Book Report Layout

I read 24 books in 2015 and have been waiting to do a layout all year!

I used some Project Life cards and scrap 6x6 papers to create a layered look behind my journaling card. And you now I had to use my favorite gold Thickers.

These labels are from a 2014 (?) Studio Calico kit and as soon as I saw them, I know they were destined for this layout. 

I wrote out all the books I read on each label and then adhered them all over the bottom half of the page.

I found some Studio Calico and Heidi Swapp chipboard embellishments to fill up little spots.

Have you ever documented your reading list?

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New Truck layout

Hubby got his first new truck! That's definitely a 12x12 worthy event! After extensive research, he got a 2016 Ram 2500. It's perfect for his tree business and for our camping trips. This truck has so much more power than the old one - can't wait to see how it tows the camper!

I used Simple Stories Pumpkin Spice, some Ali Edwards journaling cards and embellishments, and wood veneer on this layout. The tag that was attached to his keys didn't exactly match... so I tucked it in a little bag behind some paper. 

The "first" is from an Ali Edwards Story Kit last year. 

Had to include the date, so I used an October Afternoon die cut arrow and a roller stamp.

Any tips for making masculine scrapbook pages? I think this one turned out ok, but it's kind of hard to do!

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26 Books - October

I read quite a bit in October. I love reading on my lunch break at work. It's a much better use of my time than wasting time on my phone and it actually gives me a sense of escaping for a few minutes.

1. A book you own but haven't read

2 - a book that was made into a movie

3 - a book you pick solely because of the cover

4 - a book your friend loves

5 - a book published this year

6 - a book by an author you've never read before

7 - a book by an author you love

8 - a book at the bottom of your "to be read" pile

9 - a book with a color in the title

10 - a book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit

11 - a book you started but never finished

12 - a book with a lion, a witch, or a wardrobe

13 - a book with a female heroine

14 - a book set in the summer

15 - a book of poems

16 - a book you learned about because of this challenge

17 - a book that will make you smarter

18 - a book with a blue cover

19 - a book you were supposed to read in school. But didn't.

20 - a book "Everyone" has read but you

21 - a book with a great first line

22 - a book with pictures

23 - a book from the library

24 - a book you loved... read it again!

25 - a book that is more than 10 years old

26 - a book based on a true story 

First, I read A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler. I'm using it for #9, a book with a color in the title. The books kind of rambles quite a bit but I liked it. I'll be looking at other books by this author for sure.

Next up was The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty. I'm using it for #11 because I started reading it  while on a trip last year but didn't get very far before I got sidetracked. I enjoyed another book by this author back in June. This story also shocked me at the end! 

The third book was The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler. I'm using it for #22 because there are a few drawings in the book (of tarot cards). It's sort of a mysterious book like The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. It's about a family with roots in the circus industry. So good! I seem to be really into magic books this year!

When do you make time for reading?

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Fall Camping

Have I mentioned that I love fall? It's my favorite season.

We took a little camping trip this past weekend. We went to Roan Mountain and it definitely felt like fall!! It was a bit rainy (mostly mist), the temperatures are cooler, and the leaves were gorgeous!

We went over to Boone on Saturday morning and saw signs for an Octoberfest at Sugar Mountain. We (obviously) had to buy matching hats to be festive.

Joe made me take a ride on the ski left (the heights freak me out!!) but it was worth it. This photo is one of my favorite photos I've ever taken... It got foggier and foggier as we went up the mountain. We were freezing on the ride down and could hardly see more than the chair in front of us!

We're nowhere near peak season down here, but it was (nearly?) peak at the top of the mountain. Check out this photo - no filter needed!!

And another selfie!!

 How are the leaves in your neck of the woods?

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Fall

I'm currently:

• trying green smoothies for the first time. Yup, spinach. Maybe kale. I got a NutriBullet at Walmart. I'm going to try the 30 day smoothie challenge over Simple Green Smoothies. It's free, so you should totally do it with me.   Got any recipes you want to share?

