Jen's Studio - Expedit 4x4 unit - AKA the closet!

Welcome to Day 2 of my studio "tour".  Today I am going to show you the rest of my 4x4 Expedit unit that fits in the closet of my studio (see yesterday's post about my system for PL - BTW, watch this post for an explanation of how I store my PL page protectors!)

I am in the 4th upstairs bedroom on our house. As we are lucky enough to have spare room in the basement, I took over this room as my own. I could have taken the basement room but I wanted windows and light and to NOT be right there near the rec room and my kids.  They are 11 & 9 now and as they get older... they don't want their mom right there and I don't want to try to scrap while they are all screaming over video games :)

Here's the entire 4x4 unit.  See my Project Life stuff up there on the top L?  I have a ton of different things going on in this unit. The bottom blue bins have my kits, misc and a couple are actually empty now (I did a HUGE purge a few months ago).  The white boxes have stuff like extra embellishments, ribbon (which I rarely use but didn't want to get rid of) and one has all my envelopes and tags in it.  I also have my mini sewing machine and sewing kit in there, the green and purple kit (which I'll show a close up of later in the week!) is all small embellishments and then there is my paper.  See next picture!

Now, see the two red binders on the far right?  Those are my page protectors.  All my 12x12 are in one and my PL ones in the other.  I have an extra full box of Design A under all my core kit cards too (Michael's had a good sale! LOL) Makes it easy to grab and pull out what I need.  I mainly use Design A but occasionally use an insert of need a different orientation.

This is most of my paper.  I pared down to only 12x12 as I rarely do cardmaking anymore. Top is my cardstock sorted by colour.  Next down is all my patterned paper, also by colour.  I did a MAJOR purge on my pp too recently as I had so much I just was never going to use.  I also get a monthly kit so... it's all in a pile under my desk and I let the kids use it for projects.

Here's view of the top of my unit.  My PL stuff on the left.  The black and green cases are all prepped layout boxes.  Both full actually from my last crop as I did PL catch up and between that, classes and being sick... I never got to anything else :(

TOMORROW, I am going to show you the kits that are on top.  Those boxes are my Sept and Oct Noel Mignon kits and the 2nd on the right says "New Stuff". A catch all for new things I want to use (mostly pp).

Happy Scrapping!

Jen

Jen's Studio - Project Life

I hope to share with you a series of posts all about my current organizational system for my studio. I say current as it is ever evolving as my needs change or I see/think of/find a better system.

I found this amazing quote today that sums me up pretty well:

" Arrange whatever pieces come your way."

Virginia Woolf

I find my life and my ability to cope with my life is really helped by being organized and having an "everything in it's place" attitude.  Not everyone is like that, hey, I know some people who find this really stressful! But for me, I am MORE stressed out when things are messy, out of place or not organized.  So I try to find ways to help myself be settled without taking too much time, energy or space.

Here is how I am organizing my Project Life supplies:

 First off, my PL core kits. I've never actually BOUGHT my own core or mini kit. I've only shared with someone else.  I have several different sets thanks to a friend being willing to share (Thanks Sweet Scrapista!). I put them all in a core kit box standing up and used scrap paper and a label punch to make finding what I want easy.  The quote cards (from Elisa Blaha's blog FREE) are also there so I don't forget and are in front of my lined PL 3x4 blank cards.  This system also cost me nothing. Bonus!

For all my non-Project Life brand stuff I am using these monthly kit boxes from Studio Calico.  I signed up for their monthly kit subscription in the summer but only ended up getting 2 kits.  It seemed to me (this is just MY opinion!!) that the quality and amount of product in the kit diminished around that time and living in Canada the shipping time was just not acceptable. I wasn't receiving my kits until AFTER the next reveal which was NO fun at all. I complained but was told unless I bought more stuff (!!!!!) that was that for shipping speed. I was not cool with that so I paid the cancellation fee and got out.  But the boxes they came in are perfect for storing stuff. So all the 3x4 cards go in one and all the 4x6 cards go in the other. These are cards from the kits, from cut apart sheets, journalling pads from other manufacturers (like Basic Grey's new line of pocket-style scrapping).

Lastly, these both go together in an empty PL page protector box on top of my Expedit 4x4 cube shelf.  This unit is in the closet in my studio (a 4th upstairs bedroom in our home that I use as office/studio).  We took the doors off the closet and this fit right in.  I can then easily lift it out to work on my PL spreads.  I plan to also add a portable bag with basics to the back of the box (see Mercy Tiara's blog post on Bag in Bag - hoping to use her idea for this! - a portable PL kit with markers, stamps, adhesive, etc that I can take to other areas of the house and work on while my kids do school work.  It was like she READ MY MIND!!! I had just finished saying to my FB scrappy buds I wanted to build a kit like this and was figuring out what might work and BAM, she posted this about 4 days later.  I was stoked!)

Tomorrow I am going to show you the REST of this 4x4 unit and also how I store my monthly scrapbook kits (hint, Mercy Tiara helped me out AGAIN). They are right behind this PL box on top of the unit!

Happy Scrapping!

Jen

Creative Scrappers 254

Wow, two posts in one day... not really as I did the PL one last night but... hey, it's still two :)

First, I wanted to share my take on the Creative Scrappers 254 sketch for this week. Here is the original sketch:


And here is my take on it.  I stuck pretty darn close to the sketch as it was just working and I wanted to stay clean for this layout.  It was one of those layouts that just came together super fast and I knew exactly what I wanted to do once I started going through the kit of paper I wanted to use (Noel Mignon, September kit, Miss Nelson)

The second layout I am sharing... well, it was one of those ones that did NOT come together well or how I wanted or... anything :)  But it's done and in the end it is okay.  Not one I am thrilled with but okay.  This was from the Elle's Studio sketch this week.  Here:


And here is my take.  Also using the same Noel Mignon kit.

That's it for me today!  BUT... I have an entire series of posts coming this week about how I organize my scraproom.  And HOPEFULLY a video too.  If not that video will come the first week of November. (I have company arriving on Tuesday so depends if I can get it on YouTube tonight)

Happy scrapping!

Jen

PL Sunday

Well, I kept going on Saturday with my Project Life spreads.  I did clean my office too (I'll post a pic on Monday) but most got done on the floor as I used up bits and pieces rather than having to put them away.  It's motivating when you know you need to clean... I use up so much stash that way :)

This week I had a full "side" but had a couple extra pictures I also wanted to use.  Rather than trying to fill up another full page protector I found an insert to put in the few extra pictures.

I look at it now and see I really was cramming a lot in so likely just doing a double page spread would have worked better with a couple filler cards.  Oh well.  Used mostly Elle's Studio on this one.

Here's the front side of the insert for the same week.  We had all gotten new shoes the weekend before and I thought it was cute we all had New Balance so took a picture. It also surprised me with how BIG my boys feet are now.  Not so very far off from adult sized shoes!

Filler cards, a picture of a friend's baby wearing a sweater I bought when she was born (bought it big as they didn't have any smaller sizes but was SO cute I had to send it!!)

Also used this "everything is going to be OK" card as life was very hectic and crazy and I was feeling it a LOT this week.

Here the next week.  My youngest and I were fighting colds so got a shot of our bodum of tea (we drank a LOT of it all week to help with congestion and achy bodies)  I also got a few random everyday shots of us.  A Costco run, my son doing school work, a failed dinner where we ended up having tuna melts as the chicken wasn't ready, a cool display of apples in a grocery store.  I also documented our ferry ride to Vancouver.  We live on an island but it's big and has most everything here so... I think we forget sometimes it is an island!

