A Pocketful of Licorice

handmade project life: pop culture pt. 1

There are a lot of great products out there now, made especially for PL, and when I buy stuff lately, I tend to gravitiate toward those things. But I also really enjoy making my own cards. I've made a LOT of them. I'll show you how they're organized later. 

Here are some filler/journaling cards I've done recently with pop culture references. I have geeky taste in pop culture. Be warned. 

top to bottom, L to R: The Wire, Twin Peaks, Doctor Who, Doctor Who, Flight of the Conchords, Dirty Dancing, The Breakfast Club, The Wire, Harry Potter. 

I really love writing on dark paper with a white pen. The navy and black cardstock were sprayed with white paint and pearl glimmer mist before I cut them to size. 

catching up, part 2

Hi! Thanks for visiting. Let's finish catching up.

I've already posted my 2013 title page, but for the sake of continuity, here it is again. 

Starting with my title page for 2013, I've been using an awful lot of aqua and pink. I guess I like that color combination.

I think many people do one double-page spread per week. I've been doing a single page per week. It's working so far. I think I missed a week somewhere in there, too. I don't really care about covering every week. I figure if I miss a week, I probably didn't have anything to say about it anyway. Some weeks are very ordinary. 

Yeah, I got a Valentine from my nemesis, Billy Joel. Punks. 

That brings us up to date. I'll try to do a PL post once a week in the future. 

catching up, part 1

I've been working in the Project Life format for about three months now, and I guess it was just the change I needed to feel inspired again. I know there haven't been a lot of posts lately. I'm going to start posting the pages in my PL book in chronological order. 

This is my first stab at it. 

I don't love it. I wasn't really sure if I wanted to get into PL or how to proceed. And I only had 6x4 pocket page protectors. I've come to really love the 3x4 pockets.

I loved using the tiny pockets to document the details of this past year's Holiday Fun.

 

I find that I hide a lot of my journaling in pockets, which I do on traditional layouts as well. I guess I have a lot of thoughts that are just for me. The note in that pocket contains my thoughts on the events of December 14. 

My students found out early in the school year that I hate Billy Joel. They punk me regularly. I got a candygram from him for Christmas.

I used a different style of page protector for Christmas, because I wanted to include the card from my brother and sister-in-law. My niece is gorgeous, right?

The 6x12 pocket gave me room to include a poem that I saw online and really loved. 

I also inserted an extra 6x12 page so I'd have room for more pictures of the bear cub.

That brings us to the end of 2012. I did a traditional layout documenting New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with Paola and Buster...

I think I'll still occasionally do traditional layouts, but I'll just keep them in the PL album. In the past, I've had separate albums for family, friends, and my personal layouts. Now, that seems too cumbersome to me. I like this change. 

Next time, I'll post the layouts I've done in 2013 so far. 

waste not

In the last couple weeks of December, I made the decision to give this project life thing a try, so I started digging through my piles of supplies, pulling out stuff I thought I could use. I ended up making a bunch of 4x6 and 2x3 journaling cards to use. 

It's nice to use stuff that you've had sitting around for years. Like Heidi Swapp chipboard letters from who-knows-how-long ago.

Or rub-ons. I hardly ever use rub-ons, but I have a million of them. 

Too lazy to crop out my nasty work desk. Nice, right?

And you know, I never used stamps much in traditional scrapbooking, but I can see myself using them all the time in this format. 

Lots of them just have my handwriting on them...

I'll probably end up making a lot of my own journaling cards, although I have been picking up sheets of paper here and there that are printed with cards you can cut out. A lot of companies seem to be doing that right now. 

At the moment, I'm working on an organization system for all these cards. 

 

 

Happy New Year!

It's been a while, bad blogger, blah blah blah.

I've made some big changes, creatively speaking, and now seems like as good a time as any to share them. A couple months ago now, I made the decision to step down from the Cocoa Daisy design team. It was a difficult one to make - I spent 6 years designing for a wonderful company, and I loved it. I really did. But several factors converged, making it clear that I needed a change. Mainly these two: 1. My work schedule was busy - crazy busy - and I didn't feel I was pulling my weight on the design team. I just didn't have the time to give it my all, and I felt bad about that. 2. After thirteen years in this hobby, I was feeling burned out - tired of the 12 x 12 format I've been working with for so many years and feeling like I was out of things to say. Obviously, I probably do have more to say and more stories to tell, but that's how I was feeling. Like there was nothing I hadn't covered ad nauseum. 

