kapachino

Category: crafty

  • project life 2012 : weeks 39 – 40

    Be prepared because I might just be posting every day this week. Apparently I have a lot to say.

    Today’s Project Life episode comes from the weeks of October 21 to November 3.

    It’s not immediately apparent but I actually included an insert for Halloween.

    On the left we have a photo of our single fall decoration, a couple of Meredith’s “trial run” costumes, a celebration at the nursing home, and Lauren & I out and about. By the way I like the weekly quote cards, but they are totally random at this point and I don’t know if I’ll keep them up for next year.

    Here’s the insert I was talking about:

    I just wanted to get a few of the full-size photos in there without it taking over the whole spread.

    Then on the right side is mostly just random photos.

    And we had this one really enjoyable Sunday afternoon as a family so I wrote about it in more detail.

    And on to the next week!

  • two new holiday traditions : december daily and advent calendar

    I know it’s just about time for Thanksgiving, but that means December and advent (my favorite) are right around the corner and I am already preparing for it. One of the fun things about starting your own family is figuring out what your holiday traditions are going to be. I’ve written before about what my family’s traditions were, and many of them are still intact, but now that we have a kid we are adding new ones. Here are a couple that I’m starting this year.

    December Daily

    One of the memory-keeping blogs I read is Ali Edwards. She has so many great ideas, and one of them is that every year she makes a December daily album with a photo a day focused on the holidays. I’ve been interested in making more minibooks, but at first I wasn’t sure if this project would be redundant for me since I’m doing Project Life. But once I thought about it, I realized it would be really nice to have because I can capture some of the details of the holidays that I might not otherwise, I wouldn’t feel the need to inundate my Project Life with holiday stuff, and I can display the completed books every year as seasonal decor.

    In order to simplify things I wanted my album to be as ready as possible before December starts so that all I’ll have to do is print photos and add journaling & extras. Since I already had a pack of chipboard on hand I decided to make mine the same format as the Book of Lists. On the cover I repeated a stamp that says “December” for a patterned look.

    I made a simple title page with a stamp, some gems, and handwritten text.

    Then on the back inside cover I embossed “Noel.” I don’t do near enough embossing; it’s like magic.

    For the bulk of the album I bought these digital files by Ali and printed them on cardstock. I plan to just adhere the photos to the backs of them so I have a 2-page spread per day, and I’ll add embellishment as I go. I’m definitely going to keep it simple since it’s my first year and I don’t want to get overwhelmed.

    If everything goes as planned I’ll be sharing updates of the book with you throughout the month of December!

    Advent Calendar

    I love advent calendars and the feeling of anticipation they bring. I mean who doesn’t love a good countdown? But I especially love the kinds that are handmade and have you do something each day, whether it’s just adding a piece to a puzzle, filling in a picture, doing an activity, or hanging an ornament.

    Several years ago I bought a kit from this shop to make my own advent calendar, but the problem was that I didn’t know how to sew and I didn’t have access to a machine. Well finally this year I made it happen! David’s grandma is letting me keep her machine and she recently came over to teach me to use it. I sewed a few practice lines but I really couldn’t wait much longer before digging in to the real project.

    Here is what I came out with:

    It was the perfect first sewing project because it has a rough unfinished look so my mistakes really aren’t that noticeable. The hardest part was just cutting the numbers out. But if you look closely you can see some wonky stuff going on. For example, the second pocket I sewed looks like this up close:

    Yeah that’s not straight. :) But look! I got better!

    The back isn’t great either and I’m thinking the bobbin might be a little loose…? (I am still learning this technical stuff.) But anyway I am now sort of obsessed with sewing. I think I am actually going to try my hand at a quilt pretty soon. It could spell disaster but I’ve gotta practice!

    Back to the advent calendar though. Currently the pockets are empty, and this year I will probably just put chocolates in them. Next year, since Meredith will be old enough to sort of understand what’s going on, I am thinking I will either put mini ornaments in them for her own mini tree, or slips of paper with a family holiday activity. Or both!

    What kinds of things do you do to document the holidays? Does your family have an advent calendar?

