template love.

so my sweet friend crystal, asked me to try out her new templates.

you know me, I kinda love crystal, and I kinda love everything she makes, so it really wasn’t hard to say yes.

I used three different templates, from two different packs.

what do I love about them? well, let’s just make it easier and list what I don’t love about them.

(insert crickets chirping here.)

see for yourself:

this is from template pack #1, and perfect to showcase some of my favorite pix from our recent lagoon trip.

I love the white background, but also the option the template gives to change that up whichever way I choose. I love to have the pop of color on the very background, but still have the clean feel of the white behind my pictures.

I used pebbles “seen & noted” paper and elements to tie this all together.

and that stitching.. perfect to pin down all of those little tid-bits.

crystal has made this so super easy, with all the shadows and overlays, even the stitching pre-set (but with the option to turn those layers off if you are not in the mood).

I love this picture, and decided that while it will definitely hold a spot in my weekly project life layout, it deserves a page of it’s own..

I used a template from template pack #4 and “chasing rainbows” paper and elements from dani mogstad. perfect to express that feel of blissful childhood I so totally see in this picture.

this was easily one of the happiest days of our summer so far..

my sister-in-law came home from her 18 month mission to nashville, tennessee!!

(totally deserves to be documented..)

I used another template from template pack #4 (guess you could say it’s my favorite pack? maybe?..) and LDS missionary sister edition from becky higgins project life designed by kimberly church.

I am so completely happy with how easy (and quick!!) these were to use.

now if you have been scrolling through, checking out what these babies have to offer, maybe even clicking on the links, following them to the stores where you can purchase them from, well, I have some completely awesome news for you..

and it really isn’t my news, it’s crystal’s news, I just get to spread it!!!.. and we all know that I am so incredibly good at that…

she is offering a 50% off coupon to purchase her templates here.

just enter the code CWTEMP50 at checkout before june 22nd.

want more eye candy? check out her blog and what she did with a layout a day with these awesome templates.

happy.

I don’t believe in coincidences.

I can’t.

so with my choice to be happy, no matter what, I haven’t found it coincidental that there are so many things that just kind of happen, that remind me of what I am choosing out of life these days.

as I sat down to work (play) with the project life release from stampin’ up!, I saw no coincidence with all the happy things I was seeing..

as I end my days, I reflect on the happy.

I realize that not every day is entirely happy or perfect, and sure, as I journal, I note the things that are troubling. I don’t go into great detail about them, I don’t want that to be my focus. I seek out the happy, no matter how small.

my favorite is to look through the pictures I have managed to capture.. it’s happiness frozen.

I look ahead at what’s to come, not really “loving” all of it, but still, loving what I can about the now.

school will be out this week.

summer will be here.

I am trying to not look past that right now.. if I look beyond, that means another year of school. lynn one step closer to junior high. ashley getting that much more smart-assey, and peyton gone. all. day. long.

but I will take it one week at a time..

one week..

I am thankful that my goal to do project life helps me to focus, reflect, and to embrace all of the happy.

and wouldn’t you know, this week’s digital project life release is called “happy”.

nope, no coincidence.

here’s to another happy day.

when a picture makes your day

last week was a good week in pictures.

I mean, you can have good hair days, I even declare some days good handwriting days, so why not a good picture day?

I decided to document one of my favorites in a layout, all for that one pic. it will probably make an appearance in the weekly project life layout too, but it was just so good, I decided that two showings for it would be just fine.

(supplies used: maggie holmes “styleboard” mini kit, template h, heritage paper, stitching from anna aspnes, tags and button from queen of quirk, arrow paperclip from sahlin studio, and the glitter from ikari designs.)

and the most awesome thing is that this ^^^ isn’t the only beautiful thing about life lately!

I have had so much energy, so much motivation, my list of things to-do is longer than I have time to accomplish.

I care about life!

I know (I KNOW) that my little corner of the world (at least my perception of it) has so vastly improved because of prayer. prayers of family, loved ones, caring friends, and my own.

it’s sweet..

president eyring spoke just to me (I swear!!!!) at women’s conference. it was aimed right. at. me. even better? I was able to get 3 tickets pretty much last minute for me and lynn and ash to be able to go to the conference center. (answered prayers again..)

I wish I had recorded ashley’s facial expression when I told her she would be in the same room as the prophet. think = priceless.

the only thing that could have possibly made that night better would have been if peyton were 8 and able to attend with us.

but let’s not hurry that along too much…

we also had conference weekend. there were great things that weekend, as there always are. again, I tell you, president eyring spoke right. to. me.

