rukristin papercrafts

rukristin papercrafts has moved!

2013-07-11T21:58:00.001-04:00

I've finally taken the plunge and moved to a self-hosted wordpress site. You can now read my blog at rukristin.com/blog!

To make sure you get all the new posts make sure to change over your blog reader feeds to the new blog address: http://rukristin.com/blog and follow me on twitter, instagram, or facebook for inspiration, posts, and news.

All of the old posts, tutorials, and comments have been moved to the new blog, so nothing has been lost!

Thank you so much for all your support.

Changes around here!

2013-06-25T14:10:00.004-04:00

Hi hi! If you're a regular reader of this blog, you may have noticed the scarcity of posts over the past few weeks. Not to fret! I haven't gone anywhere, I've been spending most of my time gearing up for my fabulous free summer workshop Find Your Voice. Find Your Voice is taking place on a BRAND NEW website. To check it out, visit rukristin.com/findyourvoice. You can also find out more about the workshop and our plans for the summer!

I've also re-located my shop, you can now find it at rukristin.com/shop. Along with my new summer stamp release, we've put in several upgrades to make the shopping experience easier and the shipping process more transparent.

Over the next few weeks I'll also be moving this blog to a new site. It's with a bit of a heavy heart that I'm moving over to a self-hosted wordpress site; but its definitely what I need to provide the content that I want to be providing in the future.

So I thank you all for your patience as I step into this new transitional period. As with any change, I do expect a bit of growing pains here and there; but I assure you that when everything is said and done it will be worth it.

Lots of love,

Kristin.

Find Your Voice Link-Up

2013-06-17T13:50:00.001-04:00

FIND YOUR VOICE BLOG LINK-UP!

Find Your Voice is only 1 week away! I'm SO excited for the workshop to start. I think we are going to have an incredible summer. Find out more information about Find Your Voice here.

Find Your Voice will be the grand opening even for my brand new site rukristin.com! Jeff and I are taking a couple days to re-focus and re-energize so that we can be totally ready for the Find Your Voice launch on June 24th!

This week I'd like to focus a bit on building the Find Your Voice community. I know we have lots of amazing people out there who are just as excited as I am and I would love for everyone to get to know each other a little better. If you haven't already joined the facebook group, do so today and share with all your friends!

facebook.com/groups/FindYourVoiceWorkshop/

I'd also like to share a link-up so that everyone can share their blogs and start to make new friends! If you are planning on playing along with Find Your Voice, please feel free to add your blog link below! (Thanks so much to Angie of Lariats and Lavender for the link-up idea!).

An InLinkz Link-up

Find Your Voice Team Members

2013-06-14T12:48:00.002-04:00

Find Your Voice Team Members

I am so excited to announce the names of all the amazing women who are going to be helping me out this summer. They are all incredibly talented, eager, and enthusiastic and will be a huge part in making this workshop and the Find Your Voice community a success. Please join me in welcoming them!

Jessica Bree, Emily Dismukes, Molly Porter, Emily Hathcock, Lisa Wilkinson, Veronica Milan, Michelle Wear, Laura Kate Is Crafty, Jen Ritchie, Allie, Katie Stories, Shay Tibbs, DeeDee Catron, Megan Anderson, Nirupama KUmar, Eden Hensley, Margrethe Aas Johnsen, Jo, Kim Poplaski, Ruth Bonser, Fiona D'Elboux,, Alissa @Lifeonlakeland, Kristin Long, and Melissa Priest.

These women will be sharing their thoughts, feelings, and creative projects with us as we all work together this summer to find our voices. Thank you again to all of these great women!

Join us in the Facebook group today!

Please spread the word by blogging, tweeting, and telling all your friends about this awesome workshop! Please feel free to use any of the images/text on the Find Your Voice blog posts. Just make sure to link back to the facebook group and rukristin.com!

rukristin papercrafts new shop

2013-06-13T01:47:00.000-04:00

The new shop is open! Jeff has been working super hard over the past few weeks to get the new shop ready and we're finally ready to share it with all of you. We did do a bunch of testing to make sure that everything runs smoothly, but the site is *brand new* so if you experience anything that seems out of the ordinary, please contact us and we'll figure it out ASAP.

rukristin.com/shop

New Shop Features:

Easier navigation & search function
Double the inventory & more on the way
Shipping choices (First Class/Priority/International)
Customer reviews
Digital consignment -- look for new designers in the upcoming weeks!

