My favorite Project Life ingredients

In yesterday’s post I covered the tools that I love first and foremost because they ensure a smooth work flow  for Project Life.

Today I want to continue that theme with some of my other favorite Project Life “ingredients” that I love, but that don’t necessarily stand out because of their practicality!

 

1. 6x6 Paper Pads.

I almost exclusively use these smaller paper pads for my Project Life.

 

 

Not only is the pattern smaller, which works much better for the smaller “layouts” and cards, but cutting those papers is quick and easy. I tend to go about it in much the same way every time.

Line up my 6x6 paper at the 4 inch mark of my Fiskars paper cutter to cut a 6x4. Then I have a 2” strip of that paper left to make a border on another card. If I need 3x4 cards, I cut the 6x4 in half.

 

 

If I look through my stash of papers, I find that I mostly have My Mind’s eye papers, closely followed by Studio Calico and some Teresa Collins pads. I find that most of the My Mind’s eye papers coordinate throughout collections and it helps with the cohesiveness throughout the album! AND I love their colors and patterns!

 

2. Mini Alpha Stickers.

I love to use a variety of chipboard stickers and alphas on my Project Life inserts, but my current favorites are the Basic Grey Micro Mono Alpha Stickers. I only just found them recently and I have since gotten them in every color I can find available. They are the perfect size for the smaller size cards!

 

3. Wood Veneer Embellishments.

Uhm, yes, well I have confessed to an ever so slight (ha!) obsession with Wood Veneer Embellishments before. I just love, love, love them! I could put one or more of those on pretty much every photo or card I put in my album (I do restrain myself from doing that though!) But yes,  I have a LOT of those and I love them. Have I mentioned that I love them?!

 

 

4. Office products.

Yes, I like to use office products too. They are easily accessible, usually inexpensive and they are a great thing to use in Project Life.

For example, Return Address Labels.

Love them for adding one sentence journaling to photos! Sometimes I use them plain, in the typewriter, or I first run them through my printer and print a faint grid pattern on them and then type or write on them! It’s also fairly easy to print other thing on the labels, like borders, icons etc. by using the corresponding template (I use Avery) that is available on the web. Easy customization, for not a lot of money considering that those labels go a LONG way!

 

Large Shipping Labels work really well too for the strip journaling that I love to do! I bought a pack of these many years ago for shipping purposes for my business and I’m still using them now!

 

 

Parcel tags.

Love using parcel tags, as you can see! They are quick and easy and add little (or larger depending on what size you use) areas for photos, journaling, stamping or embellishments. I tend to use the this size and this size the most.

 

Index cards.

Another quick and easy card for journaling can be made out of index cards, be they gridded or lined. They are inexpensive, easily available and also tend to go a long way! The only draw back that I have found for index cards is that the line or grid pattern is usually a lot stronger than I would like, which works for some things, but not as well for others. But I do have both on hand and use them regularly!

 

5. A few assorted punches.

As many of you are well aware, I have a Silhouette Craft Cutter, so why would I need punches?

Well, as awesome as the Craft Cutter is, sometimes I’m left with a little square of something and it’s just a LOT easier to punch a quick circle out of it, rather than design it in the software, align everything just right (which can be tricky) and then have the machine cut it. So, I have an assortment of circle, label and corner punches to make things easier!

 

5. Silhouette Craft Cutter.

Ah yes, I love that little machine . It’s great to be able to cut just about anything I might want or need for my project Life! What can I say - it’s an awesome machine and not just for project life, for all sorts of arts and crafts projects!

 

 

6. Sewing Machine.

 

 

A lot of my journaling cards have machine sewing on them. It is usually very simple, just a straight line here and there. That’s how I like it best. Sometimes I like to branch out a little with some more involved decorative stitching, but I like simple the best. Not only does it finish off the cards in my opinion, it also helps with adhering things, so it’s a dual benefit!

 

 

7. Various Shapes and Sizes of Photo Pocket Pages.

Last, but by no means least, I LOVE to mix up different shapes and sizes of Photo Pocket Pages in my album. It makes the whole thing a little bit more interactive and fun, AND it gives you more possibilities of fitting your cards and photos in just the right size and orientation slots that you need!

 

I also love the big envelope pages in the back of my album to collect special kid’s drawings, report cards, assorted school stuff, rewards and all the other things that I want to keep in the original and that are too large or too many to fit into the album itself!

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