(I mean, you can think it was to you, but.. well…)

I am working on my studio and being just as ocd as ever about ever last detail.

my biggest problem?

committing where to put my table…

weeks five + six: strawberry edition

even though we didn’t get much snow this year, it was still winter at the pitcher house.
and how do I know this?
1) I had the uncontrollable itch to re-arrange, re-decorate, and just shake things up in general around the house.

we moved the two youngest upstairs in the loft area, moved their tv room downstairs, and my studio from the basement up to peyton’s old room on the main level. the hopes are that now, every little girl in the house will sleep through the night (I know, 11, 9, and 6.. they got on a fear kick in october, and it still isn’t over), and the other hope is that I will get some of my fun stuff done. it’s not fun going down to the basement alone. where no one else is. to work. where it was not motivating.

(my studio is still a work in progress.. but it is progressing.)

we were also tv starts for a second on a local show, studio 5.

(link to segment here.)

my nephew was baptized.

we enjoyed too much sweet stuff on superbowl sunday (but seriously, that is what the superbowl is all about..).

took a trip to the natural history museum of utah, which was AWESOME and totally AMAZING, and WE WILL be going back. there was so much incredible stuff to see, and we didn’t even get close to seeing it all.

the last little bit is a homework sheet from peyton’s homework packet. I LOVE the phonetic spelling.. her favorite season: summer. things you wear in summer: “swimsoot”. I LOVE this!

and 2) three pictures from this particular week have to do with different people being ill.
seriously.
the ONLY thing I hate (absolutely HATE!!!) about winter.

lynn participated in her first science fair. we tested gum. our jaws are still recovering.

(but 5 gum is the best, in case you are curious.)

took ash to the doctor for what I suspected was strep. it was just a virus (which = a wasted co-pay).

took peyton in to the instacare the next day, for the flu.

wick girls = drama + emotion. this was a quiet moment.

got some sweet thank you gifts from teresa hunsaker for the studio 5 segment. she is SUCH a SWEETHEART!!

this is peyton’s fever.. back again.

took lynn to the 5th grade maturation program and traditional ice cream and “ask me anything you want” afterward.

page 1 credits:

becky higgins project life template “F”

strawberry edition project life

kraft paper and paint brush from liv.edesigns

number 5 from sarah gleason

staples from dani mogstad

paper heart from amy tangerine

stitches from crystal wilkerson

page 2 credits:

becky higgins project life template “F”

strawberry edition project life

staples from dani mogstad

stitched heart from crystal wilkerson

arrow from clementine edition project life

fonts:

“week” bebas

“six” lobster two

journaling and dates done in frenchy

project life failure

my intentions were good. oh soooo good!!

I started out strong, just not strong enough.

now I am living with the decisions I made, and trying to catch up!

I set out to do project life, and got some pretty awesome tips to “help” me. some of them ended-up giving me excuses, and thousands of ideas as to why I should just start all over, but I am not. I am sticking to it. I will get there, slowly but surely.

so the things that i have learned, some the hard way, tinged with a smidge of regret, are as follows: (and i learned A LOT from cathy zileski, she is amazing!!)

- pick a template, maybe two, but the fewer the better.

- pick a kit and try to stick to it. there were fun cards and embellishments from my stash that i was able to use to mix it up a bit, but for the most part, too many choices just complicate things for me, and project life is not supposed to be complicated. i actually created a folder on my computer, and titled it "my project life" and copied the supplies i wanted to use continually throughout the album. for the most part, my background paper and fonts stayed the same. so did my template. i also edited my pictures the exact same way every time.

- calendar in a day when you project life it. have that time consistent so it gets done.

- i keep a journal on my phone with the day one app. every day i write about the events of the day, that helps when i go to journal.

- be flexible. i missed a few weeks, and that was hard to go back and fill in the gaps. when life just got too busy, i stopped. i still have catching up to do, and if i just started out being flexible with myself, i wouldn't be there. i also picked one way to start the album, one basic style to stick to, and i just wasn't loving it anymore come march. when you don't love what you are working with, you should be flexible to change it up. i wanted to keep the album cohesive, but i should have allowed myself to be more flexible so i would have stayed excited and in love with the process.

- involve your kids!! that is part of the plan for me this year. let them journal about the day or a certain event. after watching the rebroadcast of project life on creative live, i have so much motivation and new ideas to help keep this ongoing. scanning in kids art and school work is something that i want to implement.