Project Life Week 17

2013-06-12T13:54:00.000-04:00

I'm sharing my week 17 Project Life spread over at the Persnickety Prints blog, along with some tips for a minimalist approach to Project Life this summer.

Find Your Voice FAQs

2013-06-12T05:17:00.000-04:00

Introduction

This workshop is about finding your storytelling voice. You are an awesome person with amazing stories, so this summer we're going to work together to find the most genuine and authentic way for you to tell those stories.

This workshop is for everyone! You definitely don't need to be a scrapbooker or paper-crafter to play along. We'll be telling stories through pictures, photographs, social media, prose, and more. The only thing you need is a willingness to become the author of your own story and the courage to step outside of your comfort zone.

Overview

Each Monday morning lessons will be made available on the rukristin blog, in the Find Your Voice facebook group and sent out through email to those who opt-in to email lessons.
Each week's lesson will include thoughts on several topics pertaining to the theme of the week, a coordinating worksheet, and several creative prompts.
There will be inspiration from contributing team members in each week's pdf as well more inspiration as in a follow up blog post each Wednesday.
This is a free class, so it will not cost you anything to participate. But, there are several ways that you can help support Find Your Voice. Hundreds of hours go into creating a workshop like this and Find Your Voice is proud to have some incredible sponsors as well as several great ways for you to show your support. For additional information on how to support Find Your Voice please scroll to the bottom of this page.
Community is Key! The best part of big workshops like Find Your Voice is the amazing community that forms online. Use the hashtag #FindYourVoice when chatting about the workshop on twitter, instagram, or any other social media sites, and share and get inspiration in the facebook group.
Look for the Find Your Voice schedule out early next week with Lesson Topics, Giveaways, Scheduled Chats and more!

Supply List

Below is the suggested supply list for the workshop. There are no required supplies but to get the most out of this workshop it would be best to gather some of the following supplies to try out various storytelling styles and techniques. Each week’s creative prompts are written so that they can be done in a variety of different ways, using whatever supplies you’d like. I strongly suggest picking up some supplies that you may have wanted to try, but have been scared to use. Our amazing community will help you through any bumps in the road or with any questions you might have.

Suggested Supply List

Writing Tools (pens, markers, etc) & a Notebook. Check out a list of my favorites here: http://rukristin.blogspot.com/2013/02/im-pen-snob-you-should-be-too.html
Camera & Photos (it might be helpful to print photos from stories you’re interested in telling — don’t worry if you are unsure, you can always go back later and print). I prefer to get my photos printed at Persnickety Prints, but if you're looking for a quick at home printer the Canon Selphy is a good choice.
A Project Binder to hold ideas, worksheets, and projects. (I’ll be using this Basic Grey mini-album)
Basic Crafting Kit (scissors, adhesive, ink pads, etc)
Crafting Supplies (paper, stickers, stamps, paint, ribbon, embellishments)
Things that inspire you (images, quotes, or other pretty things)

If you’re looking for more specific product suggestions, check out the rukristin papercrafts shop for Find Your Voice featured products or shop additional suggested products through the Amazon.com Find Your Voice curated list.

Mix in several supplies that are outside of your comfort zone. Grab some paints, mix in some camera phone apps and use some new stamps. Pushing yourself creatively will help you find your inner storyteller.

How you can sign up for the workshop:

There is no formal sign-up for the workshop. Lessons will be available on the blog for anyone to download until August 31st. Lessons will also be made available in the Find Your Voice facebook group and via email each week to those who opt-in.

Join the Find Your Voice Facebook Group Here: facebook.com/groups/FindYourVoiceWorkshop/
Sign Up Here to Get Lessons Delivered to your Email Inbox: E-Mail Lessons to Me

How you can support Find Your Voice

The Find Your Voice summer storytelling workshop is provided free of charge to anyone who is interested in taking it. I'm only able to put together such a great workshop because of support from amazing sponsors and readers like you. If you enjoy Find Your Voice please support the workshop in whatever way you can. Here are a few suggestions.

