Project Life October 2014

Believe it or not I'm actually caught up with Project Life. (Okay, well...I may be lying a tad. I haven't scrapped September yet. I was sick of being behind so I just started back up with October. I was more motivated to do a current month.)

I tried for a more "put together" look this month. I used my typewriter a lot. (I'm not the best at it and I pretty much left all mistakes "as-is.")

I also printed all my pictures with a white border. I always think it's pretty when people do that with their pages and I like the cleaner look it gives my own. 

I did a lot of Halloween colors. Even with non-Halloween related things. It was also Mr. 246's birthday this month so that means...birthday week!

I had a fair amount of pull out things for when I wanted to include just one more thing or a little tid-bit.

A half page insert for our Pumpkin Patch trip...

I've been debating about what to do with cards. I just can't keep keeping them. They take up a lot of space and I'm still relatively young. I've decided I'm going to keep the super special ones and photograph the rest. That's what these two pages are: pictures of birthday/Halloween cards. Some of them aren't the right orientation and the pictures aren't the best but it's all very readable and takes up considerably less space than the actual cards.

See...I did keep some stuff! These are some random inserts I'm including as well. The two little books of memories reside in the birthday envelope.

More birthday celebrations...

A little pull out with pictures of Luna poking the cake, a little memory about Luna wanting nothing but cake and for good measure...I included the recipe as well!

Another little pull-out of a picture I just couldn't NOT include. There was a rabbit at the Autism walk and Luna insisted that it was the Peter Rabbit. So cute!

 A 12x12 page highlighting Luna's costume! (The picture didn't turn out so well of this one. Oops!)

More everyday life....

And a half page insert just for Halloween!

That's about it...I've been super quiet lately on the blogging front. (It's actually been quite nice! I think it might be too much for working full time and having a life and blogging but I'm going to make it a point to check in every now and then.)

Hope you're all well! Please feel free to leave a link to any Halloween or October project life pages you've done. I'd love to see them! Thanks for stopping by!

-Mrs. 246

Gobble Gobble Gobble!

The classic "Handprint Turkey." 

We've finally reached this milestone! Unlike last year...there was no crying. She even asked for more..."Paint my feet mommy!" "Paint my knee mommy!"

I see a lot of handprint crafts in our future. What a lovely last-day-off with my Bean. :)

The little poem I stole while I was looking through here.

Hope you've been well!
-Mrs. 246

Days 6-12: 30 Days of Lists [September 2014]

30 Days of Lists is kind of like a "list-a-long" where all month long in September you write your list for the prompt of the day and share it with others to see! There are a ton of different ways people present their lists and this is mine:

• If you'd like a tour of this month's list book check out this post! 
• Check out days 1-5 of my book here. 

September 6th: This list is more like my/Luna's entire evening routine rather than what I do right before bed.

  
September 7th: Notice this is a short list. Lol. None of these do I actually enjoy...I just love the end result. Lol. Least favorite "chore": cooking, hands down. Thank goodness for Mr. 246.

September 8th: I am not a sophisticated person. And that's okay. This is more a list of all-time favorites. Just as I am terrible with remembering movies, I'm terrible at remembering books after I've read them.

September 9th: This was an odd prompt. I didn't quite know what direction to take it. Lol.

September 10th: Picture is actually from today but it showcases my current project which I am in LOVE with. 

September 11th: Mostly a craft list but with some random things thrown in. I couldn't think of very many "life" things I've finished with and projects seemed the easiest to list.

September 12th: Oh! A night in! Maybe it's the introvert in me but we pretty much spend all our nights in. I haven't tired of it yet! Haha. Oh, and what's that you spy in my picture...is it a Whirley Pop?! It sure is! (Bass Pro edition! Lol.) It's our newest exciting obsession. Best purchase ever!

If you're doing #30lists please feel free to leave your link! I love checking out the different ways people present their lists and the things they come up with!

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share!

-Mrs. 246

Days 1-5: 30 Days of Lists [September 2014]

30 Days of Lists is kind of like a "list-a-long" where all month long in September you write your list for the prompt of the day and share it with others to see! There are a ton of different ways people present their lists and this is mine. If you'd like a tour of this month's list book check out this post!

I plan on posting my lists on Fridays so you know what that means...I've got my first week of lists done!  

September 1st: The picture is horrible cell phone quality but I still wanted to include it. It's Luna playing her first "board" game, Jumping Jack! A big first if I do say so myself and it was a super special day since Mr. 246 and I both had the day off.

September 2nd: Picture is of some awesome notebooks I found at TJ Maxx. Every 20 pages or so they have a whole page of quotes/picture. So cute I had to get three. What will I use them for? No clue!

September 3rd: Oh gosh. Time is one of those things I ALWAYS wish I had more of.

September 4th: I was about to list my projects I plan on finishing and then when I thought about it, I'm probably not going to be finishing much so I had to tweak the prompt a little. Lol. It's hard to do so many projects with working full time and attempting to have a life. I love the picture...it's little Halloween stuff Bean and I have been working on. We have to get started suuuuper early since it takes 2 year olds a while to do anything. Lol.

September 5th: Things to nurture this month....my family and myself. And appreciate this time in our lives.

If you're doing #30lists please feel free to leave your link! I love checking out the different ways people present their lists and the things they come up with!

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share!

-Mrs. 246

30 Days of Lists! My September 2014 Minibook!

It's that time again! 30 Days of Lists! I knew I would be super busy to do any sort of high-maintenance #30lists project for this month so I spent an afternoon last week getting my book all ready to just write my lists and be done!

Let me take you on a tour!
 

