Project Life Prompts --June 2013

Good morning blog friends!

I can't believe it's already June!

This year is flying by.

I wish it would slow down-- just a little bit.

I hope you all are doing well.

Are you keeping up with your albums?

Mine are almost caught up.  

Lil E is sleeping for longer stretches now, so I occasionally have a minute to work on my albums!

Or sleep.

It's really a tough call some days.

Here are some thoughts for June:

52 Lists in 52 Weeks

• Things I learned over the weekend
• Things I carry around in my bag
• Ways to be a great wife/girlfriend/significant other
• Friends I an always count on
• Quotes that inspire me
• Things I learned from my Dad

One Little Word
This  month I have decided to use 1 large photo as my project.  I took a photo over the weekend of my living room.  In this photo are: 2 rowdy, filthy puppies, 1 crying infant, 3 loads of laundry spilling out of their baskets, 8-10 large muddy paw prints on the carpet, 1 blaring TV, 1 dumped over basket of dog toys, 3 empty water cups, 2 dirty paper plates, 5 pair of shoes and one really ticked off looking fiance.  I added the words "Remember To Breathe" in the top right corner (the only clear spot on the photo), uploaded it to Persnickety Prints and had it printed at 12x12.  Easy peasy.



Project Life

Monthly Ideas:

• Beautiful In Your Skin Month:  I love the idea of this being a monthly theme.  So many of us (Raising hand-- me too!) are almost never in our photos because we think we are too fat, our hair is a mess, we don't have any make up on, we're wearing messy clothes, whatever.  This is a great opportunity to just record yourself as you are.  Because as you are is perfect right now. Get out the tripod, hand the camera over to someone else, take some "selfies".  Try to look past the things you don't like & focus on the good stuff!  At the very least, it could stand as a record of where you started your road to improvement if that's the way you want to go. 
• Great Outdoors Month:  Here in TX, it gets kinds hard to appreciate the outdoors in the summer, so we try to get lots of outside time in now, while the heat is hot, but not yet blistering.  For this one, take lots of pics of anything you are able to do outside this month: picnics, swimming, hikes, walks in the neighborhood, maybe just sitting on the porch swing with a cool drink & a good book.  
• Yellow:  I have always loved yellow, even though it makes me look ghastly.  Look for anything yellow around you this month.  I think of these kind of themes as a treasure hunt.  I love the challenge of finding my theme in unusual places.
• International Men's Month:  Make a record of all of the men in your life this month: your co-worker, your hubby, your son, your father, your friends, whomever.  You could also use this as an opportunity to really record 1 man in your life.  Get some in-depth info on your son, for example.  His likes & dislikes, his daily routine, his favorite foods, music, movies, his ambitions for his life, etc.
• National Fruit & Veggies Month:  Record all of the fruits & veggies you consume this month.  I don't know about you, but this becomes a challenge for me.  I'm not a big veggie eater.  But I have a young child & I want to do better for him.  I need to eat more than corn & green beans.  Maybe if I'm taking daily photos of it, it will motivate me to expand my horizons.  After all, who wants to look at a month's worth of photos of corn?

 Other Monthly Themes to Consider:

• Audio Book Appreciation Month
• Country Cooking Month
• Effective Communications Month
• Gay & Lesbian Pride Month
• International Surf Music Month
• Dairy Month
• National Bathroom Reading Month
• National Camping Month
• National Candy Month
• national Smile Month
• World Naked Bike Riding Month

Weekly Themes:

•  National Flag Week: Record all of the flags you see in your area.  US Flags, state flags, pride flags, decorative flags, what ever you see
• Universal Father's Week:  Make a photo record of the things that make your Dad (or your kids' Dad) a good one.  
• Duct Tape Days:  Get photos of all the things you do with Duct Tape,  Or all the things you want to do!
• Superman Days:  We are allllll about all of the superhero movies at my house.  Steve has shirts & figurines & onsies for the baby & DVDs & all kinds of stuff.  We have seen them all!  (The newest Superman movie is next!!!) Is someone in your house as obsessed as we are?  Record their obsession.

Other Weekly Themes To Consider:

• International Clothesline Week
• National Business Etiquette Week
• national Sun Safety week
• National Tire Safety Week
• Fish Are Friends, Not Food Week
• Watermelon Seed Spitting Week
• Water Ski Days

Daily Ideas:
1- National Go Barefoot Day: I LOVE being barefoot.  And it's a great excuse to go get a new pedi!
2-Yell  "Fudge" at the Cobras in North America Day:  I have no earthly idea what this means, but it sounded good.  If you know the origins of this one, leave me a comment.  I'm curious.
3- National Leave The Office Early Day: tell your boss it's a holiday & you have to go!
4- Audacity To Hope Day
5-National Running Day: I only run if there is an ax-wielding psycho killer chasing me.  Maybe I'll record that.
6- Drive In Movie Day:  I used to LOVE the drive in when I was young.  I need to find a local one!
7- Donut Day
8- World Ocean Day
9-Race Unity Day
10-Iced Tea Day
11- Crowded Nest Awareness Day
12-Loving Day
13-Family History Day
14-Flag Day
15- Native American citizen Day
OR  Nature Photography Day
16- Father's Day
17-Ride Your Motorcycle To Work Day
18-International Sushi Day
19-World Sauntering Day:  I need to perfect my saunter
20- Dump The Pump Day
21- National Flip Flop Day
22- Stupid Guy Thing Day
23- Pink Flamingo Day
24- Celebration of he Senses Day
25- Color TV Day
26-National Canoe Day
27-Decide to Be Married Day
28-National Handshake Day
29- Self-Portrait day!  
30- Update your garden pic OR Use a journal card to document your new daily schedule now that school is out!


