jbs mercantile: the first project life spread

i know some of you were doubtful, even after seeing my project life cover page.  you'll be pleased to know that i've completed my first spread (although this isn't actually the first spread in my book, just the first finished).  even more exciting to me, i've printed pics all the way through february 2nd and have them all slotted along with journaling cards and such.  i've actually got three more spreads in the 70 to 90% completion zone.  amazing!  i have to say that after all my smack talk about it last year, i'm actually loving this project.  who woulda thunk it?

i think perhaps what i love most about this project is that my son enjoys it so much.  we spend a lot of time together in our craft room.  he'll sit there and play ipad or legos or do homework while i play with paper or get work done on the computer.  he looks at the pictures and asks me about them and gives me little snippets of extra information to include, like the quote on the minecraft pic or the titles for the nerf gun boys.  he asked me yesterday if this was the new "style" for scrapbooks.  he's a little more knowledgeable about the world of papercrafting than most nine year olds i'd say.

on the this page: these pages were both created with the february papercrafting kits from jbs mercantile.  (check the gallery for updates!  lots of new pretties with more to come!).  i absolutely loved mixing in vintage bits from the antiquarian add-on, like the first national bank check and "oral" pharmacy paper were just so perfect for the tooth fairy slots.  the two slots to the right of the tooth fairy section are documenting my one little word for this year; i've decided to go with "details" and i'm using instagram to help me keep on track with documenting project life (thanks bridgette for the supercute instagram die-cut!).  the little mason jar was created with a stamp set from the main kit; it's sold out, but the stamp set will be available for individual purchase in limited quantities in july.

one thing i'm having to work through with this project is the journaling.  g is well over halfway through with third grade, the year cursive is generally taught, and he has learned none.  knowing that he can't currently read cursive and probably will never read it well, i've decided to do more computer journaling and writing in print in this book.  joy.  not.  those who know me well know that i hate to mess with the computer in scrapbooking and i'm not as fond of the look of my print writing as i am of my cursive.  i'm sure i will figure them both out eventually, but right now it's a learning curve for me.  overall though, two thumbs up from me and g!  more pages coming soon!

on this page:  the left column is more or less minecraft related.  the right column is all about our first germ infested weekend in january (there were three, sigh).  the journaling bottom right is printed directly from my blog entry (another source for project life documentation).  the journaling is extensive, so i folded the card to four inches tall and tabbed it at the top so it can be pulled out to read the rest.  one trick i've already picked up on to make this project easier is to not feel i need a photo for every story.  for example, i told the minecraft story with a drawing from my son (that i colored) and a snippet cut from the packaging of the miners lego set be bought that weekend.  i am absolutely itching to go back and fix the smudged titles on that bottom photo and the wonky spacing on the journaling with the lego image.  i have ocd issues; oh my!