KP Mini Part 2: the Undones

Last week, I showed you a mini book that I made in a class taught by the lovely Kelly Purkey when she came to my LSS, The Paperie. I know from experience that projects like this usually end up on the Undone pile and stay there but not this time, my friends. I'm determined.

First, I decided on a theme for my book. I took my cue from the cover of the mini and decided to focus on the things I like best about living in my little house in the woods. We made the cover in class and at the time I had no idea what this book was going to be about so it took a while to figure out my theme. I like the idea of having a "best of" book.



So far, I have the pictures and embellishments for three spreads. I'm still thinking about how I want to tackle the journaling.

Here's the first spread. The left side is going to be the title page and the right side is my dog, Mac. 



Here's the second spread.



I doodled a picture frame around the photo on the left. On the right, I added some strips of paper under the photo of Sam and some SC wood veneer people.

And here's the third spread.



I stamped the tiny hearts from Amy Tangerine's Hello set from the Ready, Set, Go collection in Picked Raspberry Distress Ink. They are the cutest little hearts ever. I also added the SC wood veneer "boys".

I am really out of practice putting together a mini book so this is taking a long time. I admit it, I like to skip the planning phase and start sticking things down which might seem like a good idea for "getting something done" but it's not. It's actually really really slow because every time I turn the page I have no idea what I'm going to do. Maybe I should make a plan before going any further. Maybe not.

Now it's your turn. Go dig out an Undone project or page or mini book and finish it off or at least start finishing it off. It can be done, I promise!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cathie

The Undones: Removing a Roadblock

Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans.  John Lennon

I didn't make much progress this week with my Undone pile. (see above quote)

Partly because I'm recovering from a few busy weeks and partly because I've been playing more Wii than usual. What can I say, Gabriel is very persuasive.  He convinced me to play this morning when he said, "Mom, you and I are the best Wii team ever." How could I say no?

Anyway, I mentioned last week that the large scope of Ben's baby book and its "specialness" was a problem for me.  Fortunately, something clicked this morning and I decided to focus on the stories I want to tell and remember about Ben's first few days.  Stories like how he got his name and how Gabriel loved having snacks in my hospital room. Now, I feel inspired again. It's funny how shifting my focus from pictures to story made this book much more exciting to me.

I immediately went downstairs and got my supplies...



...and started scrapping on my kitchen counter (that's why there's so much light!).



I didn't get much done but now I'm happy with my plan. Here's what I have to share today.







It doesn't feel like a drudgery anymore. What a relief!

As I continue with this book, I'm going to think about the stories that are missing, make some notes and then get the photos.  I'm going to keep using the products I have but I'll probably add to the stash whenever I feel like it. I don't care if it's all matchy-matchy, I'll make it work.

One last thing, digging into my "Undones" has shown me the value of regularly looking at unfinished projects.  The simple act of looking at the projects that are days, weeks, months or even years old has been inspiring and has pushed me to create things I'm really proud of. I hope I'm showing that to you and inspiring you to look at your own pile of Undones with fresh eyes and renewed inspiration.


Thanks for stopping by.

zove

Cathie

the Undones: Birthday Book (part 1)

Welcome back!

Last week, I started this series about unfinished projects that I call "the Undones".  We all have projects that we start with great intentions but never finish for one reason or another.  In my case, I have a box in my space full of good intentions.  Things I want to do but not "right now".  Maybe I'm bored of the project because it's taking too long to finish, I don't have the right supplies, I lost direction or maybe real life gets in the way. Whatever. When the box is totally full, I go through it and try to decide what to do with the projects. 

This week, I tried to finish the Amy Tangerine Day Book I was working on to celebrate Ben's first birthday.  On the actual day, I used Ali Edwards' Day in the Life approach to document what the day was like. I made notes during the day and used Post-It notes for things I wanted to add later. You can see a blue note reminding me to heat emboss a print of Ben's hand.  I can't find my white embossing powder and need to buy more.  Ben's handprint is going to be a little bigger now than it was a month ago but it's better than nothing, right?

By bedtime, the book was mostly done but still undone.  My goal was to have it finished to share today but alas I'm still not done. I'll show you some of what I have and then finish it up and share the rest next week.


































I think this is more than enough photos for one blog post.

So, as you can see it's nothing fancy.  Lots of journaling and photos and some emphemera - just the way I like it!

You're probably wondering what's "undone".  Well, the cover isn't done, and the back page isn't done and I have to emboss his hand print. I have ideas for what I want to do - I just have to do it.

Thanks for stopping by!

zove

Cathie