Project Life Link Up

Hello and welcome back...or hello and welcome!!! If you are at all in any kind of blogging forum then you have heard about PROJECT LIFE, right? There use to be a few blogs that offered a link up where you could share your weekly project life pages but those have since disappeared. Perhaps, people were feeling to pressured to perform, or maybe people felt pressure to make their pages look like the "POPULAR KIDS" pages...but lets be real...who has the time, the designer products and the energy to participate in such a competition. Well, Ladies...I am right there with you but I totally LOVE the idea of Project Life and well I decided to forget the concept of the "YEAR" project life.

After all, it's all about interpretation. YOUR interpretation! Follow me here o.k. - A few months ago on HSN they were offering a sale on PROJECT LIFE kits with a automatic refill (every three months) a smaller album with a box of the tags and journal pieces - my first one came and was created by Dear LIZZY - so its the sweetest design and the cutest phrases with a bright pink album

 

Here it is - cute right? So back to ditching the LARGE year long (week by week) idea of project life...I decided to work on this album and make it for my recent 2 week SUMMER ROAD TRIP ... see more precise - less stress and very do-able!

the front cover comes with this sweet pocket -

perfect for my title

 

Here is my first page and I did use a few of the DEAR LIZZY journal tags and added some of my own stickers...4 pockets for pictures - easy and much more do-able...

 

2nd page - the balloon tag is from dear lizzy and the other tags are from OH SNAP which are sold at Michael's and are on CLEARANCE right now!!!

more pictures and extra stickers and my own writing

Some pages I just added some stickers and let photos do all the work. Really there are no rules and afterall a scrapbook is usually focused on the photos...

Here I added a full tag of handwritten comments of our trip - wish maybe I had typed it out but of course - I'm not gonna stress about it. Its done and I am one step closer to finishing...that's goal right peeps?

By the way, I hooked up with the company called GROOVE BOOK - for just 2.99 (shipping included) you can  upload up to 100 photos from your phone and they send it to you in a flip type book and the photos come perforated...for easy removal and use in your album -- those are the photos used on the above page.

You can get a free groove book album no charge just use code CURTIS15 and try it out FREE

 

Here is the last page I did in this start of my new resolution to keep it simple and work smaller...NO STRESS!!! Not bad for my first leg. I will continue to update my album and share the pages with you all. Hopefully I inspire you to stay on track and go easy go slow and have fun with project life.

 

I am also hoping this can be a place to share your layouts so I am adding a linky up for all you to post your finished PROJECT LIFE PAGES...

lets do this together!

 

Link Up

 

 

Blogs

Wow - 10 days ago I had something I wanted to share and here we are today or should I say tonight...with something else I want to share. Mostly to hear myself ramble and get something off my chest.

I think we all want to be accepted  - we all wish to be the best at what we do. We hope we find someone out there that is interested in what we have to say or what we do. In the blogging world...there are millions of people out there sharing their cooking, sewing, crafting and art abilities. Some people find their blogs by accident others seek out their blogs and some people promote their blogs. Which is the right way? Does anyone know for sure?

People say to take excellent photos - to keep the content simple and stream lined...well what if you only have a point and shoot camera - what if you blog at night when the kids go to bed...lighting will not be on your side. What if you have lots of interests and want to share them all - stream lined WILL not be easy. But how do you get people to your site...

Lets say you finally find the answer. Let's say that you have thousands of followers, tons of people linking to your blog, you spend lots of time on FACEBOOK, TWITTER and scouring the net looking for companies to sponsor your blog...you start making money and start devoting your free time (at night) and now some time during the day and you become consumed with keeping your followers happy. You get overloaded with stress - the stress of finding something interesting to write about. Oh and lets not forget about the photo editing...geez I hear that takes forever (if done right) so then becomes your life. You doing for others to keep up the prestige you built, to keep the companies happy, to keep things looking good according to Mrs Jones...(next blogger) your neighbor...And then we read about those blogger changing their tune. They want to blog for themselves, they need a break, they need to step back....Of course who is to judge - not me - not me the blog with only 80 followers, not me the blog who wants to have what they have...not me the blog that has no idea where to begin. I do not judge. I respect their time off and frankly move on. Out of sight out of mind. Sad but true.

