project life 2013 // week 1

Catching up as quickly as I can. I had a weekend all to myself and got a lot done. I was pretty nervous since the first week of the year was basically our honeymoon, well pre-honeymoon, in Italy.

Week 1 // I actually had saved a lot of receipts and papers from our trip (PL is great for hoarders) and so I had more to work with than just photos. I found a template to print on my cards, which I LOVE, then just added some tiny stickers to dress it up. I cut down our boarding passes and used an ancient Love, Elsie chipboard frame. I added an insert this week, that isn't totally finished. I need to have a 12x12 print made, easy enough. I used a map of Florence that Rob and I carried around the whole time, I could never have thrown it away.

The other half of the spread. More photos, tickets, journaling, a quote card, etc. I tried to keep it pretty simple and coordinate with the 12x12 photo that will be on that side of the insert. I used an envelope in one pocket to hold all the other papers I didn't have room for in my spread but couldn't part with. I love that about this project!

Thoughts this week.
Pros:
- Love how I have a place for all the 'stuff' I collected while in Italy. I like that it captures the every day of our trip and how laid back it was.
- I picked up some supplies 70% off at JoAnn's and having paper has made all the difference.
- I keep thinking about how amazing this is going to be to look back on. We all forget the little details after awhile, but it's all captured here.

Cons: 
- Still working out paper issues. Found out the Studio Calico papers differ from the regular core cards, I believe they are correcting that issue.
- I do struggle with not adding too many photos and coordinating colors, it can look like a mess pretty easily if you aren't paying attention to how the spread works as a whole.
- I find my inserts sometimes want to escape the pockets, quite annoying, must let go of that.

LOVE this project! Onward!

Supplies Used // Studio Calico February PL Kit (found a partial kit on ebay), Amy Tangerine Thickers Hello and Muse, Making Memories Tiny Alphas, Love Elsie Chipboard Frames, Elle's Studio Chic Date Tags, Basic Gret Hey You Chipboard Stickers, Heidi Swapp Journaling Spots, Basic Grey Fact 6x6 Paper Pad, Elise Joy Quote Cards.