***Reminder!  Time to back up those precious photos!!****

Hope you all have a fantastic month!!!

Project Life Prompts- May 2013

Hello & Happy Spring blog friends!

How are your projects coming?

Mine are actually moving along- amazingly enough.

Our 2013 PL is a little behind, but the photos are there & the notes are taken, I just need to get them into the album. 

Little Man, of course, takes up the majority of my day, but Daddy has recently started giving him a formula bottle just before bed causing Little Man to SLEEP most of the night instead of waking me up to nurse every hour & half or so!

Hear that??

Those are angels singing in praise of one bottle per day.

Since Mama has finally gotten myself a little sleep, I have recently remembered that there are other things in my life besides Little Man to photograph.

Like this guy.

And these two cuties.

How could you resist them?

Little Man is of course, the one I get the most pics of, but I'm pretty sure that's just because he's the only that isn't capable of running away.

Yet.

So, for those of you whose subjects do run away any time they see you with a camera in your hand, here are some thoughts for May.

52 Lists in 52 Weeks

• 10 nice things that other people have done for me lately
• Things I would tell my 17-year old self
• Things I wish I could change about the world
• Songs I totally ROCK at Karoake
• Lessons learned from Mom
• Movies I wish they would make 

One Little Word
This month I'm going to do a collage of photos that represent my word.  I'm thinking I am going to do it by hand, rather than using software, on a 12x12 background and maybe add my word over top with some ghost letters.  I've got  gobs of ghost letters in my stash.  If you don't, you can cut your own with the Cricut out of leftover product packaging.  Or you could use stamps or stencils to add your word.  Or you could leave the word off & just go with the photos.

Project Life 

Monthly Themes:

• Family Wellness Month: Record all of the things that you do to help keep your family healthy.  I see pictures of hand washing, fresh veggies, long walks with the dogs, sunscreen, daily vitamins, etc.  
• National BBQ Month: Get pics every time you put something on the grill this month.  We are frequent grillers in my house.  I love me some burgers off the grill.  And the smell of grilled chicken always reminds of me the frequent Chicken BBQ fundraisers that my Granddad's volunteer  fire department used to host.
• National Bike Month:  Snap away anytime someone in your family hops on their bike, be it motorcycle, bicycle, tricycle, Big Wheel, exercise bike or whatever.  Maybe this theme will motivate me to pedal a little more!
• National Smile Month:  A month's worth of smiles.  What could be better than that?

Other Monthly Themes to Consider:

• National Family Month
• Community Living Month
•  Clean Air Month
• Get Caught Reading Month
• Go Fetch! Food Drive For Homeless Animals Month
• Motorcycle Safety Month
• National Egg Month
• National Asthma/Allergy Month
• National Military Appreciation Month
• National Photo Month
• National Salad Month

Weekly Themes:

• Be Kind to Animals Week:  This would be a nice time to document all of the furry (or feathery, or fin-y) friends in your life. 
• Teacher Appreciation Week:  Get lots of photos of your child and their teachers or your own teachers this week. Anyone you learn from counts!
• Work At Home Moms Week:  Take a page from Ali Edwards' book & document everything you do this week.  I bet your kids would be surprised by how much you do!
• National Backyard Games Week:  What outdoor games does your family play?  How often do they play them?  This is a good time to capture them.
• Mud Madness Week:  It is spring after all and mud abounds.  How do you react? Do you get frustrated & spend you time cleaning up?  Do you go out & play in the puddles? Make mud pies? Go off-roading? Go on a 5K adventure run with friends?

Other Weekly Themes to consider:

• Chose Privacy Week
• Children's Mental Health Week
• Drinking Water Week
• Kids Win Week
• National Family Week
• National Raisin Week
• Food Allergy Awareness Week
• National Transportation Week
• Salute to Moms 35+ Week
• American Craft Beer Week

