Felicity Jane Studios – Those Missing Pieces

January 11, 2018January 10, 2018

My Crafty Plans for 2018

I started scrapbooking in 2005. When my son was born in December of 2011, Project Life® made perfect sense for 2012 to document his first year. Somehow I managed a weekly spread for that entire year but I knew it wouldn’t be manageable long-term and I knew I missed making traditional layouts.

For 2013, 2014, and 2015, I did a two page spread per month and that was a lot more manageable. But I missed some of those every day moments and capturing some of those details that I just wasn’t documenting in a monthly format.

Enter the Project Life^® App in 2016. A godsend! I managed to go back to weekly and capture some of those details I felt were missing in the prior years. And miracle of all miracles, I made the 2017 Project Life^® Creative Team for the app. I loved participating in the Creative Team and it really helped reinvigorate me with this hobby all together. But my motivation to do weekly spreads fizzled about mid-year. I felt I was forcing it just to fill in the slots in the pocket page instead of actually documenting what I wanted to remember and look back on.

I am not sure where the shift happened, but I am sure it had a LOT to do with getting in to Story Camp last year. I religiously went back and watched a lot of my Ali Edwards’ videos from the Story Kits and other classes I had taken from her. I started really considering what I got into this hobby for and what I really want to get from it. I created several 6×8 layouts last year. Some from the present, some from my past of stories I just knew I wanted to tell. I realized I was finally shifting my vision to starting with a story or letting the story guide me, not just filling in the slots. You can read more about my re-invention HERE

This year, I just want to go with the flow. I plan to stick with 6×8. I did a bunch of 6×8 layouts in 2017 and fell in love with the size! Here are some of my favorites from the year:

What I am really changing up this year is embracing that I am a hybrid scrapper through and through. I am definitely not a print my photos without a plan kind of girl. I need to know what size I am planning on using and generally have a layout or sketch in mind. I can wing it from there when it comes to product, but I like to lay it all out digitally first and then print everything at home. Typically laying it out digitally also means I try to find coordinating cards and/or paper digitally as well. That way I can recolor or type my journaling to match (since I really don’t like my handwriting anyway), so it just seems easier for me to do it this way. I have never been one to just print a whole bunch of 4×6 photos and stick them in the pockets. I always want to see how they will layout first and maybe add some stamps or other elements before printing. So I am learning to embrace this and just realize that this is the way it is. GO WITH IT!

So I am scheduling digi time two days per week after my son goes to bed. I will sit down with my iPad or my computer and prep photos or other elements and get them ready for the opportunities I get to actually sit down and scrap. That may not be every weekend but I hope to have Scrap Saturdays at least once per month, whether I go to a crop or stay home. If it’s on the calendar, I know I will be more likely to stick to it. As I said in my last post, my planner is my friend this year!

January 10, 2018January 10, 2018

I think I’m in love!!!!

A lot of my goals this year revolve around scheduling time each week or each month to do what I need to do to work toward them. I had a friend come over for the holidays that was the one that got into planning last year (enabler!) and we spent some time working on our planners. I phased in and out of using it in 2017 and couldn’t really find my groove. But because so much of this year is going to be schedule related, I knew I needed a resource to record all that. I made my own Frankenplanner (crossing elements of multiple planners) out of two Me and My Big Ideas Happy Planners, the 2018 Modern Simple Happy Planner and the Happy Planner Goal Getter gearing this section more toward scheduled appointments and work tasks.

I decorated my monthly spread and a few weeks and told myself it was ok to use some of my Felicity Jane stash (you know, that stuff I have been hoarding because it is too pretty to use, so I never use it!). So I did!

And then I realized I have some other cut files on my Silhouette. So I cut some and decided to use them. So I did!

And THEN I realized I have other png’s that I can print and cut. So I did!

And THEN Felicity Jane’s January release “Reagan” was posted and I actually GASPED when I saw they were finally offering a digital version of their kits. MORE STICKERS!!!

And then… I was in heaven and fell in love with my Silhouette Cameo all over again. I spent HOURS tracing png’s and printing on label paper over New Year’s weekend, then cutting the stickers with the Silhouette.

I am realizing the possibilities are endless! I think I finally found planner peace!

October 7, 2017October 2, 2017

You…

This last year has been such a fun and challenging age in our son’s life all at the same time. It’s those fun times that make it all worth it! I knew I wanted to hold on to a snapshot of all the little things he says and is into at this age and make a layout about it. So this is what I ended up coming up with. My second 6×8 layout from my scrapbook retreat in July. This uses all Felicity Jane Papers and some embellishments from FJ as well as well Ali Edwards.

I cut the blue YOU words out using an Ali Edwards digital stamp on my Silhouette and then cut the script words to fit over those. This just makes me smile!

October 2, 2017October 7, 2017

Telling My Stories

There is a local group that is run by a friend of mine at a hotel conference room. She runs monthly one day crops and quarterly three-day retreats. Back in July, I went to a weekend crop retreat as a birthday present to myself! This is the weekend I decided to give 6×8 a try. I had a whole bunch of stories written down and needed a medium that wasn’t as overwhelming as 12×12 seemed for the size of the stories, so I wanted to give this size a shot.

I prep most of my stuff digitally. Lay it out in Photoshop, choose sizes and a general layout, then print, including journaling right on the page if I can, and then pull paper to take with me to put it all together. This retreat was the first time I decided to simplify. I limited what I brought with me with Felicity Jane papers and embellies, Ali Edwards Story Kits™ supplies, and a handful of alpha sets. And I SOOOO happy with the outcome! Limiting my choices really helped me get more done. I was using my time creating instead being indecisive about the plethora or choices.

This is the first layout I created that weekend using Felicity Jane papers, Ali Edwards Brave Story Kit™ and some misc Ali Edwards stickers from other kits.

I knew when I saw this photo that I wanted to make something with it. It just makes me smile every time I look at it. My brave little man and a roller coaster at Disneyland. No fear. Just excitement. And I totally fell in love with 6×8 after I made this. I was hooked! I made a few more that weekend that I will share later. But you know when you make that one layout that starts some spark in you and every time you think about it, you remember that spark. This is the one for me. And I can’t wait to make more!