- accountability. i have let my blog go, i don't post in galleries like i used to, and if i did, there would be some accountability. i wouldn't get behind.

I have a few weeks completed from last year, I still have A LOT of catching up to do, but it isn’t hard. two things that saved me: my photo 365 app and my day one journaling app. those were two things I was very consistent about, and now I have both of them to fall back on to fill in the many gaps of 2013.

trying to hold back tears..

so things change.

babies grow, people die, time passes waaay too fast, and as women, we have hormones.

my hormones are at this very moment on the emotional up-swing.  it’s fabulous. 

(we are all thankful that I can step back and realize that it is hormones…)

so while I created these layouts earlier in the week, when my hormones were doing other things to my body, as I look at them now, I want to cry!!!

so we’ll get through this quickly…

first up is “grandpa’s chair” using goodies from liv, including her newest, brownbagger paper pack vol. 5.

I could NEVER get enough of her brownbagger papers…  NEVER.

(for full credits click on the layout.)

this second one is only four years old (ppffttt…), but this is what digital project life is so good for!!  catching up in a fast, easy, gorgeous way!

this layout I used becky’s “p” template (perfect for little peyton..), “honey” edition cards, “baby” paper,  stitching from anna aspnes, staples from liv, and that fun baker’s twine from splendid fiins.

okay..  so I am not going to look at these for at least another week, try to block out the fact that school will be starting again this month (aaaakkkk!!!!), and just try to do things that are fun, non-tear inducing.

this is going to be hard…

did I mention that it’s really the hormones fault?

#suckyprocrastinator

that is the hashtag of hashtags right there…

but it’s summer, that’s my excuse.

many things have been placed on the back-burner, so to speak, one of them blogging.

the bathroom re-do is at a partially painted stand-still.

photo sessions have been a once a month event.

laundry doesn’t get put away in a timely manner.

anything to do with this old computer contraption is definitely not at the top of my list..

these have all been replaced with my girls.  we are living it up!!  swimming is at it’s best.  play is constant.  we are loving the sun.  I have actually said out loud that I *might* just be “tan enough”.

(but you’ll probably find me out in the sun tomorrow anyway.)

oh my heavens..  reading has even fallen a bit lower on the list of preferred activities!

(gasp!)

we are thankful that these summer days are passing by so slowly, but I do realize that these days are numbered.

before I know it, all three (ALL 3!!!) will be at school, and these days will be put on hold, and I will miss them violently.

making the most of it…

so, with the excuses all laid out there, here’s what I should have done before, but are done now:

week before last, liv fed my addiction for arrows.

(click on layouts for full list of credits + links to products used.)

then last week, she encouraged my obsession with chalkboard.

and this week, it’s more paintbrushes.

I also thought I would enter a little contest at pixels & company..

it is called “cropped”, and I was cropped.

oh, well, leaves more time to swim.

tagged for life.

liv’s newness today are these fabulous fabric tags.

(say that five times fast.)

as you can see, I am still incredibly in love with the woodoodled papers too..

(click on the layout for full list of credits.)

I am still just so in love with this pic!!

I did touch it up, just a smidge.  like removing the speakers that were in the background..  I am a little anal that way.  it was a spontaneous shot, I didn’t want it to be too posed or orchestrated, so those things that end up bugging me when all is said and done need to be dealt with afterwards.

it’s the way I am.

I have this relationship with photoshop that I thought I would never have.  I was SO AFRIAD of it!!  but I can tell you, that getting my feet wet with photo editing was what got me comfortable and excited.

I think we all know that I got that start at jessicasprague.com.

(and if you didn’t know that, well, welcome to my blog!!)

jess is doing her yearly free class, to help us all learn, for the experienced ones, it helps us to get excited, for the newbies, it helps show them that this is possible!!

I have signed up, you should too!!

among other things going on here..

I am up to my neck in soccer stuff.  I am the newest (insert title here that has to do with age group coordinating) with our region AYSO board.  my two youngest love soccer!!  it takes involved parents to make it happen.  seriously, in EVERY SINGLE AREA.  if you have kiddos who love something, get involved.  it makes their experience so much better.

we finished our last day of little laker cheer in prep for the parade tomorrow. 

yesterday, peyton wasn’t really much about the whole “participation” thing, aside from clapping. 

today I might have bribed her with a slurpee if she would just raise her hands!!!

she did.

lynn was selected to be the filer for their little stunting group.  she loves it.  all she has been doing for the past 24 hours now is cheering.

she is sad that today is the last day.

we’ve also had a couple of days of dam fun.

and the bathroom re-do has begun.

it is such a wonderful sight to look up, and have WHITE ceilings!!

that’s right, there is an “s” on the end of ceiling..  I decided that while I was at it, I might as well tackle the ceiling in our master bathroom too.  I mean, I did do our bedroom last summer.  it might be about time..

