Project Life Week 12: THEN

 Time to step back almost 25 years! This is the left side of my Week 12. We are at the wedding reception. Troy's mom and dad threw the reception for us, and it was so nice! We had a small wedding, but I thought it was perfect.

 I like to add vintage paper to most of my layouts. Here there is vintage sheet music and book paper. I love those little alphabet stickers! I can't remember who makes them, but you probably have them too, so what does it matter? I think that's Sassafrass paper on this layout.

 This is a vintage button and some glitter glue dots. I started with a piece of painted chipboard and just added layers, finishing with the mother of pearl button.

 DH and I, and a couple of dear relatives!

 Posing with the little girls, and cutting the cake!!

 A little layered die cut embellishment.

A final piece of book paper.

Day 6 of Whole30 went well. Today is W's birthday, so we are having steak, cucumbers with homemade mayo, and watermelon for dinner. That's AFTER Troy took the boys to DQ for ice cream. I stayed home to blog and watch old Murder, She Wrote episodes, because believe it or not, DQ is not Whole30 complaint.

New Hero Arts Stamp & Cut

 My sister has several of these. I was jealous. Yes. I considered stuffing them all into my suitcase the last time I was there. I mean, she loves me, it's not like we would become estranged over gorgeous stamps that come with matching dies. However, I found a couple of sets on sale, and elected not to steal hers. This set of Framelits is called Butterflies 3, and I think it's fabulous! I paired it with a Gina K. Designs stamp called Unforgettable, and some polished stone paper I made using Gina's method.

 This card was a theory that did not work as well as I thought. I colored the embossed image with an embossing pen and then embossed with different colors, working one color at a time. It's messy, but I elected to keep it, because I think it looks a bit like tile. I used Signs of Autumn from GKD, plus a K&Co. butterfly.

 GKD Spring Mix.

 GKD Spring Mix.

GKD Spring Mix.

I'm on Day 5 of Whole30. I have mostly felt absolutely horrible the whole time. I have stuck with it, though, and hope that soon I will adjust to the lack of my usual horrifyingly bad food choices. Other than the fact that I generally feel sick or have a pounding headache, it has not been too hard. I have been using recipes from Whole Family Strong, and on the first, I made Apple Bumbkin without the maple syrup, of course. The texture takes a little getting used to, but it tastes great. It's a good thing I like it, because Troy does not, and I have been stuck trying to polish off a 9x13 pan of it by myself. I've eaten two large servings a day, and I'm down to just one serving. I probably won't ever make this again, because it's just no fun having to eat the same thing five days in a row.

I would like to nominate myself for some kind of medal, though, because my 10yods has a sheet of Pillsbury Croissants in the oven right now, and I guarantee you that I won't eat a crumb.

New 365Cards Design Team Member!

 This is my very first post as a 365Cards DT member! I'm a Sunday Sketch designer, which is just so cool, because I love Wendi's sketches. 365Cards is such a fun challenge blog because you can check in every day for a little inspiration. Every Sunday, you will find a terrific sketch, so come on over and play with us.

 For my card, I used Stampin' Up! Morning Marigold and American Crafts paper and stickers. The sentiment is a Gina K Designs stamp from Enjoy the Sunshine. I kept this one really simple. I'm always surprised when I turn out a CAS card. I never used to like making them, but I enjoy the lightness of a CAS card every now and then.

I hope you can stop by 365Cards and play with us this week. It really is a lot of fun! Plus, I would love to stop by your blog and see what you've been up to, and how can I do that if I don't know where you are?

Project Life Week 11: Now

 First, some cute pictures of my youngest and one of our kittens to lure you in and make you like me, and a big thanks to Michelle for including me in today's hop!

 It is not that easy to take Project Life pictures when you have a boy and three kittens helping.

 Many times there will be a tail or a paw in a picture.

 I just leave them there because I love them. SO. MUCH.

 So, for those of you who have never visited my blog before, which will most likely be all of you, I do two PL pages a week. On the left, I do a THEN page, with photos from the past. On the right I do a NOW page. This works well for me because I like getting old pics in an album, and everyone loves seeing them, too. It also helps because I still have a hard time remembering to get lots of pictures and write everything down.  You can see I only had five pictures this week. I am trying to get more these days.

