Thursday, March 27, 2014

3 weeks with my Bullet Journal

Ok so, if you read this past post, I discovered Bullet Journaling about 3 weeks ago. Here are the pages I have so far in a nutshell:


Verdict? I love it! Not only is it compact and portable, but I feel like it is really flexible in where I can always add things/ideas/lists without messing up my day to day tasks and journaling.

Some things I do that may be different from how others utilize their bullet journal is that I write down my expenses in red, so I can see at a glance how much I spent on a day/event. (i.e. In my task list I would put- Got gas / $60)

Here are a couple of pages aside from my day to day task lists:





As you can see, what you can do with your bullet journal is only limited by your imagination. I use it to sketch, to note down blog ideas/posts, plan for my son's 1st birthday, all on top of noting what events happen and tasks I need to do day to day. I know it's not as decorated as a filofax-type of planner, but as for now I have so many other crafty things that take up my time (quilting / watercolor / pen pals / project life) that I actually like the simplicity and flexibility of my bullet journal. Looks like I'll be using this system for awhile longer! Hope I inspired you to think about taking up bullet journaling! :)

You can check out my past post about bullet journaling here!

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Experiments with watercolor

One of my personal goals for this year was to get some creative mojo back into my life. I have been exploring different things, from making my first quilt to doing project life. One thing I was definitely interested in was experimenting with watercolor.



I have a Winsor & Newton pan set back when I was in school for a few projects, but have not touched it ever since. I was inspired by works done by ... so I finally decided to get around to playing with watercolor this past weekend and this was the result:



I definitely had fun, and it wasn't as hard as I expected it to be, probably because I sketched out some ideas and had tons of inspirational images to refer to. It didn't take as long, but I only have 2 brush types (one skinny round tip and one thick water brush), so I wonder how much more I can do with more brushes and a tube set or Gouache. I think I will be doing more water coloring from here on out. Hopefully, with more time and practice, I can create stationary sets and list them in an Etsy shop! Here's to dreaming.



Just for fun, I made my first watercolors a free 3x4 printable for you to enjoy. You can download them here. If you end up using them, please tag #ughiloveitblog, I'd love to see it! Enjoy!

Monday, March 24, 2014

#Mommylife Mondays // A growing baby

So, my baby turned 10 months yesterday. As my son’s first birthday creeps up on me, I think about how fast this first year is passing me by. Some of my friends just recently had their babies so they are still in the newborn phase and I think about the things I miss (sometimes) about Brennan being a newborn.



They’re less mobile // As exciting as it is that Brennan can crawl and is on his way to walking, I do miss the days where I can just have him in my lap while catching up on shows. Or, can I take back the days when diaper changes didn’t include wrestling a baby from turning over? Or how about not worrying about him rolling off or crawling off the bed? haha



They sleep all the time // Before, it used to be like: “He was barely awake! He naps all day long!” Now it’s like, “He’s been awake for 5 hours and he won’t nap with me! I’m tired!”



Feeding // As much as I’m happy that I will soon be done with breastfeeding, I know I will also miss it. It is definitely a special thing that bonds a mother and baby.

As much as I (sometimes) miss these things, there are a ton of things that are so fun about a growing baby.

More interactive // I love it when I ask him to do something, and he plays along.



Less fragile // I remember when Brennan was first born, he just seemed so itty bitty. Just doing things, we always had to make sure his neck was cradled and cutting his itty bitty nails were so scary, lol.



More mobile // As much as I struggle with my previous comments about his mobility, I love that he can explore the world around him. I know I’m going to regret saying this, but I can’t wait till he can start walking! haha

More independent // I love playing and spending time with Bren, but sometimes I need to do other things, like laundry, or rest a bit (he has so much energy!), so sometimes I put him in the pack and play and he can usually entertain himself with whatever toys he has or take a couple of laps in his pack and play. It is also nice to see him feed himself when he can so I can also eat (parent's you can feel me on this one, right?