I only wish I dared (i.e. had the energy) to paint ALL of the ceilings white…  6 down, 6 more to go?

so we are saying farewell to “botany beige” (we won’t “miss” it, since it is ALL OVER THE REST OF THE FREAKING HOUSE.  (someday…)  and hello to “turquoise mist”.

we are having so much fun this summer!!  I am so happy with how slowly it is going.  I just love having the girls all home, having non-stop fun, and little drama.

we are making the most of it, and wearing ourselves out  most days..

(if this post seems a little dejavu-ish to you, well, that’s probably because you saw all of this already on instagram, and I would apologize, but hey, now you have the story to go with it, right?)

(you’re welcome.)

some newness, some oldness, some awesomeness…

shall we start with the newness?

let us..

AC Digitals has some newness in store today:  Crate Paper -  Maggie Holmes collection.

perfection in softness, femininity, and fun.

I just love this photo of peyton, in fact, I have loved all of the photos of her that I took in this little sitting of sorts. 

she’s gorgeous.

(no, I am not biased.)

(papers and embellishments are from maggie holmes collection, tape frame from liv.edesigns, staples from design by dani, and stitching from anna aspnes.)

speaking of lovely things, father’s day was quite lovely.

this “merrill working seven days a week” thing was old the minute it started, and hasn’t gotten any newer or more exciting since then. 

I have been having a hard time with it, and he has too. 

yesterday wasn’t easy for either one of us.

I sat on our bench in sacrament meeting and fought back tears as the girls sang father’s day songs to me, while I sneakily (and perhaps a tad inappropriately) recorded them with my camera phone so I could send it to merrill.

I guess I should look at the positive, I was able to be there and record it.

nevertheless, it sucks that he is gone SO MUCH.

in other news, there will be some re-doing going on here, starting today.

meet the main bathroom:

this bathroom bugged me the second I saw it.

just what bugged me?

- the size

- that shelf thing behind the toilet

- the lack of storage

- the lack of light

- the lack of space

- the fact that the light IS NOT CENTERED OVER THE SINK.

(seriously, can’t plumbers and electricians just work together?)

- and it’s small.

(or did I mention that already?)

the main bathroom at the old house was spacious.  there was a lot of counter space, tons (TONS!!!! I tell you) of storage.  there was all of the space in that roomy vanity not to mention a FULL CLOSET.  everything had a home.  I was severely comfortable with that bathroom.

I mean, okay, it did have it’s faults..

the floor, no shower, the tile in the bathtub area, the floor..  but the size was awesome!  and all those other things could be fixed.

here, the size thing is not fixable.

we have also had our dear towels since I bought them when I was a senior in high school.  I loved them so much, had to have them for my future house, and they stayed packed away for two years..  I still do love them, well, the parts that aren’t dingy, stained, or fraying. 

the ducks have been with us since we bought our first house.  they were a gift from my mother-in-law, and we have loved them, but sadly, the whiteness of the towels isn’t what it used to be, and even sadder, the girls really aren’t into rubber ducks like they used to be (something about getting older I suppose).

the plan is to lighten, brighten, and simplify.

so, here’s the battle plan:

- remove that dang shelf

- paint the ceiling white

- replace baseboard with foamboard that will resist (RESIST!!!) water.  (unlike the MDF that is there and soaking up water like a sponge..)

- frame out the plain old contractor mirror with the same foamboard trim.

- add our new paint color to the walls

- board and batten the east wall

(I am more than a little excited about this part.)

- new shower curtain (buh-bye duckies!!)

- replace all towel bars with hooks

- all linens will be replaced with white which will mean that we will not have as many, which will also help on that whole “lack of storage” issue that exists.

I have started the day off right with a banana and a scotcheroo for breakfast, so I am more than ready to go.

