I have a couple more cards for you today. Some thinking of you cards using a rose background stamp.

The first card I used pink and purple distress inks to create a water-color-like effect on the card.

For the second card, I recreated the Mother's Day card I made earlier this year by sponging on the color, then spritzing it with water to blend the colors together.

I really like these cards - they could be used for a sympathy card, or a pep-talk card, or any other reason you would be thinking of someone. I hope I get to send these under good circumstances, not sympathy. 

Happy Crafting!

I've been making a lot of sympathy cards lately. That makes me sad. A lot of friends have been going through tough times lately and though I can't do anything to fix their problems or make them feel physically better, I can give them a card to let them know I'm thinking of them. So that's what I do.

I had to make another one a couple weeks ago and since I knew I'd likely need more eventually, I made several.

I made these cards using the same products. I stamped a dandelion stamp twice and embossed them using white embossing powder. I did the same with the Thinking of You stamp.

I used Distress Ink with both cards but I applied it in different ways. On the first card, I used an ink blender to apply the ink to the paper first, then I spritzed the whole thing with water to let the colors blend together. 

For the second card, I used the smooshing technique that I've used many times before. I started out with a pink, a blue, and a purple, but as the inks smooshed together, the pink and blue blended into purple, so it ended up very, very purple. Which still looks nice, but not exactly what I was going for.

I matted both watercolor pieces with foam tape onto white cardstock, then used foam tape to adhere that onto a white card base.

I'm hoping that I can stop making sympathy cards soon. I'm looking forward to getting started on my Christmas cards!!!

What kinds of cards have you been making lately?
Anyone started on Christmas cards yet?

Happy Crafting!

Welcome back to my final (for now...) installment of:

Here are parts 1 and 2

The last 2 weeks I've been sharing what I've learned about physical project life over the last few years. "Physical" meaning paper, photos, ephemera, etc. Things you can actually hold in your hand.

I love physical PL. I really do. I love photos, I love paper, I love moving things around and adding embellishments and cutting things up and adhering them down.

But it just got to be too much. The 12x 12 album seemed too big, the card choices seemed too many, and I ended up sitting at my desk for what seemed like too long.

So before I started my 2015 album, I decided to let myself think for a while. I thought about doing a 6x8 version of PL. I thought about doing digital PL. I thought about using the PL app. I thought about not doing PL at all. I thought for what ended up being 4 months. And I hadn't documented my year at all. I still took photos, I was still saving what little bits of memorabilia I had, but I wasn't doing anything with them. Then in late April, I made a decision.

On April 22, my nephew was born. On April 23, I went to the hospital to visit him, and I took photos (of course!!!). When I got home, I needed to do something with those photos. I didn't want to do something with them, I needed to do something with them. I needed to start documenting my nephew's life. I needed to start documenting my own life again. I needed to play with photos and colors and designs again. And I needed it to be easy and portable and fun. So I downloaded the Project Life app and started playing around.

It only took minutes before I was hooked!

It took me 10 minutes to make my first page about my visit to the hospital to meet Jason. 10 minutes!!! I immediately went back and pulled photos from the previous 4 months and quickly pulled together page after page. On and off for that first weekend, I worked on my pages and by the time Monday came around again, I was caught up! I felt excited again! I felt like documenting again! Is it as unique as the physical version of PL? No. Is it as customizable? Nope. Does it feed my need to play with papers and photos and cut things and glue things? No way. But is is fast and easy? Yes! Is it fun? Oh yeah! Is it getting me excited about documenting again? Hell Yes!!! And that's exactly what I needed this year.

Plus, I have been able to make theme albums in a snap! I have made a book for my cat. Yes, I have an album for my cat - I have to do something with all those adorable photos!

I've also made books for my mom, my sister, and my sister's mother-in-law about my nephew Jason. I put together 2-3 pages each month using photos my sister has posted on FB or photos she or mom have sent me of Jason, then I print them out and they slide the pages into their books. I'll also include Jason's pages in my yearbook. That's 4 books with only about 30 minutes of work each month - including printing!

I have not printed any of my own pages for the year yet. I still have to decide if I'm going to print them as individual pages and put them into a 3-ring binder or if I'm going to get them printed in a book. And I still have to decide if I'm going to print them in 12x12 or 8x8. But right now, I don't care. My year is documented.

I've learned that for me, right now, the PL app is the way to go. Easy and fast is the best way for me. Maybe next year, I will go back to physical. I have not gotten rid of any of my supplies. But for now, this is what works.

This is what gets me to document my life.
This is fun!
And that's the point!

Have any of you readers used any of the Project Life systems? Physical, digital, or the app? Did you like it? Did you stick with it? What system is working for you right now?

Happy crafting (and documenting)!