enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

Plwk3

It's week three and I love this project.

Plwk3full

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click the photos above to enlarge for a somewhat clearer image.

Week of : January 14 – January 20.

Plwk3left

What happened this week? We decided to pass on a house we were interested in and I felt the baby kick. Lots of handwritten journaling this week to document that. Twice this week, I used the folded journaling cards flat to get in extra writing.

Plwk3right

Anything special in the spread? Yep! I included an insert to share ultrasound photos and text about finding out the baby is a girl.

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The insert is a Design B that I trimmed down.

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Techniques this week : The Design B pocket page is meant to hold horizontal 3×4 cards and vertical 4×6 photos, but after adding two 3×4 cards to the 4×6 pockets, I sewed through the plastic to create 8 pockets for the vertical 3x4s.

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I really like that the pockets are all the same size and I love the resulting page. It was fun to play with the baby edition this week and some horizontal cards. In addition to the baby kit, I used a small bag and grid journaling card from the Studio Calico Project Life kit. I printed a design element from Paislee Press (HELLO) on a transparency and added the "sweet girl" text with a slickwriter.

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The blurred out text on the backside is the name we are currently considering. That calendar stamp is coming soon from Amy Tangerine. I circled the date (1/17) on the calendar. The heart stamp is a new one of mine that will be in the shop tomorrow morning.

Plwk3detail2

Overall thoughts : I am really getting more enjoyment from this project working on it in big chunks instead of daily. This week, I did the insert page as soon as we knew girl, but I left the majority of the rest just written on post it notes until the week was complete. For me it is helping things feel more cohesive and making it easier to get in the "best" photos and stories included in the week. 

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Ratio of iPhone photos to "real camera" photos : 5 to 6.


Plwk3detail

Ratio of photos taken by Elise to photos taken by Paul : 9 to 2.

Supplies used : Seafoam core kit, Seafoam 12×12 paper (horizontal kraft chevron) Baby Edition core kit, Studio Calico Project Life kit (grid 3×4 card & polka dot bag), Elise Joy rad and heart stamp, Paislee Press hello digital element, Ormolu girl badge, Freckled Fawn wow wood chip, Dear Lizzy 12×12 paper (cut down for the "you make my heart sing" card"), Amy Tangerine calendar stamp & gray slickwriter (both coming soon!) Martha Stewart & Avery labels.

Tools used : Design A pocket pages, Design B pocket page, Fiskars corner rounder, Zig Millenium pen, Rotatrim paper trimmer, Office Depot date stamp, staz-on ink. All photos were printed at home on my HP Photosmart 2575 printer on Office Depot semi-gloss photo paper.

Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I use photos, text and stuff to document our life weekly. You can see all the posts from 2012 here and 2013 here. Do you have a question about how I am tackling this project? Check here.

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33 responses to “project life 2013 : week 3.”

  1. Stephanie Avatar

    Hi Elise! I think in another post you mentioned that sharing PL on your blog is a little bit of a pain…just wanted to let you know that I am soooooooo grateful you do! I love your use of the Seafoam kit, photos, etc.

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  2. Holly Avatar

    Love the idea of turning 4×6 into 2×3 pockets. Definitely going to use this. Love your week. Great as always.

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  3. Alinor Avatar

    love this week spread Elise, so pretty! i’ve spent the weekend working on my first spreads, having so much fun with this project!

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  4. Angela Spangela Avatar
    Angela Spangela

    Just wondering how you get your sewing on the page protectors. I tried doing that this weekend and ended up destroying my page protector and the picture I was using. Any tips are appreciated!

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  5. Giulia Avatar

    i love how well you are dealing with the making it cute and adorable and girly while keeping it so beautiful and grown-up looking!

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  6. kelly lanley Avatar

    Totally agree with Stephanie (above)!!! I, too, am really appreciating seeing how you are incorporating everything.
    I am having so much fun playing with my Seafoam kit and it has totally gotten me back into memory keeping. This week I went back through 2012 and printed 150+ photos and began putting them, along with some notes, into old Project 365 page pockets 🙂
    Really, I can’t stop!
    And also, I love how you cut down that pic of the row of yarn and put journaling across the top. Mixing it up keeps it looking fresh.
    Thanks again, Elise!

    Like

  7. elise blaha Avatar

    I wish I had some tips! I just sewed the way I normally sew on fabric or paper. Nothing special at all…

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  8. Carlee Avatar

    Oh my gosh sounds like a great week! And you felt the baby kick that is so exciting.
    Carlee
    http://almostendearing.blogspot.com/

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  9. tori elizabeth Avatar

    Elise, I love your Project Life layouts! After seeing yours last year I decided to try it myself this year! I don’t have the time every day so I have been working on it only once or twice a week. At first I was worried I might miss something that way, but I’m glad to hear that you like that method better than a little every day 🙂

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  10. Amanda S Avatar
    Amanda S

    a tip i’ve heard is to put tape (sticky/washi/whatever you have) on the bottom of the foot so it glides across the page protector and use the biggest stitch you can.

