Findingnana

I don’t know about you, but I work best when my space is in a little mess when I’m crafting. Or should I say “neat mess”? Is there such a thing? *laugh* But when I’m not, I will definitely keep my space uncluttered. So, I’m in between messy + organized.

I always find it a good thing to be surrounded by mess during crafting because I feel that it brings out a person’s creativity in that kind of condition. Some people works best when their space looks like it just went through a hurricane! Hahaha! At this moment, I’ve never heard of anyone working in an uncluttered condition. Please tell me if you’ve met one so I can visit them and ask how did they do it.

Whichever condition you work in, it’s your personal space and comfort. You know what works best for you and what do not. You do not need to be embarrassed if your space is turned upside down because I think you would agree that ALL of us love a good mess!

Amazingly, whenever I update my project life weekly, with all my stash spread out across my floor (my table seriously has no space for all of my stuff!), with me stepping on them, stickers got stuck to my feet, thigh and legs, and things got buried on top of each other, I am still able to reach for them effortless and I know exactly where it was buried. Not bad huh. I love working with all my stash spread out on the floor and table because they motivate me to use stuff that I forgot I have. And they also got me working quickly on product, design and color coordination. That’s my regular flow of work. Yes, it may take me a little longer to put my projects together but it works best for me.

So, I would ask, is anyone of you out there don’t work in a messy condition or you love uncluttered space?

Well, moving on to my project life update, I’m now at Week 12 which is still in progress. I’m getting there, only need to add some journaling and stitches and I’ll be done. I was supposed to complete them last weekend but I guess I couldn’t. But it’s ok. I’m comfortable with my pace and even though I’m about 3 weeks behind, I’m totally fine with it.

I’m truly enjoying Week 12 because it was my birthday week, I have an insert filled with many images and I also get to play with new and gorgeous products from My Mind’s Eye Follow Your Heart collection and many other wonderful stuff from my stash. I simply love the colors and I think I will use them again in the coming weeks.

I’ve also cut out lots of Silhouette cuts to use them on my pages. They’re very versatile and useful in many ways. I hope to be able to show you my full spread this weekend after I take photos of them.

I need to share with you too on some new journaling cards that I recently purchased from In Creative Bubble Shoppe. These amazing cards are digitally designed by talented Geralyn Sy, another project lifer whom I have been admiring and following closely for inspiration. You can purchase the printable designs (comes in pdf file format) and use them in your spread. The colors are brilliant and the designs are gorgeous! Just my kind of style.

And here’s a peek of my incomplete Week 12 spread on page one which is missing some journaling.

Lots of colors, Silhouette cuts, doilies, alpha stickers (my favorite!), masking tapes, scraps of papers and of course, a whole load of great memories for the week!

I hope you’re still enjoying your project life and moving on. Don’t worry which week you are at, enjoy the process and have fun!

Do I sound naggy? *laugh*

If you have not put in your name for my blog-versary giveaway HERE, do so now. Response is overwhelming (thank you everyone for playing along!) but you’ll never know you’ll get lucky.

Have a great week and I’ll see you soon!

Project Life | Week 11

Welcome back to my project life update for Week 11. Thank you so much again for all your lovely comments in my previous post! I’m very honored by all your words of encouragement. Like I said before and will say it again and again, your kind words keep me going on my weekly project life updates.

As I’ve shown you my Silhouette cut outs in my last post, I’m excited that I get to use them for the first time on my Week 11 spread. I simply love how they added a nice touch to some of my cards and photos. This week I also get to play with one of my favorite collections for this season I’ve just acquired a couple of weeks ago, the Dear Lizzy Neapolitan.

There are tons of photos taken on Week 11 partly because I travelled to Taipei for work and I took loads of pictures when I was there. Because there are too many pictures to fill up the limited pockets of the protector, I included an insert this week. I don’t want to miss any of those images from this week, so I created an Instagram collage which is the best way to include all the pictures I’ve taken.

Here’s my spread for Week 11.

The left page is dedicated to all the images taken when I was in Taipei. I had a great time in that 4 days, ate lots of their local food which I’ve missed tremendously and my visit to their famous night market.

