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Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Layout: Mommy's Little Man

Hi all!  Here's a quick layout post while I'm trying to catch back up on PL...I love Project Life, but it really requires dedication and the desire to get it done...but now, on to a LO!
Sorry for the eerie green-ish glow...I took these pictures this morning right after I had gotten dressed for work and right before I was summoned by the 1 year old...and I took them in my bathroom where I thought there was nice white light...I was wrong.
Anyhoo, this is a picture (cropped to 4.5"x4.5") of me and my sweet Jacob at the playground last Summer.  I just thought this was the sweetest picture of us both (not something that happens frequently) and I loved the greens and blues in the photo.
Here's a close-up of the strips...I cut them about 3/4" thick and 12" long, then mounted them really close to each other (just close enough to have a little of the creme cardstock showing through).  I did another strip on the right hand side to kind of pull the greens across the page.
And the title...I added my journaling to a circle I punched from the creme cardstock I used to back the green strips...I'm not crazy about it, but I'm not worried about it either.  It was journaling that I wanted to add so I'd remember where we were and with whom, so I'll be content that that information made it to the page.

Here's a list of what I used:
BoBunny: Block Party Dot (background paper)
BoBunny: Wasabi Dot (green strips)
Echo Park: Little Boy-Cool Stripe (strip above the title)
Basic Grey: Sugar Rush Element Stickers ('Today is...' sticker)
We R Memory Keepers: Textured Cardstock (creme backing for the green strips)
American Crafts Thickers: Iguana ('mommy's & man')
Basic Grey: Micro Mono Stickers ('little')

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Layout: 4 Months Old

Hi all!  Here's a LO that I started (and finished!) this weekend:
I LOVE doing grid-type layouts for things like this-a page that highlights a span of time.  I mean, is it possible to pick just a few pictures out of a whole month of cute-ness?  Not for me.  I cropped all of these squares to 1.5" in photoshop and cut them all out after printing them.  I could have left them all together and included a grid template, but I had more pictures than I needed, and I needed to go through them and make some decisions.  Plus, I find it therapeutic to cut and play with the layout of the squares.
 Here's a close-up of the grid of photos.  At 1.5" in a 5x6 grid, it was substantial enough for a 12x12 page, with some room for a title.  My Jacob is just the sweetest little boy ever!  Anyhoo, I have a bunch of catching up to do; I'd like to do a page for each month until his 1 year birthday...I'll get to it...eventually.
Here's a close-up of the stitching I did along the inner edges of the patterned paper.  I think it helps bring the different pieces together, and make them look cohesive.  Plus I just like the texture and practicing my straight sewing lines.  :-)

Here's a list of what I used:
Basic Grey: Out of Print (top patterned paper)
BoBunny: Dot (bottom patterned paper)
Little Yellow Bicycle: Boardwalk (the middle strip of paper)
(the background is kraft-not sure what manufacturer though)
Basic Grey: Cappella-Mini Mono Stickers ('four')
Basic Grey: Origins-Micro Mini Stickers ('months old')
(I love the little Basic Grey stickers for titles!)

Thanks for stopping by!  Leave me a comment with any questions!

Friday, March 16, 2012

Project Life: March 5-11, 2012

Hello all!  Just a quick post with last week's PL...it's a beautiful sunny day here, and I'm just about to get my boys and play outside!
Here's the whole spread...
My WONDERFUL husband grilled out steak and shrimp and surprised me by having everything ready and on the table when I got home from picking up the boys after work.  It was delicious!  Truly, he is the best husband ever.  My aunt sent both boys their birthday presents a tad late (but it helps to prolong the celebration, right?!) so there's a picture of them opening presents, and I cut out a piece of the wrapping paper to use as a 3x4 insert.  I also put a picture of Liam holding a package of little boy undies (praying that potty training will be quick, easy and successful).  Robbie took this picture, and I love it because Liam looks so interested in it!  I also included a cut-out of the packaging to include as a 3x4 insert.
And the right-hand side (sorry for the blur on the top left...).  Just some more random pictures from the week, including my sister with her swim team coaches and her Coaches' Award at her Winter Sports Banquet.  Truly, she is awesome-she got up at 5:00 a.m. every morning for months to practice with her swim team, and never missed one day!  She even arranged extra practices during Winter Break.  I love her and my boys adore her.  And some pictures and journaling about hanging out outdoors in the beautiful weather!
Thanks for visiting!  Leave me a comment with any questions!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Springtime & Yard Work

Hey everyone!  Let me start with: I LOVE living in North Carolina!  It's Springtime here (today we'll get up to at least 80 degrees) and I'm so excited to start working on our yard!  For the past 2 years during this timeframe, we've been taking care of newborns (Liam was born February 2010 and Jacob was born February 2011) so NOTHING was done outside for 2 years, except some mowing...and only when it really needed it.  And let me just say...you can tell.  Weeds have taken over and choked out plants that I loved, grass has creeped over edging that used to define natural areas, landscape lights went a little crooked...it's a mess.
(I found one of Liam's toys peeking out the window at the front yard-kinda cute)
So with this beautiful weather and 2 boys who love to play outside, we have a plan: get our yard back to where it was when we had the time to take care of it!  (Have I mentioned that I'm so excited?!)
This past weekend, we did a quick edging around our front natural area (and Jacob LOVED playing in the resulting dirt piles...I guess it's a boy thing.)  This weekend we'll rake out all the weeds and pine needles (from our MANY pine trees) and add in some mulch and maybe a hydrangea (or 2).
Since I had the Spring fever going, I went ahead and planted 3 succulents that had been hanging out in the containers I bought them in for a couple of months.  I'll keep these in pots on the front porch rails.  I know 2 of the plant's names: hens & chicks (bottom left), and drunkard's delight (on the right; because the plant looks like tiny beer bottles-too cool).  I like succulents a lot because they're so low maintenance, love the sunshine and forever green.  I threw some seashells into the pots as well, just cuz.  (I found the green ceramic pot on the right at Target for $2.50 in the dollar bins!)

