Project 12 - December 2011

I know it's only January 3rd and usually I procrastinate and wait until the very last day to post my Project 12 layout but ... I knew which photos I was going to use a couple weeks ago so figured, why wait?

Here's the sketch we were given:

And here's my interpretation:

As you can see, I stuck really close to the sketch this month. If the shots of Marley and Paige had been portrait instead of landscape it would have been even closer! As soon as I saw the sketch I thought of these pictures and knew that December was NOT going to be about Christmas (that's pretty well covered in my December Daily anyway), it was going to be about our first family pictures since Christine was born.

Here are close ups of each page and some of the embellishments. 

These were a lot of fun to make. I started with some plain grey card stock which I painted with Martha Stewart Glitter paint in Antique silver (I also painted it onto the purple border strip at the top of the layout.) I then inked the edges with Stampin' Up! Concord Crush ink (the title letters were also lightly brushed with this purple ink). The white flowers are old acrylic ones from my stash (I think they might be American Crafts) and the patterned paper flowers were punched out using two Stampin' Up! punches - 1 3/4" Scalloped Circle and the new Blossom Punch (from the Occasions Mini which goes live tomorrow). I inked the edges of them and curled them a bit with my fingers before attaching everything with a brad from my stash (probably Basic Grey).

Well, that's it. My Project 12 album for 2011 is done. Except for a title page which I hope to work on soon.

Scrapbook and Cards Today isn't going to be running this challenge in 2012 exactly as I've gotten used to it, but they have put out teasers about it coming back in a different format so I'll keep you posted on that. I for one really love making a month in review type page every month so I'll be continuing my own Project 12 for 2012. Once I see what SCT does (they are announcing on Jan 12th) I'll figure out what format I want to have. 

Until then, enjoy these pictures of my family one more time. I look forward to seeing your P12 layouts!

Project 12 - November 2011

After all the Christmas product I've been working with all month it was a little strange to print off pictures from November and play with Fall colours and leaves. Strange, but fun! I used my Stampin' Up! Falling Leaves stamp set and this fun technique called rocking where you can blend ink colours onto your image just by how you rock the stamp around in the stamp pad. Anyway, onto my layout.

This was the sketch we were given,

I knew as soon as I saw this sketch that I was going to have fun with it. It sort of enables my addiction of piling on the photos, doesn't it? :)

Here's my take.

When I went back to look at my picture files from November I had PILES (pun intended) of the girls playing in the leaves, and not much else. There were a few taken from the girls' Remembrance Day assembly, which didn't seem to fit, and some of Paige's ballet class (Parent Observation Day) and then some of Greg's mustache. I'm thinking not much else happened!! Actually, I was trying to do lots of Stampin' Up! stuff so a lot of other things fell through the cracks.

This is the left hand side.

All the stitching is faux - done with my journalling pen. I also added it to each patterned paper square and the tags. It helps anchor everything and give it that finishing touch.

And the right hand side.

This morning, as I was about to take pictures of this layout, I decided it still needed something. So I added the vanilla ink around the edge of the brown card stock. NOW it's done!

Here are some close ups of the leaf and bling embellishments.

Okay, off to post it at Scrapbook and Cards today as well as Davinie's site. Wish me luck!

Project 12 - September (gulp!) and October 2011

Amidst all the other things going on in my life last month (namely; kids, house, new PAC duties, kids activities, husband, figuring out Stampin' Up! .... etc) I completely forgot about my September layout for my beloved (hear that Davinie!) Project 12. My bad. My total bad!

I have managed to carve out some "me" scrapping time this past week (see my December Daily post) and got not only September's layout done but October's too. Yay me!!!

Let's start with September ... sketch first ...

The left hand page tells the stories of early September - our trip to Lynn Canyon's suspension bridge and the girls returning to school. Paige started Kindergarten so it was an especially memorable September.

Close up of the embellishments. 

