Blog

(Inspired by Liz Lamoreux)

Now…

Listening to my Pandora station called «January 2013»
Planning my Project Life pages (I am a bit…late. but that’s ok)
Loving each of my daughters’ drawings (was gifted lots of them lately)
Enjoying time with my Studio Buddy
Reading «Mrs Peregrine’s home of peculiar children» by Ramson Riggs (will become a Tim Burton’s directed movie)

Now…

Trusting (everything will turn out fine)
Filling my Heart with Gratitude
Filling my Body with plant based meals (and feeling good)
Believing in Miracles
Waiting

Now…

Enjoying the process
Being inspired
Obsessing all over again (with sacred geometry and symbols)
Dreaming Out Loud
Loving at the fullest

Welcome to another Project Life Monday. This will, I wanted to focus on sharing what I use to create my album, with a little explanation.

(I am linking to the Amazon page of Becky Higgins, to make it easier for you to learn more about the product if you want.)

My album

For Project Life, you do need a 12×12″ 3-ring binder because of the photo pages we use. Now, plenty of manufacturers do have some in their lines so it is not that hard to find. AND 12×12″ (30x30cm) is the more common size but of course, you can also choose to a 8.5×11″ album or even 6×8″. It is really up to you !

I went for one made by We R Memory Keepers, and for 2013, I chose the Navy binder (not girly as it is our family album and I want my husband to like it as well. And Blue is kinda our colour). It is very sturdy and I love the finish.

Becky Higgins offers binders that do coordinate her core kits, and they are pretty neat as well !

The Photo Pocket Pages

The most common sizes of pockets are 6×4″ and 3×4″, and the pages play around what is possible to play with these two sizes on the same page. There are also the big 12×12″, some smaller ones as the 5×7″, 8×10″, 8.5×11″.

People usually prefer working the Design A when they work on a weekly base for their year album. I noticed by looking through my photo folders on my computer that most of the photos I take are in Landscape mode. And I guess I am not the only one, and this is why this design is oh so popular. And why I like the Photo Pocket C so much: it is 6 spots for 4×6 Landscape photos.
If you tend to do the contrary (take more Portrait oriented photos), then you have the same concept inverted: Design D is for you.

However… you know me. I am pretty easily bored to death and having an album filled with the same Photo Protector over and over is not my thing.

I like using Design E or I that both have squares, because I can slip my Instagram photos easily in them (I do a montage in Photoshop and got 12×12″ photo printed at Costco, then I just need to trim and I’m good).

I bought a Big Pack so I have a little bit of each of the designs to play with, and with time I’ll see which ones I go to more often and will get these.

 The Core Kit

Using a core kit will save you tons of time. Each of them is composed of:

• Scrapbooking components to create a full album
• 4 x 6 Title Cards so every layout has a title
• 3 x 4 Journaling Cards so that every picture has a caption
• First Page + Last Page Cards so that your album has a beautifully designed beginning and end

Last year when I began for 2012, I bought the Cherry Core Kit. BUT I find it quite girly (which is fine for my daughters’ album but not so much for our family one). I was very excited of the two new core kits that were released earlier this year: the Seafoam edition (designed by Elise Cripe) and the Olive edition (designed by Heather Bailey) and so I purchased the Seafoam core kit to go with it.

I really like that there are journaling cards as well as filler cards (you know, when you don’t have a photo, don’t have much to say but need to fill one of the pocket anyway).

This Spring (around May), LOTS of new products will be released. Both core kits, and mini kits (for example there will be a seasonal one, and a holidays focused kit too).

The extra: Mini Kit

I also use the Mayfield mini kit.

I chose a girly one on purpose, this time.

You can totally go without a mini kit, as the Core Kit is made to cover a whole year of Project Life 🙂

To date, you can choose between three different mini kits.

The extra: Project Life monthly kit by Studio Calico

Since January this year, Studio Calico added a new monthly kit to their list. One that is dedicated to Project Life albums.

In it, you receive both 3×4 and 4×6 cards (around 30 in total I think), plus an exclusive stamps set, and some embellishments (washi tape and more).

Each month, it coordinates with the Main kit, and the Card kit.

I think Studio Calico is one of my favorite brands, and this kit is a monthly treat that I really appreciate (and if you already are a subscriber to any of the other kits, it will ship together at no additional fee).

