Project Life 2012 Week 36

Well, I wasn't really planning on blogging again until I was ready to share my first Project Life post of 2013, but I've been so proud of myself for staying all caught up in 2012 and I'm *almost* done with my album (I just put the finishing touches on Week 51, so only one more week to go and my 2012 Albums are ALL DONE!!). I doubt I'll ever get around to sharing all of my 2012 layouts, but I thought I'd go ahead and share a few more while I'm waiting on the goodies I've ordered - and plan on ordering - for 2013 to arrive. So since my last share was Week 35, how about a look at my Week 36?

This was the week of Sept 2 to Sept 8 and it was a fun and busy week around here. Here's what the entire 2-page spread looks like, minus a couple of inserts - I added two 8.5x11 inserts to this week - they contain some drawings of Space stuff that Dean did (specifically Stingray Nebula and a few different galaxies...I know....weird) as well as a photo I took of some artwork that was hanging up on the wall of his classroom when we attended Open House this week. I'm hoping I'll eventually replace the photo with the actual physical artwork at the end of the school year when we receive his Art Portfolio (last year when he brought home his Kindergarten Art Portfolio I think I added about 20-25 more inserts of artwork into my album - I just took the ones I wanted to keep out of his Portfolio and put them straight into the appropriate week of Project Life and then tossed the Portfolio, no need for extra folders laying around).

And a closer look at the left side of the page. I think I've mentioned before that I do NOT do a Photo-a-Day approach to Project Life. I just takes photos of the things that matter to me, some weeks I have only photos from the weekend because nothing really happened but school and work during the week (and then I'll journal about that fact) and I find myself scrambling to fill in a lot of empty pockets OR I have like 7 pictures from the same trip to the beach or park. Those weeks are usually the weeks that I tend to fill in holes with other things about our current life - like what are we watching on TV, reading, eating a lot of, etc. I'll sometimes try to find stock images of these things online and fill in space with them. It still gives a nice overview of our life. (You'll see an example of this with the Boardwalk Empire photo on the right side of this week's spread). Anyway...this week didn't need much "filler". It was pretty busy. We had a fun sunset BBQ at a friend's beachside condo's pool, there was lots of playtime going on, and lots of time was spent watching the Democratic National Convention.

And the right side. Photos from a fun day at the park and a Family Game Night as well as one of those stock images found online of a new TV show we started watching that week (on DVD). Photos from First Grade Open House and a Beach Adventure. I journaled about Open House as well as my favorite moments from the DNC.

And that's it for Week 36. I'm not really sure how many people read these Project Life posts, so for now I'm not going to include product links. But if there's a product you see me use that you have questions about, please ask and I'll post a link. If I start getting a lot of questions, I'll start adding product links.

Also, sorry for the fuzzy photos. Something happened during resizing / saving, but I'm too lazy to retake the photos!! :-)

December SFYTT

Hi There! It's been awhile, huh? Today's post is one with a couple of important announcements, so stay tuned for those. I haven't posted in a few weeks and I missed the first Team Post for the December SFYTT because we were on a little mini vacation on Oahu. But I'm back, which brings me to the first announcement...I'm sure most of you stampers have heard by now that this is the Final SFYTT - yes final as in EVER! After years of fabulous inspiration, Jen has decided to take a break from the sketches. So how about a look at that final sketch?

For my card, I decided to pull out my all-time favorite Verve set, Happy Days, as well as some patterned paper from the Seen and Noted collection from Pebbles. I added some splattered ink and a few wood veneer stars and called it good.

So this brings me to my second announcement, which is really hard for me to make, but I've been putting it off for several weeks now and it's time. After several amazing years as a DT member for Verve, I recently stepped down, which was a super hard decision to make. Right now I'm just wanting to spend more time with my family and less time blogging. I still love Julee and Verve and all of the wonderfully talented Divas, but I'll just be going back to being a really good customer.

