I'm so behind at sharing my Project Life spreads here... sorry!!
I'm taking a different approach this year with my album and I'm only making one for the whole family (which contrasts to the separate albums I had for each of the kids last year)
And so what I'm going to do is a double-spread for each month, as well as extra pages for special events and holidays and whatnot.
So I need you to imagine that the two images above go side by side. The top one is the left hand side and the bottom is the right. In the future I will obviously need to take photos of them in that configuration!
And now here's a whole bunch of detail photos so you can check it out close up!
This bulky embellishment is actually a bit of memorabilia that I wanted to include in the album. It's the invitation my brother and his new fiance used to ask Bethany and Moriah to be their flower girls at their upcoming wedding. It's a bit too big to keep in the plastic pocket so I'm gluing it to the outside instead ;-)
As per usual I'm trying desperately hard to use my giant stash of Studio Calico Documenter kits. I'm still a subscriber so they keep coming to my door (which I'm very happy about!) I just need to use them more! It's a little hard to kill a whole kit when you're only making a spread a month, so I probably just need to think up more 'occasions' that need to be included so I can make more pages ;-)
So yes, whilst I'm only getting around to sharing my January spread with you I am a lot more up to date than this. Not up to the actual date... but much closer than 6 months behind! I've even photographed everything last weekend, so now I just need to get to and edit them and get them up here.
I just recently received some new happy mail from Sizzix that was jam-packed with the new releases. Top of my list of ones I wanted to try was the Funky Flamingo! Flamingos are so on-trend right now, and this one is a great addition to your stash since it's not too frilly or twirly (that's important to me!!) and because the wings are cut separately in 2 pieces it gives you some great options to mix and match colours.
So I was inspired to put the Funky Flamingo to use in my latest Sizzix blog post which went up last night. You can catch it on the Sizzix UK blog here. It also includes a video tutorial of how my whole card came together ;-) But here's a couple more sneak peeks for you in the meantime.
And if you're looking for more inspiration and fresh ideas on how to use the Funky Flamingo die, then check out the FREE downloadable project sheets here. Looks like I'm not the only one obsessing over this die!
If you've been thinking about getting either of the last two Illustrated Faith kits from Day Spring then you might want to jump over there RIGHT NOW! They're currently offering both of these kits together for only $50 (instead of $30 each) plus free shipping within the US.
But this offer has only literally HOURS to go before they withdraw it, so don't delay!
And don't forget to use this coupon if you're thinking of spending a little bit more money, because then you'll save a whole bunch too. In fact, if you're going to pick up the 2 kits for $50 then you might as well pick up the NEWEST kit (yes, it only just released today!) for an extra $30.... then use the coupon to get $25 off which means it'll only cost you $5!
Like my logic?!
This is the latest kit, it's called "Yes and Amen" and is written by Junelle Jacobson. I'm loving the look of that pea-green ink aren't you? And as usual it's filled with a devotional, stamp set, washi tape, cards, stickers and more.
Today I thought I'd share a quick look inside some of my devotionals from past kits so that you can get a better idea of what they look like.
First up I've got the Lists by Faith journal. This one is definitely more of a journal than a devotional. In fact it's really open to your own interpretation as it's simply a set of prompts for you to list down your responses to. But I've been finding it a great tool for remembering and worshiping God for the many blessings in my life.
I've also found it's been a great way for the girls to get involved too, and each of them has taken in turns to journal their own responses to the prompts. Here you can see Moriah (who's 6) jotting down her favourite stories from the Bible. To translate for you (!) it says, "10 plagues of Egypt", "David and Goliath", "Isaac's sacrifice", and "the Prodigal Son".
And then there's the current kit called "Blessings or Lessons" by our own Stephanie Smokovich - the brains and beauty behind Bella Blvd. Above is everything you receive in the kit, and below is a couple of snapshots of how I've been working through the devotional.
This one is a more in-depth sharing of Stephanie's story, with questions to make you think about your own journey and the people in your life - are they blessings or lessons? Mostly I'm finding the questions deserve more than just a 3 line response so I'll be journaling out my thoughts in my Praise Book whilst using the space here to focus on the scripture references.
One last thing to let you know about...
