MARCH 2017 PROJECT LIFE PAGES | PPSUAE BLOG POST

This is my last post for PPSUAE as a design team member and I want to express my utmost gratitude to Pretty Paper Studio and Neelu for this two year opportunity. THANK YOU TO THE NTH POWER.

Finally, after four years of being at the crossroad of staying or moving on, we have decided to move on. We're leaving UAE for good to be with our boys whom we have brought home to the Philippines two years ago. Having mixed emotions; feeling anxious, sad, and excited. But, unlike the past years that I felt petrified every time we talked about it, I feel more at peace now and excited. I believed that feeling at peace than scared made me more secure about this huge decision. We’re leaving everything to God as we’ve always done. Hoping and praying that things will work out for us in Philippimes.

I may not be based here in UAE anymore and I may not be a part of a PPS design team, but I will always be around to support PPS (true). I will try to stay online when time permits and whenever there’s a good internet connection available. See you around the web and social media.

Here's my DT kit for June and below is a flip through video of my March Project Life pages.

(Credit: Music from Free Music Archive - David Szesztay - Cheese)

Let's keep creating. Let's just spread good vibes and love to everybody inspite of our differences.

No “goodbyes” or “farewells”, only “see-you-around”.
Ingrid♥

MOTHER'S DAY + FREEBIE

BELATED HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Just a quick post for today. Incase you missed this FREEBIE from my Facebook and Instagram pages, here's my way of greeting all the mama out there. A revamped journal cards from my past digi-designs, added 2 4x6 journal cards & packed together as one big freebie, MOTHER'S DAY JOURNAL CARDS.

If you have downloaded my past 2 sets already, thank you. These are in a different color palette though. I wished to create a new set; however, the packing for the big move got in the way, but, I still hope you'll like them.

Click the image for the link and please comment below if you have downloaded it. Thanks.

Again, thank you to all who sent me their Mother's Day greeting through Messenger, Facebook tags and Instagram tags. All the best for us mothers!

ing♥

FEBRUARY 2017 PROJECT LIFE PAGES | PPS UAE BLOG POST

Hey, I'm back.

I just dropped by to let you know I've posted my DT project for May at Pretty Paper Studio's blog. I hope you could "pass by" there and read through my Project February Life pages. Leave some love if you can.

Here's my DT kit for May.

And below is a quick flip through of my February 2017 Project Life pages and more details at the PPS blog.

Thank you for dropping by. 

Hoping to be back soon for some big news. 

♥

HAPPY LOVE MONTH + FEBRUARY TREAT

Hey, I'm back with a quick post + a monthly freebie.

To my "constant K"...

"I chose you.

And I'll choose you

over and over and over.

Without a pause.

Without a doubt.

In a heartbeat.

I'll keep choosing you."

From B♥

Ayieee...


That's the quick post & here's the monthly treat.

It's the love month & it's Valentine's Day in a few days. I created a set of journal cards you can use for your Project Life layouts, in digital or paper forms. I couldn't decide between the black-gray or red-blue color palette. I love the outcome for both.

Download the freebie here.

By next month, I'll share my Project Life February pages using some of these cards. Please do tag me (Facebook & Instagram) when you use this & post on your social media accounts.

Thankie.
♥

JANUARY PROJECT LIFE + A FREEBIE

Sharing my January Project Life pages.

I love using Paislee Press' minimalist template for my photos. I just tweaked the templates a bit according to my preference. But I still have photos printed to 3x4 & 4x6 and then write directly on them or attach labels on them. I like this combination & it works for me.

Here, I handwritten a quote (from Pinterest) about my one little word for 2016, breathe. I don't have a beautiful handwriting or Ali Edwards like handwriting but if you want the handwritten quote, I turned it into a digital art & it's free to download.

Used journal cards & embellishments from my existing Studio Calico documenter kit & my January DT kit.

