LOAD #6

I'm taking a bit of a break from the vacation photos to catch up on Twelve at Big Picture Classes.  In my journaling on this layout, I discuss my fear of trying to document my boring life.  Don't get me wrong, I love my predictably, mundane day-to-day existence.  I like that I get to spice things up once in awhile with a fun trip or Star Trek event, but the rest of the time, my life is rather dull.  So, it has actually been kind of surprising to me that the 12th of each month has had some sort of major event from my MIL being diagnosed with cancer to the power outage at school to the FBLA trip to State to my neighbor going to the hospital to the CTMH Convention in Texas.  What this is teaching me is that when I take the time to document my life, I realize how amazing it truly is!  I think this is why people are loving Project Life so much.  They get to celebrate the moments--small and large--that make life worth living.

For today's layout, I needed one that had 12 photo slots, so I looked through each of the Studio J Express Collections.  This is layout 09 from the Year in Review collection.  The only things I changed on it was the title, added 3 photo mats, and added stitching to the sticker by the title.  This was the quickest layout yet, because the story is so vividly burned into my memory.

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LOAD #5

I started feeling sick right after school, so I'm cutting it close with getting my layout uploaded.  Good news is that I made it and am on track for a layout a day...I will do this!  For this layout, I actually deconstructed the Year in Review Express Collection LO 5 so that I could use the Dakota kit.  The prompt today asked us to use wood grain on the layout, so Dakota was the perfect choice.  I could have spent more time with the flags in the upper right corner.  They are much more narrow in the Express LO, and I like that look better.  I just feel the need to stop messing with it and go to bed!

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LOAD #4

Today's LOAD prompt is very fitting as it asks me to scrap about "the journey or process."  Clearly, I'm focused on my travel pages right now, but I think the last two days have made it clear that the journey and the company I keep are far more important than the final destination.  We loved seeing the sights, but it wouldn't have been as meaningful without sharing it with the people I love.  This is one of the main reasons why I scrapbook.  I get to live the experience, reflect on it deeply during the scrapbooking process, and then enjoy the memories for years to come as I look through my albums.  This process is so important to me, I simply can't understand why everyone doesn't do it!

The prompt also mentioned weight loss journeys which reminded me of this page.  In it, I documented my 45 pound weight loss journey several years ago.  I went on to lose nearly 60 pounds and was so proud of myself for completing a cleanse and breaking my sugar addiction.  I was working out at least 5 times a week and felt amazing.  I've fallen off the wagon over the past few years and gained back 10 pounds.  As active as we were on our trip this summer, I have been so lazy since getting home.  I don't really know why.

The good news is that my awesome neighbor is motivating me to walk with her daily.  I'm going to make daily exercise a habit again so that I can feel as good as I did in these photos!  I'm really thankful for Studio J, because I would not have had time to exercise and create a two-page spread each day...have I mentioned that I'm the world's slowest scrapbooker?!

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LOAD #3

Our trip to Italy this summer was so fantastic!  This was the first time that my husband and I got to travel alone with my sister and brother-in-law.  We had some great experiences on our vacation, but the best part of the trip was spending time together!  We celebrated my sister's birthday in Athens and my brother-in-laws birthday in Rome.  As Neal and I called this our honeymoon, we also celebrated our 22 anniversary...even though we were married in May...LOL!  All good things come to those who wait...right?

As you know, I'm doing the LOAD Challenge this month, and today's prompt took us to this color combination on The Play Date Cafe.  I really like that the Studio J Express Kits allow me to substitute color in the paper and other embellishments, because I was able to add a bit of Barn Red to my layout.  I think the muted version of these colors really make my photos pop off the page.  It makes me so happy!

I can't wait to get these layouts printed and into my albums.  I want to share the excitement with you, too, so watch my blog for more details on how you can win a free Studio J 5-pack (including shipping and page protectors)!

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LOAD #2

Can't believe how easy the layout was today!  I worked on it while listening to the Project Life Webinar with Jennifer Woodbury and hosted by Lain Ehmann from Layout a Day .  You can watch the replay for a week, so be sure to check it out. My friend, Mimi, is doing PL and loving it, so I've been wanting to give it a try.  I'm really inspired since completing a Smash Book during our trip to Italy this summer! It was such a joy to scrap daily and collect the little bits and pieces of life along the way.  It is also making it so easy to create a LOAD about the trip, because my journaling is done.  The longest part of my process is finding/editing the photos.  Have I mentioned that I love the Express Collections?  I seriously L. O. V. E. them!

LOAD #2 is about our long trip starting with standing in security at Sea-Tac to calling mom to thank her for the Euros to meeting our driver in Rome.  We decided against getting a car while we were there which was a wise decision...those drivers are crazy!  Even so, they clearly know what they are doing, because I don't think we saw an accident the entire time we were there.  Thanks to LOAD and Studio J, I'm going to have this entire vacation scrapbooked by month's end!

Jeanette is giving away 20 of these stars on her website today, so be sure to leave a comment.

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LOAD #1

Happy October! Now that I have a month of school under my belt and no travel plans in the near future, I'm ready to get back to my creative endeavors.  I'm challenging myself to create a layout a day with the ScrapHappy community.  The only time I actually completed the challenge was my first time six years ago, so I'm really determined to make it happen this time.  Luckily, it also coincides with CTMH's Studio J special, so I'm going to create most of my layouts using Studio J to save time and money since it is buy 9, get 1 free this month.

I used layout #8 from the Travels Express Kit.  Seriously, the most time consuming part of this layout was narrowing 150 photos from our tour of Crete down to 5!  I love that these Express Kits allow me to drop in my photos and journaling without any additional fuss.  Honestly, I don't usually use quick pages because I don't like the lack of customization.  With this page, I was able to customize the title, add a shadow to Crete, and add a cocoa frame around the focal photo.  I'll further bling it out when I get the final print by adding bitty sparkles...they are my not-so-secret addiction!

Watch this quick video to learn more about the Studio J Express Collections.

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Last Day for a Perfect Project Life Stamp

I can't believe that it is already the end of September.  I've neglected my blog--and creative endeavors--for far too long.  On October 1st, I'm righting this wrong by participating in the ScrapHappy members-only LOAD (layout a day) Challenge.  Yet, there is still one more day to take advantage of CTMH's It's Your Day special.

This stamp is perfect for card making and scrapbooking...especially if you are involved in #projectlife !  I love using our photo storage pages and Flip Flaps to create my own #projectlife style layouts.  So, if this is a must have stamp set for you, be sure to click on the image and place your order TODAY!  Sale ends at 11:59pm MT.

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