Daily Ideas:
5/1  Great American Grumpout
       *Also*
       Batman Day (and really, who can be grumpy on Batman Day?!?)
5/2  National Day of Prayer--who are you praying for right now?
5/3  Paranormal Day- time to make a record of any odd things that you've experienced
5/4  NATIONAL SCRAPBOOK DAY!! The official holiday of my people!
5/5  Cinco de Mayo
5/6  No Homework Day--what fun things will your kids do instead?
5/7  Accountant's Day-- who is the accountant in your house?
5/8 No Socks Day-- get a pic of your latest pedi, or of your need for one
5/9 School Nurse Day-- do you know your kids' school nurse?  How often do you see her?
5/10  Child Care Providers Day-- Get photos of the people who care for your little angels when you can't
5/11  Stay Up All Night Day-- well, this one isn't really optional for me, but if you don't have a newborn in the house, what would you be doing if you were up all night?
5/12  Mother's Day -- you & your Mama, or you & your kids 
5/13  Frog Jumping Day
5/14  National Chicken Dance Day
5/15  National Chocolate Chip Day-- It's a good excuse to bake a batch & snap pics of all of your helpers (my Claire Cat looooves her some cookie dough!)  Make sure to include your recipe.
5/16   Get an updated pic of the front of your house.  Are things blooming?
5/17  National Bike to Work Day-- I would love this, but a car seat & 9 bags of baby gear make this one out of my league for now-- maybe I'll document why it won't work!
5/18  I Love Reese's Day-- one of my most favorite holidays.  I could live on Reese's!
5/19-- Visit Your Relatives Day-- reach out to a family member you haven't seen in a while.  Get caught up-- and be sure to get a pic.
5/20 Eliza Dolittle Day-- What would be loverly right now?
5/21  National Wait Staff Day-- do you have a favorite server at your favorite restaurant?  Get a pic of them & document why you like them.
5/22  National Maritime Day-- Get some pics of the boats on the water or your view of the water from your home.
5/23  World Turtle Day-- who is the "turtle" (slow but steady) in your life?
5/24 Brother's Day
       *also*
       International Tiara Day (I NEEEEED a tiara!)
5/25  National Missing Children's Day-- ok, not a fun holiday, but maybe a reminder to hold your little ones a little tighter tonight & talk to them about stranger safety.
5/26  Have you brought out your summer wardrobe yet?  Document your closet change over.
5/27  Memorial Day
5/28  What are you watching right now?  Shows are coming to a season's end-- make notes or screen shots of what you loved this season.
5/29  Lear About Composting Day-- do you compost?  Document how.
5/30  Heat Awareness Safety Day-- how do you protect your family?
5/31  What You Think Upon Grows Day-- what's on your mind or growing in your head lately?

*This is your monthly reminder to back up your photos!!*

I hope you all have a wonderful month!

Project Life Prompts- April 2013

Happy April Fellow PL-ers!!

I hope your albums are coming along!

I'm taking many many many more photos these days, but spending even less time in my studio doing anything with them.  

This guy might have something to do with it. 

Straight to business this month!!

52 Lists in 52 Weeks:

• Things I Love About Spring
• Things I Dream of Doing When My Day Turns Sour
• Things To Do On a Rainy Day
• My Favorite 80s Song List
• Things I Could Eat All Day, Every Day
• Some Things Are Better When They're Tiny

One Little Word:
 This month I have a business that I can't really run, construction that has torn up my driveway & forces me to listen to large machinery breaking up concrete for hours at a time, 2 ticked-off cats, 2 insane seven-month old puppies, hundreds of house guests, a fiance that's never in his life held a baby,  a nursing newborn and an incision that prevents me from being able to put my own socks on.  

I have decided that I need a large, visual reminder of my word if I am to survive.

So this month, I am working on  a 12x12 layout that I will frame and hang in the hall outside my studio with my word on it. Later on, I will add it to my album, but right now I need to see it.  

At this point, I have no idea at all what it will look like, but it really doesn't matter.  It just needs to remind me to Breathe. 




Project Life:

Monthly Ideas:

• National Car Care Month:  Document everything about your car this month.  You can start with the basics-- make, model, mileage, that kind of thing.  But also, get pics of oil changes, car washes, the interior-- is it neat as a pin, or a total mess?  
• National Garden Month:  April is the perfect time to start documenting your garden.  Tilling, weeding, planting, all kinds of fun stuff goes on.  Make sure to get pics of yourself in the process too.  Don't forget all those little details- your dirty gloves, mud on your boots, the big, floppy hat you wear to keep the sun off your face, etc.
• National Humor Month:  Get  photos or screen shots of all the things that make you laugh this month.  My Facebook friends tend to post lots of MeMes that make me laugh, so I'll be saving some of those to use too.
• Couple Appreciation Month:  I see 2 ways to approach this one.  1) Spend the month documenting the other couples that you & SO spend time with.  Who are they?  How do you know them? What sorts of things do you do together as couples?    2) Document all of the things you & your SO do to stay connected as a couple.  Does he make your first cup of coffee for you in the morning?  Do you lay out his shirt & tie in the morning?  Do you text or email each other during the day?  Do you chat on your lunch hour?  
• Yellow:  Look for all things yellow in your environment this month

 Other Monthly Themes to Consider:

• Alcohol Awareness Month
• Autism Awareness Month
• Child Abuse Prevention Month
•  Defeat Diabetes Month
• Grilled Cheese Month
• Global Child Nutrition Month
• Home Improvement Month
• Celebrate Diversity Month
• International Twit Month
• Month of the Young Child
• National Card  & Letter Writing Month
• National Decorating Month

Weekly Themes:

• Explore Your Career Options Week:  Even if you are totally content with your job, it never hurts to think about your options.  What other careers could you go to if you had to?  What would you want to do if you could do anything?  
• Hate Week:  Face it.  We all hate things.  Use this week to get it all off of your chest.  Get pics of stuff that you just flat out don't like.  
• National Volunteer Week:  How do you volunteer your time?  Make sure to get lots of photos & make notes about why you choose to help out the way you do.
• Preservation Week:  What are you preserving?  Memories?  Heirlooms? Fruit?  Document it!
• Sky Awareness Week:  I'm going to take a photo of the sky over our backyard every morning this week at 8am.  I think it will make a neat layout to see how it looks from day to day.  It would be fun to do a night-time version of this too if you have a tripod & camera with a delayed shutter option. 