And here is the next week (and caught up now to the spread I posted Saturday!).  Again, taking pictures of everyday things; T to B, L to R, : big grocery shop that I prepped for easy dinners, my son at art class, my first attempt at making calzones, me at the hairdresser finally getting my hair done after months and months of having to cancel appts, my husband WAY up on a scary ladder changing the light bulb on our 2nd story ceiling fan (and cleaning it for me, yuck!!), my brother and niece, a Skype call with them and a gorgeous shot my husband took of Mt Baker when we were out doing family pictures that weekend.

This layout incoorporates Scraptastic, Simon Says Stamp and Noel Mignon kits!!  

Happy Scrapping! 

Jen

Happy Scrappy Saturday!

Hi all!  I have some time today to scrap (also have a huge to-do list too...) so my first goal was to clean my scrap space up so I can work on my work space rather than the floor (as the work space is covered in piles from unpacking from a crop last month!!).  But I was mid-PL spread so I did that first, LOL.  On the floor.  Oh well. It's done and I'm happy.  NEXT I am cleaning up my scrap space.

Anyways, here is my PL for Oct 7-14.  I usually do just 1 side per week but this was a long weekend (Thanksgiving in Canada) so I did both sides as we wandered and took pictures over the weekend.

Here's the full spread!  I used bits from my Noel Mignon October kit and from the September Scraptastic This Life Noted grab bag (didn't buy the full kit, just the cards).  Think they worked quite well together.  I try not to buy must PL-specific stuff as: 1. I'm on a budget and my Noel Mignon kits take up that budget but also provide me with ALL the stuff I need to scrap all month long! 2. As I have a ROOM FULL of supplies and scraps and embellishments so I really don't need more stuff when I can just use that.

 Here is the left side.  I had my son fill in the details on his field trip.  (which unfortunately he did while distracted by the tv, should have removed him to elsewhere!)  But I'm glad his voice is on here and I added the postcard he'd hung onto after the field trip.  It's sideways but I don't care.  I wasn't with him on the field trip so happy to include something.

 This is the right side.  Our long weekend adventures (all the nature pictures) as well as a shot of our non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner (long story) and a picture of my niece.  She lives a day's drive away so I love getting pictures of her from my brother and SIL. I try to include special ones in our PL layouts. (this one is her first solid food).  She always has the funniest expressions on her face.

Hope you are all having a great weekend. It's overcast and cool here... so perfect scrapping weather!  (and chore weather, and get some school work done weather, and finish putting up the Halloween decorations weather, and... )

Jen

Creative Scrappers - Sketch 253 - My take

Happy Friday scrappy peeps. I am thrilled to have FINALLY finished this layout.  Been working on it off and on since the day this sketch went up on the 13th. Two weeks is a LONG time for me to work on the same layout.  But... life is busy right now and if I cleaned my poor, poor messy work space off... likely I could have done it faster :)  I need to start scrapping at night but I'm usually too tired.  Coffee? Chocolate? Will power?

Anywho... here is the original sketch:



And here is my take on it!!  I love, love, LOVE these pictures.  There were more but I really wanted to highlight these... I may just have to do a 2nd layout of the others (where we posed with ATG guns like Charlie's Angels).  I gotta say, best scrappy friends EVER for being willing to do this and ham it up just as much as I was willing to do.  We were walking around in these pink wigs all night, made a Subway run in them at 11:00pm and kept saying "Hey!  Stick it up!!" haha

Have a super scrappy weekend.  I'm single parenting it (AGAIN!!) but hope to clean my scrap room and get my latest PL pictures printed off and into my album.

Jen

Project Life - Jen style

So as I posted a while back, I started Project Life (only in June... hard to believe as it feels like I've been doing forever now - in a GOOD way!).  I wanted to start posting my layouts on here with some regularity (notice I don't say weekly as... that is most likely not to happen as I tend to do monthly or biweekly at most!). I thought I'd do some catch up first and start with my first ever PL layout.  I didn't have any PL supplies with the exception of some page protectors, which I actually stole from my friend's PL baby album I was working on as her gift.

