Project Life 2013 - Week 12

A little bit more embellishing this week but still keeping it quick and simple.  For something different I tried using some black and white photos and to my surprise, they blended well amongst the colour photos.  I always tended to steer clear of using black and whites as I like bright and colourful pages but I found that they actually boost the page rather than make it look dull like I assumed they would.  See, lesson learnt. . .  Never make assumptions lol ;)

I have always gravitated towards the colour red in my traditional scrapping and I can now see this red pattern forming in my Project Life albums also.  I chose to use the some of the red and brown (earthy) insert from the AC Digitals Turquoise Edition of Project Life and added text straight onto the with iScrapbook before I printed.

I did the same with these 3"x4" photos, adding text and then printing.  With the 'Friday' insert here, I actually did it all on iScrapbook, adding the photo, date text, etc and then just added the washi measuring tape on the bottom.  Admittedly, I did go little crazy with washi tape this week but I just can't help myself; it's the perfect addition to any photo/insert that has awesome ability of jazzing it up within seconds.  Quick, simple but very affective.

Take a closer look at the tag on this side of my layout. . .  Look familiar?  You see, I'm a little bit of a hoarder when it comes to keeping any kind of tag from any purchased items (for Project Life purposes of course) and this is where this little addiction has once again came in handy.  For those of you that haven't recognised it, it is actually a Cotton On Kids swing tag.  I have simple covered the 'Cotton' wording with some stick on lettering with the word 'crazy'.

So there you have it, another cheap and simple tip for your Project Life layouts, keep swing tags to use later on layouts.  Now time for me to squeeze in a quick coffee and then school pick-up time *sigh* I need to crank it up before the craziest part of my day begins, you know the one between the school bell and bedtimes?

Catch ya,

Kye :)

xo

Products List

Project Life 2013 - Week 11

Week 11 would have to be one of the most basic and least embellished layouts that I have ever done for my Project Life. . . And to be honest, I am quite surprised at how happy I am with the way it looks.

I needed to pull back on the embellishing with this week as I am just getting too far behind. Now, lets be realistic here, we all know that I normally just can't help myself with adding all my little bits and pieces to tiz up my pages. But it really is taking me WAY too much time and I really need to get up to date as being behind is driving me darn loopy.

This week was the perfect week to have a go at 'backing off with embellies' as I had so many photos to include.  I also had a fair bit of journaling re our weekend away so I decided to do that in a double folded insert (as you can see in the Good Times title insert card below).

I used a combination of the digital Honey Edition and some Amy Tangerine papers, Thickers and digital elements for this layout and they worked perfectly together. I added some Ali Edwards script words to my photos before printing and also did some cutting with my Silhouette Cameo for some other titles on pics. All in all it was pretty simple and came together quite quickly, exactly what I want when I am this far behind, simple and speedy spreads.

So onto the next now. . .   Let's see how many layouts I can get done using this approach over the next week or two.  Wish me luck lol :)

Toodleloo,

Kye :)

xo

Supplies List

Life Paper Scrapbook Blog Hop

Welcome to my blog.  I'm so glad you stopped by for a squiz :)  This is my first ever blog hop and I'm so excited to take part.  A big thank you to all involved at Life Paper Scrapbook for making it happen. So, in saying that, please go easy on the newbie lol ;)

Firstly, here is the hop order (amazing talent I must say).

Life.Paper.Scrapbook - http://www.lifepaperscrapbook.com
Kellie - http://kelliewinnell.typepad.com
Kylie - http://simplybella-ky.blogspot.com.au (you are here)
Amanda - http://amandathemadscrapper.blogspot.com.au
Bernadette - http://weekendatberniis.blogspot.com.au
Ali - http://moloneystylestamping.wordpress.com

Well, I'm not going to make this a long post, as I know sometimes I tend to ramble.  I'm going to let you 'hop along' to all the other fab blogs above.  But I did want to share with you a really cool trade secret of mine that I came up with when I first started doing Project Life.