So I'll keep you updated with my landscaping efforts!  I hope it's not nice and sunny and warm where you are, if you're in to that kinda thing.  Thanks for visiting!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Project Life: February 27-March 4, 2012

Hello everyone!  I hope you're day is going well!  Just a quick note: everyone has somebody in their life that's important to you; that you love and who is always there for you.  Whether it's a friend, husband (or wife), family member, co-worker, child...there's someone.  Take a few minutes out of your day to let them know how much they mean to you.  A call, text, e-mail, face-to-face; it doesn't have to be a grand gesture, but it's important.  Let them know you appreciate and love them.
That's that, now on to Project Life 2/27-3/4:
Here's the whole spread for this week, and I love all the color!  I did the date on my printer by running one of the date cards through.  The clear divider is left over from last year's PL (I started in May, so I have Jan.-April left to use this year)  There's also an insert for this week.
Here's the left-hand side: standard pictures and some journaling cards that describe how the weather is (finally) changing to Spring.  Since Jacob was at home this week recovering from pneumonia, my mom sent us 4 meals that just had to be heated and served.  SO nice not having to think about what to make!  I included one of the post-it notes she used with the heating instructions, because I like having her handwriting included.
 The right-hand side is more photos; one of my precious baby Jacob who smiles in his sleep!  We visited a grocery store on Saturday, just me and the boys, and Liam helped out by carrying some of the groceries in his cart.  Too precious!  I added an Instagram photo (sized to 2.5" square) to one of the journaling cards.  I can't say it enough: I Love Instagram!  There's also a photo of Liam with the new pillow and sham that I sewed and a tag that I cut and stapled right on to the picture (this is a great option when you run out of journaling space on the cards).  Also a picture of me and my husband at a bowling alley on Saturday with my boss, her husband, an intern and a family friend.  We were bowling to raise money for Big Brothers/Big Sisters.  Thank goodness the contributions and pledges are not conditional on a high (or even moderately-high) bowling score!

 The back and front of my insert.  These are 7.5"x7.5" Instagram photos of some of the flowers in our yard (Flowering Quinze and Carolina Jasmine)  I thought these were so pretty and colorful!
As with most of my inserts, I used a standard 8.5"x11" page protector and stitched the edge to fit the insert.  Then I trimmed the excess...I must say that my straight-line stitching is getting much better!

Thanks so much for visiting, and leave me a comment with any questions!

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Project Life: February 20-26, 2012

Hello everyone!  Let's jump right in!  This was a super-tough week; Jacob, my youngest baby boy, was diagnosed with RSV on Friday (2/24) and it was a rough spot for our family.  I'm happy to report he's 100% better, but a sick little boy puts a damper on getting a lot of things done, since all our your efforts are making sure he's comfortable and getting better.  Sooo, on to the pictures!

No inserts this week; just pictures and journaling.  I did my date on a PL card with my printer (I type the date in Word, print it on a regular piece of paper, then line it up with the space on the card by holding it up to a window...then I just add a bit of removable adhesive to the back of the card, and re-run the paper through the printer.)
Here's the left-hand side; a close up of the date card, a picture of our house covered in the only snow we'll probably see this Winter, my boys in the snow and their little lawnmowers (that I forgot to put in the carport before the snow...)  In the 3x4 spots, I included the receipt from Jacob's first haircut "Supercut Jr." (super-cute), a picture of Liam coloring in the kids' waiting room at the doctor's office for both boys' check-up appointments, and 2 journaling cards about their check-ups and our busy schedule on that Monday.
On the right-hand side, a lunch picture from Monday and (of course) a picture of the first haircut (it was NOT well-received by Jacob), and then pictures from the latter-half of the week, where we could tell Jacob was not feeling well.  I included his prescription inserts, and pictures of him resting, which is what he spent the most of his time doing.  Just getting better one day at a time.
That's it for this week; thanks for taking a look, and comment with any questions!

Friday, March 9, 2012

Layout: Dixie Classic Fair 2011

Hey everyone!  I know its been a bit since my last post, but once you see all that's been going on (via Project Life) you'll understand...one very sick little boy leaves very little time to blog!  I spent all of my efforts getting him back to 100%, and I'm happy to say, he's back to his mishievious little self again!  But on to the layout:
I took inspiration from the StudioCalico blog for this layout, and am really happy with the way it turned out!  I'm also kinda impressed that I got this LO done before this year's Fair.  Anyhoo: most of the papers are from Echo Park's Little Boy collection.
The orange letters are American Crafts' Thickers: Iguana, and the small black letters are October Afternoon.  I did some stitching at the bottoms of the black letters to tie into the stitching around the blue paper, and I think it helps ground the letters...
 The strips of paper are also Echo Park, and I cut some of them from the branding strip at the bottom of the 12x12 papers (they're there to show what pattern is on the back of the paper)
Thanks for taking some time to check out my LO!  Comment with any questions!  Have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend!