Vancouver Project Life Album Prep

Almost two years ago, my college class went to Vancouver. It was technically a class funded field trip, but we had some fun doing things aside from touring the Vancouver Convention Centre. I'll talk more about that when I share the finished album in a later post. 

In this prep series. my pages are in a Project Life binder, the finished product will be put into a scrapbook because there aren't enough pages to fill the binder, and they'll fit perfectly into a scrapbook. This prep series is also more about helping you create an album before you print your photos.

I had to go through almost 400 photos and I only ended up using a 156 of them. My photos came from the 100 or so that I took with my iPhone, 300+ photos a classmate took with a camera from the college, and a couple additional photos that a few classmates took and posted on Facebook that helped fill in some of the gaps.

I'm only going to share a few photos of my album, no point overloading you with every picture-less page and ruining half the surprise of the finished product.

It's hard to tell on the right side which journal cards and sticky notes are on that page, but the four cards across the centre are the journal cards for that page, and the top and bottom ones have yellow sticky notes with photo number/descriptions for reference.

The blue sticky notes on every single page are there to tell me which core kit was used for each page. I didn't use the same core kit throughout this album. I used Sunshine, Honey, Blush, Rain, Jade, and Midnight. It's a lot, but sometimes one kit didn't work for that particular open space, or it didn't go with the photos I wanted to put on that page, or it wasn't giving the feeling I wanted it to. 

I ran out of yellow sticky notes, so I used orange. On the left I have a page of strictly photos and on the right I have a page of photos with the exception of one PL card in the bottom left. The pink sticky notes you can see on this page are to mark the places that I need to put a title or fill in journaling of some kind.

When I get my photos back, I'll do a quick explanation/tutorial about how I did the page on the right. the top two rows of the right page are for one photo. It's a Design A pocket page, but I've ordered a few photos blown up to larger sizes and I'm going to crop them to fit into multiple pockets to create a larger photo made of multiple parts. I've seen them numerous times in other peoples albums, and it took me a while to figure out how to do it. Now that I know what to do, I have it happening a few times throughout this album. Mostly with group photos, and a few signs from places we went that I really wanted to remember.

To keep track of all my photos, I wrote down the number or name on the photo and put it into a folder for the size I wanted it to be. I had folders for 3x4, 4x4, 4x6, 5x7, and 8x12. I also wrote out a list of page numbers and the core kit that I used.

I kept track of everything outside of the album in case I lost one of the sticky notes. It's hard to keep track if you're moving things, but I love that sticky notes can be moved around if you're unhappy with the placement. I moved sticky notes around a lot. I even had to move them to different pocket pages, and I added a few additional pages to get some more photos in there.

I can't even explain how excited I am about this album. I can't wait to get my photos and share this with all of you! Now I need to get week one of my personal album finished so I can keep up with that and share it with you!

I love sharing Project Life with my family/friends. I gave a bunch of it to Jon's sisters for Christmas. My brother and his girlfriend are having another baby so I'm giving it to them as a baby gift. Jon's one sister is also pregnant again, so we're giving her more Project Life for the new baby.

I hope that this helped you get your PL albums organized. I plan to use this technique to work on a few weeks of my personal 2014 album before printing photos.

Have a wonderful day!

-Alex

DIY Mod Podge Jar

I've been slowly settling into my craft room and trying to get myself organized. I've also been working really hard on keeping up with the blog, and all of my penpals. The challenge I'm currently facing is making time for everything after working all day. I really need to figure out how to balance everything, or start making sacrifices. That being said, I've been trying to make really simple things for the blog that help me get organized in my craft space, and around the house, or for my penpals. That way I can get a bunch of things done at once. That being said, some of my posts may contain things pertaining to other aspects of my life (work, penpals, organizing the house).

While organizing, I realized that it didn't make sense for me to have all my writing pens in my carousel on my desk if I have a small writing desk where I'll be writing all my letters. I found an empty jar and decided that it was boring so I dug out some tissue paper and my mod podge and made the jar prettier.

I used wrap & unwrap tissue paper that I picked up at a Chapter's Book Store, and some twine I had laying around.

I used two colours of twine and tied them in a bow.

I folded the ends down over the bottom, and put a scrap piece over it to secure them.

I don't have an official tutorial for this, but to do something similar with tissue paper or other paper, start by covering the outside of your jar or container with mod podge. Starting with the middle of your paper press it onto the jar gradually moving out to the edges. Let it sit for a while then brush mod podge over the top of the paper to seal it. Feel free to add embellishments to the jar as desired.

So simple and so quick. You could have kids do it with little squares of different coloured tissue paper!

Hope everyone has a great day!

-Alex 

Shopping Haul and Storage

Almost every time I go to the nearest city, I can't help but pick up crafting supplies. I almost need an intervention or something, but I promise to eventually use everything I have currently.

First up, I bought more wire cubes from Walmart for my paper stack storage (original post can be found here). Let me just say that I hate these ones because they're different than my other ones. The original set I have is Rubbermaid, and the little circle connector pieces are sturdy and nearly impossible to get on/off, which is GOOD. That means when I'm dragging it across the floor it doesn't start falling apart.

