PM [POP] Artsy, Pins & Alphas | Sahlin Studio

Sahlin Studio has some great add ons that coordinate with her recently released PM Pop collection. 

    

As an adult, I made it to Disney World, shortly after we were married. Then a number of years later to Disneyland, when the kids were little. 

Oh how I/we long to get back there. We've attempted to plan another family trip several times, but the stars just haven't aligned properly. So I jut have to keep going back to photos of our last trip, in 2011.   

When we took the kids to Disneyland, we pulled them both out of school for a week at the end of September. At the time they were in grades 1 and 4. We arrived in Anaheim early on a Sunday afternoon. We'd repurchased park passes, but I hadn't expected to go to the park that day. However, four tear rimmed eyes were looking at me, so away we went. 

I'm so glad we did. As it turns out, in off-season, they don't do fireworks every night. We happened to catch the Fantasmic show and fireworks, strictly by chance. To see the park lit up at night, is so cool. I'm so glad we went for it, or we would have missed out seeing this. 

I honestly love Disney so much. I hope we're able to get back sometime soon. It would be so much fun to experience it with our kids as young adults. I trust no one would need to be carried this time around. Nor would they fall asleep at the restaurant waiting for supper to arrive. Looking back, they were ages 6 & 9, they must have been exhausted. We went hard for a 6 days. It was awesome. 

The following Sahlin Studio products were used: 

https://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Pop-Artsy.html

https://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Pop-Enamel-Pins.html

https://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Pop-Alphas.html

https://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-POP-Elements.html

https://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-POP-Journal-Cards.html

Little One Collection | Sahin Designs

Little One is the most recent collection from Sahin Designs. It's more geared toward a new addition to the family, but like a lot of scrapbook material, it can be quite flexible. 

On sale for 20% through March 7th. If you happen to be a newsletter subscriber, you can download the bundle for 50% off. Watch your inbox for a coupon code to do just that! If you download the bundle, you'll get the tags for free!

This collection made me reminisce [something I seem to be doing a lot lately] and I went back in search of pictures of my newborn babies. I wasn't disappointed. I picked two of my most cherished photos of my brand new babies, and created a layout for each of them. 

[It's hard to believe he's going to be 19 in the very near future]

[And this one is only a few months away from being able to obtain a drivers license...]

When I look back at these photos, it seems like this was both a lifetime ago and yesterday. 

I also wanted to show, that just because it's geared towards the little ones in your life, it can also be used to document the big little ones in your life. 

I know I must sound like a broken record. I miss the days when they were little, but they're both turning into pretty darn awesome humans. We can do more, see more, say more now with these two young adults, than we could when they were little. 

Life just gradually happens. They grow a little each day. I'm thankful to have captured so many stories along the way. 

The following Sahin Designs products were used:

https://sahindesigns.com/products/little-one-elements/

https://sahindesigns.com/products/little-one-papers/

https://sahindesigns.com/products/little-one-cards/

https://sahindesigns.com/products/little-one-tags/

https://sahindesigns.com/products/little-one-stamps/

Good Times | Sahin Designs

The Good Times collection was just released from Sahin Designs. 

You can get it for 20% off through the weekend, check it out! 

Newsletter subscribers, watch your inbox for a 50% off the bundle code! 

It's the perfect collection to document the different ways of spending family time together. Baking, cooking and eating, to name a few. 

It's released just in time for the American thanksgiving. But like most everything else this year, that is bound to look a little bit different. 

In Canada, we celebrate thanksgiving the first part of October. 

This was definitely a weird thanksgiving for us. We celebrated it as our little 4-some. Taking no chances of spreading Covid to any family members. 

It was the first turkey dinner we've ever planned, cooked and executed without the help of my Mumma. Though the bird was a tad over done, Heather with no Feathers, was a gorgeous specimen. Making a turkey dinner feast with all the fixings, was quite a feat. Once finished, a great accomplishment. 

I learned a few things along the way, and will definitely try my hand at it again. It wasn't as scary as I'd made it out to be. I also started a 'turkey journal' to remember the size, weight, time cooked etc. 

