June Project Life Album: Part I

Hey everyone!! 

My collection of Project Life "books" is growing and growing and I'm so excited to be over on the Studio Calico blog sharing a look at my June book!  I seriously can't believe we are more than six months into this year!  I love love love this project SO much and I am so thankful for these cute little books.  They are definitely a favorite around our house - especially since they are so much more portable than those big 12x12 albums!  

Hop on over to the SC blog to read more about my book this month!  Thanks so much for letting me share my growing collection of albums!!  xoxo

Maggie Holmes Design Team: Summer Activity Books

If you have kiddos, I'm sure you have heard "I'm bored" at least once this summer.  My kids do a pretty good job of playing together or alone, but I still hear that "I'm bored" sentence a few times each week.  Planning ahead tends to be key for me.  We have a daily schedule (when the kids aren't in camp) that lists what we will be doing for the day.  It's nothing to extravagant or crazy - just little things that they can do to stay busy AND be creative.  

One of the fun activities on our list this week is to draw, write and tell stories in these cute little summer activity books.  These books are SO simple and easy to make and the kids just love them!  Stop by Maggie's blog for a quick tutorial for creating summer mini books of your own!  The possibilities are endless for these cute books!

Oh Monday...

.....I am so ready for you!  I took a little mini vacation last week and had the BEST time!  I needed it. Oh man, did I need it.  We did a little bit of nothing and lots of everything.  It was the perfect mix of relaxation and "busy" without being too crazy or hectic.  We spent a few days at home, a few days with the sand in our toes.  It was just perfect.

And now I am so ready for this week.  I feel rested, organized and just plain excited for the week to begin.  I have lots and lots on my calendar this week.  It's a full week, but it's going to be a good one, I can just tell!

Towards the end of the week, I'll be sharing a look at my June Project Life album.  I love my growing collection of little books.  They just make me so very happy.  I'm already thinking ahead to July and what size album I'll be using!

Then there's this cutie, who keeps me on my toes.   I forgot how darn busy little puppies are.  I think we've found a good mix of running/walking/playing to keep him from nibbling on us and our stone fireplace (what's up with puppies eating rocks, by the way)?

The kids are in Vacation Bible School all week (yay!) and our church has VBS from 5-8pm each night, so I'm planning on eating my way around Raleigh while the kids dance and play!  Scott and I tried out a new restaurant last night for a fun Father's Day treat and the place did not disappoint!  The food was great and the company was even better!  My bestie is coming into town tonight, so we will be having a fun girls night!  Yay for Mondays, VBS and best friends!

So - that's a look ahead for me!  What a random post all about nothing, right?  

Regardless, I'm excited and I'm ready for whatever is in store for this week!  It's going to be an awesome week!  I hope your week is just as awesome!  

xoxo

Craft Party at Big Picture Classes

There's a fun summer CRAFT PARTY happening over at Big Picture Classes and you are invited!  It's a free event that includes new inspiring lessons from some of the BPC teachers, a live chat at 1pm EST, giveaways and more! 

I'm over in the lessons sharing a fun way to incorporate recipes into your Project Life albums!  It's so simple and easy, and so worth documenting!  You could even create an entire album dedicated to recipes!  How fun woful that be??

Stop on by and join in on the fun today!  The event will be up through the weekend, so play along at your leisure!  Hope to see you there!

Maggie Holmes Design Team: DIY Gift Bags and Money Holder

Homemade gift bags and card holders are so darn fun to make!!  I put these adorable little bags together for my sweet neighbor who just graduated from high school.  Hop on over to Maggie's blog to see more and read about how easy these are to put together!  

Wanderlust

Oh how I want to go on an adventure!!

After I put together this cork wall picture using the cork map pieces from the Galileo Scrapbook kit, I  started planning our next big trip!  I'm dying to go somewhere crazy and fun!!

I love how the pictures and labels look on the map pieces and I love having a visual of some of our trips!

I used a framed canvas as the background for the cork map pieces (so I could hang it on our wall - and so I could spread the pieces out a little bit).  

I typed up the names of the places we've visited and then stapled them to the photos.  I've visited more places in Europe, but I kind of ran out of room (boo).

I used some of the kit embellishments to add a few little extras to the picture.  I didn't want it to be overlay decorated or busy, so I kept it rather simple.

I LOVE how it turned out and now I have a crazy urge of wanderlust....hmmm...where to go next??

