Family Vacation May 2012



There are a few pages that I completed from 2012 that I haven’t shared yet and I figure now is as good a time as any! We’ll start with the wrap-up photos from our very first family vacation. An RV trip through California (Yosemite, Napa and Mendocino).
Week 4. Does it feel like we should be this far into 2013?
This week Michael had monday off of work and we ventured into downtown Seattle for the day. Fun! My grandma passed away as well, which is so sad. I didn’t have photos of that, obviously, but I wanted to include it so I made a little collage (bottom left) of photos that mean a lot to me that she is in. Make sure you include your relatives, family and friends that are out of town in your PL book.
Here we are with the most recent Project Life spread. I have to tell you the new AC Digitals papers and elements are giving me such a creative boost. As most of you know (if you read here often), I’m obsessed with the Cobalt kit from last year’s Project Life release. Still love it. It’s still my favorite, even with the new sets and the sets that are dropping this spring. However, the new patterns and color combos are giving me a “new” feeling in my spreads and I’m loving it! I’ll get back to Cobalt, that’s for sure, but for now, I love the AC Digitals options.
This was a very non-eventful week in the house of Moreno. If you feel like you don’t have enough pictures or your world isn’t very exciting, I hope these layouts might give you some inspiration. I purposely brought out my big girl camera one night to take pictures of our nightly routine because we were doing so little during the day. I also took series photos to fill. Notice the 3 photos of Kennedy in the tiny template all dressed up after her bath. That’s a good way to add variety even if you don’t have a lot of photo moments. I ended up with way more than I had originally thought I had.
I’m focusing on getting down on the girls’ level to take photos of them. I want to see the world the way they see it. I remember wearing my moms heels when I was little and feeling like I could see so much more when I was “taller.” I think the same is true when we become smaller. I get down on my stomach, I crouch down, I lay down. Try thinking on their level when taking their photos.
The other day I went through and added my 2013 brush samples to my binder and I posted a picture of it on Instagram. It seemed to generate quite a few “aha” moments so I thought I’d also post it here.
This is the method I use to arrange, file and keep my brush samples so I can more easily remember what I have and then use them for appropriate photos or cards in my Project Life album.
It’s super simple (excuse the crappy iPhone pics):
Just a 3-ring binder and page protectors. I simply print out each .jpg sample file onto printer paper and slip them into the page protector. I generally group the brushes together by theme so I can turn to the right section to find something that will complete the layout I’m working on.
Clearly, I have issues with the Ali Edwards brushes. Nary a page makes it into my Project Life book without an AE Brush and a CZ tiny template. I tend to stick with what works!
I hope this will help you get organized and take stock of what you have in your files. We creative types tend to be very visual and I think this system lends itself to that need. If you have a better system, please share in the comments! I’d love to find out what everyone else does.
So I wanted to update with my first few 2013 Project Life spreads before we get too far into the year and I finish catching up from 2012.
Here’s my 2013 cover page:
This year I’m doing the weekly spreads so here’s what our Week One looked like:
…and Week Two: