Another week in the books!  Week 34 is pretty simple with minimal embellishments.  I used cards from my Amy Tangerine Project Life mini kit as well as some items from my Studio Calico kits.  You can see some sneaks of layouts I’ve been working on from Kelly Purkey’s Sketchbook class in the photos below.  I went to a weekend crop during Week 34 and a friend and I had a great time scraplifting several of Kelly’s pages.  Still need to put some finishing touches on many of them and hope to share some of them here soon.  Hope you’re having a great week!

Today marks the anniversary of one of the most tragic events in US history: 9/11.  I spent that day 13 years ago in New York City in the middle of all the devastation.  I thought it would be fitting to share my story here today as part of my series “40 PEEKS”.  This story is one of many defining stories in my life and I wanted to preserve it here on my blog so I never forget.  I don’t think it’s possible for me to actually forget but over time, some of the details become less clear.  On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, I wrote down my story and then created a layout which was heavily inspired by the talented Laura Vegas.  Here is the layout and I’ve typed out the journaling below in case it’s hard to read on the image.

Journaling reads:

“Ten years ago, I was there to experience it all.  I worked on Wall Street & took the PATH train to the World Trade Center every morning.  On 9/11, I went to work about 15 minutes early b/c someone needed to use my computer for a training session.  I had just started the job 4 weeks earlier & the rest of my “start class” was coming in that week.  We were in a conference room on the 22nd floor when someone came running in about the plane accident.  We ran into another conference room & could see the first plane hanging out of the WTC & it looked like it was “raining” papers everywhere. Shortly after we heard about the second plane & knew it was time to get out of there.

I remember running to my desk (on a different floor), grabbling my stuff & calling my mom to tell her I was ok & that I was leaving.  She hadn’t heard the news yet & I remember her telling me to get out of there & go wherever I needed to go.  I headed out of the building with some colleagues (who I barely knew since I had only been there a few weeks).  No one really knew what to do & we were all standing amidst the papers that had been flying all over downtown.  At the time, I lived across the Hudson river & my way out of the city was through the WTC & there was no way I was going back there.  I found one of my newbie colleagues & we decided we were going to try & walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to where she lived.  However, as we were figuring out a plan, we saw a TV through the glass windows of the Charles Schwab office next door & saw that the Pentagon was hit.  We knew it was time to run.

We started heading down Wall Street towards the water when all of a sudden, it sounded like bombs going off everywhere…and then the smoke debris filled the narrow streets downtown.  We all started to run in a panic & the only place we couldn’t see smoke was towards the water so that’s where we went.  We ended up by a dock that wasn’t actively being used.  We had to jump a fence (heels & all) & just stood on the dock praying someone would come save us.  As we looked back into the city, there was smoke everywhere & thousands of people running towards us.  We thought for sure if we didn’t get “bombed”, we would die in the river if that dock broke.  Some of the guys were ripping apart their shirts & sharing them with us so we could cover our mouths/noses from the smoke while we waited…

Luckily for us, a ferry boat came by & picked us up.  There was a lot of confusion, people pushing to get on & people wanting to go to different places around the city.  I didn’t care where the ferry was going, I just wanted to get off the island.  We all got on, put on life vests & prayed.  We heard the boat was taking us to NJ which was perfect for me since I lived over there & my family was on that side as well.  It didn’t matter where they dropped us off…I would walk somewhere if I had to.

At this point, we still didn’t know what was going on.  We thought the city was being bombed & had no idea that all the noise & debris was from the first building falling.  While we were on the ferry, I tried getting my cell phone to work so I could call my mom again but couldn’t get any service.  As I had my head down looking at my phone, everyone on the boat started freaking out & screaming.  I looked up from my phone to see one of the towers completely on fire at the top & the minute I looked up, the entire building crumbled to the ground right before my eyes.  The panic increased & all I wanted was to get off that boat.  We all thought our boat would be bombed in the middle of the river & felt extremely exposed out there.

Due to the severity of the situation, the ferry dropped us off in a different spot that originally planned…which for us, worked out perfectly.  As we got off the boat, I looked up & saw my building not too far away.  I lived on the 23rd floor & there was no way I was going up there but I had a plan.  I had a car in the garage & we were going to try & drive to my parents’ house who lived about 45 minutes away.  I took 4 girls from work with me who I really didn’t know but we all just stuck together throughout the experience.  We got in my car & drove away…completely terrorized.

We were part of the fortunate group that got out that day.  We got on one of the first ferries out of the city & had a safe place to stay for a few days.  The girls from work stayed at my parents’ for a few days until they could get back to their homes safely or have someone pick them up.  We had no idea what actually happened that day until we got to my parents’ home & turned on the TV.  I don’t think any of us will ever forget the details of our experience.

I am very lucky that so many little things worked in my favor that day.  If I didn’t go to work 15 minutes early, I would have been underneath that building when it fell.  We got lucky that we didn’t head towards Brooklyn & got one of the first ferries out.  And we were very fortunate that we had someplace safe to go.  There were so many less fortunate & so many people who lost friends & family that day.  It was such a tragedy that I don’t think anyone will ever forget.

