Counterfeit Kit Blog Hop

With the new year come new changes! This month we're reinstating the monthly blog hop for the Counterfeit Kit participants, and I'm jumping in on the fun.  If you're hopping, you came here from Julie at http://jsquaredscrapspot.wordpress.com.  I've also listed the hop order at the end of this post so you can navigate from where you were, to where you are, to where you should go next.

The challenge for the hop project is to use 3 patterned papers, 3 embellishments and a 3 word title from your kit.  I stuck to the rules and used them to get me through yet another week of catch-up in my Project Life 2012 album.

I stuck to the rules: 3 pieces of 6x6 Pink Paislee Portfolio paper and 3 embellishments (arrow stickers, a clip, and a piece of flair).

And a 3 word title: I don't usually have a title for each week in my book, but this week seemed like it could use one.

First page with a couple of hospital pictures. For the record, we really celebrated Crystal's birthday the weekend before this week, so she wasn't completely forgotten :). 

My view of the Stadium from my room.

They have quite a system, don't they?  Crystal said they keep you updated in the waiting room and it's pretty easy to know a patient's whereabouts. 

I added a clear pocket to hold some papers from the hospital and clipped just a little paper and the flair button to the front.  The flair is actually hiding the staple I used to hold the paper to the envelope.

I put this picture of Crystal on the back of the pocket page. We just happened to go to an event for the hospital that weekend, and it was one of my first excursions out of the house.  Someone working at the check in booth noticed the cut/scar on my neck and said, "Dr. xyz? I thought so," and then showed me her matching scar. "I recognized his work," she said!  The facing page is just a picture of us at the dog park, but I made it big so I could show that I was feeling better and ended the week on a good note!

There's still time to add your own kit projects to January's Mr. Linky thread.  We'll be back on February 1st to reveal the Master Forgers' February kits and get started on a fresh new month of stash busting and kit making.

Thanks for stopping!  Your next stop in the hop is Tammie at http://www.lifeinterruptedthenscrapped.blogspot.com/.  (EDIT: As of right now, I don't see a post from Tammie, so skip right to Lisa at http://lisahausmann.blogspot.de/ ! I'll come back and edit that point if I see that Tammie has joined us).  

Here is the full hop order, and you can always go back to the Counterfeit Kit Blog if you get lost along the way.

1.	Jemma Sharrock	http://just-jimjams.blogspot.uk/
2.	Lesley Graffham	http://ohblogitifyoucantbeatthem.blogspot.co.uk/
3.	Lucinda Messman	http://www.scrapbooksandcows.blogspot.com/
4.	Shir Benovich	http://shir-benovich.blogspot.com/
5.	Leslie Smith	http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com/
6.	Julie Hearn	http://spendlesscraftmore.blogspot.com.au/
7.	Kate Blue	http://kateblue.blogspot.com/
8.	Tricia Simmons	http://triciasimmons.blogspot.co.uk/
9.	Lisa Johnston	http://thesimplelifewithlisa.blogspot.com.au/
10.	Rebecca Delo	You are here:  http://howiburb.blogspot.com/
11.    12. 13.	Tammie  Lisa Hausmann Andrea Ockey Parr	Next Stop: http://www.lifeinterruptedthenscrapped.blogspot.com/ http://lisahausmann.blogspot.de/ SnappingMonsters.blogspot.com

 

Have a great weekend! (What is a weekend?)

Thanks, Moxxie! More PL12 Catch-up

 Last October I won a blog hop prize from Moxxie, the full line of All Hallow's Eve. Besides the usual "I never win anything" excitement, I was thrilled that the line was perfect for that time of the year. It has the Halloween theme to it, but also has rich fall colors that were useful for general fall season pictures, too.

I've finally gotten around to using the line as part of my Project Life catch-up.  It was the perfect stuff to help me fill three weeks in October.

The first week:

For this week's dates I used the spider paper with my Wingo Zimgo alpha die. To make it more dimensional, I also cut the alpha from some black foam. I ran the paper letters and the foam letters through my Xyron X, then adhered the paper letters to the foam letters.

These three weeks were a little concerning for me, because I really didn't take many pictures or notes through those weeks. I knew it would be a challenge to get the pages completed, but sticking with the one Moxxie line helped me fill the gaps with embellishments, and I'm very happy with how the pages came out. What better paper to use to chronicle a spooky old house's demolition?!