I found all the extra connector pieces from the first set of cubes, and replaced the terrible ones so that it won't fall apart. Thank goodness. The last thing anyone wants is to come home from work and find a giant paper mess everywhere.

Here's my complete paperstack unit currently. I made two entire cubes again and just stacked the top one on top of the bottom one. They're not currently attached to each other so I can take the top two cubes off and move it easily. I realize now that I could use a couple more to get all of my 12 x 12" sheets onto racks like this. I like that I can see all the colours on the top just by standing there looking at them, and all my paperstacks are right there within reach as well. When I have more wall space they probably won't be stacked, or they'll actually be attached to each other.

Last week I went shopping for a few items for my penpals, and conditioner. I stumbled across this adorable binder. I love owls in case you didn't know. I knew immediately that with some pocket pages this would be exactly what I needed to get all my stamps into manageable storage.

I only bought 8 1/2" x 11" pocket pages for now so I could measure my other stamps and see how small I could go and how many I would need. I simply slipped my stamps into the pages, leaving them attached to the plastic sheets they came on. I started with the larger stamps, and left the others in the box. I'll get more pages and show you the finished project when I finally get them all into it. I also need to get dividers so I can sort them by season/use/holiday.

Last year I did a lot of my Christmas cards on the go because Jon was working a lot, and my basement was way too cold to work in for a long period of time. I found this at Walmart, and since I figure I'll be crafting Christmas cards on the go again, this will keep all my tools together in one place. I can also use it when I'm penpalling on the go. It's a win win.

I love these stamps. I have 4-5 sets of stamps like these for different purposes. I have a baby set that I used on some baby cards a while back, a Christmas set that I used for a custom order last year, and a Graduation set that I used when I graduated from college. I also love that they include a little block for them. It's the perfect size!

I don't use permanent markers a lot, but I couldn't pass these up. Who doesn't want neon Sharpies? You never know when they might come in handy! I love the Sharpie pens for writing letters.

Jon got a Staples gift card with his credit card points, so I picked up some much needed cardstock. I prefer Staples for most of my 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock because it comes in these giant packs and it's so much cheaper. I buy all of my white cardstock from them because I go through it the most!

The colours on the front don't even closely match the actual colours of the paper. The top 5 colours are the package on the left, and the bottom 5 are the package on the right. I love love love the purple and pink in the bottom stack. The yellow's are practically the same, guess I'll need to start using more yellow.

Hope you all have a wonderful Thursday! Only one more day until the long weekend! Hooray!

-Alex

Paper Stack Storage Solution

Alright, so for those of you who know me, I have a love of paper. There has only been a handful of times that I've gone shopping, and not bought at least one paper stack. Unfortunately, that means that I have A LOT of paper.
I don't know that there is any right way to store it, but while browsing my Instagram feed, I came across a crafty lady who had come done what I'm about to show you. I thought it was the smartest thing I'd ever seen!
At some point I'd like to get more shelves so I can store all of my paper this way, and not just my paper stacks.

So, there's my shelf. I'm sure you've seen them at Walmart and thought "What would I ever use that for? Things would fall through the holes". They also have fabric boxes that could fit into the cubes. It worked for other things for a while, but I decided that it wasn't working for me that way. So I took it apart and found some metal ties (metal twist ties from bread or garbage bags work).

I assembled two of the cubes and used the remaining pieces (plus two I took from another one of these) to make this. I used twist ties to secure each shelf to the outside in five places. Two on either side and one on the back in the middle. Then I slid all of my paper stacks into it and ta da. You could also use this for individual sheets, just put similar patterns/colours together.

There you have it! A simple storage solution you can make yourself. And there is no limit to how many cubes you could build, I think I might add another two cubes onto this for all my other paper!

Have a wonderful Tuesday everyone!

-Alex

Michaels Haul - #1

I won't post any of my previous Michael's Hauls because you can just visit my Facebook page (here) to see them. I will, however, share the most recent on from two weeks ago when I was passing through Saskatoon to visit some family. This was definitely the most expensive Michaels trip I've had thus far, the cheapest was a little over $200. But here's everything I bought and some things that came in the mail in the last week!

Four washitape dispensers, need the ones that stack on top of them! I'll share my washitape collection at the end of this post! A carousel for my desk. I'll share what I store in it, in a future post!

Foam adhesive squares, Zots glue dots and a bunch of Hello Kitty things for my penpals!

More washitape...of course! So in love with the camera's and film strip tape!

Jon (my boyfriend) found the middle moustache stickers, and my sister helped me find the other two. Jon also found the owls and I found the cute cameras! I hope to use the moustache's for various father's day cards and various funny cards like "I *moustache* you a question" and then have something adorable inside! The moustaches on the far right are fuzzy which is why I love them so much.

Top left: Martha Stewart trifold 36" x 24" cutting mat, metal ruler, fuzzy peaches (my fave), flower punch, and a flowered photo box.

