Top 14 of 2014

This is one of my favorite posts of the year! (And one of the few I do over and over again…) It's a roundup of my most favorite layouts of the year. You can have a look back at my 2011, 2012 and 2013 posts.

This year I made:

29 cards

1 mini book

109 pocket pages

85 layouts

That's a lot of pocket pages (both handbook and standard size)! But I've learned that those don't make me happy the way layouts do. So next year I've decided to only make pocket pages when moved creatively to do so. I like making layouts. I like the freedom that you have. I know the pocket page thing is meant to be an easier approach but for me, it's always been more difficult. So sianara pocket pages, hello layouts!

It's always interesting to me to look back at a year's worth of work and see similarities. To see how I've grown creatively and what trends I may have picked up throughout the year.

Here are a few things I've noticed:

• White backgrounds. I love 'em! Again, more freedom and man do they make your colors pop. There are 7 white cardstock layouts featured here

• Travel is always a big theme for my pages. Again, 7 (must be the magic number this year!) layouts have something to do with travel.

• Scrapbook Circle's Island Paradise kit was my favorite. 2 of the layouts on this list were made with that gorgeous kit (the first one I received!)
• Speaking of kits, 5 of these are kit layouts. Either Scrapbook Circle, Studio Calico or Ali Edwards.

• I bought so many classes this year! But didn't get through even half of them. I did make a few. 4 of these are class layouts (SC Stitched, Stash Bash, Super Simple Scrapbook Challenges)

• My Silhouette got a lot of play this year. 10 of these layouts feature die cuts from my Silhouette
• Circles are my go to basic shape. 8 of these layouts have some sort of circular design element, either big or small

• 7 of these feature the people that I love. I think I scrapped more about Matt than I have in previous years
• I managed to scrap about me a bit more than I usually do. 3 of these layouts are just something about me.

• Every last one of these has some kind of wet media, wether stamping or mist splatters, watercolor or modeling paste

• Simple Scrapper is my jam. 7 of these layouts are made using either a Simple Scrapper sketch or as part of Stash Bash or just from an idea or inspiration from Spark Mag.

• I just played, without the help of prompts or sketches or challenges. 5 of these layouts are straight from my brain to the page. Can you guess which?

• I'm not consistent with photo size in any way shape or form. From enlarged photos to teeny tiny ones, to square to rectangle. I love 'em all!

I love looking back at these pages. It's been a good year and I think these pages reflect that.

cheers & besos,

Accomplish 2014

I'm on Christmas break, two whole glorious weeks off! I so badly need this. I'm hoping to relax a bit, tackle some of those do list items I keep putting off, and of course, scrapbook!

I made this page on Friday, using a sketch from the upcoming January issue of Spark. It was a two page sketch but I only used one page and then re-worked the second to better fit my photos. I love how it turned out!!

The design theme here was around circles, triangles and squares. They're all over the place on this page; circle and square photos, circle and square paper, triangles in a circle on the embellishment. You just can't beat the basics!

I used a black and white, gray and purple color scheme. That awesome purple print is a Basic Grey Kelly Purkey Second City pattern. I only bought a few sheets from this line, but that one I bought two of! I used both the front and the back. The back is the gray ombre on the right side of the 2nd page.

This page was a list of all the things I managed to accomplish in 2014. I didn't set out to accomplish much. But reflecting back on the year helped me realize that I did accomplish a lot. Like I said in my journaling, I didn't know how much good would be waiting for me here at the end of 2014. But there was a whole lot of good!

I think this may be a new tradition for me. I really do need to take time to reflect back each year, to celebrate my victories and to be grateful for this life that I love. If you decide to make an accomplished page this year, dear reader, I'd love to see it!

cheers & besos,

Summer Goals 2014

Summa summa summertime y'all! Summer is my second favorite season, after Fall of course. I love this time of year and I'm excited for it to start! Last year was so much fun. I made so many great memories and got a bunch of stuff done. Not everything on my list but more than half, which made me very happy.

I'm going with the idea of creating a list of goals again. It worked for me last year, hopefully it will this year as well!

I decided on 4 categories, 3 things for each. Which means, I just need to work on 4 goals a month. That seems do-able, no? Especially in the organization categories, it's not too hard to tackle one problem area a month--essentially one day on a weekend.

Here they are, and of course I have two scrapbook categories ;)

Scrapbook: Play!

• Pacific Northwest trip: This is already in progress. I can't wait to finish & share!
• Catch up on PL pages: Guys, I'm just done with this project. I'll try again in the Fall. Right now I just want to focus on getting back to the pages I've already done. I have photos printed out, cards in sleeves, but no journaling and no embellishing. It's turned into a sad sad little project. Le sigh....
• Mixed Media Pieces: Much like last summer, I had an idea on my head for some mixed media artwork. I really REALLY REALLLLY want to make these. I just haven't done it yet. This summer, I will make time.

Scrapbook: Non-Scrap

• Organize patterned paper: I started this earlier this year. It's how I came up with that huge mountain of purge items! But then I didn't label the categories I had made and now I kind of can't figure out what I was thinking. So there's about 8 inches of paper just sitting there wondering why I've abandoned it. 
• Sell/donate: that mountain of purge items I have just sitting there. I would like to sell some of it, I think people might be interested. I just know it takes time and effort to list, answer enquiries, package and ship everything. I just haven't had the time. For a few extra bucks, I should probably  get on this!
• Organize ephemera: Hey! That's back on the list again, you may say. Yes, yes it is. I have no idea why this has given me the biggest mental block. Is it because of the odd sizes? The lack of idea of what to do with it all? I mean I have two ideas that make me excited. But not excited enough to do the work it seems. Either way, I really want to do this. 