As I already had a HUGE stash of scrapbooking items to play with, I really wanted to use what I already had rather than buy more stuff I didn't need.  But what I found was that when it came to matching my papers with lettering or insert cards, I just couldn't find the exact colour I was after.  So then I came up with this little beauty (and best of all it's FREE).

While shopping at my local hardware store one day, I passed the paint isle; you know the one where you have an array of tin cans, brushes, sprays, etc.  Well, you also have the wall of paint colour sample cards.  Mmmmmm my mind started to race and I was doing back-flips in my head lol.  I could just grab a few of the colours that I was using for that week's layout and just match them with my papers or even photos.  Aha - I was on to something ;)  So I popped a few in my basket and quickly headed home to play with that week's Project Life layout.

So every time I go out to buy potting mix, seedlings or screws, I now make sure I grab a few colour sample cards.  I can then crop them down and used them as 3”x4” inserts, journal on them, print on them, punch out shapes.  Seriously, the uses are endless.

And here comes the kicker. . . I now also use them with my Silhouette Cameo for cutting out words, titles and lettering.  The thickness is perfect and you can even add dimension with some Glossy Accents.  I have saved an absolute fortune on Thickers (and heck knows I have plenty already).  So now rather than using my 12”x12” cardstock for one tiny word or a few letters, I now use paint colour sample cards.

Take a look. . .

So there you have it, a little trade secret of mine :)  Hopefully, you too can get your hands on some gorgeous colours and make your pages 'POP'.  I'd love to hear if anyone has any other uses on layouts for them.  I know I am still coming up with new ideas all the time.

Now, to get you all 'thinking outside the box' and inspire your creativity, here are some pics of a few of my Project Life layouts.

Now last but not least, Life Paper Scrapbook are giving away a mini kit and album so please visit them here for more details and be in the running to win this awesome prize from Craft House Ltd.  Simply link up one of your Project Life layouts on their blog. You have until midnight Sunday (Australian EST).

I hope you enjoyed my post and happy hopping peeps :)
Kye
xo 

Blog Hop

I am really excited that I have been asked to take part in my first blog hop tomorrow, being Friday the 10th of May, with LifePaperScrapbook.  This will be a new thing for me so I can't wait to give it a go :)  So be sure to 'watch this space' and see what exciting Project Life topics these very talented ladies are going to write about.

In the mean time, take a look at Issue 1 of the LifePaperScrapbook online magazine. WOW there sure is a lot of fantastic work to peruse through, so grab a cuppa and have a flick through.

Project Life 2013 - Week 10

Still coming down from my Amy Tan buzz this week, I have managed to complete another week's layout.  Meeting her inspired me to get cracking and do some serious Project Life-ing.  So I copped a squat in front of the tv when the kidlets went to bed.  I had a few episodes of The Voice recorded that I had missed.  I had preprinted my photos and insert cards with journaling earlier in the day, so it was just a matter of cropping and putting it all together.  So away I went... And this is what I came up with.

Full layout 

If you have read my previous posts regarding my Project Life pages you will know that I have become a little crazed with purchasing each newly released Project Life digital kit from AC Digitals.  The latest one I bought was the Cinnamon Edition.  At first sight I wasn't all that impressed but then taking a closer look it really grew on me.  I loved it's masculinity and with most of my spreads being quite 'boy' oriented, and having a house of males, it suited me to a tea.

Left side

The more I played with this kit the more I loved it.  It's quite strong and bold and the colours are not usually what I would be drawn to work with.  However, I really loved how it started to look as I put it together and think that I'll be using it much more throughout the year than I first anticipated.

Right side

Unfortunately, silly me didn't learn from a previous mistake I'd made a few weeks back.  I edited and printed this 6"x8" photo of my baby niece and decided to place it over 3 pockets. Darn, I did the same thing I did in Week 5 :(  I didn't check where it would be cropped and realised later that it would be right over faces.  It just makes the face look longish and out-of-whack.  I decided to still use it as I love the photo so much but will hopefully remember this for the next time I decided to use larger photos.  Third time lucky in the future lol.

