Documenting March & April Rain

I thought I would pop in today and share my March Life Documented scrapbook pages. I am still collecting at least one photo each day to my Collect app. Some days I have several I want to use so I create a collage and use it. This has been such a fun project for me this year. Today after work, I came home and began working on printing my March photos. I didn't get to go to my workout due to my cough that worsens with deep breathing. I thought I would take advantage of having the evening at home by working on my March pages. I actually finished them completely...from uploading to printing...to decorating. Yay me!

Like I have said before, these pages are not fancy in any way nor are the pictures perfect. They are taken on my iPhone and are sometimes very simple. And you may notice, I like to photograph my food. LOL! Occasionally I forget to take a picture or maybe I was not feeling well and have no picture to share, I find a quote on the Internet...as was the case below with Charlie Brown and Snoopy. I was sick that day.

I try to use bits and pieces or ephemera and stickers with similar colors but there  is no real rhyme or reason to the process. I just choose things I think fit the picture. I'm good with that. 

I need to go back and fill in some negative space I am noticing now....but that can wait until another day.

It's just a fun, stress relieving process that I truly enjoy. It's the little things in life that make up the majority of our lives and I am loving the process of documenting many of those little things.

I need to print a few extra photos from the month to fill in these last few spaces and March will be complete. I am already excited for April. 

Speaking of April...these next photos will be the ones that document today in the Collect app. We finally got some rain! I have been praying for it and the good Lord delivered big time! Mama said their rain gauge said 4 1/4 inches earlier today and it rained again this evening so maybe around 5 inches total. Such a blessing. The arrows are pointing to the rain pouring off my new porch roof! It sounded awesome pounding on the tin roof earlier.

Here it is puddled up on the ground below.  There's a partial view of my steps the hubby built for me. They are so nice...5 feet wide and 15 inches deep. We still have to put in handrails but we plan to build a pergola over the steps and the handrail will be built at the same time. We will also be putting in rain gutters later on.

That's all I have to share today. I am off to bed. I am finally feeling a little better....if I can just get rid of the cough! I hope your week is going well so far. 

Until next time.....

Documenting My Life

Can you believe it? I'm posting two days in a row!

 I know...miraculous. LOL!

I wanted to share  my Project Life album I've been working on this year. It's actually more like Project 365 since I take at least one photo a day and journal a bit about my day. 

Let's take a look...

My pages aren't elaborate and I do not have time to journal extensively each day. I would not keep up with this if that's what I had to do. I know myself too well. The process needs to be simple and streamlined for me. I use an app called Collect which I will share more about at the end of the post. I love this app!

Every night, I open the app and choose a photo or create a collage if I have a few I want to use, and journal a bit about my day. If I forget, I can always do it the next day. I try not to get more than a day behind though so I can remember the highlights of each day for the journaling. 

I print my photos that are complete with the date and journaling. You can download the photos in landscape or portrait and in two different sizes. You can also choose different variations of font and layout.

I chose a color scheme for the embellishments and the little bits of paper I used.

I add at least one embellishment to each photo and sometimes more. This is not everyone's style I know, but it suits me and makes me happy. I filled in the last few pockets on this page with a few extra photos from the month. 

Here are a few close-ups of some of the photos. 

Every now and then, I forget to take a picture or just don't have one I want to use, and I just use a graphic or quote or something for that day.

I included a photo of the vision board I created for my word this year. I have one of these enlarged hanging in my craft room, one taped inside my day planner, and another in my planner at work.

I love this photo.

Here's a screenshot of my Smile folder on my iPhone. I have all my photo related apps in this folder. The blue "C" is the Collect app.

This is what I see when I open it. I just click on the date for that day and choose a photo from my phone, edit it, and then journal a little about my day. It limits you to so many characters, but I usually don't have a problem fitting everything I need to. Sometimes I have to get creative with my wording though. 

At the end of the month, I will download them in both landscape and portrait and then decide which format to print when I get my page protector out and ready. I am enjoying it so much. I did a December Daily album and it got me hooked. The Collect app makes it manageable for me and I look forward to choosing a photo or photos to use each day. I try to enjoy each day and the often simple events of my life. These ordinary moments are important to document as well as the big moments. 

