Project Life 2014 | week 5

30 April 2014

Week of: 27 January to 2 February 2014

What happened this week: The big thing this week was the traditional Chinese New Year in Singapore – lots of food, family, and friends.

Techniques: I ran an Amy Tangerine Cut and Paste 3×4 card through the printer for my week in review, trimmed down a the gold ang pao packet with the horse motif and included it in my spread, since it was Chinese New Year. I used the Becky Higgins nested die set to make my own 4×6 cards with patterned paper from the Basic Grey Fresh Cut collection. I also purchased a Tim Holtz tiny attacher this week and happily stapled all the embellishments in sight.

Thoughts: Since Chinese New Year is also called Spring Festival, I thought of flowers and chose to use the Basic Grey Fresh Cut patterned papers for all the pretty floral prints, which coordinated nicely with the occasion. I’ve found that using paper from one collection for one spread helps everything to coordinate easily.

I bought the new Studio Calico Essentials gold chipboard and sequins, as well as the Tim Holtz tiny attacher this week. As you can see, they feature heavily on this week’s spread because I was just so excited over them.

And surprise! No enamel dots this week – just lots of gold and attaching with staples.

—

Supplies: Basic Grey Fresh Cut collection, Amy Tangerine Remarks stickers, washi tape, Studio Calico Essentials gold sequins, Studio Calico Essentials gold chipboard hearts, stars and geotags, American Crafts thickers, Amy Tangerine Cut and Paste mini kit, Amy Tangerine Plus One mini kit, Becky Higgins Project Life Sunshine edition 4×6 textured cardstock, Kaiser Craft clear stamp, Amy Tangerine roller date stamp, Project Life Midnight edition, Studio G clear stamps, October Afternoon alphabet stickers

Tools: Becky Higgins Project Life Design A page protectors, American Crafts white cardstock, Becky Higgins nested metal die set, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, EK Success 1-inch circle punch

Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I’m embarking on this year-long project to document all my memories in 2014. You can see my other Project Life posts here.

Project Life 2014 | week 4

24 April 2014

Week of: 20 January to 26 January 2014

What happened this week: Spent time with family and friends this week, received happy mail from my pen pals, and tried several new recipes.

Techniques used: I included a couple of Instax photos. And still had the regular weekly title cards, and week in review cards.

Thoughts: I had quite a few photos this week, which filled up all the pockets on right side. I also kept my embellishments super simple with enamel dots, wood veneers, and washi tape. I still naturally gravitate towards them for my embellishments and love how easily it all comes together.

—

Supplies used: Basic Grey candy buttons, Amy Tangerine Yes, Please Remarks stickers, washi tape, Studio Calico Sundrifter wood veneers, Midnight edition core kit, Amy Tangerine Cut and Paste mini kit, Amy Tangerine Today roller date stamp, Jillibean Soup alpha stickers, Maya Road kraft tags

Tools used: Becky Higgins Project Life Design A page protectors, American Crafts white cardstock

Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I’m embarking on this year-long project to document all my memories in 2014. You can see my other Project Life posts here.

Project Life 2014 | week 3

10 April 2014

Week of: 13 January to 19 January 2014

What happened this week: I started Spring term this week, fell sick, got better, and went to my brother’s commissioning parade. That was the highlight of the week, so these photos are all exclusively from the weekend.

Techniques used: The weekly title cards remain the same. I ended up using lots of filler cards this week because of my lack of photos. But I loved being able to use up my growing stash of filler cards! Without planning to, yellow, grey and aqua/teal were the main colors of this week’s spread.

Thoughts: I loved the color scheme of this week’s spread. And I’m still keeping things simple because I need to catch up!

I’ll be back soon. More spreads in the making.

—

Supplies used: Pebbles Family phrase cards, Basic Grey candy buttons, Amy Tangerine Yes, Please Remarks stickers, washi tape, Studio Calico Sundrifter wood veneers, Studio Calico Letterpress labels, Midnight edition core kit, Amy Tangerine Yes Please Remarks alpha stickers, Amy Tangerine Today roller date stamp

Tools used: Becky Higgins Project Life Design A page protectors, American Crafts white cardstock

Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I’m embarking on this year-long project to document all my memories in 2014. You can see my other Project Life posts here.