Sometimes you just need to shake things up. I'd been interested in the concept of Project Life for a while, but about a month ago I started messing around with the format and something clicked, and like magic, I felt inspired again. It's a great fit for me right now. I've always been a more of a moments scrapper than an events scrapper. And filling tiny pockets with bits and pieces seems less time consuming, more manageable. 

Over the next few days, I'll try to post some of the PL layouts I did in December. For now, here's my 2013 intro page. I incorporated my goals and thoughts on the coming year, though much of it is hidden. I like keeping my thoughts to myself. 

Song lyrics are from "Alone Again Or" by Love, from Forever Changes, which is one of the best albums of all time. And I feel like I need to be reminded of this. Because sometimes I forget. 

I divided my goals into three categories: verbs (like read and dance), intangibles (like courage and adventure), and proper nouns (like NYC and Vermont City Marathon). My lists are tucked into the pockets. 

Nothing's written in here yet. Shatty and I are going to jot down some thoughts this evening. And on that note, I need to get ready to go to Middletown to meet her. 

Happy New Year, guys! 

Navy Pier

Hey guys,

I've been super busy with work this school year, so I apologize for the spotty updating. Work is pretty much all I do. It's been crazy. But we had our fall crop at Cocoa Daisy last weekend and debuted the November kit, Navy Pier. It's a beauty! Here are some projects I put together...

This one's my favorite. I did it for my messy challenge. The journaling is in the pocket. 

Here's my munchkin. She's getting to be such a big girl!

Be sure to check out the DT gallery because it's full of awesome this month!

Aspen Grove

Heads up! Cocoa Daisy's October kit, Aspen Grove, goes on sale Monday! I loved this one. The design team gallery is really pretty - you should definitely check it out! 

Here are some layouts I made. I ended up getting most of the add-ons, so lots of bits and pieces from those are worked into my layouts this month. 

I really loved the fall colors in this one! And the washi tape stamp set is great!

40 by 40: #12 live music

Goal #12 was to see live music a bunch of times. A couple weeks ago I got a start on that one. I went to see Bon Iver at the PPAC. And despite the fact that the world's most annoying couple was seated directly in front of me and partially blocking my view, the show was amazing. Totally worth being out late on a work night. Here's a crappy picture of Justin Vernon:

 

Aspen Grove Preview!

Hey Guys,

Cocoa Daisy's October kit is Aspen Grove and it's going to be perfect for all those beautiful fall pictures because it's full of beautiful fall colors! And the add-ons are going to cause some serious decision-making anxiety! I ended up with three of them - my favorites are Trailhead and Switchback. And we're featuring a set of stamps that will let you make faux washi tape - it's really neat! Here are a few peeks...

There are a few glimpses of the washi tape stamps up there. I just put them right on the page, but you could also stamp them on paper and cut them out. Don't forget - reveal night is September 28th! Come hang out with us on the message boards!

He Said, She Said

Cocoa Daisy's September kit, He Said, She Said has been revealed, and it's so full of goodies! I loved this one so much, I picked up three add-ons. The paper mix in this kit is one of my favorites ever, and the patterned paper add-on, Compromise, makes it even better. I also got add-on #1, His, and add-on #2, Hers. I really couldn't resist this one. Here are my layouts with the kit...

School's back in session now, but I wanted to remember my summer playlists, so I printed them out and tucked them away on this page. 

Obligatory new hair-do page.

My niece is the cutest ever.

I love the Harvard Book Store. 

I also love science department happy hours. 

This kit is so versatile. I was able to create some relatively girly layouts, and also some more neutral ones. If I'd wanted to do a boy page, I could've pulled that off, too. Make sure you check out the DT gallery - it's full of amazing work. The kit is on sale on September 1st. Don't wait too long - they're going to go quickly!