project lifin'

I've documented about half of 2013 and would like to finish it up and move forward with 2014 in the same, simplified manner I adopted late in the year. One of the things I did in my 2013 album that I really loved and want to duplicate this year is the title page.

For each of the kids, I created a flip up card insert with their photo on the outside, and inside, a mini questionnaire. I love that it not only captures their likes and goals but also, their handwriting and signature. I tweaked this list for my version. I added/subtracted a couple of things and shrunk it down to fit my baseball card style pockets.

So, tomorrow, I'll work on these with them. I don't know when they will actually be turned into my 2014 PL opener, but it WILL happen.

Someday.

Oh, hey there!

Long time.

I wish I had a giant post about all of the handmade holiday crafts that have kept me away over the past month. But I don't. Just life, and work, and maybe a little Seasonal Affective Disorder. Yeah, it's a thing. Sometimes, I just go away for a bit. Not because anything is wrong but just because keeping up can be exhausting.

I took the most minuscule number of holiday photos ever. BUT, we had a great, relaxing holiday that I loved. This year, Santa nailed it. I mean, absolutely kicked Christmas' ass.

The poem is kinda weak (I suspect an intern elf was tasked with the job) but the stationery was fantastic and the idea, though it took a few minutes for the kids to wrap their collective brains around it, has taken hold and energized us all.

Santa filled the kids' stockings, obviously, but the only other gift was twelve wrapped boxes, each with an "open [month] 1" date. I don't know what's in them but I suspect that based on the poem, each contains some type of lead in to a family activity for the month. Maybe tickets or gift cards...movies, bowling, putt-putt, a Tigers' game, a trip to the zoo or planetarium or pottery place. Maybe even reservations for a little overnight hotel getaway. Who knows, These are all just speculative, you know, but if I were forced to guess...

In other news, I've put all of my 2014 calendar items on sale for 25% off until midnight January 1st - go stock up! Izzy has been loving her coloring calendar. In 2015, I may need to do a monthly style coloring calendar.

And I'll be sending a shop newsletter out later today with a download link for this freebie (which is also in my shop along with a 3x4" version:)

so if you haven't signed up yet, what are you waiting for?

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Looking forward to 2014 :)

Happy Thanksgiving Recovery Day!

Also, be sure to sign up for my newsletter for updates on new products, inspiration and subscriber deals and freebies!

project life weeks 40:43

a template share

Eons ago, I bookmarked this book on Amazon solely for the cover design (though it looks like a really cool book to actually have, as well!) I knew at some point, I wanted to create a layout based on that configuration of diamonds and triangles. Finally, this morning, I set aside some time and did it.

I saved the base template as a layered psd so you can try it out as well. Grab the template here. The fonts I used are simplified but if you want to download use the same, the script is Signerica Fat and the sans serif is NeoRetroFill.

I decided to use a few photos from Halloween. It was dark and I was just using my phone so they are blurry and grainy but since the template focuses on slices and snippets, it was a good match. All of the digital elements (with the exception of that bit of gold leaf which is from Pixel & Co's DSD blog hop kit, Piccadilly) are from Paislee Press' Spellbound.

on the bandwagon...off the bandwagon...and then back on

Listen, I love the idea of project life. I love the variety of options available and the beautiful approaches people take in completing it. And I tried, I did, to do my own version of something like that. I struggled and kept up for a little bit but in the end, that just doesn't work for me. Basically, I gave up on it but then, a few weeks ago, I found Izzy oohing and aahing and "I remembering" over this:

and I knew that somehow, someway, I had to keep this up.

This morning, I knocked out four weeks worth of PL in about 3 hours. Start to finish. Selecting and printing photos, brief captions, the barest of embellishments. You guys, I think I can do this. Finally. I'm not sure it's worth sharing all four weeks because it's pretty boring. Not kidding. I'm not saying I'll stick with this photo + kraft look Every. Single. Week. but it's working for me now and I'll definitely continue in this vein while I plow my way through the backlog (not necessarily going to do all the weeks between when I fizzled out and the present but we'll see what happens.)