My photos are not perfectly printed as I bring them to the print shop at the nearest mall. The technician said that even if I cropped my photos to 4x6 in Photoshop, when he feeds them to the printing machine, it still expands & part of my photos are cropped. You can notice that on my topmost left photo. I placed a white border around but when I got the print, only a little of the border remained (right side & top).

Part of my plan for my 2016 Project Life is to add a layout every month, either 6x8 or 6x12. I just came to decide on this just as I was finishing my January pages when I saw Nicole Reeves' Instagram post. By the end of 2016, I'll be able to create 12 scrapbook layouts! That's 12! HA! That would be a first time for me. For January, I added a layout of my boys. Just keeping it simple so it would be achievable for me. I used Pretty Paper Studio's Clean-and-Simple (CAS) kit for February.

Stamped our favorite quote by the famous Mies van der Rohe, "Less is more", on a regular typewriter paper using Kelly Purkey Southport stamp. Then I inserted it at the back of my 6x8 layout.

I also love using stamps. I only have a few & I'm still eyeing on a few more. I love those stamps which I can use over & over again to my Project Life pages & mini albums. Here, I used stamps from Clearly Kelly, Kellie Winnel & Christine Herrin.

I also love adding some memorabilia like this one on the left page, my RTA metro train card from Ibn Battuta to Mall of the Emirates stations & back when I went to the Emirates Post office to mail some postcards.

The left side is a page dedicated for K's Dubai Marathon event. It's his 3rd year this year & I am SO so proud of his achievement. He has achieved his personal goal every year.

Obviously, I love using stamps now & incorporate it on my Project Life pages with the minimalist photo templates.

I hope my Project Life pages inspire you with yours, just like I am inspired by other Project Lifers.
Thank you for dropping by.
♥

PROJECT LIFE 2016 PLANS + TITLE PAGE + OLW

Started my Project Life journey only last 2014 and I used a Studio Calico 6x8 handbook so I would not get overwhelmed in keeping up with it. I end up using 2 albums with the December Daily included. Because I prefer on having only one album for 2015, I went for 12x12 album for 2015. I end up using one album for January-November and one album for December. However, as I approach the midyear I began to feel intimidated by the large size. I felt that it's too large for me, it took most of my table space and it's too heavy to carry (not joking). Hahaha...

My title pages for 2014, 2015 & 2016

Project Life 2016 Plans
For 2016, I was torn between 9x12 & 6x12 Project Life albums. I thought 9x12 would be better, not too big & not too small. But it's difficult to find on my side of the world, expensive shipping cost if I order it online and noticed that the page protectors get easily out of stock. Because of these facts, I opted for 6x12 album which I think would be appropriate for me. I don't mind if I will end up using 2 albums for this year.

I have seen this Thickers album from Pretty Papers Studio (an online shop based here in Dubai) and without hesitation purchased two; and fortunately, the Becky Higgins page protectors just fit in the album. Even if I have switched to 6x12, I can easily trim and use the remaining 12x12 page protectors that I still have and which I think are enough until the end of the year.

I am continuing my monthly format for my Project Life pages. Other than some special occasions or some special splurge of the moment events or planned adventure, it's a normal life for us. So, I won't have a lot of photos to share for a weekly spread.

As for style, I always go for "less is more" approach. I have been using Paislee Press' minimalist photo templates since last year & I'm planning to carry on with it this year. Less embellishment. More journaling (hopefully). Due to some financial aspect, I am not able to continue with my Studio Calico documenter kit subscription this year. I am still hopeful though that I can subscribe once again in the future. But I still have a bunch of journal cards & embellishments from my past kits which I'll be using for my 2016 Project Life along with a few stamps which I purchased from Kelly Purkey, Kellie Winnel & Christine Herrin. 

