The Project Life Method for Scrapbooking

So I have delved into the world of project life. I felt I just had way too many stacks of pictures to ever catch up with so I thought I would give this method a chance.  It was worth a shot at least, right?? You never know if you don't try!

We have gone on a many a trip and between those pictures and all of the everyday pictures they just began to stack up.. What can a person do!  I know Project Life has been available for some time, but I am one of those scrappers who like to see, touch, feel the product before buying! So now with Project Life being available pretty much everywhere along with the other companies offering project life style products as well I thought I would give it a try.

I started by grabbing a stack of my photos from our Disney Trip. What better type of project to start with, its one with tons of pictures and the pictures really do tell the story on their own with only a little journaling needed. I started by sorting the pictures by park and found the notes I had taken from the trip. Once the pictures were sorted by park, I  grabbed product that I had bought to scrap the trip traditionally along with the Project Life Pages. Since this was my first time attempting the Project Life method its kind of a hybrid.  I made traditional 12x12 layouts for each introductory page for each park and for any pictures that I wanted to show case more of. Next, I looked at the pictures to see what type of page layout would work. I placed the pictures in the pages and left areas open to go back to journal and embellish. It was a great way to help visualize how the album would look. I also love using a 3 ring binder you can so easily slip pages in and out and move things around if needed. I am a total convert to binders now instead of post bound albums, which is another big change for me.

Let me tell you I have never whizzed though a project faster! It was so nice since you could go move things back around if needed to make the design work better or to add another picture. Also I actually saw progress happening. My stacks of pictures were in pages instead of stacks! It was such a nice feeling! Plus I was still able to take time on some layouts and do more traditional layouts if I wanted or add them in later. Since completing the Disney trip I have now moved on to putting together all our Bulldog's pictures into one of the mini albums and I am using Blush and 5th and Frolic for our wedding! Both projects are going awesome and I am hopeful with the starting year I am going to do project life for our daily pictures also.

I haven't taken many pictures of the Disney Album but hope to have it photographed soon and I will post the link, but I do have some pictures of the other projects I had started with Project Life.


Here are some pictures of the Otis's Album. I have mostly used the Dog mini kit and I went into my other core kits to find other cards that coordinated with the colors of the mini kit. I have used some Thickers, and some Washi tape, and a journaling pen. Not much is needed to pull an awesome book together!

 This is the first page of his album.

 

Here is another layout from his album:

 

Here is a layout from the wedding:

 

And here is one that I put together from another trip of ours. I have gotten a little excited about this method so I have started working on a few projects at once which isn't hard to do since a lot of supplies aren't needed so it isn't as an ordeal if I was working on them the more traditional style.

 

 

 

Here is a close up for each page:

 

 

 

So who else out there are Project Life type storytellers? Drop me a comment to let me know about your journey into Project Life or what your favorite kit is!

 

Happy Scrapping!

Day 2 of Tonic Summer CHA Release Reveal

I hope you enjoyed yesterday's projects and that you left a comment on yesterday's post so that you  have a chance to win the 3 punches showcased yesterday. We are doing the same thing today and tomorrow as well. We are featuring another 6 punches and you have a chance to win by leaving a comment on the next two days. I will pick the winners on July 9th, so please make sure and check back to see if you are winner. (Please note the contest is limited to those in the US.)


You can check out the other 2 design team members blogs as well for another chance to win! Here are the links to their blogs Missy's can be seen here at: http://tonicgallery.wordpress.com/
and Jackie's can be seen  here at: http://shortwizard.blogspot.com/


Today, we are showcasing the Victorian Border Punch, the Doily border and the Floral Border. In the layout below I used the Doily and the Victorian Border.

I even used the border punch on the rosettes.

When making the rosettes I used hot glue and placed them on a circle to give them sturdiness.

I then used the tonic petal pairs to embellish the middle of them.

The other layout showcases the Floral border and the Victorian Border. I also used the Multi Detail Butterfly punch as well.

I hope you enjoyed today's reveal and that you go back and check out yesterday's post for a chance to win that set of punches and come back and see us tomorrow for our final reveal.

Don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win these punches!!!

Happy Creating!!!

Tonic Studios CHA Sneak Peeks!

Today is the first day of three sneak peeks for Tonic Studio's Summer CHA release. Each day I will feature 3 of the punches. You will not only get to see what they can do but you will also have a chance to win some as well! So what do you need to do to win? Leave a comment on what punch or layout is your favorite, I will pick a random winner from those that have posted. (The contest is limited to the US only). I would love some new followers as well, so if you enjoy layouts, cards, home decor make sure and follow me as well!

