Project Life 2017: Week 38

Hi there! I am back today with another spread from my 6x12 Project Life album. I made these pages a few months ago but forgot to share them! They cover a week in the second half of September and feature most exclusively Gossamer Blue supplies:

The left side is pretty typical for me with a date card using a tag upside down and stitched on, a few photos and a filler card... Note that two of those photos are actually screen captures.

The right side on the other hand is a bit different than my usual: I used a new style of page protector which has three horizontal 4x6 slots and I cut an extra large photo (6x8 inches) to fit in two of them:

I added a big die-cut directly on the top photo and a little tab on the side which says it all: "this is my favorite" :) I simply love having breakfast outside on our patio during the weekends and, lucky us, when can still do it at the end of September.

Here are a few tips/prompts for you to try in your pocket pages:

- Use screen captures as photos. With the amount of communications we do with our computer or phones, it is natural to include some of them in our Project Life.

- Don't feel restricted by your pockets and use extra large photos covering several of them.

- Don't be afraid to have things sticking out! A tab on the side, the top of a tag on the top... I think those little details add interest when you open the album.

- If you have it on your phone, use the "portrait mode" for other things than portrait! That is how I obtained such depth of field on my large photo ;)

Thank you for stopping by! I will be back soon with something very different. In the meantime, Happy crafting!

Project Life 2017: Weeks 30 & 31

Hi there friends! Today I am back sharing my Project Life album where I finished July and started August by combining Weeks 30 and 31. I feel a bit rebellious for not sharing something Christmasy and hopefully you will not leave just yet!

 I dug into my stash for this one, using mostly Gossamer Blue supplies but also Scraptastic Club and more. I even used one of my #100PLcardsbynathalie from 2016! Can you guess/recognize which one?

If you guess the bookworm one, you are right :) Here are a few more close ups showing how I have layered things:

>> Here are a few ideas/prompts for you to try in your PL:
- print an important or funny email to fit the size of a card and include it in a pocket
- write movies, books and restaurants reviews
- make a title or dates eye catching by putting them sideways
- one of my favorites: mix journaling cards and patterned papers to bring in color

Thank you for stopping by! I wish you all a crafty weekend!

Project Life 2017: Week 29

To escape the negative effects of the time change (how can anybody like those darker evenings!), I'll share my Summer pages! This one is from the end of July (Week 29) and features a fresh and bold color combination:

99% of the supplies are still from my Gossamer Blue kits! I only added a couple of tags and alphas from my stash.

Here are some ideas for you to try:

- grab a favorite card and use it as your color combination starter (can you guess which one was my starting point?)

- add embellishments at the junction of pockets by putting them on top of the page protector

- not much to say? add your menus for the week, they'll be fun to look at later on

Lastly, this is the time of year when we, scrapbookers, decide what form of memory keeping we will be using for the following year. I am not sure about what I want to do. I still enjoy making pocket pages but my kids are getting older and appear less and less in my album. Maybe I should adopt a less restraining time line (away from weekly spreads) or only work with events and vacations.... another idea I have is to go back in time and do it with older photos... or maybe I should look at a different support... I would love to hear what YOU will be doing, that might help me decide! :)

Thank you!

Through my lens (in my Traveler's Notebook)

Hi there! I am enjoying a week off of work and therefore have a little more time to craft and share. While my supplies were still out from my previous post, I created a second spread in my Traveler's Notebook:

This is probably my favorite photo from our outing in the desert and I had it printed to cover the entire page. The rest of my choices were made with simplicity and focus on the photo in mind. The eye doesn't stay long on the left page.

Here are the details of what I used:
Patterned papers, chipboard, label: Gossamer Blue
Sticker: Simply Stories
Die-cut: Crate Paper
Stamp: Scraptastic Club

In any scrapbooking format, I have always been a fan of extra large photos. This was my first time using one in a notebook but it will not be the last!
Have you tried it in a TN?

Wide Open Spaces (in my Traveler's Notebook)

I went back to my Traveler's Notebook about our desert outing from last Spring and created a new spread. I enjoy going from one type of memory keeping to another. Variety keeps it interesting for me.

All the supplies are from Gossamer Blue, except for the mini flair from Feed Your Craft and the die-cut leaves from Crate Paper.