Project Life 2014 | week 2

2 April 2014

Week of: 6 January to 12 January 2014

What happened this week: We spent the week on vacation in Hanoi. I hung out with my friends at the River Safari, and we ate good food (again).

Left-hand side:

Techniques used: The same weekly title cards as last week. I ran my journaling cards through the printer again. Instant photos from my Instax mini 25. And I also used more neutrals, with pops of color this week.

Side note: I’m planning to make a mini album of all the photos from our trip, so I just included a couple of my favorite photos for the weekly spread.

Right-hand side:

Can we just pause for a bit and talk about how much I love this card above? The water color effect is my favorite. (The 4×6 card is from Amy Tan’s latest Plus One collection mini kit.)

Thoughts: I’m loving the clean and simple look of the weekly title cards. It provides some resting space for the eyes, while keeping everything consistent across the weeks. I especially love that it’s one less card for me to have to think about/fuss over.

Plus, enamel dots and wood veneers are definitely my go-tos. Enough said.

—

Supplies used: Amy Tangerine paper leaves, Studio Calico Snippets and Sundrifter wood veneers, washi tape, Crate Paper Storyteller 6×6 paper pad, Amy Tangerine Cut and Paste mini kit, Amy Tangerine Plus One mini kit, Doodlebug enamel dots, Studio Calico Wanderlust roller phrase stamp, Amy Tangerine Yes Please Remarks alpha stickers, Amy Tangerine clear stamps, October Afternoon Mini Market alpha stickers

Tools used: Becky Higgins Project Life Design A page protectors, American Crafts white cardstock

Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I’m embarking on this year-long project to document all my memories in 2014. You can see my other Project Life posts here.

Project Life 2014 | week 1

27 March 2014

Twelve weeks into 2014, and I’m so glad that I’m finally getting around to sharing my Project Life spreads with you guys. Better late than never, right?

Week of: 1 January to 5 January 2014

What happened this week: We celebrated the New Year, along with lots of other random activities, including lots of good food (one of our favorites!).

Left-hand side:

Techniques used: I created my own weekly title cards in Microsoft Powerpoint and printed it on white cardstock. Then I stamped the dates with my Amy Tangerine roller date stamp to finish it off. I also ran several of the journaling cards through the printer for my journaling.

Those gold thickers are from American Crafts, and the “Celebrate” glitter card is from Mambi. Splashes of glitter for the New Year!

Right-hand side:

Rather ironically, I made a mistake on that journaling card with this quote by Neil Gaiman. The last line didn’t get printed, and you can see how I filled in the last sentence with a black pen in my own writing. But ah, we live and learn.

Thoughts: I’m enjoying the combination of handwriting and typed journaling. I’m currently behind by several weeks, but this process has been so much fun and I’m slowly getting caught up.

Stay tuned – more updates to come!

—

Supplies used: MAMBI specialty cards, Amy Tangerine Cut and Paste mini kit, Amy Tangerine Remarks alpha stickers, Amy Tangerine die cut shapes, Maya Road kraft jotter tags, Basic Grey candy buttons, washi tape, American Crafts gold thickers, Studio Calico Printshop 6×6 paper pad, Dear Lizzy 5th and Frolic 6×6 paper pad, Midnight Edition Core Kit, Studio Calico wood veneers

Tools used: Project Life Design A page protectors, American Crafts white cardstock, HP printer

Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I’m embarking on this year-long project to document all my memories in 2014. You can see my other Project Life posts here.

Project Life | the title page

20 January 2014

We’re about three weeks into the New Year and I’m finally getting around to sharing my title page on the blog.

I was able to put together the title page on New Year’s Day. I had my photos printed and ready to go, so it was just a matter of moving things around on the page and deciding where I wanted them to go.