Parenting is such an adventure, I've never experienced anything like it. It is such hard work, but so rewarding and so exciting. There are definitely challenging days where I am so tired or where he is just not in the mood, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I am so happy to be his mommy and I look forward to all his milestones and growth in the years to come.

Friday, March 21, 2014

Friday Favorites

As someone who has always been a lover of paper and stationary, yet is fairly new to snail mail-ing, here are my most recent loves that I would totally buy if I didn't give up shopping for lent. lol



1 // I love this little mail pad, so perfect for those quick letters. (via Urban Outfitters)

2 // Kraft paper envelopes are so cute when paired with white ink or stamps! (via Etsy)

3 // How adorable is this library themed notecard set?! Also comes in its own cute little drawer themed box. (via Modcloth)

4 // Totally new to snail mail-ing and have nothing to get started? This Stationary case includes all the essentials (and a cute whale too!). (via Kikk K)

Happy Friday my lovely readers! We have a play date in the park later this afternoon, so now we're going to have sushi for lunch (yummm!) and take a nap before the park. Did I mention, I love the weekends? Have a good one and hopefully you get the chance to soak up some sun!

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Project Life // Week 11

Week 11 spread

Week 11 came together fairly quickly. I mostly used Studio Calico's Office Hours for the project life cards and I supplemented with my stash which included the Midnight core kit and Seafoam edition paper. I tried to use a couple cards with polka dots to bring the spread together.

Week 11 // Left side

Week 11 // Right side

This spread had a lot of warm colors, which I love since it has been really nice outside. I love the stamp set that came with this kit, ever since I got it, I've been using it a lot. I also incorporated pops of blue, green, and yellow/gold throughout the spread using sequins, chipboard shapes, and enamel dots.

Week 11 / Detail

Week 11 // Detail

My favorite part of this spread is probably the 4x6 card of Bren "tasting" my cheeseburger. I love these cork shapes and how the blue sequins go with the sweater he's wearing. The most challenging part of this spread was probably the weekly card (which is usually the hardest part of any spread I do). I re-did a card I wasn't really fond of by adding a strip of color onto the card, which made it perfect to add some alphas for the dates.

Missed Week 10? You can check it out here! :)

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Project Life // An Introduction

There are tons of information out there on Project Life, but I wanted to do a brief introduction/walkthrough on my process and explain why so many people are doing it.

My 12x12 Project Life Album

Design A Photo Sleeve

First things first, the main 4 things you need is: an album, pocket pages (also known as photo sleeve protectors), project life cards, and photos.

I've been doing project life (PL) for almost 10 weeks now, and just finally I feel like I've found my groove. I do PL weekly and usually a 2 page spread, but many others do it monthly, or as often as they like. Let me show you my process.

Choosing cards first


First thing I do is choose what PL cards I want to use. Some people start off with their photos first, but that's the beauty with Project Life, you find out what works best for you! And for me, I realized that if I didn't choose what PL cards I wanted to use for my spread from the get-go, it takes me much longer to get things finished.

Studio Calico Office Hours Project Life Kit


This is the perfect time for me to introduce Studio Calico. Studio Calico offers a subscription program for different types of crafting such as project life, scrapbooking, or card-making. You can subscribe to one of these kits and every month you get whatever kit you sign up for automatically sent to you. You can find more about this here. I subscribe to their Project Life kit, and it makes it easier for me to pick out PL cards because they provide cards that already go together. I also have some core kits and mini kits in my stash that I can use in conjunction with the Studio Calico cards.If you are interested, I might start blogging/reviewing the kits I get so others can see if it's something that would work for them!

I say, if you're starting out, get a good core kit. I have the Midnight Edition Core Kit, and I love it because it's gender neutral and goes with a lot of other kinds of styles.