My basics for 2016 Project Life

Title Page + One Little Word
Since I started Project Life, I always go for large photos for my title pages. This year, I chose this photo of me and K. My initial plan was to take a photograph of old Dubai with the new Dubai on the background but I'm not that familiar with Dubai and with the traffic I don't think it's doable for me. This was taken last November, when we had a splurge of the moment and decided to go for a quick swim. Grabbed my DSLR and tripod since I planned to take this photo.

2016 Title Page

Most probably, it's just me and K most of the times this year. The boys are already back in Philippines for good while I decided to come here with K for a couple more years (but I think that it won't be that long anymore). I started Project Life to document our little family's life specially the boys' growing up years. But because we are far, I can't easily take photographs of them whenever I want to, that's why I don't have enough photos of them. I'm thankful for my sister-in-law for the every-now-and-then photos of the boys she sends me on Facebook. And K... K is camera shy. He doesn't want his photographs taken and even posted on social media.

On the other hand, as much as possible, I would like to be more intentional this year with my Project Life pages... hhmmm....................................... I don't know how to explain this but Pam hit it right as to how intentional I want it to be... "It's not about documentation just for documentation's sake or prettifying it for art's sake. I wanted my Project Life album to authentically represent who I am (our family) right now, what I'm feeling, what I'm seeing, where I'm (we are) going and why I'm making choices that I do."

Breathe. My one little word for this year. Not to overthink, not to wonder what could have been or what if, not just imagine, not obsess. Instead, just breathe & have faith that all things will work together for good. Breathe for me also means to take time to enjoy life, relax, de-stress & go out for adventure.

I've been preoccupied with worries, fear & stress last year (and even years before that) and I just want to breathe. I want K to breathe & do what he wants to do for the longest time. I want my boys to breathe & be what they want to be. I want to breathe & let God be God. I still worry, get scared or overthink. You just don't get rid of them in an instant but by God's grace I am learning how to handle them.

"All things worked together for good to them that loved God..." Roman 8:28 KJV

♥

DECEMBER 2015 DOCUMENTED

AND here's my last month to complete my 2015 project life, December 2015 Documented.

I didn't plan on creating a December Daily album neither a separate album for December. Since the boys are in Philippines I didn't think I'd be able to do a daily thing. I didn't feel like celebrating either because I'd definitely become more emotional thinking of my boys. But since my 12x12 project life album gotten so heavy already, I plunge into the album thing (6x8). Because I was avoiding doing the December Daily, I decided to named it December 2015 Documented. It's not "Christmassy" as well, just a simple album about our December.

For the covers, I used a thick card board from an old sketch pad backing for the back & for the front cover I used a cutting board sheet from Daiso. A bit hard to punch holes but I loved it. Initially, I only have 2 holes for the ring binders but I used some loose 3x4 journal cards as my day cards & since they only have 1 hole, they move around much. That's when I decided to punch a middle hole so that those 3x4 day cards can have 2 holes & stay in place.

Here's a video showing the pages of the album.

For the title page, I cut a word art "good cheer" using my handwriting on a piece of bristol board. Similar to what I did last year with my "love joy peace" word art. Attached it on a thin plastic sheet & insert into a page protector.

I mixed & matched my pages using Simple Stories & Becky Higgins 6x8 page protectors. I trimmed some page protectors for my 3x8 & 4x8 pages. I have a few 6x8 collage photos that I directly punched holes & I have some pages using 6x6 papers. This variety of pages were to create interest in the album.

The journal cards were mostly from my Documenter kit & a free printable cards from Studio Calico. I also used some of Ali Edward's freebies from her 12 days of Christmas & Give Sunday. I always try to keep everything to a minimal since I prefer a "less is more" approach to scrapbooking & don't have enough supplies to use either. Intended to use what I have, the embellishments & the papers. Besides the stamps from Studio Calico, I also loved using the stamps from Kelly Purkey, Christine Herrin & Kellie Winnel. I don't have a lot of stamps (and I hope I have more) but what I have now are the ones that I really kept on using for my project life.