The second week:

That bottom picture shows the old house from last week finally reduced to a pile of boards.  I know that might seem like a sad sight to see an old farm torn down, but for our neighborhood it was a good thing. We were so glad to see the demo actually happen.

I finally thought to include a QR code on a page!  I never think to take video, but someone saw my iPad while at the Rally trial and offered to take the video for us. I'm disappointed that I never thought of that option in the past, because this run really stunk and may be the only video we ever get of a trial.  But at least we have something, so I went ahead and included it.  I just copied the code onto the photo while editing the picture in Paint and then printed as usual.

 

And the third week:

 

I know "goose bumps" is meant in the Halloween frightening way, but I used it for the "crap, it's snowing" meaning :).

Crystal started a tai chi weapons class this week. That sword is scary and completely fit the theme of Halloween this month.  I thought tai chi was supposed to be about relaxation and breathing and calming.....no, it turns out it's about weapons, too!

 

Again I used the "shocking" cardstock piece for another meaning of the word shocking. Fit the story perfectly!

So, thanks, Moxxie, for the great prize and for helping me with 3 more weeks of catch-up pages!

PL 2012: Week of July 2

I thought I'd start my PL12 posts with a little information about my supplies.

I started out the project with these divided page protectors. They are supposed to be for a coupon binder system at Staples, but I thought it would make a great miniature PL page. Each pocket is about 2 3/4" square. The pages fit perfectly into my 6x8 Hobby Lobby binder. I'm not sure how available they are now. I found them on clearance several months ago and bought plenty to get me through the year, especially since I am now mixing them with other options for pages.

I went back and forth about the page size I wanted to use. I just decided that I didn't want this project to replace my other scrapping. And I worried that our weeks were all too similar to make a big 12x24 layout each week. It's a challenge; All the fun PL stuff is too big for what I'm doing. But maybe that's a good thing. It takes just a little bit of stash to complete a page, and  I have plenty of stash to pick from!

It was just a couple of weeks after I started using these protectors that the CHA reveals included several lines of 6x8 albums and protectors.  Later you'll see that I started using some of those protectors, and I think I've found some of my favorite types. But early on in the project I had to be creative with how to fit things in these little pockets.

Another source of inspiration: On a night of blog browsing I came across Jamaica Makes and was completely inspired by her PL pages. She recently did a wrap up post and talked about how she pieced together the page protectors she needed throughout the year.  Great information if you ever decided to do one of these 6x8-ish sized projects!

I also had to get creative with journaling space.  I find little spots to add a few words pretty much everywhere.

 For instance, here I made a pocket with the front of a cheeseburger wrapper :). Whatever works!

I've talked a lot about PL to Crystal, but I hadn't really shown her any of the finished pages. When I handed the book to her, her reaction was, "You took a picture of our trash can? What's the point of keeping all this sort of stuff?"  I'm hoping for a more......excited?.......sort of reaction at the end of the project.

This pocket is actually from the week I covered on the album's title page.  Just wanted to show another way to journal. I've found that the little bitty bags fit nearly perfectly (just a little tall - easily trimmed to fit) in these pockets, so I stocked up on a few extras. I need to find more of this notebook lined variety - they're perfect for me!

This was the week that we made cake pops. I hope we never have to make them again. There's nothing wrong with them - as long as I don't have to be the one to make them.  What a mess!

So that was week one.  More weeks to follow soon.

Thanks for visiting!

Project Life: How I'm Catching Up on 22 Weeks in 2 Weeks

Hi Everyone!

I know my posting has slowed to a crawl. The winter darkness is wreaking havoc on my ability to take pictures. Unless I lug everything to work with me, my only option is photos in the dark, and they just look terrible.  Can't wait to see daylight again!

Snow, rain and dark.....the trifecta of gloom.....

At least my scrapping has taken off - I've completed a lot of stuff in the past couple of weeks.  And this past weekend of CHA-hoopla really put me in a scrapping mood, too.  I hope to get some time to get caught up on pictures and posting this week, so stay tuned.

One area I have really poured some time into is my Project Life. I talked about this project back in the fall but haven't had much to say about it since then.  I started week one on July 1, 2012, in an effort to capture the few months before and after my 40th birthday coming up next month.  I made a good effort through September, but after my surgery, I kind of fell off the wagon. 

