Monday, September 30, 2013

Now...What You Want!

***Enabler alert! You will want to spend money after reading this post!***

In the last post I shared what you need to start Project Life. This post is the fun stuff. The stuff that you will want to have!

A great Project Life stamp set can go a long way. You can reuse the stamps and many sets come with fantastic captions for your photos. The one above is Daily Details from Elle's Studio and is on sale at Two Peas in a Bucket for $11.24! I also love Storyteller Flashback from ki Memories, Kelly Purkey's For the Record, and Shimelle Laine's Nailed It set.

Another plus is a roller date stamp. You can get one at any office supply store or you can hoard every one that American Crafts has produced because you might need one of the tiny sentiments. Not that I did...but here are a few from AC.

 
Label stickers are always a good idea. I love these from Basic Grey- they have others that coordinate with their latest lines. My other go-to brands are Jillibean Soup, American Crafts, and My Minds Eye.

Alphabet stickers are a great staple to have for your title cards on your spread. These adorable ones are Thickers from the new Amy Tangerine line. I love this set and this set by Amy Tangerine, too!

Then there are small embellishments like flair badges (the ones above are from Studio Calico), shaped paper clips like these, brads like these, or enamel dots like these.
 
It seems like so many companies are jumping on the bandwagon and I can only assume that there will be more and more fun products to come! 

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Project Life Must-Haves

Hello everyone! I've created this blog to share my Project Life, inspire you with ideas, and encourage those who are just starting out or needing a little boost to keep going.

With my first post I thought it was important to share the "must-haves" for Project Life (or "PL" as it has come to be known) for those that are just starting to venture into the world of pocket scrapbooking.

One of the first things that is helpful is a Becky Higgins Core Kit. The one pictured above is Jade (one of my favorites!) but there are MANY other kits available to suit your needs. Of course you don't need to get these kits- you can always cut your own scrapbook paper down to 4x6 or 3x4 to fit the slots. I am a core kit addict (I have Cobalt, Olive, Seafoam, Jade, Sunshine, Kraft, Midnight, Honey, 5th and Frolic, and Vintage Travel...plus the Baby Kit for Him). You can also look on scrapbooking message boards for swaps or partial kits. The cards in these kits can get repetitive so many people sell 1/3 or 1/4 of their kits for a lower price. Many other companies have now come out with 3x4 and 4x6 kits or "cut apart" sheets that are 12x12. Check out Echo Park, We R Memory Keepers and Simple Stories.
 
 
 You will also need some pocket page protectors. These are Becky Higgins "Design A" and the most common pages you will see in the PL world. I love mixing and matching the designs of page protectors so I am excited that Becky will soon have designs A-Z! I have used other page protectors from Echo Park, We R Memory Keepers, Simple Stories and Me and My Big Ideas (MAMBI). There are pros and cons to each (some have a tight fit on the 3x4 cards, others are pricey, some are not a very heavy weight plastic) but I don't mind. I just look at the format and choose what works well for my photos for the week.
 
You will also need a 12x12 album to house your pages in. I find great ones at Michaels and use my 40% off coupon...or, better yet, wait until they are on sale and you can find them for a steal!

You can also get a mini album if you are just doing a small themed project. The Becky Higgins Project Life Mini Albums come in a rainbow of colors and have 20 pages sewn in. It can hold eighty 4x6 horizontal photos/cards and eighty 3x4 vertical photos/cards.


The last "must-have" is a pen of some sort. I like the American Crafts pens myself because they come in different sizes (.01, .03, .05, .08).
 

That's it! That is really all you need to make a Project Life-style scrapbook. Of course I'll be back with more that you'll want to have soon!