friendship/gratitude project #3

this woman is pretty special. she's one of those people who i can't quite believe wants to be my friend, because she's so smart and talented and generally brilliant that i don't know what she gets out of the deal by comparison. but i'm not asking too many questions in case she catches.

she has the added bonus of coming with an awesome husband (who gets his own page and blog post soon), and two gorgeous sons who arty adores. that's a pretty brilliant combination.

friendship/gratitude series #2

josie is one of my closest friends. i mean, she would probably be the first person i'd call if i had a body to dispose of. she's oddmother to my son, has the spare key to my house, and i have her wedding to her boyfriend josh extensively planed on pinterest.

and here is her page:

i'm a little frustrated with my inability to express the extent of my josie-love on a 3x4 card, but i think it's unrealistic to really expect that, so this will have to do.

double page anniversary spread

this year (back in april...) sj and i celebrated our tenth anniversary.

i wrote about it over on the family blog, but i also made a double page spread in my 6x8 album, so that's got to be shared here:

i wanted to keep it simple, so it's pretty much just a couple of photos, and the card from the restaurant where we went for dinner (i love the gold spiral kikki k paper clip for holding that in place). after ten years, the fact that we're us, happy and strong, is really the point.
well, that and dessert.

love letter to an inanimate object #1

you've got to look after the one you love, right?

i like this layout because i used an old envelope, and a page cut out from a magazine. nothing fancy, but i think the effect is nice. it's good to remind myself that i don't need special supplies to make things that make me happy.

friendship/gratitude series #1

i am incredibly lucky and happy in my friendships.

i have somehow managed to surround myself with a bunch of people who challenge, amuse, inspire, support and encourage me, love my family, and are collectively some of the best humans around.
so i've decided to start dedicating pages in my 6x8 journal to each of the many people i love, and talk about why they are each special and amazing.

making a record of who you love and how you were loved seems to me to be a worthwhile pursuit.

so i've made a start, and i'll continue to work on this little project. i'm not trying to do them in any kind of order, rather i'm making pages as the right photographs present themselves.

here's the first one, dedicated to one of my littler friends, maeve:

me and my man

this little 6x8 album is turning out to be full of love for my little boy. 

it was always intended to be a reflection of who i am, so i guess that's about right.

i really like the little heart button on the bottom right card. it's from two peas in a bucket (who have such a lovely range of supplies that i can almost forgive their huge international shipping costs).

maybe arty'll look through these albums one day, and be reminded of how much he's been loved from the very beginning. i hope so.

the ones i love

possibly the simplest layout i've ever done. the only embellishment is a tiny washi flag. i love the photo, so i wanted it to stand out. 

it speaks for itself, really. i love my little family.

more happiness

continuing on the theme of things that make me happy, here's a page from my 6x8 dedicated to d&d. 

i like to illustrate our adventures, and the top right is how i draw my own character, a paladin called constance whitethorn. she has a very big sword, and she's not afraid to use it.

a double page of happiness

i'm lucky to have a lot of things that i find joy in. the difference between these two struck me recently, and that made me happy too.

this is a two page spread in my 6x8 album.
the two photos are from my instagram feed, and all the cards are randoms from my stash (i'm terrible at remembering which kits different card come from - am i the only one?). the only other embellishments i used were a bit of washi and some enamel dots.

open me

for this layout, i had some words that i wanted to hang onto, but didn't want to put front and center. i decided to make a little open-out feature, using two cards and some washi tape.

i did have to trim the cards slightly so that they'd fit in the pocket now that they were thicker, but that was easily done.
i'm pleased with how it turned out.

wanting something recorded doesn't always mean wanting to have it on display.

a charming detail

the potential to include ephemera is one of the things that drew me most strongly to project life. here's a 6x8 layout that incorporates some wrapping paper from a bunch of flowers that arty and i bought on a trip to the market.

it's a little nothing. but it's something.

personal 6x8 album

i keep two project life albums. one is a 12x12 that i use to make weekly spreads of our family life (and it's very arty-heavy, because he's the most interesting of the three of us!), and the other is a small 6x8.

the point of the 6x8 is not to keep a chronological account of life, but to record the little thoughts and ideas that pop into my head. earworms, passing favourites, little personal victories and epiphanies, and of course pieces of gathered ephemera.

i'm taking a much more relaxed approach to this album, and enjoying it immensely.

here's the title page:

it's my intention to use this as a tool for inspiring gratitude, presence in the everyday, and attentiveness to the little things. i know those things are blogger cliches these days, but i think that's because they actually do work to make us happier and more content. so i'm going with it.