PROJECT LIFE: Week 17

I mentioned in my post on Week 16 that I started to 'break down' a bit this month, which is definitely true. April was a rough month for me for some reason; I think I was just so worn down from being at home with the kids all winter, and seeing the enormous pile of work that has to be done this year, both in terms of my photography business and the house, plus troubles with money...well, I've just been feeling crummy and out of sorts. Instead of hiding it or not acknowledging it though, I decided to incorporate it into the album, since I really believe in telling all stories, not just the happy ones. Whether it's a photo or journaling, I try not to let it overtake the general feeling of the album, but I want all of our stories in there, mine included. It's therapeutic now, and will be revealing later on.

Anyway, this week there weather got even nicer (a huge breath of fresh air!), and Dan and I got to go out on a  real life date, which was AMAZING and so, so needed. 

There are 2 'hidden' elements on the spread this week, the first is just a simple folded journaling card talking about weaning Violet and starting her on formula (included an Instagram on the front, my favourite way to do these folded cards), and the 2nd is a much more private journaling note that I inserted into the little grey envelope on the first page. So not only would you have to take the card out of the album, but you'd have to take the letter out of the little sealed envelope as well to read it. I debated not putting it in at all (it's about my relationship with Dan and our marriage), but at the same time the thoughts were gnawing at me all week so I knew I had to write it down and include it. I love the idea that you can have public and private journaling in the album, it was genius of Becki to think of that! I also did a couple of cards on the computer this week (the Weekly Review written on the computer around the photo of Victor, and out 'date night' card, with 3 Instagrams and typed out journaling). The letters on the photo of Victor spell out "Explore", it's kind of hard to tell. And the LOST card is silly, but I love it!

That's about it for Week 17!

If you have any questions, feel free to write them in the comments and I'll be sure to get back to you! Thanks for taking a peek :)

G.

PROJECT LIFE: Week 16

Week 16 (aka the week the weather finally started to turn!)

This was a very normal week for us, no special trips or events or anything like that, just life. (I think this is also where I started to break down a bit, but I'll share more about that in next week's layout). Not too many photos from every single day, which is ok, I know that this is how the album will most likely be for the next 6 months or so as life gets busier. Trying not to stress about it. For techniques I didn't do anything particularly special, I'm just trying to use up my supplies (for example the little circle/birdie/tag die cuts on the flower photo, no real reason for them except to use 'em up!) I also included a card talking about Victor's favourite books at the moment; I made that card during the week vs on my 'put together' days, and I enjoy those so much more because they are more in the moment; I want to try and do that more, especially when it comes to all the little things about the kids that I want to remember. Lots of writing on photos this week too, I think that this is my favourite and easiest technique for this project. I also did a little 'caption' strip for my Instagrams this week, will be doing that again.

Ok, here we go!

Week 17 coming up tomorrow!

G.

PROJECT LIFE: Week 15

Alright, I'm warning you that you're about to get a flurry of PL posts. I have the photos all edited and uploaded so I hope to get them posted this week. We're currently on Week 21 (insane!), so I need to get  these out of the way. It makes me so happy seeing them all in one place online though, I'm happy that I decided to blog them :)

Ok, Week 15. This was Easter Sunday/Monday week, and also a week where I took a trip to Halifax to visit friends. Being the terrible 'event' photographer that I am though, I didn't take photos of either of those particular days, so there are no inserts or anything special, this is just a regular week. For 'stuff', I included the front page of a local Halifax newspaper that we used to read often while living there (it's also cool because it was the Titanic's 100th anniversary, and since Halifax has important ties to that event, the front page was all about the infamous ship). The rest of the layout is pretty standard stuff, my favourite part though is the vellum quote that I stapled on top of a random photo of my feet :) I also included a photo of Victor's toys from his room, since I thought it might be fun to look back on in 10 years, to see what was 'popular' back then.

(Oh, and I can't believe we got a snowstorm that week! Crazy weather.)

Here we go, Week 15:

Still loving this project!!

G.

PROJECT LIFE: WEEK 14

Here we are, going back to the first week in April (man how it time going by so quickly?!) This spread seems really 'white' to me, but probably because of the two pockets on the right that are filled with 'stuff' versus photos. Because of that I'm not super fond of it, haha. We went to a funeral on Thursday so I included the bulletin that we got at the church (wasn't sure if I should include it or not but I thought it would be something I would be interested in seeing in 5-10 years), and I also included the program from the high school play that I went to see on Saturday with my friend Sara. I didn't really realize when I started this project how much I would love having a place to put all this 'life' STUFF. I don't like throwing things like that out, but of course I don't want it wasting space in a drawer, so this is the perfect solution :)

I also did another folded journaling card (seems like I do one every week!), and this time instead of sticking a photo on the front (or just writing on the front), I printed out one of my Tweets and used it as the bouncing off point for my journaling...pretty clever if I do say so myself, ha!

