Project Life - local

I did another one page spread this week. I wanted to balance out last week and be able to do a two page spread for the next week. We went to this new place called Local Foods alot and went to the new dinosaur exhibit at the Science Museum and ended up walking through the butterfly sanctuary as well.  Some things like storytime at the library and swimming at the Y didn't seem camera-worthy and didn't make it into the album.  I did include two funny quotes from Avinash, even though technically one was from the previous week. 

I kept it super simple and cut up one page of patterned paper, added a few day of the week stamps and some fun lemmy card printables from one story down. 

Overall, things look a little flat without any thickers or titles, but at least it gels well with last week.

We started watching a lot of dinosaur train after this visit to the science museum and went back again two days later. 

I made one more top ten list of our usual lunch spots, even though it was mostly one place this week. 

I have no idea where Avinash got the idea that we ripped our fur off with our teeth.  Too many trips to the threading salon with me?

We have been trying to emphasize the fun of playing the game over winning (since he is such a sore loser and winner these days), but I still pretty amazed when he told me not to say maybe and we won the next game of bingo at the museum.

Supply List: dear lizzy numbers paper, JBS Days of the Week Stamps, neon tapes, little birdie SC stamp set, Elle's Studio lil snippets, one story down journaling cards, Martha Stewart circle tag and label stickers, target washi and paper clips.

Linked up with The Mom Creative for Project Life Tuesday. The PL kit I am using is the Clementine kit. Thank you so much to everyone in this wonderful community. I love all the feedback and looking at everything people do each week. It definitely keeps me motivated. And, please, link me up to any of your inspiring pages this week as well in the comments! I try my best to visit each one, and I'm always happy that I do!

Kitchen Table Rainy Day Crafts

We have had a lot of rainy days here.  Full on downpours that keep us inside for inordinate amounts of time. Not that being outside in the heat is any more bearable, but at least we can manage to walk to a museum or something.

Love how when we're out of cereal, a trip to Target also yields new project supplies for me and Avi.  He really loved the block party kit.  I was so happy when he asked to paint first thing in the morning (instead of the usual TV obsession, breakfast is always an afterthought). And, yes, I use old Studio Calico boxes to help keep (some of the) paint from going everywhere.  I am so on the ball with this recycling thing.

I claimed the watercolor set as my own.  But, Avi got to help.

 I put some letter stickers on the blocks and let him paint.  Peeled them off when they were almost dry and got this effect.  I may have done Nandini's block for her.  It isn't perfect, but I like it!

The Privet House stuff from the new Target Shops was on sale too, so I got this cute tray and votive holders.  Had to scrub a lot of dried paint off the table before I took these pictures.  We live in a two bedroom apartment, so there is no dining room but I still wanted to share on Kelly's summer home tour today so I took a few more pictures around the kitchen table.

A row of canvases that tell the story of the Ramayan we had made for our long wall.

I got most of this stuff at Target too.  The red felt bag is from the dollar spot and holds the bibs.  The peacock tray is from Macy's.  I saw similar farm produce containers at Anthropologie, but couldn't justify the price tag (I want to say over 20?).  Then I saw these for way way cheaper at Target.  Score! Probably wouldn't have bought them if I didn't see them at Anthro first though, ha. And now I have something pretty to keep tomatoes or fruit in.  

Don't worry all of the mess is cleverly hidden. 

Project Life - happy day!

Last week was full of those langorous almost summer days that just run together. The only thing on our schedule was Avi's swimming lessons in the mornings. It was hot out and honestly, we stayed home a lot and watched a lot of TV. Ryan went out of town for a few days, which is probably when we went out the most because suddenly sitting at home with two stir crazy kids was no longer an option. 

I forgot to include his little swimming progress report and certificate (though, seriously? does he need an award for completing 8 swim lessons?).  Add to that a lot of other projects in the works and not a lot of pictures taken. So, I ended up with a one page spread. 

Still it was fun.  I used a lot of instagrams and 'rainbow' pictures edited on my phone with a free app (camera 360?).  It's not great, but I wanted to play with some different filters (ok...Avi wanted to play with them more than me). I made some quick lists about my kids.  Stuff that is hard to find a place for, but stuff that I want to remember (and find hilarious to look back on). I used some washi and lots of different stickers.  I inked the edges of patterned paper I cut into cards with a contrasting color (instead of my usual vintage photo brown).  Loved the finished but funky look it gives.