Oh, I was still saying I do Project Life. But, I mean, philosophically speaking, if you haven't actually worked on a 52 week project for the past 22 weeks, are you really still doing the project?  I just kept throwing items into my PL basket, imagining they would all just hop into order and magically come together after Halloween.....after Thanksgiving.....before Christmas.....by New Year. 

Now that we're firmly two weeks into 2013, I recognized the urgency of getting caught up before another milestone passed.  My real fear was that if I didn't catch up before our vacation in February, I'd have to give up.  I would have to stop saying "I do Project Life."  So I've been plotting and planning a bit in my head, and last week I decided to tackle it. 

Gratuitous Mexican beach picture.....just to see if you're paying attention :).

First, I did some preparation and detective work.  I printed some simple blank calendars, one page per month, for each month of my project (July 2012 to May or June 2013).  I started going through all my photos - our phones, cameras, ipad - and saved anything that hadn't already been backed up to my laptop storage system.  Pictures, screen captures, everything. That process took a couple of hours, since I gave some special attention to my December Daily project and ordering some of those pictures right off the bat.

As I went through the photo files, I started filling in what had happened by date onto my calendar.  The photos acted as prompts to remind me of some stories I wanted to include. They helped me piece together the basis of all those weeks I hadn't kept up with the project. I wasn't good about keeping notes in One Note, like I had been earlier in the project, so the pictures were really helpful.


At the same time, I also saved and recorded dates of other things I wanted to save - text messages, screen captures, and a couple of Instagram files - and added those items to my calendar.


The stars and my motivation aligned that night, and I took about 3 hours to work through this photo/electronica sorting and note taking.  It really helped propel me to the next step.......

.......the pile. *cue danger music here*
 

Yep, there it is. The pile.  The pile I kept throwing things into, thinking it was a great system for notekeeping.  I mean, it helped that it was all in one place, that's true.


But look at that pink post it note - Meijer, Giant Eagle and Target, all with dates and times.......what in the name of Pete was that note for?!?!?!?  Was I starting some sort of shopping club or new, covert CIA shorthand language meant to confuse the enemy?  Seriously, I have to do a better job if I have hopes of moving forward with this project!

Anyway, after a rare weeknight out for dinner (to celebrate Crystal's promotion at work - yea!), we came home stuffed and ready for bed.  I decided instead to drag the pile, my laptop and my calendar to the TV in our room and began sorting through each item. That's why the picture looks so dark. I was working by TV light as Crystal slept.

First I grabbed my album and looked back to see what was already done. It was actually a bit more than I remembered.  But I also had some holes, and I noted those needs on my calendar sheets.



I used my laptop to look up dates of events, referring to various websites and my email accounts for more clues.  I was on a roll! I remembered several stories and details I wanted to note. Eventually Crystal nodded off (the project just didn't hold the same interest for her :)), but I kept working by nightstand lamplight.  I went to bed with slightly less mess than I started with, and weeks 1-14 were either nearly complete or completely sketched and ready to be finished.

The next night I continued the process, but with a little less detail available. Weeks 1-14 had some advantages over Weeks 15-22.  Some of the earlier weeks were nearly completed and just needed some holes filled.  I had also already gone through those weeks and sketched out some layouts (don't even remember doing it, that's how long it has been). Weeks 15-22 were nearly blank slates.  But I finished sorting ephemera into the correct weeks, and again working with my calendar notes, began to piece together what each week would look like.

So now here I am, after a weekend of work on the project.  After two trips to WalGreens, more detective work and lots of time with my supplies, I am done with 11 additional weeks and pieces of a few more. I knew it would be too much to expect to do 22 weeks in one weekend, but I did accomplish a lot. 

Each day this week I will highlight a couple of pages from the album, and later this month I'll start posting my 2013 weeks.  It's a creative challenge, but I'm ready!

Author Talk - September CKC Challenge #2

This week's mini-challenge for the Counterfeit Kit is to find inspiration from a TV/book character.  If you're in a hurry, scroll to the end of this post for my actual project.  But if you have a couple of minutes for me to wander through the backstory, then read on!

My inspiration came not from a character but an author. Last month I had the chance to see and hear one of my favorites, Debbie Macomber.  As soon as I saw the challenge, I knew I needed to work on this topic.


Now, admitting this fact means you all now know my secret: I have a 60 year old woman trapped in my body.  At least that was the vast majority of the audience at her event. Crystal noted that they all had the same haircut, too, which apparently means I have a short haircut in my near future, too? I don't know.  All I know is that we were well below the age curve and above the hair length curve for the room.