Participate - Follow along with the lessons, engage in conversations on social media and in the facebook group, tell everyone you know about this awesome workshop. Share with your friends and help to build the community. The more people who are excited about Find Your Voice the more exciting things we can do in the future!

Pick up Find Your Voice badges and images for your blog. Just right click to save.

Purchase Supplies at rukristin.com/shop - Sales from the shop help to pay for things like the server that runs our websites, the Find Your Voice exclusive products, and it helps me have the time to sit down and write quality content for you to enjoy.
Support Our Sponsors - Next week I'll be announcing some amazing sponsors who are generously providing some amazing giveaways for the Find Your Voice community! Please take the time to visit their websites, give them your business, and tell them that you appreciate their support for Find Your Voice. Let them know that I sent you over and that you think they're super cool.
Purchase Through Affiliate Links - the rukristin papercrafts shop is small, so if you find yourself in need of a bigger selection, you can support Find Your Voice by shopping through our affiliate links at Amazon.com, Two Peas in a Bucket, and Simon Says Stamp. Shopping through affiliate links never costs you any extra money, so its a very easy way to help support Find Your Voice
Donate - If you'd like to donate to help support Find Your Voice and future workshops you can do so by clicking the button below. Donations are accepted through PayPal or any other clever way you'd like.

FAQs

When does Find Your Voice Start?

The Find Your Voice summer storytelling workshop starts on Monday, June 24th.

This sounds awesome! How can I help get the word out?

Post about Find Your Voice on your blog and spread the word through social media sites like twitter, facebook, instagram, tumblr, reddit, message boards, and more. Please feel free to use any of the images or text on my blog to talk about the workshop. Make sure to provide a link back to my blog and the Find Your Voice facebook page. Leave a link in the comments here so I can come visit and say thanks!

Where is the Find Your Voice Facebook Group?

https://www.facebook.com/groups/FindYourVoiceWorkshop/

How long are the lessons available for?

The lessons will be available free of charge through August 31, 2013. After that they'll be removed from the blog and adapted to be a self-paced workshop available for $5.

How can I get the most up-to-date information on Find Your Voice?

Follow me on twitter, facebook, and instagram for the latest Find Your Voice updates, giveaways, live chats and more.

You suggested a Project Binder and the Basic Grey mini album you are selling is really cute. Is this too small to hold the worksheets, ideas and projects we will be working on? Is there paper available in this size for note taking?

The real answer is that it comes down to personal preference. I'm going with the binder because I really love mini-albums like that; and the binded aspect makes it easy to punch holes in any paper at all and add it to the album. The worksheets will be 8.5x11; so they would fit folded in half (I'll show a cool technique I used to use in college all the time for storing the worksheets in the album). With a hole punch and the page protectors included in the album you'll be able to store everything you work on for the workshop.

Will we be working of projects that will need embellishments?

All the projects that we'll be working on will be adaptable to your style (or however far out of your comfort zone you want to go). There's no specific embellishments that you need, but I'll be keeping some washi tape, stamps, and some die-cuts on my table with my album.

If you have any questions at all, leave them in the comments here or email me at rukristinpapercrafts@gmail.com and I'll do my best to answer them ASAP.

PS - The New Summer 2013 Stamp Collection is now available exclusively at rukristin.com/shop!

Summer Stamps are in the Shop!

2013-06-11T18:45:00.000-04:00

The Summer 2013 Stamp Collection is now available in the rukristin papercrafts shop. Check out the new collection at our brand new shop with tons of great features including shipping choices, an easy-to-navigate system, and lots more product!

**Custom stamps are available please contact me for rates**

Stamp Shop & Find Your Voice updates coming soon!

2013-06-11T06:32:00.003-04:00

Stamp Shop and Find Your Voice updates will be available later today. Jeff and I have been up all night working on the new shop and the new website; we're super excited to share it with you later today! Click here to join the mailing list for the latest rukristin papercrafts news and shop discounts!

June's Happy Mail Challenge

2013-06-07T11:39:00.001-04:00

Each Month rukristin papercrafts issues a Happy Mail Challenge. There are two ways to participate in the challenge. First create a project with this month's theme and share the project with a link in the comments section of this post OR by uploading to instagram, tagging @rukristin and using the hashtag #HappyMailChallenge.

