Hello stampers! When I first discovered Project Life I was a little hesitant. I thought it was cheating. I was a “real” scrapbooker. However, when I talk to scrapbookers, the most recurring theme is that they are always lamenting the fact that they are “behind”. They have to catch up on so many years of documenting their photos. Well, Project Life to the rescue. I made my first album a few years ago after a Stampin’Up! incentive trip. I had taken my daughter Rachel on the Caribbean cruise with me and I was bound and determined to get an album made. Using Project Life I had the week long cruise with hundreds of pictures done in less than one week. What an amazing feeling that was. So I have to say that I am rather shocked that this trend has not taken off with my customers. I had one Project Life club that lasted a year but whenever I offered an event, there were very few takers. Maybe this is about to change.

We made this set of 18 cards (some are missing because there are two of every type of card in the kit, so you could definitely make more) at our team retreat last week Saturday. They only need to be stamped with a sentiment, accented with some linen thread and then put on either an early espresso or whisper white base. Some of the cards are 4 1/4″ square cards, others are regular 4 1/4″ by 5 1/2″ cards.

Here I used the 3″ x 4″ Project Life cards and matted them with 3 1/4″ x 4 3/4″ early espresso mats and mounted them on our whisper white note cards and envelopes. They look great with or without the linen thread accent. The words came from Feather Together for the first two cards. The card on the far right uses Paisleys and Posies.

The stitched framelits also work very well with adding a simple sentiment to these beautiful Project Life cards. The artwork really is stunning. The linen thread really adds to the natural beauty of these cards. Both cards use the stamp set Feather Together.

So now I thought you might enjoy some close-up shots of the the big group of cards shown in the first picture. Another added benefit of Project Life with Stampin’Up! is the great organizer box you get with your card kit. It works perfectly for holding all your card inserts, a journalling pen AND your completed cards. It really reduces the mess and keeps you organized.

The word “hope” comes from the stamp set Watercolour Words and the “so sorry” comes from Here for You. I stamped the words in early espresso. One of my customers, Sonja, suggested that the hope card would be perfect for Remembrance Day with the poppy on it. A great gift for one of our veterans.

The “just for you” in the square card above comes from Watercolor Words and the “I am much more me when I’m with you” comes from Layering Love.I really love the next two cards. With the collection you could make doubles of these as there are two of each design in it. The “begin each day with a grateful heart” would also look great in a framed piece in your craft room or anywhere in the house really! I would put the “hello lovely” in my bathroom where I would see it each morning and be reminded to love myself.

Are you getting impressed with the number and variety of cards you can make with this kit? I sure am. And there are still lots and lots of cards left. You could even use them for their intended use! Scrapbooking!!

The “you are too kind” saying is from the stamp set One Big Meaning. My ink pad could definitely use some re-inking here. Did you know that you can extend the life of your ink pads by re-inking regularly. I am convinced that we have the best ink pads in the industry. Of course, an added bonus is that our inks coordinate perfectly with our cardstock and patterned paper.

I have two more cards to share with you. One uses the stamp set Layering Love. The other one just combines three different Project Life cards. I cat a strip of the blue and white striped one and used oval framelits to cut the words out of another one. Once you start going through all these beautiful cards in the kit the possibilities are endless. I had so much fun playing with them and I hope you do too.

The last one “Life is Beautiful” is a fitting end to this blog post. I have just spent a week at a friend’s cottage on the shore of Lake Erie, and life has indeed been beautiful. I was able to share the beauty with my team of Stampin’Up! demonstrators and my new recruits too. I hope you send out the cards that you make and in doing so make life more beautiful for your friends and loved ones, that is after all why we do what we do. Everyone needs happy mail sometimes. Of course, you can also use these cards to make quick and easy scrapbook pages. Get those pictures off your camera and off your computer and into a book that the kids can look at and remember all the good memories they are making with you.

Next time I hope to continue the series on the tools of the trade and I will be talking about our amazing paper trimmer.  Don’t forget about sale-a-bration, this is the last month to be able to get a free item with every $60 purchase.