Other Weekly Themes To Consider:

• Golden Rule Week
• International Pooper-Scooper Week
• Laugh At Work Week
• National Window Safety Week
• National Library Week
• National Animal Control Appreciation Week
• National Park Week
• National Karaoke Week
• Money Smart Week
• National Playground Safety Week
• Safe Kids Week
• National Pie Championships

Daily Ideas:
 Apr 1: Tater Day-- your favorite way to make spuds
Apr 2:National Peanut Butter & Jelly Day-- What is your favorite sandwich?
Apr 3: Find a Rainbow Day-- If there isn't a physical one in the sky above you, find a philosophical rainbow in your day
Apr 4: National Walking-- take a photo while out on your daily walk today, even if it's your feet on the move
Apr 5: National Deep Dish Pizza Day-- Where do you order pizza from?  Why do you pick them over someone else?
Apr 6: International Pillow Fight Day- Do your kids have pillow fights?  Do you & SO fight over the pillows at night?  I listen to the pups fight over theirs all night long, so that's going in the album today!
Apr 7: National Beer Day-- Document your favorite brew! Is it local or something more exotic? Do you make your own? 
Apr 8: No Housework Day-- This is a holiday I can be on board with!  If you took all of the time today that you would normally be doing housework & spent it doing something fun, what would it be? Or maybe, this is a time to document your housekeeping routine.  
Apr 9: National Cherish an Antique Day-- Are you a collector? Or do you just have a family heirloom or 2?  Document what you have, where it came from & why you love it.
Apr10:  National Sibling Day-- Get a photo of you & your sibling(s) today.  If they live far away, you could make notes about how you keep in touch with them (maybe grab a screen-shot of an email or Skype).  
Apr 11:  One Day Without Shoes Day-- Celebrate your sense of touch today.  Where did your feet goes without shoes?  What do you love about being barefoot?  OR do you just hate everything about it? 
Apr 12: Walk On Your Wild Side Day-- How do you demonstrate your wild side?  Fashion?  Hairstyles? Tattoos? 
Apr 13: Scrabble Day-- Do you play Scrabble or Words With Friends?  Document who you play & why.
Apr 14: Dictionary Day-- Pick a word that defines you today & use it as your POTD
Apr 15: Tax Pay Day-- Did you get your taxes filed?  Tuck your receipt into your album.  I think it would be fascinating to read 10 years from now!
Apr 16: National Stress Awareness Day-- What stresses you out &what do you do about it?
Apr 17: Blah! Blah! Blah! Day-- Who do you know that just talks all the time?  Is it you? A friend? Your child?  Get a pic of that person today.
Apr 18: National Wear Your PJs to Work Day-- Make sure to take pics!  How fun!
Apr 19: National Hanging Out Day-- Where do you like to hang out?
Apr 20: Husband Appreciation Day-- Document some things that you do to show your hubby that you appreciate him.
Apr 21: National Chocolate Covered Cashews Day-- Yummy!  I'm  going to make some today in celebration.
Apr 22:  Earth Day-- Do you recycle?  Do you drive a hybrid?  Use solar power?  Document your efforts to help protect our planet.
Apr 23:  Movie Theater Day-- If you can't get to a movie today, you could make a list of the ones you want to see.
Apr 24: Take a photo through the windshield of your car today. (Please don't do this while the car is in motion.)  What sights do you see?
Apr 25: Take Our Sons & Daughters To Work Day-- If you have kids, ask them what they think you do for a living.  The answers might surprise you.
Apr 26: Arbor Day-- Take some pictures of your favorite local tree-filled space today.
Apr 27: Babe Ruth Day-- Baseball Season is in full swing!  Who does your family root for?
Apr 28:  Sense of Smell Day-- Get some photos that represent your favorite scents today. 
Apr 29:  Pin Hole Photography Day-- I thought this would be a fun experiment!  What cool photos can you take today using this technique?
Apr 30: Bugs Bunny Day--  Did you watch Bugs as a kid?  If not, what cartoons did you watch?  Today is a good opportunity to document a piece of your childhood.

**This is your friendly monthly reminder to back up those photos!!!**

I hope you all have a wonderful month!!

Project Life Prompts- March 2013

Good morning crafters!!

2 months down!

How are you doing?

I hope you are continuing on.

I am finally getting it together.

I finished 2012 this month & got started on 2013.

I also got Lil Man's PL album started.

As of today, he is not here yet, but his album is ready to go when he makes his appearance.

And his Daddy is living with my crazy hormones & threats of death, dismemberment & sleeping in the garage until he's old and grey if he doesn't take gobs of pictures at the hospital.

(I'll let you know how that one goes!)

Here are some ideas for March

52 Lists in 52 Weeks:

• Things I Collect
• Books on my "To Read" List
• Things That Make Me Crazy
• Movie Families I Would Be Happy to be Part Of
• Today I Will... 

 One Little Word:
 This month I plan on making a technique-filled, photo-less layout with song lyrics that contain my word.  Choosing a song was super-easy for me.  Lil E is due to be born this month and he has a song that Steve & I think of as "E's Song".  My word is in the title & lyrics.  Not something that I planned at all.  In fact, I hadn't even thought of it until just a couple of days ago when Steve noticed that I had added a new charm with this year's word to my necklace.  He asked me why I chose "Breathe" & after I explained it to him, he mentioned that this is also the name of E's song.  That's when the idea hit me to make this page with the song lyrics.   Think ATC on a larger scale.  Not something I do....ever really, so it should be a fun way to exercise my creativity & think outside the box. 