DaySpring are currently hosting a giant GIVEAWAY where you could win yourself the Leather ESV Single Column Journaling Bible, the entire Genesis Kit PLUS a $100 voucher which is over a $300 value! Find all the details here.
If you haven't downloaded your FREE copy of the latest issue of Jot Magazine yet then you are missing out. It's hard to imagine that they keep getting bigger and brighter and more inspirational with each passing issue but it's true. This one is jam-packed!
I'm so lucky to be a Jot Girl! It means I have the honour of making a few projects to appear in the magazine and this month I tackled two of the gallery themes.
The first one was for the 'Stencil' gallery.
That'll be fairly straightforward I thought. I've got LOTS of stencils in my stash I thought. Anyway, it turns out it was one of those occasions where having too much of something can be a bad thing. Meaning I stared at all my stencils and had so many choices that I hit a bit of a road-block from the early stages with lots of half-ideas but no clear direction.
Anyway, I put my dilemma out there on Instagram and you all encouraged me and suggested things and before I knew it I I had crafted up this rainbow coloured birthday card with it's scattering of brightly coloured sequins! I'm really happy with how fun this is! Thanks to all my loyal support team out there!
I also did a Project Life spread for the 'Adding Text to Photos' gallery.
To be honest, a lot of the time I try to make the gallery themes fit into pages that I already have on my to-do list rather than creating special pages just for the prompt. I was just starting our family Project Life album for the year and had only reached as far as our Australia Day celebrations and so that became the subject of my page!
Lots of green and gold of course, and I had to crack out my Australia die from Studio Calico because that was an obvious choice too! And never fear - there is a little Tasmania floating around somewhere, it does exist on the die... I just think I lost him somewhere ;-)
As for the actual 'text on photos' bit, well I kept that fairly simple I admit. I used a Kellie Stamps digital stamp and applied it directly to my photo before printing. By adding an outline and a drop shadow I gave it a bit more dimension and helped it jump off the page a bit. Every little tip helps right?
So anyway, my contribution was a little brief this Issue, but that's because we had so much content this time around that some of it is getting saved for the next one!! That's a little while away, so in the meantime make sure you get THIS issue and be ready to be awed by the fabulousness inside!
Summer of Sketches is a season-long new class that just started at Studio Calico today. Like seriously... it's going to run for the next 3 months!! It's lead by Jamie Waters and features a bunch of other crazy talented contributors.... as well as me ;-)
The way it works is that every Monday a new video and layout from Jamie will appear in the classroom. There will also be a sketch based on her layout as well as tips for how to make it work for you. Then there will be two contributors making a layout and a round-robin style approach where each scrapbooker will work from a sketch of the layout created by the person before them.
By the end of it you'll have 12 start-to-finish videos from Jamie, 12 sketches based on her work plus 36 further sketches based on the class projects. That's endless inspiration!
Plus if you sign up now you'll also receive this 4x6" stamp set posted to you absolutely FREE!
I can't share my layout with you yet, but I've managed to sneak in this little peek of the project I'm contributing a little bit later on in the proceedings. I've used the latest Scout Scrapbook kit (still love all that shiny gold!) plus the exclusive stamp set too.
And if you're in the mood for classes right now then you might also want to check out this Calligraphy Class taught by Maghon Taylor of All She Wrote Notes. As you can imagine, this one is all about learning practical tips and techniques for creating unique hand-lettered pieces in your own calligraphy style. It also comes with a FREE class kit consisting of a Speedball Holder and 2 Extra Fine Nibs. These are the nibs recommended by Maghon and used by her throughout the class so you'll be able to follow along with ease.
And lastly we have the amazing Lisa Truesdell teaching the latest addition in the Mini Book Workshop classes that are running throughout the year. She's going to share tips and techniques for how to use a travellers notebook to record adventures from a family vacation. This class is super affordable at only $10, or buy the whole 6 classes for only $50.
Lisa will be using a kit designed exclusively for the class and which can be picked up for an extra charge. All the details for enrolling in the Mini Book Workshop can be found HERE.
Lots of layers. Oodles of layers. That's what my cards are usually made of when I do the Jot Mood Board right? I can't help it! Something about trying to make sure I include all those colours into one small 6x4" space means I have to start stacking rather than spreading out!