I have also added some memorabilia I got last December. The paper bag from the Gulf Greetings when I bought some postcards; a chocolate wrapper, the tickets & a token from our trip to The Top of Burj Khalifa; the box of the perfume that was given to me; the front cover of the Qasr Al Muwaiji brochure; a song sheet; a Christmas card I got from my last year; the ampersand from my last year's holiday wall art; the birthday card & 1 of the rose (that I dried) that K gave me; and the drawing Makuy made for us.

2015 project life accomplished! Now, I'm ready to start with 2016 project life.

Thanks for dropping by.
Have a nice weekend.
ing

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER-NOVEMBER PROJECT LIFE

I'm back to quickly share my September - November Project Life pages for 2015. 

September

October

November

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Hopefully, I will get my December 2015 Documented album finish before the week ends. Hopefully.

Thanks for dropping by.

xoxo

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016 FREEBIE

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

To kick start the year, here's a freebie for you. Wanted to create something for the December holidays last year but mojo just came yesterday. So I grabbed the chance while the "iron is hot". LOL... Created some journal cards using the brush strokes I did yesterday. Undecided with what color palette to use for this set & at the end I went with the neutrals (black-white-gray) instead. As for the brush strokes & the "digitizing", they're far from being perfect (as I only have Photoshop) but somehow the imperfectness makes it unique & interesting (???). I hope so. 

Enjoy my little new year gift. 2016 New Year Journal Cards. 

>>> Click HERE to download <<<

(This freebie will be available until January 31, 2016. After which, I will be combining this set with another set of brush stroke journal cards.)

Don't forget to leave some love. Will definitely get inspired with your comments.

Have a blessed weekend, that's Friday & Saturday for us here in the sandpit.

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Hoping to share my Project Life pages for my September - November 2015, my December 2015 Documented album & my 2016 Project Life plans soon. 

ing♥

JUNE-JULY-AUGUST PROJECT LIFE

Just a quick post today. Sharing my three months project life pages, June to August.

Hope I get to somehow inspire you with your project life, too. It's not actually easy to keep up. Sometimes, I get stressed out choosing which photos to print, what journal cards to use, how to embellish, or even which goes where in terms of photos and page protectors. Not to mention what to write or journal. It freaks me out! But when it does, I stay away from it for a while, it could be minutes, hours, days or even weeks. But because I have this "before-I-go" goal of printing all our photos and placing them in albums, I get to push myself to getting it done. Luckily, I end up enjoying the journey of documenting each month. I always ask God to help me get through. I always talk to Him in my mind, 'Lord, which photos... Lord, which journal cards... Lord, how do you think I should do it...'.

June
By far June is my most number of pages. Since I intend to have only one album this year, I didn't make a separate album for our Singapore trip, instead, I added it on June project life pages.

July
Our (k+i) last full month together with the boys in Philippines. Documenting here their first month at their new school although they actually started last June 24. Had to keep and add the letters they wrote to me, to k, and to God.

August
This month was a difficult month for me and for K and the boys, too. The first couple of days were our last days together this year. K+I went back here in UAE with a heavy heart. We were placed in a difficult situation a few days later, during our big move to Dubai from Al Ain. Because of that trial, up until now, it got me thinking that maybe it was a not the right decision to return here and leave the boys in Philippines. But if it's a mistake, I won't let it overcome me but accept it as a lesson and not a loss; "a temporary, necessary detour, not a dead end".

As I live my day-to-day and move closer to my end, I have found this truth in life that today may not be a good day nor the best day for me, BUT, there will always be good in everyday to be thankful for.

Thanks for dropping by.
♥

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Credits: Becky Higgins page protectors, Studio Calico project life/documenter kits & printables, Paislee Press minimalist templates, Kelly Purkey stamps, Kellie Stamps, Christine Herrin stamps, Life Documented Manila purchases, Pretty Papers Studio purchases. Home Edited Motex label maker.