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  11. heather m Avatar

    I am absolutely loving your blog, and especially updates on this little project. Now I really want to start my own! This is going to be such a treasure to look back on.
    Yours looks amazing so far 🙂

    Like

  12. Lauren Hender Avatar
  13. Little Italy Avatar

    I just love watching you put this album together. It has such a different feel this year. I’m so glad I have the opportunity to take a peek at what you are doing. It’s so inspiring.
    Thank you!

    Like

  14. Lori P. Avatar
    Lori P.

    Thank you Thank you! I have your blog in my list of favorites and it is the first one (of 4) that I check out everyday. (Your blog, Ali Edwards, Cathy Zielske and Enjoying the Small Things). I love watching how you use Project Life and how you encourage us. Thanks, Lori

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  15. Angie Avatar

    Gorgeous! Which is no surprise. You are a pro at these beautiful layouts. So special! I can’t wait to start my own one day. 😀

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  16. Fiona Avatar

    Gorgeous pages! I love that little pop of pink amongst all the neutrals on your baby insert. So sweet and beautiful. I love seeing how you tie baby cards in with the rest of your album. It flows really well. Thanks again for sharing. You are my biggest Project Life inspiration!

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  17. Marie Avatar

    Your pages are wonderful! THanks for sharing.

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  18. marcela Avatar
    marcela

    thank you for sharing Elise!

    Like

  19. J3SS1C4 Avatar

    Great idea for customising the insert! I love that you’ve included your baby’s possible name in there… That would be awesome to look back on. I also love what you’ve done with the wool photo… Such a cool looking idea for journalling!

    Like

  20. Leigh Avatar
    Leigh

    How did you like Zero Dark Thirty? It is on my list to see!

    Like

  21. -Michelle Avatar

    What did P think of Zero Dark Thirty? Was he analyzing it as a military man to see how accurate it was? Did he complain that it would not have happened that way or they would not have acted that way (I do that when I see a movie based on an area I am expert in and it’s wrong! LOL).

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  22. elise blaha Avatar

    We really liked it. Recommend!

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  23. elise blaha Avatar

    we both really liked it. Paul especially. I think hollywood is always going to change little things, but Paul is not special forces or CIA so it was easier to miss any problems. 😉

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  24. Jenny Avatar
    Jenny

    I’m excited for you to feel the baby kick! I loved those (until my boys got so big and shove their feet in my ribs).

    Like

  25. Melissa Sharp Avatar

    I love how you are incorporating your pregnancy into PL and still maintaining your recognizable vibe. It’s just really great.
    Curious: will you share baby girl’s name once you have settled on it, or will you wait to announce it with her arrival?

    Like

  26. elise blaha Avatar

    thank you! We will not be announcing it until she is born.

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  27. sandra Avatar
    sandra

    Is your fetus exclusive enough that it needs blurring? Every ultrasound photo I’ve seen is identical…

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  28. elise blaha Avatar

    haha – nope, not even a little bit. Ultrasound photos seem like an incredibily odd thing to share online so I have chosen to blur mine. If you would like to unblur your identity and come out of anonymity and email me about it we can talk further…

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  29. Melissa Sharp Avatar

    I think that is smart. You never know if you have a change of heart when you see her. 🙂 I was so sure my last baby (#4!) was going to be Adam, until I saw him and he just didn’t look like an Adam to me at all. A few days later, just as we were leaving the hospital, we finally settled on his name. Because we had never announced his name at all we felt more freedom in really settling on the right one for him.
    So happy for you still. You make me wish I was starting all over with #1 again. 🙂

    Like

  30. Aurooba Ahmed Avatar

    I love the heart stamp. I’m almost regretting already having placed an order from your shop..because now I want that stamp too!
    I’ve recently (since this past week) thinking of buying some inserts so I can include more things, but I always hold back because I can’t seem to be able to justify the cost of shipping and the ones in Michaels from other companies are too expensive.
    VERY curious to see what you name your baby girl. 🙂

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  31. Valerie Avatar

    Most awesome reply ever!

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  32. Danielle McGrain Avatar

    haha! best response EVER! and, thanks for the inspiration. Your daughter is lucky to have such a creative mama! xo

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  33. Lynnette Avatar
    Lynnette

    My husband was in Afghanistan during the course of some of the events in the movie (mid 2009-2010 timeframe). The base he was at shows up in the movie and we knew at the time there were CIA there, we just didn’t know anything about what they were doing, haha. So it was interesting for us to see more of the backstory of what happened from their perspective. But other than an occasional comment about things not looking anything like they do in the movie (which is always expected with Hollywood), he seemed to really enjoy it. He had way more complaints about The Hurt Locker, haha.

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