I know this post won't appeal to everyone, but by now you know when I blog, I blog about my life and what is going on. This is important to me so I wanted to share. I hope your Monday was a good start to this week. Have a wonderful rest of the week and until next time.....

Porch Progress & a Few Fun Finds

Hello friends! Happy 2017! 

I hope this finds you well and happy and enjoying the new year.

Oh my...there's been so much going on around here. I'll fill you in as we go.

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 If you are a regular reader (friend), then you might remember that I have been waiting to begin my front porch project for quite some time. I mentioned in December that we were finally starting on it. It's not a fast project but that's ok. We just work on it as time permits and I am good with that. I'm a kindergqarten teacher so patience is one of my strongest virtues. LOL!

Here's a picture of the deck boards...it took two carts to load them all and talk about a workout trying to push one!

The deck portion of the porch is complete! It is so nice...and so big! It's 10' wide and 32' long. I am beyond thrilled with it! Next up will be the roof which we hope to begin soon. We would have started it this weekend but rain and freezing temps permitted us from doing so. Also, Joey's mom was admitted into the hospital for some tests. We are waiting for pathology reports to come back next week so we know exactly what we are dealing with. Thoughts and prayers are welcomed and appreciated. Some of you may remember we lost his dad to cancer just over 5 years ago. This is hitting him very hard and we are just praying it is not cancer.

I thoroughly enjoyed my two weeks off for winter break. I actually returned to work this past Thursday for two teacher workdays. I worked Thursday but ended up taking Friday off to stay with my mother-in-law in the hospital. She had just been told she most likely has cancer and I could not leave her alone. Joey or her boyfriend couldn't stay since she was in a semi-private room, so I stayed with her Thursday and Friday nights. She (we) got to come home yesterday and I am enjoying being home until I have to go to work in the morning. I am exctied to see my kinder babies. I missed them!

I did some shopping over the break...mostly clearance shopping. I found some great deals!

At Michael's I bought mostly scrapbooking supplies. I have been working on a December Daily album and am also doing Project Life this year. I have been enjoying it so much. I have been using an app called Collect and it makes it so easy to document a special memory from each day. I can share more about that in a future post if anyone is interested. Just leave me a comment and let me know.

I order from Peachy Cheap occasionally and love this kit! Isn't is fun? The colors make me happy!

Of course we have made several trips to Lowe's to purchase porch suipplies and I had to check out their Christmas clearance as well. I got the Allen & Roth copper colored mercury glass balls there and the hooks. The galvanized and copper wire snowflakes came from Michael's, I am LOVING copper these days and I especially love galvanized and copper mixed. They will be used to decorate in my kitchen next Christmas.

I ran into Pier 1 to look at this tray last week. I want it for my coffee cart (which we have yet to build) but I didn't buy it because it is too big. I might go back and buy it anyway though because I love it! Copper trimmed galvanized metal....gorgeous!

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 Anywho, while I was there, I of course spotted the Christmas clearance and found these things. 

Copper colored jingle bells!!!

And this ornament is trimmed in copper paint too.

That same day, I ran into Target to use a gift card and purchased a few Valentine's Day items in the dollar spot as well as some planner stickers and some kraft cards.

Yesterday after we left the hospital, I needed to stop by JoAnne's to look for something and of course hit up their Christmas clearance. They had a lot left but I only purchased some sticker books for my class as well as a couple large bottle brush trees and some thick baker's twine.

This is what I went in for though. It was on sale and I got an additional 20% off for being a teacher. It ended up costing less than $9. It was originally $30! I was so happy about that. I have been wanting one for a while now. It is a fuse tool and will be used for scrapbooking.

I also received an order from Amazon containing my album for my December Daily and several packs of pages, as well as some tabs and Gelly Roll pens to write directly on top of photos. 

And here's a little snapshot of my desk where I have been working on it. I have a few pages done and will share when I finish it. It has been a fun project!

So, what have you been up to? 

Have a wonderful day!

