Week fifteen is a little different to my usual weeks. Most noticeably because it is back to basics. For this months Creative Team post we were set a challenge. “Just use a kit, photos and a pen” for your layout. This really was a challenge for me as I do rely quite heavily on my digital elements but I was up for it.

Straight up you get to see my scrawl on this title card. I thought and thought about it but in the end decided it had to be simple. I picked out this gorgeous colour form the becky Higgins Seafoam kit and went with it.

Left side of the week right here. The centre photo of the series at the bottom of this page is actually stuck on top of the page protector.  I just wanted to capture the succession of her faces and since I don’t have digital at hand had to try and think outside the box a little. 

Now the right hand side. Sticking with the same colour pictures went in, journalling went in and that’s it. Done. Ok, I did cheat a little but there was no mention of not bring able to use basics like scissors so, I took the liberty of cutting out some of the journal card circles and sticking them on top of pictures. Please do excuse my handwriting but enough of that.

Anther view just for interest. Finally the full layout. So was it quicker this week? Yes. Was it easier? Yes… but did I enjoy it as much…. hmmm…. well, I did try stay true to my “style” which I do think I achieved but I must say I really enjoy making my little week cards and mixing the digi and physical elements together.  I love sticking bits and pieces on my layouts.

Will I go back and redo this layout and add more? No. I never redo, I never go back. It’s done and I’m moving on. It was a great challenge and I know I can go back to basics if I ever decide I need to  :) Hope you found at least a little inspiration here this week.

Thanks For Dropping In

Petra

I’m not really behind, just behind in posting my weeks onto the blog.  This weeks title card was made using my Seafoam Kit focusing on the teal colour again. This colour alway makes me so happy. I co-ordinated it with a hand made “love” tag from Polkadot Creative. I have tried this stitching thing and you know what? I think I’ll leave to those that know what they are doing just like Jodie from Polkadot Creative did here. Now on with the show.

This is the left side. I definitely felt “in the groove” this week and I am happy with how this has turned out. I actually didn’t have many great photos this week so tried to “dress things up” a bit more but, my filler card this week is plain and simple, straight out of the kit. Yesss!! 

By far my favourite part of this week were these little 3×4 border cuts with the day on them. Thank you to the gorgeous Sarah from Documenting Chaos for making these for me. She came up with the initial concept (clever girl), I made a few tweeks and hey presto! LOVE at first sight.

Here is the right side. A couple more 3×4 day borders. When I had them made I asked Sarah to make  both top and bottom attached days because I knew I would want to mix them up like this. Now I know all the digi people out there are wondering why not do it as a digital brush over the photo. Naaaah…. that’s not me. I do like to mix it all up, it’s really what I enjoy about my Project Life.

Thought I would also show you a couple of pictures of how thick my album is getting.

Nope there is no way I will fit all of 2013 into one album. (sorry about the reflections in this shot)

And here it is all in one place. Week 14. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Thanks For Dropping In

Petra

It’s week thirteen. Know what I mean?

Well now back into the swing of it as I put up this blog I am happily up to date with my project life pages. I think this is for the first time this year. Yay me! … the real trick is keeping it up. I’ll keep you posted.

Week 13, let’s start at the beginning. This is the week my Amy Tangerine bag arrived. Oh YES, PLEASE indeed. I had to include it in my Project Life because I love it. It’s limited edition fits everything you could think of in it and if you really like it too  you can check it out  right here.

So the Left side first. Oh I felt so much better about this week. It’s so much more me. Back to concentrating on those lovely pale aqua colours in the Becky Higgins Seafoam kit. Yes I see that messy vellum bit but, I have come to like it. Messy but ok with me. Bottom right I used my little template again. You can download it for free here. and watch my  video on how to use it if you like.This is the right side. This week I thought I’d let the memorabilia tell some of the story. That is to say I did not repeat which movie we went to see and where, I stuck in the ticket which tells that part of the story. Used this little magnetic arrow tag to hold them in. Jodie from Polkadot Creative would be able to tell you where it’s from as I have no idea. I just know I got it from her. Really sorry.

Next up my little journalling card. I don’t often use the bi-fold cards that come in the kit like this (or for their intended purpose) but this worked a treat and was the ideal solution.

I used these cute Amy Tangerine letters from her Ready, Set Go collection for the title. I was out of B’s so I cut around what was left of the B in the packet and hey presto. Would that be called the “inverse” of the B?

I think the little tab I added just makes a little more obvious that there is something inside there.

Here is the little bi fold opened up with the whole note to my son in there. I am so pleased with how this turned out I am sure to use this again. Who knew those little bi-folds were so handy? Do you use yours much?

Last but not least here is the full layout left & right side together. And that’s me done for week 13.

Thanks For Dropping In

Petra

Well friends it’s been a little while since I posted anything on my blog and I want to thank you for being patient with me and still coming to visit. All I can do to explain my absence is use the amazing words of Dr Zeuss ..