I'll also probably be posting a lot less frequently in 2013 than I have in the past. Well, actually, probably about the same as I have the last couple of months as I've already pretty much cut back on that. Most of what you'll see from me will be Project Life posts (I'll just start fresh with that in 2013) and the occasional card here and there, but I'm no longer on any DTs, so no more deadlines or blog hops. I do have one Guest DT gig lined up in a few months, but other than that things will be pretty mellow around here.

OK, back to the December SFYTT... Each month this year, as in years past, we've had some amazing sponsors. This month, Splitcoast Stampers is offering up a full one year fan club membership to the winner of the SFYTT 2012 Christmas Day Giveaway! Have you participated in all 12 months of SFYTT this year? If so, you're eligible to win the Grand Prize! The winner will receive $20 gift certificates from EACH of this year’s sponsors, as well as a one year membership to SCS. TWELVE prizes total! All of the details can be found HERE on Jen's Blog. Here's a list of all of this year's sponsors:

The Cat’s Pajamas
Your Next Stamp
The Craft’s Meow
There She Goes
Skipping Stones
Lil’ Inker Designs
My Favorite Things
Verve Stamps
Kraftin’ Kimmie
Market Street Stamps

Whew! That's a lot of stuff in one blog post!!  Be sure to stop by these other SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they're sharing today with this month's sketch!

Jen del Muro
Carole Burrage 
Jodi Collins
Susan Liles
Tracy Schultz

OK, that's it from me. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

November SFYTT Reminder

Just a reminder that there are only a few days left to play along with the November Sketch For You To Try! And don't forget about our fabulous sponsor this month, Sweet Stamp Shop!  Here's a final look at this month's sketch:

And a look back at my November SFYTT creations with links to my original blog posts for product details. First up is this Thanksgiving card that amazingly actually got mailed!!

And next is this Joy to the World card using a beautiful Verve Plain Jane stamp:

All details and upload information can be found on Jen's blog. I hope you find time to play along this month!

November SFYTT Post #2

It's the 3rd Saturday of November and that means it's time for some more Sketch For You To Try Inspiration from a few of the SFYTT Sisters! Have you had a chance to play along with this month's sketch yet? You've got until November 30th at midnight, so there's still plenty of time to create something and it's a SUPER fun sketch this month! And don't forget we have another amazing sponsor this month - Sweet Stamp Shop!

First, let's take another look at this month's sketch:

I decided to pull out one of my favorite Verve holiday stamps and create a simple Christmas Card:

I used papers from Lawn Fawn's Fa La La Collection and some pom pom trim,but I forgot to put my half circle thing down before I glued on the trim, so unfortunately you can see a little gap in there where I couldn't smoosh the circle in under the trim. Oh well! The card's most likely just going to family, and I know they won't mind, so I decided to just leave it. Sometimes little mistakes like that are just OK and this one was definitely not worth redoing the whole card over! So anyway, how about that awesome stamp, huh? That is the super cute Joy Plain Jane from Verve. I love it and do not use it nearly enough.

Be sure to stop by these other SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they're sharing today with this month's sketch!

Jen del Muro
Carole Burrage 
Jodi Collins
Susan Liles
Tracy Schultz

OK, that's it from me. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Project Life 2012 Week 35

How about another Project Life share? This week's layout just happens to be one of a handful of my favorites so far this year. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the simplicity of it, or the neutral colors. But I love the way it looks in my album.

This was the week of Aug 26 to Sept 1. An exciting week around here - The True Blood Season Finale, Dean's lady friend was here visiting from Canada, I was working hard on a volunteer project at Dean's school, and it was the football season opener for mine and Joel's alma mater - the University of Oklahoma (Boomer Sooner!). Here's a better look at the left side of the layout:

I hate photos of myself. I think I might be the most unphotogenic person who ever lived and I'd like to think I actually look better than this in real life. But someday Dean (and possibly even me) will be glad I'm in these photos. So there I am. I absolutely LOVE the series of four 3x4 cards on this side of the page...

On the right side of the page are a few more photos and a bit more journaling:

I specifically journaled about Dean's love of making up gymnastics floor routines and performing them for us while my Mom provides commentary. It's HILARIOUS.

