Project 12 -- February 2011

So far, so good. It's the second month of Project 12 and I'm hanging in there. I decided that three elements -- the calendar, the font for the months and the shape of the journaling block -- will stay the same for all 12 layouts. With that said, I have to admit that I struggled a little with this layout. I just couldn't get the sketch to work for my pictures and then, I let go of the sketch -- or at least some of it's elements -- and my mojo came back. The other thing that pulled this layout together was stitching the brown border around the page. Yes, I took out my Janome Sew Mini and learned how to change the bobbin just like I promised myself I would when I started the Finding My Way class at Big Picture Classes. (It helps to have ahusband who used to watch his grandmother sew. Thanks, Sal!) Once that stitched border was there, the rest of the pieces fell into place. I think stitching (especially brown!) may be my new favorite addition to my scrapbook pages! Anyway, here's the sketch:

And here's my layout:

The journaling is long so rather than retyping it, you can click on the photo below to read it.

I did some stamping on this page. To create this cluster by the calendar, I used what may possibly be my new favorite stamp set from Papertrey Ink. Label Basics has the look and feel of the October Afternoon sticker label stickers that I love so much but gives me the ability to customize them to match all of my papers. I may never put this set away! The "Take Note" sentiment is from a PTI's Fillable Frames #1. Since I hate cutting my stamps, I masked it so that the sentiment would cover two lines. I also stamped the heart using one of the patterned hearts from Hero Arts that matched my paper.

Okay, so remember how much I liked stitching the border. Well, I couldn't put my sewing machine away without stitching a border on the heart too!

Supplies:

Cardstock: American Crafts;

Patterned Paper: Jillibean Soup (Pasta Fagioli); My Minds Eye (Dreamy 2); Reminisce (Unwritten);

Stamps: Papertrey Ink (Label Basics; Fillable Frames #1); Hero Arts (Design Accents: Pattern Hearts);

Ink: Stampin' Up! (Riding Hood Red; Crushed Curry ); Ranger (Coffee);

Tools: Cricut cartridge (Designer Calendar); Spellbinders Nestabilities (Labels Four; Classic Circles); Fiskars Border Punch (Scallop Sentiment); EK Success Edge Punch (Double Embossed Dotted Lace);Janome Sew Mini;

Misc.: Ormolu Package Tags (Hooray Calendar); Making Memories buttons (Chloe's Closet).