Project Life | Week 45

It's almost weird to know that this post is the second post of 2016. It's so weird to type that and I almost typed 2015 (of course). I just have a few more weeks of Project Life to share. I decided that I'd stop at week 48 and document all of December in December Daily instead of in weekly project life spreads that literally wouldn't fit into the album (it's so full).

Here's the left side. I listened to the Big Magic audio book (again) while doing some baking this week. My order from Color Cast Designs (here) arrived this week as well. I used a bunch of her embellishments in my December Daily album and I love how they look. Her acrylic pieces are my fave.

Here's the front of the insert. I was doing a lot of baking, and that cookie cake looks beautiful!

Here's the second half of the week. My birthday was this week, and the back of the insert and the left side of the right page cover my birthday.

The back of the insert contains the sunrise, our inappropriate sense of humor, and the only snow in the area on my birthday. Which is a little crazy.

Here's the right side. I accidentally was within touching distance of a Ferrari, had the cookie cake for my birthday instead of cake, and bought myself a few new books.

On Wednesday and Friday I'm sharing the last half of my December Daily album. I hope you'll come by and check out my pages.

-Alexandria

One Little Word | Finishing off 2015 & New Word for 2016

I'm taking time out of my Saturday to share this post I'd planned on sharing yesterday, but of course things got a little out of hand. Happy New Year to all of you, today I'd like to share a little bit more about my 2015 word DO, and share my word for 2016. For more information on One Little Word, or to sign up for the workshop, you can visit Ali Edwards' website (here).

2015 was my first time taking this class, and while I have enough content from this year that could help me get through this next year, I need the push from the monthly prompts to actually follow through. The excitement of knowing there was a new prompt every month to work on was possibly the only thing that kept me on track with my word every month. I may not have completed the prompt during that particular month, but it was always at the back of my mind while I went through the month, and even when completing it in the next month, I felt that I had a better understanding of the prompt and what I wanted to do for each prompt.

I didn't keep up with the monthly reviews and actually pulled out the ones that I had in my album from this year. It's not that I didn't want to look back at the month, but it wasn't something that I felt I needed to keep up with. Or perhaps my format for documenting my thoughts/feelings each month wasn't the best for me. This year instead I've decided to keep a notebook nearby to write my thoughts/feelings down throughout the month. I won't limit myself to doing it once a month, but I also won't force myself to write every day. I just hope that having somewhere to get all that out and see the change throughout the year will be good for me. I can tell I'm not the same person I was at the start of 2015, but I have nothing to reflect back on and see how far I've come.

In 2015 I started doing more writing. It wasn't on any of my goal lists, or intentions, but it's something that just sort of happened. I used to write all the time in school and it's been amazing to get back to that. While I didn't complete all the things that I wrote down I wanted to do this year, I did take a few small steps towards being where I want at this point. I did a few things that scared me a little (or a lot) like applying for the Kellie Stamps team (and making it onto the team) and applying for one other team, but being turned down (which is okay too). This next year is going to be full of amazing things, and I'm hoping that my word (which found me back in October) will help me out this year.

Here's the last few pages of my One Little Word album for 2015;

This year, I've decided that I'm going to follow Ali into the 6x8 album. I bought all the new supplies she listed in the shop for One Little Word (grey album, month dividers with stamp set, journal). I might go back to the 8.5x11 album in later years, and that's fine, but I want to try something smaller. Especially since I've been having so much fun with the 6x8 size that I used for Week in the Life and December Daily.

Alright ladies and gents. It's time to share my word for 2016. It's going to be BRAVE.

After my word chose me, I started listening to the Big Magic audio book. I fell in love with it immediately (I'm a huge Elizabeth Gilbert fan). I listened to it 5 times before I bought the physical book. When I read the book I fell in love with it all over again. Hearing the words and seeing them is a completely different experience and I loved it. I got so much out of it every time I listened to it, but I got so much more out of it when I read the words on the paper. When I realized a few pages into the book, that this was the book I'd forever come back to, I knew for certain that my word for the year was going to be BRAVE. That I needed a little more courage in my life, but brave was the word for me.

I'm so excited to take you all on this journey with me throughout 2016. If you've chosen a word for the year (through the class or just on your own) I'd love to know what it is! I'm not letting go of last years word DO, but my main focus this year is being brave. That might mean Brave Doing, but we'll see where this year takes us.

Happy New Year. Here's to another year.
-Alexandria.

December Daily | Days 15-21

I can't believe that tomorrow is the last day of 2015. It feels like just yesterday the year was starting, and now we're all making plans for another year. Today I'm sharing the third part of my December Daily album.

