Serious Play

30 Days of Lists | Days 22 - 29

So, I love being a lister and I am glad that I joined in the 30 Days of Lists project this month.

 

Here are the remaining pages in my little mini album...

 

Now, if you were counting, I have only 29 pages here, and as the name suggests, there are 30 lists in this project. Here's the deal...

The final list, Day 30, asked me to write a mini-manifesto. Now, I have read others' manifestos and have been thoroughly impressed. It takes deep thought to write a manifesto. A manifesto requires serious reflection. A manifesto takes time, as it is a strong statement of one's beliefs and the things in life that are important.

Now, I know that the prompt only requires a 'mini' manifesto, but I am choosing to take this seriously, and for that reason, I am not quite finished. But I promise to share it when it is complete.

 

In the meantime, I am quite pleased with myself for completing the rest of these lists. Typically, I do not finish projects on time, or sometimes at all. In fact, I have about seven unfinished projects currently on the go, some dating back as far as 2007, all of which I fell behind on and never really got caught back up!

Go me!

 

 

 

 

30 Days of Lists | Days 12 - 15

So, my 30 Days of Lists mini album is complete.

 

However, as I looked back on past posts, I realized that I had not posted days 12 through 15. So I am sharing them here with you today...

 

I continue to love how these lists make me think about who I am and what I do. And that I now will have it documented.

Tomorrow I will be sharing the remaining pages of my mini album...

 

 

 

30 Days of Lists || Days 16 to 21

So, I am still working away on my 30 Days of Lists mini album.

 

I am away this week on a little vacation with my hubby, but wanted to post these photos. I apologize for the less than stellar lighting of these shots but that's what I get for posting on the go...

 

Still enjoying this little listing project. I write lists for nearly everything I do, so this book of lists is perfect for me.

I am a little behind on posting these pages of my mini album. Hoping to get caught up before the last day of the month!

Are you a lister?

 

 

 

 

 

30 Days of Lists | Days 5 - 11

So, I have more pages to share from my 30 Days of Lists mini album.

 

I got myself a little behind due to the prompt strips. I have been cutting the words with my Cameo in batches since the process of typing, converting to .png and then to a cut file is time-consuming and I have limited time each night. But these ones are now complete...

 

And on this last one I forgot to write the fact that I put on perfume in the morning and that is the photo I used!! Silly me...

 

Are you participating in this little 30 Lists project?

If so, let me know. I would love to link up with you...

 

 

 

30 Days of Lists | Days 1-4

So, I worked this weekend on my 30 Lists mini album.

 

I had originally planned to just use the woodgrain word strips as flags but when I started putting it all together, I realized that I needed more contrast against the kraft paper. Colourful patterned paper solved my problem...and I like the result.

 

I need to keep the format simple enough so that I am able to maintain this project for the entire month. That means, very little embellishing.

My pics are printed out using the card option from the iPhone app called Collect. I can upload a photo under a particular day of the month (in this case one for each day in March), choose the option to make a 'card' and add a simple title. Then I save the card to my camera roll, download to my computer and print like a regular photo. I love it and again, it keeps things simple for me. Just a piece of tissue paper behind the pic and if I have an extra moment, I may add a few other bits just to make it interesting.

 

 

I must say that there was more that I wanted to say on this page, but ran out of space, so I'll write it here...

• i do not like messy finger foods (I even eat pizza with a fork)
• i am not a morning person at all
• i like a grande unsweetened chai tea bag latte when I can
• i am fairly organized
• i have stationary lust
• i look at everything as a potential item for scrapbooking
• i change around the furniture in my house fairly often
• i collect milkglass
• i have two beautiful teenaged daughters that make me proud
• i will have been married 20 years this December

 

This is such a good book. It is called The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani. If you are a reader, I highly recommend it. After abandoning three books in a row due to not keeping my interest, this one shines (and keeps calling me back to read more).

 

I plan to do updates on this project every couple of days so I invite you back if you are interested!

You can also follow me on Instagram, along with others at #30lists.

 

 

 

30 Days of Lists Mini Album

So, for the month of March, I am participating in a project called 30 Days of Lists.

 

It is an online class where each day there is a new prompt delivered to my inbox. I respond to this prompt by making a list of all the things that apply to that prompt for me.This is similar to the Christmas Book of Lists that I completed in 2012 hosted by Annette Haring. 

