Project Life, Week 25

Hi friends, I thought I'd pop in here and share something crafty that I've been spending a lot of time on this year -- Project Life. If you're not familiar with this scrapbook system, check it out at beckyhiggins.com.

I have to let you know I'm uncomfortable sharing my PL pages here on my blog, because a) they're not very good; b) I'm pretty boring; and c) I'm not much of a photographer. [Interestingly, I used to take much better family photos years ago, when I first got a DSLR and let the camera just do its thing in auto mode. Over the past few years, I've learned just enough about photography to be dangerous, but not enough to be any good (yet). Seriously!]

I intend to fix that, but until then, I'm not letting my familiar friend Perfectionism keep me from tackling this project!  I haven't really scrapbooked in years, and while I don't necessarily miss the scrapbooking itself (cards are a perfect size canvas for me, thank you!), I do wish I had more stories and memories recorded for my children to enjoy both now and in the future. Project Life, with its 4x6 and 3x4 pockets, is perfect for me!

Here's Week Twenty-Five, June 17-23:

And some close-ups:

(left side)

The Project Life Core Kits all come with pre-made title cards, but I thought this would be the perfect place for some creativity, so I'm doing my own thing for these. Even if I don't get very creative elsewhere on the weekly spreads, I think it's fun to make each of these unique and interesting. For Week 25, I've used the Echo Park This 'n' That Charming collection, both the papers and some sticker elements. The corrugated letters and numbers are by Jillibean Soup. I like how this one turned out.

Father's Day 2012 may get its own traditional scrapbook page someday, but I still wanted to include a snippet in this album. The base of the top left (3x4) card is by Echo Park (either Charming or For the Record?). I added the "Happy" sticker element and then an old "Father's Day" rub-on from my stash, as well as some yellow baker's twine. The right card is from the Project Life Clementine core kit. I added a photo, some washi tape, and handwritten journaling. (By the way,  my handwriting is definitely something that has deteriorated with age!) On the photo, the "we love" comes from Ali Edwards' We Word Art Brushes & Stamps (available at Designer Digitals). The letters are stickers.

"This photo tells a story" is another digi element by Ali Edwards: Little Bit of Messy.The journaling card is from one of the Echo Park Charming 12x12 patterns (I think).

More Ali Edwards digi elements (I may have combined brushes from two sets to create pool party) and more Charming papers and stickers. I need to switch out that smudged journaling label!

(right side)

A photo of my boys rough-housing. Behind the photo are two 3x4 Echo Park journaling cards, accented on the right with patterned papers. I used a craft knife to cut around those little flags on the left, then just tucked the photo behind them. Some Tim Holtz tiny staples hold everything together.

Another Charming journaling card, an oval punch/die-cut, and some yellow letters that I cut with my Silhouette (Postino font)

Two really bad iPhone photos of our first trip to a local ice skating rink, as well as our admission stickers and the receipt. The letters are stickers -- I think they maybe October Afternoon. (And I think I should take notes so I can I.D. this stuff better!)

A trio of random photos from the week. The numbers were punched from an Echo Park Charming pattern and correspond to items on the weekly summary card (included below). To make the trio, I used a free photo template from Persnickety Prints, 6x4 Tiny Templates.

Mr. Popper's Penguins was a free movie at the local theater this particular week. I just did an internet image search and saved the highest resolution movie image file I could find. The decorative card on the right is (I think) from the Project Life Clementine core kit.

Last is a week-in-review card that I pretty much loathe :) Just didn't turn out like I wanted, but I was too spent by this point to change it up. The numbers (again, punched from one of the Echo Park Charming patterns) correspond to the numbered photos elsewhere on the week's spread.

Whew! That's it. Let me know what you think!