Project Life : Week 09

Week 09 : February 27-March 4

This week : I played catchup on cleaning + laundry, Morgan's quiet time turned into nap time (again!), I had a nasty sore throat and cough, I got some awesome happy mail, I tried looking for some solutions to Parker's multiple night wakings (again), we attended Morgan's preschool open house and Parker was bit by a tummy bug.

Click on any photo to enlarge. Full spread without insert :

Left side :

Close-ups of some of my favorites. Parker sneaking a sip of his breakfast smoothie before it hits the table. So typical Parker. I adore Liz's templates for fitting multiple photos on one 4x6 photo :

I used my exacto knife to cut around just the days of the week on one of the journaling cards in my Turquoise kit. I saved one of my cough drop wrappers, which had some cool little sayings on it (kind of like Dove chocolates have inside the wrapper), plus a little handwritten note on a flag that comes with the Smash paper clips and sewed it all together :

A big cluster of stuff found its way on this photo. Studio Calico wood veneer house, old Heidi Swapp journaling spot, Martha Stewart label, Studio Calico arrow + 7 Gypsies sticker. All on a very exciting photo of my laundry room :

Right side :

I used Liz's template again here to make a mini "Morgan Lately" layout. I cut it in half and filled 2 of the 3x4 slots and the "M" and jewelry tag are actually on the outside of the page protector :

Parker got sick (throwing up, sick) on Saturday. Poor little guy was miserable. Feeling really thankful that this is the first time we've had a super sick kid and that it didn't last very long. Little did I know that both Morgan and I were going to get hit hard with it 36 hours later. The white 'S' tag is from Ormolu and kraft 'thankful' is a Silhouette cut.

Pretzel goldfish and juice are what Morgan + Parker always ask for after his nap. PM stamp is from Studio Calico's (now sold out) Awesome stamp set :

Ah, more happy mail for me! My friend Sue rocks, and even after dealing with a very painful elbow, she made me these super cozy handknit socks! "I really, really, really really like this" is Smash tape :

Two inserts this week. The first is just a small 6x6 page protector with a collage of Instagram photos I took from our trip to Target :

The back is part of one of Parker's drawings. The boy loves to carry a crayon and small notebook around (like a little journalist) and loves to make circles :

The journaling on the bottom is from a cut-up Turquoise journaling card :

The other insert is going to be a sort of Leap Day time capsule. I saw this link last week and thought this would be a fun idea to add to my own album. I collected receipts, our dinner menu for the week, our local newspaper, favorite snack and food wrappers/boxes, lists of shows we watched and books we read, and what our everyday schedule is like. It's not exclusive to Leap Day, maybe Leap Week, but it's a collection of things that I would have put in my Project Life layout for the week, but didn't make the cut. When I place my next Amazon order, I plan of adding the Big Envelope Pages to my cart and I'll slip all of this stuff inside later.

I have also linked up to The Mom Creative and One Happy Mama.

If you are not familiar with Project Life, click here. All of my 2012 Project Life posts can be found here.

Products I used this week :

InLinkz.com

my less list : no 10

First off, am I really the first person to notice my misspelling of pursuit above? Ick! It only took 10 weeks. I need to fix that. And apparently I need to stop writing these posts so late at night. All fixed!

My less list is going to change its focus for the month of March. Each week, instead of giving myself a few to-do's to accomplish, I'm going to use our March prompt for the One Little Word class as my big focus. The assignment this month is assess the list of things we want our word to bring into our life in 2012 (see January) and take action. We have to choose one thing, one action, to complete this month.

Because of these weekly less lists, I feel like I have accomplished quite a bit so far as I'm trying to live with less this year. Mostly small plus a few big items that are helping me get things done. I haven't finished every task I've given myself, but I think that's been because of lack of time, not motivation. For my one little action, I chose something not-so-little to work on. An exercise plan. And really, the only plan is to do something most days of the week. Every day would be awesome. Frankly, I suck at being motivated to work out. I enjoy being active in other ways. Ways that don't feel like I'm exercising, like going for a bike ride. But that's not going to happen around here for a good month or more. Who knows when spring is going to arrive? I hate the thought of putting on my workout clothes, popping in that DVD and doing it. I would rather clean the bathroom.

