WHY I LEFT FELICITY JANE

I remember when I watched my first unboxing video of a Felicity Jane kit on Jen Schow's  YouTube channel. I had never heard of the company before, but I knew immediately that I would be checking them out. As a matter of fact, I think I signed up to be a subscriber before I even finished Jen's video. I just loved the kit that much.

Several months into my subscription, Felicity Jane put out a Creative Team call. I had zero confidence in myself, but I knew that I wanted to be on that team more than anything. I carefully selected a few layouts that showed off my style and sent them off with my application. I about fell outa my chair when I got the invite to join the team a few weeks later. It was an absolute scrappy dream come true. 

It was such a joy receiving that black and white box in the mail each month. I could hardly contain my excitement each and every time. I really did love the style of the Felicity Jane kits, and I couldn't believe I was getting the opportunity to create with them. I mean my work was being featured on the Felicity Jane blog, and honestly that was pretty awesome.

At the end of my first term, Jeana asked if I wanted to stay on the team for a second term, but only this time as the team coordinator. I was seriously in so much shock, I think I read the e-mail about 10 times before it really sunk in. not only did I get the opportunity to continue to create with a truly beautiful kit, but I was now going to get the chance to work a little closer with the creator of that kit. To say I was nervous was a huge understatement, but you better believe I said yes just about as fast as I could.

Towards the end of my second term on the team, I got another invite from Jeana to stay on the team for a third term. I think my response to her was... "it will always and forever be YES!!" Even after three terms into this scrappy adventure, I still knew how lucky I was to be apart of this amazing team. I absolutely loved everything about the Felicity Jane kits. I loved the simple patterns, I loved the perfect color combos, and I especially loved the attention to detail that went into every kit. What was even more great than working with such a fantastic kit was getting to work with Jeana. I loved getting to know her better. We had so much in common, and I was always so impressed with her outlook on life. Felicity Jane just felt like home.

So I was on an absolutely amazing creative team. I loved the product, I loved the owner, and I loved being apart of a wonderful community. So why at the end of my third term with Felicity Jane did I e-mail Jeana to say that I would not be returning for a forth term with the team....

Because of her.

My little London is starting kindergarten in the fall, and believe me, I have so many mixed emotions about that. During the process of getting her registered for school, and learning about all the different opportunities that London and I will have once she starts school, I very quickly realized that I need to make some changes. I need to take full advantage of this precious time I have with my little girl. I want to throw myself into volunteer work with the school, and be as involved as they let me be. Even though it took me a few week to e-mail Jeana with the heartbreaking news, I knew the moment I signed my little girl up for school that I would be stepping down from Felicity Jane.

I will miss my "old" life so much. I will miss working with the ladies of Felicity Jane. It truly was an honor to be paired with such amazing talent over the last couple of years. I will miss being apart of a community that I love so much. I will miss having my work being featured on the Felicity Jane blog. I will miss being "in the know" on all things Felicity Jane. I will miss having a really good excuse to chit chat with one of the best gals I know. I will miss the feeling that you get when  you are apart of a creative team.

But I will never regret choosing her, and I know I will treasure the memories and the opportunities that are headed our way.

... and just incase you were wondering, I have not given up of scrapbooking, not a chance. I will still be sharing layouts here on the blog and over on my Instagram account, so be sure to follow me there if you are not. You will still see tons of Felicity Jane from me too, I became the newest subscriber this month. I wasn't about to miss out on all the scrappy goodness that only Felicity Jane can create!

Hope to be back soon with some fun to layouts to share

-Dannielle

SETTING SOME GOALS

CONFESSION: I love online scrapbooking classes.