And that's it for Week 35. I'll try to share a few more weeks with you this weekend if I can. I'm currently finishing up Weeks 44 and getting started on Week 45 - I told you I've stayed caught up! I still haven't figured out how I'm going to tackle both PL AND December Daily, but I'm determined to do both. My December Daily album from last year has remained put away with the Holiday decorations and I plan to only pull out DD albums around the holidays, but I want to have December represented in my Project Life albums as well - maybe more of the everyday, but less of the Holiday theme?? Still not sure...

Verve Diva Inspirations November 2012 Blog Hop

It's November 5th and that means it's time for another Verve Divas Inspirations Blog Hop! On the 5th of each month, the Verve Divas Inspirations Team along with some of the Release Team will be sharing creations using some of our favorite Verve sets from both past and present, and as always, there are PRIZES!!

You can start the hop at the beginning on the Verve Blog and continue on through each fabulous blog - be sure to leave a little comment love along the way and you just might win some Verve goodies of your own! If you arrived here from the talented Jen d's blog, then you're on the right track! Just in case, here's a look at the Master Hop List:

	1. Betty	7. Susan
	2. Jen d.	8. Andrea
	3. Jen T.	9. Charmaine
	4. Julee	10. Janelle
	5. Sankari	11. Maureen
	6. Sony	12. Teresa

My Grandmother's birthday is next week and I need to get her gift in the mail, so I whipped up a fun birthday card that I know she'll love (She's my grandma. Honestly, I could have probably smeared mud on a piece of cardstock and she'd tell me it was beautiful, but still...I decided to go ahead and try to make it cute anyway! LOL). 

I used pulled out some of my favorite neglected Verve sets to play with this time around. That fun birthday sentiment is from the Making a Statement set, which has sentiments for so many different occasions! I also used my Loopy Blooms die to cut out a cute little felt flower because it felt like it needed a little something on the left side of that circle when I was finished. Isn't that a fun sketch? I played along with this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge and just LOVE this one! All of the patterned papers are from the Seen & Noted Collection by Pebbles (one of my new faves - can't wait to use these in Project Life!).

That's it from me today. Julee is next up on the hop, so head on over to see what kind of fabulousness she's created and then keep on hopping along! Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to stop by the Verve Blog as well to check out the new specials going on this month as well as the amazing New Release stamps that were added last week!! Believe me, you won't want to miss them!!

November 2012 SFYTT

Well, here we are again already - first Saturday of the month and time for another fabulous Sketch For You to Try!! I hope you all had a chance to play along with us last month - Lots of exciting things in store for participants of the monthly SFYTT this year, including a chance to win another fabulous huge prize package at the end of the year!! All of the details can be found on today's post over on Jen's blog, with some of the details outlined in the "In a Nutshell" graphic at the end of this post. We have another amazing sponsor this month - Sweet Stamp Shop!

First, here's a look at this month's fun sketch:

I actually stuck to the sketch pretty closely this month. I needed a couple more fall-ish cards, so decided to use the sketch to create one more...

I kept things super simple and this card came together really quickly. I used the new (to me) Harvest Lane collection from Simple Stories for all of the patterned paper on this card - love the soft fall colors of this collection! I also pulled out some neglected PTI stamps and dies (I think it's called Gobble Gobble?). Seriously, done in like 20 minutes - my kind of card!

Be sure to stop by the rest of the SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they've done with this month's sketch! And a very warm welcome to our Designer of the Month, Nicole Sison. Don't forget to stop by her blog to see what she's created as well.

Jen del Muro
Amber Hight
Amy Sheffer
Becky Carafa
Carole Burrage
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Susan Liles
Tracy Schultz

 

Project Life 2012 Week 34

It's been awhile since I posted a Project Life update, so I thought I'd try to post a few layouts the next few weeks. I'm still staying caught up and hoping to stay caught up at least through the end of November as we head into the Holiday Season. I'm planning to do another December Daily this year, so I'm trying to figure out how to tackle both DD and Project Life. I do want to do both, but I imagine Project Life wil be much more simple - I don't do a Photo-a-Day with PL now, so I may just continue to hit the weekly highlights in PL and focus more on the daily things in DD. I don't know. Any tips for tackling both projects? This is my 2nd year doing December Daily and my first year doing Project Life, so we'll just have to see how it goes.