You’ll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you’ll be in a Slump.

And when you’re in a Slump,
you’re not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.

Week 12 was what started my “Lurch” as you will soon see. Not because anything particular happened no. Life continued on in quite a normal fashion but putting together the layout for week 12 I was just not feeling ‘it’ and was stuck. 

So, here is the left side. What I enjoyed more than anything in this layout was the use of Kellie’s stamps from Give A Girl a… Both the “Best Friends” & the “OMG” are from one of Kellie’s many stamp sets. I’ll be perfectly honest I had not really used her stamps much before but I was pleasantly surprised when I did on this layout. The quality is awesome. In fact as soon as I used them on here I contacted Kellie to tell her just that. Beautiful & clear straight out of the packet. So, I’ve bought some more since & can’t wait till they arrive.

I did include a flip out on this page. Using the WRMK Tab Punch for a little side tab to make the flip out more visible as it is just one 6×4 pocket.

Here it is opened up to see what’s inside. Calvin is loving his first soccer season and I love to celebrate it with him. Just a heads up that there will be more soccer photos in the coming weeks.

Here is the Right side. Hmmm it’s done. what more can I say? Perhaps my favourite part of this page is the moment I captured of Calvin and Lincoln planting a seedling together. Just a simple shot of hands, working together.  

Last but not least here is the full layout as it sits complete in my album. It is done. Time to move on.

Thanks For Dropping In

Petra

Why not pop over to Michelle Bostielos’s blog and see some Project Life inspiration.

You can join in the fun HERE

Thanks Fro Dropping In

Petra

So, since it’s my favourite colour (orange) I figure it would be a good one to add to the much neglected part of “Yummy Stuff” on my blog.

Apart from the Pumpkin part, you can add or take more or less of any of the ingredients listed. I like to use a whole butternut pumpkin as that’s about right for our family of 5 with maybe a little left over. I also love this recipe because I sneak in a whole lot of other veggies and no one is none the wiser

THE INGREDIENTS

• 1T butter (you can use olive oil but I think the butter makes it taste better)
• Pumpkin (I prefer 1 whole butternut but others work fine too) 
• 1 stick of celery
• 1 onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 carrot
• 2 medium sized potatoes
• Chicken or vegetable stock (enough to just cover all the veggies) use home made, bought or from a cube.
• salt & pepper
• Sour cream to serve

THE PROCESS

1. Peel your pumpkin (my least favourite part of this recipe and I recommend a really sharp decent sized knife);
2. Dice the pumpkin into 1-2 inch chunks;
3. Peel and roughly chop carrot & potato into chunks;
4. Peel and roughly dice the onion;
5. Put a large pot on the stove and melt your butter;
6. Add your onion and garlic until until nice and soft;
7. Add your carrots and celery and cook for a couple of minutes to soften slightly;
8. Add all your Pumpkin, stir and then cover with your stock until just covered. Add too much stock or water and it will be too runny;
9. Now on a medium heat bring it to the boil and cover cooking until the largest chunks in your pot are soft to poke with a fork. (maybe 10 minutes)
10. Once all nice and soft turn off the heat and blend it all in the pot with a stick/stab blender making sure the soup is nice and smooth and no chunky bits are left.
11. That’s it! You’re ready to serve

TO SERVE

Depending on taste add salt and pepper and finish with a dollop of sour cream in the bowl. Grab a nice crispy bread roll and go for it! My kids love to swirl in the sour cream and dip in ripped bits of their bread roll.

Time for another little video and some freebies. TWO this time! Yay!

I had a few requests for a little photo template I did in my week 11 and since it’s already done, why not share it for you to use?

When you download the .psd templates they will look like these two but will be two separate files.

To grab them simply click HERE

And now just sit back and watch the video on how to use these two for your own projects.

Thanks For Dropping In

Petra

Aaah week eleven, it’s been done for a while and I am so glad to be able to share it with you now that it’s also up on Becky’s blog. I’ll admit it’s still surreal that I am part of the Becky Higgins CT and I get nervous with each monthly inspiration post but, so far so good. I love looking at everyone else’s post on there and then snooping round on their blogs so many different styles to adore.

The left side of the week looks like this.

I must say I am really happy with how this week turned out. It just feels right. Love the natural colours contrasting so nicely with whites. The filler card is a Studio AE (Ali Edwards) stamp on a Becky Higgins Seafoam filler card. A perfect marriage right?  I get the stamps from Technique Tuesday and I will say that Ali just keeps rocking those and I look forward to receiving my monthly package from the US. I was so thrilled when I realised the Studio Calico square brackets from their February subscription kit were the perfect size for this stamp.  What else… hmmm the words “captured” in the top right are in fact a vellum cut that was in the March Mini kit from my Polkadot Creative. Again the silhouette cut made by the wonderful Sarah from Documenting Chaos.  I am still deciding whether or not I like or LOVE vellum. My biggest issue is how to attach it without it not looking as good as it does here. (I cheated and just inserted it into the pocket for the photo until I find the right vellum attachment solution)

I thought I’d do a close up of this “Happy Sad” card. Love popping on those little paperclips to make it look more “real”. This little moment is so close to my heart and takes me back to my childhood when I used to climb on benches to get up to things. (ehm…. all good of course)

Here is the right side. looking at this page just makes me smile. April talking on the phone, Calvin and his “dry” hair & the stop watch. Love that old stop watch. Love that you have to wind it up for it to work. No buttons no beeps. Simple and gorgeous.

