Project Life rocks! Just thought I'd put that out there in case you didn't already know that! Take a peek at Week Seventeen:
Again, no insert this week! Just a traditional two-page layout using the Design A page protectors.
So this week my main source of embellishments came from, well, ME! I'll show you:
Remember that list I had going on of things to get done when my computer was in the shop? One of those items on the list was to clean out my closet. I'm happy to say that is one thing which got a check in the box. The few empty hangers that I found inspired me to create a fun word art filler card. Chris said after I was finished the closet looked like a store because everything was so neat and in its place.
I made the "Best Burgers in Riga" badge, too! Yummy, yummy burgers and fries. This is the only place in town where they give you free refills on your drinks!!!
The fork, knife and spoon filler card is one that I made for the {love} my organized recipes digital kit. I thought it was perfect for this area of the page. Our downstairs neighbors had a Murder Mystery party on Saturday of this week and we had a blast! The character I played was a lawyer, Ada Turney. Chris played Lt. Ben Padlock. There were three "rounds" in the game where we had specific clues to make public and dialogue between characters exchanged in order to solve the "Murder at the Isle Royal Lodge." So fun. I would love to host one of these!
So there you have it–Week Seventeen. Let's back up to Week Fourteen for a moment. Reader Christi in MA asked if I would put the "Mother Nature" brush in my store because they had a similar winter in MA as we did in Latvia. I know it has only been a few days since I posted Week 14, but I had to go back and look at what she was talking about! I really have to do something about this short-term memory I've had lately! Anyways, I'll do one better and give the PNG away for free for a limited time (it will become part of a collection in the near future)! It may not be socially acceptable within the scrapbooking world to have that "p" word as part of layout. But you know what? Life isn't always sunshine and rainbows. We need to document the good with the bad–in a "real" way where we don't mince words and say what we mean or feel, and that is exactly how I was feeling when I snapped this photo:
So here you are Christi! I hope you and anyone else that downloads the png will make use of it! (Note: The word art is in black lettering. you can use a color overlay effect to change it to the color of your choice!)
Thanks for reading! Weeks 18 and 19 will be posted this weekend. I usually do not blog on the weekends, for fear that people are too busy to be keeping up with the blogs they follow, but I am determined to be all caught up before my trip on Monday!
Hello Spring. Oh how I wish you would arrive here in Latvia. Mother Nature played a cruel joke Monday morning and dumped about 4+ inches of snow on us. I was totally bummed. In March I developed a slight fondness for running on the treadmill and I was looking forward to possibly trying to take this new activity outside. Obviously she had other plans...
So, those of you who are visiting from Cathy's Move More Eat Well 2.0 Workshop over at Big Picture Classes, how is it going for you? Staying on track? My April numbers are starting off better than my March numbers did. Here's what's going on:
I'm down 1.2 pounds since the beginning of last month. It's not much, but I'll take it! My March started off really strong. The meds the doctor gave me while in Ramstein worked wonders for my back and I was a gym rat and yoga junkie during the first half of the month. During the later half of the month, I was down below 150! I would like to give diet and exercise the credit for that loss, but unfortunately it was due to the flu. It knocked me out for a good 7-8 days. I was able to keep some of it off while I was on the mend, but a roadtrip with friends over the weekend helped to put some of it back on. Again, I am down from last month and even have lost an inch or two, so I really can't complain too much!
As far as diet goes, I'm still enjoying "Meatless Mondays" and cooking with super fresh ingredients. Nothing really processed. What I mean by that is I am making nothing that is coming from a can or a box. Sure I use boxed pasta, rice and other grains, but I'm making sauces, soups and side dishes all from scratch. And I love it. If I had to pick a "problem" with my eating habits this month, I would say I've been eating a bit too many carbs. I need to balance my diet out with a little more protein. I will concentrate on that during April!