Project Life:

Monthly Themes:

• National Craft Month:  I think this would be a super-fun monthly theme.  Just photograph anything crafty that you do this month.  For me, this would be motivation to finish up a ton of little projects that I've been wanting to do & haven't gotten around to. 
• Green:  March is a great time to start looking for green!  Spring is on the way, the weather is warming up, things are starting to bloom.  I love spring!
• Three: Look for  triplets in the world around you.  We have 3 cars, 3 baby strollers (for one baby!), and 3 bicycles in our garage.  That's a good start on 3's.  I bet they're everywhere if you start looking!
• International Expect Success Month:  Document everything you do that is a success this month-- and the things that aren't.  Maybe you will find patterns that can help improve your successes.  You never know what you might notice about yourself.
• National Caffeine Awareness Month:  Document ALL of the caffeine that you consume this month.  Is it a lot or just a little bit?  I never even gave caffeine a thought until I became pregnant & I have definitely noticed a change in how I feel now that I only consume just a small amount.  Maybe you will too.

Other monthly themes to consider:

• American Red Cross Month
• Child Life Month
• Music In Our Schools Month
• National Color Therapy Month
• Ethics Awareness month
• National Nutrition Month
• National Women's History Month
• Optimism Month
• Sing With Your Child Month
• Youth Art Month

Weekly Themes:

• Write a Letter of Appreciation Week:  I can think of lots of people (some living, some not) that I could write letters to.  How about you?
• Celebrate Your Name Week:  Notice (and photograph!) all of the places that you see your name. First name, last name, doesn't matter.  Just notice how often it pops up around you. There's a pizza place here in town that has my first name & a collector's shop that currently carries an autographed poster of a football player that shares my last name, so that's where I'll be starting!
• Act Happy Week:  Photograph all of the happy faces you can find.
• American Chocolate Week: Photograph all of the chocolate in your life this week.  With all of the Easter candy floating around right now, it shouldn't be hard to find.  And after 12 weeks of refraining due to Gestational Diabetes, I am SOOOO looking forward to indulging a little! (For the sake of my PL, of course!)
• National Cleaning Week:  Document your weekly cleaning schedule, the products you use, etc.   I love to include basic, daily life things like this in my albums. I love to see this kind of thing from my Mother's & Grandmother's era,   because they are things that change the fastest.  Products change.  Technology changes. The way we live changes.  And I find it fascinating.  Even in my lifetime, how different these basic routines are, so I like to get them in my albums for the sake of posterity.   Maybe when I'm 80 I can show these pictures to my grand kids & tell them what life was like when I was younger.

 Other Weekly Themes to consider:

• National Ghostwriters Week
• National Cheer-leading Week
• Festival of Owls Week
• National Procrastination Week
• National Words Matter Week
• Read an E-Book Week
• Women in Construction Week
• Teen Tech Week
• National School Breakfast Week
• American Crossword Puzzle Week
• Wildlife Week
• Yoyo & Skill Toys Week

Daily Ideas:
Mar 1: World Compliment Day-- who do you know who could use a compliment?
Mar 2: Dress In Blue Day-- self portrait time!
Mar 3: What if Cats & Dogs Had Opposable Thumbs? Day-- what kind of shenanigans do you suppose your furry family members would get up to?
Mar 4: Daughters & Sons Day-- get pics of your little (or not so little) monkeys
Mar 5: Fun Facts About Names Day-- No photo necessary today!  Document the meaning of your name & the names of  your family
Mar 6:  Namesake Day-- write the story of who YOU are named for
Mar 7: Cereal Day-- get a pic of the stock of cereal in your pantry.  What are your family's favs?
Mar 8: International Working Women's Day-- get a picture of what you do for a living
Mar 9: Panic Day-- get pics of your Doomsday Preparations (or lack thereof.  We have 2 gallons of water in the garage and a first aid kit.  If the Zombies come tomorrow, we're screwed.  Maybe we should work on that!)
Mar 10: US Paper Money Day-- Get a photo of how much cash you have on you right now.  No cheating & going to the bank the day before!
Mar 11: World Napping Day-- take a nap.  It's OK. You have my permission.  Make someone else take a pic of you while you do it.
Mar 12: Organize Your Home Office Day-- well, this one's pretty self-explanatory huh?  Make sure to photograph your efforts.
Mar 13:  National Agriculture Day-- Get a photo of the current state of your garden or yard or maybe your plans for planting this year.
Mar 14: Potato Chip Day-- Document your family favorites & the size of your stash
Mar 15:  Companies That Care Day-- Photograph or screen-capture the logos of companies that you buy from or places you shop because you agree with their morals. Make sure to journal WHY you use them.
Mar 16: National Quilting Day-- Get photos of your current project.  If you aren't a quilter, maybe you have a hand-me down or gifted quilt that you can document.
Mar 17:  St. Patrick's Day!-- This one is huge for me.  My family are Irish, and St. Pat's is one of my most favorite holidays!!  And it will be Lil E's first FIRST holiday!  I can't wait to dress him in his little shamrock sleeper!  Get a self-portrait in your green!
-OR-
Mar 17: International Sports Car Racing Day-- document your racing team or favorite race car
Mar 18:  Forgive Mom & Dad Day-- what torture have you inflicted on your kids that you could ask forgiveness for?
Mar 19:  National Chocolate Carmel Day-- Today you must eat chocolate or caramel.  I know it's tough, but try to remember that you're making this sacrifice for the sake of art.
Mar 20: Won't You Be My Neighbor Day-- Document your relationship with your neighbors.
Mar 21: Spring Fairy Fun Day--  Photograph any signs of Spring that you have noticed around you
Mar 22:  International Goof-off Day--  What do you do when you are goofing off?
Mar 23: Near Miss Day-- have you had any "Near Misses" lately that you can document?
Mar 24: Document the contents of your purse today. What bizarre goodies are you lugging around?
Mar 25: National Medal of Honor Day-- Do you know anyone who has one?  Document it. 
Mar 26: Make Up Your Own Holiday Day-- If you could create a holiday, what would it be & why?
Mar 27: Quirky Country Music Song Title Day-- What is the first one that comes to mind?  Make a 4x6 ATC-style card documenting why it amuses you
Mar 28: Weed Appreciation Day-- I don't know about you, but my yard is way more weeds than intentional plantings.  I've decided that as long as they don't have thorns, they can stay.  Otherwise, weeding would be a full time job.  Photograph your own battle with weeds, or why you've decided not to fight this fight.
Mar 29: Texas Loves The Children Day-- Well, my Little Man should definitely be here by the 29th.  We have a cute little T-Shirt that we bought him from the TX State Fair that says "Made In Texas" on the front.  I thought this would be a perfect photo-op  to celebrate this day.  If you don't have a newborn with a cute TX T-shirt, you could use this day to document where your children were born. 
Mar 30: National Day of Unplugging-- I think we could all use this day once in a while- certainly more than once per year!  Photograph the things that your family does when you aren't plugged in.
Mar 31:  Easter Sunday-- Easter is an easy day for photo ops.  Just start snapping away!
OR
Mar 31: National "She's Funny That Way" Day-- photograph some of your personal quirks.