Happy June!! In honor of Mini-Album month, this month's Happy Mail Challenge is to create and share a mini-album that tells a story!

These challenges are meant to push you to step outside the box and try a new storytelling technique. Feel free to create any type of mini-album. Projects created DO NOT need to be exclusive to this challenge; but I do ask that you do not enter projects that you've already made to keep it fair for everyone. Although if you have a mini-album in the works and you need a push to help you finish, please use this challenge and share your album!

Check out these great mini-albums for inspiration, and make sure to head over to the mini-album month main page where I'll be adding mini-album inspiration from myself and lots of other amazing crafters throughout the month.

NYC Chipboard Mini-Album

Baltimore Baseball Card Page Protector Mini-Album

Chicago Flip-Down Mini-Album

NYC Chipboard Envelope Binder Album

2013-06-07T00:30:00.000-04:00

June is Mini-Album month. This month I'm sharing mini-albums from the last five years of my life as well as bringing you some of my favorite mini-albums from around the web. Look for challenges, giveaways, and more inspiration throughout the month of June.

NYC Chipboard Envelope Binder Album

Construction: Binder with Chipboard & Envelope Pages

Number of Pages: 16 (NOT including front and back cover of binding)

Subject: Weekend in NYC (June 2009 -- it was our first weekend away together)

Date Made: August 2009

Notable Parts: We went to several shows and museums throughout the weekend and the envelope pages were great for holding ticket stubs, extra pictures, and other memorabilia.

Materials Used: Maya Road binder album, lots of Fancy Pants paper and embellishments, doodlebug rub-on alphas

Thanks so much for stopping by! If you enjoyed this post, make sure to subscribe to this blog and follow me on twitter, instagram, and facebook for lots more inspiration!

Baltimore Baseball Card Page Protector Mini-Album

2013-06-06T16:06:00.000-04:00

Construction: Cut Apart baseball card protector sheet binded with sticky fabric and brads.

Number of Pages: 6 including front and back cover (each page has two pockets)

Subject: Fourth of July in Baltimore 2010

Date Made: August 2010

Notable Parts: The entire album is made of a single sheet of plastic baseball card holders. I cut the last column off and stacked three sets on top of one another to create the book. I added patterned paper and embellishments throughout the book, which has a linear timeline. I added a tag in between two of the pages for additional photos and journaling.

Materials Used: Baseball Card holder sheet, Maya Road clear tag, lots of older patterned papers, tiny pictures printed at home.

Thanks so much for stopping by! If you enjoyed this post, make sure to subscribe to this blog and follow me on twitter, instagram, and facebook for lots more inspiration!

June is Mini Album Month

2013-06-03T14:49:00.001-04:00

I love mini-albums. A whole story, right there in a tiny little book! This month I'm going to be sharing lots of mini-albums that I've created over the past five years or so.

I thought June would be a great time to feature mini-albums because most of my favorite mini-albums are from road trips and vacations. There's just something really fun about going back and flipping through a mini-album to relive the best moments of a trip.

This is the homepage for the entire month. Bookmark this page. I will be updating this page with a link to each mini-album as well as links to some great mini-albums I've found around the web. By the end of the month, this page will be filled to the brim with mini-album inspiration!

If you have a mini-album to share, please add a link in the comments below. The Happy Mail challenge for this month will be mini-album themed. Make sure to add your new mini-book creations to that thread or post a photo on instagram and tag @rukristin and use the hashtag #HappyMailChallenge in the comments to be entered to win an awesome happy mail package from me!

Mini-Albums I've Created:
1. Chicago Flip Down Mini-Album
2. Baltimore Baseball Card Page Protector Mini-Album
3. NYC Chipboard Envelope Binder Album

Mini-Albums I Love:
1. Soraya's Minibook In a Box
2. Mini Albums from Lemon & Raspberry

PS -- If you're looking for a great new mini-album technique that you can use over and over again, with items just from your stash, check out my latest workshop Fold It In. Learn how to make an accordion-style mini-album in minutes. With step-by-step instructions and over 80 pages of inspiration from 10 amazing contributors, this workshop will leave you making mini-albums all summer.

