Project Life Update and A Few Layouts

Just a quick post to catch up on sharing some of my layout inspiration with you.  These are my first two layouts for 2012.  I went 3 weeks with no scrapping and I was in need of a fix!

Fight Everyday

New Attitude - a collaboration by Secret Stash Designs and Litabells

Solos Part 5 by Busy Bee Designs

First Snow Day

Winter Thrills Bundle by Chelle's Creations

Shenanigans (coming soon) by Jeanye Labaya Designs

I have been drooling over Chelle's Creations products for months now.  She is just an amazingly creative and talented designer and let's face it - I am a big sucker for felt ellies.  So, to say I was super stoked to get a guest spot on her team for January and February is a HUGE understatement!  Here are some of my favorite kits/products of hers that you will be seeing me use soon for layouts.  All of the images are linked in case you want to check them out AND If you haven't checked out her stuff, here is link to her store:
http://scraporchard.com/market/Chelle-s-Creations/

I despise cleaning and laundry, really.  However, I am in love with this bundle.  Although, it just deters me further from chores cuz all I want to do is scrap a page about how much I don't want to clean!  LOL

So many layouts I want to do with this.  I LOVE food.  I am trying to eat healthier the last few months so I may do a layout about the foods I am not eating (ok, well maybe just a little here and there) or I will do it about these foods that I can't live without - like nachos!

This is just tooo stinking cute and I can't wait to do a page using this to showcase Laddy's new tractor and tools that his Pops bought him for Christmas!

Okay, I will be honest here.  I have NO idea what pictures I am going to use for this kit BUT....I have loved it since the day Chelle released it and I have to use it.  Hmmm....maybe a page about the funny farm I call "home"?  LOL

This one requires digging in the old photos and doing some scanning.  Jonathan and all 3 girls took Tae Kwon Do for 2 years back in 2003 and 2004.  I have the most adorable portrait that we had done of all 4 of them that HAS to be scrapped.  Megan was only 6 years old!  

Before I say bye for now, I wanted to give a quick update about my Project Life.  I have worked on it a bit here and there trying to find my motivation.  Honestly, I wound up getting pretty discouraged before even starting due to all of the creative inspiration, products and such that I saw popping up all over the internet.  I started putting so much pressure on myself to try and come up with something so original and creative that I wound up not doing anything because I couldn't just be simple.  I had actually scribbled my hand written saying for the week on a journal card and stuck it on my fridge but found myself looking at it saying "My handwriting is so ugly, I hate this, I need to redo it or do it digitally so it is pretty."  

I mean, the whole reason I was intrigued by and decided to do Project Life is because it seemed simple enough that even I would have time to do it.  I belong to a group of ladies that shares inspiration and encourages each other and I was even feeling like I couldn't be honest in there and just say "I'm overwhelmed" because I already felt like I was failing.  This is a great group of ladies, some of them dear friends that I have had for years in the digital community and the goal of this group really is to inspire.  It was all pressure I was putting on myself  (I have this habit a lot in life and I consider it a curse from my father, he is a major workaholic and over achiever).  ;) I was feeling like I had to impress them or that I had to have all original ideas and that I shouldn't "copy" theirs.  Then, one of the girls posted a link to a blog that discussed the very issue I was having.  It really flipped the switch back for me and put things in perspective again.  I remembered that I am doing this for me and my family - for my kids, for my grandson.  Not for anyone else and definitely not to impress people.  I am doing it to record our story and my family does not care how our album looks as compared to others.  They want to see our lives recorded and reflect on our memories.  

So, that very evening while watching a movie with Megan, I started my week 1.  It is still in the works and has lots of slots to be filled but, it is a work in progress and I am glad to report that I did not take that scribbled saying down off of my fridge and it will go in my album when this week ends.  While pondering whether to redo it or not, I remembered a note that my mother gave to me after my grandmother passed away in 2003.  It is a handwritten note from about 18 years ago, a corner torn off of a paper that simply says "Jeanye and kids were here today" (she used to scribble little notes like this on random bits of paper and they would just pile up on her desk.  In years prior, she kept spirals and would record the day's activities and happenings in it in chronological order).  I remembered what a treasure that seemingly insignificant piece of paper is to me.  Why?  Because she held it and those simple words flowed from her head to her hands and it was a memory she felt was worth recording.  Now it has become a part of who I am, where I come from and my history.  This is what I want my family to feel when they look through our albums.  This is why I scrapbook.