• figuring out my approach to decluttering... have you read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up? I want to KonMari my entire house. Joe can't wait, haha. I'll start with clothes. I want to GET REAL about what I'm wearing, what I don't like, and clean out that closet. I've pared down purses over the years but still have work to do there. I'm pretty sure there are 2-3 I kept that I haven't carried since the last purge. 

• using my Get to Work book to you know, plan my week. It's amazing how writing out my work schedule, appointments, current projects, and reminders helps keep me on track. I make notes when I have something coming up (like a coworkers birthday) and I need to bring something (cheese tray). Magic.

• awaiting the arrival of a passport sized Traveler's Notebook (got it on Etsy) to keep up with all the little lists and notebooks I have going on. I've recently fell in love with small moleskin size books and hope they will work in this TN. I have a little notebook for smoothie recipes, essential oils/combos that I'm trying, and plans for a couple more.

• ready to get caught up on Project Life. I've been a month or two behind all year, which is fine... but I have a couple of other projects I want to do and being caught up on PL will allow me to focus on other things. I've printed July's pictures. It always makes it easier for me when I have the pictures printed.

• listening to daily drone updates/lessons from Joe. He got a drone for his birthday and is having fun learning to fly it. It is pretty neat to see the pictures over our house and of the sunrise.

• watching for signs of fall. The temperatures are starting to get a bit cooler. A few leaves have started turning yellow, but no real reds yet. I think it's going to be a few more weeks.

How is fall looking for you right now?

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26 Books - August

So August was a slow month for reading... it ebbs and flows.

1. A book you own but haven't read

2 - a book that was made into a movie

3 - a book you pick solely because of the cover

4 - a book your friend loves

5 - a book published this year

6 - a book by an author you've never read before

7 - a book by an author you love

8 - a book at the bottom of your "to be read" pile

9 - a book with a color in the title

10 - a book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit

11 - a book you started but never finished

12 - a book with a lion, a witch, or a wardrobe

13 - a book with a female heroine

14 - a book set in the summer

15 - a book of poems

16 - a book you learned about because of this challenge

17 - a book that will make you smarter

18 - a book with a blue cover

19 - a book you were supposed to read in school. But didn't.

20 - a book "Everyone" has read but you

21 - a book with a great first line

22 - a book with pictures

23 - a book from the library

24 - a book you loved... read it again!

25 - a book that is more than 10 years old

26 - a book based on a true story

I started a book by Gretchen Rubin called Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of our Everyday Lives and am counting it towards #8 (a book at the bottom of your "to be read" pile). It's been on my list for a few months and I thought I would get started on it. It's interesting to see what Motivation Type you are and it helps you understand why you do things the way you do. I got a little bored about halfway into the book and shelved it for now. I'm sure I'll pick it up again.

The next book I read was Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. I totally judged this book by its cover (#3) and it turned out well - this book was awesome!! It's a quick read and I couldn't put it down. It's about a post-apocalyptic world (part of the reason I like shows like the Walking Dead... but there's no zombies in this one haha).

What's on your reading list for fall?

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Yoga Project Life

I finished yoga teacher training a couple weekends ago! I used graduation as an excuse to make a Project Life mini album :) I included a page about each student, a thank you section for our teachers, and short recaps of most of the subjects we covered. I made do with the pictures my teachers posted on Facebook. I mixed a bunch of Project life kits (High Five, Blush, Kiwi, etc). Today I'm showing you a few of the pages and cards I made for this book!

Here's the cover page. Next, I wrote a short letter to our teachers and listed all of our names.

I got my fellow students involved and made little kits for them. They each filled out a bio card, talked about their favorite topic/class we covered, added a little art piece/doodle/whatever, and a thank you note for the end. Here's how my page turned out (don't mind the glare): 

We definitely formed our own little tribe during this training. Love these people!!

I included a page about what our days looked like (generally speaking of course). I used an Ali Edwards stamp for the "weekend routine" and the days of the week are already printed on the Blush cards.

I stacked up all of our books and used a fun PL card from Ali Edwards' First Story Kit.

I'm so glad I bought these Melody Ross stickers on clearance a long time ago... they have really come in handy!!