Although there is still snow on the ground, there are signs around Riga that spring is around the corner. Gardeners in the park around the corner from us have already trimmed the shrubs back and there are piles of woodchips just waiting to be placed in the flower beds. Another sure sign of spring around here are the "tents" that spring up in the various beer gardens around Old Town. We noticed about a week ago that preparations were under way in getting at one of our favorite beer gardens in town ready for the upcoming spring and summer seasons. This is all well and good for a fun social life, it can cause a major crash and burn on the road to a healthy lifestyle. I just have to keep reminding myself to look at my Advantage and Response Cards (see this post) before I go out, have a plan and stick to it!
Wellness isn't easy. It's hard. I'm finding that the older I get the more difficult it is! And as hard as it is, it is important. I am finding that my reasons for staying fit and healthy are not just "to look good." I have come to realize that working at staying healthy is a responsibility to myself, my family and to society. As Chris is getting ready to retire from the Marine Corps in a few months, we will be faced with many decisions that go along with transitioning to civilian life. Healthcare is one of those issues. So before I close this post, I thought I would share a little quote that my sister, Kerry, shared on her Facebook page a few weeks ago. It's thought-provoking and I made it into a little 3x4 printable card for you to download and print. Think about it the next time you question whether or not to buy those organic and slightly more expensive salad greens or pay to attend a new fitness class at the local gym...
So how are all of you doing with your commitment to getting healthy in 2013? I'm doing pretty good! I was extremely active last week-attended one hot yoga class, 2 traditional yoga classes and went to the gym 3 times. Feeling pretty good!!! I got a lot of positive feedback on my Move More Monday post from last week and I wanted to thank all of you that commented here and at the MMEW message boards! It was such a long post that this week I decided to shorten things up a bit and pass along a few of my favorite healthy recipes that I enjoy regularly and I'm sure you will, too! You can download a zip file of the recipe cards near the end of this post. They are sized at 4x6 and for those in Cathy's Move More Eat Well 2.0 Workshop at Big Picture Classes, you can add a recipe section in the back of your album and slip these cards into 4x6 divided page protectors by We R Memory Keepers. I am so sorry I don't have a photo to go with the soup or beans & rice recipe. Next time I make it, I'll be sure to post a photo!
Trail Mix
The Trail Mix is addicting!
Tortellini Soup
I have been making this soup for years! I love it!
Black Beans & Rice
I found this recipe through Real Simple and it is perfect for our Meatless Mondays! It's very filling!
I added a recipe section to my MMEW album. Below are photos of what I did:
Recipe section title page.
Recipe page (sorry for the fuzzy photo). I may go back and alter what I put in the smaller pockets of the page. Maybe lined paper for notes or some word art quotes. But this will have to do for now!
Salty or sweet, creamy or crunchy, chips & dip. We all have that one food we crave while on the road to a healthy lifestyle. Although I love sweets just as much as the next person, I'm happy to say sweets are one of those things that I don't crave. Chips and salsa, however, is another story. Sure there are more unhealthy things that I can indulge in if I had to, but my problem is not knowing when to stop! Five or six chips may not be that bad, but eating a half a bag in one sitting is!
So what are your cravings? How do you handle them? Do you give in or do you have a strong will-power to let the craving pass? This is something we talked about extensively in our Group Lifestyle Weight Management meeting when I first started working out with my trainer Lisa. Lisa Biffin is a qualified personal trainer and lifestyle weight management coach certified through the American Council on Exercise (she is also a yoga instructor!). She is truly passionate about what she does, is extremely knowledgeable and well-educated in her field. I take her words and advice to heart. I asked her if it would be okay to share the anti-craving strategies that she taught us a while back and she gave me her blessing. So her are some of her strategies (and at the end, there is a little project for you to do!):
Lisa's Anti-Craving Mindset Techniques
Label it. Tell yourself, "This feeling is just a craving...it is uncomforable and intense, but (like hunger) it is not an emergency."
Stand Firm. Tell yourself that you're absolutely not going to eat the food that you're craving. Remind yourself that you truly don't want to strengthen your giving-in muscle and weaken your resistance muscle. Ask yourself whether giving in to this craving will be worth the momentary pleasure you'll get from eating. Think about how giving in can undermine your confidence.
