Project Life 2012 Week 8

Wow I've been so busy today, working on an upcoming project! I can't wait to share with you all, I'm so excited!  Now on with Project Life.  I can't believe I just finished Week 8!  This project is just so much fun, I'm really enjoying it.  I decided to use some different size page protectors for this week.  I used one sheet protector that holds 2 4x6 pictures and one that hold 3 4x6 pictures.  I used two strips of washi tape to hold the two protectors together, so I had 7 slots to fill up for the week.  Let me tell you, having more room to put in each slot filled me with panic LOL  I didn't know what to do, so I just went with the flow.  I sort of like it but my baseball card protector is by far my favorite.

The little gnome is from Martha Stewart.  It said "Happy Trails" on it, I just covered it with a lable maker.  I also made a little cutout confetti hearts on the bottom right hand.  That was a fun technique that Lisa Truesdell had over at Two Peas in a Bucket.

The bottom picture is a digital file from Erica Hernandez, I believe from Two Peas.  I've been downloading so many digital files that I can't remember where I got them from LOL

Uggg this picture is horrible, you can see my calendar pad in the background.  Anyways, the "Fabulous" card is from a Smash pad.  I used Amy Tan paper for the backgrounds.  The "currently" journaling card is another digital one I found somewhere on the web.  A lot of the ones I find are on my Project Life Ideas pinterest board if you want to check them out.  And I'm super proud on my son Michael who got a scholarship to one of our local colleges - yeah!!!

Thanks for looking.  Have a great day! xxx Marlene



Carrie's Travel Journal...

Good morning.  Is it seriously Monday already???  I had a nice relaxing weekend, I wish it wasn't over.  My boys are back to school after being home for a week and me back to work.  So I got a lot of scrapping done this weekend and I finished up Carrie's travel journal.  Carrie's book is the first one I received and I was so excited to complete all her pages, it was just so much fun.  You can read all about this project here.  Carrie's book is just beautiful and she picked some really unique and cool topics...

1. Your photo and name.  I used a lot of Sassafras in this book.

2. Post card from your hometown and a list of places you go for running errands on the back.  It was very hard for me to find a Staten Island postcard, I could only find NY ones.

3. A take out menu from one of your fav restaurants and scrap around a fav dish.  Totally fun! I had gone to Jade Island this weekend and saved the fortune cookie fortune, a package from their mints and my mom suggested we get a cute umbrella that they put in their drinks {good idea Mom!}.

4. Scrap on a photo of a fav relaxing spot.  I picked Starbucks, I just love going there.  I had this thick gold paper for awhile now and I punched out some hearts.

5. Homemade confetti with a map of your hometown.  Again, hard to find anything "Staten Island" so I found an east coast map and used that.

6. Embroider the name of your hometown. I never embroidered before, I wish my letters looked more rounder.

7. A fav place around town for fun for each season (spring, summer, fall, winter)  I added the journaling on a sheet behind the photo and it pulls out.  The pictures are: Snug Harbor, Staten Island Ferry, Richmond County Fair and the Staten Island Zoo.

8. Scrap a piece of the earth from your hometown (sand, a leaf, pressed flower, etc....)  This was one of my favorite pages to do.  I picked some leaves from the bushes in front of my house and added them to this cute plastic envelope.

9. Use a heart on your page and list at least 5 things "i want to remember" about where you live.  A lot of the things I wrote about were from when I was younger and first moved to SI.

10. sunset silhouette scrapped with the time and date.  I love this corkboard paper so much, I just bought some more cause I used it up so fast.  This was one of my Project Life pictures, it just happened to be great for this page.

I can't wait to received Renee's book next.  This is such a fun project! 

February Weight Loss Smash Journey

Happy Friday!!!  Before I start, I just wanted to let you all know that I've been experimenting with different styles, banners and backgrounds on my blog lately.  So sorry if you keep seeing things all crazy and changed up all the time.  I just haven't been able to get it looking like I want it too.  Hopefully one day soon I'll get it right LOL

Okay, today I want to share one of my February pages in my weight loss Smash.  I don't know if I've mentioned, but in January I signed up for the More More Eat Well class at Big Picture.  I have a sidebar gadget that will take you to the class if you're interested in signing up, it's not too late.  I heard about the class back in December and I wasn't going to sign up for it but I changed my mind.  I figured any extra help can't hurt and I liked the idea that there's a message board for the whole year.  Great inspiration, ideas and help is awesome!

