Snow! Inside!

One of the ideas I had for the girls while we were up in Alaska was to utilize the snow. I stumbled upon this idea via Pinterest (but I must not have pinned it so no original link, sorry!) and it was so easy and fun! I simply went outside (so quickly as it was NEGATIVE 18 this night) and scooped up a bowl of snow. I got out a cookie sheet and spoons and cups for each girl and let them have at it. At first it was so fluffy and light! It couldn’t be made into anything, but once it warmed up in the house it melted a bit and could be packed down. They scooped and packed and exclaimed over the coldness. They pointed out their red fingers, it was a great sensory experience!

Tuesday’s first touch, “it’s cold mama!”

“I want that snow!” Good thing I could just go out and get as much as we wanted!

And then she had to taste it! I was surprised it took her so long. Later in the week we brought snow back (from a failed trip to try and play… five feet of powder is not the easiest thing to play in!) and made snow slushies!

If you have snow outside bring it in! You’re so lucky and I think if we had snow around we’d be busy for a while!

Project Life – to go.

Today Tuesday and I are leaving on a last minute girl’s trip. Earlier this month Carmen mentioned that her husband would be out of town and wished we could come hang out. I checked with Bj, and he was going to be busy with work too. Then I checked our frequent flier miles. We had enough so we booked the tickets! The day we booked the tickets the high in Anchorage was -5 F! Yikes! I told Carmen we would be excited to play in the snow. She said we’d have to cover the girls faces in vaseline first! So we’ll see how much outdoor time we get. I think it should be pretty relaxed and we’ll probably do lots of fun things at home. We’ll be there for 11 days, a pretty long trip (blog updates sure to be sporadic!).
I’ve actually been rocking and rolling on Project Life, despite my lack of sharing.

My title page. I’m going to wait to really finish it when I figure out how many months will fit in here (it won’t be 12). I’ll probably use contact prints to show a sampling of that time period. I’ve started 2011 in monthly overview form, and contact sheets are what I did for the opening page there.

I have this hole where the Disney trip was. I sort of shuffled around the weeks, doing partial weeks on either side of the disney trip, and letting that have a mega spread of it’s own. It was only a five day trip and we were really busy. I need to get this done, but was waiting on photos that I just got from other people on the adventure. I’ve been thinking about how I want to tackle the 11 day trip. I asked for advice on twitter and Ali mentioned that on her upcoming trip she’ll probably just take an envelope and maybe a page protector. I thought about that too…. But last time I was in Alaska it was pretty chill and I loved working on my scrapbook on the road. So, I’m taking a the whole album. I wish they made some kind of travel album because I am afraid of bending the cover, but besides that I think it will be fine. I’ll be bringing a kit similar to what I brought last time:

I need to add the tiny attacher. The rest of the supplies are tucked into the album itself.

This is the current week, and I’m trying to have it fairly up to date.

I already made the title card for the next week, and it’s tucked in.

I have a few things printed off, and the rest of this page protector is filled with those cut apart pages (pages with lots of little journaling spots and things on them, not sure if they have a real name). On the other side of this I put a plain white 12×12 sheet of paper. I find that having a blank canvas to work on helps with putting together these pages.

I was going to stick all the journaling cards in, but figured I’d move them anyway so I put them in another 12×12 spot. You can see that I have a whole mess of page protectors in here. Not sure how much/what type I’ll want. So I’m leaving myself lots of options.

And of course I have to bring some washi tape!
Not sure if I’ll print photos when I get home of if I’ll just upload to their local Costco. I think it just depends on what we are doing with the girls… And if we ever get that downtime we are imagining! I sure hope we get to rest a little, after all I’m bringing lots of knitting!
 

