Saturday, June 2, 2018

Getting Things Done

I am amazed at what  can get done with one hand!  I have set up a list of goals (on my phone, since I can't write!!)  and I managed to CRUSH the first one!

I follow an amazing scrapbooker named ALI EDWARDS.  I have for a long time. I have even purchased several classes from her.    

So, one of the things she does is A WEEK IN THE LIFE album every year. She chooses a week every year and documents the "reality" of the whole week. The food, the mundane, the shopping, the tantrums, the house, the yard, the whole shebang.  She offers  a new line of products every year to go with the process she does very publicly on her blog.  I haven't purchased the WEEK IN THE LIFE products (or class I don't think) but, I've followed her process and started it for 2 years!  I did (some of) the journaling, I took all the pictures, but never got them into an album.

My first project to finish while I am off this summer is my 2017 WEEK IN THE LIFE album.  I started with corralling the pictures on my computer into one place.  As organized as I thought I was ... this was enlightening!  I have some work to do on cleaning out my computer's memory.  (later!)


I printed the pictures I wanted after I decided I was going to use just a few 4X6 photos and mostly 3X4 photos.  I chose background CARD STOCK ( I have a bunch of retired I would like to get used up - another goal!)  I then pulled a limited supply of embellishments, PROJECT LIFE cards (I have a bunch of these from before CTMH made pocket cards) stamps, and inks.  I find that looking for things as I go and adding things all the time slows me down and overwhelms my creativity.

So, with my supplies out, I started on Tuesday afternoon.   I started with a 'loose' plan.
 1) a title page for each day 
2) a 'day' pocket for each day and
 3) and an 'initial' card for each day.  

With my goals and my loose plan in mind I filled the pages for the week with my pictures first. Then I added the CARD STOCK pages and pocket cards, then the PROJECT LIFE cards. 

And now, the fun part begins!  Decorating the pages.  At this point, I didn't understand how ALI EDWARDS and most of the other people who have done this project needed a whole album for this!  It was crazy!  I was gonna put 2 years in one album, not 'waste' a whole album.  Then ... I started decorating.


I love my title page!  I used a BECKY HIGGINS PL card.  I love that camera (and i just realized I need to put bling on the flash!)  The frame is an old RECOLLECTIONS piece I believe.  I used CTMH 'Marker Alphabet' #E1034 for my title, with BLACK INK and 'Week in the Life' is from the CTMH RETIRED stamp set Notice the Details #D1378. I haven't used this set much for as much as I loved it when I bought it, but I will, just wait, I will!

The pocket pages were next.  And they are so fun to decorate!  Remember I told you I was making CARD STOCK day pages?  Here is the first one. 

Just retired OCEAN card stock I hoarded. I stamped 'MONDAY'  in BLACK ink with the CTMH stamp set 'My Life' #D1572.  I used the days of the week from this set for the WHOLE book.  The font is different for every day, which I LOVE!  I am a bit of a font freak.  LOL  The embellishments are old RECOLLECTIONS pieces, except for the yellow flower which is from a very old CTMH paper kit. I looked for the name, so I could tell you, but can't find it. The embellishments were very bulky for that kit and I didn't use them in my big albums because of that.  And, other than for the workshop, I didn't use them on cards because I didn't feel that they would mail easily. 

I love the wood veneer 'hello'!  The adhesive was crap, but I love the look of it.  Wood embellishments are soooo cute in these small albums.  Personally, I don't like the bulk in my big albums. 

The other consistent detail I wanted in my album was the initial for every day.  On Monday I used a camera PL card (I love camera accents in anything!!)  I think this is such a nice little detail in the album. I'm really glad I made this choice. 

Once again, I used the Marker Alphabet set from CTMH.  Using up some old embellishments and bling as I go.  

Just a little more information before I leave you today.  I am using SIMPLE STORIES page protectors and album for this project. (cleaning out my stash).   2 years ago, when I made my grand daughter's albums for family, I DOUBLE ORDERED page protectors!!  WHO DOES THAT??  
Well, me apparently.  So, I have a ton of page protectors and 1 album.  Now 0 albums, and still a ton of protectors.  I will be shopping for a couple more albums so I can use up the page protectors.  It's OK though.  I love mini albums.  They mean FINISHED projects. 

Have an amazing day and a scrappy weekend!
C