The right hand page features a picture (that I love!) of me with my girls on my birthday. Tucked down in the corner is a picture of our van after Greg and the girls were hit by someone running a red light at a nearby highway intersection. SO blessed it was not more serious! I do want to remember the incident though as it really impacted us for several weeks so in the layout it goes!

And that brings us to October. 

The left hand page features a large picture of me with Team Pinkalicious Pandora supporting my amazing friend Beth who is fighting Stage 4 Breast Cancer with every fibre of her being. This lady doesn't know the meaning of the word "quit"! Go Beth!!!

Underneath are small snapshots of the first half of October. Marley and Paige playing soccer, LC riding a pony for the first time ever, and one of two Thanksgiving dinners. Yes, we scored two turkey dinners this year!

Some close ups. 

I added the girls' team names. 

The right hand page talks about Hallowe'en. LC was old enough to get into the spirit this year - doesn't she make a super cute kitty?! 

As you can see I had lots of fun embellishing these layouts. I've added way more to my pages than I normally would and am super pleased with the look. Ever evolving, I am!!

Thanks for coming to see my work. 

Project 12 - August 2011 and last 2 BIF pages

Just a couple of scrapbook projects to share with you tonight. I'm trying to do so many things right now that my personal scrapbooking has fallen by the wayside. The layout a day portion of the MotherLOAD marathon started on September 1st and I have completed ... let's see ... oh yeah, 0 out of 3 layouts so far. Maybe I can go 0 for 26!!

But today I did manage to do my August layout for Project 12 and upload the pictures I took earlier of my last two pages for the Big Idea Festival over at Big Picture Classes. So, here goes ...

August 2011

I tried to keep as true to the sketch as I could (it's a challenge for me when you're only allowed to use 3 pictures!) I also stared at it for a long time trying to decide if I needed to add anything to the white space on the bottom of the page but eventually chose to leave it as it was. I couldn't think of what it needed so decided it needed nothing. Oh, and here's the sketch we were given.

And finally the close ups. 

The left hand side.

The right hand side.

The journalling and title block. Everything on this layout was kept as simple as possible, including the journalling. Just a quick recap of the month's highlights.

Okay, now the last two pages of my Words to Live By book for the Big Idea Festival (for the previous pages see this post and this post.)

Embrace - I talk about what I want to remember to embrace.

It's opposite my Moment page so I kept the colours consistent and since there is already a picture of Greg and I in an embrace, I didn't feel the need for a picture here.

Play - I have probably thousands of pictures of the girls playing but I took this page in a different direction. I took all the scraps from the previously made pages of the book and played with them to create this. The journalling talks about how this scrapping obsession of mine is my way to play. Something I am realizing is really important to do every day - play with your kids, play with your toys (whatever they are - computer, bits of paper, Wii, etc) and play outside.

Okay, that's all I have for you tonight. Marley is off at a Giant's game with a friend so we are trying to find ways to make the other two feel like they're not missing out on anything. So far that is taking the form of watching a little Chopped on Food Network and Star Wars III on SpikeHD - Greg has control of the remote, can you tell? :)

School goes back in 2 days ... we're ready. Are you?

Today

Today was hot. The first truly hot day all summer I think. There's only 2 weeks left of summer and NOW it decides to show?! Sheesh!

Ah well, better late than never.

Today seemed quite busy. We took the kids to Splashdown in the morning (thanks for the passes Karn!!) - only leaving when LC had a meltdown over being forced out of the hot tub. I'll post some pictures at the end of this post but first I want to post my latest crafty endeavours. Bear with me or scroll down - your choice!
:)

First up, Project 12 for July.
Here's the sketch.

And here's what I came up with.

I'm not totally happy with it. It feels unfinished somehow but it was too hot in the craft room to keep working. Plus, dinner wasn't going to make itself! (If I found a genie in a lamp, I think that's what I would wish for ... someone to make my dinners.)

Here's the left hand side.

And the right hand side.

