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…

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?

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”.

13

the beginning of this month, we celebrated 13 years of marriage.

I am still in a bit of shock..  thirteen?!

in some ways it just doesn’t seem like it’s been that long, but then, it is like I have always known merrill, I just can’t seem to remember life without him.

ac digitals released project life “wedding edition” today.

(it’s on sale at 20% off!!)

so what’s a girl to do?

scrap her 13th anniversary with it, that’s what!

the cards all come from project life “wedding edition”, the paper is from liv.edesigns, stitching from anna aspnes, metal letters and numbers are from sahlin studio, and the straight pin in the picture is from kitschy digitals (with a hue/saturation adjustment added, it was red).

and life goes on!

we are enjoying spring in utah, and if you know what that really means, it means that we are anxious to get out in the yard, to work and play, but the weather isn’t cooperating.

more fun stuff, I was interviewed for tiffany tillman’s website, simply tiffany studios, for my style in journaling.  it was pretty fun!  (and completely awesome.)  you can check it out here.

goodies from AC digitals.

march was not my friend.

march was crazy.

I am glad it is april!

new goodies from AC digitals:

Becky Higgins project life “seasons” mini-

other goodies used:

stitching from anna aspnes.

colored stitches, brown bag paper, and paint brush from liv.edesigns.

metal letters and hearts from karla dudley.

font: “pablo”.

also new today from american crafts, “hello sunshine”.

other goodies used:

paint brush from liv.edesigns.

staples and letters for “so” from design by dani.

cute little pink stitches from crystal wilkerson.

font: “pablo”.

and for fun..

pebbles “seen & noted”.

stitches and frame from liv.edesigns.

staples from design by dani.

font: “my type of font”.

 

another just for fun one.

I snapped this picture yesterday as my pic of the day.  I am so happy it is finally sandal weather!!

(until next week..  this is what living in utah is like.)

can’t wait for greener grass.

pebbles “walnut grove”.

doily stamp from pebbles “country picnic”.

staple from design by dani.

stitches and frame from liv.edesigns.

font: “my type of font”.

I am ready for april..  I think.

new project life “seafoam” edition.

I have already started mentally compiling my list of goals for the year 2013.

one of those goals is to actually remember to write 2013, not 2012, and when I do write 2012, to not say crap.

another goal is to start project life.

I (taking a deep breath…) am not caught up on all of my scrapbooking.

(huge exhale.)

I know. 

it is like a huge sin for me to not be caught up.

I am not sure if I can even admit just how far behind I am….

but I can say this:

while searching for a couple of specific pictures last week,  I was brought to a realization:  there are a lot (like A LOT) of pictures that have just been left for my hard drive to enjoy.  there are moments captured that I forgot about.  these need to be out and enjoyed. 

project life is so crazy cool, and there are many of my friends who inspire me with their project life layouts.  I just need to start. 

there are a few blog posts, even vlogs out there, that have inspired me further, and even reaffirmed my decision, that this is what I need to do.

you can rest assured, that I have a pinboard started for all things project life.  what would I do without pinterest?  I mean, really?!

pictures are already being organized on the hard drive…

excitement abounds!!

so, diving in head first, here is one for you, with the most brand-spanking new edition of a project life kit at that!!!

this is the seafoam edition, available today at ac digitals.

(psstt!!  you can get it on sale at 20% off until sunday.)

other elements used on this page include:

- becky higgins project life template “f”

- stitching from anna aspnes

- staple from dani mogstad

- date stamp from liv.edesigns

font:

“my type of font”