Like most women I know, I want to feel comfortable in a bathing suit this summer. No, I don't have any plans to be prancing around in a bikini or anything. I just want to feel confident and cute in the new swimsuit I bought last year. I want to be able to run around the beach or splash pad with Morgan + Parker and not feel my legs jiggling. I want to not go in freak-out mode when I take off my cover-up. Yes, I realize it's all about self confidence - but I'm just not feeling my best with this extra flab. March seems like a good time for me to kick it into high gear and just do it. My primary go-to workout is going to be Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred. I've had the DVD for just over a year but have not done it consistently and have never made it past Level 1. Today is March 4 and I've done it 3 days so far. Not too bad. Gauging how I felt after tonight's workout, I should be able to move on to Level 2 by the end of the week!

My only goal is to move. No "lose 20 pounds by April 1" or "melt 8 inches in 4 weeks." No huge diet changes other than drinking lots of water and cutting back on sweets - my biggest weakness. I have weighed and measured myself, as a before, so we'll see how those numbers change by next month.

So, my traditional less list will be back in April. I may continue to write an update each week with exactly what days I worked out, as a record to myself to transfer to my minibook at the end of March. And to keep myself motivated and accountable.

I'm going to check out our class message board and see what everyone else has chosen for their one little action in March. Feel free to share in the comments, whether you are a classmate or not, what your one little action would be. 

Each week I have been writing a short list, no more than 5 items long, of simple tasks that I want to complete during that week. Small things, not huge projects, that I can easily do in the span of 7 days. Things that will keep me focused + help me keep my eyes open to the big picture. You can read more about my One Little Word, less, why I chose it + how I'm documenting it in 2012 here. You can read all of my (now updated) less lists here.

currents

time : 9:55pm
place : in the living room, on my favorite chair
wearing : workout clothes
eating : a throat drop
drinking : lots of water
watching : Susan Cain's TED Talk - The power of introverts. I love that we can watch these on our TV.
thinking : it's okay to be an introvert.
feeling : better than earlier this week. Morning is the worst when I feel like I'm constantly clearing my throat of whatever accumulated back there while I was sleeping. Like coughing so hard I feel like I am going to vomit.
creating : pages for the March prompt in my One Little Word minibook.
hoping : Morgan has a positive reaction to the preschool open house tomorrow. We went last year, and although she had a blast, she was not jazzed about the whole getting dropped off (Mommy doesn't stay) concept. Of course, we decided not to put her in preschool last year, and I'm not sure this is the school where she will end up in the fall, but it will be fun to see how she interacts with the other kids. The girl LOVES the idea of school.
loving : that Kelly Purkey is coming to Michigan in April to teach a class at my local scrapbook store. Seriously cool, right? Can't wait to hear the details and I've already given Mark the heads up. It would be a great birthday present. :) Who's in?
needing : to do our taxes. 
wanting : this lame winter to be over. I'm ready for spring + I want to ride my bike.
wondering : if I can get through the 30 Day Shred in 30 consecutive days. I am on day two. So far, so good.

Inspired by Tina's currents series. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

One Little Word : LESS : February

The minibook I made to document my One Little Word this year is available in my shop. Find a coupon code at the bottom of this post to get 29% off - an extended Leap Day offer! Offer has expired, thank you!

Our February prompt in the One Little Word class was to take photos or find photos of things that remind you of your word. You could translate this in a number of ways - literally or figuratively. I tend to go the literal route and I also knew I wanted to use my own pictures versus photos I could find online.

There was some discussion in the message board about what kind of photos you would take for less. Perhaps minimal spaces or organized places. A scale documenting your weight or a pantry full of processed food. The way that I continue to think about my word is that less of one thing means more of another. Less TV, more reading. Less junk, more real food. Less driving, more walking. They seem to go hand in hand and I'm trying to look at my word in a positive way, not just as all of the bad stuff I'm trying to get rid of in my life. P.S. I love having the opportunity to connect with other classmates this way - especially with ladies that have the same word as me.

Since I'm documenting my One Little Word in a 4x6 minibook this year, I had to alter the way that Ali had proposed this prompt to be done. Instead of filling baseball card page protectors with 9 photos of images that remind me of less, I made a collage of 2" x 2" photos. I created a 6" high by 8" wide canvas in Photoshop Elements (which is the size of a full 2-page layout), and pulled in my cropped 2" square photos. I saved the left half for photos that reminded me of less and the right half for the opposite, more.

After printing and trimming down the layout, I cut it in half (so I had 2 4x6 pages) and punched holes to fit in the minibook. I adhered the left side to the back of the last page from January and left the right side loose for now until I figured out what page would follow.

