Looking Forward

Its always fun to have something to look forward to in the new year. With it sneaking up around the corner, I'm so excited to get going on my new scrapbook called Project Life by Becky Higgins.

Project Life is a simple style of scrapbooking that comes complete with everything you need to complete a scrapbook based on a full year. All I need to have myself is my photos as I take them and a journaling pen.

Confession? The day it was expected to come in the mail, I got next to nothing done. I was so excited that I kept popping over to our main two front doors to see if the UPS man had brought it yet.
Me: *checking my email*
Five Minutes Later: *Looks out living room door*
*Looks out dining room door*
Me: *Doing dishes*
Five Minutes Later: *Looks from the Parlor windows to see
if it is on the left or right side front porches*
Me: *Vacuuming the kitchen floor*
Five Minutes Later: *Dashing to the porches to see if I missed it
while I was vacuuming*

Clearly a productive day. Ha. :o)

After patiently waiting though, it finally arrived!

 Excitedly opening up the box!!

 My kit came with a 12x12 binder (isn't it pretty?!)
Fifty-Six 12x12 pocket page protectors
A date stamp
A larger card to mark the beginning of each week
Day of the week stickers
Four Smaller boxes of journaling cards
Extra 12x12 paper to be cut down to fill pocket spots if needed
12 Clear bookmark inserts to divide the scrapbook into months.

This scrapbook is supposed to be one that reflects on the daily aspect of life, containing photos not only of special days that you want to remember, but also focusing on the normality of life...watching a movie together, eating a meal, sick days and couch potato days... Then, instead of just remembering the special trip or the birthday, it enables you to remember the normal days that can be just as important! 

In theory, one would take a picture every day and make a journaling card for it each day to help oneself remember which day the picture is from! And then a week or two at a time, get photos developed and merely slide them into the pockets of the page protectors near the related journaling card. Talk about easy! :)

I love taking photos but have not had a reason to develop them in quite some time, so this will be just the help I need to be intentional to develop a few pictures each week and remember the simple daily aspects of life.
Something else that has kept me from scrapbooking through college and into our early years of marriage has been the price tag associated with it. Scrapbooking paper is expensive... photo adhesive is expensive... stickers are expensive... and the creative energy to decide just how to set up the page is just more overwhelming than fun. 

But with Project Life, I got a deal! :)

Thanks to a dear friend who introduced me to Project Life, I ordered this album set on Black Friday for just $29.99. A $20.00 savings. And the only other expenses that I will have will be the photos! No running to the craft store when I'm short a few pieces of paper or when I run out of photo adhesive or I don't quite have the right stickers.... Its all here and hopefully a year from now, will be nearly finished! :)

If you want more information about Project Life, click here. :) There are some beautiful new albums for this next year!

Winter has come to our home

I am so happy to inform you that our first winter in Plymouth, Indiana has been snowy! Apparently, northern central Indiana gets lake effect snow. That makes me happy. Its like Chicago snow! :) 

Our house looks good with snow!

 The trees are bare and frozen on our street!

 The view out our front parlor windows.

 Simple is the theme of our winter and holiday decor this year.
I bought this hurricane vase at the dollar tree, along with the small silver balls. Stabilizing the vase with rice helped to raise the silver balls and add a splash of calm color against the dark mantel. Paired with these pearl berry sprays, its the perfect simple holiday decor.

 For the sticks and candle on the hearth, I merely spray painted some sticks that I found in my own yard. Using rice to stabilize them was perfect. And my little white candle just adds a touch of warmth. I love this because I can leave it up all winter, instead of taking it down after Christmas. Word to the wise if you are considering doing this.... spray paint outside and do it before there is snow on the ground and its only 30 degrees outside. Inside leaves you with too strong of a paint smell with frozen fingers when you move your project outside because you're fearful for your brain cells.... personal experience talking here.

Winter is cozy in our home... especially when we get the chance to light that gas fireplace and enjoy the falling snow!