If you haven't ever heard of Debbie, here is her website, where you can read about her books.  I don't know what you call that genre - ultra-light feel-good drama is what I call it in my head. I mean the following as a compliment to the writer and my fellow audience members: It's simple reading. And that's exactly what I want and need sometimes.  I chew through those books really quickly, and that's why I love them. I can get lost in those stories of small towns, charmed lives and interwoven personal stories, and I can do it within a few hours. I can't get enough of them!

I loved her Cedar Cove series, and I just read the first book of her new series, which is set in the same town.  She has had some books turned into Lifetime TV movies, and this year I learned that there will be a TV movie based on the Cedar Cove stories.  I'm hoping that opportunity turns into a series. It is supposed to star Andie MacDowell - who, speaking of characters, was a character in my favorite growing up movies, St. Elmo's Fire:

OK back on track.  So, Debbie came to Columbus, and her remarks were so funny! I had no idea what kind of talk she would give - I thought maybe some writing process, some knitting talk, maybe about the new movie or the new book.  I had no idea she would be so funny.  She wove together lots of stories about her life and experiences, and Crystal and I still talk about how much we laughed that evening.  She was inspirational and just really fun to listen to.  Last year I went with Crystal to meet her favorite author, Tess Gerritsen (she writes the books that spawned the Rizzoli and Isles TV show), so she came with me to see Debbie.  Around our house that's called "being a trooper," but I'm glad it ended up being a very nice weeknight date.

Starting the evening at Cap City Diner for dinner probably didn't hurt the mood, either.
Seriously, 3 layers of cake?! That's just crazy :).

I have mentioned that I started a project life-type album, haven't I?  I started in July, and I know I meant to post a lot more about it by now, but I've gotten off to a slow start.  I used lower case "p" and "l" on purpose; My project is the same idea as all the other Becky Higgins - inspired projects, except I'm not really using her materials, and I'm using a 6x8 album.  So I feel kind of funny calling it a Project Life album. 

Anyway, I don't have a lot of weeks ready to show (and honestly, some of them are pretty unremarkable and may never see the light of day here), but this challenge made me get busy and get the week that included Debbie Macomber completed.  So here it is, using a bit of my September kit:

Most of my photos at the event did not turn out - it was a dim auditorium, and neither my phone camera or regular camera came out with anything good.  So I turned to these pictures on the Thurber House Facebook page and used the photos they posted there.  Photo credit is given to Leslie Miller.

Page 3 of 4 for the week: I needed a folder to hold some papers for the week, so I printed this photo collage for the back of the folder. I wrote directly on the plastic with a Slick Writer pen. It doesn't look very clear in the picture, but it does look good in real life and is easy to read, even with the black photo border behind it. 

Page 4 of 4 for the week: I found a way to use some of my puffy stickers from my kit. A slick writer works for smudge-free writing on top of the sticker. 

I had more to say for this week that most weeks, so I used a little extra space for writing. 
Most weeks are a lot easier to fit within my little pages.



Page 1 of 4 for this week.  Did I mention I met Barack Obama?! And by "met" I mean "took his picture through a window upstairs while he shook hands with people downstairs." Very exciting, though - and I think that's the closest I've been to a President or presidential candidate.  I had to blow up the picture to be able to see him, so I had a lot of "junk space" on the photo. So I tried to fill it with the date stamps, some rubons, and other stamping mess.



Page 2 of 4: I got this photo of Barack Obama spelling O-H-I-O from one of the students involved.  It was so fun to see this picture tweeted by the White House and realize, "wait, I know those people!"  I love to see our students get those opportunities for memories.  This collage is inside the front of the plastic folder.

One final note about my project: I really don't want it to replace my 12x12 scrapping with these pages.  I can see how it might turn that direction, but I'm going to keep doing full pages for some of the day to day stuff of life. I always have. It's one of the reasons I chose the 6x8 size, so I don't get too comfortable with just doing these project pages.  I just want a little something extra to capture the few months before and after my 40th birthday. 

And finally, please add your own challenge submissions and other kit projects to the Counterfeit Kit linky page here.  I love seeing everyone's great work, and adding a link is the best way for all of us to find your pictures and posts.  So, link away!

***And thanks for making it through a looooong post this week!***