As of today, I've lost 6.8 lbs. since I started in January.  I did get sidetracked by Maxwell's party and all the cake and goodies, but I managed to get back on track.  I used some of the printable digital journaling cards provided from the class and added them in my book.  The other pages for this month are filled with journaling, recipies and exercise ideas.

I also made a weight loss goal spreadsheet so I can see my overall goal for the year and my monthly goals all at once.  I want to lose a pound a week and if I stick to that I can meet my goal by the end of the year!

So, I wanted to share some things I've been learning lately on my journey:

* Keep a journal!  This has been so important to me and something that I haven't done when trying to lose weight in the past.  For me, it's been keeping me on track.  I can always go to it and read all the inspiring things I've written and see physical images of my goals.

* Log in everything you eat!  I've been using Lose It.  You can use the website which has a food diary, plus forums and you can make friends on there too.  You put in all your information and they calculate how many calories you should be eating a day.  When you log in your food, it calculates all your calories - very simple and I love it.  They also have an app for your cell phone so you can log in on the go.  My downfall so far has not been logging in what I ate on the weekends, that's something I've got to work on.

* Don't beat yourself up for failing!  There have been so many times that I've gotten off track and just given up.  Or I beat myself up for wasting time and effort to lose weight and then just gain it back.  What I've been learning is to pick myself back up and just start again - to have perserverence {my word for 2012}.

* Love yourself!  It's important to take time for yourself and invest in your health and well being.  And also, reward yourself too for reaching certain goals in your life.  The main reason I want to lose this weight is because I want to be healthy.  Diabetes runs in my family and I have hypothyroidism.  I don't want to get diabetes or any other sickness in the future.

* You are beautiful!  Yes YOU guys reading this :)  Gaining confidence and loving yourself helps to bring that inner beauty out for all to see.

* Don't give up!  No matter what, keep going and don't lose site of your goals.  I can't say it enough.  Be your own biggest cheerleader.

Have a wonderful weekend and fun weekend!  Hugs, Marlene

Project Life 2012 Week 7

On February 11th we had a little birthday party for Maxwell.  I decided to create a simple one page collage of pictures from the party which I adhered to scrapbook paper and I just added a simple banner sticker across the top. 

On the other side of the birthday layout, I added my Week 7 layout.  I thought it was fun to change things up and use a whole different format for this week.  I again used a 8.5 x 11 page format to create a collage.  I added all my pictures in MS Word and then added my digital elements.

Here's some close-ups:

I used Sassafras paper for the background and their chipboard numbers and letter stickers.

I'm also trying to add a lot of holiday events and current events into my Project Life.

I've been adding a picture of whichever book I'm currently reading.  I want to do this once a month.  The bottom two pictures are Polariod Instax.

I saw this cute little bear magnet at The Christmas Tree Shop and thought it would be cute for Valentine's week.  I just took the magnet off and glued it on top of the page protector.

You guys have probably heard about this but I wanted to share anyways.  Our Staples finally got in the Martha Stewart office supply line, I was so excited to see the display.  I got some page protectors, post-it notes and metal rim tags.  You can check out the whole collection here.  And I also picked up some 8.5 x 11 page protectors that hold 3 4x6 pictures {one horizontal and two vertical} at Walmart and some smaller size protectors that hold 2 4x6 pictures.  So for Week 8 I'm going to mix up both of them. 

Have a great day!!! xxx Marlene







Valentine freebie I found...

I'm back again..  just wanted to share a great Valentine freebie I found yesterday from Elle's Studio.  These would be great for a Project Life journaling spot:

http://www.jessicasprague.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.pbv.tabs.tpl&product_id=2118&category_id=77&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=330

Wishing...

my son Maxwell and very Happy 11th Birthday today!!!  My Valentine baby is now a young man.  I can't believe how time has flown by.  He's so sweet and kind and I love him so much :)

Wishing you all a very Happy Valentine's Day too!!!