In between the less + more pages, I added one of the Hambly Clearly Heavy pages that can be used as the cover of the minibook. Since I made a different cover for the book, I decided to use them as interior pages. I typed out short words or phrases that went with each photo. Spending / saving. Clutter / order. Junk food / fresh food. Sitting / moving. Screen time / reading books. After cutting them down to size (and making sure that each pair was the same length), I attached the little tags to the transparent page, over its matching photo. As you turn the transparent page, the words change to describe the other set of photos.

On the following page, I printed a 6" x 6" Instagram photo I took of our family while on a walk several weeks ago. A simple photo of just our shadows. A silhouette of less. I've gone back and forth about adding text to the photo but have decided to leave it as is for now.

With the right page being only 2" wide, I added a Paislee Press Round About Now circle accent to the photo, as a little tab. February on one side, March on the other :

I found the flower download on Ali's website. It was part of a little project called Naming Your Petals. She did this several years ago and I was reminded of it again when Lee did it back in January.

It is not One Little Word focused, but I thought adding it to this minibook was as good a place as any. I printed the flower on a piece of 4x6 paper and jotted down what came to mind - some favorite things, what I'm working on, and what is important to me. Right now :

And this is where I am at the beginning of March. I'm looking forward to reading Ali's handout and listening to the new presentation for this month. Last weekend, I looked back at my 2011 album to remember what March's prompt was and I think I already have an idea of how I'm going to tackle this assignment. You can see my March prompt from last year, when my One Little Word was focus, here.

It's not too late to join the One Little Word class! Read more about it and sign up here.
These minibooks are available in my shop here. They are not One Little Word focused and could be used for a number of different projects. In honor of Leap Day, I'm extending a 29% off discount through tonight (Thursday March 1st at 9pm EST) with the coupon code 29LEAP. Offer has expired, thank you!

You can see my other One Little Word posts here.
I wrote about my word less, why I chose it + what I'm hoping it brings me in 2012 here.

Thank you, as always, for looking!

Project Life : Week 08

Yep, another Project Life post this week. But now I'm caught up on the blog again. First, I have a little shop news. The 20 Questions albums are now sold out, but I'd like to spread a little Leap Day love. From now through Thursday, March 1st at noon EST (extended to 9pm EST), I'm offering 29% off in my shop. I still have some mixed paper minibooks left + unlimited quantities of the 20 Questions PDF. Use the coupon code 29LEAP. Offer has expired, thank you!

Week 08 : February 20-26

Photos : M+P getting Mardi Gras beads at the grocery store, a visit with the Treibers, Parker watching the snow fall + hanging out with his cousins, Morgan/Foofa playing photographer + spelling her name, a special breakfast treat with Daddy and some after-breakfast coloring. Lots of pictures of the kids this week.

Other Bits : an email from my mom (inside a folded 4x6 journaling card), packaging from a tea bag + a (the cutest!) drawing Morgan made of Mark.

Insert : 6x12 layouts of the time I spent with my sister, nephews + mom this week.

Click on any photo to enlarge. Full spread without insert :

Close-up of left side :

I forgot to take a picture of it, but the tag behind the photo of the kids from Fat Tuesday (labeled Beads) has some journaling on it. Copied + pasted from this blog post. More detailed shots :

 

Close-up of right side :

For the inserts, I used Ali Edwards Words and Photos 6x12 Layered Templates. I love these for adding longer stories - which is exactly what I was hoping to incorporate in my Project Life album. The front side was pictures and text from this blog post last week - when my sister and nephews visited. Love how easy it is to just copy + paste what I already wrote on the blog. These layouts really should be borderless but I made the mistake of cutting my photo paper down to 6x12 and then printing. Next time I will print and trim and it should work out better. Lesson learned.

And on the back I used a different template to write about my weekend with my mom and sister. We spent the entire weekend scrapbooking! Well, and lots of talking and laughing too. Despite dealing with a dead car battery, we had a blast!

Last weekend, after I got caught up on my Project Life layouts, I made some little tags for the spines of my We R Memory Keepers albums using a custom flair button from Ormolu and some Lily Bee alphabet stickers. I already know I'm going to have 2 albums for Project Life this year, so I have a Volume 01 + Volume 02 :

I'm not going to add them to the albums until they are complete + sitting on a shelf though. The album I am working on is always open, so since the button does stick out a bit past the front of the metal label holder, I'll slip this tag in when the album is full. 

I used a fair amount of old product this week and couldn't find links to most of it. If you have a question about what something is, please feel free to ask in the comments below.

I have also linked up my Week 8 layout to Kristina's Project Life Tuesday (or Wednesday?) :)


If you are not familiar with Project Life, click here. All of my 2012 Project Life posts can be found here.

Products I used this week :

InLinkz.com