Stephanie Makes: February 2013

2/28/13

good times...

another layout for project 52 up today.

i wanted the colors of the kids yellow halloween costumes to be the focus of this pictures so i used a light background and neutral colors to help the yellows pop.

such cuties, these two.

i'm pretty sure i'm well over 52 layouts so far this year. that's pretty crazy for someone who had only made two prior to the beginning of the year.

how are you coming with your crafty goals?

2/26/13

project life: week 8

another week checked off.

more memories recorded.

more funny "drew-isms" documented.

more toys photographed.

more moments remembered.

and that's why i love this little project so much.

here's a look at week 8...

pretty simple, as usual.

and the left side....

and the right side...

scott and i celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary with a little trip to wilmington, nc over the weekend. he actually got sick and we ended up cutting the trip short, but i still wanted to document our time together. i created (another) insert....and....i think that i love making them more than the week's spread...shhhh.

i figured it had been a few weeks since i included some confetti so i added a confetti pocket at the top of the insert with a silhouette cut "together" sewed into place.

it's a little difficult to see in just the insert alone so i added to the spread so you could see the whole look....

and here is the front and back of the insert.

don't ya just love some confetti???

thanks so much for hanging out with me this morning!!

as always, i'm linking up over at the mom creative today. stop over if you get a chance!

xoxoxo

2/25/13

meet the 2013 color combos galore DT...

i am truly honored to be a part of the 2013 color combos galore design team. there are so many talented ladies on the team and i can't wait to get started on this journey.
click here to be taken to the color combos galore website and learn more! hope you will join in the fun!!

and here is the 2013 DT...

Welcome Color Combos Galore 2013 Design Team! (click on their names below to know more about them)

We are truly honored to of had some of the best creative artists in the industry throughout the years. As a new family joins the long list of talented designers, we look forward to their inspiring creations, biggest hearts and warmest smiles!

COLOR COMBOS GALORE FOUNDER...

Janet Perafan-Babar - USA

alongside

RETURNING MEMBERS....

Kelly Holbrook - USA

Jinny Newlin - USA

Fi Kenward - Australia

Camille Robinson - USA

AND INTRODUCING….

Beck Beattie - Australia

Emilia van den Heuvel - Netherlands

Meihsia Liu - USA

Meredith MacRitchie - Canada

Sara Noendeng - Australia

Stephanie Bryan - USA

Trudi Harrison - Australia

WITH CONTRIBUTING DESIGNERS....

Mebae Kasumi - Japan

Ana Castro - Brazil

together...

sharing another layout from my project 52.

i can't believe how many layouts i've made this year. it's been awesome.

for this one, i stamped some shimmery circles using puffy paint onto a piece of white cardstock.

then i layered on a doily, some pretty papers and a super cute photo of my two kids holding hands.

i wanted to keep the background white, so i stitched on some hearts randomly around the page.

together is best, right???

2/19/13

project life: week 7

the weeks are flying by around here.

and i love this project more and more each week.

lots of hearts and love going on for this spread. i was the lucky winner of the elle's studio prize pack a few weeks ago and it arrived right before i started putting my week together. yay!! i love the new day to day line. super versatile... so i know i will adding it to the next coming weeks for sure.

here's a look at both the left and right pages together...

we listen to lots of music in our house...and our kids tend to gravitate towards several songs and sing them in repetition constantly. right now, drew is stuck on "fosty da noman" (i.e. "frosty the snowman") and anna sings "jesus loves me" all day long. to document some of our other favorites right now, i printed up a little playlist in photoshop to include this week. catherine davis from design editor posts her monthly playlist on her blog so i used her design as my inspiration! thanks catherine!!

and here's a closer look at the right...

and left...

i also decided to include an insert of our favorite "handmade" valentine's from this year. we decided as a family to only make our valentine's cards so we set up a little card station. it was perfect and i don't think we will ever do anything different.

for the insert...i took pictures of each card, printed them and then sewed each one into it's own square in a cut out page protector. i added a couple digital freebies from the lilypad just to spice it up a bit! :)

as always...i'm linking up at the mom creative today. pop over and see what's new in project life!

and in case you missed my post from last week...there's a 4x6 layered psd freebie just for you! click here for that post and for a little tutorial of how i use my layered templates.