Off we go into another month!

Take tons of pictures, make lots of notes and most of all-- Enjoy it!!

January 2013 Prompts

Happy January Friends & Fellow Project Lifers!!

The new year is here, with a slew of whole new projects to go with it!

No messing around!  We're jumping right into prompts for the year!


52 Lists in 52 Weeks:

•  Goals for 2013
• Things That 2012 Taught Me
• My Favorite Ways to Stay Warm 
• Books I Could Read Over & Over
• 10 Random Facts About Me
• Right Now I LOVE (this is one that I repeat every 3-4 months)

One Little Word:
My word for this year is "Breathe".  With so much going on this year, it just seemed like the perfect word for me.  I need an occasional reminder to stop & actually enjoy some of the craziness or I'm afraid that I'm going to wake up at age 80 & not know where the time went. 

I plan to create am 8x8 page with the definition of my word & a couple of photos that symbolize it for me, as well as some journaling explaining why I chose it.   I will try to post this LO once it gets done.


Project Life:
Monthly Themes:

• Winter:  Look for signs of winter-- outdoors, in your home (decor, boots by the door, a snow shovel in the garage, salt on the steps), in your closet (warm sweaters, cozy sweatpants, darker colors), in your kitchen (stews & soups, hot cocoa mugs, etc.)  
• Blue:  Look for blue in your environment-- the color blue, some blue emotions, bluesy music selections, how ever you choose to interpret it!
• New: Look for all things new this month-- new goals, new outlook, new attitude, "new toys" (holiday gifts & gadgets), new Word, new routines, new anything.
• Joy Germ Month: Document anything & everything that brings you joy!

Other monthly themes to consider--  These are monthly "holidays" that I thought might give you something to try, something to journal, something to change, something to think about.

January is:

• Be Kind To Food Servers Month
• International Creativity Month
• National Self-Defense Month
• National Soup Month
• National volunteer Blood Donor Month
• National Rising Star Month

Weekly Themes:

• Celebration of Life Week-- The Mayans were wrong!  We LIVED! What can you do this week to celebrate the fact that you are alive in a brand new year?
• New Year's Resolutions Week-- Document your resolutions or goals for the year & what you are doing TODAY to bring them to fruition.
• Women's Self-Empowerment Week-- We all know some amazing women.  How do they do what they do?  Why are they so fantastic?  Maybe this is a good week to find out.
• Intimate Apparel Week-- This one frankly scares the crap out of me, I'm not gonna lie.  (Being 7+ months pregnant, it's a little worse than usual!)  What can I do this week to become friends with my undies?  Maybe it's time to clean out the drawer & chunk all but the pretty ones.  Maybe it's time to do some leg lifts so they look a little nicer on me.  Document how you and your bras & panties can become buds.  If you already are, this is a good chance to document your collection & how it makes you feel.
• National Take Back Your Time Week-- document some things that will help you reclaim a bit of your free time in the new year.  Maybe it's a few activities that you are cutting out, or an invitation that you are refusing or a new route to & from work that gets you home a few minutes earlier.  

