Thank You Party Favors

Today marks the 1st birthday party of 2014 (the friend version as we have had a family birthday for Grayden already). I find planning little kid parties stressful, I know I do it to myself but that doesn't make the stress go away. I breathe a huge sigh of relief in May when the 3rd party has been wrapped up and I know I don't have to do it again for MONTHS.

But for today, the preparations are done, the cake is made and the party favors are assembled.

I love my Project Life cards. I have found they come in handy for so many more things than just my album. These Thank You cards are a perfect example, I used the 3X4 grid cards, a rubber stamp, a sun hole punch and baker's twine to attach the cards to the bags.

I find that with a bit of hunting that I can fill these bags for $5-6 each with goodies that gives 1 treat, something fun and a crafty keepsake.

These bags are for 5-6 year-olds. I made slightly different bags for the boys and the girls as I have 10 of each coming.

The only difference between the 2 bags is I substituted the tattoos for hair accessories and put in an owl or cupcake Melty Bead craft.

 

One other thing to note, I wish grocery stores would get in on the Minecraft bandwagon and sell Minecraft themed cakes. But a Minecraft cake is what he wanted and a Minecraft cake is what he is getting!

 

Wish me luck in transporting it!

Patience

Well hello there my neglected blog, how are you? I will not indulge in excuses or explanations, this is just to say I am here and will come back as often as I can.

It is a New Year and I have picked a word to guide me through it. One that I will refer back to each day when making decisions or when I need a helping hand to continue in the right direction.

Patience

                         the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering 

                                                without getting angry or upset

I will practice patience:

• with myself, especiallly when I stumble working towards my goals
• with my children
• with my husband
• with my co-workers
• with fellow drivers on my commutes (this might be the most challenging one!)

  I also have 3 goals I want to accomplish by the end of this year:

•  Run a 10 km race in under 1 hour (my best time is 53:42 and that was over 3 years ago, time to get back into it)
• Complete my Project Life album. Changing jobs has created a gap in my pages, I am going to be PATIENT with myself and let the lapse go and continue on as I can.
• Play a new song on the piano - but not just being able to pluck out the notes; it has to be AWESOME.

Project Life - Week 11

Here is the layout I made from the week my dad was visiting. It was a full week, I just wish I had picked-up my camera a bit more. We had lots of good times that included late night card games with drinks and snacks and going outside after midnight to take pictures of the stars.

I did learn to take some awesome macro shots from my dad. Wish he lived closer so we could have more photo dates!

Here is one of my macro shots. After my last post, I am starting to make some plans.

Project Life - Weeks 9 & 10

I love how over the last 10 weeks my Project Life style is emerging and that I can also adjust the style from week to week based on the pictures and how little (or how much) I want to journal.

I am also taking more candid/documentary style photos to capture the everyday little things in addition to the pictures of us as a family.

Week 9

 

Week 10

Project Life - Weeks 7 & 8

I felt the pressure to get caught up on Project Life (even though technically I am not that far behind). But I know how easy it is to fall off track with a new project that you are so excited about. You go full steam ahead and do too much and can't keep up with it. I think I am going at a pace I can sustain but only if I don't fall behind.

So here are my layouts from the last 2 weeks. There were so many great vacation pictures that I did an additional full page instead of a smaller insert.

Week 7 Parts 1 & 2

 



  Week 8
 

Project LIfe - Week 6

It has been a crazy week getting ready to go on vacation. But I did want to make sure I posted this before I go. I anticipate a lot of pictures to sort through when I get back and probably an insert to accommodate all of the pictures in my Project Life book.

PS The last 2 weeks my Project Life photos haven't turned out how I would like. Will reshoot both of them when I get home!

Project Life - Week 5

I can't believe that 5 weeks has gone by. I know time is going fast but when you are documenting your days and weeks it really hits home.

We had a great week, summer vacation is in full swing and the boys are in their element.

Project Life - Week 4

Having so much fun with Project Life. I can't believe that 4 weeks are already done. Time, you need to slow down.

Summer vacation has officially started, I hope to post lots of swimming and outdoor photos soon.

Project Life - Week 3

I love the mix of journal cards and photos in this layout. I think my other layouts have been picture-heavy. I even got Jeremy involved by filling out a "What I loved about today..." card I made in homage to Father's Day (I used Cathy Zielske's Scallop Summer Stamps in the journal card and the picture on the right of my son by the water).

The group of 4 pictures was on a hike we took Sunday, Connor was the photographer. It really captures how silly we can be. There is no doubt in my mind where our kids get it from.

Hello Card

No credits for this one other than to myself! I made my first Project Life card today. I will admit the "Hello" has been done but the colours, background and layering are all me.

I love how something so simple gives me so much pleasure. It is now proudly displayed on my tack board sitting above my computer.

Project Life - Weeks 1 & 2

 

I can't say enough good things about Project Life. I am loving taking pictures, printing them out, documenting the stories behind the pictures and sharing it all with my boys.

 

One thing I have noticed 2 weeks in is that I take a lot of pictures on the weekend and there seems to be no time to fit in snapshots through the week. I need to pace myself better next week and make sure to grab the camera in the evenings. But you may notice that I am in TWO pictures below. I am glad I took the time to set-up the tripod.

Pictures of Me

Not just pictures of me, but pictures of me with my boys. I read this post by Becky Earl this morning and it has reminded me that I need to be in pictures too!

I just finished my first week of Project Life (LOVE IT) and I am not in there at all, sure behind the scenes as the documenter but I want to be documented too.

This is from my iPod almost 2 years ago. I'm sure I can do better.

On another picture related note, I learned how to make my own photo templates this morning. I purchased the assorted photo pages for Project Life and one of the layouts is for four 6X6 photos. I think this is how I am going to print out my photos for those pages.

It's Here!

My friend Gabi has shared her Project Life with me and like many other things Gabi  has, I wanted it too!

Mine arrived today and now I have to patiently wait for the first week of June to go by before I can complete my first layout.

I have already decided that I want another full set for my birthday this year (or maybe 2). I have so many photos that are either already printed or saved to disc that need to be shared with the boys. They love looking at family photos and it just isn't the same huddling around a computer as it is to curl up on the couch together with a photo album.

Now my only regret is the small amount of time I have to dedicate to taking pictures, editing them and now putting them together in an album.