Laying out the cards


My next step is getting 2 pocket pages out so I can start laying out my cards. I've only been using Design A which has worked for me so far. Also, it saves time for me since I know what card/photo sizes are needed. The "white boxes" that my cards are laid in is just the lids/container that came with the large pack of photo sleeves. I like using these lids to lay my cards out because if I need to, I can always put them aside or move them somewhere else if I need better lighting.

Printed Photos pre-trimmed


Then I go through my phone, pick out what pictures I want to get printed from that week, photo edit with VSCO cam, email it to myself, then lay it out on Illustrator on how I want them to get printed. Then I print them out at home with my HP (I love this printer).

Trimming down photos

After my photos are all printed, I trim them down to the sizes I want. Trimming down is totally optional too, You can print out photos 3x4 and 4x6 sizes and just pop them in the sleeves and be done!

Laying out photos
After I trim my photos, I figure out where I want my pictures on my layout. Once I'm happy with it, I usually use a glue runner to stick them down to the cards.

Embellishing

Then this is where you can have some fun. You can journal, add some notes, and embellish. OR you can leave it just how it is. I'll have a blog post about embellishments soon since there are so many new things out there since the last time I've done any type of scrapbooking! You can make it as simple or as embellished as you want, which is another great thing about project life, the flexibility of it all.

Details

The biggest reason why many people are now doing project life is to have something tangible to document their lives. In our more modern, digital world, its easy just to live through our computer/phone screen. I love the idea of having something I can look back on and remember all the little things, and especially since now I have my first child, it's a great way of documenting all of his milestones! To see this finished week 10 spread, you can check it out here!

I'll be updating the blog with more project life basics and weekly spreads, so stay tuned! :)

Big Hug,
Jez

Note: I do not get paid or endorsed to use these products. I'm just posting up what I have used and loved!

Monday, March 17, 2014

#Mommylife Mondays // A Look Back: Emails to my baby

When I was preggers, I thought it would be fun to email my future child some journaling on what was going on at different times of the pregnancy. I usually would start off the email by saying "Dear ____" whatever fruit or veggie size the baby was currently in. I wanted to share one of the emails I wrote to my baby while I was pregnant. This picture is from when I took maternity photos around 31 weeks (7 months).



Dear Baby Grape,

According to your first ultrasound on Friday, you are 9 weeks and 1 day today! Mommy saw you for the first time and felt relieved. Dr. Kent says you're already moving a lot and your heartbeat was 160 bpm! When Daddy saw the picture of you, he said he couldn't stop looking at you. He calls you a baby shrimp. LOL. We think you're a girl, but we still have quite awhile till we find out (we are waiting till you're born!). Mommy doesn't feel as nauseous as she was a couple weeks ago, so hopefully you decided I needed more energy to stay active and healthy and to get things ready for your arrival! Everyone that knows about you, is so excited, and loves you very much. You are going to be so spoiled! Once we have our next appointment and a couple more tests to make sure you're all good and healthy, we are planning on announcing your expected arrival to the rest of the world. I've been seeing things lately that I have to share with your Auntie Stina and Auntie Lara of things I would buy you, if you were a boy, or a girl. Mommy can't wait to go shopping for you! Daddy says you won't get named brand stuff (from us) because you'll grow out of your clothes so fast, but good thing Mommy likes Target. Anyways, can't wait to see you again in a couple weeks! Love you so much!

Love,
Mommy

p.s. Please don't ask your Aunties and Uncles to get you a puppy when we tell you no. Because they will get you a puppy (or two) in secret. lol.


Did you do anything special to document your pregnancy? This was pre-project life, so I think if I knew about project life then, I might have done things differently. But this was simple way to remember different parts of my pregnancy and I still love having these to read and look back on.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Project Life // My first 10 weeks {Part 4 of 4}

Holy Cannoli! We are now at week 10!

Week 10 Spread

For this spread I used the latest Studio Calico kit, Office Hours! I also got the Add-On Report and some of the new Color Theory inks to play with. My favorite part of this spread is the lower bottom 4x6 on the right side because of all the little elements I used. I will get into more detail on how I put this spread together on another post, so keep an eye out for that one!