CONFESSION: I have bought a ton of online scrapbooking classes

CONFESSION: I am really bad at completing (and sometimes even starting) all those wonderful scrapbook classes that I now have

My List of Scrapbook Classes

Hybrid by Ali Edwards

31 Things by Ali Edwards

Yesterday & Today by Ali Edwards

Hello Story by Ali Edwards

Lens of Joy by Ali Edwards

Storytelling with Project Life® by Ali Edwards

31 More Things by All Edwards

Type by Ali Edwards

Photo Triage: Vacation Photos Class by Jen Schow

Ready, Sketch, Go! (volume 1 and 2) by Jen Schow and Tracie Claiborne

Zap Your Scraps by Jen Schow

My One Little Word® for 2017 is Change. One of the changes that I am going to attempt to make this year is taking the time to complete some of those online classes that I have on that big list of mine. 

My plan of attack is to pick one of the classes off my list and complete it. My goal is to not complete this whole list by the end of the year, but that would be pretty awesome. I just want to start with one class and after I get done with that one I'll pick another. No pressure what so ever.

The first class I decided to work on is 31 things. It is a self-paced workshop the includes 31 prompts about your life right now. One photo + some words all in one album. I actually can't wait to get started. I haven't totally thought about the creative side of this project. Just in story modest this point. I am sure that once I get going I will start to get some ideas about how I want this album to look. 

I plan on sharing all of my stories here on this blog. They may actually live on this blog until I figure out what to do with them. The goal is to work on one story per day, but we will see what actually ends up happening. Progress, not perfection. 

And just incase you were wondering, here are the links to all of the classes on my list

All the Ali Edwards classes

All the Jen Schow classes

Thanks so much for stopping by, and we will see you soon!

-Dannielle

FELICITY JANE | LONDON KIT

I was so super excited for the London kit to arrive at my door step. I knew I was going to love it (hello, it is a Felicity Jane kit), but what had me really squealing was the name of this kit. How excited to have my favorite crafting goodies have my favorite little girl's name on it. Almost too much excitement for one day.

One thing is for certain... this kit did not disappoint.

I actually ordered a second set of papers from this kit just so I could give my little London a little piece of the "London" kit. She was just as excited as I was about the pretty papers.

Let me show the projects I created with this kit

The first layout I created was actually the title page for a personal album I decided to do this year. I am in love with all those tags going down the edge of this page!! You can find all the details about this page here.

My favorite thing in any Felicity Jane kit is the sheet of cut apart cards. I always use them to create a couple spreads in my Project Life® album. I love the way this turned out and you can find the process video for my week five here.

For my third layout I was inspired by the stamp set that came with this kit. My "right now" is starting to look a bit different. Mostly because my cute little girl is very quickly becoming a big girl. You can find all the details about this layout here. 

My last project was another Project Life® spread. I used more of those great cut apart cards as well as a few of the stamps. You can find more details + a process video here. 

Working with the London kit has been so much fun. All of the goodness that I had left over has been organized with the rest of my stash and the new "Jane" kit is on my desk. 

By the way, both the London kit, and the Jane kit are still available in the shop and you can find them here.

Thanks for stopping by, and we will see you again next month. 

FEBRUARY FAVES

1. Every year my hubby gets London and I shoes for Valentines day. This year I actually got two pairs (lucky, lucky girl), but the ones I am loving are these Ugg flats. They are the perfect thing to just slip on, and they go with everything. Plus just like Ugg boots, these shoes are super fluffy and cozy on the inside. I think I will get a lot of wear out of these come summer time.

2. In December of last year I decided to join the Book of the Month club. Mostly because one of my goals is to read more, but also because it's fun to get happy mail. I like having that little extra push to read through out the month. Gotta get my books read before new ones come!

3. I have been trying to find "planner peace" since I got my first planner over a year ago. I am happy to say that I think I have found it thanks to the Little Blue Garden Etsy shop. They sell some pretty great printable planner stickers that are right up my alley. Maybe I will share my planner with you all sometime. 

4. Diet Pepsi is my drink of choice, and I usually want one first thing in the morning. I have been taking a look at what I put in my body lately, and I have decided that pop of all kind should be eliminated from my diet. I have made this a goal of mine many times... progress not perfection right! One of the things that is helping me this time around is La Croix. I have tried many flavors, but the grapefruit kind is one of my faves.