Daily Ideas: 
Jan 1: Ellis Island Day- document how your heritage is represented in your life
Jan 2: National Motivation & Inspiration Day-- What are you inspired to do today?  OR What are you lacking inspiration to do?
Jan 3: JRR Tolkien Day - This is a perfect chance to go see the new Hobbit movie!  Make sure you get a pic & save the ticket stub!
Jan 4: Trivia Day-- photograph your family's favorite trivia game or show
Jan 5: George Washington Carver's Birthday- what is your fav Peanut butter brand and/or recipe?  
Jan 6: Get a beginning of the year self-portrait
Jan 7: National I'm Not Going To Take It Anymore Day-- document something that you are getting out of your life (a negetive person, clutter, extra stuff, what ever).  Make sure you journal aobut why.
Jan 8: National Earth's Rotation Day-- I think this is a perfect opportunity do document  A Day In The Life.
Jan 9: First School For Seeing Eye Dogs Established in 1929-- document how your pets help make your life better
Jan  10: National Cut Your Energy Costs Day-- Note what you do to keep costs down
Jan 11: International Thank You Day-- Make a point of saying Thank You to someone (or everyone) in your life- document it.
Jan 12: Take an ink hand-print from every member of your family today.  (This would be fun to repeat yearly to document each member of your household.)
Jan 13: Poetry Break Day-- Instead of a photo, print (or create) a quote from your favorite poem
Jan 14: Dress Up Your Pet Day-- Do you dress up your dog in sweaters or your cat in tutus?  Why or why not?
Jan 15: Martin Luther King, Jr's Birthday-- document a dream you have for the future.  Start your journaling with "I have a dream..."
Jan 16:  Do Nothing Day-- today you have my permission to do absolutely nothing.  Have someone snap a pic of you doing nothing.  
Jan 17: Rid The World of Fad Diets & Gimmicks Day-- document some of the popular diets that you have tried. Have they worked?
Jan 18:  Muhammed Ali's Birthday-- He said "I float like a butterfly & sting like a bee."  Use this opportunity to create a catch-phrase of your own.
Jan 19:  National Popcorn Day-- document how your family likes to eat popcorn.  We are huge popcorn fans in my house, so this will be a big ol' journaling block for me!
Jan 20: Inauguration Day-- Use a screen shot to document Obama's second term.  Did you vote for him?  Why or why not?
Jan 21:  National Hugging Day-- get a hug on film
Jan 22:  Answer Your Cats Questions Day-- What questions do you think your kitty would ask if he/she could?
Jan 23:  John Hancock Day-- Have every member of your family do a signature card for your album.  (Another one that would be fun to repeat yearly)
Jan 24:  Belly Laugh Day-- catch someone mid-laugh
Jan 25:  A Room of One's Own Day-- document your personal space in your home
Jan 26: Mozart's Birthday (tomorrow)-- document your classical music collection
Jan 27:  Fun At Work Day: Get pics of the things you do to make your work day more fun
Jan 28:  Data Privacy Day-- What things are you super careful to protect & why?
Jan 29:  National Puzzle Day-- What kind of puzzles (jigsaw, crossword, trivia?) does your family like to do?
Jan 30:  Bubble Wrap Appreciaition Day-- Make an art journal block or filler piece using bubble wrap.  Make a mess. Be creative.  Have fun with it.  
Jan 31:  Inspire Your Heart With Art Day-- document some of the art you have in your home, where you got it, why you love it, what memories it brings back to you, etc.


I hope that this list gives you some things to try.  I would love love love to see you post a link to your project in the comments section!

Happy snapping!


******This will serve as your friendly monthly reminder to BACK UP YOUR PHOTOS!! Everything else can be replaced, but photos can not.  ******

Project Life: Me, Myself & I

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

We made it!  It's a whole new year, with new opportunities & new experiences & new challenges to keep us going.  It's not something I often think about, but this year, I've got a whole lot of "NEW" on the horizon & I want to make sure I don't miss a minute of it.  

Which is why I want to continue doing Project Life.  If you aren't familiar, you can read all about it HERE, on Becky Higgin's blog.  In a nutshell, the idea is to take a photo per day & make a few notes about why this is your POTD (picture of the day).  It can be anything, but I like to use it as a way to record the small, seemingly insignificant things that our everyday life is made of.    

Before you say "But my life is so boring." try to think about how fascinated you would be to have a similar account from your mother's life or your grandmother's, or your cousin in another state. You are not boring.  Your life has meaning, in all of the little tiny details, and your story deserves to be recorded.  

That's also where these posts come in.  I am hoping that each month I can provide you with some inspiration to keep you going on the days that seem to not have too much going on.

My process:

I've posted about this before, but every year it seems to change just a little, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to write it all up again. (The typing process also helps me kinda re-focus on it for the coming year.)  But if you've hear this all before, feel free to skip down a few paragraphs.

 
I do not use a "Week 1", "Week 2", "Week  3" format.  It just doesn't work for me.  I start my album on January 1 and keep going until the end of the month.  I use Becky's Tabbed Dividers to separate the months.  (This year I bought the dividers that coordinate with the Cobalt Kit, but last year, I used these plain ones & jazzed them up myself.)

I use this monthly format because I do not necessarily do a photo every single day. I try, but I don't beat myself up if I don't get one.  I also don't hesitate to use 3, or 6, or 18 pictures from 1 day if that's what I feel represents that day.  I keep my little P&S in my purse, I use my camera phone a LOT & I have a fan-frickin-tastic new DSLR that Steve got me for my birthday this year.  Some days I take tons & tons of pictures, but sometimes I just forget.  And that's ok, because that's life too.  

I  also don't hesitate to use fillers.  Sometimes I find a quote or screenshot or other thing that fits my day better than a photo.  I have a Pintrest board HERE filled with quotes that I like.  Some are inspiring, some funny, some downright smartass-ish, but they work for me.  I find that often times including a quote does even more to convey that day's mood than a photo would.  Screen shots snipped from your local weather forecast, news page, sports page or whatever also make great fillers on days that you don't have a photo.  