With all that said, this blog has gone thru some craziness over the past 6 years...good bad and ugly. Because for the past 6 years I have been racking my brain trying to figure out how to get as good as those blogs. What do I have to offer, how can I get sponsors? Can I give up my life to seek a small following? Do I want to change my life? Do I want to share my life with the world. Do I really care what others think of me on my blog? DO I have the patience for the negativity that others often feel the right to leave as a comment.

So after some soul searching and some serious thought into what I want my blog to be I have decided NOT to shut it down. I have decided to make some changes...changes that I plan to keep and I hope to make it a place people want to visit and perhaps inspire them to make something pretty or at the very least make someone smile through my thoughts and shenanigans...

I have to admit that I do secretly wish for more followers but merely to know I am reaching people. I cant keep quiet about something I don't strongly believe in. And by all means, I will not promise a mistake free or grammatically correct post. I say it like it is and speak my mind and hope you can come to appreciate that.

I would like to incorporate some new agendas...like some weekly posts that hopefully I can offer a linky party with ( if I can figure that out) hopefully a blog hop so that everyone can get some new readers over to their blog and hopefully some great ideas on using some new and old products..

If you have read this far please take the time to come back by tomorrow and see how great this blog becomes...I'd love to meet you and visit your blog and for no other reason then to meet a new friend...no strings and no promises.

Thanks for visiting and here's wishing your blog is everything you hope it to be...

(this is ME - with my kids - so you can have a face with the name)

tina

Kickin' it up a Notch

Wow - are we seriously almost going into August? Boy that's what happens when you take a 19 day vacation...right?

 

We took a ROAD TRIP through 9 states and we stayed in 7 states and shopped all over the country ---

 

 

we made a pit stop in Cheyenne Wyoming - to say the least it was a quaint little town and just oozing with country charm

 

 

 

capitol building - the top was shiny GOLD - ohhh pretty

 

the town was super vintage especially this old theater--love the old time movie clip photos...COOLNESS

and here is their DOWNTOWN...gawww...could you just fall in love

 

 

Couldn't you just see yourself riding around town in one of these trolly's instead of the BUS-

UM yeah!!!

 

then right in the center of town by the train station --- 2 over sized boots - cool and both extremely cool and painted detail was amazing...

Whilst in the sweet town I stopped in a few antique stores and bought a few things for my friends back at home...

I bought some of these sweet little bars of lavender soaps but they were just a bit to plain for me.

 

 

So I figured it just needed a bit of a kick - you know something to make it sparkle and look more like a real gift. SO I took some scraps of paper (literally just pieces) and some self adhesive rhinestone-ish pieces...

 

I wrapped the paper scraps around the soap then used 1 glue dot to attach the edges together.

 

Oh then the finishing touch is 1 flower and the jewel right in the center.

 

kicked up a notch and it went over so well. They loved it...

 

Anyway, it doesn't take much to make the less then perfect or the not quite so expensive gift seem so much BIGGER & BETTER.

 

Well hope you loved the trip details and even more the crafty bit at the end.

 

I am linking up at the usual places - please see the tab at the top...

 

Happy Thursday!

xo

tina 

 

Road trip Rita

Seeing as this is a road trip and I have lots of time I between stops - I thought I would put together a doll that could help make my photos look a bit more interesting 😀

Best part about the "history" of this doll is I bought the fabric for it in the coolest town Bozeman, Montana & the buttons & felt in Missoula Montana - so it's truly a road trip souvenir a since I finished her off in Missoula - I will use her in this leg if our trip --- keep in mind this was all done by hand & looks it😜 

I think it's cuter then what I was using before!!! 

Here's to finding things to do on your down time!!! Rita leaving Billings Montana!

Safe travels from road trip Rita & me!