While I was participating in a recent round table discussion on the Pocket Talk Podcast I shared a little bit about my plans for this project. When Jess asked to explain my project I talked about how when I work on my family albums there are a lot of stories about me that get edited out. I didn't want to leave those pictures and stories out anymore so I decided to make an album that would be just for those things. It would also be a place where I could talk about things that were important to me, share the things I was making and a place to share my feelings about how I wanted to live in this world. There is much talk lately about the importance of togetherness and love and being good to each other and I thought this would be the perfect place for me to share my feelings on these topics while also documenting how I was going to make this type of stuff happen for myself. In essence to share what it meant to me to be a better human and bring something positive to this planet of ours. Will I get there? I don't know but I do know that taking the time to share my stories will matter to someone someday and I hope getting these types of thoughts down may also help someone else along the way.
When thinking about how I wanted to approach this project I was heavily influenced by a class I took years ago from Studio Calico. The class was taught by Lexi Bridges and it was called This is Me. I shared a bit of what I made for that class here, here and here. This was hands down my favorite scrapbooking class that I have ever taken. I loved the idea of documenting stories about me that others might not know and I want this project to have that same feel.
For this project I'm using a long retired Studio Calico handbook designed by Ashley Goldberg for the Goldie collection. I love the graphic black hearts on this album and had I planned better I would have bought two of these albums just in case I need more space as this year progresses. Unfortunately this album is really hard to find so I'll have to keep that in mind and not go too crazy with this project. The album comes with a mix of divided page protectors which I will use but I'll also add in some additional protectors in different sizes. It will be very similar in feel to my December Daily® album so lots of varying sizes. It also comes with some smaller watercolor paper inserts and six clear transparency tabs with gold foiling. I'll be using the tabs to divide my albums into six two month sections.
This is a look at my title page. I used one of 2" square sectioned protectors and added in a bunch of elements that I found in my stash that would coordinate with some Kelly Purkey kit cards. I loved that orange color of the Hello 2017 card and used that one as my jumping off point. I haven't attached anything permanently into the protector because I may decide to back some of the square elements with photos or other little bits as the year goes. If that doesn't end up happening I'll back everything with patterned paper and staple the elements so they don't float around the pockets.
Here is the first transparency divider, each of the dividers has a different pattern in gold foil. I love the stars so I just added in a large chipboard star to the front and also on the backside to cover the adhesive. I'm trying to find some small black alpha stickers so I can add in a J and a F to the tab but I haven't found any the right size. They need to be small so if you know of a good source, let me know in the comments.
My plan is to have either a pattern paper insert or a large photo directly behind each tab with the months that follow. This background is a digital 6x8 paper from PushPrintStudio. I love her collections and love this graphic black pattern. I opted to change it from the off white it originally had to a more vibrant white just because that was the look I was going for. The green text was cut on my cameo out of some cardstock I had on hand. I made this after the first spread that you will see below and I was inspired by the green I used on it. Since its also Pantones color of the year I thought it was an appropriate color choice.
I knew my first spread needed to set the tone for the project so I sat down and started with my journaling. I think you will be able to read it just fine from the picture but know that yes there is a typo or two. I've decided to leave it because I'm not perfect and I'm okay with that. Lots of real talk and truth bombs to get me going for the year. I used stamps from Kelly Purkey's latest Currently Loving mini kit that was designed by Tina Azmus and I added in some additional stamps from her Hustle and Truth Bomb stamp sets.
The card in the lower right hand corner is from ScrapEmporium, I love Gina's work and I'm so happy she's making stuff again and selling it on Etsy. All the other journaling cards are from Kelly's main kit. I look forward to checking off those boxes as the year progresses and as I make some progress.
The background for the main photo was enlarged by me since I had a pdf file of the journaling card. You could easily replicate this my scanning the 4x4 card that comes in the kit and enlarging it in Photoshop Elements yourself. I absolutely love all of Tina's had painted work, it has such a cool look.
My next spread was prompted by some photos I snapped while I was cleaning and reorganizing my makeup. These pictures and story is easily something that would have been edited out of my family album for something else so I'm happy to have a place for it. On the right is one of the watercolor pages that came in the album so I did a quick wash of watercolors to make a background. I am by no means a painter so this is about as fancy as I can get with a brush in my hand but I do love the pop of bright yellow. The journaling cards on the left are from ScrapEmporium and the makeup die cuts are something I purchased purely because it was makeup related. I never thought I'd have a use for them but I'm so glad I bought them. They are from WeRMemory Keepers, the Urban Chic line that came out last year.
Here's an up close image in case you want to ready what my current makeup faves are and my journaling.
I have one or two more stories I want to tell for January and I'll call that month done. I need to keep myself in check so the whole year fits in the album but I'm looking forward to working on this for sure.
I still need to start my family pocket page album for 2017 but I have decided that I will be working on that monthly instead of weekly for 2017. I think I'll enjoy looking back on the months as a whole and making as many spreads as I need to based on my photos. I'll share that here once I get it going. Other than that I have no other concrete scrapbooking plans for this year but I think these will keep me busy along with any other layouts or minis I end up making. I hope your 2017 scrapbooking plans have you excited as well.
See you soon,