As I mentioned in this post, I’m mainly using the Design A page protectors this year.

Overall, I kept things pretty simple with a handful of selective embellishments (namely, thickers and wood veneers), and a black-white-coral color scheme.

Funnily (or not), I’m already behind on my weekly spreads from all the travel I did a couple weeks back. But I’m really hoping to catch up soon! With how simple I’m planning to keep it, catching up shouldn’t take long at all.

—

Supplies used: Midnight Edition Core Kit, Studio Calico wood veneers, Chic Tags Everyday Life II journaling tags, American Crafts thickers, Basic Grey Fresh Cut 6×6 paper pad

Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I’m embarking on this year-long project to document all my memories in 2014. You can see my other Project Life posts here.

Project Life | the plan for 2014

3 January 2014

Project Life and I have a little bit of a history.

I started Project Life in the middle of 2012, but quickly fell off the bandwagon a couple of months later.

In 2013, I determined to document life (both in my 21 list and my New Year’s Resolutions) but ended up failing miserably on both counts.

But in 2014, I’m determined to stick with it and finish the year. So I’m setting myself up for success.

Here’s how:

Decide on a core kit. This year, I’m using the Midnight Core Kit, together with the Cut & Paste mini kit and Maggie Holmes mini kit. I was torn between getting the Midnight or Sunshine core kit. But I eventually decided to go with a more neutral kit so I could mix the kits instead.

Have a system and make it work. Since I don’t have a photo printer at home (yet!), the plan for photos is to upload and print them online each week. I’m hoping to accumulate my journaling and thoughts throughout the week, so putting it together once I get my photos will be a breeze. I will probably put the week together in one sitting, instead of little bits throughout the week. Also, since I’m printing my photos online, chances are I’ll mostly be working on the week before, instead of the current week.
Have a limited selection of embellishments. I’m narrowing my slew of embellishments so there aren’t an overwhelming number of decisions to make later on during the year as the months go by.

Stick with one design of page protectors. I’m mainly using Design A pocket page protectors. Because I realized that having a variety of page protectors to choose from makes for far too many decisions which really end up stressing me out instead. But I might throw in a different design once I get the hang of things.
Blog about it! I’m sharing all these thoughts with you because I really want to be accountable and make it to the end of 2014.
Be flexible. I’m reminding myself that a plan is after all, just a plan. So while I may have this plan written out, I’m open to making changes to make this work once I actually get started.

This is a very rough idea of what I plan to do this year. But altogether, the key is just to keep things simple. The fewer decisions to make, the better. The pretty creative stuff can come afterward, once I settle down into a routine for this.

Here’s to documenting 2014.

Friday Favorite no. 010 // CHA summer

26 July 2013

As you probably already know by now, I pretty much don’t scrapbook at all nowadays. And I’m really working on changing that. But in the meantime, I still love being inspired by all the amazing patterns and products out there. And because the CHA Create-n-Connect show just ended yesterday, I’m picking a few of my favorite new releases (in no particular order) to share with you guys! (:

1. Amy Tangerine and Dear Lizzy with American Crafts

As always, Amy Tangerine and Dear Lizzy have some great new collections. It’s even cooler that they have Project Life mini kits now. Pretty sweet.

2. Flea Market by Maggie Holmes for Crate Paper

I’m pretty big into gold right now. So I love that Maggie Holmes’ Flea Market collection has some generous doses of it!

3. Project Life Sunshine Edition by Elsie and Emma from A Beautiful Mess

I fell off the Project Life bandwagon more than a year ago. But all the truly sunshine + happy colors in this Sunshine Edition might just be enough to make me hop back on again.

But in addition to the usual favorites, I love discovering “newer” brands that I don’t look at a lot.

4. Cut & Paste Adorbs by My Mind’s Eye

I love the color scheme of this collection. Such a good mix of pinks and greens and aquas, mmm.

5. Cut & Paste Flair by My Mind’s Eye

This collection has the cutest nerd glasses, which is my favorite part of this preppy collection. I might get some of this just for those glasses, I tell you.