"hello" brush from STUDIO CALICO | dot card from STUDIO PEBBLES

heart brush from AC | hearts + "let's do this" from LLP

flip up on center right has more journaling...QR code is a link to Jake's VP speech

star and paper from PAISLEY PRESS here and here

I almost never pull out my "real" camera anymore. I'd estimate 95% of the time, I'm using my phone camera. It's terrible. But I figure for project life, I'm sticking with phone photos. That's it. No looking back. If I have a dSLR photo I have to use, I'll scrap it with a regular layout (and as little as that's happening these days, I think I may add layouts right into my PL album!)

So my process now:

1. I have my Dropbox app set to automatically back up my phone photos to my computer (which is AWESOME because the file name is the date/time the photo was taken.) Having the file name set to the date makes it so easy to quickly browse through and choose photos from the week.
2. Momento is perfect for quickly refreshing my memory (via, instagram, twitter and facebook updates) about what was happening during the week. I'm getting better about using the note feature too (which is how I remembered that quote that I found + loved in week 37 and my current playlist for week 39.)
3. I have easy templates set up for the week card as well as the caption cards (adding the social media icons for text taken directly from a tweet, facebook status or instagram upload - here's a good font for those.) I simply plugged in the text - copy and paste for many of them, and printed on kraft cardstock. 
4. Figure out where there are still holes to fill, and add what works. 
5. Cut, slide into the sleeve pockets and embellish in the most minor of ways.

One of the appeals of project life, for me, was the inclusion on kid art and little bits and pieces of life "stuff." I'm sure it will work it's way into the actual spread here and there but mainly, I'm just adding a regular letter size page protector every four weeks or so and sliding in the stuff I can't bear to part with (dated on the back, of course.)

So this is what worked for me this time. I'm hoping to spend another few hours this weekend getting current for October and then, possibly, work backwards into the months I've missed. It's maybe basic and boring but I'm going with "timeless." And done.

a children's book recommendation for my children's book loving friends

I've been following the Red Nose blog for years now - I'm a huge fan of the seeing the process used to create those magical little characters and scenes. Last week though was the first time I actually picked up a book that had been illustrated via Red Nose and it was just so lovely, I had to share.

While we have accumulated a lot of children's books over the years (because books are really the one extravagance that I feel absolutely zero guilt in indulging) I'm become much more selective in what I purchase versus what we check out from the library because 1) we LOVE variety and 2) a book needs to be really, really special to return to over and over.

We have our personal family favorites like anything Shel Silverstein or Oliver Jeffers, plus a handful of series that the boys love to collect and flip through long after the first reading (the typical choices of Origami Yoda, Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants variety) but we don't make too many impulse purchases anymore.

I read The Beginner's Guide to Running Away from Home to Izzy a few days ago and found myself studying it alone a handful of times after. I usually return books a couple of times a week to pick up a new stack, always returning the ones that have already been read but this one, I held onto through a couple of additional trips because I couldn't bear to part with it just yet.

It appears as though there are two other books, The Look Book and Here Comes the Garbage Barge, that have also been illustrated by Red Nose so, this year for sure, the entire collection will be under the Christmas tree.

One other library book that we recently checked out that Izzy enjoyed (and had fun illustrations) was Picture Day Perfection. A silly little story but enjoyable enough to read (a must for a book that will be read multiple times) with a pocket in the back for framing a school photo. I plan on getting that one for her as well - a perfect gift for a kindergartner as she's just started the whole school picture thing and it will be a fun way to collect each year in one place.

(also, you MUST, MUST, MUST check out this post on Seven Impossible Things!)

Go Places

I recently did this layout with this photo/quote combo and had a request to make the quote art available as a digital download wall print in my etsy shop. SO I did :)

I also made a small 3x4" version that can be used in your project life or anything else you might use for. You can grab that here - enjoy!

Ham Solo

This is a play on words that's probably been riffed on a thousand times but when Zack thought it up a couple of weeks ago, well, he was pretty impressed and amused by his cleverness. I know you don't "know" Zack but seeing him smile and laugh is one of my greatest joys in life because it doesn't come as naturally to him as it does to Jake and Izzy. He's more reserved with his emotions so when they're on display, I soak up every grin and giggle like the best kind of sunshine.

I knew I wanted to do something with the phrase to surprise him with so I found an iconic shot of Han Solo and a regular old pig photo and mashed them up into this silhouette. After searching the better part of the day for my MIA iron (no, I don't iron much...I'd venture to say that in the past year it's been used maybe twice. And both times for this application versus actual wrinkle remover. Which is what the dryer is for.) I was able to knock this out in under 30 minutes and that included the actual cutting. I hope he likes it.

