Kellie Stamps | March Release
It's my first month on the Kellie Stamps Creative Team and I'm so excited to finally share what I've been creating! This month I'm working with the digital version of the March Releases AM to PM and Go.See.Do. They're such versatile sets, perfect for documenting everyday adventures - which are my favourite kind! You can find all the stamps featured in this post here at the Kellie Stamps online store.
I used a variety of techniques with this month's digi stamps. I like to mix up layering stamps on top of photographs before I print (for all you hybrid/digi newbies, you just drag and drop - it's really easy!) with printing them on matte card and cutting them out. This month I also tried creating my own journalling cards using Kellie's digi stamps and I'm really pleased with the result!
That's all for today. Thanks for stopping by! :)
Project Life 2016 - January
Hi all. Today I'm sharing all of my layouts for January. It's been a rather dreary and uneventful month (much like all Januaries) which makes me glad I made the switch to topic based layouts, rather than strict weekly spreads. I was excited to start documenting my 'ordinary' photographs (rather than holiday/vacation snapshots) in 6x8 as I'd only ever used the 6x8 size for mini albums before. So far it's working for me! I'm sticking to my plan of fitting Jan - March in my Ashley Goldberg album - It looks like I should have enough space. If all goes to plan, I'll use four 6x8 albums over the year. But Project Life (much like real life) never seems to go to plan - so we'll see! If I don't fall behind this year, it will be the first year I've managed to keep up to date :) I've learnt not to beat myself up about it and not to be too precious about my album. Simple and imperfect layouts are beautiful, too.
I haven't completed my front page yet. I want some photos of me and hubby (and maybe Baxter, our dog) to fill those two spaces but we're both actually quite camera shy. Or rather, Mr Challis is camera shy and I'm usually the person behind the camera. So this will have to wait for now.
This was my first finished layout. At the start of the year, I spent quite a lot of time reflecting on my life choices so far. I felt restless and run down over the holidays and hubby was in hospital (getting a new knee) and I realised that something had to change. I thought a lot about how you measure success and what being successful meant to me. Did it mean expensive possessions and holidays? Or achievements and qualifications? I decided that happiness is the greatest measure of success and that in the new year I'd start taking big, huge, positive steps towards being happier. It seemed so obvious, once I realised it. A few years ago I was content with being miserable, so long as I was working towards the 'end goal' of having a well paid job. As it turns out, money doesn't make me happy. Sure, I like money enough, but it doesn't beat spending quality time with my friends and family or quiet mornings with a cup of coffee and a good book. I miss those things when I'm working long hours and sleeping through half the weekend. Out of all of these thoughts I took three words to focus on: brave, simplify and prepare. They're kind of the theme of this album now - and my life Jan - March.
The quote in the flower-girl picture says:
"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are."
- EE Cummings
"If it's both terrifying and amazing then you should definitely pursue it"
"Let yourself move to the next chapter in life when the time comes. Don't remain stuck on the same page."
I've still got to finish the last page which I'm filling with 2x2 Instagram pictures (just because). So far 2016 has been more blah than rah, but I'm staying positive. My photography is improving, my mood is improving (slowly) and it even looks a little brighter outside. How is your year shaping up so far?
Scrap targets for February:
- Take more photos of 'us' and other people we like
- Include the song lyrics I can't get out of my head
- Document my favourite things
Nearly forgot to mention - I'm joined the Kellie Stamps team! I'm really looking forward to incorporating more of Kellie's designs into my pages because, let's face it, they're AWESOME.
NEW YORK 6X8 ALBUM - PART 1
Hi there! Today I'm sharing with you the first few pages of my New York mini album. As you can see, I went for a 6x8 from Studio Calico for the album itself. I've seen loads of people use this album! It's super cool! It's from on older range called Brighton Pier which made getting page protectors tricky (the prongs are different from the newer SC 6x8s) but the script on the cover is badass.
So this is my title page at the moment. I'm thinking of putting an overlay in front (or a photo montage?) but I'll probably come back to that right at the end of the project when I do all of the finishing touches.
Mr C and I travelled to NY back in October (for our honeymoon!) and it was our first visit to the big apple. We thought it was a 'once in a lifetime' trip, but already we're talking about going back! We're city people at heart so we really felt at home walking around the streets of Manhattan. It was a lot like London, in some ways, but a lot friendlier - and a lot taller! We managed to ram a lot into 7 days (due to a lot of research/planning before we flew) but there are still things we didn't have time to do.
I used vellum here between the two boarding passes as I didn't want to punch the tickets themselves. Vellum is surprisingly sturdy! I thought I'd have to reinforce it but actually I didn't need to.
We stayed at a trendy little hotel called The Moderne. I'd really recommend it - the staff were amazing and it's really close to Times Square and Central Park. They also have a lounge where you can help yourself to unlimited filter coffee (big plus for a coffee addict like myself!).
On our first morning we wandered down to Times Square for breakfast. Mr C had found a restaurant on Trip Advisor (I think it was called Ellen's Stardust Diner) which had fantastic reviews and we were looking forward to some proper american pancakes and bacon. What we weren't expecting was for all the waiters and waitresses to burst into song! Turns out all the staff are singers waiting for their big break on Broadway. The streets outside were busy, even on a Sunday. The atmosphere though - electric.
We spent a fair amount of time in the Disney Store in Times Square, then Toys R Us (because we're super grown up). Then we wandered about some more. I'm really not sure where I am in some of the pictures, I hadn't gotten my bearings yet at this point. (In all honesty, I have no sense of direction anyway. I let Mr C lead my around all week as husband/Sat Nav.)
That's all I've completed for now, the rest is still a work in progress. I should have another chunk of pages finished by next weekend - hopefully! Thanks for stopping by. I'll update this post tomorrow with a series of links to the products I've used (but right now I need to get some shut eye!).