Here's the layout I created, using Good Times: 

I'm so thankful for this crew of mine, who helped at the final stages, when we needed to bring everything together. My wish is we'll be able to have everyone over at Christmas. Crossing our fingers and toes. 

The following Sahin Desigsn products were used: 

https://sahindesigns.com/products/good-times-elements/

https://sahindesigns.com/products/good-times-cards/

https://sahindesigns.com/products/good-times-papers/

Tourist | Sahin Designs

For Sahin Designs September's Creative gallery, I chose to work with the Tourist Collection. 

This summer has been tough. 

We had nowhere to go. I mean, we planned a few camping trips and they were fun. But we had nothing to really look forward to. It made me reminisce about last years road trip. 

Seriously, I'm soooooo glad we decided to do that trip last year. 

We did a LOT of driving. 6000 km in fact. We encountered so many different landscapes. Our little foursome adores the ocean, being sea side. But Utah was pretty impressive. 

We spent very little time there. One night at Bryce Canyon. All it did was get us interested. There is so much to see and do in Utah. So many canyons and national parks. It is for sure one place we'd like to go back to and spend more time. 

Hopefully sooner than later...

The following Sahin Designs products were used: 

https://sahindesigns.com/products/tourist-elements/

https://sahindesigns.com/products/tourist-cards/

https://sahindesigns.com/products/tourist-papers/

July Template Freebie | Sahlin Studio

Can you believe it's July? 

Where has the time gone by this year? 

I'm not going to lie, March and April felt like an 

e t e r n i t y. Then, it seems like I blinked and suddenly May and June were over.

Always, with the start of a new month, the template freebie from Sahlin Studio gets released. Here is the July template. Click here to go and download. Remember, it's only free to download through July. 

I had a few ideas swirling around my head when I first saw this layout. In fact, I sat down at my computer and went in a very different direction when I started. I first filled all the boxes in with different patterned papers. Initially I thought this might be a good 'favourites' page.  

One of my favourite parts of digital scrapbooking, is the ability to swap elements in and out. Try it this way, then try it that way. I started playing around with this page a little, and finished off with this: 

 

This is a 12x12 sized layout, that I shrunk down to 8x8. 

I'm so upset for my kids, they're both missing out on their grade 9 and 12 farewell/graduations. There's no sugar coating it. It totally sucks. 

I was so glad when one of Madelyn's classmates organized a meet up in the park. At least the grade 9 kids that attended got the opportunity to say good-bye to one another. 

The following Sahlin Studio products were used: 

PM Vibes Elements - https://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Vibes-Elements.html

PM Vibes Journal Cards - https://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Vibes-Cards.html

PM Vibes Paper - https://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Vibes-Papers.html

 

Birds of a Feather Collection | Sahin Designs

Birds of a Feather Collection is the newest release from Sahin Designs in collaboration with Rachel Jefferies. This collection also comes with some ready-made templates, which can make your memory keeping so much easier!

Here's a quick look at the collection: 

Through February 23rd, this collection is 20% off and can be found on Elif's Lilypad Store.  If you're a newsletter subscriber, you'll have received a 50% link, for the bundle. That too is valid through the 23rd of February. 

There were a couple of elements from this collection that I honed in on, and new I wanted to use. Number one, was the 'Us' journal card.  I knew as soon as I saw it, I wanted to tell a story about Us,  our family of four. I also loved the little blue heart and the bird house stitching. So I went to work fiddling with those elements, adding others through the process. 

Here is my finished layout, which is 8x8. 

I really love how it turned out. And the story it tells. Feel grateful for this crew of mine.  

The following Sahin Designs products were used: 

Paper:  https://the-lilypad.com/store/Birds-Of-A-Feather-Papers.html

Elements:  https://the-lilypad.com/store/Birds-Of-A-Feather-Elements.html

Journal Cards:  https://the-lilypad.com/store/Birds-Of-A-Feather-Cards.html

Stamps:  https://the-lilypad.com/store/Birds-Of-A-Feather-Stamps.html

Reminisce Collection | Sahin Designs

This month, as part of Sahin Designs Creative Gallery, I chose to create a couple of layouts using the Reminisce Collection.


For me, there's something joyful about seeing a layout come together.