Chicago Flip Down Mini-Album

2013-06-03T14:48:00.001-04:00

Construction: Accordion Fold Mini-Album

Number of Pages: 24 (including front and back cover)

Subject: A Day in Chicago (from my July 2012 trip)

Date Made: April 2013

Notable Parts: This book is made entirely of Project Life journaling cards and Persnickety Prints polaroid photos. The cover is an amazing letterpress card from Life.Love.Paper; I just love touching it. I'm also a big fan of how the album flips down, just a fun quirk.

Materials Used: Studio Calico Planetarium PL Kit (May 2013), Gold Dot Washi Tape, Microperm Pen, Persnickety Prints polaroids.

Thanks so much for stopping by! If you enjoyed this post, make sure to subscribe to this blog and follow me on twitter, instagram, and facebook for lots more inspiration!

Stories From This Month: May

2013-05-31T00:14:00.000-04:00

May was awesome because...

Jeffrey and Kristin both became college graduates AND Jeffrey got several job offers, and is taking the one that lets us stay here in NJ for another year.
I released my first full-length online workshop: Fold It In. If you haven't already, make sure you check it out. It's a fabulous technique and we have an awesome facebook group with more inspiration each day.
We did a lot of targeted media consumption. We finished two TV series that we were lingering on: Gilmore Girls and Arrested Development (again in preparation for the new season). We got around to watching some Mel Brooks movies: Blazing Saddles, History of the World Part I, and Robin Hood Men in Tights. And we're still obsessed with Mad Men and Game of Thrones.
Becky came to visit and we had fun thrifting on Memorial Day. I picked up a yellow polkadot house coat from the 70s for $2. Definitely the best $2 I've ever spent.
I made a couple of really cool projects including this instagram photo collage, a polaroid picture display, and a DIY iPhone contact picture tutorial.
We've been working super hard on some behind-the-scenes stuff here at rukristin papercrafts. Be on the lookout for a new blog design and fully upgraded shop in the next few weeks!

Find Your Voice: Sponsorship Opportunities Available

2013-05-30T14:16:00.002-04:00

Do you have a blog or indie shop that you would love to get in front of a fantastic audience of crafters, memory-keepers, and storytellers?

Are you looking for a sponsorship opportunity where you're more than just a lonely sidebar ad?

Then look no further! This summer, rukristin papercrafts is accepting sponsors for Find Your Voice: A Free Eight Week Summer Storytelling Workshop.

This workshop is 100% free for the entire summer! At the end of the summer the .pdf files will be available as a self-paced workshop for $5.

Sponsorships start at $20 for the entire summer. All sponsorships will run Mid-June through August 31st.

View full sponsorship details here

What do sponsors get?

Ad space
The opportunity to host a giveaway/guest blog post
Lots of exposure on social media platforms (twitter, instagram, and facebook)
A working relationship with rukristin papercrafts. We feel very strongly about helping women-owned small businesses come together and succeed.

If you are interested, please fill out this form to get started.

Space is limited.

Find Your Voice: Looking for Contributors

2013-05-30T14:14:00.003-04:00

Rukristin papercrafts is looking for a couple of amazing contributors to the summer storytelling workshop: Find Your Voice. Click here to learn more about Find Your Voice.

Requirements

You have to be passionate about telling your story and want to become a better storyteller

You have to want to be an inspiration and help others become better storytellers

You have to be able to read and follow instructions, as well as meet deadlines
You have to be a great communicator. If you're having trouble with something, you need to let me know as early as possible so that we can work together to try to alleviate any issues :) Issues only become problems when we put them off for too long.
Actively participate in the Find Your Voice community (facebook, twitter, instagram)
Participate in a Find Your Voice blog hop
Promote the Find Your Voice workshop through various social media sites (and any other ways you can think of)
Help to build a strong community by contributing to the dialog about the lessons, sharing completed worksheets (will be provided ahead of time), uploading projects to appropriate websites (facebook, studio calico, two peas, etc) and commenting on workshop participants' projects as well
Provide photographs, a few short paragraphs, and a supply list for at least two projects throughout the workshop (dates to be provided)

Benefits

Lots of exposure. Your headshot, bio, & links will be featured throughout the summer workshop. Your projects will also be prominently featured on my blog, the Find Your Voice facebook page, and more.
Free product (physical if production time allows) and access to all summer 2013 rukristin papercrafts digital files
Access to all Find Your Voice workshop files ahead of time
A seriously amazing community of like-minded people who are trying to do something awesome; you will learn so much and make some great friends (I promise)

There is a VERY short turn around time on this. So please get your applications in as soon as possible.