Hugs, Marlene

Project Life Week 6

Hi everyone, hope you all had a great weekend.  Mine was awesome and tiring LOL  We had a nice party on Saturday to celebrate Maxwell's 11th Birthday and it was so much fun!  So, I wanted to share my latest Project Life page today.  I'm still sticking with it, mostly I feel is because I'm having fun with the project and it's not a chore to me.

Well last Sunday the NY Giants won the Superbowl - my kids we're so excited.  I'm not much of a football fan but I'm excited to be a NY'r and have them win.  I used a lot of Sassafras Nerdy Bird line for this week, it's just so fun and my style.

The picture on the right I took while I was on the bus going to work and you can see the tons of people lining up to see the Giants parade.  I didn't attempt to go out and see the parade, it was way too crowded.  The middle picture is of Max at the doctors office, he was not a happy camper that day.  And the next shot is of our tree in the front of the house.  I decided to take a picture of it on the 9th of each month just to see the difference in the weather each month.

Last friday I stopped at Crumbs to get some cupcakes for Max's party.  Man they are sooooo yummy.  Here's Max with his ice cream cake.... I can't believe he's going to be 11 tomorrow.  I always wanted my boys to get big so it would be less work to take care of them when they were little, now I just want them to get little LOL

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!! xxx Marlene

PL Week 5

Hello everyone.  I'm back to share with you all another week of my Project Life.  For this week I decided to go the traditional scrapbooking route and not use any digital elements or journaling cards.  I had fun picking out different papers that I've been hoarding lately and some fun embellishments.  I didn't do much journaling this week either, I gotta remember to do that next week.



Here's a closeup view of each section:

I had seen this confetti method on one of the blogs on my Google Reader {I can't for the life of me remember which one} and I thought it would be cute to do on one of the spots.  I also used some cute yellow star washi tape to make a frame around the end photo.

For my middle card I decided to do some embroidery stiching, I like the way it came out.  For Groundhog's Day I decided to do a little match up between PA Phil and SI Chuck LOL  Do other states have their own groundhogs???  Maybe.

I just love love love this mustache Hambly transparency.  I also made a woodgrain sunray card - too fun.

Have a lovely day.  Marlene

My Travel Journal

Good morning fellow crafters :)

Today I want to share with you my Traveling Journal.  I came across this video on YouTube last year and thought it would be a blast to do.  So I am doing this album with Val {her album is up on her blog}, Renee and Carrie {who all ROCK} and I'm so excited!!!  Our albums will be traveling to each person and we'll all have different page prompts.

My cover and some of my pages are not done completely.  I figured I'd complete them when I get my finished album back.  I used an old book as my cover.  I covered it with primer and painted it hot pink.  Then I did a coat of clear Tim Holtz Rock Candy crackle paint.  I found this cute zebra felt at Michaels and I just knew I had to use it.  I sewed on some lace to make a ruffle and a red heart button.  I also added some red heart washi tape on the ends of the covers.

Page 1) Intro pages.  When I was putting this book together I had just received my last warehouse box from Sassafras, so I used a lot of those papers in this book.  I made a little pocket for my page and some tags for each page.  I embossed the little girl chipboard and dressed her up.

Page 2) Postcard from where you live and your favorite thing about where you live.  I love this map paper, I can't remember who makes it though.  The strip on the botton is a little pocket to hold the postcards.

Page 3) Doodle your name.  This paper is from a DCWV stack, I think it's the Retro stack.

4) Your favorite color.  Mine is green LOL  Looking at this page now, I really don't like it.  I may just do it over later on.

Page 5) Your favorite recipe.  I love these papers from October Afternoon and the diecuts.  I printed some cute owl recipe cards from My Owl Barn, you can find them here. 

6) Your favorite books.  I love this bookcase wallpaper for the Iphone, so I printed it and added my "books" on pop dots.

7) Things you find super cute.  I made a little collage from my "Super Cute" board on Pinterest.  I've been hoarding this piece of Hambly paper for so long too.

8) Your favorite TV shows.  Mine is Little House on the Prairie, journaling is behind the picture.

9) Favorite things from your childhood.  I did another collage for this page, just some of my favorite things from the 80's.  Ummm random fact: when I was a teenage I had all 4 walls and my ceiling completely covered in Duran Duran posters.

10) Your favorite scrapbook company.  Sassafras {of course} :)