Don't give yourself a choice. The emotionally painful part about a craving is the struggle you feel. Once you can tell yourself with total convicition, "NO CHOICE," and do something else, the craving will diminish. It won't go away, though, if you waver or say to yourself, "This is so intense, I don't know if I can stand it." Of course you can stand it. It may be uncomfortable, but nothing bad will happen if you withstand it. In fact, in a few moments you're going to be proud of yourself!
Imagine the aftermath of giving in. Go ahead and think about eating the food you are craving. Imagine it in your mouth. How many seconds does it take to eat it? How many seconds do you feel pleasure? Now visualize the rest of the picture...the part of the experience you usually don't think about until it's too late. See yourself feeling upset, giving up, continuing to ear more and more, feeling worse and worse. Do you start to feel heavier in your body or more heavy-hearted? As you become upset in the image, remind yourself you wouldn't do it again, and how hopeless you felt. Now that you've seen the entire picture, which seems better: giving in or not giving into your craving?
Remind yourself why you want to learn to withstand cravings. Read your Advantages/Response cards (more on those later in the post-it's a project for you!). You won't be able to attain the wonderful benefits of lost weight unless you tolerate your cravings. If you continue to give in to them, you'll always be at risk for gaining weight.
Lisa says that if you're still tempted ot eat something you shouldn't after you've done all of the five mindset techniques above, you can try some of the following behavioral techniques below:
Lisa's Anti-Craving Behavioral Techniques
Distance yourself from the food you crave. When you experience a craving because you see or smell food, you might be able to move that food to an inconvenient place (out of sight out of mind) or to get rid of it (give it away, throw it away). If you are unable to move the food then try removing yourself from the situation.
Drink a no calorie or low calorie beverage. Thirst can mask as hunger and trigger you to eat. Consider drinking club soda, water with lemon, herbal tea, etc.
Relax. You can teach your body how to relax in a variety of ways. Meditation can help refocus your thoughts and it only takes a few minutes.
Distract yourself. Do you remember a time when a natural distraction interrupted your craving and you later were glad you hadn't given in? Maybe a friend called, the dog need to go for a walk, your boss came into your office? By the time you finished what you had to do, your craving had weakened or passed. You focused on something else.
It's been a while since I've pulled out all of these anti-craving techniques. They make so much sense and they are doable. Don't you agree?
Mind Over Matter Project
So in point #5 of the Mindset Technique, Lisa mentions "Advantage and Response Cards." This was a homework assignment from Lisa and I find them extremely helpful. She originally had us make them on index cards. Being a crafty kind of girl, I got a little more creative and printed/mounted them on cardstock and held them together with a keyring. But since then, I've remade mine so they fit nicely in my MMEW album. The 8.5x11 page protector you see in the photo above are by We R Memory Keepers. I cut two 4x12 pieces of Bazzill Cardstock (apricot) folded them in half and placed them in the pockets. Using an EK Success 1.75" circle punch I punched half circles in the the two vertical pockets like this:
Be warned that the punch may not give you a clean cut (see photo below), but it is easy to trim with a pair of scissors.
The reason why I cut the notch is to allow easy access to your cards when you need to refer to them.
Pretty cool, huh? I love it.
On to the cards. Here's what you do:
Create an Advantage Card(s) that lists all the reasons why you want to lose weight and keep the weight off. Categorize them by importance (i.e. very important, important, not so important). Ask yourself, "Why do I REALLY want to lose weight?" i.e.: (you can see some of my Advantage Cards in the photo below)
How will weight loss impact my love life, friendships, family, career, social life. How will weight loss impact my energy level, participation in hobbies, sports, etc. How will weight loss impact my body, health and my mental outlook.
2. Create Response Cards that counter negative thought or situations that you will encounter, i.e.:
"Remember the bread/beer will be tempting, but I can resist it. It's more important to me to lose weight. If I eat bread/drink beer, I'll get a momentary pleasure but afterwards I'll feel worse."
