PROJECT LIFE | King Island

School holidays starts...NOW!

I am grateful that I am able to work from home over the September break.

A few weeks ago I started on selecting and editing photos from an afternoon at King Island. It sounds rather tropical because it's an "island" but really, it wasn't that exotic. That's not to say it wasn't an awesome afternoon with my three boys.

Starting with over 100 photos, I managed to cut it down to 23. There was little hope of fitting it all into 2 pages as originally planned. We were only there for 4 hours! 

Memory keeping lesson I learnt from this spread:
I don't need to obsess about the journalling. I need only journal if there is something I want to say, or if a story needs to be told. There's no need to journal just for the sake of filling up a journalling card. 

Today I'm sharing the first two pages:

Here's a close up:

Supplies: Goals stamp set from Kellie Stamps, Freebie "Adventure" card from Kelsey, Especially.

I like creating simple filler cards with stamps, and I'm a bit crazy for inspirational words words and quotes. I used two of the stamps from Kellie Stamps' Goals set here:

Photo from kelliestamps@bigcartel.com 

Thank you for having a look at my pages. I'll be back next week to share the rest!

In the meantime, enjoy your weekend! xx 

PROJECT LIFE | 6th Birthday layout

Life around here has been crazy. I find myself saying this often so maybe this is just my kind of normal. I really do love it.

Today, I'm sharing some details from a spread I did for my youngest for his 6th birthday last year. 

It's hard to believe my baby will be seven this year. On Friday night, he raced over to me bursting with excitement over his first wobbly tooth. This will be the last first wobbly tooth in this little household, and for that I feel a little sad. My baby is growing up fast.

I used the Jade and Midnight core kits.

I used my old Stampin' Up number die to make the "6" from one of the Jade edition filler cards. The wood veneer alphas and orange opaque gem are from Polka Dot Creative. 

I haven't used alphabets stickers for a while and an impulse purchase from The Stamp Spot has reminded me how much I love them. I used Basic Grey Micro Mini Alphas and they come in some amazing colours. 

The "favourite" stamp is from Kellie Stamps -- soon to be released mini stamp set that is a must-have. 

Kellie Stamps: Favourite

It has been a productive weekend. I had some crafting time, did a few loads of washing (*yawn*), baked a batch of muffins yesterday, homemade chicken soup simmering away on the stove right now, and hoping to squeeze an hour of Project Life in before the night time routine.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend so far, and wishing you an amazing week! xx

My Project Life Process right now.

I know, I know! It's January 2014 and I've only just completed November 2013. 

But don't get excited, because that's the only month I have completed for 2013!

Now moving onto September 2013...here's what it looks like so far.

I am happy to report my Project Life process has been reviewed, revised and refined...and repeat.

Today I'm sharing my process (read: strategy) to complete 2013 by the end of February. That's my aim. I will keep you posted on how it pans out.

Those of you who are regular visitors to my blog (thank you!!) will know I have been working on layouts of my boys as babies. That is still rolling along but my focus for Jan/Feb is completing 2013. And you may also know I primarily do monthly or event spreads.

So this is what I'm doing right now.

HOW I ORGANISE MY PHOTOS ON THE COMPUTER?

I have a folder for each month, and then sub-folders within those. The folders with day_month_year are from my camera, and then I have a folder for photos from my phone, and my husband's phone.


HOW I DECIDE WHAT LAYOUTS TO DO? 

Step 1: Events
Firstly, I will work on events from the month. For example, our afternoon at Bribie Island, or putting up the Christmas tree -- anything where I have taken a series of photos from the one day.

Step 2: Monthly Overview
Once the event/s for the month are accounted for, I move onto selecting the photos for my monthly spread/s. It could be 1 x double page layout, 2 x double page layouts, or just the one page. 

I prefer the flexibility of monthly spreads because I don't feel the pressure to have sufficient photos for every week, or to have a two page spread every single week.

Step 3: Individual page for the kiddies
Once I have completed the event and monthly overview pages, I work on the overprints and the "highly commended" photos.

The "overprints" are the photos that I have printed twice (mostly because the colour was out, or I forgot to print with a border). 

The "highly commended" photos are ones I really like of the boys which I was not able to include in the monthly overview spread. 

These handful of photos go into the boys' albums as a single page layout dedicated purely to them. Here I will include details of their school excursions, drawings they have done, quirky quotes and any other details I want to record.

Here's a look at what I've done for the pages in the boys' individual albums for the Nov 2013. 

The focus was on getting the photos into pockets and telling the story. 


Here's a close up of the journalling. 

STAMPS: Kellie Stamps (Photo Bomb). Dear Lizzy roller date stamp.

That's my process for now.  I'm happy to say it's proving productive, and I'm having fun -- no pressure, just keeping the documenting wheels in motion. 

What's your Project Life or memory keeping process right now? Would love to hear about it if you would like to leave a comment and share.

That's it from me today, thanks again for stopping by! xx

November 2013 layout

Here in sunny Queensland, Australia -- it is stinking HOT!

We are fortunate enough to have the air conditioner cranked, and another batch of the boys' favourite coconut mango ice-cream in the freezer (sorry, i know i go on about this, but it's really GOOOOD!).

I'm sharing my first completed monthly layout today. All my previous layouts have focussed on an event, so it was both fun and challenging to work with a bunch of photos that was a snapshot of our November 2013. 

Here's a look at the spread.

I used Amy Tangerine's Cut and Paste mini kit, Dear Lizzy's Polka Dot Party mini kit, and the Midnight Edition.

For my title card, I stamped "NOV" (Monday-Friday set, Kellie Stamps) on a 2013 Calendar Journaling Card (Paislee Press).

This "Love this moment" stamp is a rubber wood mount from Kellie Stamps. I think I will be using this one A LOT! 

Freckled Fawn wood veneer heart from The Stamp Spot on an Amy Tangerine Cut and Paste filler card in the next photo.

I love sweet potato gems! This is a bit of a treat in our household so the NOM NOM wood mount stamp (Kellie Stamps) was perfect for this photo.  I used Brilliance ink in Starlite Black and I am so impressed with how beautifully this ink stamps onto glossy photo paper.

A little bit blurry, but check out the Light Wood Veneer Flair (Kellie Stamps)! These flairs have really cute designs.



How crisp the above stamped image?! This was the first time I stamped onto glossy photo paper and I think it almost looks like it has been printed. 

I've use the quote stamp from the Best Friend's stamp set (currently on sale, Kellie Stamps) and the Brilliance Starlite Black ink again. Although the ink has "black" in the name, it's more of a shimmery dark charcoal colour which I love.

Finally, remember you still have time to win this awesome prize pack simply by commenting on all the blogs participating in the Kellie Stamps January Release blog hop. Competition closes midnight (AET) 5 January.

Good luck everyone, it's an awesome prize! And thanks for stopping by xx