Whoa. That went fast.

Wow, how life has changed.

I began this blog with such good intent! Now, I barely have time to go grocery shopping. Or pee alone. I know you veteran mommies are snickering at me- but I swear for some reason I thought I'd be able to sneak in some blogging time. I was wrong.

Those eyes get me every time. 

Fast forward to now. My Little Man is about to turn TWO! He's amazing and crazy and wonderful and typical for a toddler- and I love him now more than ever. I could write a post just on the crazy feelings you go through as a new parent (I still might) but let's just say that we have been into the best "routine" yet and things seem to be more normal. The husband and I have a decent routine amongst eachother and with him and it works well... and he sleeps all night which has made life so much easier. The only trouble is that husband and I basically work opposite shifts, spare 4-5 days a month, so we are both acting as single parents for many nights since we work longer 12 hour shifts. It's hard, but we have plans in motion to change that next year.

Little Man and Mommy around his first birthday
Copyright Lydia L Photography

Mommy's Superhero

And speaking of plans, we're adding another little one to our brood! A Little Lady this time, which means lots of remodeling since our house wasn't quite ready for a second child. I hope to post those photos soon. She'll be here before the end of the year and honestly, I'm not so sure we are ready, but I'm pretty sure you never are.

As a result, the crafts and hobbies I hoped to discuss are on the back burner sadly. The garden is basically non existent right now (Florida heat is too much for this momma). I still scrapbook but only using the phone app for project life, as I finally had to admit defeat. I don't really cook much due to our schedules either. I was doing well with the low carb/keto diet, but then that had to change too. I haven't found a groove yet, work and life is too busy right now- but when I do, I'm blogging the crap out of it!

Our "stay cation" wasn't too shabby!

I love those little (HUGE actually) feet!

This picture makes my heart happy

Happy Family Vacations are very different now, but very awesome.

So for now I'm just posting a few photos from the past year or so. Life is so different and so amazing, and so difficult. I wouldn't change it for the world.

Giving hugs to his sister

Happy living :)

I Heart 5th & Frolic!

So PRETTY. So, so, pretty. These cards are just gorgeous.

I've been using project life since January of 2010... when there was only one edition- cherry. Now, don't get me wrong, cherry is nice, but it's soooo dark! I like bright and airy, and it was way too dark for MY taste. I also love the rain and cinnamon editions, but they were also just a bit too dark for me- fortunately, NOW I have options :)

I have to brag a bit too.. I went to Michaels today, armed with the knowledge that Project Life items were 40% off today, and also knowing there was a 15% off sale items coupon on their mobile app... and I saved a TON of money on next year's album necessities. I'm still using and loving the seafoam kit, but I had been eyeballing 5th and Frolic, and I'm so glad I snagged the last one! I spent $57 for the full core kit, 2 big variety packs, design G pack and a corner rounder. For curiosity's sake, I went on amazon and compared what I would have spent with shipping if I could have gotten 5th and frolic online... $123! And that did NOT include the corner rounder. I love saving money :)

(BTW I think the sale ends on Labor Day!)

So on to the review. 

This line is very different from the previous ones I have chosen. (to recap I've used: Cherry, Amber, Clementine, and Seafoam) All the previous editions have pretty clean lines and graphics. The 5th & Frolic edition is very messy. By messy, I mean, the cards resemble vintage linens and library cards, complete with stains and such. At first I was a little put off by them.. but the more I look at them, the more I like it. It forces me out of my type A box and makes me look at things asymetrically. 

Oh look, pre-stained :)

Lots of ledger style cards- which I really like!

The line is also quite girly- and manly- all at the same time. Dear Lizzy (the designer) has mixed pretty vintage patterns with ledger/library style cards, hearts and trees, pennants and foxes! You could definitely use this as a heritage album, but would have to be choosy with all the pink. There are also very cute branches, trees and houses.. very heritage-ish :)

Here are the front and back 4x6 and 3x4 cards:

And here are the 4x6 "journaling"cards. I have separated them so the top card is one side and the card just below it is the other side (prints with journaling). 

