You are my Sunshine (November 2012)

I'm sharing this for the Life Paper Scrapbook October Project Life Challenge! The theme this month is "Square or Instagram Photos", so here is an example of how I've included these in my Project Life album.


On the left I've used a WRMK page protector with three 4x4 inch pockets across the middle, holding Instagrams. They are all printed by Persnickety Prints. The first two are their special 4x4 Instagram prints and the third is a regular 4x6 photographic print which I've trimmed down. The first Instagram print is on Matte Card Stock with 1/8 inch white border (if anyone wants to order one!) I tested quite a few of their different print styles to see which I liked best. These card stock prints are not that great for photos. In my opinion, the card stock is better suited to graphics, and works well for journal cards. The middle Instagram print is metallic photographic paper and is absolutely gorgeous! I'll have to try to get a good photo of it. It's a bit pricey, at 85 cents (US$), but just so beautiful. Next time, instead of printing at the 4x4 Instagram size, I'll print them 4x6 inch and just trim them down. 4x6 metallic is 39c.

On the right side I've used Becky Higgins' Design A. I often used Adobe InDesign to lay out two 3x4 inch designs on a 4x6, and print these with the rest of my photos at Persnickety Prints. I usually cut them in half to put in the 3x4 pockets, but for this spread I've left two of them uncut, to fit in 4x6 pockets.

I'm rather behind, so this is from November 2012, which I just finished last month ;D I don't think there's much hope of ever fully "catching up", but I'm happy with what I've done as there are photos in my album and memories recorded. That's what matters, right? (This isn't actually the first spread, I will have to post that later.)

For the month of November, my first month of Project Life, I had the theme "30 days of Thankfulness". As an Australian, I've celebrated Thanksgiving only once, when I visited the USA. I really enjoyed it, and think it's a great holiday, and a wonderful practice to think about what we can thank God for. So when I saw the idea of 30 days of thankfulness on another scrapbooker's blog, I wanted to have a go myself.

Each day I recorded something I was thankful for, using the Memento app. Then I included those notes in my Project Life. Some are very brief notes and I've handwritten them on journal cards, or typed them on my photos before printing. Other notes are longer; some I've written on the back of the cards, and some I didn't have room for, so I've made a little concertina book to contain the notes that didn't fit anywhere else (bottom right pocket in the photo above).

I found it challenging some days to come up with something to be thankful for, but it was a great discipline to TRY, and I really enjoyed it. It seemed to help me to be happier and more positive, because I was making the effort to be thankful. I will definitely be doing "30 days of Thankfulness" again this year! I have seen people work on "One Little Week" or "Week in the Life" projects and also "December Daily". While I love looking at what others do with these, as a personal project they didn't really click with me. My daily life is already recorded in my photos, and December is the busiest month so it's too stressful to think of adding another project. November is a good month for me to look back on the year, and pause each day to spend some dedicated time thanking God for His blessings in our lives.

P.S. I didn't manage to take the best photos; I had to stop after a few shots, because THIS started to happen...!

Products used: Simple Stories Harvest Lane, and Summer Fresh 12x12 papers. Becky Higgins Project Life Wellington Childhood Mini Kit and Design A page protector. WRMK #50064-3 page protector. Typo bird ribbon. Tear out notes from Kikki K 2012 Sweet A6 weekly diary. Digital papers and embellishments from Lori Whitlock (clouds paper), Gennifer Bursett (doily paper), L Riches (Lil Angel-red swirls & hearts papers), E Giovanni (Christina Renee-red paper top left), Gunhild Storeide (Friday Freebie-file tab), Raspberry Road (Botanical Bliss-stamps frame) and Dydyge (DigiCrea-Rainy Day Kit-umbrella).
Photos: iPod Touch 4, Canon Digital IXUS 85 IS. 
Apps/Software: Pic Frame, Rhonna Designs, Bubble Frame, Snapseed. Adobe Photoshop & InDesign.