I've sat down on numerous occasions in the past couple of weeks, trying to get my mojo flowing. It wasn't happening. I couldn't decide on a collection to use.  I couldn't decide on a picture. Does that ever happen to anyone else?

I was starting to feel a bit panicky, because sometimes I sit down at the computer and feel totally, meh...

I sat down again yesterday, and I think it's safe to say my mojo is back.

I LOVE how these 8x8 sized layouts turned out.

I have so many favourite pictures from last years road trip. These are just a couple more of the kids, taking in breath-taking scenery.

Once I saw the colour combination of the Reminisce collection, I knew it would lend itself very nicely to highlighting a couple more stories.

I used the following Sahin Designs products:

Reminisce Elements:  https://sahindesigns.com/products/reminisce-elements/

Reminisce Papers:  https://sahindesigns.com/products/reminisce-papers/

Reminisce Journal Cards:  https://sahindesigns.com/products/reminisce-cards/

Reminisce Digital Stamps:  https://sahindesigns.com/products/reminisce-stamps/

More CZ Inspiration

A few weeks back I wrote a blog post about the fact that I was re-taking CZ Design Your Life class. It was a 'go at your own pace' type class. It was over a 4 week period, each week there were two new layouts introduced. 

I got busy, as life does, and didn't get the chance, or rather, have the time to watch the videos or complete the layouts. I had only completed 2 of 4 weeks.

Here are the two layouts I created from week 2, which I guess I forgot to post here on my blog:

These are both 8x8 sized layouts. I like them. I got a couple of stories down, which makes me happy. But I don't love them. Sometimes I feel a little like I'm 'reaching'. With these two layouts, that's how I felt. 

This past week I found I had some free time. So I went ahead and watched the week 3 videos and got right to work on my layouts. Now I'm not sure why... The pictures themselves... The subject matter... The layout size... [8.5 x 11 compared to 8 x 8 size] But I love how these two layouts turned out. Love, as in they make me absolutely giddy.

Here they are:

I'm looking forward to seeing what week 4 brings. Hopefully I can set some time aside sooner rather than later.

PL2017 - Week 30 [and a Halloween Layout]

Here is week 30 of my project life album. 

• This week Madelyn was in an art class each afternoon. She spent a few days at my M&D's house. Mason and I went for a few bike rides which would have been a little bit more strenuous for Mad. 
• Barry and I went on a date night, ended up downtown. 
• Madelyn's artwork came home and it was awesome. 
• Grandma and the kids after they came over for dinner one night. 
• Movie night in the back yard, we watched Robots which has longtime been a favourite. 

Also created a Halloween layout from last year. Sahlin Studio has just released it's new Project Mouse (Halloween) Enamel Pin and Artsy kits. Check them out, they are so much fun. Here is the 8x8 sized page I created. 

Each Halloween, all four of us decorate our own pumpkin. We always have fun, and I like to include our jack-o-lanterns on layouts. Last year was also the first time Madelyn had ever gone out with a friend. It also marked the first time she'd used a pillow case to collect her candy. I really don't understand why that is such a novelty. I'm sure it will be in vogue again this year as well...

Also, I got word that my December Daily stuff I ordered from Ali Edwards is on it's way!

So excited about that. One of my favourite projects for sure. 

The following Sahlin Studio product was used: 

Week 30

For Real Elements - http://the-lilypad.com/store/For-Real-Elements.html

For Real Journal Cards - http://the-lilypad.com/store/For-Real-Journal-Cards.html

For Real Paper - http://the-lilypad.com/store/For-Real-Papers.html

Halloween 2016

http://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Halloween-Enamel-Pins.html

http://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Halloween-Artsy.html

http://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Halloween-Kit.html

Mara Lake

It should come as no surprised that I like multi picture layouts. I mention it quite a lot. I mean let's face it, Project Life is basically multi photo pages...

[To be honest, that ONLY just kind of came to me...]

The recently released Clean Lined Pocket Templates, Vol 2, has my heart soaring.  Sometimes I think too many pictures gets things a little bit cluttered. Multi picture templates totally gives me permission to use many pictures.

This release came at exactly the right time too, we had just returned from our summer get away. I had just the thing I wanted to capture. 

As usual, I like to tinker to make things my own. The templates [and there are 4 to choose from] are 12x12 size.

