project life. week 6. feb 5-feb 11.

jeez, this took me a long time to get moving on!  I started it earlier, but then was once again going back & forth between paper & digital.  I received my prints of my other digital pages back from Persnickety Prints & loved them, but I guess I was still torn.  Finally, I decided to go ahead with the digital, but I did switch templates so I could fit more content into my pages.  These are basically the same layout I was doing in paper, but digital form.  I loved doing the paper version, but I had to be honest with myself that the digital was going to cut out a lot of extra steps for me & since this is an ongoing project, I needed to figure out what would work best for me.  so that's it... final decision! {I know, seriously, make up your mind already!} lol. so, here we go...

week 6. page 1.

sunday. 21 super bowl weekends ago Dan & I met.  sunny. hanging out around home. Dan learning how to sew buttons on his shirts {at 41}. super gallery bowl chat at DHD.  super bowl commercials.  monday. homemade low fat enchiladas. tuesday. tracking better.  apps, apps & more apps. tuesday. snowy. watching baby K.

week 6. page 2.

wednesday. a day in the life. {the photos I took I printed at postal pix & plan to do a mini book}. girl drama. thursday. valentine making with Evan & Lydia.  friday. blogged at DHD about a hybrid layout I created with digital kits. x box live obsessed boys. target trip. Lydia's first icee.  saturday. Dan & I out for the day & night with friends for a very cold, but very fun 4 wheeler party. Evan out for the night for his friend's birthday.

I'm planning on jumping right into week 7, since I'm rolling & I'm thinking it will come together quick!  whoo hoo! still loving it.  As I put the pages I had printed into my album last week, it was fun to go back & look at the previous weeks.  Funny how soon we forget {or at least I do} what we did from week to week.  How are you doing on your Project Life?

{robyn}

project life. week 5. jan 29-feb 4.

This week I did another set of digital pages.  I sent the last 2 weeks off to Persnickity Prints to have them printed to see how I like them. If I like them just as well as my paper pages, I think I'll probably keep doing the project digital, if not, I'll probably go back to my paper versions... my order should be here tomorrow, so I'll let you know what the verdict is.

page 1

this week started off with Catholic Schools Week at the kids' school. Collin served mass, Evan & some of his school mates represented the school at mass while Father talked about HTC. Wednesday was mass with Evan at the elementary, donuts & coffee & then the rest of the day off of school to get Collin & Evan to the dentist.  No cavities, but braces were mentioned for Evan's future :(  Wednesday I also started the Stretch your Kit class at Studio Calico with Amy Tan. When we got back home from the dentist, we noticed that there were a bunch of Cardinals & Blue Jays out our kitchen window, so I caught some pics of those.  They don't show themselves very often, it seems.

page 2

Friday was a busy day too.  Lydia & I babysat my great niece for the day, we had haircuts {& styling by Pam for Lydia, which she LOVED}.  My sister Kathy was in the hospital from Monday-Friday after having the stomach flu... a real bad deal since she has type 1 diabetes.  Thank goodness she's ok now & hopefully doesn't happen again any time soon! so scary. I added a screenshot of her facebook update announcing she was coming home :)  Saturday was lots of whatever around the house.  Playing with Lydia in her room talking about superheros, designing kits for this week & cookie baking were also part of the day.

I do enjoy creating these pages digitally, but I'm still so torn, because I love doing it with paper too... why do I have to be the indecisive type?!? lol

you can peak a few little sneaks of some products I have releasing tomorrow at DHD on the pages too :)

{robyn}

project life. week 4. jan 22-28.

so, this week, I started wondering... what would my Project Life pages look like in digital? maybe not the exact layout & format that I've been doing in paper, but just wondering what I could do. if I'd be happy with the results, what kind of time I'd put into it vs paper, plus, I was really wanting to try out some digi items I've done recently in the PL format & see how I liked them {plus sort of seeing what I'm wanting/needing to create}.  I'm pretty happy with the results. I'm not totally sure which way I'm going to go... stay with paper, switch to the digital, or maybe I'll just mix the two? I'm enjoying saving the kids' papers & some of the "extras" we have from the week, so I know they will still find their way into some inserts. I started out trying a few different things. I tried putting it into the format that I've been using {design A}, but finally went with the Protectors Set 1 from Karla Dudley.  I created a layout with them before & just loved how they looked. Of course it's smaller overall, but I just placed it on the Grid paper from my Everyday paper kit. I like how I feel like I'm still fitting everything into the little pockets.

so here is page 1...

on this page I've used elements from the Everyday kits, LoveLoveLove, HelloLove, Kraft Funday & Party, Tag You're It all from my shop & a tag from Jen Allyson, a tag & sticker from Karla Dudley & part of a journaling card from Paislee Press. Papers are from Kraft Party, Everyday & LoveLoveLove from my shop.

& page 2

on this page I used elements from LoveLoveLove, HelloLove, Kraft Funday, Everyday & InStitches Freebie from my shop & also used a few tags from Karla Dudley's a Life Recorded. Papers are from Kraft Party, Everyday & LoveLoveLove from my shop. I also used Gennifer Bursett's Toolbox shadow styles.

in the end, I probably ended up spending as much time as I usually do per week, but that also included time i put into figuring out my layout, etc. I did save time when it came to not having to photograph & edit photos of the pages, which was nice. I think since I have a layout figured out, I'd probably save quite a bit of time on the following pages.

soooo, what do you think?