 This was way back before I had anything but my Amber Edition to use for PL. I am now a member of two kit clubs (Citrus Twist & Cocoa Daisy) and have all the latest and greatest. Here I did not have enough Thickers to make my title, so I used a stamp for one E and drew the 11. I think it looks terrible, but I like it because I was using what I had and making it work. I have tons of Thickers now, but I will never change this card; it's a reflection of where I was that week.

 I must say I love my kits and having so much stuff geared specifically to PL. However, it's okay to do PL without hundreds of dollars of PL supplies. I think my first PL kit arrived in time for me to add to week 13. Here I just used stamps, my typewriter, patterned paper and mulberry paper flowers. And my sewing machine. I sew on every LO.

 I apologize for the glare. I just realized as I loaded these pictures that the super high tech anti-glare lenses in my glasses take away the glare, so I can't see it when I'm taking pics. Next time I will take my glasses off or wear my contacts. I have been fretting over my PL pics, because they are truly awful. I think this is one reason why.

 If you click on the pictures, you can see them MUCH better!

 Here I'm documenting our Salad in a Jar kick. It's great for people who take their lunch to work.

This is our youngest pouting a bit over having a bottle of Hershey's syrup and no milk. This is how you learn to live with disappointment. But not for long, because his dad hopped in the car and went and got milk. Spoiled much?

Project Life Week 11: Then

 I used a lot of Basic Grey Two Scoops on this layout. I used to hoard that paper like crazy. I don't hoard anything anymore. I use whatever I want, whenever I want. In fact, I love throwing out empty packaging!

 Here I added a die cut heart and some MM flowers & crystal brad. Remember those?

 Another heart. It's a wedding, after all!

 I did some hand stitching on this pocket. Don't start looking for this as a regular thing. It won't happen very often.

 This is Gollum. We named him that because he has huge eyes and he used to be wild and hid from us at every opportunity. He is not wild anymore, and neither are his brothers. Man, I love these kittens!

Well, there you have it. There's just not much to chat about with these old pictures, so I will say good night!

In other news, DH & I started Whole30 today. We made it through just fine.  I normally drink three cups of coffee with milk and sweetener, but today I just drank one cup black. It turns out I don't really like coffee that much. I think I'll skip it tomorrow.

Project Life Week 10: Now

 I'm continuing to gear up for Saturday's Project Life blog hop. I thought it would be good if there was a lot of PL at the top of my blog so PLers didn't have to wade through a bunch of cards, which they may not be interested in. As you can see, I've really outdone myself with the bad photography. I just got Photoshop Elements 11 yesterday and am learning how to use it. I don't think it can fix a pic this bad, but I'm sure it can do more than Picasa, which is what I've used for years.

 This is my Week card. I always enjoy making them, and try to make them a little special, even if I don't do much with the rest of the layout. I started with an Amber Edition card. I always circle the month. I stamped the ten on a paper banner. The leaf on the mulberry flower is a vintage sequin. It adds a nice dash of shine.

 All of those black spots are Snow Geese. Thousands and thousands of them landed in the field behind our house during March. It was awe inspiring. Snow Geese are fabulous white birds with black spots on the ends of their wings. They are impressive to watch, and fun to listen to. Like most birds, they are very talkative.

 More geese.

 Some journaling about the incredible bird population here.

 The photos above and below are red-winged blackbirds. We had tens of thousands of these. Like what you see on documentaries. No lie.

Remember, if you click on the photos, you can see them a little better.

Project Life Week 10: Then

 I know I sound like a broken record, but I apologize for the bad pictures. They are easier to see if you click on them. It was cloudy when I went outside to take these, but of course the sun came out right when I got set up. I have improved my photography over the years not by learning how to use my camera well, but by experimenting until I get it right. It's not the best method, but I'm too impatient and lazy to make the effort to just do it right in the first place.

 I don't enjoy photography at all. If I did, I would spend more time actually learning how to do it.

 There really isn't any earth shattering Project Life goodness here. This is basic PL: Get the pictures in a book where people can enjoy them. Done and done.

 On Saturday, I am participating in a Project Life blog hop. So, I am going to get some good pictures to post if it kills me. I know no one actually visits my blog, so posting these pictures doesn't feel too humiliating. But to know that people might actually stop by is a big motivator!

 So, you will find me wandering around with my camera and a PL layout looking for that magical location. You know, the place that makes me look like I've ever used a camera before. It's around here somewhere, and I will find it. Yes, I will.