Hello! I'm so excited to sharing a little something I've been working on here at home this year. When I was on maternity leave after my daughter was born in 2010, I made myself print and organize all the photos that I had stored on my computer since my son was born in 2007.
Since then, this is about the extent of what I've done with them.
Yep. Sophisticated storage system, huh? I had to do something. I don't have a ton of time and I like making cards because it's quicker than scrapbooking. I also felt intimidated, like my photos had to be perfect for a 12x12 layout. I caught myself obsessing over matching the outfits my kids were wearing to the layout and nothing was getting done.
Enter Project Life. Project Life is designed to be fast and user friendly. This is exactly what I needed to do.
To introduce you to Project Life, I actually made a video. :)
As promised, here are some photo shots of my Project Life layouts in action and a little about how I start them and some of my favorite tips and tricks.
One of my favorite tools for Project Life are my 3x4 journaling card dies. These fit the pocket pages perfectly. They also allow me to crop my photo perfectly and I can see exactly what my picture will look like. It's also great when I have an adorable picture of one of my children and the other looks *ummm* awful. (grin).
I do the same thing with the new Lawn Fawn #awesome Instagram frame die.
When I'm working on a Project Life Layout, I like to start with getting my photo pockets filled with photos first. You can put in as many or as few as you want, that's one of the things I love most!
Here I've basically saved myself 2 spots where I'll scrapbook. Since I don't always have a ton of time, I will do this just to get my photos in the albums. I find it keeps me less behind this way and I'm less likely to end up with a box of photos in my laundry room for months!
Like I said in the video, I absolutely love the Project Life Lined Journaling and Grid cards. I use these as a standard for my layouts.
Next is the title. A good (scratch that) great alphabet die is a must. My favorite is Avery Elle's Avery's Alphas. It is such a great basic. This trick saves my crafting budget in the long run since I don't have to invest in alphabet stickers and instead I can make my own with any color of cardstock I want! To add adhesive, I simply run them through my Xyron!
Here I die cut the frame and photo as well as the title to create the beginning of my 4x6 pocket insert, now I just get to embellish it! I give a little washi look, I trimmed down a piece of patterned paper.
I stamped and die cut the little camera from the same Lawn Fawn #awesome set.
Then I colored it in with Copics, adhered it to my 4x6 layout and stamped some of the hearts using Avery Elle Raspberry and Orchid ink.
And a few hearts for some fun. I always like to make sure I have something 'grounding' my photos. Now I'm ready to add some journaling and put it into the pocket.
I followed the same basic idea to do my son Parker's.
A few die cut shapes and his name using the same alphabet die.
I adhered them to my 4x6 journaling card and trimmed any overhang.
Since these are on the same page and since I love it so much, I used the same Lawn Fawn #awesome Instagram frame die. I just love how little the pictures are yet they are still highlighted so well!
Again, I used more of that same patterned paper (Lawn Fawn Hello Sunshine 6x6 pad) and simply tore it on the ends to give it a washi tape look!
Sometimes I like to make simple journaling cards - here I'm using a 3"x4" piece.
I added a strip of patterned paper and die cut the word love and a few hearts.
What I love about this is that this allows me to use all of my card making supplies and I don't have to invest a lot in premade journaling cards. Don't get me wrong - there are a ton of fabulous ones but I really enjoy being able to make my own!
Here's the end result for one layout.
And here's the other!
Thanks so much for stopping by the CLASSroom today and sharing part of your day with me!
-Heather