Here it is:

This was the week before the end of school and Father's Day weekend.  As I've mentioned, I am doing Project Life as this:

1. Trying to keep each week to 1- 12x12 page protector.  Highlights only.
2. I add these directly into my regular, chronological, family album. No special PL album. (I have a little video on this... need to figure out how to upload and edit!)
3. The events that require/need/whatever a full layout get a full layout and as best fits they go beside, in front of behind the PL week they go with (and usually there is a highlight of same event on the PL page).
4. I'm flexible!!! So sometimes with a long weekend the week gets a page and the long weekend gets it's own PL page too (so that week is 2 - 12x12 page protectors).  Or sometimes I do an insert (not often yet) if I have more to say or if there are sort of two themes to a week or something like that.

Things I'm trying to do to help me "keep up" with my PL but also my scrapbooking in general: (cause I am SUPER busy these days - aren't we all?! - and I just don't have the time I used to to scrapbook anymore)

• download pictures at least once a month from all our sources (my phone, hubbie's phone, Nikon D90 and potentially my new little Nikon One -which I haven't been using... purely just not in habit to grab and need a case so I can put in my purse and leave it there!!)
• have a supply of PL planning pages printed off so I can use. I scribble all over them and then tuck right into my album once I've sent those pictures off to be printed. Then when I can, I already know my plan (and usually as I'm planning I pick my cards too and put right into the page protectors...) and so...
• when I have time, doing the PL pages is really a matter of cutting the pictures as needed and doing journalling and any extra embellishing I feel I need (which I don't have to really do ANY but of course, that's the fun part!!)

Last thing I want to now do... prep a portable PL "station".  Then when my kids are working on school stuff and don't need me I could bring it down and work on my stuff.  Then I'm not gathering a ton of stuff.  I need to really think about it but think it would include:

• journalling pens
• few washi tapes (neutrals, easy to use on most layouts)
• scissors, tape runner, glossy accents
• assortment of embellishments (think just grab my box instead of sorting out extra stuff)
• small alpha stickers

If you have any suggestions, PLEASE, by all means leave me a comment on how to get this started.

I should be back tomorrow with a few more to share until we hit my recent stuff!!

Jen

Noel Mignon - October Sketch

HI all,

A quick post to show you my October sketch challenge layout.  I snuck it in on Friday.  I altered Julie's sketch just a bit as I had 3 photos I wanted to use.  This is using the September kit.

Here is Julie's sketch:

And here is my take on it!

Wee bit busy photos but in person it is much easier to see (and I was rushing a bit and took this at a terrible time of day... oops).  The journalling tells about how when the big group of us does New Year's together we do appies all night (rather than dinner) and the adults play canasta and the kids play video games. Then we gather together close to midnight to watch the Seattle space needle fireworks on tv and have champagne.

Keep scrapping!!

Jen

Week in the Life - FINISHED!!

As I mentioned I got my Week in the Life pictures all prepped for the BC Crop for Kids weekend.  (which was a BLAST BTW and I'll do a post very soon just about that!!!)

Here are all my finished layouts.  I did them in Design A Project Life page protectors with 8x10 inserts to hold the daily write-up.  I used the Collect App for almost all the pictures (3x4 size) except having 1 - 4x6 per day as a "title" card that I put "Week in the Life" and the day on.  You can see the pictures dwindle mid-week, pick up a bit, Saturday we ran errands and were out for dinner so not a lot of pictures (but I wrote out more for that day saying what we did, and then Sunday we did a bunch of fun stuff and I snapped pictures all day long :)

Enjoy!!

Day 1 - Monday, September 9th

Day 2 - Tuesday, September 10th

Day 3 - Wednesday, September 11th

Day 4- Thursday, September 12th

Day 5 - Friday, September 13th

Day 6 - Saturday, September 14th

Day 7 - Sunday, September 15th