5. It is not secret that I LOVE Felicity Jane kits, and I am not just saying that because I am on their design team. Even though I have loved every kit that has ever been sent my way, February's kit was just a little more special. The reason why, it was the "London" kit!! How cool is that. You can find more info about the Felicity Jane kits here. 

AND JUST LIKE THAT SHE IS 5

London turned 5 in December, and I think I have been in total denial about it. She is growing up so fast and I find myself wanting to hold her so tight in hopes that time will slow down. 

The past five years seem to have flown by in just a blink of an eye. I know everybody says that, but it is so painfully true. I have always told myself to enjoy whatever season of life that I was in, because all too soon that season would be over and I would want it back. And it is so true, I want all the tiny little moments of that last five years back. 

I know all too soon my little five year old will be a growing six year old, and these are the things I want to remember about her right now

One | She loves color, and she loves it in rainbow order. 

Two | Eating is still a struggle most of the time. Her favorite go to choices are noodles, PB&J, fruit, cheesy crackers, noodles, nuts and cherries | potato chips| and strawberry milkshakes.

Three | She is smart, and likes to learn. At school she is on the 100 shelf and is learning how to add and subtract. She is also learning some basic words, and is working so hard to get to the purple shelf where she will get to read actual books.

Four | Anything that is crafty, she is on it. She likes to glue, and cut, and paint, and stamp, and color, and anything else she can get her hands on. New craft supplies get her so excited, and I totally get that.

Five | She wants a baby sister or brother so bad. She tells me about her friends at school who have brothers and sisters, and asks why she doesn't. It's a hard thing to try and explain to a 5 year old, but hopefully one day she will get to be a big sister.

Six | Watching TV is definitely something she does WAY to much of. Even if she is not watching it, she still likes to have it on. Her favorite shows right now are Rugrats, Sophia the first, Curious George, and sometimes Sesame Street. 

Seven | She is all about pretend play, and listening to her have conversations for her toys is probably one of my favorite things to do. 

Eight | She is still such a good sleeper, and it is so rare that she will ever get up at night for anything.

Nine | She hates taking a bath, and will fight me on it every time. But once she actually gets in the bath she doesn't want to get out. Washing all her bath toys with as much shampoo as possible is probably her favorite thing to do during bath time.

Ten | Her favorite person in the whole world is probably her Daddy. She gets so excited when he comes home from work, or has a day off. What is so cute though, is that she never wants me to feel that she loves him any more that she loves me. She will never say your the bestest Daddy without looking over at me to tell me that I am the bestest Mommy. Her Daddy will always be special to her because her Daddy is special. She is a lucky little girl.

I want to remember every little detail about London whole life, but the thing I want her to remember the most is just how loved she is. I know my life would not be as full without her in it. 

PROJECT LIFE® 2017 | WEEK 5

A couple of blog posts ago I mentioned how I thought about switching back to a 12x12 format for 2017 because I couldn't find and album that was perfect for Project Life®. Through the month of January I completed each week in a 12x12 format, but didn't commit myself to that size by actually buying an album. I think I was hoping that a good option would pop up and I could go back to my beloved 6x8 size. Well once we hit February, I took the plunge and ordered a couple of white 12x12 albums. I told myself I am overthinking this whole situation and need to just get on with it.

And then the worst thing happened!!!

I was watching Ali's video for the Numbers Story Kit™ and she mentioned that she would be manufacturing some 6x8 albums later in the year!!! I know I haven't seem then yet, but I love Ali's Style so much that I know I am going to love them. So the questions remains... 6x8 or 12x12??

While I am figuring that out, let me show you my spread for week 5:

For this week I had a 12x12 page protector on the rleft and I added a Design A pocket page on the right. I really enjoy mixing thing up just a bit in this album. Plus having a full page protector helps out on weeks that I didn't take as many photos.