We went to an outdoor screening of the Muppet Movie at Discovery Green while Ryan was away.  Sadly, it was not the original movie, but, even the recycled material is so good that I was laughing out loud with Avinash.  So happy that we he is at that age to enjoy Muppets.  We need to watch the rest of the movies together now!  I used this Studio Calico polaroid paper to matte this picture.  It is the perfect size for a 2x2 (cut from a collage of 6 pictures printed on a 4x6).

I love these little Elle's studio circles, I added a circle instagram stamp and a circle die cut.  These little alpha stickers in teal are perfect for tiny project life titles.  I added a little wooden car because of the driving montage. See? it's all topical ;)

The full spread.

A little extra bling on an Amy Tangerine tag. I have so many extra numbers, trying to use them up for dates when I remember.  Used this old Studio Calico sticker for the title, slips into the pocket much more easily than thickers.

I did one 'top ten' list for each of them.  One about Nandini's signs of affection and one about Avi's naptime excuses, ha! 

I got some new washi tape, so just stuck it on some cards and put photos on top.  We flew kites at the park, so I had to use whatever kite themed stickers I could find. I ruthlessly cut a little boy off of this very apropos OA 'fly a kite' sticker and added the flying high on top.

Some more random Nandini pictures.  We finally got her a real doll and suffice to say her reaction was instantaneous.  Kissing it, brushing her hair, poking it in the eye, soothing it.  Just, so much love. 
A little bit of glitter for the thickers. The stamp is from a new class at Studio Calico. 


Linked up with The Mom Creative for Project Life Tuesday. The PL kit I am using is the Clementine kit. Thank you so much to everyone in this wonderful community. I love all the feedback and looking at everything people do each week. It definitely keeps me motivated. And, please, link me up to any of your inspiring pages this week as well in the comments!

Real Layouts!

Who knew?

Some of these are duplicates of project life, but I wanted to write a little more and play a little more.

I made a mosaic of the new One Story Down block party papers and used the silhouette to cut out some hexagons.  I tried them on a plain blue patterned paper with some squirrel pictures but, to quote a friend and wise scrapbooker, they were just floating in space.  Enter this MME hexagon paper.  Then I watched a Shimelle video (I usually never watch videos) and everything sort of fell into place. I knew I wanted to use those mistable hexagons with my stamps, so I layered those on as well.  I loved the look of Shimelle's wooden title as well, but ended up softening it with a bit of lullaby thickers as well (and there are a ton of new lullaby thickers in the shop now!).  I used this perforated JBS receipt paper to anchor it and hold my journaling.  I stamped some new Hey Day stamps along the bottom in grey as well. 

Next up is a dodecahedron page.  (Laugh! Dang it, laugh!)

Or just this page.

With rub-on stitching.

And, without.

I think the difference is pretty striking.  I had gotten a huge pile of scraps out before I got June's Studio Calico kit arrived in an effort to go through my stash a bit.  I had sequestered most of the girly, pinky papers for Nandini's first birthday layouts (most of which are a swirly, twirly, overstyled mess).   I was left with this lovely pile of green, blue, yellow and grey.  I was also dying to use my new Stepping Stone alphas, so I added a subtitle.  Technically, summer doesn't start until June 21, and I don't like to wish away spring! The bright die cuts are from a Little Butterfly Wings set at One Story Down.  Probably one of my favorites for creating my own embellishments/titles.

I used a black silhouette sketch pen with a sketch font (Made with B). I turned thought bubbles into teal clouds from the hey day stamps again.  I needed two different shades of old Amy Tangerine thickers to get enough letters for this title.  I colored them both in fountain pen ink to match.  I merged the free herringbone shape from Silhouette with another OSD patterned paper.  Once I figured out how to do that, the rest came together rather easily.  I have this picture in project life, but I talk about something a little different here.

Next time I'll share some Nandini layouts, promise!

Taking on the monster

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I hate smoothies. And I really don't like salads. As a vegetarian I feel they are being forced on me and I'm nothing if not contrary. I usually prefer my vegetables roasted or cooked in pasta and my fruits baked into some sort of cobbler.
But, I kept reading about these green monster thingies. People getting lots of energy, something I desperately need.  So I checked out the Green Monster Movement site and I was hooked.

This is day 3 for me of having them every day.  The first day I had two cups of coffee.  The second day I had one. Today I had none and skipped the usual headache that goes along with that.

