Coffee & Books Project Life Layout with the July Kellie Stamps Release!

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The latest Kellie Stamps release is out for July and of course, I somehow managed to use all four sets (Book Review, Rise and Shine with some great script by Alex Hunter, Big Day and I Was Here) again on this layout. Ha. I always mean to use just one or two but then I have them all sitting on my desk and they just dab themselves all over my layout. The main stamp set I wanted to focus on is the Book Review stamp set as the bulk of these pics came from a trip to the library (but first coffee, duh – the but first stamp from the Rise and Shine set in collaboration with Alex Hunter is just perfect here!) except for the yarn picture in the top left corner that I just included because it went with the colour feel of the layout. Which was all minty and pink and pastel and black journal card and embellishment-wise. I stuck to stamping in black because it worked with everything I was doing.

Here’s a close up of the really great fill-in-the-blank review stamp from the Book Review set. It’s so great! I stamped it on a yellow card and adhered it to this unicorn journal card because unicorns, duh. In fact, if you look I’ve got unicorns, then swans and a cat. Ha. It’s all about the cute. I used the Big Day stamp to give some day of the week context in the middle card because most of these pics are from the same day. And the cute check box below from the I Was Here set paired perfect with this large This thicker. throughout I used tiny heart stickers to fill things in.

So that’s my first layout this month showing off the July sets which as usual are amazing. Seriously. Kellie always comes out with a nice range of really useful everyday stamps that make their way into my must-have Project Life tool kit and some really fun themed sets. I’m always so excited to see what’s next. Later this month I’ll post my second layout using the July sets. Some of the other Kellie Stamps team ladies and I did a Day in the Life on July 1st. I was camping that day and we went on a hike and there are TOO many good pictures of that day.

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Getting into a style groove with the June Kellie Stamps Release!

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Its time for the new June Kellie Stamps sets and here is one of the layouts I made with them this month. I really like how it turned out. I used three of the four new releases this month, Currently, Grant Street and This Girl, all of which are just fab. Seriously. They worked really well with the photos I had. For this layout (had of week 23 in my weekly Project Life album) I laid out my pictures and then pulled out some stuff that went well. I used the week card from the Project Life Project 52 Fresh Edition which I’m using all year long as a week title card, a cute card in the middle from Brandi Kincaid’s Eloise themed journal cards and another card and a bunch of embellishments from the ABM Messy Box (which is ending in August 😭) and Studio Calico kits and maybe a few other things. But the stamps are totally the stars here!

 

This pic was just BEGGING for some stamping and paired PERFECT with the Currently stamp from Kellie Stamps. PERFECT! The stamp has various currently headers and then different prompts to chose from. So I picked the cute handwritten style ones and added in some stuff to fill in and then that ALL BLACK EVERYDAY stamp from the This Girl set which is pretty much my ill-advised summer wardrobe mantra. It’s a really fun way to make a currently list and think outside the journal card.

 

When I was going through my camera roll picking out pictures for my weekly layout I selected them with stamping in mind, knowing I wanted to use these stamps (without compromising memory keeping of course!). In that, I mean I chose pictures with more negative space and bright backgrounds. I think this layout also marks a jump for me in digital editing. I don’t usually do much to my pictures other than basic Instagram edits, but I took a lot of these into A Colour Story and edited them, even adding that rainbow overlay from the Skies Over effects to make the ice cream pic even more fun and summery.  I think going forward I am going to do this a lot more. I print my pictures EVERY WEEK. When I go grocery shopping I print my pictures from the week so that I can stay caught up on my album. It’s almost halfway through the year and that’s working great. The only week not in my album and fully done is last week and I’m planning to work on it tomorrow morning. I added some fun stamping with the Grant Street Alpha over the rainbow because it really was too hot. And I can’t resist a Treat Yo’Self stamp. I just watched that episode of Parks and Rec. The best day of the year! Ha.

I just loved this quote from The Office so I had to include it. I added a journal card with my fav Office episodes (I put it on whenever I have nothing else to watch, which is a lot) with the Top 5 stamps from the Currently set. I added a header to the quote with the Grant Street Alpha and then stamped the Goal Digger stamp from the This Girl set in a couple of pinks and purples because the beach and hot dogs is totally #lifegoals. I added in a cut out Kevin from the episode the quote is from. I like to add in fun pop culture stuff on my layouts. It’s just a part of me.