They only have room for journaling on one side, which I found a little odd since I thought the purpose of these cards was to be able to add extra journaling. I guess I will be purchasing (or printing a freebie) a 4x6 blank grid card! They are still very cute though :)

And now, the everyday cards :)

Below are the title cards. Again, very different from the previous editions in that they are not uniform. Each card is unique- and there are quite a few patterns to choose from.. only 3 of each title card if that tells you anything!

And finally, the journaling cards. There are a TON of them, lots of options! There are quite a few horizontally aligned cards too, so for those of you who don't always use design A, this may be a nice kit for you!

I have to say, I LOVE the little cartoon graphics.. unfortunately, they are mostly on the horizontal cards, which is disappointing (see the branches and foxes above!).. but I like the little vertical house design for sure! Maybe it will force me to use different page protectors!

So there you have it, 5th & Frolic. What do you think? I love the light and airy feel to it... it kind of reminds me of a 1950s clothesline if that makes any sense? The patterns are soft, and the colors are sweet. I'm especially excited because this will be used during our son's first year of life :) He will have his own album, of course (I'm using Becky Higgins' sweet baby kit from many years ago to document a monthy recap of his first year).. but this will be a part of our family album! I can't wait to use it!

Happy Crafting :)

Those Unfinished Scrapbook Albums

6 years. SIX WHOLE YEARS and I've finally finished an album that has become the bane of my scrapbooking existence. It actually became a joke between my scrapping friends and I when we would get together to scrap... oh you are working on "that" album again, huh? Of course that was back when it took 2 hours per layout. I would be so annoyed, wanting to work on newer albums and pages, but being determined to get the album "done". It really did take the fun out of scrapbooking.

Once I started Project Life, I mentally put my older albums on a back burner because I didn't know what to do with them and almost all of them were only half finished. The prospect of finishing them "one day" was there.. but never actually happened.

Well, this week, nesting has taken FULL EFFECT. I have reorganized everything, and I decided to tackle that album, but do it project life style! 

The album in question? My bachelorette weekend. Several of my friends and I went to Downtown Disney in Orlando, where we shopped, laughed and at night, went to Pleasure Island, which was a safe way to "bar hop". We had a great time, and I really want to preserve all the fun we had- which is why I was hellbent on finishing the album. 

I will warn you, the photos you are about to see contain a bunch of ladies drinking adult beverages, laughing at stupid things, and making goofy faces. View them at your own risk :)

I also decided to take them out of the album and put them into my 2007 family album. This will also eventually be a project life type of album, but for now, it holds memorbilia from the year as I really don't have any photos printed for it yet!

Below are some of the beginning pages done the "old way". There are a bunch more, but you get the idea. It's AMAZING how my style has changed. I don't love these pages but I wouldn't change them for anything :)

And HERE is where things basically stopped:

So as you can see, I put the photos and background paper in, but never quite got to the last few layouts. I had big plans for some of them, actually, but I never had the time or motivation. 


So I started on one of the pages. The first lesson in integrating old with new? The first page (left side) has to be the OLD style- so I pulled out my old scrapping supplies and went to town. I had already pre cut several photos with good intentions, so now all I needed to do was adhere!

BTW, don't mind the random crappy image quality. I'm still learning how to use my Canon 7D and it's TOTALLY operator error.

Step 1: Layout ALL YOUR photos to see what you have!

Used the 6x6 pages, and LOVE them!

A very easy, and FINISHED page! Nothing fancy, but DONE!

Okay, so now I can continue the Project Life style.. using inserts instead of full 12x12 layouts! So I went to the next page, started to layout my photos to see what I had, then hit a roadblock...

I had WAY too many pictures! This was one of the biggest troubles I had with traditional scrapbooking. I would try to cram a million photos into one layout. So, I started thinking and decided the best way to handle ALL these photos? INSERTS :) I use inserts ALL THE TIME with my current albums, why not here? So the "layout" will be full 12x12 pages, although not traditional layouts. And the insert can fit a TON of photos, but is smaller than 12x12 so it fits snugly in between the two 12x12 pages. 

Left 12x12 page is Becky Higgins design E. The middle (has a sticky note on it) is Becky Higgins design G (one of my FAVORITE designs)

The right side is a We R Memory Keeper page. I've left a blank space for journaling. 

There. DONE. Why have I waited SOOOO long to get this album done?

