Living My Dream

Studio Calico Front Row Sneaks

It's beginning to look a lot like Studio Calico February Kit Sneak Peek time! I've already posted most of these on Instagram (under suzyplant) and on the Studio Calico sneak board, but here they are again if you haven't seen them yet!

The first few are made with ONLY the Project Life kit. I LOVE turquoise and red together!

The next one is made with only Front Row Add-On 1 called Big Screen. Another one of my favorite color combos - pinks and teals with some yellow thrown in.

This sneak peek is made with only Add-On Two which is called Popcorn. The "documented" stamp is my favorite from this month's kits.

These next three were all made with a combination of all the kits mixed together (I purchased all four add-ons this month). The circles in this one are made from washi tape on white cardstock. The "right now" circle is a cut file. The frame on the third photo was cut from white cardstock with washi on it - you can tell I love this washi!

Now that is A LOT of sneaks! But I've only completed three of four spreads, so more to come! Have a great week friends! Suzy

 

(adorable) Maggie Holmes and Crate Paper BLOG HOP!!!

My good friend, and very adorable and sweet friend, Miss Maggie Holmes is coming out with a new scrapbook line that is UTTERLY ADORABLE (just like Maggie). She has teamed up with Crate Paper to design and produce a signature line of scrapbooking products. I would like to get my hands on these products NOW! I think they will be my favorite line at CHA this year BECAUSE EVERYTHING MAGGIE DOES IS ADORABLE (did I mention that already?!?!?!)...even her name! So it makes sense that she used it as the name for the product line. 

When I think of Maggie, I think of pink, frilly, ADORABLE, gorgeous florals, glitter, teal, yellow, vintage, CAMERAS, more pink, bows, girly, ... I haven't seen her new line yet except for the sneak images below, but I can bet it is a bit of all these things! I made a mini album in a class by Maggie once years ago and to this day, it is still my favorite creation I have ever made. And with that .... drum roll please ... here are the sneaks:

If you want to see more of this ADORABLE line, you are in luck (or maybe you already came here from the blog hop and have seen it all because I am the second to last!). But if NOT, just hop back up to Ali Edward's blog to start the hop. And definitely visit Maggie's blog to leave a comment to win this entire collection! And next on the blog hop is:

CREATING KEEPSAKES MAGAZINE

Good luck friends! Good luck Maggie - wishing you tremendous success on your new adorable line. Maybe next time you should name it ADORABLE! (and I'll take the credit please...)!!! xoxo Suzy

Project Life + Studio Calico = My Longest Post Ever

I showed some sneak peeks of my Project Life layouts using the January Studio Calico kits some time ago. And then I got busy and forgot to post all the actual spreads!!! So today I am going to post all four spreads I made using the January kits and this is going to be one VERY LONG POST! So get ready...

This was my first month being on the Studio Calico project life design team, so I went a little crazy and purchased all of the add-on kits. The first spread is made with ONLY THE PROJECT LIFE kit from January. The next three spreads are made from a combination of all of the January SC kits which are linked at the bottom of this post. 

PROJECT LIFE WEEK 43 (using the SC Project Life kit ONLY):

PROJECT LIFE WEEK 44:

PROJECT LIFE WEEK 38:

PROJECT LIFE WEEK 47:

Studio Calico Kits Used on these spreads: Block Party Project Life Kit, Block Party Scrapbook Kit, Block Party Card Kit, Pollard Ave Kit, Wildberry Court Kit, Pioneer Drive Kit, and Woodbrook Road Kit.