2/18/13

freebie: circle cut file

here's another freebie for ya...

this one is a circle cut file i made on the silhouette for the layout below.

i love circles.

you could turn it sideways or on a diagonal for a different look...

and it would be super cute resized for a card...

circle cut file

please feel free to grab one for yourself, but please credit and link back if you use it.

xoxo

2/15/13

project life: layered psd template

i thought i would share a little layered template i created for my insert this week. i tend to have lots of photos, so multiple pictures on one 4x6 photo works well for me.

i also like to change things up a bit and add either journaling or embellishments on my grid pictures.

here's how i use my layered psd...

this is the file i created using photoshop elements.

you can use it as it is...with 6 slots for photos. these squares are roughly 2x2 each and are perfect for instagram photos.

when you open the psd file, you will see the layers #1-6 on the right hand side (as pictured with the arrow).

as above in my project life insert, i sometimes like to "hide" a layer to leave a white space for journaling or embellishments. for the insert, i cut down one of the dear lizzy cards for that spot and sewed it into place.

click on the little "eye" next to the layer you want to hide. you'll see that box disappear after you click on the eye icon.

for the photo on the front of the insert, i "hid" the two layers on the right to make space for my title.

i love how the white space makes the photos pop.

click below to download the layered template

4x6 layered psd template

let me know if you have any questions or need any help with this. i just play around with pse so i don't know too much, but i'm happy to help if i can!!

thanks for stopping by!

2/13/13

wonder...

i love stars.

this is a simple layout i created using some paint splatters, star cutouts & star rhinestones, doily and some pattern paper.

i wanted to add some additional journaling for this photo so i created a little flip up card from some card stock.

i typed my journaling onto vellum and then sewed it on top of that awesome paper from the block party kit at studio calico.

2/12/13

project life: week 6

i had so much fun putting this past week together. i think it's the awesome dear lizzy 5th & frolic collection that just makes me smile.

i ended up with a ton of photos this week so i decided to add an insert.

below is the spread without the insert...

i wasn't quite sure what i wanted to do with the heart (on the left side of the page), so i just punched another heart from a piece of speckled white cardstock and then added an evalicious badge on top. i love how you can see the previous week peeking through when the page is flipped...

here's a better look at each side...

photos, journaling, embellishments....

this is the insert for this week.

i'm in love with everything dear lizzy. it just makes me happy. i hoard most of her stuff, but decided to break out some of the papers, tags and stickers for this insert. lisa truesdell did a similar project life insert at two peas last year and i have been dying to do something similar. i think it might be my favorite insert. ever.

i cut down one of the design A page protectors so that i had two 4x6 and two 3x4 on the front and back. i used photoshop to create a simple picture collage since i had so many photos to add. for the collage on the front, i hid two of the layers so i could add my title. and for the back collage, i hid the top middle layer so i could sew on a little heart card.

i plan on sharing my layered photoshop file later this week so be sure to check back!

here's a peek of what the insert looks like in the album...

thanks so much for stopping by!!

and in case you missed it....i had a free laundry card download yesterday.

check it out here

be sure to hop on over to the mom creative to check out more awesome project life spreads.

2/11/13

project life freebie: laundry card

i thought i would share a little freebie today. it's a simple little laundry card i created in photoshop. i saw this as a poster on pinterest and thought it would be perfect for project life. you can see how i used it on my spread below.

happy monday everyone.

(just click the picture and save it to your desktop)

2/7/13

project life: january recap

i wanted to get all of my pages together on one screen just so i could see what they looked like together.

things i'm loving this month...

using smaller photos in the 4x6 slots to make more room for journaling

these martha stewart labels and my typewriter

the calendar cards from studio calico

adding pockets and flip up cards for journaling and other fun stuff

2/5/13

project life: week 5

and we're moving on...

already done with week 5 of this year. that's crazy to think about.

not as many photos, but more journaling this week.

one of my favorite things from my previous two albums (2011, 2012) is the journaling and little notes. i originally thought "seriously....who is going to read all of these???", but we do...we all do. it's neat to get a glimpse of our day and it's fun to read about all the things we have already forgotten about.

here's what the week together looks like...

and here's the left and right pages individually..

i added a flip up card to add lots of journaling this week. we had a scary 911 call early monday morning and i wanted to get all those thoughts, feelings and facts in one place.

i also made a vellum pocket to hold some screen shots of some texts from my husband. he was out of town all week and i didn't want to exclude him. plus...how cool would it be to stumble across some little notes written between your parents when you were little.

the little heart where anna wrote her name is adhered to a piece of clear hambly overlay so you can see the pages behind it.

so loving every bit of this album.

if you want to see my previous weeks...click here.

i'm linking up with the mom creative today. be sure to wander on over and check out all the other fabulous pages this week!

2/4/13

a...

sharing another layout from my project 52 today.

i'm moving right along with these. i think i've made 22 layouts this month...which is about 22 more than i have ever made. i'm really enjoying the creative outlet.

i originally cut some circles out with my silhouette for another project and really like how the "negative" circles were spaced so i created a layout around those. and of course...that awesome amy tan "love" paper which i'm hoarding!