Speaking of Pintrest-- I have a board HERE that has links to lots & lots of PL inspiration.  Some are other PLers who blog their weekly layouts (I will note here that I do not do this, at Steve's request. I post some of my pages, but just a few), and some are links to printable fillers & journal cards, some free, some paid.  I use them all!   

My Supplies:
I use a little bit of everything.  

I started last year thinking I would just use the Cobalt Kit (You can find all things PL HERE on Amazon.), but I got bored with that pretty quickly.  So I bought the Turquoise Kit & started mixing that in.  Then I started finding printable journal cards & they started showing up on my pages.  Then I bought the Clementine Kit & later, the Cherry Kit.  I can't help it.  I love to mix & match the kits to what is going on in my photos.  I have also picked up some patterned paper that was pre-printed with quotes or journal spots.  Then I discovered Pintrest & it was all over.  

 I use a lot of Ali Edwards stamps in my projects.  I belong to her monthly stamp club through Technique Tuesday & find that they make great additions to my album.  (You can find all things AE HERE.  She even  has some cute journaling cards for sale that are new this year, as she is on BH's PL design team) If you have any Photoshop-type skills, I think you can purchase a lot of Ali's stamp designs in digital form HERE.  Having almost ZERO Photoshopping skills myself, that is not something I am able to give much insight on.  

I also use a lot of random stuff in my PL.  Cute 6x6 paper pads, random leftover stickers, rolling stamps, $1 stamps (remember those?  We all bought dozens and dozens of them & then discovered that they were too small to actually DO anything with! Well, small is a good thing in this format-- pull them out & see if you can finally make some use of them!)

I will try to post in the next few days how I organize all this stuff.


This year I am going to do our yearly PL as well as one for the new baby. I mean, come on.  Have you seen those Baby PL Kits?  How could I not make him one?  They are cute as cute can be!!!  He gets his own album for the first year, then everything goes in the family album.  


Other Projects:

This past year I also participated (I use this term loosely, as life got in the way of completing either project) in 2 other projects.  Ali Edwards' One Little Word and a 52 Lists in 52 Weeks album.  (I got about 20 lists completed, but only blogged a few.  You can see them HERE if you're interested in this project.)  I took Ali's OLW class over at Big Picture Classes and LOVED it. (If you are considering online classes this year, I highly recommend it!)   I didn't make it all the way through the album, but I have printed all of the prompts to re-use with this year's word.  

This year, I am planning to incorporate all 3 of these projects into 1 album. That way, I might actually finish them!  I'm all about finding ways to make it happen this year.  I will add some list & word inspiration to each month's PL post, for those of you also planning on participating in these projects. 



What you can expect:

 On the first of the month, I will publish a post with inspiration for all 3 projects.  

52 Lists in 52 Weeks:  I will post the 4-5 lists that I am planning on making for that month & maybe a couple of extras in case one doesn't appeal to you.

One Little Word:  I will NOT be posting anything resembling the class content that I received from my BPC class.  I will simply be posting my own thoughts on how I want to incorporate my word this month. 

Project Life:

I will post

• Daily Ideas: most of these based on the seasonal goings on and little-known holidays.  (I tried to stay away from the big holidays.  Those are easy.  You don't need me to tell you that Feb 14 is Valentine's Day & to take a picture with your DH/SO/Valentine.)  I tried to find things that would appeal to a broad range of folks & maybe be something that you might not otherwise think of.   Some of them are more journaling prompts than photo ops, but there's nothing wrong with filling up a 4x6 spot with journaling instead of a photo if you want to.  Some of them are random things that popped into my head.  You'll just have to bear with me on those occasions. 
• For those of us that have been doing this project for a while, I thought some of you might want to take a slightly different approach, just for a change of pace.  For those folks interested, I thought we might try themes.  The idea being that for that week/month, you can try to make all of your photos relate to your theme.  I will post 4 monthly themes to choose from, as well as 4-5 weekly themes.  You could choose 1 or 2 or a combination of however many you feel like tackling at the time.

Okie dokie, friends.  We're off!  It's a new year & you can do it!

Can't wait to see what you come up with!

52 Lists in 52 Weeks Week 8

Good morning Blogland!

It's a rainy, windy day here in Dallas.

I've been very bad about posting my Lists, though I have been working on them! 

Today I want to share Week 8

 Supplies: Journaling Spot: Fancy Pants, All Other: Basic Grey

I had a project to do. 

A big one.

So my List is copied straight off my phone's shopping list app.

Seemed appropriate.

Here is the results of my shopping trip

While I would love to say that I did it all myself, I did have to call Steve in to help me muscle the finished fence panel into position & hold it while I bolted it into place.

I'm pretty happy with how it came out.

Are you making lists?

If so, I would love to see them.

Leave your links in the comment section! 

52 Lists in 52 Weeks Week 7

Good morning bloggers!

I wanted to bring you another list today.

Week 7's list is a list of things that I have never done in my life.

Supplies: PP & Diecuts: Basic Grey, Craft Cardstock: Paper Studio

I started this list with kind of a negative feeling.

There were quite a few things on my "Never Done" list that I culled down to this one and I was feeling kind of bad about it.

But then I thought about it a little more and decided that this list more just a reminder of how much living I still have to do. 

By the time my life is over, I would like to have done all of these things.

Except the broken bone.

I can live without that one.

And the brussels sprouts.

You can keep those too.