Project Life 2013 - week 43

So we had our first Halloween party and as a couple we dressed up for the first time ever.  What a night, we had a great time with some really awesome friends and needless to say lots of photos to share. I struggled a lot with how to show them and not overpower the whole week. I managed but still plan to do a little something extra with the pictures just to say a bit more and share more of the story of the night.  Thankfully my super talented friend brought his camera and snapped just about all of the photos you'll see.  Phil, you are the best!

Oh and something is up with my camera, I had a heck of a time getting shots that were semi in focus so if it seems a bit blurry to you don't rush out to the eye doctor, its my camera.  I think it needs cleaning and calibrating.

Simone had a well timed trip to the dentist and we got to see new and updated xrays of the new teeth pushing their way up, so cool.  She also got her first report card, exciting stuff.  Some Halloween sweet treats and some crazy mummies we made for the party.

Another super simple title card with the cutest little pumpkin image I found on line.  A photo I snapped of Simone and my mom before she left last week thanking all of her friends for the box tops they gave to Simone, she earned 10 gummie worms and was in heaven.  This group hug thing, it now involves boys.......  I'm pretty sure I have well documented our love for the movie Pitch Perfect and Simone is very good at remembering the songs that were in it. Lately she's been singing her version of Titanium and let me tell you, hysterical.  I was lucky enough to catch it on video and its priceless.  We planned on playing some games at the party and tested a few out before hand.  In theory it was a great idea but the early setting sun made it pretty hard.  Larry's awesome web job on the front of the house and a cute sweater that I'm loving.  I made the little card next to it and kind of love it.

Here is the front cover of the inserts.  I love this so much I can't even tell you it needed to be large and since I don't have a large format printer at home this was the easiest way to make it happen because you can print a 6x12 image at home if you break it down into 3 4x6 images first.

Inside I used a lot of my friends pictures especially all the great ones of the couples and the group shots.  I used one for the text portion, just dialed the opacity way down so my text would show.  Two slots on the right flip up and you'll see those shots below.  The adults were well out numbered by kids and they all had fun and it was a complete madhouse but they were all so good and there were no issues at all.  They even left us adults alone for the most part so we could have some fun too. 

 



I had to also squeeze in a bit about the soccer match so that is on the backside of the second insert.  Scaled down a lot but I added a flip up to fit two more shots in that I really liked.

I  hope the rest of your week is good, I've off to tackle more of my to-do list.

Project Life 2013 - week 42

Knee deep into October and it ended up being a lot of pink which I suppose is appropriate.  I managed to fit in quite a few Studio Calico Project Life kit cards, some current and some old that I have been hording for awhile.

Simone got some new clothes and she was super excited about the cute violet belt that came with her jeans and wore it every day to school last week.  I now have a really solid Christmas idea for her, more belts.  I have been wanting to use a diamond cut for a really long time but never had anywhere to fit it in that made any sense.  I finally I had a chance and I love it.  The date strip below is a digital file from Studio Calico, I just modified it as usual to remove some parts and recolor where I needed.  It's a bit hard to tell in the photo but the October and day numbers for the week are pink and the others are orange.  We met some friends or lunch and of course the kids had a blast helping to make the ice cream. Me sans makeup at an early am mammogram appointment, yay!  We needed some pencil erasers and guess who decided to organize them. I can always count on her for a good photo op. Earlier in the week I noticed that the prongs holding my diamond into my ring were pretty much flush with the edge of the diamond so some repairs were required.  Being without it was seriously no fun, I was super happy to have it back and they did a great job making it secure again. I promised them I wouldn't wait so long again.  The two cards sandwiching my photo are ones that I loved and saved for just the right time. The one on the left is more current, the one to the right, months old.

We have been slowing getting the house fall ready which I always love. Larry went on a super quick trip back east for a special birthday party and the day he left Simone discovered her very first loose tooth so we had to facetime with him right away to share the news.  Luckily we got to chat with everyone, including her cousins.  While Larry was back east some professional photos were taken for the occasion and while he was gone Grandma came to stay with us. She very happily helped Simone sew two new pillowcases for her bed and they came out really cute.  Simone had lots of fun telling Grandma to step on it while they were sewing. 

We had a soccer match on Saturday which was the main reason Grandma came to visit us. Remember that team we played last well it was a rematch and ended quite differently this time.  The girls were on fire and played their hearts out.  We parents have speculated that the later game time may have helped, apparently our girls don't like the early morning games.  Grandma was super happy to see Simone get a goal and cheered just as loud as the rest of us parents.

Its crunch time the rest of the week getting ready for our Halloween party so I hope you have a great rest of the week!

Project Life 2013 - week 41

This spread was all over the place on Monday. I usually start very methodically and go from slot to slot always starting on the side that has the four vertical 4x6 slots and them move to the other side. But I couldn't stick to my order to save my life.  For some reason I was having a really hard time finding a direction, its never usually that thought out for one, I don't decide ahead of time on a color scheme it always just sort of evolves for me and ends up working out. I don't know why I struggled so much this week, it may have had something to do with an overwhelming amount of new stuff that had just arrived and my desire to use as much of it as possible. Crafty overload I suppose.

Anyway here it is, in it's brown, green and yellow glory.