 I decided that I wanted to finish day 14 off with another large quote. I already did the other side of the page, so I made sure to choose one that would look okay being cut in half. I added the "favourite holiday" banner between "the" and "magic" so it reads "bring on the favorite holiday magic" (even though favourite is spelled wrong).

 Day 15; I went with my parents to my niece/sisters school Christmas program. No photos, but used the December release of Kellie Stamps (here) to create the merry & bright card, and the title for my journaling. I punched holes in the program and included it as an insert.

 Day 16; I documented the advent Calendar that I bought Jon. We both loved it. So much better than the cheap chocolate advent calendars my parents bought me as kids. Plus this one is calorie free and won't make you fat.

 Day 17; I visited my niece and nephew. My niece and I made little paper snowmen using the paper tube from a roll of wrapping paper and we cut each snowman to a different size to represent her family members. My nephew "read" me a book about colours. He's adorable and basically just turned the pages and made the noise he makes when he sees the kitty.

 The top left card was a flip pocket so I could include some journaling, and a photo of the two of them by the Christmas tree.

 I printed out this paper from the digital December Daily main kit and cut it with the silhouette to match my other divider. I added a wood veneer from Color Cast Designs to the front and called it done.

Day 18; The back of the divider, and a 2x2 pocket page for an "around here" layout.

I stamped little 2x2 pieces of white cardstock with StazOn and then embossed silver stars so I had somewhere to include my journaling. I stamped an arrow to show it goes to the right and around the outside of the page (though the journaling kind of describes the photo so you know what goes with what.

 I repeated the same idea on the back of the page. The right side is a flip out page. I adhered the "Merry happy everything" paper to the back of a photo, and added a glitter chipboard heart.

Inside the flip page is a TON of things from my Pinterest Christmas board, and 2 3x4 pockets (just cut the 4 pocket 3x4 in half)

 The number is adhered to a clear piece of plastic, and the journaling card is from a past December Daily kit.

Day 20 & 21; I adhered a full page photo onto the back of the flip out page and journaled straight on the photo. The right side was about Christmas music. I added an ornament from Color Cast Designs to the top right pocket.

The card with the "21" on it flips open to reveal some journaling. The see-through "jolly" piece is a tag from I Heart Studio's Heartfelt Christmas 1. It was a tag (like the star at the bottom) but I cut off the top and bottom to fit it into the 2x2 pocket.

Thanks so much for coming by to see these pages. I'll be the first to admit that the photos were rushed and not as good as the first two parts of the album, but I'll also admit that this is the holidays and we all have a lot going on, but I promised that I'd share more of it before the end of the year, so I'm sure it won't matter as much.

I'll be back on the 1st sharing the last of my One Little Word pages for 2015, and my word for 2016. The rest of my December Daily will be shared in the new year. Which is a little crazy to say. I hope you all have a wonderful day, and a Happy New Year. I'll see you all in 2016.
-Alexandria

Project Life | Week 44

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was full of food, family, and some great times. It was so wonderful to have a bit of time off. We have some friends staying with us for the next few days, so this post, and the next two will be scheduled posts. I don't want to have to leave them by themselves while I go off and work on the blog (though they're totally awesome and would let me). Today I'm sharing Week 44 and on Wednesday I'll be sharing days 15-21 of my December Daily album, then Wednesday next week I'll share the last part of my December Daily album.

Here's the left side. This was when I began my December Daily prep in a more serious way. Wilna sent me some of her beautiful Christmas files, and I die cut some of her tags from her Christmas release last year, and sent those in the form of a RAK to Kristie. I also won a giveaway on Instagram this week.

Here's the right side. Included a photo of both cats for National Cat day, started a little 4x4 Christmas album. I made the cover, and put an idea in my head, but that's as far as I've gotten. We'll see if anything else happens.

Thanks for coming by to see this spread. I hope you all have a wonderful day!
-Alexandria

Project Life | Week 43

I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve! Today we have our staff Christmas lunch, and then some time to do last minute things before the beginning of our Christmas festivities. Today I'm sharing Week 43.

The stamp I used for my title is a set from Kellie Stamps that's no longer available, but this set from Kelly Purkey is similar.

Here's the right side. I love the sky photo! I had some creative time and snapped a photo of my messy desk, started prepping a few things for December Daily, and visited my niece and nephew.

Thanks for coming by to see this spread. I'll see you all after Christmas. I hope you all enjoy your Christmas!
-Alexandria