2016 PL plans and supplies

Thanks for tuning in for my second post! Today I'm going to talk about my 2016 supplies. The photos in this post are of my 2016 title page, inspired by Geralyn at In a Creative Bubble.





I knew I wanted some cohesion in my 2016 album after my disjointed 2015 effort, so I looked all around for (preferably free) printable cards to mark the weeks or months using the aesthetic I'd already decided I wanted, that is, black, white, bold, and able to stand up to a bit of color. That way I knew I would have at least one element on each spread to tie it all together. I chose these from Arlyna, a really talented artist and designer. As an added bonus, she offered these in both 4x6 and 3x4 playing right into my single or double-page weekly spread plans *evil laughs.*


I , like everyone else, was totally in love with Trish Harrison's stendig calendar numbers, though I didn't have a stendig calendar to make my own like she did. I also just saw a post on on Give A Girl a Blog's blog that she is selling digital stamps of a similar bold style. So if that is your style, check them out!

I also downloaded these quote cards by Elise Blaha Cripe, who is ah-mah-zing. I decided that these two elements would appear on every spread of my album to give it cohesion and to match my style- let's see how that goes!

Finally, I found these calendars from Harley Quinn and Co., as I had seen Tracy Armstrong use them in her 2015 album and I love everything she does so.... obviously. Great find! I edited the calendar cover page a bit to make a transparency that prefaces my title page. I also picked out a cork 12x12 WRMK album.


Now, this may sound ridiculous (or not, you're reading a blog about Project Life, after all, so you may feel me on this) but I spent a lot of mental and emotional energy coming to these realizations about my style, I was so unsure about what I liked because it was all so dang pretty.What pushed me over the edge was this  process video by the always-amazing Shimelle. I loved looking at the white on white blown out style of PL that is so prevalent these days, especially with design team members. But I gotta do me, and that meant expressing my own style, but trying to keep it within some boundaries so I'd be satisfied with the result. (Side note, if you're looking for some design principle ideas, watch Shimelle's series on doing her son's PL album. She has an amazing way of explaining why she's doing what she's doing, as a professional designer, mind you! Even if you don't love her style, she knows her stuff and you can apply it to your own.)

Now, onto kits. I am still a Studio Calico Documenter kit subscriber, which I like a lot, but I also added Citrus Twist PL kit. See Diane's blog and youtube for some awesome process videos using the kit, I was sold after seeing her work! What also sold me on Citrus Twist was (1) the price! I felt like you got a lot of material for the money, and (2) they include in every kit 6x6 patterned paper sheets! I feel like I was almost circling back to traditional scrapbooking, but I can't resist a bold design or pretty paper. I feel like it gives you more options for matting or filler cards. I also happily noticed that January kits for both of these companies coordinated beautifully and they play really well together in my first few January layouts.

As far as my stash, being the ridiculous fangirl I am, I went a little nuts at SC's Black Friday sale, picking up several 2015 documenter/PL kits that came out before I was a member, so I have those in my stash, as well. We'll see if I need to dig through them; I have a feeling that I will be accumulating goods faster than I can pocket them, what with my TWO current subscriptions! I also have the balance of my Seafoam core kit designed by, you guessed it!, Elise Blaha Cripe!

So, at this point, I'm thinking I have a clear vision of what I'm looking to accomplish and I'm feeling good about my ability to do it! Keep checking back for some layouts! Thanks for reading!

PS. Please excuse the appearance of the blog at the moment. I am working on getting it all swagged out, but for now, please bear with me!