  • project life 2012 : week 38 (our kansas trip)

    This is from October 14 – 20, which was entirely taken up by our road trip to Kansas.

    I think this week was the easiest to put together because I wanted it to be almost all photos. Since it wasn’t a sightseeing trip – we basically just hung out at our friends’ houses – I didn’t need to journal much.

    For the date card I used a photo of the typical Kansas landscape outside my friend Ellen’s front window. On this first page I included a few pics of the journey, Ellen & I + our girls, and one of Meredith in motion at a library story hour. The journaling card on this page sums up the whole trip.

    On the right side is more photos of us just hanging out. I love them all. The morning we left I realized I hadn’t taken any pictures of Becca & I and of course I had to have at least one to include here. The background was dark since it was so early so I just cropped that part out.

    It was nice to be able to just slip photos in and be done, but I like the look of my pages a little better when they’re more a mix of photos, journaling, and ephemera. Still learning as I go here!

  • project life 2012 : week 37

    Still catching up on Project Life! For awhile now I’ve been combining two weeks into one spread, but since I knew I’d want an entire spread for our week’s trip to Kansas I went ahead and did a whole spread for the week before that too. And thus we have October 7 – 13.

    I love that I’m keeping it simple now because I finished this and another spread in a single naptime one Sunday. (Funny how I measure my life in Meredith’s naps now.)

    There wasn’t too much to journal in this week because it was just a normal one with some everyday photos.

    I had one pocket to fill so I turned to my list of good things (I keep a record of at least one good thing a day on Evernote). The “fabulous” journal card is from the SMASH collection.

    Seriously, so simple.

    I aim to get caught up on sharing with you by the end of the year so I can be on track for my new album in 2013!

  • introducing book of lists

    Happy Monday! Today I’m excited to tell you about my new little paper crafty project that is cute, fun, flexible, and ready for you to join in on if you so choose (and I would love it if you do).

    Because I’m suuuper original I’m calling it the Book of Lists because that is essentially what it will be. Just get yourself a book – make a minibook out of chipboard and binder rings like I did or grab a blank journal, a spiral notebook, scrapbook, anything of the sort – make sure it has some empty pages, and you’re ready to go.

    Every month there will be a topic for a list, and the object is to craft it on a blank page, take a photo of your list, then blog it. You can get elaborate scrapbook-style, or even jot it down with your favorite pen. If you want, you don’t even have to make a book and you can just blog about the list topic (even though then it’s not really a book of lists, but that’s cool). My style is somewhere in the middle.

    Reasons I’m in love with this idea: I adore paper crafting, but traditional scrapbooking is not my thing. Project Life is totally working for me as our primary documentation, so I want more little projects in which to use the pretty papers and supplies I’ve collected. Secondly, I am such a list-making girl that I have lists about lists. I know lots of you are the same way. Embrace it! I also like that it’s a progressive and open-ended book. Just one small page a month is totally something I can whip up in a half hour or less. Plus, I can date each page and include an Instax photo (if applicable) and it will also serve as a sort of record of life. And finally, it’s something that anyone can do and adapt to her own style.

    Want to see more? A few lovely ladies have already joined in and will be posting about their own books today. Check them out:

    Today we’re just sharing the covers of our books, but next month we’ll be showing off the first list. To make things simple, at the end of each month’s post I will put up the date of the next round plus the next list topic. That way everyone has a month to get it ready and we’re all on the same page (pun intended).

    So that’s it! If you have any questions at all, leave a comment. If you don’t consider yourself crafty but have thought about doing a project here and there, this may be the perfect thing. I can envision a pretty journal + a label maker + washi tape + a nice pen making a really cool book, and so simple!

    Next month’s info:We’ll be posting on Monday, December 3 and the topic will be wishlist. Starting with a fun and easy one. :)

    ***

    Details on my book: It’s made of 4×6 chipboard, I punched holes in it using this hole punch, binder rings from an office supply store, and it’s filled with white cardstock. On the front I used the SMASH label maker (it has a learning curve), Amy Tangerine Thickers, and washi tape from Freckled Fawn.