Jazzing up filler cards while keeping it simple.

So there you have it, another week down and with a kit I wasn't really keen on in the beginning.  I'm so glad that I strayed from my comfort zone and used colours and themes that I would normally shy away from.  It's definitely a lesson learnt and I will be pushing myself a little more now that I know I'm up for the challenge of doing something 'different'.

Now it's onto week 11, a very photo heavy week, so another challenge ahead of me!  Loving it :)

Aloha,
Kye
xo

Supplies List

Cinnamon Edition

iScrapbook

Silhouette Cameo

Give A Girl Yesterday Stamp Kit

Typo Washi Tape

Amy Tangerine Paper Leaves

Amy Tangerine Thickers

Amy Tangerine Remarks Stickers

Meeting Amy

Howdy peeps!

How are we all on this fine sun shiny Monday morning?  I hope everyone has had their coffee and their Monday-itis is starting to lift.  Mine is clearing but it may take a little longer today as I'm a little sleep deprived due to a small human thinking it's more than fine to wake and want to play with an iPad at 1am.  Anyway, another story for another day lol.  Let's just say that he lost that battle but I was then left staring at the digits on my bedside clock.  Don't you just love those nights?

But here I am this morning, ready to share what would have to have been one of the most exciting weekend adventures that I have had in a loooooong time.  Yes, I finally got to meet the absolutely gorgeous Amy Tangerine.

It all began with a train ride into the Melbourne Showgrounds with my two VERY excited little munchkins.  Funny how we take things like travelling on public transport for granted when we are younger and then realise that our children have never had that experience.  To say they were psyched would be an understatement.  I couldn't stop giggling at their cute little reactions to each part of the trip.

We arrived at the Better Homes and Gardens Live Expo and I headed straight to the Spotlight stand (as you do) to find they had an awesome range of Amy's products.  Obviously I made a few purchases lol.

I then waited anxiously for the lovely Amy to make an appearance.  I couldn't believe how thrilled I was when I caught a glimpse of her casually walk over to the Spotlight stand.  WOW It was really her.  I even felt my face flush a little with excitement lol.

It took me a little coaxing from my 7 year old and his Dad to go up and actually speak with her. Why was I so shy?  This wasn't like me at all.  Then it hit me...  I was actually a little star struck lol.

With iPhone in hand and my Mr 7 pushing me through the people, I walked over to where she was chatting to a Spotlight staff member and timidly tried to catch her eye.  I heard myself ask "May I have a photo please?"  What tha?  But who's timid voice was that that just came out of my mouth?  It sure as heck wasn't my usual confident and chatty vocals.  OMG I was actually embarrassed lol.  Well fancy that!

Amy quickly nodded with her lovely smile and said, "Sure" and waved me over.  I introduced myself and ushered Mr 7 to join the photo (I think that was more for moral support), thanks buddy.  We had a few taken and I remember telling her that I was a little 'star struck' and she laughed and kindly assured me I didn't have to be.  I thanked her and then happily returned to my spot to let her 'do her thing'.

What a pleasure to watch her in her element, crafting away and educating others with her great hints and tips.  I truly was in awe...  Maybe even slightly obsessed lol.

We waited until she was finished and then I took the plunge again (this time with a little more courage) and asked her to sign a piece of her Yes Please paper for my Project Life album.  Amy was kind enough to write a little note for me and then even suggested I grab my newly purchased Daybook for her to write in and sign.  WOW so sweet :)

I couldn't tell you what words were then exchanged, obviously apart from me thanking her, as I was just so ecstatic that I had two personal little notes from Amy in my hands.  I thanked her again and, I swear, I 'skipped' away (well maybe in my head I skipped) lol.  YAY FOR ME :)

So there you have it.  I met Amy :)

Kye

PS.  Hop on over to Polka Dot Creative if you are after any of Amy's gorgeous products, the lovely Jodie would be more than happy to help you out.