Fall has totally taken its time as usual here in California but this one tree in the park by our house knows what day it is and has turned on the pretty for us. The pretty marble parts of the center section is a card from the Studio Calico Antiquary Project Life kit. It was 4x6 I just cut it down to make a 3x4 card and ended up using a strip for the card below just to carry it over. Its such a pretty pattern I wanted to make sure it got used. I snapped the photo of me in some leaves this past Saturday, loved the tones and the light in that shot.  This group hug thing seems to happen daily at dismissal and I'm glad I got one on camera. The rest is about our time at another pumpkin patch on Sunday, the bottom flips out as you'll see below.

I'm a big lover of Heidi Swapp's Color Shine spray and she just released a new batch of colors and one is called Citron. By name alone it was a must buy for me and it didn't disappoint in person. The color is the most amazing green with gold shimmer.  I sprayed the tag for the title card and love the pop it gives. I used it on the facing page as well on the corn maze alpha, they are also Heidi's resist alphas and I just painted it on with a paint brush which worked great. 

A another outfit snap and the cozy card seemed perfect, its from Tina Azmus and can be found here. I worked in kinder again and spent some time at the sharpener and couldn't resist this shot.  My contribution is up for the Cutting Edge class so I wanted to include a bit about that.  The weather is cooling down and blankets were required at soccer practice last week. Another beautiful sunrise and some much needed room cleaning for a little girl. I went shopping at Trader Joe's and found these super cute little sleeves for gift cards and had to grab one to use here you can see it below as well.

Here is that shot of the color shine up close, so pretty!

All of the wood veneer you see on the spread is from Studio Calico's new line called Printshop that my friend Shanna Noel designed. This all came in my recent kits and I loved adding it around my spread. It should be out soon and you can find the whole line here.

We had a bye week for soccer this past weekend so no soccer insert. It was weird not having a game on Saturday, we sure missed it but we'll be back at it this Saturday.

I hope you have a great rest of the week!

Project Life 2013 - week 40

I can't believe it, twelve weeks left in this year, so crazy!  I plan to enjoy every last minute of this year, so much fun to be had in those last twelve weeks.

This weeks spread is super full of fall, well fall California style. Fall that is 80° at a pumpkin festival. I mean come on, I'm over it already!

On the first of October we made sure to put up the Halloween decorations and Simone decided to play a little dress up.  I looked over at her and immediately remembered this book I had when I was a kid. She looked so much like the tiny witch on the cover. Happily I still had my copy so we are in the process of reading it together at bed time and she loves it! I met up with my friend Kari last week for a late lunch, ice cream, gab and scrap shopping date and these new cards from Tina Azmus were perfect for the pictures. I adore both sets she put out and loved playing with them, you can see them here and here.  A new food store opened up in town and I love the way they displayed these little spice bags. Simone had a jog-a-thon at school on Friday and she got boo'd again this year. Sunday we had a late lunch and some beers after the pumpkin festival which was nice.  The last card is also from Tina a freebie she had on her blog.

I snapped that picture of the pumpkins at our new food store. I just love the colors of them, I may have to go back and pick up a few. The center card is a combination of two of Tina's pieces. I just manipulated them digitally to fit the space I needed. The rest of the photos are from the pumpkin festival, Simone had fun and we got a great fall fix despite the warm temps.

Soccer this past Saturday was tough. Simone played three quarters and got knocked down a lot. She did really well against a really great team. They were super well matched and they each held each other from getting any goals until the very end when the other team scored.  Two thing became very clear to me at this game. Not all coaches are created equal and we have a fantastic coach. The other team, not so much. I thanked our coach for not being that guy. I was shocked how he coached his young girls.  At the end of the game, the frustration came out in Simone and she was spent, there were tears and I'm so grateful it was caught on film. This is who she is and she plays with all her heart and I love her so much for that.

Have a great rest of the week everyone!

Project Life 2013 - week 39

I can't believe its the end of September in Project Life land, its kind of crazy actually.  This spread is super out of the norm for me, its very dark, its funny how it turns out like that some times.  I'm sure it won't stay this way but its a cool change for sure.

With soccer practice two nights a week, we adults get a little punchy sometimes. This past week was no exception, we photo bombed one mom's phone while she wasn't around, hilarious! While another night was a bring your own type of experience. We have met the greatest people this season and I sure hope we stay together for awhile longer.  As far as the rest of this side goes, you can definitely see the seasons changing in the weather around here, cooler morning walks to school and lots of clouds.  We had some family visit this weekend, it was so great to see them, the boys had a great day golfing.

The title card this week is super simple and I kept it black. The paper camera came in a Studio Calico kit and I love it. I popped out parts of the lens so it has a bit of dimension. I worked in Simone's class again this past week. Her homework is shockingly advanced at her young age.  A hot tub morning for the two of us. A party invitation I sent out, our first ever Halloween party, I'm excited. I made the invitation but it was inspired by this cool one I saw online.  Some donuts we had while the boys were here.  The best chocolate cake I have ever made, its amazing, you need to make it.  You can find the recipe here.  Larry and I have been on a terror catching up on this show.  We were almost three seasons behind and we're watching episodes like its our job! Me in a new shirt that I love and my sneaks for the Studio Calico class that I wrapped up this past weekend.

And the soccer inserts continue.  All my pictures this week and the first loss for our girls.  They handled it well, I'm pretty sure they didn't even realize they lost which is good.  They played well and Simone did get a goal for the team and she loved having her brother and uncle see her play.

I'm taking a much needed scrap break for the rest of the week.  I'm hoping I don't set foot in my office except to do homework with Simone.  I'm officially fried!

Have a great rest of the week everyone!