(The Weekly journaling for this spread is missing, I hand wrote it around the picture of Victor in the top right page.)

Have a great weekend!
G.

Victor's Room

What's this, a NON PROJECT LIFE post?! Yes, I've finally gotten around to taking and editing some photos of the only finished room in our new-ish house, so I thought I would share them here...a tour of Victor's room :)

I'm not sure why Victor's room was the first one to get finished, probably because it was the 'nicest' room in the house when we moved in and didn't need a lot of work; I also had most of his decorations and furniture when we moved so I didn't have to wait or buy anything to get it all done. There are a few tiny little things I'd like to get to truly finish it off, but for the most part I'm really happy with how it turned out. We spend a lot of time in here as a family, playing most evenings before bed, so it's nice to have it done...if only I could say the same about Violet's room!

Ok, here we go (sorry for the not so great photos, I didn't have my wide angle lens on so I couldn't get full room shots, and it was kind of dark so the photos are a bit grainy.)

                           

His bed (we bought the mattress after Violet was born and had it on the floor until January when my friend Sara gave us the frame...without the box spring it's the perfect height for him to climb in and out of.) If I ever get the time to work on it I have fabric for a quilt that I want to put on his bed, but for now this light comforter does the trick. The room was the beige brown colour when we moved in, I just painted an accent wall with the same green that I used in our kitchen in Halifax and old apartment in Sussex...gotta use it up! Also, I'm going to try and thrift a real nightstand this summer for his lamp and soother dish. The birth date print is from Etsy; I'd like to buy another art print of some sort from Etsy to put next to it, just not sure what yet (maybe something with his name, or a quote...)

I hung a simple photo wire above his bed with some twine and used clothespins to hang photos of all his cousins, pets, etc. It's cute because he looks at them and says all their names :) It's also nice because I can swap the photos out whenever I get new ones.

His Teletubbies pillowcase (loves them) and Bill the lamb, his best bud since birth :)

This is the wall opposite his bed. The shelf and chair are the same ones I had in his room in our apartment, and I kept everything pretty much the same as I did before, with his diapers and toys on the shelf and a picture collage above it. The pom pom is a leftover from his nursery, and is strategically covering a piece of chipped wall paint, haha! I want to recover the chair at some point, but for now the blue fabric works.

His dresser, which is at the foot of his bed. It used to have a mirror on it in his nursery but we had to remove it to fit under the slanted ceiling. It's thrifted and holds a lot of clothes. This area still looks a bit empty to me, so I'll probably change it up once I thrift the right items/art to go on his dresser.

An Ahsleyg print I got from Etsy, and a llama that my sister gave Victor, made with real alpaca wool.

Painted thrifted owl and postcards from various museums I went to while living in Spain.

His closet, which is right next to his shelf. This is where his little 'play area' is. The closet had the built ins when we moved in, which was nice. On one side are his clothes and on the shelves I have his books, diapers, etc, and he also has some blocks in the corner (I like to keep things as neat as possible, but also easily accessible). I put the mirror low on purpose so that he could look in it when standing (which will be good when he starts dressing himself or playing dress up).

His books (the most used ones on the bottom, the rest are for when he's older).

Dino collection :)

His shelf. The baskets hold his cloth diapers, and the buckets on top hold his socks and his slippers.

His toy shelf. The rule with his bedroom toys is that they can be pretty much anything, but they CANNOT make any noise. No batteries, no instruments, nothing like that. Blocks, puzzles. pull toys, books, a doctor's kit...all those nice 'open ended'/wooden toys are up here, which is a really nice change of pace from the other toys he has in the house.

The photo collage above his shelf. I didn't really have a plan when I did this, I basically hung the two 11X14 standouts (photos) on each end and then filled the space in between with whatever I had. Most of this was in his nursery, except for the large "V", which I bought at Michael's (and intend on painting one day). The rosary is from Spain, the Dali postcard is from when Dan and I were dating, the two bird prints were bought on Etsy, and the little postcard in the white frame was a gift from my friend Anna.

The piggybank was a Christmas present from his great nan, and the abacus was a gift from Sara for his birthday.

 Cloth diapers...not much else to say, they're just cute :)

There you have it! If you have any questions about anything in the room, just leave me a comment. I'm not sure how long I'll leave his room like this, I'm thinking maybe once he starts kindergarden or something I'll switch it up to be more 'kid/school friendly' (swap out the shelf for a desk or something), and I'll probably change the colour scheme too since by then it'll be 5 years old. I'm leaning towards orange and grey, but we'll see how I feel then.

The next room I intend on tackling is Violet's, but her room is covered in peeling textured wallpaper and is in need of some major help, so it may be awhile before there's a tour of her room :S Same with our living room, kitchen, our bedroom...well, pretty much every room in the house! Oh well, we have our whole lives to get it done, right?

Back with more PL soon.

G.