To better your odds of winning make sure and check out the other blogs of the design team as well. I will place the links to their blog at the end. Enjoy checking out the new product!

First is the Scalloped Arc Border #761

Here is the layout that I made using the scalloped arc border punch. I had a lot of fun using this to not only border the journaling card area but also the word strip. The border punches are really easy to use they not only cut through pattern papers with no issue but also cardstock. They are not hard on the hands either since they have a gear system in them that does the work. So you can make as many borders as you want and still be able to use your hand!

The pattern papers I used for this layout is Echo Park's Woof Line. This all worked very well in order to do a fun layout about our pup, Otis.

Next is the Floral Strip # 769 ( I accidentally used the wrong one in my day one sneak peeks so on the other gals projects you will see a different floral punch which  I will show you tomorrow I guess I got to excited about this one! )

 

I made this really simple layout and I used not only the Floral Strip but also the Scalloped Arc. I used the floral strip to inset the mat of the picture. I used the other punch to add a pop of color to fram the word strip.

The pattern papers used on this layout are from American Crafts, Amy Tangerine.

and last but not least is the Doily Strip # 766

 

Here is the layout I made with the Doily Strip and Floral Strip. I wanted to have fun and see how the punches transform all my fun pattern papers and bright cardstocks. It is amazing how cool some of the strips came out. It was fun weaving them in and out around the page as well to see how it changes the look and flow of the page.

The pattern papers on this layout is again American Crafts Amy Tangerine and the embellishments are Echo Park Chipboard and Jillibean letter Stickers.

So as you can see the punches can offer a lot of pop to a page in a variety of ways. I hope you enjoyed checking out the new punches and that you liked the layouts. Don't forget to leave a comment on here for a chance to win the punches! You have until Sunday, July 8th at midnight to leave a comment and I will pick a winner on Monday, July 9th. Please make sure and check back that day to see if you are winner!!

Also don't forget if you want to better your odds go check out the the other design team members as well.  Jackie has some darling cards to show you at: http://shortwizard.blogspot.com

and I am not sure what projects Missy has created but I am sure they will be fantastic: tonicgallery.wordpress.com

Make sure and come back tomorrow to see the next 3 punches! Till then Happy Creating!

Mother's Day Projects

So my first projects have been posted on the Tonic blog! I was so excited to see it! I had given you a peak of what the layout had looked like. Now you can see the two cards and the layout. The layout is of my sister in law with my niece and nephew. The two cards are mother's day cards.

If you want any ideas of what tonic punches/tools were used to make the items or step by step instructions check out the link here.

I hope you enjoy the projects. All pattern papers are American Crafts Garden Cafe. I love the bright fun colors! Next I have to plot how I am going to spend the weekend since Saturday is National Scrapbooking Day. I may have to dedicate some time to the wonderful hobby this weekend!

Happy Creating!

Something to cross off the Bucket List!

So if you have been following my blog you can see that I have been attempting to get noticed in the scrapbooking industry. I have applied for many a design team as of lately. My motto is to try, try, try and try again.. Which can get frustrating, but I love the hobby so at least I enjoy trying!

In March, I received a little recognition for one of my projects.  I was excited to find out that I had won the American Crafts Facebook challenge. My Pebbles tray was selected as the winner that week. You can see the link here. I will have to post some pics of the goodies they sent me!

Later that month, I had seen that Tonic Studios, a scrapbooking tools company was looking to add to their US design team. I had seen this on facebook... Can I just say that facebook has been a great way to network lately! So I went down and pulled out what I could find of my Tonic punches and tools and started searching my brain on what I could make that would stand out. I started with a sketch, which by the way looks nothing like the finished layout. My creative process at times is all over the place, which isn't always bad.

This is what I came up with, a lovely layout of my little niece. I have been waiting to come up with a cool idea on how to showcase this picture.

Well as luck would have it later on that week I checked my email and low and behold, I had an email asking if I would like to design for Tonic.

Let's just say it made my day! I was so excited!! I am so excited for this opportunity. I recently received my goodies to start playing with and designing with and also received my first assignment: Mother's day..

This weekend, I just completed my first assignment for them. I made a couple of mother day cards and a layout.

For now here is a sneek peak of the layout.

I hope you are all having a great month like I have had! Now I can cross one thing off my bucket list.  Now on to the next item! What is something that is on your bucket list?

Happy Creating!