I hope you enjoyed this very long post full of my Project Life spreads. I was playing catch up for some weeks I had not finished and now I am ready to start the new year as soon as my February Kits arrive - so excited! Hope to see / meet some of you at CHA next weekend in Anaheim! COME BACK TOMORROW BECAUSE I AM PART OF A VERY EXCITING BLOG HOP INTRODUCING A NEW PRODUCT LINE BY CRATE PAPER!!! suzy

Day by Day Class at Studio Calico

Tomorrow is NEW YEARS EVE!!! I simply cannot believe it. Too fast of a year, but a good one for moving fast as I want this year over already!!! Not that it didn't have it's good points, but next year is just going to be SO much better. I continute to "recover" or improve from my horrific surgery. I am going into the new year tumor free (or so I hope as I won't know for sure if they got it all until my first MRI in a year). My son comes home from his two year mission in Argentina in three months! And I turn 50. How totally exciting is that. Ok, not so much, but because Thane gets home a few weeks later, I'm not dreading it as much as I should be...

Now back to the point of this post. TOMORROW is the last day to register for Studio Calico's new Day by Day Project Life class that starts on January 1st. So I'm about to give you a little motivational speech as to why you should register if you haven't yet! Here is a link to register for the class - Day By Day Class.

This class will help beginners learn how to start Project Life and will teach experienced Project Lifers new tips and techniques. I'm doing a doodling tutorial as part of the class. Here is a sneak image of some of the items I will be showing you how to make:

There are AMAZING printables for this class. I used both the printables and cards from the January Project Life kit for my tutorial. I'm also making my 2013 introduction spread that will be shown in the class. But this isn't all about ME!!! (heehee)... There are lots of talented (extremely talented) girls that are contributing to the class. In fact, the entire Project Life design team will be showing you their ideas and some cool tips they all use! Here is an image of one of the printables.

If you register NOW, you will get this free stamp set with the class. I am using it a lot on my PL spreads!

I hope to see some of you on the Project Life Day by Day class boards - looking forward to starting the new year making our Project Life spreads together!!! suzy

Studio Calico Sneaks and American Crafts Guest Designer...

Today I am the guest blogger at American Crafts. I worked with their new Christmas line called Kringle and Co. This was my favorite layout of the ones I made, but there are a few more if you hop over to the American Crafts blog.

I've also been very busy working on all of my Studio Calico Project Life spreads. Three done and one more to go! Here are some more sneaks. This first one uses JUST the Project Life kit. The colors in this kit are so me! I love it!

This next one uses a mix of products from several of the add-ons.

This one uses items from both add on 3 and 4.

And this last one uses the Project Life kit and pieces from add-on four.

This being my first month on the team, I purchased all the kits - I wanted to play with lots of products. And I'm having a really good time doing it. I looked at my Project Life album today and I love love love that I am doing this project. It is so fun to look back on and worth all the work it takes! I hope some of you are motivated to start it in 2013 as well!

Thanks for visiting! Merry Christmas way too soon! I'm just starting my shopping, so I'm really running behind this year. I asked my Doctor today if he thought it was fair that this Santa deserved a year off after all I have been through. He said he would write me an official doctors note. I hope my kids understand....haha! suzy

Studio Calico PROJECT LIFE Design Team...

Well my friends, I have a new industry "job". I laugh when I tell people that I'm working again because I don't really work per se. I do what I love to do and get really excited when someone wants to pay me to do it - haha! 

I started Project Life this summer after I had my brain surgery to remove my nasty unwanted visitor, Hugh. I was in bed A LOT and I was really feeling like life was happening all around me while I was missing it all laying around trying to recover. Once I made the decision to start working on Project Life, I was motivated to get my butt out of bed and start creating something exciting to put in it! We ended up having the best summer ever spending almost every day at the beach (with me resting in a chair). And the best part about it is I have the entire summer documented - every single detail. I found true happiness in getting back to the basics both in life and in scrapbooking during the most difficult time I have ever been through. 

When I heard Studio Calico was starting a new Project Life kit, I signed up immediately without even seeing what would be in it. I've been an SC customer for a couple years and used my kits to create my spreads throughout the summer months. I found it much easier to use a select group of products that all went together rather than getting overwhelmed with too many selections. So a kit just for Project Life was a perfect fit for my needs!