Week 10 // Left Side

Week 10 // Right side

Week 10 // Detail

This now concludes my 4 part blog posts covering my first 10 weeks of project life. It has been quite the learning process, but I definitely had fun and it just makes me happy looking back at everything so far! If I had a list of tips/tricks/techniques that I always came back to, they would be:

// use the same kind/color of embellishments throughout the spread to make it more cohesive.
// picking out the set PL cards that I want to use before I did anything else.
// cutting up PL cards and using them as accents on other cards also help bring the spread together.
// just remember to have fun with it!

 The last one is especially important because sometimes I feel like I might lightweight stress out about trying to make things look "perfect" when it's not about that. The end goal for me is to have something that is fun to do while documenting memories! When I look back at it years from now, I don't think I'm going to really care about the placement of this embellishment here, or the use of this stamp there, I'll just be happy that I have these things to remember moments in my life. It has been a great creative outlet so far and I’m looking forward to creating more with Project Life!

For past project life spreads check out my past posts!


I will continue to post up my weekly spreads as I create them, so stay tuned for more!

Friday, March 14, 2014

Friday Favorites

Next Thursday marks the first day of Spring for this year. Are you ready? Here in Northern California we've been hitting temps of 70's this week, so it looks like things are warming up around here! Here are a couple of things to help you get ready for the warmer weather and the sunshine. (I know those of you with snow storms are sooo ready for it, right?)



1 // I don't know about you, but I'm ready to spend some time outside and let my little one run around when he's able to start walking. How 'bout this picnic blanket though? You'll come to see that I have a thing for stripes. Thinking about sewing my own picnic blanket after I tackle my first quilt. But we'll cross that road when we get there. LOL. (via Etsy)

2 // I have this thing with sunglasses where I feel like I need to try them on every time I see some in a store. I've always loved tortoise frames, they go with everything. (via Urban Outfitters)

3 // This floral print is perfect for pen pals and for spring. Just the perfect amount of color to break the wintery white season! Makes me want to bust out my watercolors and give it a try! (via Etsy)

4 // Time to shed those coats and sport some dresses! Pair this dress with a bright colored cardigan and you'd be good to go! This dress would also work well with some leggings in case your area hasn't realized that it's time for Spring. (via Modcloth)


This weekend I'll be working on a great blog post on how I put together my Project Life spreads and also be working on the quilt I started. I don't know how quilters on Etsy get them done so quickly! I am definitely learning as I'm going along, but I feel like it's going to take me forever to finish it, haha. I guess we'll see how far I get! Anywho, I'm ready to spend some QT with my loves so I hope everyone has a great weekend!



Note: I am not sponsored or endorsed, I simply post about things that I love!

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Project Life // My first 10 weeks {Part 3 of 4}

To continue on my journey of my first 10 weeks of Project life, here is weeks 7-9:

Week 7 Spread

Week 7 was the week where something finally clicked. Before I even printed out my photos, I decided to choose my PL cards first. This time I went with a color theme – red, white, and grey since it was the week of Valentine’s day. This seemed to help my process A LOT. I hit a PR with finishing a spread – only took about 3.5 hours including printing out photos. AMAZE. From here on out, after I finished up a spread, I went ahead and picked out PL cards for the next weeks spread if I already had the cards/kit I wanted to use. Also, to make my spread more cohesive, I used pops of red sequins/enamel dots everywhere. Week 7 was also the week I started to make my photos a bit smaller so whatever design that was on the PL card would still be able to show through. My favorite part of this spread is the top left 4x6 card on the life side with Bren’s black and white picture and some journaling. Iadded a little bit of red stitching and I loved it.