 On the left side, I layered several scraps of paper and a journaling card after stamping the background a couple of times. I also added a die-cut (hiding the flower underneath because I only cared for the leaves) and very old fashioned photo corners for added contrast. These might actually be the oldest items in my stash!

I covered the right side with patterned paper cut slightly smaller than the page and created a vertical design with my photo and a tag. I love all these papers that were exclusive to the July kits from Gossamer Blue... 

To create a unified look between the two pages, I made sure to have some of the same colors and some repeating elements between the two (like the stamping, black and white touches, etc). Here's one last look:

I'm about to start another page so I should be back soon! :) Have a wonderful and crafty weekend wherever you are!

Project Life 2017: Week 28

...And another week is in the books! I have been busy with a new project I am very excited to share with you soon but in the meantime I managed to finish another week in my 6x12 album:

I am back to using (and still very much in love with) the July kits from Gossamer Blue. I also added a couple of die-cut stickers from Simple Stories. The color combination was totally inspired by the "July" title card.

Without adding too much bulk, dimension is brought on by the chipboard embellies, enamel dots but also the die-cut stickers adhered with foam squares. They are enough, on top of patterned papers, to create your own filler cards:

I tried something new to me by journaling on a series of half labels (leftovers) attached to the edge of a photo. I really like how it attracts the eyes to that top area and brings all the colors of the spread together (just like the title card):

Here is one more look at the entire week in my album:

Ideas/tips:

- try what I did by journaling on several labels and placing them on an edge

- don't forget to add a bit of dimension to your pages, even if you don't like bulk. Chipboards, wood veneers, staples, raised stickers, enamel dots are all good options

- include big purchases (like a new iPad, or new phone) even if they are not yours ;) I like to include technology because I know things change very fast in that domain and it will be fun in a few years to remember what was the latest and greatest at this point in time!

If you have other ideas you think I should try, chime in below! As always, I thank you for stopping by! 

Project Life 2017: Flip it!

Hello there! I am on a roll with my PL album and have been spending all my crafty time putting together pocket pages! Today I am sharing Week 26 with an interesting twist!

It all started with a normal 6x12 spread:

But I wanted to include more photos from a particular event that week so I switched the right side 6x12 page protector for a 12x12 page protector that I folded in half. This way, you can flip it open to reveal the extra photos:

It is fairly easy when you know that a Design A page protector is two 6x12 Design H. It doesn't disrupt the flow of the album but it adds some interest (and extra room!). 

Most supplies are from the Gossamer Blue July kits (still!), the Birthday stamp and wood veneers are even older and from Scraptastic Club.

So that is my one and only tip today: switch and fold a page protector to accommodate more photos!

If you are on Instagram, follow me at anounceofcreativity where I share more photos. Thanks again for stopping by! 

Project Life 2017: Week 25

Happy Fall y'all! :) The weather is gorgeous in my neck of the woods today so I am making a quick stop to share a new spread before taking a nice long walk. I am still back in June and I am still digging into my old Gossamer Blue kits:

All the supplies are from last July GB kits except maybe my title card... I can't remember where that one came from but it was perfect for the first full week of summer vacation. 

I am seriously crushing over dark green at the moment and I will be on the lookout for more!

Tips/Ideas to try:

- make your own filler card by putting a tag on patterned paper using foam dots for dimension

- remember "triangle" when adding embellishments. Can you see the "triangle" made by my touches of tan?

- list the many things that made you smile during the week

I am making good progress in this album and will be back shortly with the following week. Thank you for stopping by today with a special shout out to Alexa who always leaves sweet comments on my posts ;)

Happy crafting!

Project Life 2017: Week 23

I am back with a layout that almost drove me insane! Well, it wasn't the layout per say but one of the cards that went missing for three days after I took this sneak peek for Instagram! Even my dear husband combed the room with me without success...

But I found it today! It had fallen INTO one of the kit bags under my table... anyway, I am now happy to share with you the finished pages:

I used several Gossamer Blue kits from June 2017 (Life Pages, Planner and TN kits which are on sale for $10!) and puffy alphas from Evalicious. My journaling is done on my manual typewriter.