The colour palette this month for the Jot Magazine Mood Board Challenge is so elegant with it's neutral tones and black & white stripes. It also included lots of floral images and that's what inspired me to go in this wedding-esque direction for my card contribution.
It might look like a bit of fiddly hard work to make this come together but can I tell you it was surprisingly easy? My secret is using a set of Mix and Match Flower (and leaf) dies from Sizzix. I simply grabbed a bunch of paper scraps that matched the colour scheme and then went crazy die-cutting them all out. The best part about it was that all the flowers come with a hole already punched through the middle so after stacking up all my layers I only needed to stick a brad through the middle and they were done!
If you're interested I've actually posted a whole tutorial on how to make this card on the Sizzix blog HERE ;-)
In the meantime, I hope you'll join us with the Jot Magazine Mood Board Challenge this month? There's a prize sponsored by our very own Sharmaine Kruijver on offer for the lucky winner. See all the details on how to enter HERE.
On the eve of a new Sizzix blog post that's just about to go live (I'll share sneaks of that one soon enough) I thought it really was about time I shared here a little glimpse of the last post I had up there :-)
Better late than never right?!
I can't show you the full card here on my blog, but can I suggest that it really will be worth your while popping over the Sizzix blog HERE to check it out? I explain my inspiration and thoughts about extending your dies beyond their obvious or intended use, and there's also a process video on how to make this fun rainbow card.
If you're new to the Sizzix blog then some of the other places you might want to peruse is the FREE paper archive, or the SALE section.
There's also a competition still running for another week where you have the chance to WIN a Big Shot Express and some of it's accessories. Check that one out here.
The June kits and new products have been released over at Studio Calico and as usual they're bright and fun and simply fabulous! They're called Scout, and here's a very brief overview of what's available....
You can also get a close-up real-life no-holding-back view of some of them from The Trophy Husband in his latest unboxing video if you like? If you haven't seen him do any of these before then I must warn you..... it's a unique perspective ;-) LOL!!
But anyway, let's get on with what I made shall we?!
First up I totally fell in love with the Bug Stamp Set designed by Jasmine Jones and most of my cards started with this. Who knew bugs could be so cute and punny?!
I made the front panel of this card by stamping the leaf from the stamp set repeatedly in different greens and then cut a little window (with the help of my Sizzix Scalloped Circle dies!) to hide my little bug-eyed bug in.
For the next card I wanted to show off a few more of those bugs, so I kept it relatively simple but ramped up the fun by embossing them in silver glitter and painting them in bright colours inspired by the rainbow paper from the June 6x4" June paper pad.
These days I have enough of a sequin collection (thanks to the huge variety on offer at Neat and Tangled!) to match any colour scheme I want so I find I'm scattering them across all my projects these days ;-)
The third card I created actually started with the embellishments from the Scrapbook Kit - the candle stamps and the transparent plastic circles come from that, and so do the papers actually. I once again succumbed to my favourite technique of creating a shaker element (again with the help of those Sizzix Scalloped Circle dies!) as a feature piece. So fun!
For my final card I needed to show off the new release script dies from Studio Calico because they're so lovely. You can get these 'You're Sweet' dies as a set, but the other new one which says 'fun' is designed to be completely interchangeable with the 'sweet' and it still fits together nicely so you could chose your finished sentiment to read 'You're Fun' instead if you prefer.
I went with 'You're Sweet' because I thought it would work very cleverly along with the bee out of the bug stamp set, and I used the dies to cut all the way through my card to create this window effect when you open it up.
My last project for this month actually turned out to be a Documenter Spread - simply that's what I felt inspired to create. But ironically I've used the Scrapbook kit embellishments and the 6x4" paper pad... not a single Documenter Kit product to be seen! LOL! I guess I just wanted to prove that with a few basic supplies you can create whatever project you'd like, you' don't have to have specific products for specific purposes.
It's a bit difficult to catch in the photographs but so many of this month's products feature a gold foil finish which is so pretty in real life. That includes the gold stars, the writing on the plastic circles, and the details on the mint green/light blue celestial paper.
I've had a blast creating with these products and it sure looks like the rest of the Creative Team have too! You can check out the rest of the projects in the gallery HERE, and all the new products can be found in the shop HERE.