Week 7 // Left side
Week 7 // Right side
 
Week 7 // Detail
Week 8 Spread

Most of week 8’s PL cards and embellishments came from Studio Calico’s Sugar Rush kit. This was also the week I got my sewing machine so I was able to add stitching to some cards, which I love. I also got a new 2” circle punch which I was able to use for a photo and to punch out a part of a card which I was able to use the scraps on two other 3x4’s which made for a more cohesive look. My favorite card is, again probably the most simple card, of Bren in black and white with a little bit of washi and some gold sequins from Studio Calico’s essentials collection. Sometimes I struggle with the concept “less is more”, but it is something I would like to practice more of.

 
Week 8 // Left side
  
Week 8 // Right side


  




Week 8 // Detail
Week 9 Spread
 Week 9 took me the longest to finish. I think it’s because now I have a desk where I can leave my spread and come back to it if I’m too tired or busy to work on it, as opposed to working on the floor in one sitting because I would have to then put everything away in order to clear a pathway. I played around with a Project Life paper pad I got and created a hex pattern for my weekly card and used various roller stamps to stamp some sentiments. Also used some new goodies I got from Heidi Swapp, her alphas to spell out Ikea. I haven’t tried to sew through them yet though, I was afraid of accidentally breaking my sewing machine, so I ended up just using the tiny attacher and stapling them to the page. 


Week 9 // Left side

Week 9 // Right side



Missed the first couple weeks? You can check them out here:
Weeks 4-6

Whew! 9 Weeks covered in 3 posts! Are you still with me? For making it this far, I've included a free printable! I love this saying and it made a great addition to my craft corner wall. I also included a 3x4 version for those who want to include it in their Project Life. ;)


You can get the free printable here! If you end up using this printable, I would love to see it in your home/crafting space/project life/pen pal letters! Please hashtag #ughiloveitblog so I can see it in use! Thanks in advance and keep an eye out for the week 10 post! :)

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Project Life // My first 10 weeks {Part 2 of 4}

So to continue on my first 10 weeks, here are my next couple weeks of Project Life.

Week 4 Spread (Sorry it got kind of cut off)

Week 4 I kind of tried to aim for a bit of a color theme, as you can kind of see I stuck to gold/yellow and blue for the most part. My favorite part of this spread is the 3x4 script card I made since I was inspired by everyone taking the Studio Calico Life Scripted class. Also had a bit of fun cutting up some PL cards I had and using them as accents instead of a whole card.

Week 4 // Left Side

Week 4 // Right Side

Week 4 // Detail

Week 5 Spread

For Week 5 I had a little bit of trouble. There were some cards that were left from the kits I had that I wanted to use up, but at the same time weren't my favorite cards so I had to figure out the best way to incorporate them. For example, the top left 4x6 card on the left side were a little bit too girly for me, so I cut up and layered another older card (that said happy holidays 2013 on it, and the holidays were over with) and shaped the photo to fit the star burst shape that was on the card. This was the week I also found some tags in my stash and I stamped a bunch and started to use them on my spread.

My favorite part of this weeks spread is actually the 4x6 card of a picture of myself and I used some day stamps from the Studio Calico Day to Day class to create a pattern.

Week 5 // Left Side

Week 5 // Right Side

Week 6 Spread
Week 6 was kind of a crazy mess overall, but I love individual parts of this spread. I cut up a chipboard frame and used it as photo accents for the Black and White photos of Bren that went across two 4x6 cards. This was the first time I also made notes that were not in a straight line (the 4x6 card of me being "sick", I wrote about it in a semi-circle). It was also my first time printing out a story I typed up on vellum since if I hand wrote it, it probably would have taken too much space. I also kept the weekly card pretty simple and just put it on a 3x4 card with a little bit of watercolor accent. My favorite part of this spread is probably the simple one of my son sleeping with sequins surrounding him.

Week 6 // Left Side

Week 6 // Right Side

Most of these PL cards and accents are from Studio Calico Kits and then I would supplement them with things from my stash.

If you missed my past post about Weeks 1-3, you can check it out here!
Stay tuned for weeks 7-9! :)