(breakfast of champions I tell you.)

loving this summer a bit much.

being with these silly girls is what life is all about…

we are loving every little bit of our summer!

we attempted riding without training wheels, for like, 15 minutes..

they are back on, as high as I can get them to help her learn to balance..

best $20 spent this summer was on a slip and slide.

seriously..  this is awesome!

up next, we have a bathroom re-do coming up where I will attempt to board and batten one wall.  yes, just one.

until then, we will be outside, soaking up the sun, a laughing, a lot.

saw this quote on pinterest

and knew it needed a home on one of my pages.  I really wanted to put it on a canvas and hang in the house, but then liv came out with her latest creation, and it was decided.

her cut-out alphas are perfect, don’t you say?

so the pic is old, just a couple of years, but it’s perfect..

(click on layout for full list of credits.)

back to laying in the sun.

I will let you know about all the beautiful things I see later.

new release fun.

our family has started the habit of hiking. 

we have lofty goals of reaching ben lomond’s peak (15-ish miles, 9712 feet high) by summer’s end, so that means we have conditioning.

but we are having a blast while we are at it.

liv’s latest two releases are perfect for pictures from these activities, but, well, I had to do one of peyton. 

this girl asked me (like, she actually requested) to curl her hair one sunday morning.  she just looked so angelic.  I asked her to sit near the back door where I had some decent light streaming in and snapped a few of her.

this one uses liv’s latest “woodoodled” papers, and other goodies from her.

(click on layout for list of full credits.)

here’s liv’s “wooded” papers, see how perfect this works with all of our outdoors/hiking pix?

another new fun release is happening today at ac digitals:

“rad dad”

this is project life’s newest installment out just in time for father’s day and is on sale at 20% off!

so I am awesome (hence the new hashtag on instagram #suckyprocrastinator) and just got last year’s father’s day scrapped… 

what can I do…

(I would like to claim that it was waiting for this project life kit…)

#rationalization

also on this page:

liv’s cardstock

anna aspnes stitching

crystal wilkerson’s little “x” stitches

ali edwards heart (masked with liv’s cardstock)

and none of this would be possible without becky’s project life template “f”.

new scrapping goodies.

liv has a few new goodies out today.

first we have her “little dancer” kit.

I have been going through lots and lots of old photos, and all the while trying to bribe peyton to get in her little leotard and tutu, and bring her american girl doll along for a little dancer photo shoot.

nothing in the world can convince her.

but here’s lynn at 3:

(click on layout for full list of credits.)

I have probably said it before, and you might just be sick of hearing it, but I LOVE liv’s paint brushes!!!

and she has some new ones!!  my paintbox vol. 1 has a variety of brushes and some delicious texture to boot.

(YAYNESS!!)

you can get these on sale through sunday night at midnight!

on the summer front, we have been hiking, spent the day at the dinosaur park, and have had a negotiable bedtime.  I thought I would wake up early every day and get a head start, but I’ve been staying up too late (see the “negotiable bedtime” mentioned above), reading..  so I decided to let myself enjoy a week of sleeping in.  you know, just to reward myself for a hard school year of waking up early.  and stuff.

the back yard is almost all together..  and by almost, I mean about halfway there. 

summer is looking good around here and we are praying that it goes by slooooow.

seeing double.

sometimes, creativity urges changes in more places than just one.

as I was playing with amy tangerine’s newest collection “yes please”, I was getting the itch to spring clean the blog and make things pretty.

funny how just a few tweaks to a layout can turn out to be a fun new header!

this spur of creative energy (also brought to you by a couple of extra minutes I was able to rub together..), has me desiring some fun new candid pix of the girls.

well, as soon as lynn gets over strep.

blah.

(my 2013 tax folder is fatter than it should be.  hello deductions!)

anyway, in case you didn’t notice the above newness, here you go:

papers, border bits, camera, arrow elements, stitched heart circle, and brushes for the hearts, arrow, and “wonderful” from ac digitals amy tangerine “yes please”.

paint brushes, kraft tape, frame, staple, and washi tape from liv.edesigns.

“x” stitches from crystal wilkerson.

circle stitches from anna aspnes.

lace (with a hue/saturation adjustment) from kitschy digitals.

only one more day of school left!!

freeeeeedoommmmmm!!!!

(yell it like william wallace..)

our plans for this summer currently consist of:

- keeping in the habit of a decent bedtime, and me (ahem..) getting up early.

- going to the library a lot.

- read-a-thons and treats.

- living by the pool in the sun.

- buying lots of sunscreen.

- washing loads of towels.

- playing in our almost totally fun and finished back yard.

- hiking.

- playing as a family every chance we get.

- quitting the whole pop thing..  and I will be sure to quit at least 6 times a week.