December Instagram Challenge

Wow!  It has been a month since I last posted!   I was on such a roll with the Blogtember challenge, and then life just got so busy.  I'm hoping to do better in the next few weeks, but until I can sit still long enough to edit pictures and compose a post or tow, I'll leave you with another Instagram challenge for December.

Back in July, when Valine and I went to the Rayne crop, one of our main projects was to complete the base pages for our December Daily scrapbooks.  Last year, I completed my pages in the fall, but it was a bit of a stretch this year to think of tinsel and trees when it was 95+ degrees outdoors, but I am so glad that we did it while we had the time.   As busy as this fall has been, I never would have had the time to put it together otherwise.

Rather than following the usual format that Ali Edwards typically uses, this year, we decided to use up our stash of supplies and to center our books around the alphabet:  The ABC's of Christmas.

I wanted to keep it simple, with the ultimate goal of adding one picture per day, plus a bit of journaling.  Here is a peek inside:

 I included some extra pages in the back, as well, as an envelope to collect keepsakes, if I want them.

Therefore, the photo prompts for this month will follow this same theme.   Obviously, there are more than 26 days in December, so there are a few other prompts for those days.  Have fun with it and let's see how many different ways to interpret each letter we can find!  Don't forget to use the hashtag #ABCsOfChristmas2015!

A Little Bit of Scrapping

There has been so much going on in the past few weeks, that I'm going to back up a little and catch up.  ****For some reason, my photos have not been posting, so I'm trying yet again****

A couple of weeks ago, I traveled down to south Louisiana for a scrapbook retreat.  I came down a day early so that I'd have time to visit with Valine a bit.  When I arrived in Baton Rouge, she met me in town and after lunch, we headed to the LSU Rural Life Museum for a walk through the Windrush Gardens.

It was a hot afternoon, but we enjoyed wandering through the gardens, visiting and taking in the flowers, statues, and historic buildings.

The next morning, we drove to Rayne for the Treasured Memories annual scrapbook retreat.  I'd never been to Rayne and our scrapping buddies were not able to come this time (we missed you Vanessa, Pam and Catha!!), so it was a completely new experience for both of us.

I haven't done much scrapbooking lately, but had brought a couple of projects to work on.  The first one was a Summer Mini-book.  Prior to coming, I'd cut out page dividers for both of us and found a couple of fun little albums on sale at Michael's for us to use.

We divided our summer activities into categories and assembled the book with a divider for each one.
We both had a few photos ready to go into the album, but will fill in the rest as the summer continues.
My album is already so full, I may have to switch to a different album, but am hoping I can keep it simple.  I just need to add some journaling here and there to tell the stories.

There was a pirate theme to the weekend, so one of the fun things that they did was to have a treasure hunt.  Rayne's official mascot is a frog.  I don't really know why, but they have frog statues all over the city.  Our treasure hunt took us throughout the city, looking for specific frogs that had been marked on a treasure map.

Using photos of the frogs, we then made a 2-page layout that could be entered into a contest.
I spent WAY too much time thinking about the layout, but it was fun.   As the scrappers filed through the classroom, viewing and voting for the layouts, we noticed that people were talking about ours a lot, which we assumed was a good thing.   Once we got to spot where our layout was laying, we saw why:  the "Y" had fallen off of our layout, so that it read "AHO" rather than "Ahoy".    We had a nice giggle over that, but in the end, we ended up winning 4th place.  That meant a $40 certificate to the on-site scrapbook store, so that was a welcome treat.

There is not much better than spending a weekend with your BFF.  And to get to combine some crafting with it?   Perfect!

Project Life 2015

A few years back, I made the decision to join the Project Life bandwagon and document my life throughout the year 2012.   I began the year with a bang, despite my bum arm (I had surgery early that year) and not only completed some layouts, but organized a work space on my dining table.  It was quite an eventful year, as that is the year Ron and I re-connected, started dating and became engaged.  You can see all my posts from that time right here.

Sadly, all that happiness and busyness interfered with my Project Life intentions and I never finished.  In fact, it pretty much all came to a screeching halt the first of July.  Coincidence?  I think not.

This year, I'm trying it again.  This time, I'm using the Project Life App that is available through the iTunes store.

This App is awesome!!!!   Because it's mobile, I can jot down ideas on the note cards whenever I have a few minutes to spare.  My photos are all synced between my iPhone, and iPad, so they are available whenever I want to complete a layout, whichever device I choose to use.

The Project Life App is so easy to use.  It comes with a nice selection of cards to use, and there are lots of additional ones you can purchase for a small charge.  I began with just the basic sets, but purchased a couple of extra sets last week, so those are also available on all of my devices.

Sunday evening is when I usually have the most free time (since I don't have to prepare lesson plans like many teachers), so I generally open up a new layout . . .

. . . insert a photos and then choose a journaling card for that day.