Random Tidbits

Hello friends and happy weekend...or should I say happy day because you may not be reading this on a weekend day! Just a few random tidbits to share today. I've still been super busy and don't see things slowing down anytime soon, but life is good! I wanted to share a few things I picked up when the hubby and I went on our anniversary date. He was such a sweetie and trudged along with me through Tuesday Morning and Hobby Lobby. I was absolutely thrilled to spot this Katie Daisy calendar at Tuesday Morning for just $5.99. I just love her artwork...so fun and whimsical! I can use these prints after the calendar expires and I already have an idea of how I will display them. They will of course be used in my craft room. Her prints scream happy to me!

This is one of my favorites!

Here's a glimpse at all 12 of them. I love each one!

I got all of these goodies as well. Most of them were super cheap at Tuesday Morning. I love that store and wish I could go more often. It's probably a good thing I cant't though! I bought lots of planner and scrapbooking goodies. I especially love the ephemera pack in the middle. So pretty! I recently organized all my ephemera and die cuts and will share that soon.

I also received a package in the mail this week from Peachy Cheap with all these die cut packs. I love using die cuts in my Project Life layouts. 

You may remember the folders I got on clearance at Wal Mart a few weeks ago. I said I was going to frame some of them and this is the first one I framed. I love it! This frame has been painted and repainted at least 5 or 6 times. 

Speaking of frames, let me share the two postcards I received in the mail from Miranda. The top one is Prague and the bottom is from her trip to Vienna. (She's in Berlin this weekend and really enjoying it). The bottom one begged to be framed. So.....

I took this obnoxious hot pink frame I bought at the Family Dollar over the summer to paint and use for something. It was the perfect size with just a little space for a mat.

I dug through my scrap paper stash and found a piece of black paper to back it with and here it is now. I love the gold with the black mat and think it complements the postcard nicely.

Here is is on my gallery wall. Another meaningful piece added to the others.

I also recently printed a new piece of "artwork" for my clipboard. I love this quote from Anne of Green Gables! And, I love the muted orange and aqua colors of this print.

Speaking of orange and aqua, here's some fabric I bought several months ago to make a fall bunting with. No time like the present since fall has finally arrived in Florida. At least in the mornings and evenings. It has been a little cooler during the day as well. It is a refreshing change from the near 100 degree humid weather we normally have.

Here it is before I pressed it.

And here it is hanging. Not the best picture, but I like the cozy vibe it has. This is actually my view right now as I type. I just took that photo with my iPhone. 

Last weekend when the hubby and I went grocery shopping, we decided to stop by the flea market. I have been much more selective in what I drag home these days and hardly ever go thrifting anymore, but every now and then I NEED to go. So, we stopped and walked about for a bit. I found only one item to buy. I actually almost didn't buy it, but I couldn't resist. I have always wanted a stool like this. and it was only $3.

There are some imperfections for sure, but I love it! I couldn't pass it up since it is my favorite color.I cleaned it very well. It was absolutely filthy! I love the patina on it...it gives it character.

Here's where I put it. I always drop my purse and things on a chair I had here after work, but this cutie took the place of the chair. I really like it here.

I will leave you with a couple of Miranda's European Adventure photos. She posted this first one on Facebook & IG earlier this week with this caption.....

"It's definitely fall in the Czech Republic. And, it's also already too cold for my warm Floridian heart. 32 degrees in October? That's a first for me.‪#‎MirandaMovesAbroad‬ ‪#‎Prague‬ ‪#‎FallLeavesMakeMeHappy‬"

I love this picture so much! The leaves are just beautiful. We don't get the gorgeous oranges, reds, and golds that other places do.

And here is one she posted today from Berlin. Another gorgeous fall tree. It has an ombre look to me! I love looking at all her pictures. 

And, that wraps up this post folks. A bit random I know. Seems like that's all I blog about when I do get the chance. I'm always so happy to hear from each of you. Your comments truly bring a smile to my face and to my heart. I have made so many "friends" here in blog land and I truly love and appreciate the friendships I have here. I hope you have a delight filled rest of the weekend. 

Until next time....