There are so many loved ones who never made it home & never got to say goodbye.  So many whose lives ended way too soon.  I’ve never written my story before but I’m glad I did today.  I’ve always wanted to preserve it somewhere but never had the heart to sit down & get it on paper.  Now, 10 years later, I think it’s finally time for me to document my 9/11 experience.”

Last weekend I went to a crop at my local scrapbook store and spent the weekend scraplifting layouts from Kelly Purkey’s Sketchbook class at Studio Calico.  The class came out a while ago but I didn’t get a chance to use all of the fabulous inspiration until this past weekend.  A friend and I decided to work our way through many of the lessons by lifting designs from Kelly and her class contributors and we ended up making (or at least starting) seven different layouts!  I think that’s a record for me since I usually spend more time socializing at crops than actually making anything – but that’s part of the fun!

Here is one of the layouts we made which is a direct lift of one of Kelly’s designs.  I love the little die cut car and love how Kelly used it repeatedly in a grid design.  I knew I had the perfect photo from a road trip to Charleston last year and it made for a fun layout.

I still need to put some finishing touches on the other layouts we made last weekend and will continue to share them here over the coming weeks.

Do you scraplift?  It’s one of my favorite ways to get my creative juices flowing and it’s a great way to use up supplies if you have lots of them on hand.  With all the layouts we created last weekend, I think I actually used up an entire kit for the first time ever!  Very exciting!  🙂

Week 33 included lots of time sprucing up our house (both inside and out) and time with friends.  I was also excited to hear that one of my Project Life spreads was being featured on the Elle’s Studio blog as this week’s Project Spotlight so I made sure to get a screenshot of the post so I could include it in my album.  Sadly, Week 33 was also the week we heard about the passing of Robin Williams.  I like to try and include bits of news and current events in my album from time to time as I think it will be a nice memento to have in the future.  I loved the tribute to Robin Williams that Apple posted on their website and used a screenshot to capture it here.  I also loved the brush script file that Geralyn from In A Creative Bubble shared on her blog.  The quote she used was just perfect and I wanted to make sure to include it on this week’s spread.

I mixed four different Studio Calico kits this week and love how I can combine different kits to create my spreads.  Again, I’m finding my Project Life style to be “flat” and simple and love using just photos, cards, journaling and a few additional touches here and there.

So what’s your Project Life style?  It’s taken me quite a while to figure out mine but I think I’m happy with how it’s evolved over time.  I’m sure it will continue to change and I think that’s the fun part of the creative process.  Hope you’re having a great week and thanks for stopping by!  🙂

Week 32 was pretty easy to put together.  As time goes on and I’ve made lots of Project Life spreads, I’m finding that I like to keep it simple.  Photos, cards and some journaling.  I sometimes embellish but often feel like the cards are “enough” for me and I like the flat, simple look.  When I do embellish, I like things that are flat like die cuts and stickers.

This week I took on another one of Marcy Penner’s Jumpstart Challenges to cut up a journaling card and include it in my Project Life spread.  This challenge was perfect for me since I like the “flat” look but I don’t usually think to cut up my cards.  I was looking for something to fill in the white space of the yellow starburst card and didn’t want to journal in there so I thought it was the perfect space to take on Marcy’s challenge.  I found a 4×6 Elle’s Studio card in my stash with colors that coordinated with the rest of my page.  The “love life” title was positioned vertically on the left hand side of the card and I decided to cut it out and use it horizontally on my starburst card.  Easy peasy and it finished off this spread perfectly!

Do you ever cut up journaling cards and use them as embellishments?  I was always afraid to “ruin” the cards by cutting into them but once I got over that fear, it actually makes many of my cards more versatile.  Thanks for the challenge, Marcy!  I love trying new ways of doing things and these challenges are the perfect opportunity to do so.  🙂

Earlier this summer I shared some photos of what’s inside my IKEA Alex drawers here and here.  Today I’m back to share what’s inside the last two drawers that I didn’t previously share.  I’ve been inspired to reorganize my room by the Workspace class I’m taking at Studio Calico and this week I finally tackled those last two drawers.

As I’m sure you know by now, I love the 3 compartment clear plastic trays from Target to organize my embellishments.  Recently, Michelle commented on my blog that Target also has a 6 compartment larger tray that fits perfectly in the drawers and can hold some larger embellishments which I hadn’t found a solution for yet.  She also mentioned that I could fit two of the larger trays along with 2 of the smaller trays in one drawer.  (This was such a great suggestion and I very much appreciate the comment and recommendation – thank you, Michelle!)  So, I went on the hunt for these trays and found them earlier this week.  I love how many different types of items I can fit in these trays and I arranged them just as Michelle suggested.  Two larger ones in the back of the drawer and two of the smaller ones in the front.  I put larger items (chipboard and fabric frames, etc.) in the larger compartments and added smaller items in the smaller compartments.  Here’s a peek at what’s inside:

The bottom drawer in my Alex cart holds all of my Silhouette Cameo supplies (extra mats, speciality papers and supplies, extra blades, etc.) along with my piercing mat and some Cut-n-Dry foam.  I previously had these items scattered in different places but am happy that my Cameo stuff is all in one place now.What do you have inside your Alex drawers?  I love seeing how other people organize their supplies and get lots of great ideas that way.  Hope you’ll share!  🙂

 

I’m just about caught up on my Project Life album.  I ordered last week’s pictures earlier this week and am waiting for them to arrive.  I think this is the closest I’ve ever been to being caught up and it feels great!