Classic Green Monster 

Yield: 1 serving/2 cups

• 1 cup almond milk, or milk of choice
• 1 ripe banana, preferably peeled + frozen
• 2 handfuls organic spinach
• 1 tbsp chia seeds OR 1 tbsp ground flax
• 1 tbsp nut butter (here I used Dark Chocolate Almond Butter)
• 1-3 Ice cubes

I made a few substitutions.

I'm not into soy milk either (it goes along with the no salad thing) so I subsitute yogurt instead.

I have also added mint, basil, watercress, one kale leaf, pear, peach, and apple (skins on).  I didn't have nut butter so I used peanuts, some coconut oil and some honey.   I found I liked a little extra sea salt on top at the end.  I also don't use any ice.  The yogurt gives it enough texture.

We have all tried them.  Me and my husband love them.  Nandini won't touch it and Avinash will mindlessly sip it while watching TV.

I will let you know how it goes.  I feel like I could have three of these a day right now, but I don't want to overdo it and get sick of it.  The taste does linger in my mind though.

Have you tried this? Is it just another fad? (Please say no!)

Project Life - Picnic Love.

This week started off great with a Memorial Day picnic in the park. We brought food in a tiffin, ate outside under the trees, next to a stream, in the Japanese garden.  We were ambushed by squirrels.  Basically, an awesome, fun, hilarious picnic. We didn't do much the following weekend, so I used a lot of pictures and a filler card I made with my new SoCal stamps.

This week was also Avi's last day of school for the year.   I used a chaps tag, some yellow stripe washi and my new Stepping Stone alphas! They are a little smaller than I thought they would be and just the perfect size for Project Life.

I also didn't get a chance to go out and crop again since my husband was out of town again.  Luckily I was able to have a really fun #twittercrop on Sunday night.  I love just chatting and sharing phone pics of our work.  It may not seem like much, but that little bit of adult interaction helps keep me sane, ha!

 After I posted this picture of my stash that I had culled for this week, Laura mentioned the die cut overlay polaroids.  I was already overlooking them, but found an easy place to add the love one and even stamped on it.  The stamp is in a very tiny font, but I roughed it up a bit with a pencil eraser first and it stamped beautifully.  I think it is even clear enough to read on the phone pic.  That trick works so well, I need to fight my laziness and do it more often.
Follow me on twitter, and play along next time we have a #twittercrop and you too can get instant feedback on your projects!

More butterflies this week.  I have decided it is my spring theme, so yeah, it works.  Also, I had to write down that we ate radish+butter+salt sandwiches.  Before you say anything, just try it. 

Martha label stickers, a little embossing and AC Chaps tags.  I don't know what it is but I love all the embellishments of that line.  A lot of the papers seem washed out to me in person, (which isn't necessarily bad for a background paper), but the embellishments are just so vibrant and versatile.

I didn't use anything special on the cows fighting card, though it probably would have been a good time to use up all that cowboy stuff I seem to accumulate.

I love having at least one piece of Target stationery in each spread.  The colors are just so cheery.  Plus, it matched the chap tag perfectly.  I added a little wooden camera in the gap. I am finally running low on these white Amy Tangerine thickers.  Time to re-order I guess.  Plus, I can always ink them if I want to change the color.

 I usually edge everything in brown, but love the look of teal ink on this swirls paper that had circles perfectly sized for my new soCal stamps. The heart in a starburst kind of reminds me of rainbow brite or something, I love it!  It was an exclusive die cut from the SC SoCal kit this month as well.

An upside down instagram of Avinash.  With wooden star confetti of course. The remember card is from Geralyn Sy's shop, printed on tan cardstock to match the rest of spread which was all different shades of neutral.  Not that I printed it out with that in mind, just trying to use up all of that tan cardstock I have. 

Winner of last week's giveaway is #16 Anandi Raman Creath.  Congratulations girl!

Linked up with The Mom Creative for Project Life Tuesday. The PL kit I am using is the Clementine kit. Thank you so much to everyone in this wonderful community. I love all the feedback and looking at everything people do each week. It definitely keeps me motivated. And, please, link me up to any of your inspiring pages this week as well in the comments!

Insta-Friday brought to you by Avinash

I was so unnerved by this bird that has started living under our patio chairs.  Avi was totally non-nonplussed by it, but he did chase it away for me..

Look Mommy! I took a picture of the sky.

(Oh god, I look extra tired with this red filter, but he likes checking out the different colors he can add to the pictures..)

Now, you take a picture of me now.  Of course!