Top right: Martha Stewart 12" score board, embossing tool kit and wide tip glue pen. Scotch tape gun and Fiskars cutting blades for my paper slicer.

Bottom left: Titanuim blade scissors, lined post it notes, 24 UHU glue sticks and ink for my printer (from Staples)

Bottom right: Large and small white button brads, black eyelets, small and large black button brads.

Aside from washitape, I'd have to say my other crafting weakness would be stamps. If anyone wants to see any of them better, simply let me know! (I had to get this off my Instagram since I accidentally deleted the original). The little square sets in the middle, were from the sale bin.

And of course, more stamps! Finally got my hands on the snail mail stamp that I've been eyeing since I started penpalling. The top left stamp (you plus me equals love) was one I saw my card idol use! So excited to use it for next years Valentine's Day cards. And of course a map of Canada! Somewhere I also have a "Canada Pride" stamp which I love using on my snailmail envelopes!

And that concludes my Michael's haul. However, I got some things in the mail that Jon ordered online for me. They arrived in the mail shortly after we got home.

Washitape from the Freckled Fawn grab bag sale. Which I was really excited about. You can visit their website (here) and keep in mind that they sell a lot more than washi tape!

This was my washitape collection (including a few duplicate rolls featured on the right above the orange chevron) before I got the ones featured a little further down the page. I know it's kind of got out of hand. When Jon counted it at this point, I had 100+

These are the beautiful stamps I ordered from Scrapbook Daily Deals. They post a new deal every day, you can visit their website (here)

I got these papers from Peachy Cheap (I think). They work similarly to Scrapbook Daily Deals. One deal every day, and only for a limited time. You can visit their site (here)

These may have come from either Peachy Cheap or Scrapbook Daily Deals (Can't remember). They basically run from the same place, so it doens't matter. But I love how perfect they are for Project Life (I'll talk more about it another time).

And more washitape! These loves came from Peachy Cheap and my favourite is the roll in the top left corner. It's got the days of the week on it, which would be perfect for a planner or Project Life!

And that's all the lovely craft supplies that I've gotten in the last couple of weeks (aside from the stamps post the other day!)

Have a wonderful day loves!

-Alex

The Grand Tour

In the last two days, I've fought with the name, and decided to revert back to what goes on my cards and my Facebook page. However in the future, I think something that better reflects myself would be more appropriate. I also think that learning to use code and make my own template would be a good idea. I spent hours browsing for one that reflected me, and came up empty handed every time. But after changing it for the second time, I think I'm really happy with this. It's what I wanted! Yay me!

All of that aside, it's time for the photos of my craft space. I didn't take any close ups of how I organize things, I'll save those for later, but I thought I'd share the space I have to work in with all of you.

ABOVE: this is the view through my door. Yes the light switch is outside the room. Luckily it's no longer a dimmer switch..which was weird.

To your left is my craft space (and the bottles I need to put in the garage). The wooden unit in the bottom left corner, is where all my stampin up stamps are currently stored. They're in the first two drawers, but I want to reorganize them into all the drawers. I'll post more about that later.

To the right, is my living space, and the shelf I need to take a apart to reorganize my paper. Yes Pitch Perfect is playing in the background. And a Guy Faux mask is in the corner. The art on my wall I painted myself in highschool.

This is the view from between the bakers rack and the table you can sort of see in the first picture. this is where all the magic happens. The giant white desk is a sewing table I picked up from my neighbours garage sale. The filing cabinet, wooden shelf on the right, and the desk on the left came from my mom's house. The chair came with a desk I bought but gave my mom. My computer sits on the right, and my cricuit and printer are on the left. My carousel is hiding behind my laptop and the white things stacked near the middle of my desk are my washitape holders, which are currently empty. 

To the right of my desk is the filing cabinet. The drawers on top of that is where all my magazines for envelopes go. The photo boxes are where I store my Cards. Below that is my scraps box, stationery, and bead boxes that hold beads and gems. Below that is all my paper, and my project life (which has yet to be opened).

Turning towards my living space is the table where my boyfriend paints and assembles when he's over. The bakers rack holds all my magazines for crafting, washitape (suitcase), stickers (suitcase), wrapping paper, a magnet sheet, ribbon, cards I've received (bottom green box) and my twine (top green box). The wooden cabinet beside that was also bought at my neighbours garage sale and holds all of our board games, and extra tins that my boyfriend's mom sent over.

This is the desk to the left of my main desk. On top of it right now is snacks (I get hungry when crafting). My scissors have no current home so they sit there. My acrylic stamps sit beside them because I use them a lot. Then I have various tins on top to hold things I'm currently working on, or my incoming letters that need to be replied to. Below my desk is where I store extra file folders and all my letters. In the drawers are various things from ink for my printer to things for penpals, to garbage bags, and stamps I need to put into the stamp cabinet.

That's the mostly basic overview of my craft space. I'll share more detailed photos and ways that I organize myself in the future. Tomorrow I plan to work on putting all my wooden stamps away so I can show you the awesome cabinet they're stored in!

Have a lovely day!

-Alex