On to the next. I had big plans for the next page. One of the things we did was try to get me to take a photo with as many guys as possible. It was fun, and I wanted to make this big layout with all the boys.. well that never happened. What I DID do, was use design J as an insert, and you know what? I like it better than the original idea. WAY less work, and still gets all the photos in there. I love the versitility of the project life way of scrapping. The outcome may not be exactly the same, but it works and takes a FRACTION of the time. 

Used Becky Higgins Design J for the first time, which worked perfectly!

On to the next! 

Laying out the photos

Both are We R Memory Keeper pages. I was glad to use them up! Again, blank area for journaling!

AND.... on to the next and LAST page! HOLY COW, is that possible? 

Again, I layed out the photos to see which plastic I would use. 

Left and right are both We R Memory keeper pages. I will be journaling in the blank areas :)

And I'm done....?

How is that possible?? I think total time, start to finish was maybe an hour and a half, and that included food breaks, potty breaks, taking photos, and getting some old scrapbooking stuff out (and putting it away).

THIS is why I love project life. Are the above pages my most favorite work? No. Are they done and somewhat cute? YES! Can my friends and family look through the album and get an idea of the memories created? YES! Can I take a big breath in and shout "I'M FINALLY DONE WITH THAT ALBUM!!!" yes :) Can I choose NOT to use pink and black pages in an album again? Oh yes!

For those who are just thinking about project life, and are still debating it, think about the time it takes you to do one layout. Now think about all those unfinished albums and count roughly how many layouts you need to finish. Now multiply them. For me, 2 hours per layout was a safe average. That meant in an 8 hour session, I got 4 layouts done. AND.. I had to pull ALL my stuff out and really make a day of it. I don't know how many project life layouts I can do in eight hours, but what I can tell you is that it excites me to know that it's a bunch. 

Take a look at your older albums and see what you can do to get them finished!

Happy scrapping :)

My TOP 10 Project Life Videos

I am in full on "nesting" mode. I have rearranged little man's closet three times. His room is almost completely done (I went with a "world traveler" theme- it's very pintrest worthy, and will share once he is born!). I've organized my hard drive where I keep all my photos and now I've organized my social networks... when does it stop?!

I was thinking, I have 29 videos posted on my youtube page DEDICATED to project life.. I feel as though I should pay homage to them somehow. I LOVE making videos.. but since we've moved to the country, our satellite internet service just wouldn't cut it, which was the WHOLE reason I decided to be a blogger instead! We are supposedly getting real internet.. I hope by January of 2014 but we will see.

SO! Here is a list of my top 10 videos:

1. What is Project Life?
By far one of my most watched videos! It's long by youtube standards, but it's basically the reason I started using project life and why I will probably NEVER go back to traditional scrapbooking!

2. How I scrapbook my Christmas Cards 2011
Do you save your holiday cards? Me too, and it was bulking up my albums! Here is a great solution!

3. How I Lay Out Project Life Pages
Only 5 minutes long, this basically shows my process of laying out my project life pages. It's nothing fancy, but some people aren't sure how to go about it!

4. My Nightly Project Life Routine
I no longer do this EXACTLY, but this is good for the beginner to see :)

5. EASY Thanksgiving scrapbook "layout"
Showing off why project life is so darn easy. I love inserts, and use them frequently in my albums!

6. Print Your Own Journaling Cards
Many subscribers asked, so I put together a "how to" for printing your own cards

7. Project Life Update- January to April 2012 

Just an update on my album. After recording this, I had to finish one of the pages so the follow up video is here: My Type A Personality Kicked In

8. Thank You Marcy Penner!
I STILL use and love her planning pages, they make things so much easier!

9. Have YOU ever felt GUILTY about scrapbooking?
I made this video to be honest about where I was at that time. Most people out there cannot keep up with the weekly version of project life, and instead "catch up" in blocks of time. And that's OK!

10. Setting Up Project Life
Just my method of setting up a new project life album!

And if that's not enough, here are two awesome bonus videos on how I organize my photos and in general!

BONUS: How to Organize Your Digital Photos

Double Bonus: Project Life Organization

These videos are truly nothing fancy, but they've helped a lot of people get started with project life! I hope you enjoy watching them! 

Happy Crafting!