Once again, I was low on photos for Weeks 29 and 30 so I just did a one page spread for each week.  It was fun to use lots of cards from my recent Studio Calico kits and add little bits here and there from past kits.  Here are Weeks 29 and 30:

When I looked on my phone for photos from Week 31, I literally found like 3 photos.  Not really enough to do a full spread so I made do with what I had and created the spread below.  Filler cards are my best friend in these situations and honestly it’s kind of nice to include some colorful cards just for fun.  I also knew that I had enough photos for a two page spread for the following week so I had to figure out what to do with the right side of this spread.  And then that pink piece of paper arrived in my recent Studio Calico kit and the idea popped into my head to just cut it up and use it on the right side of this layout.  I had no idea how I would scrapbook with it otherwise so this worked out perfectly!

And that’s it!  Simple, colorful and done!!  How’s it going with all of your Project Life albums?  Do you like to stay caught up or do you work in batches at a later date?  I’d love to hear about your process!  🙂

 

My scrapbook room is a constantly evolving space.  Over the years, I’ve added things and taken things away to try and make the space most effective for the way I work.  A few months ago, I saw that Ali Edwards posted the new tables she bought for her room from IKEA and while I really liked the the table, I was blown away by the drawers and how much stuff she fit in there!  So, I thought about it for a while and kept finding myself going back to her blog post to check out her tables.  And I dreamed of all the things I could put in those drawers and how much less of a mess my room would be if I had that space underneath the table top to put my things.  I’m usually not an impulsive shopper so when I found myself thinking about it that much, I knew was time to take a trip to IKEA.  My husband was so sweet and helped me load it into our car (it was three heavy boxes) and then built it for me.  It’s been a while since we bought something from IKEA and we completely forgot that they don’t include written directions – just pictures!  So over the course of two evenings, “we” (meaning my husband) put together the table and I’ve been thrilled with it ever since.

While I initially filled the table with stuff right away, I still wanted to organize it better and the Workspace class I’m taking at Studio Calico this month has totally inspired me!  Over the past couple of days, I’ve been moving things around and reorganizing and here’s a little peek at my Varde table.  I thought it would be fun to share today as a “Workspace Wednesday” post similar to what many others share online each week.  I love that I now have a large workspace AND storage all in one piece so I can grab whatever I need easily without having to hunt all over my room.  (I still have plenty of stuff throughout the rest of my room but we’ll save that for another day!)

 

I currently have two of the three drawers organized in a way that makes me happy but I’m struggling a bit with the third one so I’m hoping to get more inspiration from the Workspace class over the next couple of weeks.  Hope you enjoyed this peek and thanks for stopping by!  🙂

The summer has been pretty quiet around here and that’s definitely reflected in my Project Life album lately.  I haven’t had many photos so I’ve been doing one page spreads for these weeks.  Things seem to be picking up again so you’ll start to see more two page spreads pretty soon.  It’s nice to know I can mix things up and these one page spreads have been great to help me quickly catch up on my album when I’m behind.  I love how flexible this project is and how I can make it work for whatever is going on (or not going on) in my life at the time.

We’ve spent a lot of time just hanging out this summer.  It’s SO hot outside here in Florida so we spend a lot of time inside.  TV, movies, scrapbooking.  Just regular everyday stuff.  We had such a busy spring with lots of travel that it’s kind of nice to enjoy a quiet summer.  Below are Weeks 27 and 28.  I used the Becky Higgins Americana themed cards for this spread and a combination of Design A (left) and Design F (right) page protectors.  Thanks for stopping by!  🙂

Since I started Project Life, I’ve always done a two page spread for each week.  Right around Week 25 of this year, I found that I didn’t have many pictures and there really wasn’t enough for me to stretch my week into two pages.  So, for the first time ever, I did a one page spread for the week.  It kind of worked out because the same thing happened the following week (Week 26) so I designed both weeks to go together.  I have to say, these one page spreads are a great way to catch up quickly if you’re behind on your album.  I love that the week is documented (even though it’s minimal) and I can continue to move on with my album.

Below are Weeks 25 and 26.  I had surgery Week 25 so there wasn’t a whole lot going on besides that.  At the end of Week 26, I had the pleasure of meeting the super talented Celine Navarro and taking one of her mixed media layout classes at my local scrapbook store.  It was so much fun experimenting with different mediums and creating some fun layouts.  I was also so thrilled when Celine made me a card to include in my Project Life album.  Thank you so much, Celine!

We also went to an early 4th of July celebration over the weekend and saw some beautiful fireworks so I made sure to include them here too.  After creating this layout, I decided that I’m a big fan of these one-page spreads so I think you’ll be seeing a few more of these this year.  It’s always good to mix things up and try something new.  Who knows, I may even try another new page protector style soon!  😉