You can change the font, the size of the font and even the color.

When I'm done editing the layout for that day, I can click on the "x" on the top left and it saves it to my library, so that I can edit or add to it throughout the week.

Once the layout is completed, I export it to my iCloud storage.  You have the option of exporting in either a 12x12 format or an 8x8 format.  I've been doing an 8x8 format and hope to get some printed very soon.

At this time, the only negative thing I've found with the app is that the layouts do not sync over my various devices.  For instance, if I begin it on my iPad, I cannot edit that particular layout on my iPhone.   (or if you can, I have not been able to figure out how)   For that reason, I've mostly been using my iPad to create my layouts, although I've done a couple on my phone and then saved them to my iCloud storage with the others.

I should probably knock on wood or something, but so far, I've been keeping up with the project.   After a suggestion from Jana, I've created an Evernote document (that is even accessible on my laptop) to document a few sentences about each day, so even if I get behind, I hope that I'll be able to catch up.  Keep your fingers crossed for me---I'm currently on a roll!

Play

30 Days of Thankful 2014 - Day 19 - PLAY

While yesterday we focused on work, today, our focus is on the opposite--PLAY.  I don't know about you, but I have several hobbies, most of which I've enjoyed for quite a long time.  When I have no pressing work to do (or when I want to avoid housework), I generally choose some sort of creativity as my PLAY.  I love to PLAY with paper, pens, fabric and even computer programs.  As with many hobbies, the supplies are almost as fun as the activities itself.  And, I seem to need to spread things all around me before I can become inspired enough to PLAY with them--which isn't too much of a problem unless it is spread out on the dining table.  ;-)

What do you do away from work and responsibilities?  How do you unwind?  How do you PLAY?  I hope that you find this Instagram challenge a bit of PLAY--I do!

An Instagram Album - August Break

I enjoyed participating in the Susannah Conway's August Break Instagram project so much that I wanted a way to preserve those photos in a more tangible way.  Sure, I can always go on Instagram and search for the hashtag, but I still love having something in my hands that I can flip through from time to time.  I also wanted to express myself creatively without spending tons of time doing it. While shopping at Hobby Lobby with Jana, I purchased a couple 4'x6" watercolor paper pads.

With the LSU football game on screen in the living room, I spread out my supplies and set to work.  I traced the 4x4 outline on each piece of paper then painted the surrounding area.

I didn't spend much time or thought on it, but instead just brushed colors on and let them dry.

I generally get my photos developed at Walgreens because it is so convenient to my home and there are always coupons for the processing.  Having the app on my phone made ordering the Instagram photos so easy!! I just trimmed the photos and attached them to the paper.

I mounted each photo on a card and wrote the prompt and the date.  Because I used 4x6 paper, they pages slip easily into a brag-book style album.  I found this one at Michael's for $1.99, but they might even have them at the dollar store.  I slipped out the cards from the front and back covers and traced around them before painting.  On the front, I did an Instagram icon and for the back, I just made stripes. Easy peasy!

The last little touch I added was ribbon.  I punched two holes in the middle of the spine (which is easy to find on these brag books) and pushed ribbon through each, tying it in a bow on the back.

Such an easy little project and makes me more likely to look back through the photos than if they were only on my phone.

Mish Mash of Thoughts and Pictures

As an update to yesterday's post, I wanted to show you Danette's curtains hanging in her house.  They look so awesome!!
This is the from the inside:

And this is on the porch looking in---all you see is the bamboo with fringe at the bottom.

Today, I was able to put together a quick and simple travel journal for our upcoming trip.   

I used an 8x8 looseleaf album and bought a variety of different page protectors to hold Instagram and 4x6 photos, as well as a small packet of "travel themed" journaling cards.  Everything else was from my stash.

I plan to take the journaling pages with me on the trip to record our activities each day.  Then when I get back home, I can add photos, etc.  I write better when I have lines to use as guides, so I just drew lines on the front and back of these pages.

Because I wanted something to keep tickets, brochures and other memorabilia in, I cut down a couple of 9x12 manila envelopes, added patterned paper trim and a velcro closure, then punched holes to fit in the album.  

This was such an easy project---hoping I find it equally easy to jot down my memories as we go!

Tonight was the Mudbug Madness 5K.  There was a big crowd, so we ran into quite a few of our running buggies--both from our weekly group and from USA Fit.  It was very hot this evening and neither of us have run very much lately, so we were slow (although Ron was faster than me). 

After the race, we were so hot and sweaty that paying to stand around at the Festival and eat crawfish didn't sound very appealing.  Instead, we chose to sit in the shade and eat the post-race fare--corndogs, cookies and bananas.  

The good news was that Ron's calf didn't really hurt and neither did my shin.  Perhaps we can get back in the habit of running regularly this summer so that this heat doesn't feel quite so brutal.