Above are some of my Response Cards.
The point of these cards are to remind you of why you are doing what you're doing & what you can do to support yourself during challenging/tempting situations.
And guess what? I am providing you with templates to download so you can make your own! There is even one for the vertical title pocket I made for the page as well! Whoop, whoop!!!
Now the templates are psd files. For the "Mind/Matter template the text has been rasterized and you can use a color overlay to change it to the color of your choice. You can also choose your own patterned paper to insert as well. Download the template by clicking on the link below:
The text on the Advantage and Response Card titles has been rasterized as well. Again you can use a color overlay to change the color. They are 4x6 cards. When you print them out, trim them down to measure 3.5x5.5. Then mount the title cards to the top of your cardstock. Download the templates by clicking on the link below:
The text on the Advantage and Response Cards themselves has NOT been rasterised (it is the same file for both cards). The bold font you see in orange is Helvetica Neue LT 97 Black Condensed Oblique, set at 24pt and 21pt leading. The smaller font in gray is Helvetica Neue LT 57 Condensed Oblique, set at 10pt and Auto leading. If you do not have this font on your computer, your program will replace it with something else upon opening. They are 4x6 cards. When you print them out, trim them down to measure 3.75x5.75. This size allows the cards to be slipped into the pockets easily. Download the template by clicking on the link below:
I placed this page on the right side of my album. I needed something for the facing page and wanted it to be motivational. So I altered one of the templates that Cathy Zielske provided in her class and did this:
The text came from an ad for Athleta clothing I saw in Real Simple Magazine. I find it empowering. It's the perfect compliment to the "Mind Over Matter" page. I cannot provide you with this particular template, as it was part of the class that I paid for. But for those of you who are participating in MMEW, you should be able to alter yours and feel free to copy what I did.
I hope you found this post inspiring and will put these techniques to work for you! A big shout out to Lisa for allowing me to share her tips and techniques with you!
Just a real quick post here. I've had several people contact me asking if I could bundle all of the 2012 Weekly Word Art Titles that I created last year for the Clementine and Cobalt Collections into one place to make the download easier. Your wish is my command (I'm spoiling you...don't get used to it, hahahaha!)! Please note that the dates are on these circles! If you want to use the circles for this year, please refer to this post on how you can alter these circles to fit your needs for this year. Click the link below the photo to download the bundle.
I mixed things up a little bit this week and used some products that I received as part of my Project Life subscription kit through Studio Calico. The pieces worked really well with the Seafoam collection. Check out what I did:
Throughout the week, I am constantly wondering if I have enough photos to fill my pages. I mean things are a little different for Chris and I without the kids! I am always trying to find things to photograph in our daily lives to document! But this week, much to my surprise, I actually had to add a page (6x12 protector with three 4x6 pockets) to hold all the pictures I wanted to include.
I need to apologize for the glare on the photos. The natural lighting in our apartment is terrible and my quest to find the perfect spot to photograph has been unsuccessful. I'm trying! The "Move More Eat Well" filler card is from Cathy Zielske's class of the same name. The word art circle in the bottom right hand corner is from the Clementine Collection. The green and blue arrow stickers are from the Cobalt Collection.
The "Move More Eat Well" card is actually attached to the top of the protector with washi tape and lifts up to reveal the journaling underneath.
Skype has been Godsend while living here in Latvia and our kids back in the States. I took screenshots of the kids on our latest Skype sessions. Ryley goes to school in Tampa, Florida. He "called" while he was in between classes, soaking up the Florida sun. Made us totally jealous! We haven't seen the sun in weeks. Dustin and Becca are in Virginia. They were happy to show off the new trick their puppy Deno learned to do~spinning. I love technology!!! The cloud card was one that was included in the Project Life kit from Studio Calico. The sticker letters are from Pebbles Inc. I thought they were perfect for the topic of the pictures.
The left side the spread.
