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!

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

PROJECT LIFE® 2016 | WEEK 3

My goal for this year is to stay "caught up" on my Project Life® album. Even though it's only February, I am happy to say that my album is current and up to date!

Today I am going to show you my Week Three:

Last year was the first year I decided to add regular 12x12 pages along side my pocket pages. I really like having the variety and it came in handy when I was low on photos for the week.

I am still using my One Little Bird date stamp. I really like the look of it and I have a lot of fun finding new ways to make it look different and fresh each week

The "I love you so much" card came from an Ali Edwards Story Kit™. I have a hard time using those kits because I am always waiting for the "perfect" story to tell. I am working on letting that go.

I made the rest of the cards by cutting down some paper from a Project Life Jade Edition paper pack. 

When I choose to use a 12x12 page protector instead of a pocket page, I usually will take that opportunity to tell my favorite story of the week. That doesn't always mean the best quality photo of the week. As you can see this photo of my little girl at dance class is not the best quality. It is blurry, plus I decided to enlarge it to a 12x12 print so that made the blurriness even worse. 

My solution is make the photo black and white (blurry photos or ones with bad color always look better in black and white) and then move on. It does't bother me to have "bad quality" photos in my albums. I LOVE this picture of my daughter and I am super happy that it is in my album. 

I have a love hate relationship with full page photos. I love the look of them, but I always struggle with how to embellish them. For this photo, I decided to start with a tag, because you can never go wrong with a tag. To tie the two pages together I layered some more of the patterned paper behind the tag and then simply added my story. Super simple and super cute!

I am happy with how this spread turned out, but I did struggle with the photos that I had available to work with. As I worked through my process I made some mental notes to myself.

• TAKE MORE PHOTOS. The last few months of 2015 were hectic and crazy for our family. I wasn't reaching for my camera as often. I need to create the habit of taking more photos again
• ASK MYSELF QUESTIONS. What does my life look like right now? What is different and what is the same? What am I going to want to remember about our life as we live it today? Asking myself these question throughout the week really helps me to take the kind of photos I want to scrapbook
• GET OUT OF MY OWN HEAD. It doesn't have to be perfect, and I don't have to like it. Some weeks I will have a lot of really great photos and other weeks I may have zero great photos. In the end it doesn't matter. Getting the photos and words in my album is what is important. I need to remind myself that in 10 years from now I am not going to care if some of my photos are a little blurry, or the lighting wasn't quite right. I am going to be happy I recorded the memory.

Thanks for stopping by! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to leave a comment below.

FELICITY JANE | JANUARY

In January I did three project for the Felicity Jane blog. I am still loving these kits so much and and feel so lucky to work with them every month

Here is a look at my layouts.

My first layout I did was about building a snowman! London LOVES the snow and LOVES building snowmen even more. Last year I told the story of the magic of building her first snowman. This year to make my snowman layout a bit different, I took the "how to build a snowman" approach. You can see more pictures plus a process video here.

My second layout is a page about my Gramma's Sugar Cookie recipe. This layout will actually go into a cookbook that I am making London. You can find more details about this layout here.

My last layout was a Project Life® spread. I used the super cute sheet of cut apart cards to complete my layout and I just love the way it turned out. You can find more pictures plus a process video here.

My new Felicity Jane kit will probably landing on my front porch anyway now. I have seen the sneaks and I can't wait to actually start working with it

Thanks for stopping by!

PROJECT LIFE® 2016 | WEEK ONE

I am so excited to be starting a new year of Project Life®. It just feel good to have a fresh start.

Last year I fell behind because life got more than a little crazy. I had good intentions of "catching up" but it just became so overwhelming that I found myself working on different projects and avoiding Project Life® all together. As of now I am still behind. My plan moving forward is to work on last years album when I get the chance, but absolutely stay current with this years album.

Here is a look at my week one:

Ahhhh... look at all that white!! It makes my heart happy.

For my title cards this year I am using this One Little Bird stamp set that I got form Studio Calico. I love how versatile this set it. definitely one I will be reaching for again and again.

The 3X4 cards that I used for this spread came from a One Little Bird set called Thrive, and also from my Ali Edwards Story Kit™.

The "It's A Brand New Year" came from the same One Little Bird set. I sized it to fit on the back of my 6X12 title page (still waiting for that photo to be printed). The white space below the quote was the perfect place to write about my One Little Word® for the year. 

If you want to see this layout come together, be sure to watch the process video here or over on my YouTube channel.

Felicity Jane | Savannah Kit

I had so much fun working with my Felicity Jane "Savannah" kit. November was such a busy month, but I managed to get three layouts done and they are all on the Felicity Jane blog.

The first layout I did was actually a project life spread. My favorite card was probably one I made using a bunch of different labels and banners from the cut apart sheet. I love how it turned out. You can find more photo plus a process video here.

On my second layout I stepped outside of my "super simple" box and had fun playing with all the little bits and pieces that came in the kit. I will definitely be doing another layout like this soon. You can find more details, plus a process video here.

I decided to tell a longer story about "real life" on my last layout. I told the story of my daughter's cardiology check up this year. This layout is probably my favorite. Photo + words + a few embellishments... perfection. You can find more photos and details here

I have already received my December's kit. It is absolutely beautiful and I can not wait to start creating with it. I know I will have lots of memories to document next month.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Project Life | Week 38

I am really behind on my Project Life album. I had a "catch up" plan that just wasn't really working, and I found myself getting farther and farther behind. I finally decided I needed a new "catch up" plan.

This project is really only fun for me when I am up to date on my album. So last week when I sat down to scrapbook, I decided that I would just work on the most current week. I found myself getting excited about this project again.

My new "catch up" plan will be this. Scrapbook the most current week first. When I have extra time I will go back and complete a week that still needs to be done from a few months back. I think this will be the best approach, and I am ok with having a gap in my album for now.

So here is my week 38

At the beginning of the year I decided to use title cards from One Little Bird, and I absolutely love them. I usually recolor them in Photo Shop Elements to match the color of my spread each week.

I used a combination of cards from One Little Bird, and the Becky Higgins core kit Jade Edition.

I usually print most of the cards I use from home, so the corners end up being squared. The Becky Higgins Project Life cards come with rounded corners. It does not really bother me to mix the two.

The "give thanks" is a digital brush that I got from Ali Edwards. You can find the set here. I really like the way it looks on this photo I took while we were camping.

If you want to see how this whole layout came together, you can watch it over on my YouTube channel, or right here.

Felicity Jane | Project Life "Title Page"

I am over on the Felicity Jane blog today with a pocket page spread. I love how perfect the cut apart 3x4 cards were for a title page for my album.

Pop on over to FelicityJane.com to see the full spread, plus a quick process video.

Thanks for stopping by!