6. Dapper & Dan by Glitz Design

This collection is such a nice mix of greens, blues, and neutrals for the BOYS. Plus, I’m really digging those geometric shapes and the mustaches (!!!).

7. Finnley by Glitz Design

Also by Glitz Design, Finnley is a fun, fresh take on trendy colors with woodland animals thrown in the mix. So excited to see some of these brands that I don’t usually go for.

Well, that’s all for me for today! Now excuse me while I go and earn some dough so I can splurge on these collections later! (;

I hope your Friday is bursting with creativity and sunshine!

—

Life is often full and busy. But I like to take time to enjoy some of my favorite things. So Friday Favorite is a weekly series where I share my favorite(s) for the week. Check out my other Friday Favorites here.

21 projects // DIY personalized phone cover

22 July 2013

We’re taking a break from the food posts this week and doing a DIY! (:

To be honest, I’ve had this planned out for awhile now. In my head, that is.

Soon after I got my spankin’ new smartphone, I purchased an inexpensive transparent plastic phone cover from one of the shops along the street with grand plans to turn it into a DIY.

So several months later, I finally got round to doing it. I mean, you need to save these kinda things for summer break, right? (But now that summer break is over and summer school is underway, I’m actually getting around to blogging about it. It’s one of those things, you know.)

But my procrastination aside, my guesstimate tells me that including the printing and cutting, this DIY took less than hour from start to finish. Super simple. Which I totally love.

Supplies:

Plastic transparent phone cover
Patterned paper
Cutting mat
Pen knife
Scissors
This template
Pencil + eraser
Inks + embellishments

I started by printing this template from Google images. I opened the image in Powerpoint, resized and test-printed it a couple of times before getting a size that fit the cover. (I’m sure there’s a less trial-and-error method to get this done, but this method worked for the non-techy girl.) The size that I eventually settled on was 14.4cm by 9.08cm. Then I cut out the template and measured it against the cover to ensure that everything was fitting right. Just a note: I printed the template on regular printing paper, but I would recommend printing on thicker paper like cardstock so it is easier to trace later on.

I have plenty of 6×6 paper pads so I picked my favorite patterns and simply traced and cut them out. I used Dear Lizzy’s older Neapolitan and 5th and Frolic collections. The turquoise paper from 5th and Frolic is a little thicker than the Neapolitan ice-cream cones patterned paper, so it was a little harder getting that into the case. Learning from this, I would definitely pick paper that isn’t too stiff, which would affect the fit of the paper in the case.

For the ice-cream cones, I stamped a sentiment from Amy Tangerine’s Sketchbook clear stamps with Hero Arts neon pink ink, and inked the edges with Versacolor’s mint. For the other turquoise one, I simply included a sticker from Dear Lizzy’s Neapolitan accent and phrase sticker book.

As a girl who loves variety, I love that I can exchange the patterns whenever I feel like it and have endless options to choose from. This is definitely one way to enjoy all the patterned papers I love on a daily basis.

4 down, 17 to go.

—

21 DIY projects are part of my 21 list, a list of 21 things I’m working to accomplish during my twenty-first year. Check out my other 21 DIYs here.

paper + parcels // chic tags

8 June 2013

The fact that I love paper + parcels really isn’t a secret. And as Julie Andrew sings in The Sound of Music, brown paper packages tied up with string are definitely some of my favorite things.

But when you get both at the same time? It’s like Christmas come early.

So I was super excited when I found out that I’d won not one, not two, but FOUR of the newest tag collections from the Chic Tags giveaway on Stephanie Howell’s blog.

But I was blown away when I actually got my parcel on Tuesday – an envelope fully stuffed with packet after packet of paper goodies. Too much goodness in one envelope. Seriously.

I’m really excited to use these and work them into my scrapbooks. Anything to get back to this whole scrapbooking thing that I’ve been missing out on big time.

For more Chic Tags inspiration, check out their blog!