On Saturday I taught a Photo Editing and Computer Crafting Class at the embassy for some of the spouses that wanted learn a bit about PSE 11. I had a good time and they loved learning how to get rid of their wrinkles!!! I printed the bi-fold journal card from the digital version of the Seafoam Collection. The card and photo looked like this before:
I love this particular journal card! Lisa and I met for coffee earlier in the week. I liked using the sticker letters from Studio Calico to make the three 3x4 pockets seem more cohesive (click on the photo of the left side of the spread to see a larger image).
Finally I needed a 4x6 journal card to go with the photo of the inside of my fridge, which was more like a biology lab. I love phrase "this is what life looks like" that is on some of the cards in the Seafoam Kit. I made my own but added "life in the empty nest" into the phrase. I love it. But as you can tell by the look inside my fridge, life in the empty nest really doesn't look any different than life in a full house!
One more thing...a freebie! It's a little one~a planner to help you plan your weekly layouts. I used the Design A pocket pages, as that one seem to be pretty popular. This helped me to figure out where I wanted to put everything before I printed everything out. For the extra page I just drew a sketch in the "notes" section. Enjoy!
2013 marks the second year I will attempt to tackle Project LIfe. I say "attempt" because I only got to Week 18 last year. Bummer. I think I stopped around the time I took a trip back to the States for three weeks and couldn't carry my Project LIfe supplies with me. It was also around the time that Jessica Sprague and Echo Park were having their Designer Discovery Contest and I was super busy putting a kit together to enter into the contest. (I didn't win, but you can purchase the digital kit I created in the the Blueprints Shoppe by clicking on this link). Anyways, I'm not going to dwell on it. I am giving it my all this year because I have a plan (that word should sound familiar after yesterday's post).
Something that I feel held me back last year was I wasn't as organized as I should have been. I was using a wide variety of the divided page protectors instead of just sticking to one layout design. So this year the main design I will be using is Design A from Becky's collection of Project Life Page Protectors. Sure there will probably be weeks that I need more space for photos and stories, and when that time comes, I will go with Design G (I bought a ton of those last year) or cut down some of the other divided protectors from the collection to fit my needs.
I was also using two different Project Life Core Collections-Cobalt and Clementine. This year I will be using Seafoam. I can't wait for it to become available on Amazon! I did download the digital version from AC Digitals to get things started and will probably use elements from both versions for my album. I did that a lot last year and created several hybrid layouts! The one thing that I miss from the Seafoam digital kit are the extra element files. A label here, a peice of word art there, I found them extremely handy and hope Becky and her designers will create add-on element kits for their new digital Core Collections.
On to organization. Tracy Larsen, one of the new Project Life Creative Team Members for 2013, wrote a blog post on how she prepares for a new year with Project Life. I love, love, love the way she has organized her files and photos for Project Life and set I mine up the exact same way as she did. And it is already working for me! So instead of repeating what she has done here on my blog, I am providing a link to her blog post on what she did. The was she has things set up is a real time saver! Click here to read it! I highly recommend doing what she mentions with the Dropbox app on her phone. It's a great idea! Also, I love the DayOne app she uses for journaling~awesome, awesome, awesome! It is a perfect app for daily reminders and to journal your travels when you are on the go!
Ready for a freebie???
If you followed any of my Project LIfe blog posts last year, you should be familiar with the Weekly Word Art Circles I created. They were extremely popular and I had many requests to do them for 2013. I am happy to say that the 2013 circles-all 52 of them-are almost done and will be available for a limited time as a free download beginning next Tuesday! BUT...since I know many of you will be working on your Week One layouts this weekend, I wanted to provide you with the Word Art Circle for this week! Whoop, whoop!
They are a little different this year. They are BIG! 3.5 inches round-but I think they are a great compliment to the Seafoam collection. PLEASE NOTE!!! In the photo above you see the the date "January 1-6" printed on the circle. This line of text is NOT, I repeat, NOT in the file. Why? Because some people begin their weeks on a Sunday and others begin their weeks on a Monday. I wanted you to decide which date to start with. If you would like to add the text as I have done on my circle simply add a text box in Photoshop. The font I used is Helvetica Lt Std, Light Condensed at 18pt.