Anyway, here's a look at Week 34, which covered August 19-August 25.

 A lot of fun stuff going on around here that week. Here's a closer look at the left side of the page. Dean got a new Kiwi Crate in the mail - we LOVE these things by the way. Dean gets SO EXCITED when he sees that green box each month! I included a few photos of him working on his robot project from the August Kiwi Crate. I also started reading my Book Club pick for August that week and snapped a photo of my Kindle and favorite salad at lunch one day - a very "everyday" picture that I like to include every now and then.

I took a few close-up shots of some of my favorite things from this week. I think this quote from Dean is so funny! As far as I know he has no idea what Facebook is, but he obviously has overheard me use the words "Facebook friends" in conversation, and I must have been doing a lot of talking about True Blood that week! ha!

One of the things I love most about Project Life is that it's helping me save little snippets of Dean's writing and drawings. I cut out this little poem he wrote on a random piece of paper and attached it to a 4x6 card and slipped it into a pocket! LOVE THAT.

 
And here's a closer look at the right side of the page. I think the big highlight of the week was Thursday night when Joel surprised me with (FREE) entrance into a benefit concert at the opening of Mick Fleetwood's new restaurant on Front Street in Lahaina. I am a HUGE Aerosmith fan and Steven Tyler was teaming up with Mick Fleetwood, Johnny Lang, local favorite Willie K., and others to perform for a very very small crowd. But tickets were $500 per person, which was a little out of our price range(!). But on a small island like Maui, sometimes it pays to know the right people and Joel just happened to know someone who was able to hook us up! It was AMAZING. The tickets included dinner and drinks and an amazing concert - we were SO CLOSE to the stage (even closer than the time a few years ago when I had front row seats to Aerosmith when Kiss opened for them!). Steven Tyler even touched me when he walked through the crowd at one point, squeezing between me and another person (it was a tight squeeze, so it was a full-body brush-up - I was LOVING it!!). Joel was behind me just pushing me further into him, giving me a big thumbs up! He's such a supportive husband - gotta love him! ;-) Anyway, so that experience takes up a big part of Project Life Week 34 as you can imagine!

But I did save some room for more Dean cuteness. Here's a close-up of Dean and his lady friend Shalin after school one day and Dean being super giggly on the couch. Love that kid.

Any other Project Lifers out there?

October SFYTT Reminder

 

Just a reminder that today is the final day to play along with the September Sketch For You To Try! And don't forget about our fabulous sponsor this month, Market Street Stamps!! Here's a final look at this month's sketch:

And a look back at my October SFYTT creations with links to my original blog posts for product details. First up is this fun Happy Fall card using one of the Market Street Stamps sets:

And next is this Make a Wish birthday card I was happy to add to my birthday card stash:

All details and upload information can be found on THIS POST on Jen's blog. I hope you find time to play along this month!

October SFYTT Post #2

It's the 3rd Saturday of October and that means it's time for some more Sketch For You To Try Inspiration from a few of the SFYTT Sisters! Have you had a chance to play along with this month's sketch yet? You've got until October 31st at midnight, so there's still plenty of time to create something and it's a SUPER fun sketch this month! And don't forget we have another amazing sponsor this month  - Market Street Stamps!

I'm a little late with my post today because our internet has been out since yesterday morning, so I had to come over to my Mom's to post this. I'm hoping it's something going on with our cable company and not my modem, but I'm putting off calling them because I'm afraid of what they'll tell me!! It's such a pain to swap out the modem - I either have to wait weeks for a cable technician to come to the house or I have to unhook everything myself and take it in to the cable place and swap it out (something I dread because there's always a super long line and I hate dealing with the big tangle of wires behind my computer!!). Anyway, sorry for the delay...