To Apply

Email rukristinpapercrafts@gmail.com with the subject: Find Your Voice Contributor Application: YOUR NAME
Here is what you need to include in your email:

Your Name
Blog Address
Social Media Links
Links to 3 projects that you think show off your best 'storytelling style'.
Answer the following questions:

Why do you want to be a contributor to Find Your Voice?
Why do you think you'll have a good working relationship with rukristin papercrafts?
What are your favorite ways to get the word out about something you love?

If you have any questions at all, please email me at rukristinpapercrafts@gmail.com.

Deadline: Tuesday June 4th at 11:59pm EDT.

PS: If you own a blog or indie shop (or know someone who does), check out Find Your Voice sponsorship opportunities.

FAQs

What is the workshop schedule? When would projects be due? Contributors would require two projects (out of the 8 lessons). the workshop will go live June 24th. And lessons will be up each monday after that. Projects would be due one week before the lesson goes live. As soon as I put a team together I'll create a schedule so that everyone can pick the two weeks that work best for them

Storytelling: Free Write

2013-05-30T11:08:00.000-04:00

Storytelling is a weekly blog series hell bent on trying to squeeze a little bit more storytelling onto scrapbook layouts, art journals, and other memory-keeping projects. Whether its through pictures, paper, or prose, I'll show you some of my favorite techniques for getting more of your story onto the page.

Today's storytelling post is about free writing. Free writing is when you just put pen to paper and go, not worrying about spelling, grammar, sentence structure, etc. This is a great way to grab some of those bottled up feelings that can be difficult to write about in a standard, structured situation. I like to think of it as a written down record of the inner monologue that's going on in my head. It's a great way to add some 'right now' thoughts to Project Life as well. Just grab a journaling card and start writing.

The journaling on this layout in particular was written as sort of a 'pep talk' to myself. I had been feeling a little down and out of sorts (for no real reason other than that's how I was feeling) and writing this out made a world of difference. It is so cathartic to take those words floating around in your head and cement them on a piece of paper.

Free writing can get emotional (although it doesn't have to be) and you might want to tuck away those words so you can choose who sees them and when they are seen. Hiding your journaling doesn't take anything away from your storytelling. You are the author of your own adventure and you get to choose how you want your story told. If you don't want anyone else to read it, that's your right.

A big part of telling your story is knowing who your audience is. For me, most of the time with free writing, my audience is myself. I don't care about anyone else, I just want to get those words out on the paper for my own benefit. When I'm finished with the journaling, I'll read it over and see if its fit for anyone else to read, let alone public consumption. If its not; I'll stick the layout or project in a special binder, or hide my journaling in some form (envelopes and flaps are my go-to hidden journaling techniques). But most of the time, my free writing journaling projects go right in with everything else, its all part of my story and who I am.

If you have something to say, but you aren't sure where to start or what the rights words are, try free writing. Crossing words out is okay too, its all part of how your brain works while writing and its all part of your story!

Have you ever tried free writing? If so have you used it in a scrapbook or memory-keeping project? If you have a project with some free writing that you'd like to share, please leave a URL link in the comments below.

Supplies Used: Basic Grey 'Hey You' Stickers, Basic Grey for Studio Calico patterned paper, Kelly Purkey Alpha Stickers, Sakura Souffle Pen (grey), Sakura Microperm,

Social Media Butterflies Blog Hop: May 2013 with Paislee Press

2013-05-29T10:10:00.001-04:00

This month the Social [Media] Butterflies are featuring the ever amazing Paislee Press! If you aren't familiar with Liz Tamanaha and her brand Paisless Press, you are in for an awesome treat. Liz is the designer of the Midnight Edition Project Life Core Kit and makes minimalist memory keeping ultra trendy. She's one of my absolute favorite designers right now and I am thrilled beyond belief to work with her awesome digital projects.

Please make sure to check her amazing stuff out here at her blog: PaisleePress.com. Make sure to hop all the way through, leaving comments on the blogs to be entered to win a $25 Gift Certificate to the Paislee Press digital shop! Even if you aren't a digital scrapbooker; Liz makes the best Project Life journaling cards that you can download and print at home (or send to Persnickety Prints like I did). Thanks so much for playing along with us this week!

This month I'm sharing a Project Life spread using several sets of Paislee Press journaling cards, and some Midnight Core Kit Edition mixed in (they go SO well together)! I 'embraced my inner minimalist' this week and stuck with a very basic spread.

What Happened This Week? There weren't too many exciting stories from this week, so I decided to focus on a couple of pictures from early in the week and then an impromptu photo shoot that Jeffrey and I took on Thursday afternoon.

Favorite Parts of This Week's Spread: I'm loving the minimalist look. I think I've been veering this way for a while; and its starting to feel right for me. A couple little embellishments here and there (like the polka dot chipboard star, or the Studio Calico polaroid die cut on the woodgrain card) really help to bring everything together.

Supplies Used: Paislee Press On My Desk journaling cards, Day Planner journaling cards, The Weekender journaling cards, Midnight Project Life Core Kit, Studio Calico die cut frames, Studio Calico Neverland Project Life kit

Make sure to hop all the way through, leaving comments on the blogs to be entered to win a $25 Gift Certificate to the Paislee Press digital shop!

Thanks for stopping by! If you liked today's project life, make sure to follow me on instagram, twitter, and facebookfor more great #SMBiGBlogHop and Project Life inspiration!

Here's the rest of the hop order:
Social Media Butterflies Home Site: Paisless Press: http://paisleepress.com/
Shay http://sbookinshay29.blogspot.com/
Ellie http://www.adventureswithellie.com
Jen http://jenritchie.com
Malika http://www.malikakelly.blogspot.com/
Kristin T http://rukristin.blogspot.com/
Amanda http://www.somethingsorta.blogspot.com/
Trisha http://www.trisha-grace.blogspot.com/
Suz http://livealifeextraordinary.blogspot.com/
Jenny http://mycreativelife29.blogspot.com/
Corinne http://corinnesmilovici.blogspot.com/

Packing a Kit for Project Life

2013-05-28T00:15:00.001-04:00

This past Friday I was lucky enough to take a quick trip into Manhattan for a scrappy afternoon at my friend Julie's apartment. Because NYC space tends to be a bit tighter than average, I needed to pack light. I decided to work on my Project Life album, and packed everything I needed into this empty core kit box (the empty boxes and trays are now available on Amazon) and a plastic legal envelope from the container store.

I was able to pack everything I needed between the trey and the envelope. Below I show the contents of my Project Life tray. It fit all the Project Life cards, some alphabet stickers, and a few smaller stamp sets. I put adhesive, 6x12 sticker sheets, 4x6 stamp sets, and some black ink in the mesh envelope.

Everything was tucked away in its own place and stayed put throughout my commute to and from the city. The Project Life cards are separated into three different stacks (which is how I keep them stored at home as well).

Older Cards (separated by color): There are cards from older kits or embellishment packages that I haven't gotten around to using yet. I store them by color because they work really well as the last few cards in a Project Life spread, and its easy to match the current color pallet if the cards are already sorted by color.
Midnight/Seafoam core kit cards: These are my go-to base cards. Neutral cards that match pretty much everything, its easy to run through this pile when I'm looking for a mostly blank journaling card or a filler card to take up a spot.
Brand New Cards: The brand new cards get their own stack. These are the ones I'm usually most excited about using; and its great to spread this pile out on the table as I'm working and create a color scheme based on new cards that I've gotten from Studio Calico, Kelly Purkey, or whatever other Project Life cards I've picked up recently.

This kit worked perfectly for my day in the city. I added two strips of washi tape to close the box and just threw it in my tote bag. It was super easy to carry this kit around with me and I really can't wait to go on another scrappy date.

Supplies Used:

Project Life Tray from Amazon (the amazon trays come with a different box than the core kits)

Mesh Pouch from the Container Store

Find Your Voice: Badges & Images

2013-05-27T12:17:00.000-04:00

Tell your stories the way you want to tell them. Be the author of your own adventure.

