Project Life: Week 3

Week Three of Derek's album.  Includes his first visit with Grandma and Grandpa and playtime on his playmat.  I used more manila shipping tags, an item that is quick and easy and will be a staple throughout this album.  I also used one of the printable quotes I designed :)

 

Project Life: Week 2

The next week in the life of little Derek :)

Project Life: Week 2

Here is a look at his first week home.  Looking at this now it seems so long ago...none of the clothes in the pictures even fit him now :) 

I just realized it may be confusing cause I titled this 'Week 2' and the actual page says 'Week 1'.  I started counting with the first week he was home in his album so I will match the titles from now on to make it less confusing :)

Project Life: Week One

I am finally ready to start sharing pages from Project Life/ Derek's baby book!!  Each week is a two page layout.  I upload the pics a month at a time to Shutterfly ( which is the only place I have found to print photos that are close in color and quality to what I am actually shooting!) and write down notes and stories in a notebook I keep handy, then match them up when I am putting the pages together.  I also take a lot more pictures with my phone, and just upload those too.   I am loving this type of scrapbooking and it is now part of my routine :)  More layouts to come this week.

Here is a look at the week he was born!!

 

Project Life: Intro Page

Hello everyone :) It is good to be back! I am slowly working things from my pre-baby routine back into my new life as a Mama and this is was an easy an obvious choice.  I was also excited to share the first page of Project Life!!  I completed this page shortly before the arrival of my little man, and just didn't get a chance to  post it up here. 

While the rest of the album will follow a weekly format, I wanted the first page to act as an intro and briefly touch upon what led up to Derek's first week of life.  I am super happy with how it turned out and it makes me anxious to get working on the pages for the last couple weeks! 

Check back soon, I am working on a post about how great (and CRAZY!) it is to be a new Mom and have more pictures of the little one to share :)

welcome baby d.

Derek Thomas Golinski

February 21, 2013

7 lbs 11oz.

You may have noticed that I have been absent for the past 10 days and it is because my husband and I were welcoming our son into the world.  This also means that you probably won't see me on here for a bit as we continue to settle in and snuggle a lot :)  

blanket stitched burp-cloths

In getting ready for baby Golinski's arrival I have about a million projects planned for making his nursery a magical, creative, and fun space :)  I have since realized that the reality of getting all of these completed before his arrival is slim, but that it won't matter since he won't know the difference and will be sleeping in our room for a couple months.

With that said I have been sneaking in simple ways to spruce up the everyday baby items with a spark of creativeness that will take them from blah to cute in a short amount of effort, time, and money.

My first little project (completed from the comfort of my recliner in front of a movie or the latest episode of Fringe) was to add some colorful stitching to his otherwise blah white burp-cloths.

let the maternity leave begin.

Well guys, yesterday was officially my last day of work for a few months.  I originally wasn't planning on leaving for another couple weeks as I still have 4 weeks until my due date.  However, the family that I was nannying for found a replacement that needed to start at the beginning of this month and so here we are :)

I cannot say that I am not ready to be home and to finish getting everything set for little man's arrival.  I am also excited to have a month before he gets here to work on a multitude of art projects I have going on right now, so look for LOTS of those this month on here.

This will also allow me time to focus on my scrapbook designs that I am developing.  Unfortunately, I cannot share any of these designs yet, but I promise I will as soon as I can.  I will also be adding certain designs too my Etsy shop before the end of the month.

I haven't taken many pregnancy photos, actually it's been 10 weeks since I documented my growing belly.  So here I am at 36 weeks.  Please note that my nose is not that big in real non-pregnancy life :)

Project Life: Baby's First Year

I am so so so so excited to start this project and share it with you!!!  I have decided to be a part of the Project Life movement that is going on in the scrapbooking world right now.It was started by Becky Higgins a couple years ago and has really caught on and taken on a life of it's own.

Most people do one two page spread consisting of 4x6 and 3x4 pockets for photos, journaling, etc. for each week of the year, thus documenting their lives as they go along, as opposed to the traditional one-page-per-event/ topic scrapbooking style.  It is a great way to capture all the little bits of life and is more like a journal and scrapbook all in one.

Mine is going to be a little bit different in that instead of one spread for each week of the year, I will be documenting Baby G's first year of life.  I am still in debate of whether to start it with the week he is born, or sneak in a few of the weeks leading up to 1) because I am excited to start and 2) to share thoughts feelings and preparations for his arrival.  I am slightly hesitant to start early because I still have a lot I want to put into my pregnancy journal so we shall see.

I have started gathering supplies and prepping them to use in the album, by pre-cutting them, etc. Below is a glimpse at some of what I have collected so far.

I will also be adding my own take on some Project Life inspired products to my Etsy shop VERY soon, and using them in my album as well.

Below are some links to various sites explaining and illustrating this project for you to check out, all of which are very inspiring!!

           Project Life at TwoPeas
           365: Project Life by Ali Edwards
           Project Life by Becky Higgins
           Meet the BH PL Designers Here
           Elsie Blaha's Project Life 2013

I am not sure how many, if any scrappers read my blog, but if so is this something you would consider doing, have done, or just any thoughts on the project in general?

cravings, clothes, and due dates

More pages from the pregnancy journal and still so many more to go :)  Haha, I thought I would have this done by the time he gets here, but I am coming the realization that it just might not happen that way.  And you know what, that is OK! 

Baby G's first picture on what ended up looking like a background make of candy buttons and his due date which is one of my favorite pages from the album thus far. I think it's the negative space and bright aqua on the kraft paper.

This may be my favorite page so far!!  I love that the colors of the product labels all went together with these cute grocery stickers I had :)  I also used fabric paint out of one of the tubes with the skinny tip to write with for the first time and will definitely repeat this new technique!

I am collecting and stapling tags from all of his gear here (left).  The page on the right is a note that came with the blanket that Dave's grandma made for our future baby before she passed away.  I was thankful that Aunt Cathy sent it along with a nicely typed note explaining the story behind it that I could put here in his journal :)

Baby G's little man pad.

Dave and I put some work in yesterday into transforming what was the baby gear landing pad, into a sweet room for Baby G!! It actually looks like a bedroom now, I am so excited!!! I love everything about it (except for the popcorn ceiling but not much can be done about that!)  We still have a few more finishing touches, like handles on the dresser :) I also plan on putting some artwork up on the walls above the dresser and when you first walk into the room, and I am painting a growth chart at some point.  It wasn't as "outer spacey" as I had first envisioned but I am kind of OK with that :)