Let's take another look at this month's sketch:

I decided to add a card to my birthday stash using some old Verve favorites! (You might notice that sometime between creating the card and taking a photo one of my cats decided to take a bite out of the top right corner! Funny thing is I didn't even notice that until I was editing the photo! Hopefully I can flatten it out and the recipient won't notice?? If not, that cat is going to be in big trouble!!).

 

I pulled out some super old papers from my "are-you-ever-going-to-use-me" pile and got to work. I love paper piecing those balloons from the Birthday Bash set and I added a simple Make a Wish sentiment from the Birthday Phrases set and was done! Super easy.

Be sure to stop by these other SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they're sharing today with this month's sketch!

Jen del Muro
Carole Burrage 
Jodi Collins
Susan Liles
Tracy Schultz

OK, that's it from me. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

October 2012 SFYTT

Well, here we are again already - first Saturday of the month and time for another fabulous Sketch For You to Try!! I hope you all had a chance to play along with us last month - Lots of exciting things in store for participants of the monthly SFYTT this year, including a chance to win another fabulous huge prize package at the end of the year!! All of the details can be found on today's post over on Jen's blog, with some of the details outlined in the "In a Nutshell" graphic at the end of this post. We have another amazing sponsor this month - Market Street Stamps!


First, here's a look at this month's fun sketch:

I had fun with the sketch this month, but did make two pretty obvious changes, but I think it still "counts"...those two little tilted squares? I straightened them out and turned them into layered ribbons. And then I used a circle instead of a rectangle for the main image panel. It just worked out better that way.

When I ordered my stamp set, Autumn Greetings, I initially planned to use that super cute scarecrow image. But then when I started playing around with the sketch and my papers, I just really liked the way that fun pumpkin looked so I changed my mind. Now I can't wait to make a card with that scarecrow though! Anyway, all of the patterned papers on my card are from the Witch Hazel collection by October Afternoon (I'm slightly obsessed) and I added some ribbon, a button and twine from my stash. I really like the way this one turned out!

Be sure to stop by the rest of the SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they've done with this month's sketch! And a very warm welcome to our Designer of the Month, Stacey Schafer! Don't forget to stop by her blog to see what she's created as well.

Jen del Muro
Amber Hight
Amy Sheffer
Becky Carafa
Carole Burrage
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Susan Liles
Tracy Schultz

Verve Diva Inspirations October 2012 Blog Hop

Welcome to the World Card Making Day edition of the Verve Diva Inspirations Hop!  Along the hop this month we're debuting FIVE brand new plain janes that just hit the store today, so grab a drink and hop along to see a fresh mix of old and new Verve and maybe even win a prize! You can find out all the prize details and see the full reveal of the new plain janes over on the Verve Blog today.  If you arrived here from the talented Betty's blog, then you're on the right track! Just in case, here's a look at the Master Hop List:

	1. Betty	9. Andrea
	2. Jen T.	10. Charmaine
	3. Julee	11. Janelle
	4. Sankari	12. Laurie
	5. Sony	13. Maureen
	6. Susan	14. Teresa
	7. Amber	15. Tosha
	8. Amy

I decided to create a fun Halloween treat box using an older Big Shot Sizzix Fry Box die I had in my stash, some new Halloween papers, and a mix of old and new Verve stamps:

The papers are all from the new Witch Hazel collection by October Afternoon - so fun! And how about that sentiment? That's the brand new So Sweet Plain Jane - isn't it awesome!? I also added a paper pieced pumpkin from the Boo to You stamp set (which just happens to be the October Stamp of the Month, meaning it's currently 40% off!!). Finally, I splattered a little bit of Calico White Mister Huey's Color Mists on the front of the box and called it done. The box is ready to add some little Halloween treats to in a few weeks and give to my own little monster!

That's it from me today. Julee is next up on the hop, so head on over to see what kind of fabulousness she's created and then keep on hopping along! Thanks for stopping by!