The front cover is kind of a yellow/gold vellum sheet laid over some yellow cardstock. I love being able to see things peeking through. I did this same sort of cover for my last minibook and loved it so I just had to do it again.

After the "Title Page"/Cover I made a little introduction type page. I thought maybe it would be a bit odd just to jump into lists without any sort of explanation included. Just picked out a couple Project Life cards to paste in.

Here's my little write up about 30 Days of Lists. I used a sketch pen in my Silhouette to do the writing. You'll see more of that in a bit...

And here's my layout plan for each day's list:

• On the left of each page: patterned side of paper with a 4x4 photo and a little strip of washi tape and a stamp of that day's date.  
• On the right of each page: Plain white with nothing but the prompt so it's all ready for me to fill out for that day's list.

See? Easy-peasy! Ready for me to fill out each day and not too much crafting at all so hopefully I'll be able to keep up with it. (Note: "Today's To-Do List" prompt taken from the 30 Days of Lists, March 2011 list!)

Picture, washi tape, and date on the left....

Prompt and space to list on the right...while assembling my book I already included all the prompts and used the Silhouette sketch function to draw out the prompt header for each page.

The book is 6x6 inches because I hit the easy button and used a bunch of paper from two 6x6 paper pads. I decided this was an awesome way to make a mini listing book because:

1. I already had a couple 6x6 pads to choose from. (I love when I can use supplies I already have!)
2. I didn't have to cut anything -- it was all 6x6 inches to start with.
3. I was able to have pretty paper on one side so I could pretty things up but I also was able to use the white backs of the scrapbook paper for a clean, easy-to-read list.
4. It looks so uniform! And put together! (Well, at least in my opinion, hehe.)

There you have it! I'm excited to start listing! I'm glad I took the time to put this book together. It just looks so official. I got the binding done at Office Max for around $3. Well worth it, I think. I got the super big coil because once I add the extra photo and matte on each page I expect it to fatten up quite a bit. If not, I can always get a smaller coil. :)

If you're a #30days lister and participating in the blog hop please feel free to leave your link! I would love to see what everyone else is coming up with for next month! Alternatively, check out the other posts on today's blog hop by visiting here. You can also find more listing goodness by searching #30lists on social media or visiting the Flickr group.

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share!

- Mrs. 246

P.S. If you'd like to see my 30 Days of Lists from last September 2013 (Project Life Style), click here. Here's a quick peek of what I did for it:

Ruffled Polka Dot Toddler Dress!

When I saw this pattern at Joann's I immediately fell in love with it. I had visions of Luna prancing about barefoot with flowers in her hair having a fairy tale childhood. Truthfully (and sadly), that's just not the type of life we live but I still made my attempt at the dress. And when it was all done she pranced about the zoo in tennis shoes just fine. Maybe not as magical I had originally planned but good enough!

I started this dress waaaaaay back in February. I did about 85% of it in a day or two -- the only thing I had left to do were the bottom ruffles. I finished the bottom last week. As you can see, there is only one ruffle. It caused me so much hatred that I refused to do the second ruffle for my own sanity.

I think I would enjoy sewing more if I had more patience. And skill. I always love having something nicely done in the end but the process, in my opinion, is more work than relaxation. I don't think my skill or experience makes it for a relaxing time.

Luna's Play Dress:

• Fabric: Stone Hill Dot Green and white leftover fabric I had.
• Time: 5 hours total (Estimated.)
• Size: Supposed to be about 2T but it fit a tad bigger.
• Fun: 6/10. I honestly think I just don't care for sewing that much. The only reason it's a 6 is because Luna looks so gosh darn cute in it. Buuuut, I did learn alot while making it!
• Techniques I Learned: I always learn as I go. In this project I learned: how to make ruffles/gathering, how to do a lined yoke, and afterwards I learned I should have used some sort of rolled/folded seam on the bottom ruffle because there is some major fraying after washing. :(
• Pattern: McCall's All-Sizes-In-One-Envelope Toddler Tops/Pants/Dress/Shorts/Capris
• Help: Google. I am not the one to ask for help. Haha.

Thanks for looking! If you (or someone you know) has made any cute super easy toddler girl dresses and have some sort of tutorial online leave a link and let me know! I'm open to trying new patterns!

- Mrs. 246

My Yarndale Mandala

If you're familiar with the internet world of crochet you probably know of Lucy and her blog, Attic 24. She crochets amazing, colorful, awesome things and is one of the organizers for Yarndale.

Yarndale appears to be an awesome festival of all things wool and yarn related. I wouldn't actually know since it's all the way in England and I'll probably never get to attend. Last year at Yarndale there was an amazing display when Lucy put out the call to fellow crocheters around the world to send in granny bunting. This was the jaw-dropping result:

Picture courtesy of Attic24

This year she put out a request for just one mandala and since I never actually sent my granny bunting triangle last year I really wanted to participate in making a mandala. So, the above pictures are my mandala. It's a little late so I don't know if it'll actually be included or not but it's possible!


Yarndale Mandala:

• Yarn: Leftover Simply Soft Yarns
• Hook Size: 4.00mm
• Time: One evening.
• Size: 7in diameter
• Fun: 9/10. I like pretty much anything that's quick and colorful.
• Pattern (ish): I started out by making this Little Spring Mandala by Made In K-Town then adding a couple rows of my own making to get the proper size.
• Help: There are links on the original Yarndale Mandala post by Attic24 for various tutorials.

So, there you have it! I can't wait to see updates after Yarndale to see all the amazing mandalas people have made. Hope you enjoyed seeing mine!

-Mrs. 246