And as you can see, I got an iPhone 7+ in June after thinking long and hard about the larger size. I really wanted it for the portrait mode that Cathy Zielske was raving about. A few months have passed now and I have two words: no regrets! I purchased a Loopy case for it and it does help with the handling.

Here's one more look at the spread into my album:

As always, I appreciate you stopping by! Have a wonderful Sunday! Mine will be scrappy :)

Project Life 2017: Week 24

Hello there! I am back after a lack of creative mojo following my vacation travels and the closure of Gossamer Blue. But I started playing with paper again last week and I am slowly working on the month of June in my Project Life album:

I am finding just what I need in older Gossamer Blue kits! Like I wrote on Instagram, I have never met a Gossamer Blue color combo that I didn't like so you are very likely to see a lot more of them in the following weeks/months! 

As always, I love adding a mix of textures with wood veneers, puffy stickers, cork and stitching!

Week 24 was the last week of school for my kids and the main event was moving my oldest out of his dorms. He was ready to come home!

I will have another June spread to share soon as well as a couple of surprises to reveal in October ;) 

Thank you for stopping by! Happy crafting!

Project Life 2017: Week 18

I had one more week to do for the month of May in my PL album and decided to go back to my May Life Pages and Scrapbook kits from Gossamer Blue to create it. I loved these kits so much, I can't believe they are still available in the shop as I write this!

Being that it was the first week of the month, I started with the "May" title card. The cards on the left are from the Life Pages kit and the cards on the right were created with patterned papers from the Scrapbook kit.

I added matching die-cuts here and there throughout the spread:

I also pulled one of my Kellie Stamps set to add "Currently" on the vertical side of a photo:

One more close-up:

Don't you love these colors? They make me so happy! 

And now I am "only" about 12 weeks behind...  but who's counting...

Idea to try: dig into past kits! ;)

A bientôt!

Let's be adventurers (in my Traveler's Notebook)

Hello! I am back today with another Traveler's Notebook page. For this one, I got the inspiration from the current Stuck?! Sketches challenge. I used to play with sketches a lot when I was doing traditional layouts and when I saw this sketch, I decided to adapt it to a traveler's notebook format, which when open is basically a square.

Here's a look at the sketch...

...and at my TN spread:

The proportions are a bit different but I have kept all the design elements from the sketch. The supplies are from the July Gossamer Blue Scrapbook kit and TN kit except for the leaf stickers which are from the Oasis collection by Crate Paper.

This exercise got me very excited because it was scrapbooking like I used to but in a new format. It might be my new favorite thing!

I'd love to hear from you if you have done this too!

A bientôt!

Project Life 2017: Week 19, 20 and 21 with ideas to try

I finished two more spreads with the July Life Pages kit from Gossamer Blue and wanted to share them with you today:

I really loved the color ways of this kit! The pops of red, blue and green worked so well with a lot of my photos. Most of the supplies are from the Life Pages kit but I also added a few embellishments (and stamps) from the July Scrapbook kit. Those kits always coordinate so well!

My title card and the multi colored card below it were the foundation of this spread. I will often start with a favorite or two and build the rest around them:

For a little eye catching detail, I added the small alpha stickers directly on my photo following the shape of the plate. I have seen this done with writing a lot but since I was afraid it wouldn't look good with my handwriting I did it with stickers! The trick is to position the letters on transparent packaging first to see how to fit them. 

On the top of the right side, I lined up several stickers and other embellishments to make a border on the edge of the card. It's even better when you can vary the textures/materials and there are many in the kits! Here we have chipboard, stickers, rubber, washi and puffy sticker:

The journaling card was created with paper, stamp and sticker from the Scrapbook kit. The arrow placed on top of the pockets is from the Planner kit. I have never placed something between pockets before like that but I really like it!

My second spread also uses the July Life Pages kit along with a few items from the Scrapbook kit:

In a few words, I added a couple of touches of red on my photos and a bit of machine stitching to two of my cards. I concentrated my attention on a grouping at the bottom right of the spread and on creating layers on the top right by using cards, label and chipboard.

A few more details:

Ideas to try:

1- place an embellishment across pockets on top of the page protector 

2- use alpha stickers following a shape in a photo

3- create a grouping on the edge of a card varying textures and colors

4- place a sticker across a stamped title

5- create layers with several cards

Thank you for stopping by! Happy creating!