{robyn}

project life. week 2. jan 8-14.

week 2. warm weather. cold weather. snow. finally. lunch date with daddy. chiropractor visit for Lydia. starting again on c25k. homework. homework. homework. dr visit for me. more invention convention finishing for Evan. science fair experiements for Collin. stress. a friends birthday party for Evan. & a family trip to see the Cardinal Caravan to end our week.

pg 1

i found myself using lots of printables {this page Hello Forever, Paislee Press & some older ones from Jen Allyson} & labels {squee! new from Martha Stewart} this week & also used a new {free} 4x6 photo template {from Paislee Press} to put together photo collages for the 4x6 spots. I included a printout the dr gave me on my blood test results. lots of stitching this week too to add a little something.

close up pg 1

pg 2

I also seemed to use an old Making Memories magnetic stamp set that I've had forever. may have to look into getting some more little alphabet sets.  I really liked using them again.  I used a little Kraft Funday on this page too. the 6x6 pads are so perfect.  I printed out a screenshot of a text conversation I had with Collin one day, stamped out a portion of something Lydia said, included a birthday party invitation, a kids menu from a restaurant we ate at & a sticker from a jersey Evan got this weekend. On this page I used another few printables from Hello Forever {umm, hello, see the 23 on the jersey & the 23 on the card? meant to be} & Paislee Press & also my Everyday Journaling Cards

full spread {front of insert}

{back of insert}

I also included a 6x12" insert this week to document our Saturday trip to see the Cardinal Caravan.  It was definitely a highlight of our week.  I could have included so much more, but tried to not go overboard because I'm sure I'll be making layouts about it as well.  For this I tried to do photo collages in photoshop to streamline the process a little. I added an overview of the trip by typing it up & printing it on a journal page.  I also included a bit from a brochure we got there. 

so that's it! week 2 done.

{robyn}

december daily {days 18-25}

first, let me say, I've loved doing this album.  It was definitely a challenge for me & I was really excited that I completed it.  Next year, though, I'm going to simplify for sure.  Photo a day.  I found that as soon as the rush of all the Christmas to-do's hit me {school parties, wrapping, last minute holiday whatever & kids home} I basically just had to drop it & wait until after Christmas to complete it.  I really wanted to include more in those last days, but it would have just been too much for the book {plus I was just ready for it to be done}.  I'm planning on layouts to tell a more complete story of our Christmas Eve & Christmas & also want to make a mini for our Elf, Jessie & his daily happenings.  So anyway, here it is...

12.18.11

on this day I dove into wrapping. of course I had a little "helper" too.  I added in a page I made from a brown lunch bag, which was what I used for a lot of our wrapping.

12.19.11

on this day, Evan's class had a gingerbread house day {his teacher has been doing this with her class for years... it's so much fun}. I went to help him out & loved what we created together :)

12.20.11

on this day I was in gift-making mode.  the kids' last day of school was the next day {which included Christmas parties} so I HAD to get the teacher gifts made! I didn't send out too many actual cards, but wanted to include the card I had sent out & the photo of the kids I had included in them somewhere in the book, so this is where it ended up.

12.21.11

on this day, there was so much going on! seriously if I included it all, it would probably be 6 pages... Christmas parties, babysitting, Christmas concert & best of all... grandma & grandpa came home!  The photo of Evan & my mom is priceless... he was SO excited to see her!  The back of the page is a folded program from Evan's concert with his name circled.  The concerts/plays at our elementary school are always the best.  We are so lucky to have an incredible music director!

12.22.11

on this day we did tons of baking & making!  Lydia had been asking me constantly about making cookies for Santa, so that's what we did!  I was messing around with a few things for this page on my Silouette sd.  I cut the from banner, but it didn't cut all the way through, so I just peeled away the letters & included it anyway :)  I also made the cookies for santa title that I made up with a font on my computer. 

12.23.11

this was a not-so-happy day. although it was my moms birthday, we also spent the night at my aunt Betty's visitation, who had passed away a few days before.  on the upside, it was great to be able to see all of our family.  I included 2 pictures I captured while we were visiting of Lydia & Collin with cousins we don't get to see too often.  this was the reason my parents made the trip back from Texas as well, which was a major bonus for us as well, as we weren't planning on getting to spend Christmas with them this year {which would have been a first}.

12.24.11

I always have LOVED Christmas Eve... for as long as I can remember, it has been when my family celebrates together.  We start with mass, then supper & then PRESENTS!  We've changed it up over the years a little, but it still is my favorite.  Again, this one could go on for pages & pages, but I kept it super short.  The day started with my aunt's funeral & then went onto church with Dan's dad & then fun with the Klesner family at my sisters.  Then home to get ready for Santa!  The picture is our tree that night after Santa had made his way to our house... :)

12.25.11

on this day... it was Christmas!  Since we've had kids, this is our day to spend together at home.  It always starts with the kids waking us up at the crack of dawn & excitedly ripping through stockings & presents. This is followed by a homemade breakfast, lots of assembling, playing & relaxing. This Christmas we did something new & had Dan's family over that night for supper.  It was great to get everyone together, with his family in all different directions, it's nice to be able to see everyone & have a relaxed time to visit.

done.

{robyn}