I'm not sharing most of the pictures I put in the book due to privacy... but I made cards for many subjects we covered in class. This page has cards to represent Sun Salutations, Moon Salutations, a book called The Yoga Sutras, and a type of yoga called yoga nidra.

We explored Karma Yoga by doing selfless acts of service. We really made a difference in our communities and helped ourselves in the process!

We tried many types of yoga, including Paddleboard Yoga.

I used an app called Word Swag to make a card about the 8 limbs of yoga.

And enamel dots were the perfect size to make a card representing the 7 chakras.

Are you into yoga?

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26 Books - July

I have a reading update today... So far I've just been reading whatever I want and then fitting it into one of the criteria. I'm starting to think I might have to make more intentional purposes to get all the criteria!

1. A book you own but haven't read

2 - a book that was made into a movie

3 - a book you pick solely because of the cover

4 - a book your friend loves

5 - a book published this year

6 - a book by an author you've never read before

7 - a book by an author you love

8 - a book at the bottom of your "to be read" pile

9 - a book with a color in the title

10 - a book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit

11 - a book you started but never finished

12 - a book with a lion, a witch, or a wardrobe

13 - a book with a female heroine

14 - a book set in the summer

15 - a book of poems

16 - a book you learned about because of this challenge

17 - a book that will make you smarter

18 - a book with a blue cover

19 - a book you were supposed to read in school. But didn't.

20 - a book "Everyone" has read but you

21 - a book with a great first line

22 - a book with pictures

23 - a book from the library

24 - a book you loved... read it again!

25 - a book that is more than 10 years old

26 - a book based on a true story

I read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo and I'm using it for book #12 (a book with a lion, a witch, or a wardrobe). This book is about organizing and it definitely talks about organizing your wardrobe! ;) I loved the book. Some people think it's a little kooky with the thanking items and setting them free... and I'm definitely not going to thank every piece of Tupperware or anything... but thanking your item for being of service to you and then letting it go actually gives you relief! And maybe permission.

The second book I am reading is going to count for #15 (a book of poems). I'm reading the Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation by Stephen Mitchell for yoga teacher training. It's actually one big long poem, but it works for me.

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26 Books - June

Time for a reading update! By the way, I am SO GLAD I started doing this little reading challenge this year. It's made me realize how much I love getting lost in a book.

1. A book you own but haven't read

2 - a book that was made into a movie

3 - a book you pick solely because of the cover

4 - a book your friend loves

5 - a book published this year

6 - a book by an author you've never read before

7 - a book by an author you love

8 - a book at the bottom of your "to be read" pile

9 - a book with a color in the title

10 - a book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit

11 - a book you started but never finished

12 - a book with a lion, a witch, or a wardrobe

13 - a book with a female heroine

14 - a book set in the summer

15 - a book of poems

16 - a book you learned about because of this challenge

17 - a book that will make you smarter

18 - a book with a blue cover

19 - a book you were supposed to read in school. But didn't.

20 - a book "Everyone" has read but you

21 - a book with a great first line

22 - a book with pictures

23 - a book from the library

24 - a book you loved... read it again!

25 - a book that is more than 10 years old

26 - a book based on a true story

The first book I read this month satisfied #4 and is called The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult. A friend let me borrow one of Jodi's books a couple of years ago and I loved it. I asked her for a recommendation for more books by this author and she said this was her favorite one. It's a heavy read about a heavy subject - the Holocaust - but it was absolutely amazing. It tells stories from a survivor and from an officer at a camp. I read it very quickly because I just couldn't put it down. 

The next book I read in June was Big Little Lies from Liane Moriarty. I'm using it for #1 because I bought it sometime last year and hadn't read it yet. It's a mystery book that kept me guessing and my jaw dropped at the end of it -no spoilers though. :) It's a great easy summer read. I started it before vacation, but read most of it on the way home from South Carolina.

Are we friends on GoodReads? I'm keeping up with my reading challenge over there.