Whenever I am working with a full page protector, I use that opportunity to either highlight a favorite story or photo. This week all the stories I had to tell were worthy of being highlighted.

I decided to enlarge a photo of the boys betting on the Super Bowl game. I added a quick title, a couple of embellishment, and jotted down some quick notes. Easy peasy!

I got held up for just a minute while working on the pocket side of my spread. I knew what photos and cards I was going to use, I just didn't know what pockets I wanted to put them in. I tried a couple of different options, and settled on this arrangement. Super happy with how it turned out.

I maybe still be struggling with what size I am going to stick with this year, and I know I am seriously over thinking that situation. Does it really matter what size I use?? I'll eventually figure it out.. haha

If you want to see how this week came together, check out the process video below or on my YouTube channel.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Supplies used: Felicity Jane London kit | Paislee Press title cards 

FELICITY JANE | SOPHIE KIT

I was so ready for something fresh and new to work with when my new Felicity Jane "Sophie" kit arrived at my doorstep! As usual, the kit was filled with all sort of gorgeousness. The pinks, blues, and yellows in this kit were so pleasing, and I loved the lovey dovey feeling that was sprinkled throughout.

Of course I wanted to jump right in and play! It is always a little bit painful to cut into a piece of Felicity Jane paper, but I never let that stop me from creating with it!

The first layout I created was this really fun 6x12 page about my daughters school pictures. You can find more details and photos here

I created a sketch for my fellow Felicity Jane team mate Nae Bowell and I to work with for my second layout. Felicity Jane paper + a grid design is never a losing combination. You can check out the sketch plus both of our takes on it here. 

My third project I created with my "Sophie" kit was a spread in my Project Life® album. I LOVE using my Felicity Jane kit in this album because I know it is going to turn out great.  I think if Felicity Jane ever decided to have a Project Life® style kit, it would sell like hot cakes. (I posted this project on my Instagram account... look me up if you are an Instagram user. I am @BanningLane)

My new Felicity Jane kit was taking it's sweet time getting to me. So I had even more opportunity to work with my "Sophie" kit and share with you a couple of bonus projects. Trust me, I wasn't complaining!

I have started a school album for my daughter, and last year I made a spread very similar to this for her first day of school. I ended up liking it so much that I decided to recreate it for this year. It is a super simple spread, but that is exactly what I wanted. You can find more details + a few more photos here. 

My second bonus project I made was a layout about baking with my little London. This photo melts my heart, and I am super happy that I could use the "Sophie" kit because I think the colors in the kit are just as sweet as this photo. I had most of the washi strips that came in the kit left, so I used them (along with some other things) to create a really great base for my photo. You can find all the details about this layout here. 

I have enjoyed working with the Sohie kit so much! I can't wait to get my new kit in the mail and see what greatness I will be working with next month. Be sure to check out the Felicity Jane blog for a ton of inspiration from the Felicity Jane girls. You can find more details about the Felicity Jane kit here.

Thanks for stopping by!

JANUARY FAVES

1. When I am sitting at my desk working on anything, the first think I will do is check out Netflix and pick a movie to play on the TV.  Lately I have been picking Mona Lisa Smile because its just the perfect movie to watch when you not really watching it!

2. One of my daughters favorite snacks are the Cheddar Bunnies form Annie's, so we always have some in our pantry. That my friends, is a good thing because these little cheese crackers are delicious. I love that they are shaped like little bunnies too, so cute!! I have been finding myself reaching for these little tasty crackers a lot during the day, or just bringing the whole container to my scrap desk while I work. That is never a good idea!

3. I have never had a skin care regimen that I stick to, or even skin care products that are my tried and trues. I usually will just look at the shelves until something catches my eye, which is exactly what happened when I bought this No 7 Beautiful Skin Radiance Exfoliator. I like to use an exfoliator about once a week, but I am totally not picky about what one I use. What I like most about this one is the smell. I am absolutely HORRIBLE at describing smells, but this has that "nice smelling beauty product" smell to it.  haha.