I also like to use their Cut Files (with my Silhouette machine… that I should definately use more !) and their Digital stamps.

Making my own cards

I purchased some blank 4×6 cards at Staples, and use them to create my own journaling and filler cards. You know I like getting my hands dirty, and it is a nice fun way to warm up before painting.

I also use the blank 3×4 cards from Becky Higgins (I often find it hard to fill the 3×4 spots in my pages) to create something.

Spray inks, stamps and here you have it ! I also like to add a stitched border around my card when I want it a little be fancier.

Now that Project Life is oh so popular, you can find paper you just need to cut and then use (for example Simple Stories, or Echo Parks have some really good ones).
The same applies for stamps. I bought an inkpad of Stazon ink though, because my usual Archival one was smudging when used directly on my photos. And that sucks !

For the papers, I use some of my scrapbook paper that I cut to size. Now that I have the blank 3×4 and 4×6 dies from The Crafter’s Workshop, it is way easier to cut it thanks to my Big Shot machine. I also use the 3×4 die to reframe and downsize a photo.

Selphy home printer

I discovered this printer via Liz Lamoreux who uses one. It is good when I don’t have a lot of photos to print, because I can do that at home thanks to it. However, when I have too much photos, I noticed I run out of ink pretty fast… so this is when I go to Costco and get them printed in 1 hour.

I know that Epson also has a portable home printer, but I’ve never used it so I can’t compare the two and tell you which is best.

I like thinking outside the box for my albums. And I am so inspired by all those who share their pages and process ! Thankful they take some time to share.

I would really love to know how you organize yourself for your Project Life album. What are your favorite products to use ? Please please please: tell me 😀

Project Life is a memory keeping system initiated by Becky Higgins. This is how I decided to keep track of our family life.
If you live outside the US, you can order Project Life items on Scrapbooker’s Inner Circle.
You can find all my Project Life oriented blogposts right here.

Gratitude Friday is a weekly ritual I started in order to focus on all the small and big positive things that happened during my week. I invite you to join me, you’ll see how much being thankful can change your life. If you want to know more about it, read my introduction post.

Hello beautifuls !

This week is coming to an end and I have to admit I am happy to see the week-end arriving.

I have too much to do today, so I apologize for making it short. But I really want to encourage you to stop for a few minutes so you can reflect on your week and seek for what was positive, what were the lessons learned, the joyful moments.

This week, I am thankful for:

• Morning green smoothies. They easily contribute to my fruit/greens/fiber/protein intake of the day. They fill me up in the morning so I am not starving anymore when lunch comes (=less hungry equals to smaller portions).
• My Studio Buddy (and next door neighbor), Em. Having her in my studio with me makes quite the difference.
• Sleep. Rest.
• Tv Shows (finally started watching Revenge, and we’re now on Season 4 of our «watch it again» Supernatural marathon).
• Packing orders that go to new homes all over the globe.
• Watched «A Series of Unfortunate Events» with my girls yesterday and loved it. And so much inspiration (come on… Violet’s style is gorgeous !). I want to read the books (will check our library. when I’ll have lowered the pile of books already started on my nightstand, though).
• This deep feeling of going on the right road (in life, in my spirituality, creatively).
• I will be a guest artist in the upcoming class «Behind the art» from Christy Tomlinson (read more about it on her blog).
• The absence of rain. And the warm (at least, I should say «not too cold») days.
• My dear Halfling’s work party, theme was Casino Royal. I found a beautiful (but cheap) dress that I can wear again, and high flat boots. It was fun. Thank you to our neighbors who made it all possible.
• My floating headache did not tranform into a migraine.

Please, don’t be afraid to share your list. It does not have to be filled with huge profound items 🙂

If you wrote your Gratitude Friday on your blog, don’t forget to enter your NAME and URL below so I’m notified and can come to read you (you can also join by commenting this post):
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I love new products. It can be pretty bad for my bank account, because it is often (really) hard to resist buying new art supply to play with, discover and maybe adore.

Background building is maybe the part I usually prefer in the creative process. Because I don’t know where I am going when I start, I just grab what is calling me, what I feel like using on that specific moment. And see where I am told to go. Listening to the Inner Voice(s) and letting myself be guided. This is when I feel the most connected to the Source.