In addition to the photos above you can use the Weekly Word Art Circles like this:
Since the paper version of the Seafoam kit isn't availabe yet, to create either version of the title cards you will need the Title and Filler Cards and the Papers from the Digital version of the Seafoam kit available now at AC Digitals.
For the first card I opened the dotted 12x12 digital paper, cropped it to 4x6, printed it out on double-sided matte photo paper and used my Creative Memories corner rounder on the corners. The Word Art Circle was printed on a 4x6 piece of double-sided matte photo paper as well and I used my Creative Memories Circle Cutter to cut it out. I then used pop-dots to mount it to the circle to the dotted paper.
For the other option I opened one of the title cards in Photoshop along with the Weekly Word Art Circle. In order to get the placement of the date correct, I dragged and dropped the Word Art Circle onto the Title Card and placed it in the spot where the final printed version was going to go, then I made a text box and typed the date (again the specs for the font I used is: Helvetica Lt Std, Light Condensed at 18pt.
Make sure you delete the layer with the word art title before you print! So when you do print the title card, it will look like this:
Follow the instruction on printing and cutting out the Word Art Circle and mount to the Title Card using pop-dots (and trim the bottom part of the circle.
Like it?
So check back some time Tuesday afternoon for the full set! Again, they will coordinate with the Seafoam edition! Click the link below for your WeekOne file!
Whew! What a weekend! This post begins with December 9 and works backwards to December 7. There's an AWESOME freebie at the end, so keep reading!
{December 9}
Today I hosted my 2nd Annual Christmas Ornament and Cookie Exchange! I loved having my girlfriends over for a little holiday spirit! Chris was an awesome bartender and made pitchers of Pomegrante Maritins! The girls claimed they were the best they've ever had!
I made a 4x4 template to use one of Ali's 3x4 December Daily Story Cards with. I added a piece of digital paper so I wouldn't have to punch the holes directly into the journal card.
On the backside of that 4x4 template with the journal card, I printed out a photo of my fun friend Debbie. Prior to her coming the the party, she ran in the Santa Fun Run that is held in Old Town Riga each year (for sure I want to do that next year). All the participants have to dress up as Santa for the run! So much fun! To top it off it was Debbies birthday too! What a way to celebrate!
{December 8}
On Saturday Chris and I helped out with the Children's Christmas Party that was held at our Ambassador's Residence. I was in charge of the children's craft that day, but Chris, on the other hand, was the star attraction. He was asked to play the part of Santa. It totally melted my heart watching each child bring their list to Santa and tell him their Christmas wish as sat on his lap. I was also in charge of taking Santa pictures and it was so hard not to get choked up! I absolutley loved watching Chris take on this roll.
Of course I couldn't help but sneak a kiss from Santa!
The two photos above show a tag I created with Blue Star Outline digital paper from Ali's Happy Christmas Blue Paper Collection and the 3x4 December Daily Sentiment Boxes. I love the way it turned out! The paper ring tree in the photo is the craft I had the kids make at the event. I saw it on Pintrest and altered the size a bit. It was a fun thing to make!
I used one of Ali's 4x6 Layered Templates to create the image above. On the back of the above photo, I printed and attached the bottom photo of the choir. I then used two small pieces of washi tape to secure it to the journaling card and slipped the journaling card into the page protector.
The Ambassador and his wife invited an all-girl children's choir to sing at the party. Latvia is steeped in a strong tradition of song and dance. It seems as though every one in this country has the voice of an angel. These girls were wonderful and sang Christmas songs in both Latvian & English. You couldn't help but leave the residence with the Christmas spirit!
{December 7}
It snowed all day here in Riga. This town is so gorgeous when it is covered in freshly fallen snow! Although it was cold, I didn't mind getting out of the apartment to take a walk and buy an ornament for the party on Sunday. I loved the way one of the coffee shops had their windows decorated and snapped a picture of it for my album:
The little star mirror is from my own stash...