A close up of a sweet little note from April to me in her school diary. I keep flipping back to this one when signing her diary. She knows just how to melt my heart. Its small but definitely there.

Thought I’d add a bit of a different view of the left side again. Just for fun.

Finally here you will see the full layout.

That’s it I’m done for another week.

Thanks For Dropping In

Petra

Ok this is a big week. Big in activity and big because it involved an insert. Seems this week also has a bit of a ‘desktop publishing’  feel to it. I’m sure you’ll see what I mean in a moment but I must admit I did enjoy it. The focus colour is this adorable aqua found in the Seafoam kit and other American Craft goodies.

So first up, as always, the left side. The most fun here (aside from the “Week 10 card” ) wes the big picture  at the top spanning two 6×4 pockets. I had quite a lot of images from my Versace stay and made up this collage of various size pictures to try capture it. I think it has a bit of a brochure feel to it but that’s the look I was going for. It also allowed me to use those pesky little instagrams again.The bottom left picture of an umbrella has a sweet little vellum Silhouette cut of an umbrella done by the lovely Sarah at Documenting Chaos. She is so good with that machine!

This is a close up of the Instagram collage.

This is the right side of the week with all my lovely friends who I got to meet at the first Ever Project Life Australia Getaway. An awesome weekend with an awesome bunch of lovely ladies who all love Project Life! Yay. We did lots of Project Life talk and saw each others albums in person. Even scored some great Becky Higgins  Project Life goodies from our wonderful distributor CraftHouse. We also received some delicious goodies from Jodie at Polkadot Creative. You will find that the majority of bits on my  week cards are from Polkadot Creative. A great little online shop and just delightful to meet Jodie in person. She also makes monthly mini kits of various goodies. But you have to get in quick as they sell out fast!

This is a close up of some fun from the Getaway. The “PLA Getaway 2013″ cut was also done by  Sarah and I just popped it onto a Becky Higgins Seafoam Filler Card. She gave one to all of us attending so if course I had to use it. Thanks Sarah. She has an Etsy shop where she sells cuts and I believe she even does designs by request! Eeek!

Now for the insert. A single print (What no pockets?!) in a Becky Higgins 8×10 Page protector. Again a bit of a ‘magazine’ page look I was going for. Not sure why. Just was.  This whole insert documents what Lincoln did with the kids while I was away over the weekend. I love that he always steps it up and does cool stuff with the kids if ever I am away. I really like this side of the insert. I plan to get a really big version of the picture of April dipping her toe into the water. All the words on this page are also by Lincoln. Yay!

The other side of the insert is right here. I am so lucky that he takes so many pictures. I limited it to these 3 keeping with the aqua colour. No journalling. I think the pictures say it all. Yep they had a blast!  .

Below is the full week side by side. I’m so glad another week is done.

Thanks For Dropping In

Petra

So I must confess I have been a bit slack on the blog lately. Yup life is busy but I am almost caught up with my Project Life layouts so will slowly start putting up posts with the hope making regular weekly posts once I have it all sorted.

So enough administrative stuff ’cause that’s not why you’re here right?

Week 9 starting here. Now before you ask the “Week 9″ card was made using a 3×4 wood veneer that came in the Studio Calico Project Life subscription kit. I don’t subscribe myself but had this donated to me by my cyber friend Jessica isn’t she the coolest? I loved using it here.

This is the Left Hand side of the week layout. I tried to focus on the Red colour in the Becky Higgins Seafoam Kit. Just filled with tid bits from our week. I made “remember Today” filler card using the Seafoam kit, Amy Tangerine wood veneer & heart and some washi. Still trying to keep it simple. So lately when I choose my colour for a week like this red, I try to find bits of embellishments in my stash. So far so good.

Here is the Right side. I’m really enjoying printing my journalling direct onto core kit journalling cards. Makes good use of them and I like the fact that not everything is on photo paper. My favourite part of this side of the layout is the little camping card.

The photo is all digital with a drop shadow on it to make it look like it is clipped onto the 6×4 card but the little camera shaped paperclip is real. I just love mixing it up. As a side note this family loves shed camp cooking. All it takes is for it to be raining outside on the weekend and if nothing else is on the roller door goes up and  this may happen.

Finally here is the full layout altogether. I’m glad it’s finally up. I love hearing all your questions and comments. Hope you enjoy.

Thanks For Dropping In

Petra