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Our trip to Myrtle Beach

So a few weeks ago I asked Joe if he wanted to go camping at the beach for vacation. We've never taken a beach vacation before (I'm not counting Jamaica because those were all-inclusive resorts and it's just not the same). He said okay and we booked a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I hadn't been there since my senior beach trip in 1999 and he had never been before.

It's about 7 hours away so we left early last Monday, had breakfast at the Waffle House, and arrived around 5pm. We have a knack for picking places experiencing record highs and this was no exception. Check out the temperature in the picture below. Heat index was around 107. I'm really not made for that kind of weather but I did survive ;) We tried to stay indoors and off the beach during the afternoons.

We stayed at Lakewood Camping Resort and it is HUGE!! Actually it's a mega resort - there's like 1,900 sites including campsites and little houses. There was a couple of pools, lazy river, water slides, Trading Post (a snack bar, gift shop, and general store), and more. A lot of people rented golf carts to get around. The roads were busy!! 

We requested shade and stayed in Block 2. We just had to walk a little ways to the beach. 

This was our first view of the beach! 

We did some shopping in the afternoons. We walked around Broadway at the Beach (dang it was hot that day!). We didn't go to the Tanger Outlets or Barefoot Landing. I got this little retro tablecloth at Camping World (I just couldn't pass it up at $8!) Oh, and there was a scrapbook store in town!!! I haven't been to one in a long time, so it was nice to browse.

We went out to eat for breakfast at local pancake houses, then went to the beach in the mornings for 3-4 hours. We took our cooler, beach chairs, umbrella (super important for a fair skinned girl like me!), boogie boards, and a beach bag. I bought a super fun sandcastle mold at Walmart for 75 cents. Oh yeah!

From Mammy's Kitchen: YUM!!

My mom made this awesome camping sign for us!! She used her Cameo, paint, and a canvas. I love how it turned out. Silhouette America even reposted the picture on their Instagram. Pretty neat!

We had hoped to ride our bikes more often, but the sweltering heat made that difficult. On the last evening, we rode down to the end of the campground and took some pretty pics and walked in the water.

And all my freckles came out. I got a little sunburnt on my back and on the top of my head, but otherwise I'm good. I've been using a ton of aloe and trying not to scratch!

Where is your favorite beach?

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A little update

Hello! I've been MIA for a couple weeks but I hope to have some projects to show you soon. I have a LIST of things I want to do that includes:

1. playing with the FUSE tool
2. opening up those watercolors I bought a while back
3. watching a video and figuring out the PixScan tool from Silhouette
4. making something rad with my new MISTI tool
5. trying out the ombre ink pads from Hero Arts

Oh and guess what?? Mom and I are going to the first Silhouette Conference in November. It's near Atlanta, Georgia. There's going to be food, shopping, and classes - what more could you ask for? We hope to become Cameo Pros and try some new things. Are you going??

What new crafty things are on your To Do List?

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26 Books - May

Hello! I've been on a little break from crafting here lately... I'm trying to rest and recover from bronchitis. Ugh! But I did get some reading done in May and wanted to share my latest books with you. I read on a Kindle - do you prefer actual books or an electronic reading device? I really like actual books, but you can't beat being able to browse and download books immediately. I also like that buying books on my Kindle means I don't have to find a place on a bookshelf for the book.

 - A book you own but haven't read

2 - a book that was made into a movie

3 - a book you pick solely because of the cover

4 - a book your friend loves

5 - a book published this year

6 - a book by an author you've never read before

7 - a book by an author you love

8 - a book at the bottom of your "to be read" pile

9 - a book with a color in the title

10 - a book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit

11 - a book you started but never finished

12 - a book with a lion, a witch, or a wardrobe

13 - a book with a female heroine

14 - a book set in the summer

15 - a book of poems

16 - a book you learned about because of this challenge

17 - a book that will make you smarter

18 - a book with a blue cover

19 - a book you were supposed to read in school. But didn't.

20 - a book "Everyone" has read but you

21 - a book with a great first line

22 - a book with pictures

23 - a book from the library

24 - a book you loved... read it again!