A couple months later, I received the email from SC saying they would be starting a Project Life Design Team and asking if I wanted to be on it. Perfect timing. Perfect job. Perfect ending to a difficult time. Perfect start to my new life after surgery. Yes, this was PERFECT and I was super excited and honored to be part of their team!

The past few days I've spent holed up in my house working on PL spreads using the new SC kits. Happy days over here. Here are a few sneaks to show you what I've been up to. Their kits are even in my favorite color scheme for my PL album - reds/teals/yellows. These first two sneaks were made using just the Project Life kit - there is A LOT of stuff in it!

I'm still catching up on some weeks from this year. I'm trying to make sure I get to start 2013 as soon as 2013 is upon us. Just a few more spreads to go and I'll be caught up.

This next sneak was done using the add-on kit 2:

This sneak was made using add-on 3 kit:

I've got a lot more to go that I will be posting over the next couple of weeks until reveal on December 27th (December 26th for subscribers). I also post all my sneaks on Instagram (usually before I get them on my blog), so follow me under username "suzyplant".

Here are the new Studio Calico design teams for all three of their kits. If you go to the Studio Calico blog, you will see the links to each Design Team members blog.

Super excited to be working with all of these VERY talented ladies and such awesome products. Check out all the sneak peeks for this months kits HERE. Now to get back to creating so I have more to show you tomorrow!  suzy <3

December is Upon US (and it MUST be documented!)

If you have been reading my blog for longer than a year OR if you know me personally, you probably have heard me call myself the Grinch. I hate to admit this because I've decided to change my attitude this year. But in years past, yes, I have publically declared my distaste for the holiday season. BUT, perspectives on life have been altered recently and the Grinch is GONE!!!

To start my new "good girl attitude" Christmas program, I've decided to embark on a scrapbooking tradition called December Daily. This is where you make a mini album for December documenting all your fun activities relating to the holidays with one page per day. Since I am ONLY doing Project Life scrapping now and I didn't want to be a hypocrite to my new declared love and dedication to this project, I am incorporating the December Daily concept into my Project Life album for 2012.

To introduce December though, I wanted to make a special insert. This 8x10 page is in a page protector (made by Becky Higgins and sold on Amazon) that is open at the top. So I am going to insert the girl's Christmas lists and other memorabilia collected throughout the month. Next, I'm doing a 4x6 mini page for each day of December and they will go into 12x12 PL page protectors with 4x6 horizontal slots. I'll post these mini pages as the month progresses.

So how is that for the start of a new attitude? If you are documenting EVERY SINGLE DAY of December, don't you think it is important to have FUN every day of December?!?!?!? Yep, so thus the new attitude. On the 1st, we went to see the Nutcracker and on the 2nd, we decorated our tree. So far so good. But today (the 3rd), Sophie and I are sick in bed and I'm not sure what special little activity I will document. Because I ain't putting in a picture of the sick bed with myself on it! Real life is NOT allowed in this album - haha!

I hope you are all having a wonderful start to the most fabulous month in the year - DECEMBER!!! Oh no, with this new good girl attitude, I might even develop a fondness for ... dare I say ... DISNEYLAND?!?!?! (I won't be going anytime soon, but perhaps a New Years Goal is in the works). Happy December friends! Come back regularly to check on my daily progress! Suzy

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

Wow, I have been very absentee lately. But since it was a holiday week, maybe no one even noticed! We went to visit family in St. George, Utah for Thanksgiving week. I was soooo proud of myself as I was head chef for the day and able to do my usual cooking. And Jordan, if you are reading this, we missed you!!! Here was the spread:

Looking at this food again is making me so hungry! Thanksgiving dinner is definitely my favorite meal of the year. Too bad I'm always so tired from cooking that I don't get to adequately enjoy this feast!!! The pink stuff on the right is one of the best parts of the meal. We call it "fluff". It is cool whip mixed with raspberry jello mix and then you add in fruit (pineapple and frozen raspberries) and mini marshmellows. It is soooo unhealthy, but sooooo good! Luckily the kids ate most of it so there were no leftovers (except the ones Emily ate for breakfast the next day - yes, I saw you Emily!!!). 