The right page is filled with other events on Week 11, Happy St. Patrick’s giveaway, Saturday night out with my family, bought a new Canon printer after my old one died on me and finally met sweet lovely Jessy after communicating a while online.

Here’s the front page of my insert filled with pictures of food I had in Taipei! Seriously, I ate so much that I was surprised I could come home to Singapore in one piece. I didn’t balloon and blow up to pieces! *laugh* The collage of images was created using Picasa software and you can view my tutorial on how to make the collage HERE. It’s a powerful tool to collage images and you can also use it to create a month in review at the end of each month like I did for my January and February spreads.

And here’s the back page of the insert. I’ve printed 4 Instagram images of my “new” vintage typewriter I bought for myself as a birthday gift. This page is simply layered with pattern paper, kraft paper, paper doily, added EK Success letter stickers and chipboard alphas from AC Thickers and lastly, I stamped a typewriter image on the kraft paper at the bottom right corner.

I usually keep my collage insert as clean and simple as possible as the main highlight is on the images.

And here are the rest of the close up shots of my pages.

I love making my own title card from my own stash of scraps. I have this whole pack of paper scraps that I use every week to create all the cards and add some bits and pieces of other embellishments such as masking tapes, tags, doily, alphas etc. And since I was traveling on Week 11, I chose to use the map pattern paper “Notting Hill” from London Market collection from Pink Paislee. The whole collection is awesome!

Here are a couple of images I took while I was waiting to board my flight. The waiting lounge has a great floor to ceiling glass window and I couldn’t resist snapping a picture of the plane I was going to take. Another shot of the in-flight entertainment system in from of my seat. I love going on Singapore Airlines, they have one of the best fleets in the world and the service is fab, compared to a lot of the other airlines. At least I don’t get ignored when I asked for a cup of water.

The weather in Taipei was colder than expected because of the never-ending rain. So, I was all dressed up to keep myself warm before I made my way out to meet my customers. Both cards are using Becky Higgins blank journaling cards, added with pieces of paper scraps, masking tape and tags. I like them like that, minimal and clean.

For the card on the left, I used my new masking tape I bought from Scraplicious, tiny attacher, added a mini manila tag, MME brad, circle cork board, Amy Tangerine die-cut cardstock shapes and letter stickers from October Afternoon. The right card is from “Then & Now” journaling card from Paislee Press, added another strip of new masking tape also from Scraplicious, woodgrain paper from Crate Paper and Creative Imagination label sticker.

I made a 4″ x 6″ collage of pictures I took at the night market using Picasa and added label sticker and October Afternoon letter stickers. The letter stickers are very useful and I use them a lot on a weekly basis. It comes in different colors and I have almost all of them!

Here’s another square photo collage using Picasa again, printed on a 4 x 6 format with borders, cut the photo and added onto MME’s Follow Your Heart “Be Happy” paper from their 6 x 6 paper pad, added shape stickers from Cath Kidston, October Afternoon letter stickers and a strip of chevron masking tape, also bought from Scraplicious.

Here are the close up shots from the right page.

Another 4 x 6 photo collage using Picasa of my giveaway on St. Patrick’s Day. Again, I added my favorite October Afternoon letter stickers. Can’t get enough of the stickers!

Here’s one last photo collage using the iPhone PicFrame apps for this week’s images from our family Saturday night out. The 4 x 6 base paper is from Dear Lizzy Neapolitan note card paper, and I added Dear Lizzy’s tag and shape stickers from the same collection, and October Afternoon letter stickers. Have I told you how much I love October Afternoon letter stickers yet? *laugh*

I’ve finally get to use the Silhouette cut on my card! It’s a great touch to the Paislee Press “Then & Now” journaling card and I’ll be using more cuts in time to come. The right card is using Becky Higgins blank journaling card, added masking tape, kraft paper, Pink Paislee number card, mini manila tag and AC Thickers foam alphas.

This is the week I met Jessy for the first time, and it was definitely a great moment to remember. She’s one of the nicest and down-to-earth girls I’ve met and I’m so glad we’ve fast become friends. Love her sense of humor and cheerful personality. Thanks for making time to pop by my place during your short visit to Singapore! Hope to see you again soon during the school holiday in June.

I used Dear Lizzy Neapolitan tag, sticker and jar paper which I journaled on it. Love the jar paper so much and I can’t wait to use it again! Did you notice that I used Dear Lizzy date/word stamp?

That sweet girl bought me a lovely vintage-looking dress for my birthday too! You see, how thoughtful she is? Love this girl to bits!And I’ve also added another Silhouette words cut on the cards. Very useful indeed to add a nice touch to the page.

And the last pocket is a picture taken with Jessy and my dear son Ethan on 4 x 6 size. I simply love this shot! Ethan always has a way of enlightening people with his funny action and expression! *laugh*

Well, this is all for Week 11 and I hope you’ve enjoyed looking through each pocket of my spread.

I hope you’re having a great week so far. And if you’re catching up with your project life update, remember to have fun!

I’ll be busy moving on to week 12 this weekend and I hope to be back soon again on my next post on some giveaway.

Have a great day!

Many a times I had this nagging feeling about my process in project life, should I keep it simple or “enrich” it?

Do you feel the same way?

Well, I love the fact that when I flip through my pages I would see all the wonderful colors of my photos, papers and embellishments filled my project life pages week after week. And after 11 weeks, I still strongly feel the same, happy and contented.

I’ve seen pages and pages of inspiring project life on Pinterest (I pinned a whole lot of them for inspiration), blogs and Instagram and I realized everyone has their own unique way of documenting project life. Some like it simple, just journaling cards, photos and a few bits and pieces to fill their pages. And some like it heavily embellished with tons of yummy goodies. I love them both equally. I have absolutely no preference in either style or process.

I always believe in keeping a balance in whatever I do. Sure, simplicity can be the the key to a more meaningful life in many ways. And as always reminded by Becky Higgins, keeping it simple is her constant advice when one embarks on project life. I absolutely agree with her statement. Nevertheless, I also do believe you need to make it your own, as long as you’re happy with your process. Be it simple or more enriching, you have to be comfortable with it. It’s your documentation of your life, not someone’s else.

And after 3 months since I started project life, I kept those words in mind when I documented my pages. I believe I’ve kept a balance in my project life process and I truly enjoy them very much. There’s not a time I thought about giving up project life, even when I fall behind my updates and it takes me at least 4-5 hours a week to do just that . Never. I work at my own pace and sure, I do fret a little when I think about the weeks that I’ve missed but I look forward to making up to it in a positive way. And the hours that I spent over the weekend to complete my spread, it’s worth every second.

And so here’s to my work in progress for Week 11. Absolutely love what I get to play with.

Yes, it was messy. My whole floor was spread with tons of my supplies just to complete 2 simple pages every week. But who cares. I enjoyed being surrounded by my goodies and even when I was a little overwhelmed with the amount of stuff I have, I just shrugged it off. The cleaning up process only takes me less than 10 minutes. I’m a neat freak, so I can do it real fast! *laugh*

I print and cut and print and cut. Yes, the process is tedious but I still love it, seriously. I whined when I have to sort through my photos and I go all dizzy trying to pick the photos I need to print and it can take up to about an hour each week just to download from my iPhone and camera, selecting photos, do minor editing, print and cut them. But I still enjoy it.

When I lay out my stuff all over the floor, they motivate and inspire me to spend that 4-5 hours putting my pages together (there are lots of in-between breaks).  ;)

And for Week 11, I get to finally used Dear Lizzy Neapolitan collection on my spread. Love them to bits!

The jars paper is my all time favorite. You can cut out the jars and adhere them onto a blank journaling card, journal on the jars or even embellish them as you like. Very versatile indeed.

And here’s a peek of my insert with collage of my images for the week. I have lots of photos take in Week 11 but very few pockets to include them all in, so I made a collage instead. You can read my tutorial how I create a collage of my Instagram photos HERE. You can also find more short tutorials and tips on other collages HERE.

I’m sorry I’m not ready to share my completed Week 11 spread yet because I have not edit the pictures I took of the pages. I promise I’ll be back soon within the next couple of days for a complete update.

Once again, thank you for taking time to drop by my blog and leaving words of encouragement. I appreciate all your compliments and I enjoyed reading them. They keep me motivated and wanting to do this week after week.  :)

Hope you had a good start to the week.

See ya soon!