wonderful. I can find most all the natural things I’m looking for there—and typically save more than I can at any other store.

FOUR // Losing 10 Pounds. When Trader Joe’s first came to town, I quickly gained 10 pounds from all the not-so-healthy treats they carry. Then Christmas came along and suddenly I was up another 10 pounds! Holy cow. But after a few weeks of clean eating, I’m back down again. Still have a ways to go to be truly happy with my weight, but this is a good start!

FIVE // Project Life. Now that a new year has started, I’m enjoying looking back to January 2012 to see just what we were doing last year. It’s been fun to sit around and read off things, playing the “Oh my goodness! It’s been a year since that?!” game. Still planning out what 2013 will look like in my head. What I do know is that it will be cleaner and more streamlined. I’m taking pictures and taking notes. At some point I’m going to need to transition from working to finish 2012 to working weekly on 2013.

SIX // Wunderlist. I thought I had tried and given up on all types of computer based calendars and organizational apps. This one surprised me! I love using it for setting reminders, for making shopping lists, for making meal plans, for reminding me to clean the bathroom and do the laundry… everything! It’s changed my life.

SEVEN // My Day Planner. I still have a soft spot in my heart for my “paper & pen” planner. I would be lost if I were unable to dump all my thoughts, tasks and deadlines onto a piece of paper!

EIGHT // No More Eczema. For two years my husband has had terrible bouts of eczema on his hands. It would come and go. I think it might finally be gone. During the first week of January, every he would use two of his prescription creams along with taking a zinc supplement and a Claritin. At the same time, I went to Target and decked out our bed with dust mite covers and new sheets. Something out of those five things is helping. Right now, our money is on the Claritin and the dust mite covers. We are guessing that this whole time, he’s been allergic to something and maybe it was the bed! Ugh. So creepy to think about, but this is Florida—a hot and humid environment. At least now, his eczema is under control!

NINE // Friends. Friends that encourage me to take up running (even though I’ve kinda fallen off track with that…). Friends who answer the call to help you out when you’re feeling blue. Friends that will go see Les Mis (and sing!) with you. Friends that love to talk and talk and talk some more. Friends on-line and friends in real life. I feel blessed when I think of all of them…

TEN // Things I’m Learning. I’ve been reading a lot of great books lately and they’ve been working on my soul. I’m feeling a real call to find ways to practically live out the words of Jesus. I’m feeling convicted, but refreshed… strengthened… encouraged. It’s good stuff.