4. I have a handful of eye shadow palettes that I sorta rotate through with no rhyme or reason, but lately I have been loving this Too Faced Natural Eyes . The colors are very beautiful and I can easily do an everyday no makeup look or something a little more fancy on those special days. I find that I don't get overwhelmed with options when I use this palette, which I always appreciate.

5. I have decided to keep up with a weekly Project Life® album again for 2017. I usually pick out a title card to use of each spread, and this year I decided to go with these ones by Paislee Press. They are a digital item, so I can just print them out and stick them in my album, but I can also use them as an overlay on one of my favorite photos from the week. I have been loving the look of them so far in my album!

Well that is it, another month down and another favorites list!

Thanks so much for stopping by.

2017 SCRAPPY PLANS

I give myself the month of January to really think about what I want my year to look like and what goals I need to set for myself to make that happen. One of things that really helps with that process is starting the One Little Word project® (you can find more details about Ali Edwards One Little Word® here). 

This year my OLW is:

I have so many things that I want to change about my little world that I live in. Some of them are big, and some of them are small, but all of them are needed! You'll probably see me talk about some of those changes here on my blog throughout the year, but in this post I am just going to talk about my scrappy plans for 2017 and some of the changes with my approach to memory keeping!

PROJECT LIFE®

I have started a Project Life® album for the last 3 years. I say started, because I don't think I have actually fully completed any of them. I have done mostly 12x12 albums, but last year I decided to switch things up and use a 6x8 album. I really loved working with the smaller size, and to be honest if I could still get my hands on the same albums I used last year I would probably continue using it for this year too. Right now I am thinking about switching back to a 12x12 album for this year, and have already completed a couple weeks in that size. I will be documenting my year using a weekly format and I am planning on using this grey album from Becky Higgins to house all my spreads. My favorite products to work with when I am using pocket pages are from One Little Bird and Felicity Jane. You can probably expect to see a lot from both brands mixed throughout this years album. I will also be posting weekly process videos on my YouTube channel. Most importantly, I will be trying to stay pretty current with this project, because when I let myself fall too far behind it just becomes more of chore and less enjoyable. 

TRADITINAL PAGES

I am also definitley going to be telling my stories through traditional pages as well. I have never really had a plan when it came to my scrapbook layouts, at least not one that has stuck. This year I plan on being more intentional with my stories and photos that I scrapbook. I have subscribed to Ali Edwards Story Kits™ and Stamps since the very beginning and my plan of attack is to take most of my story telling inspiration from the themes of those kits every month. Of course I will get inspiration from other places along the way, but my main goal is to just scrap with purpose. I will probably use the same grey album that I am using for my Project Life® album, or maybe this white one? I also want to use a variety of page protectors and maybe even mix a few pocket pages in as well! Along with my Story Kits™, I definitely plan on using my Felicity Jane kits to create my layouts. I have had my eye on the Gossamer Blue kits, and want maybe try them out at one point this year too! Just like my Project Life® spreads, I will also have process videos for most of my traditional scrapbook pages over on my YouTube channel. 

CAMPING ALBUM

Last year I documented our family camping trips in Traveler's Notebooks. I didn't really share too much of that process. It was really new to me and I didn't know if it was going to stick, but I ended up loving it and plan on doing the same this year. The reason why I picked a Traveler's Notebook was that they were small and I could put them in our trailer. I actually can't wait to bring them out on our first camping trip this year. When I work on little side projects like this, I take the opportunity to use up my stash. I will probably share these notebooks this year by either sharing a few process videos or doing a album share.

FINISH OLD PROJECTS

Most of my albums on my shelf are not complete. Some of them I need to add just a few finishing touches, and others are just in the beginning stages and need a lot of work. My biggest goal for 2017 is to finish each project that I start, and to finish all my unfinished albums!! I know I will need to sit down and figure out what my action plan will be for the unfinished projects, but it is definitely something I want to work hard towards. 