A close up of the journalling/title block. I saw a tutorial (I think it was on my upline Sandra's blog) on how to make these pleated paper ribbons so I gave it a shot. LOVE IT! And so easy. You really have to try it!

I wanted to bring attention to the little picture I had of Paige riding her bike without training wheels so I framed it in yellow. That sort of was the jumping off point for all the yellow accents on the page. Originally I wanted to include a picture of Paige on a bright yellow waterslide but it didn't work with the layout (one too many pictures if you can believe that!) but I think I had yellow stuck in my mind. Anyway. I like it. It adds a touch of sunshine to the summer themes.

Next we have a little project I've been working on this week for Big Picture Classes. They're running their Big Idea Festival right now (check it out here) and everyday you are emailed an inspirational word. You can also download and print a 6x6 template to use. Here's my mini book so far.

The cover.

I bought this album last year at Clipper Street's garage sale. It's wooden with inner pages made of what looks like recycled paper. Very raw. I glued the striped paper onto the front (cutting around the hinges) and then taped the rest in place.

To go with the feel of the album. I have been printing all my templates on kraft cardstock. This is the title page template that they gave us.

Day 1 - Share. The journalling talks about how we are always telling the girls to share, how they sometimes hate it but how they also love it. Marley is actually now in her own room after 7.5 years of sharing with Paige. So far so good. It will be interesting to see if she misses Paige's company. Last night she had some trouble getting to sleep and at one point stuck her head into her old room to check on Paige and LC. Thankfully they were fast asleep!

Day 2 - Wonder. I accidentally made this the wrong way so had to paste it into the book portrait instead of landscape. Oh well. I may have to do more like this to make this page look intentional! :)

The journalling here talks about the strides Paige has made this summer in conquering some of her fears. I added to the title to make it "I Wonder if it will last?"

The second page and more pictures of Paige and LC on the swing ride at Sun Fest this year.

Both pages together.

Day 3 - Less. Here I talk about my efforts this summer to use or lose my stash.

Day 4 - Give. A picture from the ceremony at the Cenotaph to honour those fallen fighting in Afghanistan.

Day 5 - Enjoy. The journalling talks about how we enjoyed a fun trip to the water park at Granville Island and how all 3 of them were enjoying it in their own way. Usually there is one child freaking out about something but this time, they were all happy!

The second page of that.

Both pages together.

So now we are ready to show you some pictures from Splashdown. How different from the day pictured above! Marley and Paige were excited and having fun on the slides - despite chattering teeth as the water was super cold! But after the first slide, LC was not having fun anymore. Once she hit that cold water it was all over for her. She did love the hot tub though. As I mentioned in my opening, she had a tantrum when we pulled her out of it!
Greg is still experiencing some discomfort so didn't want to go down any slides with the girls, and I ... well, let's just say the less people see of me in a bathing suit, the better and leave it at that. As it was I had to parade around in my suit once or twice when the girls wanted some added reassurance at the bottom of some slides.

Starting out. Marley was under strict instructions to take care of LC - something she excels at. Seriously! Sometimes I think she does a better job of mothering that child than me!!

Whee! This is fun!

Hmmm ... maybe not. This water's cold!

Nope. I am definitely NOT having fun now! Let me off!!

And that was where LC and the waterslides parted company.

After some more waterslides, Paige and I ended up in the hot tub. I got out when I saw that Marley was about to go down the inner tube slide. 

That's her!

Hitting the pool at the bottom.

Freezing cold but loving every minute!

Warming up in the hot tub.

Well, so far tonight Marley has come down once to give a SITREP on the other two which was completely unneccessary as Paige had already come down herself to complain that LC was turning her light on and off and it was keeping her awake. Sigh. It's only night 2 ... it's only night 2 ....

I am off to see what trash I can find to watch on the TV (after switching the laundry first.) Greg seems to have left it alone for a bit - ran out of soccer and football games to watch I guess. :)

Have a great weekend everyone!