Life...As I See It

Quick Page Challenge

When I'm feeling unproductive I do one or all of three things...a scrapbook challenge, run or organize something.

I just finished organizing my latest digital downloads and I'm going for a run later this morning. So that leaves the challenge. An easy quick page challenge posted on a favorite digital designer's blog, Paislee Press. 

This QP freebie included.
 

My layouts. I have several 12x12 frames from Ikea that were bought for our library. Maybe I will print both of these to frame.

 

 

The rest of the day? Grocery store, Holidays In Hand, plan Alyssa's birthday sleepover, Ikea, Old Navy, maybe a little Christmas shopping and pick up my dad from the airport :)

 

Documenting Life

 

Holidays in Hand with Jessica Sprague  started today! 

Day 1 is focusing on values and goals for the holiday season. What matters most? What values do you hope to instill in your family? What do you hope to accomplish this holiday season?

First, the values...
gratitude, joy, traditions, family, peace, giving, reflecting, together 

Second, the goals...
1. Complete December Daily and Holidays in Hand as a hybrid project.
2. Do not over commit. That includes entertaining, projects and accepting invitations.

I think that's a good starting point for this project.   

I'm also in the process of putting together my 2009 Week in the Life (inspired by Ali Edwards) album. I'm creating all of my own templates for this one so the process is a bit slower than last year, but I'm loving it. 

A peek at Day 1 (keep in mind I will be adding traditional elements to the pattern paper blocks on the final printed layout)...

 

Until next time :)

A Hybrid Project: Yesterday and Today

Continuing to play with old photos and Yesterday and Today with Ali Edwards. This is my first attempt at creating a project that is a combination of digital (beyond just brushes) and traditional elements.

Fo this layout the traditional element will be adding a metal rimmed tag with my initials...

 
(click on image for a larger view)

2009 Free Holiday Class at Jessica Sprague dot com

Document the holidays, maybe learn something new, and it's free! Not a paid advertisement just a big fan of Jessica's classes :)

via www.jessicasprague.com

A Digital Challenge

The more I learn about digital scrapbooking the more I love it. 

This week's challenge at JessicaSprague dot com. You can get the details and the template here Spraground Challenge. 

My Beautiful Evidence album is almost done and ready to order. 

This year Alec's schedule and my work schedule work out so that I get to eat breakfast with him every morning and I get to drive him to school. And the fact that Alec wants me to drive him to school is bonus! The timing of being able to do this is perfect. We actually talk. For an almost 13 year old boy that isn't always a give. I love it. This is something I will remember forever.

Life is good.

 

Beautiful Evidence

 

The colors are more vivid IRL. I'm loving this class. I will probably make a few changes and add a few pages before I'm totally done. I'm going to use this project to order my first photo book. Shutterfly seems to be a site that is often recommended for photo books. Can't wait to see the finished project :) 

Sarah Gourdie Designs

Free digital templates for 2 complete mini albums. Playing with the free stuff is the perfect way to give digital scrapbooking a try :)

 Templates here Sarah Gourdie Designs

via www.pifphoto.com

Creating in Photoshop

After taking a few classes on photo editing and enhancements I decided to try creating an entire album digitally. I'm taking Jessica Sprague's (can you tell I really like and enjoy her classes <g>) Beautiful Evidence: 20 Pages in 20 Days. A chance to learn something new and the idea of 20 layouts in 20 days made it hard to resist.

Cover Page

Thoughts on digital scrapbooking. I love it. Options are endless. I love having the choice of creating with digital, paper or a little of both. 

A New Beginning

Alec is a 7th grader this year and that means a new school. 

We went to Open House this week and it was all about the lockers. 

A combination of excitement and stress. He must have practiced, along with everyone around him, at least 20 times. The principal walked by and showed him a trick that worked every time. Minimize the stress any way you can :)

And just because we thought this was so cool. Right outside his Advanced Science class...

Watching Alec grow and change is one of the most amazing things about being a mom.

I'm starting an album to document this exciting time in Alec's life. It will be traditional scrapping with a bit of digi hybrid. To get started, the cover page (which happens to be this weeks Squares challenge at JessicaSpraguedotcom)... 

BTW, you should have seen Alec's face when I told him I signed up to volunteer as a chaperone for the school dances throughout the year. The trauma! It was priceless!