I have been busy setting up my album for the start of the month tomorrow...cannot believe it is March already!!?? 

 

I used my Silhouette Cameo to create the lettering for 30 Days on the cover and for little number flags representing each day of the month. I absolutely love the woodgrain paper in this paper pack...

 

My album is set up with an altering double-sided patterned paper and kraft paper. The patterned paper will hold a photo that represents my list for the day (most likely through Instagram) and the kraft paper is where I will include the actual prompt for the day and the list that I write. I figured that writing on the kraft paper would be the most legible. 

 

I used the paper kit from Crate Paper called Emma's Shoppe. The paper is so nice and thick and has a lovely texture. And the colours and designs are so vibrant and fun.

Finally, I pulled the whole album together with my Bind-It-All and included a piece of chipboard for the back cover.

I cannot wait to start playing with this little album! Pop back in a few days to get an update on this project. You can also follow me on Instagram or by checking in with #30Lists.

 

Are you participating in the 30 Days of Lists project too?

 

 

 

 

Valentine's Day Mini Albums

So, to celebrate Valentine's Day, I made my girls each a little mini album.

 

I started with large shipping tags and just started embellishing...

These hearts are made by colouring cardstock with a bronze Sharpie marker and then cut freehand.




All of the phrases are stamps that I found at Michaels a couple of years ago.







The background here is created with the carved eraser stamps that I made a while back.







Happy Valentine's Day my sweet girls...

 

Mexican Vacation Album

So, a couple of weeks ago, we went on a much needed vacation to Mexico.

 

My husband works two jobs and is working all of the time.  The only way to get him to rest, is to go out of town. This time it involved an airplane and a beach.

I love vacationing, but I do not love coming home to make an album of our memories. So many photos to pick through and edit. So many stories and details to report. Such a short turn around as friends and family want to see pics right away.

I am so terrible at doing vacation albums, that our last 5 vacations still are in jpeg format...but not this time!

This time I took a different approach. The nice lady that I work with has created several albums as Apple books and they have all turned out fabulous. After much consideration, I decided to take on that format. It seemed manageable and all I had to do was take my camera and laptop with me to Mexico.

Each night as we wound down in our hotel room, I sat and downloaded, then edited the photos of the day and slid them right into my chosen template in the Apple book, all through iPhoto. This kept me on top of the photos each day so I didn't have to sort through hundreds when I arrived home. I chose a simple template with primarily spaces for photos and then designed it so I'd have a few white spaces to write in the stories later.

I did my final edit on the airplane home and a day or two later...I hit PRINT.

 

I sent the order electronically to Apple on a Thursday and it arrived in my mailbox on the following Tuesday! That night, I simply added a few stickers and words to note the highlights of our trip. It was that easy. This method also allowed me to get a little scrapbooky, which I didn't want to give up entirely.

 

I was super impressed with the quality of the whole experience, from the colouring of the photos to the quality of the paper to the quick turnaround and shipping of the final product. It even arrived all neatly packaged, making it feel like Christmas arrived early this year!

 

For the first time ever, I have a photo book of my trip only a few weeks after returning home that I can share with family and friends when they ask, How was your trip?

Have you done an electronic book of any kind? I would love to hear about your experience, whether through Apple, Shutterfly, Blurb, or any other of the many companies out there.







 

Photo A Day August Challenge Pt 5

So, I have finished my August Photo A Day mini album.

 

If you are interested, you can visit my other posts for this little mini album:

    Part 1    Part 2    Part 3    Part 4

Here are the final days 25 - 31...

 

So glad to be finished this mini. I am totally pleased with the results. It turned out nice and fat and full and meaningful.

I have continued to take the challenges for September and October. However, I am not sure that I am capable of sustaining the mini album format for each of the months that I participate in the Photo A Day challenge on Instagram. Thinking of a new format...




 

Photo A Day August Challenge Pt 4

So, I am still plodding along with this Photo A Day mini album.

 

Today I am sharing August 17 through 24.

 

This first pic is courtesy of my sister. She had my girls, along with 'the cousins', at Callaway Park for the day. I was out of town. When she sent me this pic, I knew it was perfect for the day's prompt...

 

I have one more installment of photos to share with you from this mini album. I hope to share them before the end of the week.

 

Here's to the last week of summer before our Fall Equinox! Here in Alberta, Canada anyway.

Hope you are enjoying a change of season and all the beauty that it brings wherever you are...