Otto's First Year Mini

It's about time I posted this album! This is one of my favorite minis I've made so far. Did I say that about the summer one? Well, one of the reasons why this one was a favorite is because it was actually quite simple. The bare bones of it and the fact that certain elements and techniques were carried throughout made a lot of it much easier to put together. Here's how I did it:

• I started with pre-purchased envelopes which were something like 5" x 11". I cut the long side down to 7" to accommodate my 5x7 photos. I punched a slit through one side only to make the tabs (which would be used on the inserts) visible.
• In Photoshop, I added the month and the number of months old Otto was in each picture, and lowered the opacity.
• I printed Otto's accomplishments for each month on white cardstock and left room to add extra pictures. On the back of the cardstock, I wrote which number month it was.
  

• On the right sides of the pages, I adhered my 5x7 photos. On the left side, I used up to three 2x3 photos, a Making Memories premade journaling spot with the numbered month in white, a strip of border punched paper, and a simple embellishment. I stiched around each left-side page before adhering it in the album.

• I used 7 different patterned papers throughout, using each only once or twice, and using extra for the strips of border punched paper. I used strips of these papers for the front and back cover as well.
• I bound it using my Cinch (which I am in love with, btw!) and added some ribbon.
  

So here is 0-12 of Otto's first year!
Remember, you can click on any one image to see it larger.

I Love You LO

I finally put this one together. It's been in my mind's eye for quite some time, but I wanted it to be perfect, and now's the time. Journaling reads: "How excited we were to catch our first glimpse of our 1st baby. And how tickled we were when our little one gave us that special sign we are so familiar with - "I love you". Well, little one, we love you too."


And an update with my one little word: I've been taking Ali's class and I've really enjoyed the prompts and the way she has encouraged us to keep our word in mind. I've really been trying to "focus" on focusing on the important things. One thing I've really found that has improved is my goal of not procrastinating the thoughts and ideas in my head. If I know that I should do it, I have been doing it. This goes for crafty things, like the baby quilt I've been working on, and beginning to cut the master bed quilt I have in mind, scrapbook layouts and mini albums, for physical things I have been putting off for too long: EXERCISE!, and just plain old upkeep: doing the dishes right away. I even followed my thought pattern last week and made cookies (I haven't made cookies since Christmas time!) I am feeling good about my goals and my one little word!

Summer Mini

I recently went on a crop and got most of this summer mini done. Then, I was very sick (and quite out of it) for a week, and on some heavy pain killers. I'm feeling better now, and I'm slowly regaining more energy daily. So, I was finally able to finish this and now able to show you!

This started out as an altered book. My good friend Birdie, who is a wonderful print artist, made this beautiful book and gave it to us at Otto's baby shower. And since then, I've been wondering what wonderful things I could put in it! I wanted it to be for family pictures or solely for Otto pictures.

The problem was that it was a very long accordion book and I knew that the moment I showed it to Otto and let him touch and look at it, it would get ripped quite easily (as evidenced by the stack of books I recently had to glue or tape). So I stewed over this for some time.

I finally came up with a solution I got so excited about! I asked Andy to drill two holes in the side so that I could attach some “o” rings. This way, I could make the accordion pages into pockets into which I could include more pictures and stories (it was, after all, a packed summer!).

Journaling reads: "I'm celebrating summer. Spending my days with a fun little man. Celebrating what makes him happy this first summer of discovery."

I added pictures and embellishments and included many spaces for pockets – behind pictures to allow for longer journaling for our stories (I used Ali Edwards journal overlays), and in the page pockets for extra pictures. I added ribbons and round metal tags for the pulls.

This has been one of my favorite mini books to work on. Thanks Birdie for the beautiful album!

p.s. I made a great mini album for Otto’s first year, which I’ve neglected to post here, so perhaps I will show you that next week! Also in the works: a new baby quilt! So exciting!

Colour Our World

This is so cool!

The Let’s Colour Project is a worldwide initiative to transform grey spaces with colourful paint. A mission to spread colour all over the world. It sure puts a smile on my face. And the song is pretty awesome too.

