Project Life... in good times and in bad

“The darker the night, the brighter the stars,

The deeper the grief, the closer is God!”
-Fyodor Dostoyevsky

We have had more than our fair share of both joys and heartaches during the last two months... and I struggled with how to document this roller coaster ride in my Project Life scrapbook. My desire to stay authentic and to really embrace real life won out.

As much I wish to erase these sorrows, these stories are now a part of my story. Years from now I will want to remember who I am and where I've come from... the good, the bad, and the downright heart-breaking.

After I learned that we had lost our baby (I thought I was eight weeks along), it was tricky to go back and journal about the happy weeks before. But it was therapeutic to write these stories and to build these pages. Recording these memories both validated the joy that we felt during the early weeks knowing we were pregnant and also became part of the legacy which our baby leaves behind.

Life sucks sometimes. I hate that. I hope that these pages reflect both the elation and the pain. As much I wish we could just skip forward a few months, these pages remind me what a crazy ride this thing called life really is...

October 7-October 13, 2013. We're pregnant! Fall for Greenville festival.

October 13-October 21, 2013. Rob's annual beach ride. Weekend in Charleston.

October 22-27, 2013. White Coat ceremony.

October 28-November 3, 2013. Halloween.

November 4-10, 2013. VCOM Olympics. We learned that we had lost the baby.

November 11-24, 2013. Two weeks in one spread. Football game. Momentum gets us through.

What about you? Have you experienced a heartbreak that was made a little bit more bearable by embracing the memories through journalling or scrapbooking?

Project Life... August through September

"I believe every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don't intend to waste any of mine."
-Neil Armstrong

The momentum continues... I'm still cranking away with my digital Project Life scrapbook for the year... I had a few busy weekends where I got behind, but knock on something... I think I'm now caught up to last week. It seems like in the last couple of weeks I have really found my rhythm.

Life continues offline, even when I'm not posting here regularly. These are the stories of our life over the last few months...

Week 7: July 30-August 4, 2013. Back to school. Mike and Amy come for the weekend.

August 5-August 11, 2013. A week of firsts. Marie's birthday party.

August 12-August 18, 2013. A morning in my life. Friday date night.

August 19-25, 2013. Softball continues. Sunday at St. James.

August 25-September 1, 2013. Mama's in town!!

September 2-September 8, 2013. Christmas in July Crafternoon.

September 9-September 15, 2013. Rob's beach ride scouting trip. Fall Festival at church.

September 16-September 22, 2013. New iPhones. Working from home. Singin' in the Rain.

September 23-September 29, 2013. Meal plan. Happy Fall!

September 30-October 6, 2013. New car. Lesa's birthday. Tibetan monks. International Festival. Our 6th wedding anniversary.

Crafternoon Project #5: Confetti Gift Tags

"I craft so hard I sweat glitter."
-Dina Hafez-Suggs, deliciouslydarlingevents.com

This final Crafternoon project was these Confetti Gift Tags. Because the other projects took so long, some of the guests collected the supplies for this project to take home with them.

My original idea for this project was to use paper hole punches as the confetti, but when I found this shiny confetti with Christmas-themed shapes at Hobby Lobby, I knew it was meant to be.

Confetti Gift Tags
What you need:

• Cardstock or kraft paper
• 1.5" circle punch
• Transparent page projectors cut into 2" squares
• Double-sided tape
• Scissors
• Confetti
• Stamps/stamp pad
• Hole punch
• Twine

What you do:

1. Trace gift tag pattern onto kraft paper or white cardstock and cut out.  
2. Punch 1.5” circles in both ends of the tag, as shown in pattern. 
3. On one end, apply adhesive around the hole, and press transparency pocket on top.
4. Open the transparency pocket, and pile confetti on top of the hole. 
5. Use adhesive around the edges of the transparency, and fold shut, sealing the confetti inside. 
6. Apply adhesive to the other end of the tag, and fold in half, adhering the two sides together.  
7. Use stamps to decorate with holiday message. 
8. Punch hole in the top, and tie ribbon on. 

Crafternoon Project #4: Felt Giftcard Envelopes

"Is that a warm fuzzy, or just a piece of scrap felt?"
-Sara Lanan, CraftSnob.com

The only Crafternoon project that required sewing was the Felt Giftcard Envelopes. I figured that even the least crafty among us could probably handle hand-stitching two straight lines and sewing a button on.

Gift cards are such practical gifts (and usually well appreciated), but sometimes they feel a little bit lackluster. These cute envelopes spice things up a bit and could totally be used later as a little wallet.

Felt Giftcard Envelopes
What you need:

• Different colors of felt
• [Optional] Coordinating patterned fabric
• Embroidery thread
• Needle
• Straight pins
• Scissors
• Pinking shears
• Buttons or other embellishments
• Sticky-back Velcro

What you do:

1. Cut one piece of felt using the pattern for the envelope.
2. As shown, mark a dot where the strap will be sewn.
3. [Optional] Cut same size [maybe a tad smaller!] from patterned fabric to fit inside.
4. Cut contrasting felt 3” x 1” for the closure strap.
5. Line up strap with the dot on the felt rectangle, and stitch with a 1-inch “X”.
6. Stack patterned fabric on top of felt with wrong sides together.
7. Fold the long ends towards the middle so that they are equal with about an inch between them, and pin.
8. Fold in half, and pin.
9. With the envelope open like a book, stitch the sides. [It works best to use 1/2 a strand of embroidery thread.]
10. Use pinking shears to trim the sides.
11. Cut small embellishments from felt ... stack a circle on top of a flower shape, cut out a holly leaf & berries, cut out a triangle & a small rectangle for a Christmas tree.
12. Stitch embellishments to the end of the strap.
13. Place one half of sticky Velcro on the end of the strap, and then wrap around and stick the other half on the corresponding place on the envelope.

Crafternoon Project #3: No-sew T-shirt Scarf

"There's great satisfaction in seeing a thing take shape and form under one's hands, especially if they are made from oddments into something worthwhile."
-Nella Last, Nella Last's War

The Crafternoon project with the trickiest directions was the No-sew T-shirt Scarf. I positioned myself near this station throughout the afternoon, so that I could walk everybody through the steps and help them with the tedious cutting. If you find the written directions below confusing, check out this similar tutorial with photos from Max & Me Designs.

Even though the steps seem complicated at first, everybody was thrilled with how these scarves turned out. Many people mentioned that they were going to make more for teacher gifts and friend gifts. It's the perfect mindless activity to do with a football game or movie going on in the background.

No-sew T-shirt Scarf
What you need:

• Extra-large t-shirt with no words/graphics below the armpits
• Scissors
• Hot glue and glue sticks

What you do:

1. Cut T-shirt in a straight line, just below the sleeves.
2. Cut off the bottom hem.
3. Cut the remaining rectangle into 16 strips... I found it best to cut in half four times.
4. Set one of the loops aside.
5. Stretch the loops... they stretch better if you do them one-by-one, but make sure they stay about the same length.
6. Cut the loop you set aside into five equal pieces.
7. Tie one of the 5 pieces tightly around the15 loops.
8. Cut this bunch of15 loops close to the knot, leaving enough room so that the strands don’t come loose. [It should look like a long ponytail.]
9. Separate the 15 strands into three groups and braid down from the knot... Braid doesn’t have to be super tight. You probably want to braid almost halfway.
10. Tie another of the short pieces tightly at the end of the braid.
11. Untangle the strands and gather the ends... tie another of the short pieces around the loose ends.
12. Cover the ends with hot glue and then push them together.
13. Take a short wide strip and wrap it around one of the knots. Adhere with hot glue. Repeat for other knot.