Starting Monday, June 24th

Find Your Voice

a free eight-week summer storytelling workshop

Prompts will be available every Monday morning here on my blog and in the Find Your Voice Facebook group.

Want to help promote Find Your Voice? Here are a few ways you can help!

Join the Facebook event for the Find Your Voice premier! Invite all your friends and family. Make sure to let them know its totally free!
Pin the Find Your Voice logo images to Pinterest.
Write a blog post or tweet about Find Your Voice. Feel free to use any of the words or images from this blog post or the Find Your Voice Facebook group.
Grab a Badge below and stick it on your blog, facebook page, or anywhere your heart desires! To save the image, just right click and save it to the folder of your choice!
Have another idea to promote Find Your Voice? Let me know! I'm always so excited to hear new ideas from readers!

Show off your Find Your Voice badges! Leave a link below so I can come visit and thank you for promoting this awesome summer workshop! If you have any questions at all, please contact me!

**Sponsorships are available; please contact me asap. Spots are filling quickly.

I am super excited to get started, I hope you'll all join me this summer.

DIY Instagram Wall Collage

2013-05-26T13:05:00.002-04:00

Head over to the Persnickety Prints blog for a brand new tutorial on how to create your own DIY Instagram wall collage with Persnickety Prints 12x12 photographic prints. Super fun and super easy!

Find Your Voice: Coming June 24th

2013-05-24T09:59:00.002-04:00

Starting Monday, June 24th

Find Your Voice

a free eight-week summer storytelling workshop

Tell your stories the way you want to tell them. Be the author of your own adventure.

Join me this summer for amazing inspiration and great insight into becoming the best storyteller you can be!

More information will be available here on the blog as well as on the Find Your Voice facebook page (coming soon).

National Stationary Show in NYC

2013-05-23T14:46:00.002-04:00

This week Jeff and I went to the National Stationary Show in NYC. Even though I've lived less than a half hour away for most of my life, I had never been to a convention at the Jacob Javitz Center before. Wow is it huge, we walked the floor the entire day and met some crazy talented people. I'm crazy excited to start incorporating the amazing stuff we found into the new shop and new project kits!

A few thoughts about the show:

Letterpress is the hottest thing. There were lots of great letterpress artists doing totally unique things, it was awesome to walk around and check out all the different art. I can't wait to include some letterpress cards in upcoming project kits.
I love that there's a Ladies of Letterpress collective. I'm a sucker for women getting together and forming co-ops to help each other out and carve out a real place for themselves.
Journals & Notebooks. Good thing it wasn't a buying show; or I'd have definitely come home with at least 20 different notebooks. If you're a sucker for a good notebook (or 5); be on the lookout for a new section in the store this summer!
Business Cards. Blew me away. They are like little works of art. Super thick papers, letterpressed, great artwork. I'm totally keeping all of them on a binder ring because they're just that cool. I'm not sure there's a better convention to find awesome, unique business cards.
Brainstorm. I need all their artwork in my house. Right now. I first saw them at the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn two summers ago and I've been in love ever since.

My New Work Routine

2013-05-17T01:20:00.001-04:00

I'm always looking for new ways to boost my productivity. I want to be better today than I was yesterday. Part of being better is spending some time figuring out the best way to do tasks.

Confession: I'm like really sucking at getting tasks done lately. Like, they get done; but I'm not as happy with myself as I should be.

I can sit down and work on a project for several hours straight, but my biggest problem is that there are so many different things that I feel like I should be working on that I jump from project to project to project. Worse yet, I'll get distracted because I have to answer an email or a tweet and fall down a gaping BuzzFeed or Candy Crush Saga internet hole. .

I want to spend more time each day working on big projects and getting big things done. I want to make things happen. I have amazing plans in my head, and now its time to step up and execute these plans.

So I'm trying a few new things:

Each day of the week will have a specific category assigned to it (with one flex day). My plan is to spend 120 minutes each day working on those big projects.
I also came across this great blog post from Sarah Von Bargen, and I'll be implementing her 40 minutes a day strategy for branding and business.
And I have this crazy idea brewing in the back of my head for a wall mounted google calendar. Hopefully I can make this happen asap, it seems so cool in my head.

Let me know if I'm missing out on the golden key to productivity! What productivity methods are working for you right now? What isn't working for you?