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:

the joy of being behind on project life

it's so easy to get stressed out about long term projects.

i don't know anyone whose life is so predictable and structured that they can reliably stay on top of all their responsibilities and hobbies.

the quantity of 'free' time we have ebbs and flows like everything else in life. and that's ok.

when i took up project life, i decided that i would do my best to stay reasonably up to date, but not to beat myself up about falling behind. it's supposed to be fun after all. it's supposed to be relaxing, and restorative to spend time going over pretty photos, playing with lovely paper, and recording thoughts and memories. if it becomes a chore and a drain, it loses a large part of it's value.

the last few months have been really busy at our place, and my project life albums have indeed been one of the first things to get put on the back burner. my last completed spread is a week in march.

but do you know what that means?
when i do get time, i get to sit down and do a whole bunch all at once! that's brilliant! i can put on some music, spread out on the dining table, and really get on a roll. i can immerse myself in all the whole lovely, tactile, colourful process, and really restore that little creative corner of my soul.

that's not something to feel stressed about. that's something to be excited about.

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.

including quotes

since he's at prime hilarious-toddler-speak stage at the moment, i'm making room for arty quotes where i can.

this one was so sweet. our friend siobhan came over to visit, and he went right up to her, said "hello, 'vaun! nice-a see you!" so enthusiastically, and then gave her a big hug.
arty's a kid who doesn't give his hugs away for free - they're a sign of real love and affection, so this was pretty special.

how do you include quotes in your spreads?

a project life manifesto

i'm relatively new to project life. i started in september 2013, and since then, i've become completely obsessed.

it's the ideal form of memory keeping for me, because at it's heart it is simple and straightforward, but at the same time it's open-ended. when i'm time-poor, it's not too daunting too keep up with, and when i have leisure time to immerse myself in crafting, i can get completely carried away with details and more complex designs.

i'm constantly pinning inspiring layouts, and browsing through blogs and galleries for ideas, which is brilliant, but can also be a bit of a trap. i've found that in the process of admiring other peoples' work, i've lost sight of my own style a little bit. for example:

• looking at a beautiful, minimal design like this one by green fingerprint, makes me want to start typing all my text content, and printing it out on white to make my photos pop the way hers do. but that's not my style.
• i adore the way magda mizera uses lots of still life photography in her layouts, and i sometimes want to just take loads of photos of flowers, food, and books around my home, to get a similar effect. but that's not me either.
• caylee grey's consistent and uniform style makes me want to pick two fonts, and a couple of signature colours, and create a smooth, streamlined look that's super slick and polished. but i'm not caylee.

so over the past few weeks, i've been thinking carefully about the things i like about my own style, and trying to be really specific about what they are. i've also been looking at the way i think about project life, and trying to get a clear idea of how i want to approach it. these thoughts have come together into a kind of mission statement for how i want to move forward with my own project life:

1. just because you like something, doesn't mean you have to do it.

admiring a particular way of doing something doesn't mean you have to try to recreate it. while it might be the sincerest form of flattery, imitation just leads to a loss of your own identity. sure, take inspiration from others, and learn new techniques from them, but remember what makes your work unique.

2. focus on what you do best, and take pride in it.

when i look back over the spreads i've done so far, the ones i like best include:

• my own hand painted cards. i don'y always have time to do them, but when i do, i never regret it. 
• my own handwriting. 
• pictures of the people i love. still life and landscapes are gorgeous, but my project life tends to be about interactions with friends and family, and those are the kinds of photos i love.
• lots of stories about the little things that arty says and does - one of the main reasons i took up project life in the first place was to record the little things that are so fleeting and easily forgotten.
• sparing use of flourishes and embellishments. for me, less is more. i want my photos and stories to stand out, and not get lost among really busy layouts.

these things work for me, and produce overall results that i like. when i compare my work to other peoples' i have to remember that there's value and beauty in difference and variety.

3. think about the kinds of things you like to include in your own spreads, and choose formats that make sense for them.

put simply: the content determines the design.

for example, i like to include ephemera in my spreads - movie tickets, invitations, arty's artwork, and the like - so for me, a slightly hodgepodge, patchy look, works. i try to create a vague sense of cohesion by using colour as a unifying factor.

4. it's ok to make mistakes and change.

the whole point of project life is documenting the journey. your taste and style might evolve over time, and that's ok. it doesn't mean that your old work is no longer any good. it represents where you were and what you liked at the time. 

so, this year (and into the future), i'm going to...

make plenty of room for arty's arts and crafts

include little drawings of my own

do lots of handmade filler cards (they make coordinating the whole spread so much easier, because when you diy you can make as many as you need)

and keep remembering to record the little details of everyday life that make us laugh and think

hopefully having this little mission statement in mind will help me stay on track for creating, and valuing, a scrapbook that's my very own.