If you have any desire at all to make one yourself, I made the file into a png that you can just print and cut. Grab it here!

31 Things, once again

Gangbusters, baby. I am so ready to finish this project and order a completed book!

Day 18:

PAPER + ELEMENTS

Day 19 (this one took awhile because when I stumbled onto this photo, I was paralyzed with memories:)

Add caption

See the rest of my 31 Things layouts (and download the templates) here.

eating this week

MONDAY lentils and rice with fried onions (new,) salad
TUESDAY herbed israeli couscous
WEDNESDAY brussels sprouts with roasted corn, avocado and lime
THURSDAY pizza
FRIDAY tortilla soup
SATURDAY vegetable chow mein + tofu
SUNDAY roasted vegetables + quinoa

31 things continued...

Day 16:

PAPERS // "hello life" WORDART // CIRCLE STAMPS

Day 17:

CIRCLE STAMPS // PAPERS

See the rest of my 31 Things layouts (and download the templates) here.

things I find on my phone...

This is what she does when using my phone in the backseat while I drive...practices her morning pledge routine (I really, really love our elementary school pledge.)

(also, her "s's"...so in love.)

Pledges. from Erica Hernandez on Vimeo.

getting back to that May project

Back in May, when I was tackling the 31 things project, I think I mentioned that I had stuck with making the lists every day but hadn't necessarily done so well at creating the actual layouts. The past couple of days though, I've knocked out a couple of more in an attempt to play a little catch up. Doing layouts for the Design Challenges class has me excited to scrap again (and hopefully get some September project life knocked out as well.) For the May fourteenth layout, I went classic black and white with papers from my LBD kit

and for the fifteenth, I used cards from the Boyish Filler Cards set.

See the rest of my 31 Things layouts (and download the templates) here.

overlay share

In my blog perusing this morning, I stumbled on this post from Squirrelly Minds and the fun graphic overlay reminded me of a set of photo/journaling card overlays I created awhile back (and on checking the save date, it was over a year...crazy how time flies!) This is just a single 6 x 4" psd file with all 6 overlays on individual layers - just drag to your photo to resize/recolor. If you'd like to download for your own use, grab it here!

in which I knit

I haven't shared any knitted projects in ages. I've done a handful of simple projects...scarves and the like - plain knitted rectangles that are satisfying no-look knits that I can work on while I read or watch TV. My sister asked me to knit a few hats and headbands for her coming-in-November  baby girl so I directed her to some yarn, had her buy what she liked and got to work putting some things together. A couple of weeks later and here we are:

I forgot how much I love baby knits. So fast and inevitably cute. A shrug/hat combo, nordic inspired with tassels, a bunny hat (that still needs some ribbon for those ears) in anticipation of Easter and red and white stripes that will surely be used for some Christmas portraits. I'm about halfway through the yarn she purchased so I have a couple more enjoyable weeks ahead of me. Then, who knows? Maybe I'll tackle a real project for someone in my own house! I know Izzy has her heart set on a monster hat so I see stripes and tassels and felt eyes in my future.

Big Picture Classes Design Challenges

Winner: Congratulations, Bonnie! Please email me so I can send you the information for joining the class - enjoy!
___________________

I so totally enjoyed being a part of the Phone Photography class a couple of months ago so when Elizabeth asked me if I'd like to contribute to a challenge blog as part of the Design Challenges class, I jumped at the chance! 

I've been less than productive when it comes to scrapbooking recently (which makes me sad) but these challenges have me scrapping again and even more importantly, really enjoying it! I've pared down to the essentials, really honed in on the digital + paper mix that I find most satisfying and recorded some stories and moments that are important to me.

Here are the details:

Design Challenges

12 inspired scrapbooking prompts to cure creative block taught by Elizabeth Dillow

http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/designchallenges.php

Starts 9/26/2013 $25

Class Description

Take the challenge(s)! Create twelve sensational scrapbook pages in four weeks, with Elizabeth Dillow, Erica Hernandez, and Stacy Julian as your creative muses. Design Challenges is back for its third run, and it's here to help you conquer creative block (and other artistic ailments).