I think that pretty much sums up all the scrappy goals for the new year. I really am excited and hopeful that this year will be a really productive year and that I will have a few new albums on my shelf as my reward!

I would love to have you along on this memory keeping adventure, and this is where you can find me.

YouTube: Banning Lane
Instagram: @BanningLane
Facebook: you guessed it... Banning Lane

and of course right here on this blog!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and hopefully we will see you all very soon.
-Dannielle

DECEMBER DAILY® ALBUM SHARES

For the past three years I have participated in Ali Edwards December Daily® project (You can find more about that project here).  Everybody has their own approach when it comes to documenting their December memories. How I tackle this project is I only worry about taking photo's and writing down daily stories through the month. I then wait for the Christmas dust to settle before I actually start putting my album together. I find that I get overwhelmed if I try to take my photo's and scrapbook them all while trying to enjoy the moments we are creating during such a special time of the year. Waiting until January to do the scrapbook portion of this project just lets me enjoy the whole process more.

When I sat down to work on my 2016 album, I discovered I still had a few days to complete in my 2015 album. I also discovered that I pretty much hated my 2015 album so much that I decided to re-do most of the pages. It was a bit of work, but I am so happy that I made that choice. I love my album so much more now!

You can take a look at my 2015 album in my video walk thru below, or on my YouTube channel here

When working on my album, I will usually work on one day at a time and complete that page before moving on to another day. I took a different approach when working on my 2016 album. I did all the "scrapbooking" part of my album first, and then went though a did all my journaling. I also made sure that I completed the entire album, and didn't leave any little details unfinished for me to work on later. So super happy about that.

I also have a video walk thru for this album as well which you can watch below or on my YouTube channel here

It feels pretty darn good to have these albums "completely" done. As I was working through each day, I thought a lot about my approach to this project. I am think that next year I might want to switch things up a bit. I'm not quite sure exactly how just yet, but something to definitely think about.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

DECEMBER FAVES

1. This Is Us was a few episodes in before I jumped on the train, which was a bummer! It only took that one episode to get totally hooked though. I probably watch too much TV, but there are very few shows that I actually REALLY love and this is definitely one of them! I missed the heck out of it over the holiday break and am pretty anxious to see more episodes!

2. I bought Ticket To Ride for my little brother for Christmas because I thought I heard him mention it once. We played it on Christmas day and it was an instant favorite. It's basically a train adventure game where the players collect and play matching train cards to claim railway routes across the country. The more routes you complete the higher your score. I love that it is a game that a group of people can play, but also one that just my hubby and I can enjoy too.

3. Home Alone was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid, but I honestly think I was a kid the last time I watched it. My hubby and I for a brief moment decided that we were going to do the 12 days of Christmas movies. After seeing Home Alone at Target one night we decided that it would be the choice for our first night of movie watching. Turns out I love it just as much now as I did when I was a kid! We actually gave up our movie watching adventure after just a few days because we could never stay away to finish any of them! oh well. 

4.I got some Celebrity Pink Trendy Infinite Stretch jeans in my December's Dia & Co box. Hands down one of the best pair of jeans that I own! The color was super cute and the comfort level was on point. Plus they truly were skinny jeans, meaning they were fitted in the thigh AND the calf. I am sure it is just a plus size problem, but the other skinny jeans I have fit great in the hip and thigh area, but are a little more loose in the calf. I am tempted to buy them in red too!

5. This was our second year in a row that we attended our local showing of the Nutcracker. I think the girls like it a bit more than the boys, but its a new tradition that I look forward too. We usually show up a little early so that we can buy a new Nutcracker to add to our small, but growing collection. Plus it is absolutely adorable to watch how excited my daughter gets when the big Nutcracker appears on stage. I hope she will keep that excitement for many, many years.

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