For me, it's way too costly to print 12x12 size, so I shrunk them down to 8x8.

I actually shrunk them down even a bit smaller than that, because I put them onto an 8x8 background. If I have a bit of a background, then I know I'm not going to lose any of my photos due to bleeding or cut-offs.

 This is template No.2

This is template No. 3

These are fast and easy. Just drag and drop the photos in. Add some embellishments and voila, you're done!  

Templates make it so easy to capture memories, right after they've happened.  

The following Sahlin Studio Product was used: 

Clean Lined Pocket Templates No. 2

PM Beginnings - Journal Cards 

PM Beginnings - Paper

PM Beginnings - Word Bits

PM Beginnings - Elements 

March Template Freebie - He Drives

Well, it's that time again, a new template freebie from Sahlin Studio. This template is available for the month of March only, get it while you can, by following this link.

I did a bit of a different take on this months freebie. In my album, I like to alternate between 8x8 and 12x12 sized pages. Not only do I think it makes my album interesting and visually appealing, it definitely saves some money when it comes to printing.

This months template is 12x12 size, but I wanted it to be 8x8. 

I've also found that when you're printing pages off, there is almost always a little bit of cropping that snips off the edges of the pages. I didn't want to crop any of the edges in this layout.

This is what the original layout looks like:

Here's my version: 

In PSE 15, I shrunk down the entire 12x12 layout. I added the layout to an 8x8 sized canvas. I knew I wanted to add a few photos of my son, driving for the very first time. I didn't have great photos of this, as teaching him to drive, was more important than the photo op. [You can see, that if the edges of the layout were cropped it would take away from seeing my sons face]

I love the flexibility these layouts give, even though many people may have this exact layout, once I make a few subtle changes, mine looks different from everybody else's. 

I often alter layouts, to suit my needs. I love being creative, even with layouts that have been created for me. It takes away some of the planning, but still lets me tinker. 

The following Sahlin Studio product was used: 

Worth a Thousand Words - Elements

Worth a Thousand Words - Paper

Recent Layouts

I recently completed two layouts. I'm pretty well current with my scrapbooking, though I do have a load of pages to print off. To print 12x12 pages in Canada, it's gotten a little bit ridiculous cost-wise. In the past I have ordered from Persnickety, but they've increased their international shipping fee. The last time I ordered from them, I thought the product was just kind of 'meh'. Certainly not their best quality. Now, add our poor dollar and exchange rate. I simply can't justify paying for a product I'm not happy with.

I'm contemplating whether or not I should scrapbook my pages as usual, and then create a photo book with the pages once a year. It's not quite the same as looking through an album... But the memories come back, no matter what the format. Something to consider...

I have recently created a lot more 8x8 sized layouts. This size is a lot more reasonable to print off.

Both of these layouts are 8x8 size.

Both of these layouts are Sahlin Studio templates. Both originally 12x12 format. I just altered the sizing, and I'm happy with how they turned out.

This layout, Best Field Trips Ever, is Sahlin Studio Template Freebie, free for the month of November only. You can find it here: Sahlin Studio November Template.

I'm not kidding when I say these were the best field trips ever. It's taken until grade 5 and 8 to have 2 awesome field trips, both within a week of each other. They were also the best, because the weather was AWESOME. I doubt I would have enjoyed either as much, had the weather been foul.

For this layout, I used Sahlin Studio product Explore. Learn. Grow.

The next layout, Horse Camp is another template originally 12x12, that I altered to 8x8 size. It's from this bundle of templates.

I think templates are awesome. So simple when you want to capture a story quickly. The 8x8 size of this worked out well, because the photos I have were very small, and poor quality. Madelyn went camping with her uncle, and he took a ton of photos and sent them to me. I can't tell you how pleased I was to get these pictures of her having such a great time. Even through the pictures aren't great, I was still able to capture her first horse camping trip.

For this layout, I used Project Mouse Frontier Bundle. All the western elements tied in perfectly to her western weekend. Will she go camping again? I think so. Uncle on 'gave her' Lacy [the horse she's riding] She loves to tell everyone that she 'has a horse'. Poor horse though... She hasn't fed or groomed it since the first weekend in October.