"Einzigartig" Layout | Shimmerz Education Team

This layout was inspired by the "love you to the moon" free cut file by Paige Evans and was perfectly complemented with the colors of the August Cocoa Daisy Memory Keeping kits and the dark blue and purple mists from the Shimmerzpaints store. I have slowly been collecting these amazing dark colors like the new Coloringz Ahoy Matey or the lovely Vibez Grape Soda and Blue Jeans. With all the white that was contrasting the dark colors it was so easy to use them. If you watch the video you will see, that there is no perfect formula for adding the colors onto the gessoed background. It's misting packaging with color, then smudging the color onto the paper and repeat until you feel you have ruined your paper. Which is usually the point where you will then check back with the photo and additional items and realize that you will cover all the color and you will need to cover even more of the background in color.

This closeup shows how well the blues, purples and teals work together and create a dark but still very colorful background. I added in several gold accents using gold alpha stickers, blue denim die cuts that I colored with a mixture of Grape Soda and Ahoy Matey and gold splatters using Vibez Glorious Days and Inklinz Miner, Miner 49er.

The dramatic background didn't need very much else, so I simply backed my photo with white cardstock and layered several die cuts around the photo. I tried to add gold thread but that was a disaster - I don't know if I'm just not capable to form a thread ball that looks appealing or if it's the special metallic gold thread.



Here is a link to my process video on youtube. If you place an order in the Shimmerz Store, don't forget to mention my name Simone in the comments at checkout to receive a free mini surprise product! Thanks for stopping by today!

SUPPLIES:
Vibez - Jeni B Blue, Grape Soda, Blue Jeans< Glorious Days
Coloringz - Ahoy Matey
Inklingz - Miner, Miner 49er

Catching up on Project Life. 5 tips to get you started in the right direction.

Today I am sharing some of the insights that I gained while trying to catch up on my Project Life 2016. Those might be helpful for you when you are trying to decide whether or not to take on such a big ongoing project and also when you want to start tackling one of you unfinished projects. So let's dive into my five tips.



Before you start with the creative process, I encourage you to spend some time editing and printing your photos. This might sound like a very daunting task, but having everything ready to go when you have some spare time to work on a spread is so helpful! If you are working with a double spread there are 16 pockets so I suggest you choose between 8-12 photos per week. Once you have them printed, sort them by week in envelopes so you can grab them when you want to create a spread.



While you are choosing your photos keep a notebook where you add a note for each photo you choose. This way you remember why you chose the photo to be documented and what you wanted to say about it. It is also very helpful to add the week number and date range for each week, then you have one specific place you'll find that information once you start your creative process.



When you try to catch up on a big project like Project Life it is better to limit the configuration of your pocket style page protectors, the most common one is Design A. and I highly recommend this configuration due to its popularity. You will find the most inspiration for this style of page protector. It eliminates a whole step in the decision making process while printing photos: all vertical photos get printed in 3x4 and all horizontal ones in 4x6. You will also find that when you progress, you get more comfortable with this one specific style and you start to develop a routine.



Instead of using everything you have available to you in your stash try to limit your supplies: either use a special pocket kit like the Cocoa Daisy Memory Keeping Pocket kit or create your own kits from your stash. By limiting your supplies you will find that you can create a lot faster because you will not spend hours looking for the right card, the perfect sticker or the best stamp. Getting new supplies every month or rotating through your stash also keeps things fresh and interesting.

Lastly, don't force it. What does that mean? If you want to also work on other projects during this time set your monthly goals low. Commit to one or two weekly spread per month. Even if that means you will be working on this project for quite a while to come, don't let a "catching up project" overwhelm you and burn you out. And if you are done and there is just no way you see yourself ever finishing this project? Then give yourself some grace: decide to leave a gap in your album and call it finished. Remove the visible gap and don't look at the weeks you didn't finish. Give yourself a pat on the shoulder and see all the amazing things that you did manage to document! You rock!

I hope these five tips were helpful and you can incorporate them in you creative process! Here is my process video for Week 36/2016 that I am slowly catching up on. I use my Cocoa Daisy kits each month to create one week this leaves me enough time to work on so many other projects. I have everything already printed and my promots for each week in my notebook so I can take as much time as I need.


Thanks so much for stopping in today!