Health/Mind/Body

• Nutrition: I need to understand this. I really have no clue. I'd like to find a good resource to just understand the science. I want to eat better. I don't want to diet. I need to figure this out.
• Workout Routine: Yep, definitely need to work on this. I'm turning 30 this year. I want to approach my 30's with a good idea of how to be healthy and to get/stay in shape.
• Read! Read! Read: I'd like to read 3 non-fiction for the betterment of my life, mind, financial status, etc. type books. I've had Brene Brown's The Gift of Imperfection on my Kindle for awhile. I definitely want to spend time this summer reading and absorbing. Jury's still out on the other 2 books. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People? Maybe...we'll see. Do you have any suggestions? I'd love to hear!

Organization
Every home has crazy junk drawers, no go areas where things just magically appear. I have a few of those and I need to work on cleaning them out.

Under the beds
Closet (bedroom/hall/bathrooms)
Bookshelf and dining room drawers

I've typed all this out to share my goals, but I'm realizing I'd like to write a bit more about my hopes for the summer. My summer manifesto if you will. I'm excited about what's just around the corner for me. I think they'll be a bit lot of change. It's going to make things interesting for sure!

What about y'all? Where's your summer taking you? What do you have planned to do or not do? I'd love to hear!

cheers & besos,

January Review/2014 Planning

How is it already February? I feel like I say that every month. But time flying by never ceases to amaze me. 

Already one month into the new year, and I’m just now getting around to sharing my plan for the year with you. I actually kind of planned it that way. I decided on the easing in approach. I didn’t want to over stress myself by trying to come up with all my plans during the busiest month of the year.

PLUS

I knew I’d be taking the Simple Scrappers Start Fresh class. I figured it would be helpful, but I really didn’t realize how much! I love my little planner with its dividers and neat little lists. I’ve already referred to it so much over the past few weeks.

So! What have I got planned for the year? Well let me tell you. [Imagine me licking my finger and flicking through my workbook pages just here]

There are some basic things I would like to accomplish in 2014.

First on the list is keeping up with my Project Life. I’m somehow managing to do this already. And that’s leaving me feeling very accomplished. It’s the batch tasking, tackling a little bit at a time, that’s helping me the most.

I decided on the Handbook approach again this year. I just love the look of these great little pages. Why mess with a good thing, right? I’ll be sharing my finished January pages and a bit about my process later this month.

Each month, I’m also planning to tackle a project. One of my unfinished projects or a new idea I’m really excited about. For the most part, these projects are a whole mess of mini albums. I have a lot of ideas for these but not a lot of time spent getting them done. There’s also a bit of catch up on older half started projects.

For the blog specifically, I’m planning to do one big card post a month. I drew up some sketches on the plane today (or was it last night....I have no idea the time’s all wonky right now) that I’m planning to use and re-use throughout the year. I intentionally made them basic so I could interpret them in a multitude of ways.

 
I’m also planning to do at least one process video a month. I have fun looking back at these. Making them just takes time. I’ve worked them into my plan so they’ll actually get done!

Since I just invested a chunk of change on Lightroom, I’ll be doing a lot of work this month specifically, on getting acclimated to the software and trying my hand at editing. It will also be part of my monthly process. I plan to edit photos for upcoming projects throughout the year.

Finally, I’m tackling all of the ephemera I’ve let pile up. It’s just sitting there in three different boxes, an unorganized jumbled mess. It’s time for me to do something about that. I’d also like to use it for one of those projects I have on the list. Incentive, right there!

So that’s where I’m going. And I have to say I’m really excited about it, as droll as those plans might sound to you. Not to worry, you’ll be excited about them each as they’re done!

And just as marker and a little recap for myself, this month I made 6 layouts, 19 cards and 36 Project Life spreads. That last number might seem like a lot, but they’re all of my December pages. I did not count them last month because they weren’t all finished. And darn if I’m not going to give myself “points” for the effort.

Do you have any big plans for your scrapbooking year? If yes, I’d love to hear ‘em!

cheers & besos,

Start Fresh Workbook

*Read about the 2015 edition here*

I'm almost done with the Start Fresh workshop Jennifer's putting on over at Simple Scrapper. This workbook has me sooooo excited! It's helping me get organized, it's forcing me to think through my goals & intentions for scrapbooking this year, and it's just so pretty to look at!

The binder and the dividers are Martha Stewart for Staples. I love the teal and knew the instant I saw these dividers, that I would incorporate in some way the Shanna Noel Printables that are available this month at Studio Calico. The colors were too perfect!

I'm still on my Simple Scrapper high. I'm so loving being a part of this community. 100% happy with my decision to join =)

cheers & besos,

OLW 2014

I picked a word. Or maybe it picked me. I don't really know. I don't usually pick words because I never stick with them. But this one just wouldn't leave my mind once I thought of it, and I figure its a good point of focus for my year.

This year my one little word is open.

I had fun making this page using a Simple Scrappers sketch and the Studio Calico Antiquary kit that I picked up for cheap on the 2Peas For Sale or Trade Board.

I just joined Simple Scrappers and I'm so excited about it. I took Jennifer's Art + Science class at BPC and just loved her organized teaching style. She has me excited to play this year. You might just
consider joining in.

Oh and if you're wondering about my December album, I decided I want to film a quick video talking through the pages. So much easier than writing it all out. Look for that in the next few days!

cheers & besos,