25 - a book that is more than 10 years old

26 - a book based on a true story

Wally Lamb is one of my favorite authors, so We Are Water satisfies book #7 on my list. It's my favorite kind of book - it goes deep into character development with the main characters (a family with 3 adult children). There are some back stories complicated woven within the novel and I love reading about why a person acts the way they do. I really enjoy reading books where the characters are connected in unlikely ways. Two thumbs up!

I heard about The Paper Magician from a friend. When I saw it on Amazon Unlimited and realized I could read it for free, I downloaded it immediately. It's about a girl that begins an apprenticeship with a magician that uses paper - she becomes a Folder. It was a quick read and there are others in a series - I may read more. I'm using it for book #13 (a book with a female heroine).

I'm using We Are Called To Rise for book #16. It's another one of those books that has some crazy connections between characters. Each chapter is told from a different person's voice and that's one of my favorite writing styles as well. I read this one in a couple of days

Are you reading much this year?

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Yoga Pose Challenge

The yoga studio where I'm doing teacher training recently had a 7-day yoga challenge. I made a page to go in my Project Life to document each pose. We used the hashtag #bristolYOGISeverywhere on Instagram and Facebook.

I kept it simple and used my favorite alphas - October Afternoon Mini Market alphas - to document the name of each pose. It will be neat to look back in a few months/years and see how my form has improved.

Do you do yoga?

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Project Life March 2015

Mom and I got together this past Monday to do some scrapbooking... and I made some pages for March! I've been so busy with yoga and homework that I have gotten behind on Project Life. I plan on doing some more pages to document our cruise and I'll share those another time.

Full spread:

Left side: some of my current notebooks, the first weekend of Yoga Teacher Training, some watercolors I got at Michael's, and getting Joe's jackets and bowties for our cruise.

Right side: Michael's grand opening, books I read this book, a spring day, and one of the most beautiful sunsets ever.

I used colored pencils to color in parts of this card from the new(ish) High Five Project Life set. 

How are you doing with Project Life?

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26 Books - April

April

1 - A book you own but haven't read

2 - a book that was made into a movie

3 - a book you pick solely because of the cover

4 - a book your friend loves

5 - a book published this year

6 - a book by an author you've never read before

7 - a book by an author you love

8 - a book at the bottom of your "to be read" pile

9 - a book with a color in the title

10 - a book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit

11 - a book you started but never finished

12 - a book with a lion, a witch, or a wardrobe

13 - a book with a female heroine

14 - a book set in the summer

15 - a book of poems

16 - a book you learned about because of this challenge

17 - a book that will make you smarter

18 - a book with a blue cover

19 - a book you were supposed to read in school. But didn't.

20 - a book "Everyone" has read but you

21 - a book with a great first line

22 - a book with pictures

23 - a book from the library

24 - a book you loved... read it again!

25 - a book that is more than 10 years old

26 - a book based on a true story

At the end of March, I started yoga teacher training. It's a lot more involved than you might think! We're going to be in class for about 230 hours over 9 weekends. We have homework and (of course) yoga classes to attend outside of our weekends. I've started a lot of books about yoga but haven't finished any this month!

I am reading one book that I hope will help me be smarter and more efficient (therefore satisfying book #17) - The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You by Jessica Turner. You may be familiar with Jessica if you ever participated in her Project Life Tuesdays over at The Mom Creative website. This book is about maximizing the time you have and taking care of yourself.

The second book this month is Happy Healthy Sexy: Ayruveda Wisdom for the Modern Woman by Katie Silcox and satisfies book #5 (a book published this year). Katie was our teacher for the second yoga teacher training weekend. She led a workshop all about connecting to your Inner Mama and doing what's best for your soul. I didn't know what to expect going into that weekend, but it was AMAZING. She taught bits and pieces from the book, so I bought it during the weekend. There are tips about diet, yoga, mindfulness, and the ancient science of Ayurveda. Cool stuff, people.

What are you reading lately? Once I finish the Fringe Hours book and learn how to use my time more efficiently, I'll need more book recommendations!!  :)

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