Valentine Minis

I've recently had a burst of creative energy. And just in time for Valentine's Day! I've had a Summer Mini Album in my mind for some time now (more on that soon), and these 2 Valentine minis were taken from this tutorial. I LOVE Ali Edwards! Her designs are wonderful and simple, and I actually use many of her journaling spots and overlays in my projects. By the way, Designer Digitals is having a fantastic sale on right now until midnight Tuesday. Check it out.

So, I made these 2 mini albums out of felt and paper. I have wanted to do a little felt book for ages, and now was just the perfect time! The first one I made for my parents and the second one I made for my sweetheart, Andy. It was very simple with Ali's free download and her fantastic instructions.











I also used this die to make valentines to hand out to some family and friends and it was a big hit! I borrowed the die from a friend, but will have to get my own because I know I will make good use of it. I can see thank yous and birthdays and favors and special holidays celebrated with this box and a handful of candies. It is SO adorable! I wish I took a picture of one of the ones I made, but they were gone fast! I will post another picture another time.

I hope your Valentine's Day was a lovely one!

First Pic and a Little Wave

Well, we had our first look at this wee babe just yesterday. Very exciting. Not very exciting was the long wait I had to endure with a very full bladder! I think the baby looks like a girl. Or a boy. Or a girl. Or a boy. Yes, you got it, we are NOT finding out the sex. We are looking forward to the surprise. And how cute is this little wave? I think baby is actually rubbing his/her eye, but it sure looks like a little, "Hello Mama! Hello Pappy!" to us! If you recall, Baby #1 aka Otto, gave us an "I Love You" sign in his little video clip here, so this baby had a standard to live up to. This baby is also measuring big for our dates, so it's possible that I'm farther along than we thought!

One Little Word

Hello again everyone (does anyone even read here anymore?!) Yes, it's been some time since I last posted. Let's see.... excuses:

1. I'm pregnant and tired. Lots of naps when Otto naps.
   
2. I have a busy little boy running around all the time. [How do people get anything done with more than one?!!! Maybe my next one will sit still more? Ah, who wants a sedentary child anyway?]
3. I lead a pretty boring life and I haven't done any post-worthy crafts of late.
4. We were all sick on and off through December and a bad cold for me this past week.

I "follow" several blogs by some inspirational ladies who scrapbook and/or craft. They have kids. I honestly don't know where they find the time. I suppose most of them probably have some child-care and/or cleaning help.

So, this issue of TIME has got me thinking. For several years now, I have been familiar with an idea that Ali Edwards set out regarding choosing one word to live by/remember/focus on to help enrich your life through the year. I've often thought it's a nice idea, but with all the thoughts and ideas in my head, I could never narrow it down to just one word. This year is going to be different. I pored over the comments in Ali's blog post about her word, which you can read here, and I wrote down some of my thoughts and some words that were coming to my mind.

My process went a little like this:

• first word: ENJOY. I want to enjoy each moment this year and concentrate on making my time and efforts enjoyable. But this word wasn't quite it.
• second word: TIME. Heaven knows I need more of it... or maybe I just need to learn to manage my time better and use my time for things that are most important. This still wasn't quite right.
• third word: BETTER. I'm constantly thinking to myself and saying in my prayers that I want to be a better mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, etc. But I think that is always going to be a goal I will constantly be working at.
• fourth word: LISTEN. Stop and listen for what is really important. Listen more to those around me. But that's still not right.

Then, I found it and it spoke to me and I just can't get it out of my head.

focus

My main idea: to focus on what is important in the moment. Focus on not procrastinating. Focus on who is important in my life. Focus on things I want to accomplish - unfinished projects, scrapbooking ideas in my head, sewing, etc. Focus on feeding my family better. Focus on my personal spirituality, which has been seriously lacking of late. If I can only remember to focus, my hope is that my life will be enriched by my more focused choices in the use of my time.

I'm really excited about this and especially excited that I actually have a word this year! I will also follow along in Ali's new class for her prompts to help me keep my one little word in "focus" throughout each month this year. She will be sending out prompts only once a month, which I think will be easy to handle. Join the class yourself and see how your one little word can change your life this year!

Read more about Ali's One Little Word here, here, and here.