My Lifebook

Mich and I made Lifebooks this weekend. Head over to her blog to see her explanation of them. They were her idea, but I really like it. In fact, before I even finished mine I had already thought of ways to make an expanded version.

Normally I get myself kind of hamstrung by projects like these because I want to plan them out and have them be perfect. Not this time. I grabbed what fabric and ribbon scraps I had laying around. Sissy and I were going to use them to bling out our old jeans. I knew I had more stuff in the garage but this was going to have to do. And I grabbed whatever journal I could find at CVS. Wal-Mart, Staples, Office Depot are all too far away for this kind of spontaneous thing. I almost grabbed a sketch pad and used it.

So, because this one had ribbons on the spiral that I liked, I just covered the cover. If I could have found my batting I could have padded it.



The cool initial in the center is from a laser cut sticker Kimmie had.

I made a title page with scrapbooking paper and stick on letters and stuff. I didn't plan anything or measure, just let myself play and see what came out.



Then I had to figure out what categories I wanted and how to divide up the pages. I left my book over at Mich's or I'd tell you what they were. But I think I had Goals; Dreams, Ideas, Plans; Art (this is books I want to read, books I have read, music to listen to, movies to see); Talks with God; Doodles (next time I am adding a sketch pad section; Random Thoughts; Memories. Okay, I'm missing two but you get the idea. I just wanted a place were I could be me without a whole lot of organization. Each section can be a different size too.

So for each of these sections I also made a pocket and a tab like Mich.



The darker paper is the pocket. And there's another pocket on the other side of the page. This also makes the page sturdy enough to sandwich the tab in between there.

Anyhow, I need to finish mine and I can't wait to use it. It's a fun project. Even the girls got into it and made themselves ones out of half-size binders and puppy material.



So, what do you think? Anyone out there interested in making one?

A Brand New Bag

Sissy got a bunch of craft projects for Christmas, which is fun for both of us. Look what we made.

Here's the front.


Here's the back.


I was excited about this project because I was looking for a bag to hold my various notebooks, pens, iPod, etc. Especially since my car doesn't lock, and I can't leave anything important in it.

The bag on the right came with Sissy's kit. I bought the green bag at Wal-Mart for $2 and decorated it with items from Sissy's kit. Fun, huh?

Stay tuned
I don't do New Year's Resolutions really. I figure if something needs to be resolved, do it now, don't wait until the new year. Anyhow... I've been working on some organization systems and stuff using the Simpleology plan I mentioned before. I'm almost finished with the course and I'm pretty happy with it. I'll be sharing what I've learned next week.

I'm evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

• The best blogging techniques.
• How to get traffic to your blog.
• How to turn your blog into money.

I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.

So we'll see what comes of all of that. Yeah, I know, you can't wait. :)