So after a very busy week with the family, I am back on my own today with kids off at school. I decided to start the Christmas decorating early, so I have two doggies helping me with that. Two very tired doggies from a 4.5 mile walk we just took. I think that is the thing I am the MOST thankful for this year - that I am back to being able to take my long walks which are the best cure for all emotional ailments and so good for the body!

Thanksgiving is a holiday that unfortunately is stuck between the two biggies - Halloween and Christmas. Which results in it not always getting it's fair share of attention! This year I have so much to be thankful for that I really enjoyed savoring that gratitude all during the week. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday as well!!! 

Here are some photos of another Project Life spread I have finished. I'm still working on catch up from the fall months. All my weeks are mixed up at this point - this is week 36, the first week back to school. 

Have a great week and thanks for visiting!!! suzy

Project Life Week 39 - Party Week!

Hello blog friends! I finished two spreads for my Project Life last week - very proud of myself! I am catching up on some of my weeks out of order - so please don't try to figure out my sequence as it makes no sense lately!

Sophie's birthday party was this week, so I had lots of photos to include. I took one of the 12x12 page protectors that has nine 4x4 spots and cut it down to just four spots to use as an insert between the two pages. Here is the spread with this insert included. The left side is the regular weekly happenings/photos/overview. The flap and second side is all about the birthday party.

Side one includes nine 4x4 spots. I'm finding this page protector style to be one of my favorites. You can either cut down a 4x6 photo to be a 4x4 OR you can print your photos with two 3x4 pictures on the 4x6 size and use them with embellishments around them.

For the pie circles, I used a circle punch to cut out the shapes from a piece of patterned paper from the Yearbook Collection by Studio Calico. I then used sequins in the center of each from my monthly Studio Calico kit. I have been doing a lot of journaling right on washi tape with a ultra thin Sharpie when I use a 3x4 photo in a 4x4 slot. I also used an Echo Park journaling card and another SC one and just decorated around them to fit in the 4x4 slot. I use washi tape on almost every 4x4 in here.

Here is a close up image:

Here are some images of side two without the insert:

For the Party Day introduction card, I used Bella Blvd blue letter stickers and Jillibean Soup yellow letters. The party hat/yellow journaling card is by Bella Blvd. The banner is an American Crafts banner by Dear Lizzy and the paper is her's as well. I then took some confetti tags from a Studio Calico kit and pulled the confetti off (too lazy to make my own) and attached it to the top of the banner to make it more festive.

Here is the insert on both sides:

And that my friends is a very busy Project Life spread! But once in a while, it just has to be done that way! Who are your favorite Project Lifers out there? I found a couple I really like this week and would love to check out some more! Thanks and have a great week! suzy

Project Life Week 40

Hello Friends. Guess what I have to talk about / show today?!?!?!? The only scrapping I am doing lately - Project Life again. Hope I'm not boring any of you. I'm trying to catch up, so I have done this spread and two others I am finishing up in the past week. They go quick if you are all organized (see last post!). So today is week 40 and then I'll be sharing another two weeks in the next day or two. 

Week 40 Full Spread:

And each side:

And close up images:

I used my October Studio Calico Roller Rink main kit and the Cracking the Whip add on as well as some other supplies from my "box" (see post below again!). The red house is from an American Crafts Amy Tangerine mini album (I take them apart and use the pages seperately). Have I mentioned I am really enjoying doing PL lately?!?!?!?!

And a quick Suzy update in case anyone is interested in my personal well being four months after brain surgery: I'm doing better. I don't walk like a drunk most of the time anymore. I am back to (((partially))) exercising. My headaches are no longer ALL day every day, but more sporadic. So I must report that I am improving!!! And although I'm no where near back to being ME, I am making progress which gives me hope. So all is good!

Hope you are all having a great week! Suzy