Studio Calico \\ Project Life - Summer

There's just something about yellow AND ice cream cones that screams summer!!  As soon as I opened my Studio Calico Galileo Project Life kit, I knew I wanted to put together a Project Life spread from a summer adventure a few years ago.  The photo on the top right above made it into my album that year, but none of the other photos did (I take way too many photos, obviously).  So, I printed them out and got to working on a 12x12 spread (which I hadn't done in quite a while)!

I basically built my pages around the stacked ice cream card and the summer card.  I love the way the two looked together on one spread, so I decided not to split them up.  And my photos of our ice cream and lake adventure at sunset could not have been more perfect.

The right side of the spread is pretty simple - photos, words and a few extras!  I created a "confetti" type pocket using the camera piece, a cork number and a few smaller hearts/embellishments.  I used my Fuse to seal the pocket shut!

This spread kind of made me miss the 12x12 size.  It real is so easy to work with and I really love how cohesive the pages look here.  

And I "might" have ordered another Project Life kit just for this cute little bunny and his stacked ice cream cones!!

Oh, Project Life - you are just too fun!!  

Did you pick up the Galileo Project Lift kit?  How can you resist those ice cream cones?

Around Here

Just a glimpse of our everyday.  All the normal, ordinary stuff going on around here - drawing, hugs, pool days, books, sunshine and lots of love.....

Goodbye May, hello June!

Memory Planner: May 2015

I'm pretty sure this is the longest I've ever "kept up" with a planner.  I always have a running calendar of some sorts, but this planner has kept me motivated and energized for this entire year so far.  I love taking a few minutes here and there to fill in the details of our lives, as well as our daily activities.  

I love that there are no expectations and no rules.  I can stamp here and there; add journaling cards or sticky notes - you name it!  

I keep the majority of my planner supplies in a few wire baskets in my craft room, but I usually find myself pulling out my extra Studio Calico supplies when I work in my planner.  Using my alpha stamps and inks is my new favorite (as you can probably tell by looking at these few weeks).  Once I get started on something, I usually can't stop!  :)

I've found that our Saturday/Sundays aren't as "list-y" as the rest of the week, so I usually print off a few photos of our week and add those in on Saturday/Sunday.  The mix of photos, stamps and lists just makes me super happy!

It's a super simple way to work in a planner, but it's a great outlet for creative play!  I'm still curious if I will be able to fit an entire year in this book.  I kind of stopped adding in extra inserts in hopes of being able to keep everything in one binder, so I'm staying hopeful!  :)

Have Fun Ok!

So you've probably heard me say that once I get started, I just can't stop.  Well, this layout is a result of that problem.  :)  This page came about as I was creating the tag mini album that I shared yesterday on my blog.  As I was trimming down patterned papers for the tags/album pages, I ended up with three 3x3 inch pieces of paper.  They were almost the same size of some photos I had printed this weekend, so it was a win-win for sure!

I started by layering the pieces of patterned paper onto my page and the arranged my photos around them.  I played around with the placement and finally was pretty happy with how they looked.  I knew I wanted to add in some transparent elements, and since I had the Maggie Holmes Confetti gold alpha sitting right on my desk, I grabbed out a few letters and placed them on my page (and thank goodness I had an extra pack of letters because I had already used my "A" and "D" in my tag mini album).

I used pop dots to adhere my photos and stitching to adhere the patterned paper.  I love the extra digestion both add to the page.

Like my album from yesterday, I kept the page super simple and easy with mostly photos, papers and a few embellishments.  Sometimes less really is more.  

A & D Tag Mini Album

I'm not sure why, but I LOVE making mini albums.  They are just so fun, so easy and super simple to put together!  This cute little tag album came together super quickly thanks to Maggie Holmes' Mini Album kit over at Studio Calico.  Maggie's Mini Album class begins next week, but I couldn't wait to play around with all the amazing goodies that came in this kit!

The base of this tag album consists of some of the Confetti library pockets, trimmed/sewn patterned papers, chipboard, vellum bags and shipping tags.  I kept it very simple by using photos I had on hand, typed journaling and minimal embellishments.  I pretty much worked with the mini album kit and pulled in a few extras from my June Studio Calico kits here and there.

Here's a look at my finished tag mini album...

Super simple, super easy, but oh so fun!!

Are you a mini-a-holic too??  Join the club!  :)