...as are the mini stars on my POTD:sparkle page. The photo to the right is in front of the Black Heads House, across from the Town Hall. This square also marks where the world's first decorated Christmas tree was believed to stand. The location is marked by a plaque and is right where the tall tree in the photo is. This page also flips to reveal another layout I made using one of Ali's Layered Templates and opens to show the journaling card as well.
Thank you soooo much for reading this long post! You can tell by the photos that it was a super busy weekend and I would have had a hard time putting my pages together and then blogging about them! I needed a quite Monday morning to get them done!
So I mentioned a freebie, right? You know that piece of red diagonal digital paper I added to my template in the 2nd photo of this post? Well...I created "December Daily Diagonals," a set of six 12x12 high resolution papers and I giving them to you as a free download! They are clean (no distressing) and the colors coordinate with those from the "bah humbug" freebie I made, as well as the Happy Christmas Paper Collections by Ali Edwards. Just click the link below and they're yours! Enjoy!
While the first three days of December were full of Christmas cheer, day four has been anything but. Let's face it, not everyday in December can be filled with tinsel and candy canes. Today was one of those days. It's December 4th and is anyone out there feeling as behind Santa's reindeer without a shovel as I am? From the photo below you can tell I'm still in the process of getting my fall decorations down! Usually by this time in December my Christmas decorations are up and the cookies have been baked. I just can't seem to get it together this year! And don't even ask about the Christmas cards. Not sure if those will even happen. Come to think of it, I don't know if they even happened last year. My memory is going!
See...fall decorations are still up! They will be packed away by the end of the day, though!
So while in my grinch-like-sort-of-mood it dawned on me that your rarely see any "bah humbug" sort of embellishments for your memory albums. Like I mentioned above, all of the days in December can't be merry & bright, right? Those days need to be documented, too! So I created a set of four 4x4 word art squares that you can use with my Instagram template I made (you can find the template in my December 1st entry). The colors match those in Ali Edwards' Happy Christmas Paper Collection. You can download the word art freebie at the end of this post!
The upside of this day was that there were actually blue skies (only for a little while) here in Riga! I can't even tell you the last time that happened! I am thinking that lack of sun isn't helping my mood much!
The little "tis the season" flag came from one of the 3x4 December Story Journal Cards Ali has available at Designer Digitals. I just printed out the card, cut out the flag and attached it to my journal card with pop dots. I love the look.
Above is the preview for the word art I created. Click the link below to download!
Welcome to Day 2! This weekend turned out to be a festive one! With the International Christmas Bazaar yesterday and the tree lighting ceremony this evening at Dome Square, one can't help but be in the holiday spirit (even though I am sick as a dog right now)!
You can read more about the tree lighting in the last photo of this post. I wanted to point out that the "seasons greeting and blessings for peace" word art is from Ali Edwards' Holiday Word Art collection that I purchased last year at Designer Digitals. I am loving how the star paper from yesterday's entry is showing through the plastic border of today's page! Totally didn't plan for that to happen. It was a nice creative surprise!
Again, I used the template I created for use with Instagram photos, but the photo above wasn't taken with Instagram. I took it with an app called Night Cap which does a pretty good job of snapping pictures in low light. I cropped it to a 4x4 size and dropped it into the template. If you missed yesterday's post, the template is available there as a free download! The littel element on the photo is one that I punched from a peice of the 6x6 paper that came in the December Daily Kit I order from Studio Calico.
Here is today's POTD–peace–love it. Chris and I bought electric "candle pyramids" (not sure what to call them) and placed them in all of the windows that face the main street of our apartment. They look pretty!
The above photo shows a journaling card I made for my December Daily pages. The patterned paper is from Ali's Happy Christmas Red Paper Collection. The wood veneer tree is also from Studio Calico's December Daily kit. And guess what? You can download the template for free by clicking the link below. It is a PSD file. Thanks for reading and enjoy the template!