Elizabeth Dillow was the force behind our summer blockbuster workshop, The Phone Photography Project. Now, in this month-long design journey, she'll help you tackle a dozen scrapbooking prompts that will have you scrapbooking with style, simplicity, and profound purpose.

In twelve downloadable handouts, Elizabeth will share two innovative scrapbook pages based on each of her twelve prompts, from "Challenge 1: Adapt a Familiar Form" to "Challenge 12: Embrace Fine Lines." A live classroom blog will include two bonus spins on each challenge, but with a fun new twist: these layouts will feature iPhone photos exclusively. (Just in case you need 24 excuses to get more of your photos off of your phone and into your scrapbooks!)

read rest of description here.

Class starts in just two more days and I have a spot to share! Simply leave a comment (I'd love to hear what topic or even you're looking forward to documenting next) and I'll announce a winner tomorrow, the 25th at 8 EST!

eating this week

Winners from last week? The minestrone was delicious. I subbed onion for the leek, sweet potato for the squash and vegetable broth for the water. I also added some barley. The wild rice and carrots was surprisingly good for being such a simple recipe. The roasted tomato ravioli was AMAZING. So much so that I switched it up a bit and made it again yesterday (bumping the ricotta spinach pasta for a later date.) The broccoli cheddar pot pies? Eh. Kind of bland, actually. Promising with some changes perhaps...add sauteed onion and garlic for starters and maybe just a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.

For this week, I have a feeling I'm going to be a bit scattered so I'm sticking mainly with things we've had before - mainly quick fixes.

MONDAY lentil tacos
TUESDAY sweet potato + quinoa salad
WEDNESDAY roasted cabbage w/ brown rice
THURSDAY spaghetti + salad
FRIDAY tomato avocado grilled cheese
SATURDAY quinoa nachos
SUNDAY pizza

and then my barely five-year-old lost a tooth

(Did that scare you?)

A few days ago, her bottom right tooth popped free. Is this normal? It seems premature. So, I googled and found that it's not the norm but it's not unusual either. Five weeks from first wiggle to tooth fairy time. The day we discovered it, Izzy wanted to let me mom know. This is the video we texted her. It's adorable.

IMG 2096 from Erica Hernandez on Vimeo.

(This was taken after the tearful conversation where we talked her down from being scared and hyped her up with the promise of impending fairy money.)

eating this week

I got out of the habit of sharing my dinner plans each week but I'm most certainly still creating a plan each week. It's been such a great habit for me over the past couple of years. The combination of switching to a vegetarian diet + planning meals for the week has seriously lessened my stress level at 5 pm each day. Having four people ask me on "what's for dinner" (sometimes before they've even finished breakfast...often multiple times a day) on a daily basis is stressful and annoying. Having an answer lessens that stress. A bit.

While I assign a meal to each day, usually each night I look at the meals I still have left for the week and based on time and energy, pick the one that works best. I also throw in one or two lunch items as well as a dessert. Most afternoons, I just grab leftovers or a sandwich at lunch but a couple of times a week, I like to sit down with an actual "meal."

I use pinterest, a couple of tried and true cookbooks and a handful of recipe-less favorites to come up with a plan but I find looking at past menus helps me thrown something together even faster; something that helps me mix old favorites with new recipes in a way that ensures everybody will be happy at least most of the week. I don't save past weeks' menus on my computer so having them easy to access here is a great way to speed up my planning time.

I've been working my way through some Cooking Light recipes I saved last month when I tried out Next Issue (tangent, I did a 30 trial and fell in love with this service! I'll definitely be subscribing when I find myself with a little extra fun money) so a good amount of these recipes are new to us and hopefully will be winners I can add to the regular rotation. I would love to get to the point where I'm planning a month at a time so I can develop weekly shopping lists ahead of time just adding the necessities as required. I'm realizing now that this whole week, with the exception of the stir fry (which is different every time I make it) and the pizza are new recipes.

SO. For this week:

MONDAY late summer minestrone with butternut squash and corn
TUESDAY broccoli cheddar pot pies + salad
WEDNESDAY tomato ravioli + garlic bread
THURSDAY wild rice and carrots + green beans with lemon mint dressing
FRIDAY veg stir fry w/ brown rice
SATURDAY ricotta spinach pasta + salad
SUNDAY pizza

LUNCH fattoush salad
BREAKFAST/SNACK chai banana bread // homemade fruit bars