#hashtagthisweek - Joy

Playing along with #hashtagthisweek over at Record Life Home blog. This weeks prompt is "Joy" and one thing that always brings me joy is coffee.  I know I should probably pick something with a bit more meaning (lol) but this simple little act of having coffee really does bring me joy.  It's time for me to stop, breathe, center myself and have a little me time before I snap back into reality. Sometimes it's only for a few minutes and other times it can be a little longer.

I used journal cards from Digital Design Essentials which you can download for free from Record Life Home.  Coffee stamp is from Kellie Stamps and date stamp is from Dear Lizzy.

What brings you joy...

love me :-)  

Project Life - May...

Now that #myselfiescrapbook has finished (although I don't think I will ever stop taking selfies now) it's time to get back into Project Life mode.  This year I am doing PL monthly.  Meaning that I just keep adding pages until I have documented all that I want to document for the month.  That also includes adding traditional layouts and any other pieces that I think need to be added.  I am finding this process much easier to keep up with and it doesn't matter if I don't take many photos in one week or if I take a heap of photos.

Here is a closer look at some of my pages for May so far...

I have added journal cards from Big City Quiet Designs (which I have only just discovered and I love them), Kellie Stamps (my new fav stamps) and some journal cards that I made myself in photoshop using some digital files purchased a few years back from Karla Dudley.  I have to admit I am having quite a bit of fun trying my hand at journal cards.

How is project life going for you? Are you keeping up? Are you doing pages weekly/monthly?

Love me :-)

#myselfiescrapbook - that's a wrap...

WOW!  What an amazing and wonderful project this has been.  I loved it from the start and it is definitely my favourite project ever.

I thought taking selfies was a bit silly and if I am being honest I only took them to annoy my kids.  But this wonderful project has taught me that taking a "Selfie" is so much more... 

It's about me getting in the picture, 

it's about me having fun, 

it's about me taking some risks (remember that hair shot LOL), 

it's about me capturing some very raw and unedited moments, 

it's about me getting my story told. 

and so much more...

It was also about relationships, both old and new,

It was about sharing our knowledge with each other,

It was about trying new things,

It was about learning new skills,

It was about learning that perfection isn't a requirement of life,

It was about being in a photo and loving how we look,

It was about laughing and enjoying the moment.

Here are the last few pages of my book...

Would you believe that I happened to own a T-Shirt that said "be your selfie"  LOL!  I got it last year when I was in Singapore and I have been keeping aside ready to take on the last day.

I followed Mandy's idea for the last page of my book. I felt that it finished off this project perfectly.  I  have been keeping the quote from Polka Dot Creative for my last page too.

I chose to document this journey with a photo book and proud to say that I sent if off for printing this morning.  And in case you are wondering what photo I chose for my cover...

Yep - that hair shot

I want to say a big thankyou to everyone who participated in this project and for all your kind comments and support that I have received.  It has certainly been a wonderful experience.  I know I keep saying it but it truly has been for me and one that I will remember for a very long time.

I really can't end this post without a huge, huge thank you to the amazing ladies who got this project up, running and who kept us all so inspired to keep going -

Jennifer - Sunlight & Air

Julie - How I Sustain

Kellie - Give a Girl a Blog

Jodie - Polkadot Creative

Mandy - Record Life

Jessica - Color Cast Designs

#myselfiescrapbook - that's a wrap

:-)

Wednesday is her favourite day of the week...

Every Wednesday my daughter has horse riding and every Wednesday morning she gets up and says the same thing - Wednesday is my favourite day of the week.

Last week at horse riding they went on a trail ride (her favourite part of horse riding).  It gets dark so much earlier now so getting good photos of her riding is getting harder.  I snapped a picture of them riding off hoping to be able to document her love of trail rides.

When she came back from the ride the first thing she said was "Oh Mum it was amazing, we got to canter up a hill really fast, it was magic".  Its things like this that I really want to remember and that I want her to remember too.

Ali Edwards did this layout using the pie chart pieces from the "click" kit and I was keen to try this out using the photo from horse riding.  I couldn't have been more happy with how it turned out.  I didn't have any alphabet stamps that were big enough so I cut out my title from vellum using my cameo.  I then stitched it into place.  I also love Ali's tip about using washi tape around the edge of your layout, love this idea.

I think I am getting the hang of this circle thing LOL!!

Have a great weekend
love me :-)

Trying something new...

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been playing around with digital/hybrid scrapbooking and I have really been enjoying the challenge. As part of the "click" story kits this month from Ali Edwards she included a digital file to create a pie chart.  I am not a huge fan of circles (I like them I just really struggle to use them in my papercrafting) and a pie chart is definately out of my comfort zone.

I was really intrigued by the tutorial that she did on the pie chart so I thought I would try it out for myself.  I couldn't believe how easy it was and how quick it was.  Can I just say how proud of myself I was.  I really didn't think it would be so easy.

Even this layout came  together quickly and although I struggle with circles I am really happy with how it turned out.  I might just have to give this circle thing another go LOL!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you week is going well.

Love me :-)

heart photos - layout

I have said it many times before but I have to say it again - I absolutely love the story stamps and story kits by Ali Edwards and the education content that comes with it is amazing.  My head is so full of stories that I want to tell all prompted by these kits.

I have recently started to dabble back into digital/hybrid scrapbooking and enjoying the challenge that it brings with it.  I don't know a lot about Photoshop but each time I try something new, I learn something new.

One of my favourite scrapbookers is Sasha Farina.  I love her style and just love how she pulls a layout together.  Recently she did a this layout using digital elements from Ali Edwards that I just loved.  I loved it so much I thought I would create my own layout totally inspired by Sasha.

I printed out the "heart photos" digital element onto 8.5 x 11 inch white cardstock.  I typed up my journaling and cut in into strips so that I could play around with placement.  I then added my photos and a few embellishments from the "click" story kit and stamps.  I also added a xoxo cut file that I found in my stash, it just happened to go perfectly with my layout.

These are still my most favourite photos and I think they will be for some time.  You can read the post to find the story behind these photos here

I would love to know if you have tried anything new lately.

Love me :-)

Magic - layout

A few weeks back I wrote a post about reading in bed, it's something that I can't do very often but when I do it's magic for me.  You can read the post here.

I had been thinking about doing a layout about it but the photo's I took weren't very good.  They were blurry, very grainy and I just didn't like the colour.  

When I was going through my Story Kits I came across the "magic" kit.  I got thinking about that post and how reading in bed is "magic" for me.  I knew that this was something about me that I wanted to document, a story about me and something that makes me happy.  

I decided to try something different.  I decided that I would put aside my issues with it being a bad photo and use it anyway, however I had a go at adding my journaling straight onto my photo (I took my journaling directly from the blog post).  Then, with my journaling in place I also decided to go big and printed the photo out 8.5 x 11inches.

I then added a few chipboard embellishments from the story kit and also added the "magic" acrylic word right onto the photo.  I finished it off with a  few gold stars, also from the kit.

its turns out that it being grainy and blurry added a sense of "mood" and "feeling" to the photo.  It set the tone of how I was feeling and what I was thinking.

I also love how the story kits/stamps get you thinking about stories, sparkes creativity but above all it makes you think a little differently.

So from now on grainy photos get printed - LOL!

Have you tried any new techniques or ideas lately.  I would love to hear what you are trying.

Have a great Tuesday

love me :-)