September SFYTT Reminder

Just a reminder that today is the final day to play along with the September Sketch For You To Try! And don't forget about our fabulous sponsor this month, Kraftin' Kimmie!! Here's a final look at this month's sketch:

And a look back at my September SFYTT creations with links to my original blog posts for product details. First up is this generic and neutral Be True to Yourself card where I rotated the sketch 90 degrees - I have to admit this is one of my favorite cards I've made in recent months!

And next is this fun Teacher Appreciation card I created for Dean's first grade teacher.

All details and upload information can be found on THIS POST on Jen's blog. I hope you find time to play along this month!

September SFYTT Post #2

It's the 3rd Saturday of September and that means it's time for some more Sketch For You To Try Inspiration from a few of the SFYTT Sisters! Have you had a chance to play along with this month's sketch yet? You've got until September 30th at midnight, so there's still plenty of time to create something and it's a SUPER fun sketch this month! And don't forget we have another amazing sponsor this month  - Kraftin' Kimmie!

First let's take another look at this month's fun sketch:

I decided to create a card for my son's first grade teacher. School's been in session for a little over a month now and Dean is absolutely LOVING first grade and I thought it would be nice for him to write her a little note to thank her for being such an awesome teacher.

I used the new (to me) Dewey Decimal petite paper pack from Lawn Fawn along with the Teach & Inspire stamp set from PTI. I added some of my favorite embellishments, including a glittered chipboard star and some Wood Veneer Hexagons from Studio Calico. I added Dean's teacher's name to the bottom right corner for personalization and will let him write a personal note on the inside.

Be sure to stop by these other SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they're sharing today with this month's sketch!

Jen del Muro
Carole Burrage 
Jodi Collins
Susan Liles
Tracy Schultz

OK, that's it from me. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Verve Diva Inspirations September 2012 Blog Hop

It's September 5th and that means it's time for another Verve Divas Inspirations Blog Hop! On the 5th of each month, the Verve Divas Inspirations Team will be sharing creations using some of our favorite Verve sets from both past and present, and as always, there are PRIZES!!

You can start the hop at the beginning on the Verve Blog and continue on through each fabulous blog - be sure to leave a little comment love along the way and you just might win some Verve goodies of your own! If you arrived here from the talented Jen d's blog, then you're on the right track! Just in case, here's a look at the Master Hop List:

	1. Betty	8. Amber
	2. Jen d.	9. Amy
	3. Jen T.	10. Andrea
	4. Julee	11. Janelle
	5. Sankari	12. Maureen
	6. Sony	13. Teresa
	7. Susan	14. Tosha

I decided to just have a little fun and add a generic "just because" card to my stash. I started out playing with this week's MoJo Monday sketch, but got a little side-tracked along the way so I lost a few layers (but it's a great sketch, so do be sure to check it out!). I did have fun mixing up one of my favorite older Verve stamps with a fun sentiment from one of the new releases!

I will never get tired of using that fun wave-y circle frame-y thing from Happy Days! For me, it will always be my go-to circle framer! I added the "smile" sentiment from the brand-new Doodled Occasions set, which fit just perfectly tucked inside the wave-y circle frame-y thing! I used a mix of October Afternoon papers from my stash - I've been on a mission lately to do a little stash-using-up! I used mostly papers from Sasparilla with a few other random October Afternoon papers thrown in as well. As for embellishments, I stuck with my recent stand-by's of Mister Huey's Sprays and Wood Veneer Stars from Studio Calico. Overall, I think I managed to accomplish a fun gender-neutral generic card that would work for quite a few occasions.

That's it from me today. Julee is next up on the hop, so head on over to see what kind of fabulousness she's created and then keep on hopping along! Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to stop by the Verve Blog as well to check out the new specials going on this month!! Believe me, you won't want to miss it!!

Products Used:

Happy Days by Verve Doodled Occasions by Verve Wood Veneer Stars Sasparilla by October Afternoon Mister Huey's Spray in Estate Green

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