Friday, December 20, 2013

Amy Tangerine's Cut and Paste Pages by Project Life Design Team Member April Joy Hill


Hi everyone! My name is April Joy Hill and I'm so excited to share my Project Life pages with you all.  All of the supplies I used on this spread can all be purchased from Craft Warehouse!  I got lucky and got the chance to work with Amy Tangerine's new Cut and Paste Mini Kit and a few of the Winter cards from the Seasons Mini Kit!

Here's a quick look at my spread:

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Before I give you some close-up shots, I did want to give you a peak into my personal process for completing my Project Life spreads.

I have a Filofax-style planner that I write in every day.  This helps me keep track of what went down during the week (from just our normal everyday activities to events we attend, and also my meal planning).  On the planner pages that I designed, I included a Project Life diagram that I use to fill in what will go where.  I take all my photos for Project Life on my iPhone, so I scroll through my album to choose photos and write them into my diagram.  Personally, there is no rhyme or reason as to what size I choose to print my photos.  Usually it's just whatever I think the photo will work best in.  While I do this, I will also have the memorabilia that I want to include in the spread and those get filled into my diagram too.

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Since I don't have a dedicated scrap room, I work on either our dining room table (note the red tablecloth!) or the floor in the family room.  I like having a lot of space to spread my mess out which is definitely what I had to do with this kit.  There were so many awesome cards in the pack, so I had spread out the cards to see the full assortment of cards that I had to work with!  With the cards spread out, I was able to choose which cards to use as a base for my spread!

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With a general idea of what supplies I'll be using, I start working on "making it my own."  I LOVE incorporating layers and embellishments to my spreads.  One technique I use often is fussy cutting design elements from pre-made cards to create perfectly coordinated embellishments for other cards.  I did this a lot with this specific spread:

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Sometimes I'll add some foam dots to the back of the embellishment to add some dimension and sometimes I'll just adhere it flat:

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More fussy cutting:

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And here is that same heart used in my title card.  I also added some hand stitching to the word "SMILE" that was printed on one of the cards to add texture:

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Here are more cards that I used fussy-cut elements on:

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Another technique I use often is taking my craft knife and cutting out elements from a card, so I can layer without using any additional materials. 

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If I have scraps from another card available, I will almost always use them as layers:

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The final card:

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With all my cards designed, I fill in my journaling and stamping.

Here's a closer look at the left side of my spread.  I always use Design F page protectors because I like using only 3"x4" cards.  My weekly spreads include a menu card where I write what I cooked for the week, a title card with the dates, and a week in review card.  You probably can't even tell where the Winter season cards are in this spread.  They may be Winter-themed, but they work perfectly with the Amy Tangerine Cut and Paste edition!

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Here's the right side.  Week 40 was my birthday week, so I had a lot of fun stuff going on this weekend.  The yellow straws, bunting, and "happy birthday" sign were from the birthday cake my aunt got me.  When I saw the cake and the paper embellishments it came topped with, I knew right away I would be including them into my PL spread.

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I hope you found some of my techniques helpful! Thank you so much for letting me share my Project Life spread with you!


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7 comments:

  1. Is it possible to get that planner?! Such a great idea and would love to use it for my PL! TIA ;)

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    1. Hi! You can email me at damitaprilurcool@gmail.com and I can send it over to you. It's sort of a pain to get it all lined up correctly, but if you're still willing to have it not perfect.. then I don't mind sending it over! :)

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    2. I would love to have a copy. I sent you an email but it may have gone into your junk folder. Just in case you cant find it here is my email...rhibrix2 at hotmail dot com Thanks so much!!

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  2. the fussy cutting!!! what a great idea - thank you!!! i like to stick with just the 'core kit' and not add too much other stuff. I have to keep it simple to get it done and not get behind. Sometimes the cards are a little too repetive for me... but cutting them out and changing it up is such a good idea - can't wait to use it this weekend!

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  3. I always enjoy checking out your spreads April and it was great to read about some of your techniques. The week 40 title card is my fave with the stitching!

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