Trust is essential. Add a sprinkle of faith. A dollop of courage. And you got my recipe for a good painting (when I say «good» I mean «one that leaves me satisfied»).

For 2013, my guiding word(s) are TRY {Be Daring}. I even started to put them into action in December. I want to be less shy. I want to do all I can to be discovered. This is how I ended up talking with Jaime from the amazing brand The Crafter’s Workshop and received stencils and dies to try, play and make a project she could use in their booth during CHA in Anaheim »(if you are not familiar with it, CHA *Craft and Hobby Association* is a huge trade show that happens twice a year; it is when the craft and scrapbooking brands share their new lines and products, and stores can order them).

The dies I received are some words, some beautiful ones that could become part of a background, and most of them are really nice for your Project Life album. I wanted to find a way to feature both the dies and the stencils, and came up with the idea to make a hardbook. I had little time to make it on time so Jaime could get it for the show (thank you Deanna from Clipper Street, my local scrapbook store, for taking care of the delivery for me !).

What I love is the versatility of stencils in general, and the ones I got had good space to be used with gel medium or any heavy medium so I could play with textures as well.

There dies are simply amazing and you can use (for lots of them) both the negative and posititive (you can see I’ve played with that on the spread with the arrow). You’ll see more of them in my Project Life pages for sure. The size is perfect, neither too big nor too small so it does not outshine your picture and you can still clearly see it on there.

Just an important note: these are «snapped in the moment. in progress» pictures of my project. I don’t have pics of the finished one yet.
Click on the thumbnail to enlarge.

I would love to know if you’ve seen it in person if you were attending CHA somehow. Let me know.

Thanks again a lot Jaime for the opportunity. Learned a lot along the way.

Here are the pics:

Items I have been playing with:

Stencils: Confetti, Honeycomb, Cell Theory, Quatrafoil.
Dies: Solace, Circles, Mini Dots, Blank 4×6, Blank 3×4, Horizontal Chevrons, Chicken Wire, Top Five, Arrow Here, Everyday, Today Is, Right Now, This Week, Love this, Today, Now, Hello, Sweet.

Good morning/afternoon/evening !

I am so happy to share with you this new video. I want to make and share more of them this year (which mean accepting not to look for «perfect» and do shorter videos as well).

Reilly is part of my Nixies created in Mindy Lacefield new year long class called True Free Spirit. I may share quite a lot of what is going on for me in this class this year (be prepared). We have a lesson a month, but I am doing plenty of paintings around it to practice and enjoy.

This month is about creating a character with a tilted head. Which is out of my comfort zone, as most of my Nixies are facing us straight. But I love challenges, and learning. So it’s all good. And I can always ask for advices on our group, which I did for Reilly, as there were some points I was not sure where to go with her. This is priceless.

«To live is to suffer; to survive is to find the meaning in the suffering.» Frederich Nietzche

I created her on GessoBoard. I truly prefer to work on a hard surface, like wood panels for example, because of the first layer that usually is collage. Applying the paper on a hard surface is easier, especially when you need to press with your tool to get the gel everywhere so it won’t bubble.

I surprisingly went pretty simple in my first layers of papers, using only three different scrapboking papers, and two tissue paper (the dark one is bleeding tissue paper, the other one is pattern for sewing).

I used my stencils with different media for this Nixie: heavy matte gel medium and extra heavy gesso. I decided to switch to the gesso to add visual contrast with what was already happening. The paint and ink react differently on them, which is fun (but you have to keep that in mind though).

I love using items to create my marks. This time, I wanted circles and used a cork lid dipped in the acrylic paint. So much fun ! At this stage, I was loving it. The colors, the patterns, everything. It became more of a struggle after…

Seeing my character emerge is always a magical moment for me. Seeing them appear in the background and them pushing them forward. But it is something harder than it seems (this is when I think that having a sketch to follow, as I did when I began, would make my life easier ! ahah).

You’ll see in the video, I went back and forth between her face and the rest of the painting. This is my tactic when frustration strikes right in my face. Her face is composed of layers upon layers (and I did work on her after I thought she was done, so after the end of the video).

Reilly.
Prints available here.
Original available.

This arrowed spiral is one of my favorite symbol and I was happy that it popped into my head. AND it was the perfect spot for Reilly’s message 😉

Here is the video. I hope you’ll enjoy: