For this week's layout, I used the page protectors in Design B and Design G and used product from the Clementine collection. Click the link below to download the Word Art Titles for Week 7 (this is the first of two freebies in this week's post).

Download SeptBlue_Week7Titles

Last week I shared photos of the Subway Art I created for Chris as his Valentine's Day gift. I appreciate the AWESOME response to this piece of art here on September Blue as well as other message boards I am active on. I wanted to put a smaller version of it in this layout and did so on the left hand side of the layout. 

I included strings with arrows at the end of them pointing to the various addresses we have lived at throughout our marriage. On the white circles I wrote the years we lived at those addresses. Also on this page I included a photo of the flowers Chris gave me for Valentine's Day. The colors in the original photo were very saturated. I lowered the saturation in Photoshop to fade the color a bit, cropped it and placed it in the bottom corner.

On the right hand side of the layout I included the card I made for Chris and the one he gave to me. The cards were a little bulky and weren't staying in their pockets very well. I ended up using paperclips from SMASH to keep them secure. I used the flags that come with the paperclips to label the cards.

A few weeks ago the Public Affairs Office at the Embassy asked if I would create a sticker for them that promoted the Embassy's Facebook page and Twitter accounts. The intended audience is the young adult population of Latvia and the stickers were to also include the QR codes that can be scanned with smart phones. It was a fun, quick project and the end result is pictured above. 

For Week 8 I really want to focus on taking more photos. I have my camera with me all of the time, I just need to get it out and use it! A new class called "iShot That!" began this week over at ReneePearson.com. It is a class about shooting with your iPhone camera. It's going to be great and can't wait to learn some creative photo techniques using my iPhone's camera!

I mentioned earlier in the post that Week 7 also marked the beginning Jessica Sprague's Art of Poster Design class. I love taking classes from her. Yes, I already have a degree in graphic design, but taking these classes keeps me on top of new techniques and gets my creative juices flowing! I also love the online community within the classes. Being able to communicate on a daily basis with others that share the same passion for memory keeping, digital design and Photoshop is wonderful! 

One of the posters we created this week was an exploration in using only one font along with some clip art to communicate goals, thoughts, a set of rules, etc. Jessica always provides the necessary elements to complete the poster in her example, but she encourages to use our own creativity and make something that suites our needs or tastes. And that is what exactly I did. Below is the poster that Jessica created for class:

Isn't that great? I love how creative you can get just by varying the size one font! I took some creative control and created something different:

I used the same font and banners Jessica included in the class materials, but I went with a totally different topic, color scheme and clip art. The words come from a pin on Pinterest. They are quoted from Audrey Hepburn (LOVE HER). When I first saw the wording I thought to myself how cool it would be to recreate a typographical piece of my own from these words. When this poster project came along, I knew it was the perfect time to do so and I created "All-American Girl."

I posted the picture of my poster on a my personal Facebook page and several other message boards that I take part in. The response was great and I thought I would give share my poster with you as a free download. Please note that this is not a typical size. It's 13x24. If you wanted to download and have it printed/framed at full size, it will have to be a custom job. You can always change the image size in Photoshop to make it smaller and print it at home if you'd like. I will leave this up as a free download for a limited time (through this Friday) Click the link below to download while you can. Enjoy!

BTW! I want to give a BIG shout out to The MomCreative! Every Tuesday, Jessica Turner, the founder, provides a place for all Project Lifer's to upload a link to their Project Life pages on their blogs! I just found out about this and I look forward to being able to share a link to my blog posts there! Thanks Jessica!

Download SeptBlue_AllAmericanGirl.jpg

Have a great Week 8!

About a week and a half ago I had a great idea for a Valentine gift for Chris: A piece of subway art with all of the addresses of the places we've lived over the past twenty-three years. I think the title "Love Lived {Lives} Here" is appropriate on a number of levels!

Finding the addresses didn't pose that much of a problem. The challenge was finding a place to print it on canvas in time for Valentine's Day! I ended up using 24 Print here in Riga (they spoke English-BONUS!). The original file was 18x36 inches, but I had to make adjustments at the last minute because the printer only printed on canvas in 10cm increments. So in the end, the final size turned out to be 50x110 centimeters or a little over 19x43 inches. 

I LOVE the results and want to make more of them! These are perfect gifts for anniversaries, retirements, birth announcments, graduations, etc. They are so customizable! 

I hope everyone has a love-ly day!

Be sure to click the link below to download the Word Art Title Tags for Week 6!

Download SeptBlue_Week6titles

I had a lot of fun putting the Week 6 spread together! Why? Because I added more than just photos. I wanted to include more of the little bits and pieces of everyday life. And just like Week 5, I didn't have a whole lot of photos, so I kept my eyes open for other things to include and I really am happy with the results. Below is a picture of the left hand side of the spread.

This week I felt really good! My cold was going away, I was able to workout again and I had a bit of a confidence boost as I ventured off on my own driving through some streets of Riga that I was a bit unfamiliar with. Okay...I wasn't all by myself...I borrowed a Garmin...but still...

I included a photo that my sister posted on Facebook of my nephew. My mom bought him a new pair of firefighter snow boots and he was so excited about it! On the "Say What?" journal card, I wrote the caption of the photo my sister had posted along with the photo.

The 4x6 photo in the bottom corner of the page is one I took of a scarf I started to knit. My friend Angela and I try to get together each Tuesday and teach ourselves how to knit. My Grandma Frantz would have been so proud. She used to try to teach me when I was little, but I just couldn't get the hang of it! I wrapped a piece of the yarn I am knitting with around the journaling box in the right corner.

Below is the right hand side of the layout.

Yogi Tea and Merrell boots...just two of my favorite things! Since I was lacking in the photo area, I thought the front of the tea box would be a good filler. I trimmed it down, rounded the corners and mounted it on a 4x6 piece of patterned paper from the Clementine edition. In the section below I used a piece of the inside of the tea box package. It has an AWESOME pattern on it! I just love the inspirational quotes that are on the tags of the teabags. I save them and thought that displaying them in a layout would be a perfect place to keep some of my favorites safe!

Another embellishment from a package is seen below. I trimmed the quote below from one of the flaps of the box that my Merrell boots were sent in. Isn't that a great saying?

I just had to share the photo below. Friday night Chris and I met friends for dinner in Old Town. We went to this little restaurant called "Steak & Beer" (such a guys place, right?). Hands down they had the best steaks in Riga, and not badly priced at all! Deb, Robyn and I got a kick out of what our husbands were wearing. They all had on similar colored shirts with half-zippers. It's like they called each other and told each other what to wear. Too funny!

Well, that was my Week 6. I am looking forward to Week 7. With it being Valentine's Day during this week, I am planning a LOVE-ly layout! Have a fab week everyone! Thanks for reading!