Project Life Organizers

 I'm totally excited about Project Life -- so much so that I've signed up for two Big Picture classes and one Studio Calico one. During the last quarter of 2013, I acquired multiple core kits, some mini kits and several theme kits. Before I knew it, I was overwhelmed with product.

I tried several storage solutions and one of the best seemed to keep them in Iris photo boxes. It got them out of sight, but they were not accessible. I didn't have a clue about what I had in the boxes.

Finally, I found the solution during a shopping trip at my local WalMart store. The timing was perfect. I purchased two three-compartment organizers (Mainstays Model# MS12-016-250-10). These clear, heavy plastic trays measure 13.88"L x 11.88"W x 4"H and will fit in drawers or on top of other tables or furniture. Since I'm more likely to use something I can see, I first placed them on top of a cart next to my work table. But that wasn't close enough. Now, my two bins -- one for 3x4 cards and one for 4x6 -- share space on my 6'x30" work table. Each bin cost $6.94 -- a bargain at any price. I separated the 3”x4” cards by theme or topic. I created my dividers with cardstock cut 3" x 4.5". For the moment, the 4”x5” cards are separated by core kit name or theme.

Positioning the trays onto the work table has worked very well. The thing I like best is that I can grab a journaling card and jot down anecdotes when life happens, with or without photos.

Parker's Hidden Gift

I always ask my daughter-in-law about appropriate gifts for our grandchildren. The two little ones (ages 2 and 5) are pretty easy to buy for, but our 13 year old grandson continues to be a mystery. This year Parker wanted money so he could by a pair of $250 sneakers that his parents refused to purchase. So I decided to create a Sn@p scrapbook with the money tucked inside somewhere. I used a Simple Stories 2-ring notebook to create his 2013 scrapbook.

 I love the way the cover turned out after I painted it with a Viva Décor’s 3-D Stamp Paint. I used Carmine Red Metallic as a base coat and then added a light coat of Black as a second layer. I then added some washi tape from my stash to cover the point where the black cloth binding meets the naked chipboard.

 

 I used these images as a cover page to Parker’s Sn@p book. I actually cut out one of the Parker images and attached him with foam dots.

 

  I dropped in photos and appropriate sentiment cards to capture these candid photo moments

 

 This photo set was taken on June 30^th in the family’s new home in a different part of their Montclair development.

 

 On the left, Parker was demonstrating his athletic prowess. I left room for him to share his thoughts. On the right and below are images from our field trip to the National Aquarium in Washington, DC.

 

Then we stopped at Johnny Rocket for dinner. It was the first time Dave and I had been there, but it is one of Parker’s favorites. As I recall, it was located at the Metro Train Station.

 

Much to Parker’s surprise, he got to pay for everyone’s meal with his brand new pre-paid credit card.

In the photo on the right, Parker is just about ready to leave for his first day of Junior High School.

 

These last pages are from Parker’s first football game.  This is where I stopped because I simply ran out of time. When we see him this weekend, I may give him so more pages that will take his journey to the end of the year.

 

The “hidden gift” was money I put in the bottom 4”x6” pocket for him to add to his shoe fund. Unfortunately, my photoshop elements wouldn’t let me crop/edit the photo because of the money inside. He had to look through the whole book to get to the “prize” at the end.

A Sn@p for Great Grandma Cook

The good news is that almost ready for Thanksgiving. The bad news is that Thanksgiving was last month.

Shortly after Thanksgiving, I stumbled across “Sn@p” – a Simple Stories pocket scrapbooking program that seemed to merge the best of Becky Higgins’ Project Life program and and EK Success’ Smash books. From there, I quantum leaped into the perfect Christmas gift for my mother-in-law, children and grandchildren. So, I ordered my Sn@p products and launched head-first into the project. Since my 98-year-old mother-in-law lives in Oregon, I started her project first. Since my husband visited her in September, I started her photo album with our daughter’s move into her new home at the end of September.  Then the unthinkable happened. On Friday, December 13, 2013 my mother-in-law fell down some steps and cracked her head. Our youngest son, Nathan, and my husband flew out to see her on Sunday, December 15^th.  I quickly finished the album so he could take it with him. While her body is healing, she is not. She’s grown weary of living.

I hope to have our Snap and Project Life inventory posted on our website (www.scrappigators.com) shopping cart by the end of the month/year.

David and Nathan returned home on Saturday, December 21^st. We’re getting daily updates from David’s sister about her status and are keeping her in prayer.

David was able to give her the album on Wednesday, the 18^th. This first page chronicles our daughter’s move into her first home. I have an arrow punch and had planned on writing notes on them. I created my “Instagram” style photos using my Microsoft Publisher program.

Leslie's new home story continues on the next two pages. Since I do not store my Project Life cards by collection, I cannot tell you which set these come from. I've gotten in the habit of creating several of these photo cards every time I transfer pictures into the file.

October turned out to be an interesting month. Our daughter-in-law met her sister in Chicago and took some incredibly interesting shots with her camera phone. I had to add these to the mix as well as our grandbaby girl napping on Daddy’s chest.

Since they live about 2 ½ hours away from us, we try to see our grandchildren at least once a month. I had lots of fun with these “Morgan” photos and enjoyed “smashing” them into the project as cut-outs.

Since Morgan likes to hang around Grandma more than Brayden, she tends to get more photos taken . . . or maybe it’s because she’s 2 . . . almost three. The background paper on these two pages is actually yellow cardstock that I stamped with journaling circles.

Brayden and Grandpa Cook managed to make their way into the next two pages. Brayden is “creating” with Play Dough.

We closed out the month with Parker’s first football game. He’s number 81 . . . This is junior high or middle school sports, so their season is a bit shorter than high school.  I used the Project Life “Football” themed cards on these pages. I also used them in Parker’s Sn@p book, my PL 2013 Scrapbook and I still have a few cards left.

My mother-in-law’s birthday was also in October, so I included pictures from her birthday celebration. It seemed fitting at the time.

Morgan was having way too much fun playing “tickle bug” with Grandpa. She would run between us, pause for her “get ready, get set, go” pose and then be off to battle the giant tickle bug.

David took these pictures with his cell phone camera. Do you see the rose? That’s actually an Elizabeth Craft outline sticker that I placed on the outside of the plastic page protector. I finish the effect, colored it with Copic markers. It works, don’t you think?

These last pages are also from David’s camera. As they came in, I put them in the “Instagram” format. As my husband texted me the photos, I processed them for my pocket protectors. This made the Sn@p projects go so much easier.

The left hand pages finish up David’s babysitting gig. The right represents moments from Thanksgiving dinner.  Below completes the holiday weekend at Nate & Cindy’s for dessert.

I hope that your Christmas was Merry and Bright.