I really like the graphic nature of this layout. It’s my usual all the embellishments and colour and fun, but a little more refined and a little more magazine layout-y. I like it. Another thing I’ve noticed really becoming common in my layouts are three stories. Each row is a story in my layouts and are visually similar in style. With summer coming it’s going to be hard deciding how to pick just 18 things to go in pockets every week. I think weeks we do more like camping I’m going to throw in an extra protector. As I head into my second album for the year shortly (HOW IS THE YEAR HALF OVER!!?!?!) (also, I really really hope I can make it halfway through the year in this album) I am going to look at this layout as inspiration and #goalz going forward. And use the heck out of that Currently stamp set.

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Summer brights with the June Freckled Fawn Kit!

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Here’s  a layout I did using the June Freckled Fawn Embellishment Kit, which is just the cutest! This kit came just in time – the weather is getting warmer and I’m ready for summer! And it is just perfect. From the adorable pouch (I just can’t get over it) to the acrylic phrases, the super fun acetate numbers and the fantastic summery chipboard phrase stickers, the kit is all about fun in the sun.

This pocket page layout is part of my weekly album. There are three different stories on the page, one in each row – downtown brunching, lazy tv watching and stuff in cups. I kind of went to town with the embellishments, I couldn’t help myself! I just loved them.

I started by adding in some chipboard phrases that went well with my pictures. I then added some larger focal elements like the acetate numbers (I was so happy to fit in a good reason to use them!), the resin shape and some washi and arrows. Then I filled in all the hearts and little bits and put it all together! Voila. Layout done!

I am pretty sure my theory when working on this was to just throw colour rules out the window and just go for it! Ha. My photographs had some strong colours in them – the graffiti image, the kaleidoscope Snapchat image and the bright red juice – that didn’t really have much in common. I could do things like make them black and white to tone them down but the strong colours are what make them good pictures and changing the colour would change the pictures too much. I guess I could have chosen different pictures, but those were the ones I was drawn to.

I just dove into the colours. I tried to maintain a colour story across each row – pinky modern tones and patterns on the top, awkward 70s appliance colours in the middle and pastel primary hues against bright backgrounds on the bottom. It’s a little awkward, but awkward can be a great thing with colour. I mean, that’s why mustards and acidy yellows have been so hot.

Time for Summer Layouts!

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This month’s featured collection from April Lilli SO gets me. Amy Tangerine On a Whim is full of so many fun things! Bright colours, bold patterns, cute phrases, hot icons. All the things I like! And I got this collection just in time for warmer weather! For the whole month of June On a Whim is 20% off at April Lilli!

For this layout I used a few different things – here’s a list:

I had a couple of major favourites in this collection. The first was the inflated ephemera. It sounds strange, but it really is more puffy ephemera that is 2 sided so you could also put it in clear pockets or on planner charms or whatever. SO SO CUTE. I used the flamingo above, just because. AND THOSE DONUT THICKERS! Some of them have little bites taken out of them. I just about died of cute! The papers are really great. Not only are there some really colourful, bold and on trend patterns but the b-sides have some great modern classic patterns.

The stickers are really great to pull it all together. There is a bit of everything on the sticker sheet and in the book. Phrases, tiny letters, banners, hearts, flamingos, taco trucks, sushi, all of it! If you’re looking for a great collection for bright summer layouts look no further!

A weekly layout with all the pink!

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I’m back with another layout using Carta Bella’s gorgeous Flora collection from April Lilli – it and EVERYTHING ELSE at April Lilli is 20% off this month!! Pretty awesome. Last time I used this collection for a WITL Traveler’s Notebook but now I used it for a pocket page layout.

I had originally thought I’d do a lot of white cardstock and accents from the collection but I was so into the colours and patterns that I just went full out. One of my favourite cards is above – I used the pattern stamp to make a card to mount a photo on. I really like this pattern stamp! I also used the phrase stamps from the collections for some accents. There are some great words on there. And I can always use more hearts! I like to think that I can make pink and flowers work even for baseball. Haha.

I went simple for embellishments – stickers (so many good alpha stickers) and embellishments from the collection so it all matched. I love the cut apart sheets in the collection, they are so useable. This one is my favourite, I just love the colours. I can see myself coming back to this collection whenever I want a good punch of pretty florals.