A Giveaway and a Good Idea


I have a set of stamps for one of you. I actually have two sets of stamps. One is for a specific reader, who I can’t seem to contact via email. Lacey if you’re out there one of these sets is for you! The other one I’ll give away via the standard leave a comment and I’ll pick one randomly (if Lacey doesn’t contact me or want the stamps anymore I’ll send out two sets). I plan to draw early Thursday the 26th, so this is a quick one! I used these stamps when I pre-made Project Life cards with Sarah a few months ago. I was asked where I got them, they are from the dollar bin at Michael’s, but I couldn’t find them again. I happened upon them while visiting my in-laws earlier this month, so lucky you!

I have been making even more cards (though I technically don’t need to because I do have a kit… or two). I figured out how to make them super easily with my Silhouette.

I made up this file for an 8.5 x 12 piece of paper. With it I can get 8 cards, pre-corner rounded, super quickly. If you had a new model of Silhouette (called the Cameo) you could get a few more cards (it cuts up to 12×12). I have to say I have no desire to upgrade. I love the small size of my SD and don’t think I would ever cut a full 12×12 sheet. I can still cut 12″ long so if I want to make borders that is no problem at all. Just thought I’d throw that out there…. I know people are upgrading and you might be able to score a used SD cheaply. Anyway these are really fun if you use double sided paper. In fact I might be a wee bit addicted!

You can also cut negative shapes out of the cards at the same time you cut the whole thing out. I did a few Mickey heads (there is no Mickey shape in the store, but it was easy to find an image online and then do an auto trace), and an airplane. I like doing this kind of thing now, when I’m on a new project high. I think it will help for the weeks when I don’t feel so motivated! If anyone knows how to save a Silhouette file to share it let me know and I’ll post the file for the cards.  I figured it out (ok Bj figured it out), here is a link to download the file! Enjoy! I’d love to know if you download and use it!
edited to add (8/2013) Since people are downloading this file again I thought I would update it with the more recent card sizes, they are bigger now, very nearly 3×4. Here is that version to download, enjoy! The margins are scant on the Silhouette so make sure you reveal cutting mat and position your 8×12 inch paper perfectly! 

1981


This is one of my favorite layouts in a while. I think I’ve had the base done for a few months now… I was just waiting to get the right paper into my Silhouette for the title and year. I painted on this layout (maybe even as far back as our beach retreat?), so it’s a bit warped but I don’t really mind. In my re-organizing for Project Life, I pulled out some of my smaller scraps for a separate dish. I think I’m going to be digging into those a lot. And yes, Project Life is easy. You DON’T need a lot of stuff, I’ve just found that I leave it out a lot, and want to slip little bits in constantly so it warranted a re-arrangement of sorts. And that Honey Dotted Swiss? I’m pretty sure I need a giant pack of it. It’s such the perfect color of mustard!

What I’m obsessing about right now

I’m sure I have more interesting things going on, but the one thing taking over my  mind right now is what to do about Project Life storage. When I put together the weekly layouts (well, not always a week, swear I will share soon), I tend to use my supplies much differently than when I scrapbook “traditionally”. So I decided a rolling cart under my desk (in my craft room) would be a good idea. I got this one from Ikea, put it together and realized that it was too much of beast to try and keep in here. The thing I love about my craft room is how clean and simple it is, with not a lot sitting out.

Then I was thinking that after I wrestle this one back to Ikea (blargh!) I would just get an Alex drawer unit, because it’s shorter, and white, and wouldn’t stick out as much. I was a little worried about the drawer size so I have been scouring the internet trying to find someone who would tell me. Well a 16 minute makeup video later I found out the drawers are only 1.75 inches tall and the bottoms ones a little taller. I don’t know why I can’t find exact heights of the things! And now I’m thinking maybe this would be better, but could I add castors to it (oh and it’s doesn’t hold 12×12 paper…)? Hmm. Of course I’d have to dress it up. And Sarah says just to go and measure, which would be easy if Ikea wasn’t an hour away…
Have you started doing Project Life? Did it change how you scrapbook, or have to store you supplies. Do you obsess over organizational purchases?
p.s. how awesome is this?